Lots of great freebies!

It’s not Friday, but there are so many great freebies that I wanted to go ahead and share them today!

*Click here to get a free GeoTrax DVD from Fisher Price.

*Don’t forget about your Wednesday Arby’s freebie. Today you can get a free Roastburger with any soft drink purchase. This is limited to one per person while supplies last. Find your nearest location here.

*Get a free sample of Kotex overnight ultra pads by clicking below (these usually come with coupons, too!)

Kotex Ultra Overnight Pads

*Click below to get freebies from Enfamil (this usually includes two “starter” cans and formula checks from my experience)

*Click below to get a free sample of Prilosec OTC.

Prilosec OTC

Bargain High! My shopping trips so far this week…

I’m on a total bargain high right now!

Here are a few of my trips so far this week:

Trip #1: Kroger Mega Sale and CVS School Supply deals

I know I haven’t posted the specifics, but the Kroger Mega sale is GREAT! You get an instant $5 off when you purchase 10 participating items and it continues through next week!

Kroger: 3 bags Kraft shredded cheese (use 3 .50/1 tear pad coupons that doubled), Daisy sour cream (used .50/1 coupon that doubled), 4 Kraft salad dressings (used 4 $1/1 insert coupons), 2 Quaker granola bars (used $1/2 coupon from a Kroger mailer), watermelon (used free produce when you buy 2 Kraft salad dressings coupon), cantaloupe (used free produce when you buy 2 Kraft salad dressings coupon), Nestle chocolate chips (used free coupon from a Kroger mailer), total OOP – $5.52 (total savings = $23.99/81%)

CVS: 2 1″ vinyl binders, 2 packages PaperMate pens, 2 packages filler paper, 2 memo pads, total OOP = $0 (paid for all items using ECBs, all items were free after ECBs)

Trip #2: Kroger Mega Sale (not pictured)

The Amp energy drinks are a part of the mega sale promotion. In my area, they are $.99 after the instant $5 comes off. There is a catalina promotion where you get a $10 Kroger gift card when you buy 10 Amp energy drinks. So, I bought ten and got a $10 gift card back!

Trip #3: Target

Target has these sippy cups that are ringing up at $1.62-$1.87. The “boy” cups have sports balls or cars and the “girl” cups I have found have tea cups and houses. These are NOT marked and are on the shelves with tags that say that they are $6.99. They have straws and say “Twist ‘n Click” on them. Only the printed cups/double packs work. The solid colors do not work. Check the price at a scanner before buying them. The UPC# is 0 78300 05857 1. This is an awesome deal if you can find them! (at my store they have restocked them!)

Trip #4: Kroger Mega Sale

I bought the following: Tostito’s chips, Smart Balance spread (used $1 catalina coupon), Go-Gurt (used .35/1 insert coupon), Yoplait kids yogurt (used .40/1 printable coupon plus .80/2 Cellfire loadable), 3 bags Kraft cheese (used 3 .50/1 Kraft tear pad coupons), 6 boxes Kleenex tissue (used 2 .50/3 printables from coupons.com), 2 Sunny Delight (used 2 .25/1 coupon from All You and Family Circle magazines), 3 Kraft salad dressing (used 3 $1 insert coupons), 3 Daisy sour cream (used 3 .50/1 insert coupons), 2 Dixie plates (used 2 .50/1 insert coupons), 2 Keebler cookies (used 2 $1 printables), 2 Cheez-Its, 2 Stayfree pads (used BOGO free insert coupon and $1/1 coupon from Redplum.com), 1 gallon milk, 1 Philadelphia cream cheese, 4 Softsoap hand soaps (used 3 $1/1 printables and 1 .40/1 printable), 2 Quaker granola bars (used .75/2 insert coupon), 1 Chex mix (used .50/1 printable and .50/1 Cellfire), 1 Sargento cheese (used $1/1 coupon from Kroger mailer), Sara Lee Honey Wheat bread, DiGiorno Flatbread pizza (used free coupon from mailer), 1 Dreyer’s ice cream (used $2/1 catalina coupon), 2 cans cream of chicken soup, 2 cans cream of mushroom soup, 2 cans Mighty Dog dog food (used 2 free insert coupons), bananas (used free produce when you buy 2 Kraft dressings coupons), and Betty Crocker frosting (used .50/1 printable and .50/1 Shortcuts loadable).

In addition to the coupons I used, $20 was taken off for the Mega Sale (there is no limit on transactions!) My total OOP = 28.84 (Total savings = $89.82/75%). $5.91 of this was for household/toiletries (Kleenex, Stayfree, Dixie plates, etc.) which I do not count toward my grocery budget. I also received a $1 OYNO catalina for buying the Kleenex (reportedly, you receive 1 for every 4 Kleenex you buy).

Total spent on groceries for the week = $39.26 (I still have my $10 gift card and $1 OYNO catalina if I decide I want to buy more this week).

Free Starbucks pastry!


Mark your calendars:

We’re making a change: your food not only tastes better, it is better. To celebrate, we’re inviting you to bring this invitation to a participating U.S. Starbucks store to enjoy a FREE pastry* from opening** until 10:30am on July 21st, 2009 (while supplies last) with the purchase of any beverage*.

Click here to print your invitation

Or open this page in a mobile device and show your barista:

* Pastries included in offer are: Muffins, Scones, Bagels, Croissants, Rolls, Breads, Pound Cakes, Morning Bun, Coffeecakes, Cheese Danish, Apple Fritter, Doughnuts, Tarts, Pies, Gluten Free Orange Valencia Cake, Tropical Paradise Bar.

Here’s the fine print:
Offer available at participating U.S. stores with the purchase of any handcrafted beverage (handcrafted, brewed, iced). Limit one free pastry per customer. Offer good between opening and 10:30 a.m. or until pastries are gone, whichever comes first. Opening hours and pastry selection vary. Supplies are limited. Offer not valid in Hawaii, airports and travel plazas or at Barnes & Noble cafes. Starbucks reserves the right to cancel, amend or revoke the offer at any time due to business considerations or circumstances beyond its control. Starbucks is not responsible for errors, omissions, malfunctions, interruptions, deletions, delays or failures of operations. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted. Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts. Cash value 1/20 cent. Not valid if photocopied, altered or reproduced. Barista, please ring discount code 563. Our new food is not yet available everywhere; ask your barista for details. **For 24 hours stores – opening is 4 a.m.

Pampers Gifts to Grow Codes

Here are a few Pampers Gifts to Grow Codes (some may have been posted previously, so they won’t work if you have already entered them):

OHAMANDAAWGTG08
THRIFTYMOMMYGTG
STARTEARNINGNOW
FREECODEEXP0726
HAPPYFATHERSDAY
HAPPYMOTHERSDAY
WELCOMEBONUS089
WELCOME2GTG0809

Click here to add them to your account.

CVS Scenarios for the week of 7/19


The match-ups for the weekly deals are here.

If you are new to shopping at CVS and would like some tips, check out this article here.

The following scenarios are for people who are new to shopping at CVS and have few (or no) ECBs to start with. These scenarios will only work through Tuesday: (these are just ideas….you do not have to follow this exact order and you can skip some items if you do not need them or don’t have the coupons that match up with them)

School supplies on a budget: $8.97 retail for $3 OOP

Transaction #1:
Buy 2 Pampermate pens – $.99/each

Spend $1.98 OOP, get $1.98 ECB

Transaction #2:
Buy 1 box CVS Pharmacy #2 pencils – $1.99

Use $1.98 ECB from pens

Spend .01 OOP, get a $1.99 ECB
(NOTE: You could also substitute the filler paper here)

Transaction #3:
Buy 1 package CVS Pharmacy filler paper – $2

Use $1.99 ECB from pencils

Spend .01 OOP, get a $2 ECB

Transaction #4:
Buy 1 1″ vinyl binder

Use $2 ECB from filler paper

Spend $1 OOP, get a $3 ECB

**Since the limit is 2 on all of these items, you could repeat each of these transactions if you wanted to using the ECB that you earned from the previous transaction to pay.

Before we go any further, I thought I’d answer a few questions that I have received in the past….

Do you really do multiple transactions at your stores?

I usually have $20-30 ECB on hand, so I don’t have to break up my transactions as much as I did when I first started, but when I was getting started, I would do multiple small transactions and even now sometimes if I am doing several deals, I have to break things up. If you are doing multiple transactions, I recommend that you let the cashier know up front that is what you are planning to do. If there are several people in line, let them go in between your transactions. This gives you time to clip your ECBs and get prepared for your next transaction.

My store was out of all the freebie items first thing this morning. Can I get a raincheck?

This all depends on your store. I have contacted corporate about this before because some stores in my area give rainchecks and others won’t. According to corporate, this is up to the individual stores.

If you’re not in the market for school supplies, or you’re shopping after Tuesday, here are some scenarios for you: $6.75 OOP for $23.62 retail

Transaction #1:

Buy 1 Speed Stick Pro deodorant – $2.99

use $1.50/1 printable

Spend $1.49 OOP, get a $2 ECB

Transaction #2:

Buy 1 Speed Stick Pro deodorant – $2.99
Buy 1 CVS pantiliners – $.89

Use $1.50/1 printable
Use $2 Speed Stick ECB

Spend $.38 OOP, get a $2 ECB and a $.89 ECB

Transaction #3:
Buy 3 Band Aids ($3.59/each at my stores)

Use 3 $1 Band Aid coupons
Use $2 Speed Stick ECB
use $.89 pantiliners ECB

Spend $4.88, get a $5 ECB

Transaction #4:
Buy 1 Colgate Maxfresh – $2.99
Buy 1 Duracell batteries – $2.99

Use $1 Duracell coupon
use $5 ECB from Band Aids (they will have to adjust it down to $4.98)

Spend $0 OOP, get 2 $1 ECBs

My transactions: $47.55 in merchandise for $0 OOP

Transaction #1:
Buy 2 CVS Pharmacy memo books – $.99/each
Buy 2 CVS #2 pencils – $1.99/each
Buy 2 PaperMate pens – $.99/each
Buy 1″ vinyl binder – $3/each
Buy CVS pantiliners – $.89/each
Buy 2 Speed Stick deodorants – $2.99/each
Buy 1 Colgate Maxfresh – $2.99
Buy 1 Duracell batteries – $2.99
Buy 3 Band Aid bandages – $3.59/each

Use 2 $1.50/1 Speed Stick coupons
Use $1 Speed Stick CRT
Use $1 Colgate coupon (from All You Magazine)
Use $.75 Duracell coupon
Use 3 $1 Band Aid coupons

Spend $28.81 OOP (pay w/ ECB adjusted down if needed), earn $25.83 in ECB

Transaction #2:
Buy 1 Kodak DVD – $9.99/each

Spend $9.99 (pay w/ ECBs), earn a $9.99 ECB