CVS Challenge Continued

I went to CVS on Tuesday to pick up the free Crest toothpaste, only to discover that I had $12 in ECB's, ready to expire the next day.

Oh, no! ECB emergency!

So I went home to gather my thoughts & figure out the best way to spend those ECB's. So here's Transaction #6 from yesterday:
$8.99: Schick Intuition Plus razor
$14.99: Bayer Contour blood sugar meter
$3.49: Crest ProHealth Enamel Care toothpaste
$4.79: Post Trail Mix cereal, 2 boxes (buy one, get one free)
$7.99: Ensure 6 pack

Used $4 off Schick razor coupon from 3/22 Smart Source insert
Used $3 off Ensure coupon printable
Used $1 off Crest coupon from 3/15 P&G insert
Used $2 off Post Trail Mix cereal printable
Used up to $30 off Bayer Contour Meter from 10/26 RP, 2/01 RP or 3/22 SS insert ($14.99 in this case)
Used $4 ECB
Used $8 ECB
Used $2.99 ECB

Total OOP after tax & ECB's: $.27

ECB's earned this transaction: $6.49
Will also get $7.99 rebate for Ensure

Total spent so far: $4.28 + $3.41 + $8.67 + $1.05 + $1.01 + $.27 = $18.69
ECB's earned: $16.48 (This does not include the ones I cashed in)
Profit: $14.94 (includes $10 rebate & $7.99 rebate, minus 2 42 cent stamps)

Stuff I got:
1 bottle CVS Chewable Aspirin, 36 count
1 bottle Excedrin, 10 count
3 bottle Mylanta Ultimate Strength Mint
2 Neutrogena facial soaps2 Stayfree Pads, 16 ct
2 Natural Dentist MouthwashExtreme Energy Shots
1 Renuzit TriScents Air Freshener Starter Kit
1 Maybelline Dream foundation
1 Irish Spring Body Wash 15-18 oz.
1 Dry Idea roll-on deodorant
1 Colgate Maxwhite toothpaste
1 CVS Vitamin D 400 iu, 100 ct
1 Schick Intuition Plus razor
1 Bayer Contour blood sugar meter
1 Crest ProHealth Enamel Care toothpaste
2 boxes Post Trail Mix cereal
1 Ensure 6 pack

I also got a $5 off $15 coupon that expires on Saturday. I may take advantage of the St. Ives deal and buy some more cereal!

CVS & Walgreens Runs

Today, I hit Walgreens for a few deals and to cash in one of my register rewards from the Huggies deal last week.

I also went to CVS to continue gathering purchasing for my $25 CVS challenge. I honestly haven't been to CVS in several weeks. I got my newspapers at Shaw's last week, cashing in some of my $88 in catalinas (I found another one hiding in my wallet!), so I didn't even hit CVS for that. But I stopped by CVS because there were a few good deals this week.

I almost forgot to add this transaction from February 28th! Here's what I picked up in transaction #4 of my $25 CVS challenge:
$7.50: 2 bottles Mylanta Ultimate Strength Mint
$9.49: Maybelline Dream foundation

Used $2/1 Maybelline coupon from 2/8 insert
Used $3 off Maybelline CVS coupon from mailer (it pays to give them your address!)
Used $4 off 2 Mylanta coupon from 1/4 insert
Used $2 ECB
Used $4.99 ECB

Total OOP after tax & ECB's: $1.05
ECB's earned: $11.00

Transaction #5 from today:
$4.99: Irish Spring Body Wash 15-18 oz. (this deal ended Tuesday, but I forgot and bought it. Since the tags were still up, the very nice cashier force-printed a $5 ECB for me!)
$2.99: Dry Idea roll-on deodorant
$2.99: Colgate Maxwhite toothpaste
$2.99: CVS Vitamin D 400 iu, 100 ct

Used $2/1 Dry Idea roll-on coupon here
Used $5 ECB
Used $6 ECB

Total OOP after tax & ECB's: $1.01
ECB's earned: $12.98

Total spent so far: $4.28 + $3.41 + $8.67 + $1.05 + $1.01 = $18.42
ECB's earned: $24.98 (This does not include the ones I cashed in)
Profit: $16.56 (includes $10 rebate, minus 42 cent stamp)

Stuff I got:
1 bottle CVS Chewable Aspirin, 36 count
1 bottle Excedrin, 10 count
3 bottle Mylanta Ultimate Strength Mint
2 Neutrogena facial soaps
2 Stayfree Pads, 16 ct
2 Natural Dentist Mouthwash
Extreme Energy Shots
Renuzit TriScents Air Freshener Starter Kit
Maybelline Dream foundation
Irish Spring Body Wash 15-18 oz.
Dry Idea roll-on deodorant
Colgate Maxwhite toothpaste
CVS Vitamin D 400 iu, 100 ct

Lots of Free-Afer-Rebate/Register Reward/ECB's This Week!

There is a lot of stuff this week that's "free" after rebate, register reward & ECB's. I hit CVS yesterday, but am snowed in now, so Rite Aid & Walgreens will have to wait!

Here's some of the weekly deals I'll be picking up, or have already picked up:
Walgreens Money Makers
Colgate Toothpaste Max Fresh or Max White, $3.49
Get $3.49 RRs
Use $0.75/1 Colgate Adult or Kids Toothpaste coupon from Smart Source 2/22 insert

Blink Tears Eye Drops (0.33-0.5 oz.), $7.99
Get $7.99 in RRs
Use $2 off from Red Plum 3/1 insert

Vaseline Intensive Care Rescue Lotion, $2.69
Get $2 RRs
Use $1.50/1 Vaseline Intensive Rescue Care coupon from Red Plum 1/18 insert

Reach Toothbrush, $0.99 (w/ in-ad coupon)
$1/1 Reach Toothbrush coupon from Red Plum 2/8 insert

And a Walgreens freebie:
Nabisco Ritz Crackers (4-8 oz.), $1.99 (Buy One, Get One)
Use $2/2 Ritz, Wheat Thins or Triscuit coupon from Smart Source 1/25 insert

Rite Aid Moneymaker:
Soothe Eye Drops, $7.49
Use $3/1 Bausch & Lomb Soothe Lubricant Eye Drops coupon from Smart Source 1/18 or 2/8 insert

Rite Aid free after Single Check Rebate
Ocean Complete Nasal Rinse, $8.99
Sinus Buster Sinus & Headache or Allergy, $8.99
SnoreStop FastTabs or NasoSpray, $8.99
SnoreStop Extinguisher, $12.99
Novitra Cold Sore Treatment, $7.99

CVS free after ECB's
Act Total Care Trial Size, $0.99
Carnation Instant Breakfast, $4.99
Slimquick Energy Shot (2-pk.), $4.99

For a full look at what's available this week, check out these blogs: Rite Aid, CVS & Walgreens as well as the monthly deals: CVS & Walgreens (thanks The "Cent"sible Sawyer & Deal Seeking Mom!). I'm waiting for my Walgreens rebate in the form of a gift card to arrive, so I'm holding off on the monthly deals till then.

Free After Rebate

MoneySavingMethods has highlighted some items that are free after rebate, including Sure with Natural Extracts. Many of these rebates are good until the end of 2009, so I hold on to the forms and try to combine them with a coupon or an ECB/Register Reward deal to make them money maker. Check it out!

Also, check out my Rebates 101 post for an intro to rebates.

Deals of the Week

Deal Seeking Mom has a good round-up of the deals this week:

CVS
Rite Aid

Go to Common Sense with Money for Walgreens, including the new EasySaver Rebate items. It's important to note that you can only choose 1 Revlon product, even though the ad showes the 3 options. Only 1 Revlon rebate is available per household. Not all the blogs are reflecting this, so I wanted to point that out.

Make sure to submit your Walgreens rebates for December this week! They're due January 3rd.

It's Like Christmas!

I have gotten so much great stuff in the mail the past few days that it feels like Christmas! Oh, wait, it is Christmas! But all this great stuff in the mail makes it really feel like a holiday :)

First, I got a $10 check. A few weeks back, I received a $10 virtual gift card via e-mail from Magazines.com. Money-saving Methods pointed out the fine print: you could request your gift card in the form of cold hard cash! This is truly remarkable because I am not really a regular customer. As a birthday gift to my sister, I annually renew her subscription to a magazine. It's actually cool because Magazines.com will automatically renew it for you (and I am prone to forget!). A few month ago, Magazines.com sent me another $10 gift card for fun, and I got a free magazine subscription with it. That arrived today as well!

Then today, I received 3 things from Rite Aid: my November rebate (over $118), my Gift of Savings $20 gift certificate, and my free Diabetes tote, full of coupons, samples, rebates, and even free music downloads!

I also received a CD that I pre-ordered months ago & had completely forgotten about. And I hit my 2nd CVS (hit the 1st one last night) and the 2nd one had the Arm & Hammer Essentials cleaners. I scored 5 of those, more Listerine, and more Right Guard and made some money in the process!

And I became an aunt again yesterday! Merry Christmas to me!

Cool Savings at Rite Aid!

Rite Aid is running this awesome promo called "The Gift of Savings". Keep your receipts from between 11/16/08 - 12/24/08, and you can earn cash back on almost ANY purchase! All you need to do is enter your receipts into the web site like you do with Single Check Rebates. See the Rite Aid website for full details.

* Spend $25-$50, get $5 cash back
* Spend $51-$99, get $10 cash back
* Spend $100 or more, get $20 cash back

Thanks, Deal Seeking Mom, for the heads up on this one!

Some Deals to Highlight

There are a few deals I thought I'd alert you to.

Go over to the My Shopping Addiction blog and find out how to get 2 bras and a pair of undies from victoriassecret.com for $15.99 including shipping. That's a great deal!

Sign up for a coupon booklet worth $27 in savings on products like Cascade, Febreeze, Dawn and Swiffer.

There are a few deals at the drug stores this week. Click to get the scoops if you're not subscribed to these blogs: Rite Aid, CVS, & Walgreens.

Here's what I plan to pick up:
Rite Aid
10 SoyJoy Bars at 10/$5, GET $5 SCR::
$2/10 SoyJoy Bar coupon from recent inserts, exp. 12/31/08
Better than FREE after coupons and SCR

Several different blood glucose monitors
FREE after SCR or Manufacturer's Coupons

GUM Toothbrushes (value pack*, twin Pack) at $1.99, GET $1.99 SCR::
*excludes Summit or Travel value packs
FREE after SCR

Herbal Essense Products at 2 for $6
Use recent $3 off 2 coupon
Save bottles and get free haircut! Make sure you buy the specially marked bottles.

I may also take advantage of the Duracell battery sale because if you buy $20 worth, you get $10 off, and I have a $1.50 off coupon. There seems to be no shortage of things that need batteries in this house!

CVS
Crest Pro-Health Whitening Toothpaste: $3.49, get $3.49 ECBs (limit 1)
I'm going to try & use a $1 off coupon and see what happens

I may or may not get this (it's free after ECB's):
Nova Max Blood Glucose Monitoring System: $9.99, get $9.99 ECBs (limit 1)


Walgreens (I've got to use my $8 in Register Rewards this week)
Schick Quattro Disposable Razor on sale $5.99 each
Use $3/1 Walgreens coupon on November ESR catalog
Use recent BOGO coupon, this should be free

2 Sunday papers - one of each

I'll see what else is on sale and buy milk & eggs if I have money left.


Not much to report on the grocery front, but if you have a Whole Foods nearby, cans of pumpkin are 99 cents each and whole chickens are 99 cents a pound. Pumpkin has not gone on sale around here in weeks! I've got a coupon for $1 off 2 cans of Libby's pumpkin, but it's not a good deal unless it goes on sale.

Also, Coupons.com has new coupons as of today! Click the blue banner on the right and print yourself out some coupons :)

Rebate Basics

Rebates are a win-win situation, and businesses are making it easier and easier for people to take advantage of rebate offers.

There are tons of different ways to find rebates. One of the easiest is through your local stores. Check your local store circulars for rebate offers. Drugstores are the best for this. In my area, both Rite Aid and Walgreens have monthly rebates. In the case of both of these stores, you can view the pamphlet on-line. Rite Aid even lets you create a shopping list.

I especially like Rite Aid because they have an easy-to-use on-line rebate system. You enter in your receipt information, they electronically pull up your receipt and automatically tell you which items on your receipt are eligible for rebate. This has come in super-handy for me. The 1st time I used the Rite Aid system, I mailed in my rebate. I bought a conditioner for curly hair instead of straight hair - not exactly, but I made some small mistake like that and ended up not getting a rebate for my purchase. In August, I bought the wrong size of a product, but since it didn’t show up on my on-line rebate status, I know something was wrong and brought the product back to the store to exchange it for the right size. Now, when I buy items ate Rite Aid, I don’t open them until I enter my receipts and later come back and check my on-line rebate status to make sure I purchased the right things. Just now, I checked on my Sunday & Monday purchases (which I didn’t tell you guys about yet) and they had already pulled my info – so I already know that I purchased 9 items eligible for rebate, and they were the correct items.

Walgreens also has an on-line system, but this is my first month using it. It’s not as savvy as Rite Aid’s, so I’ll have to let you know in the future how it works out. You enter in your receipts and check off the items that are eligible for rebate, but it doesn’t confirm or deny anything for you.

Another to find rebates is to check the coupons in your Sunday paper. There have been an increasing number of rebate offers from companies with new products. When introducing people to new products, companies used to simply give you a coupon of sizable amount and often, coupled with a store sale, you could get the product for quite a deal or even free. One of the reasons I think some have switched is that they make more money off rebates. How? Because people forget to send them in. So be extra-diligent in keeping track of your rebate offers. Often the rebate offers in the paper will cost you the price of a stamp, unless you can couple it with a coupon. Manufacturers will most often reimburse cost paid before coupon, especially if your receipt has other items on it. When a store takes the coupon off your purchases, the receipt doesn’t generally specify what the coupon is for, and therefore, the manufacturer doesn’t know whether or not you used the coupon on their item or some other item. Businesses are getting wise to this, though, as is evidenced by the recent Theraflu rebate, which clearly stated that your rebate would be purchase cost, minus $2 coupon.

With the rebates that you actually have to fill out & mail in, it’s up to you which ones you should take advantage of. You have to pay the price of postage, so if it’s not something you’d pay 42 cents for, plus the time it takes to fill out the form, then you should pass on it. If it’s something you’d use anyway, and you can couple the rebate with a coupon, then by all means! Go for it.

And then of course there are blogs about rebates. Some of the blogs I read (see a list of recent posts in the right navigation) post about these deals in their regular updates. There are also several blogs that I’ve recently subscribed to that’s sole purpose is to talk about rebates. I’ll let you know what I think of those after I spend more time reading them.

And remember! Rebates only work if you remember to submit them. So don't make rebating your main thing if you have trouble remembering to submit them :)