Saturday, August 29, 2009

Writing companies again..

So, I posted a few posts a while back about writing companies, then I kind of abandoned it for a while. Since my plans for today fell through, I decided to take some time to do that today. I sat down and wrote several companies, I will keep you updated on what they say or send. Some I have heard from already!! Remember, I do not ask for coupons. It's just my preference, because I think some will not send them if you ask..odd, but true. I give feedback on the product, positive or negative. Sometimes I even try to interject humor into it. Here's who I wrote today:

Betty Crocker- Suddenly Salad- this was a question...I can't find the Chipotle Ranch anymore. I was informed of a product locator. Thx Betty Crocker. http://consumercontacts.generalmills.com/ConsolidatedContact.aspx?page=http://www.bettycrocker.com

Breathe Right Strips- positive- they really help during allergy season!! https://www.breatheright.com/contactus.aspx

Glade- both positive and negative. I love the new Fragrance Collection candles, but really don't like the reed diffusers...I can't really smell it! http://www.scjbrands.com/contact/

Purex- both positive and negative- the regular Purex, I have no problems out of, the Naturals doesn't clean well at all. http://www.henkelna.com/contact-us-6118.htm

Chef Michaels (dog food)- positive- dog loves it, wish Walmart sold it. I was promised coupons and informed WM would not be carrying it in 2009. https://offers.purina.com/ContactUs/ContactUs.aspx?sourcebrand=62

Kibbles n Bits- positive- dog loves it (she's really not that darn picky, so I can say that about a lot of food) http://www.delmonte.com/contactus/Contact.asp

Snausages- oh...guess...the dog loves them. Got a thank you and they are sending coupons. http://www.delmonte.com/contactus/Contact.asp

Meow mix- the dog doesn't care for it, but the cats love it! http://www.delmonte.com/contactus/Contact.asp

Uni Ball- husband loves the pens http://www.uniball-na.com/main.taf?p=7

Paper Mate- I love the pens (both uniball and papermate sent thanks...from the same CS dude. Oops) http://www.papermate.com/sanford/consumer/papermate/contact_us.jhtml

Mead- Negative- my son's brand new 5 star binder is splitting..he's used it 2 weeks. http://www.mead.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/MWContactView?langId=-1&storeId=10051&shopStoreID=10051&catalogId=10006&portfolio=false&mainnav=Y

Post its- I post it everything. It's sad, really. I expect when I die, instead of a tombstone, they'll just post it the grave- got a thanks http://www.3m.com/us/office/postit/contact.html

Domino sugar- love it http://www.dominosugar.com/ContactUs.aspx

Greased Lightning (cleaner) Love the way it cleans my kitchen http://www.greased-lightning.com/contact/Default.aspx

Reynold's wrap- love it, listed some things I use it for http://www.reynoldspkg.com/reynoldskitchens/en/contact/contact_us.asp

Hefty pans (those throw away baking pans)- use them for freezer cooking a lot. http://heftybrands.pactiv.com/Contact/Contact.aspx

Lean Cuisine- negative- the last few I bought had ice crystals all in them..gross http://www.leancuisine.com/Index/ContactUs.aspx

Cole's Bread- that's just good stuff http://www.coles.com/contact/

Old orchard juice- like a lot http://www.oldorchardjuice.com/contact.htm

Sally Henson- love the way polish lasts http://www.sallyhansen.com/contact_us_main.cfm?division=7

Sister Schuberts- honest..the best yeast rolls. Ever. http://www.ssrolls.com/contact/form.dT

McCall Farms- love products, hard to find http://margaretholmes.com/contactus.cfm

I expect to hear from most Monday, so I will keep you updated. I'm going to make a list of more to write. Think people will look at me funny if I wander around the grocery with a notepad taking notes?

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Just a little off topic note...I have had a LOT of jalepenos from my garden. I have frozen a lot, but today, I cut them in half, scooped out the insides (I wore gloves!) and filled them with cream cheese. Then I baked them. Guess what I found out? I can't quit eating them. Maybe I should write Tums...

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Have a great shopping day!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

What does $33 get you?

Well, at Kroger it got me a lot! I love the buy 10 get $5 off sales. I got:

3 Betty Crocker fruit shapes
2 Betty Crocker brownies
2 Go gurt
2 Toaster Strudel
2 Tuna Helper
1 Chicken Helper
1 Betty Crocker potatoes
2 Fruity Cheerios
1 Kroger cat food
2 Kraft cheddars
1 All Bran fiber bars
2 Yopliat 4 packs
1 Fiber One yogurt
3 Warm Delights
1 Betty Crocker cookie mix
1 bagged salad
1 Kroger vegetable medley
1 Kozy Shack ready grains
1 Kroger fries
6 Pillsbury cinnamon rolls
2 Pillsbury biscuits
1 pack Tyson Chicken
2 Big K 12 pack sodas

After paper coupons, shortcuts, cellfire, clearance, Kroger plus deals...grand total: $33 even.

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Take $5 off of $25 at Walgreens using the coupon found here: http://www.walgreens.com/dmi/instorespecials/5off25.html?ec=hn6510s_mainimage

The $25 must be after all coupons.

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Get a $5 coupon for Zantac here: http://www.zantacotc.com/ Look in the upper right corner

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Next week there are some free after RR at Walgreens:

Rembrandt Toothpaste
Colgate 360 ActiFlex toothbrush
Carefree Pantyliners
Men's Zone 6 Blade Razor System

There are coupons out for the toothbrushes, and a Carefree coupon here: http://www.carefreeliners.com/special.jsp

Also, Breathe Right nasal strips will be .99 after RR. The coupons on their site isn't for the right size, so I will keep an eye out.

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Have a great shopping day!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Kroger, Walmart and make some cash!!

I had a fantastic shopping day yesterday. It exhausted me, but it was great. First, with the Kroger buy 10, get $5 off...if you lack some coupons, check out coupons.com (link to the left) because they have a lot to match up. Also, don't forget to load cellfire and shortcuts coupons to your card.

Here's what I got (I believe the prices are all correct...I'm doing this from the receipt):

2 Betty Crocker brownies - .75/2 paper coupon and .75/2 Shortcuts coupon .74 each
2 Old El Paso shells (soft and hard) - $1 on refried beans wyb 2 OEP products (refried beans also on the deal) - OEP shortcuts coupon .99 each
Old El Paso refried beans free w/ above coupon
Quaker Quakes - .50 coupon (doubled) .31 overage
Yo-plus yogurt- .50 coupon, doubled $1
2 Go-gurt - (2) .35 coupons - .80 Cellfire coupon .89 each
Toaster Strudel- .50 coupon (doubled) .49
Quaker Oatmeal squares cereal - $1.00 coupon .49
Quaker True Delights bars - $1.00 coupon .99
Betty Crocker Spiderman fruit snacks- .40 coupon (doubled) .69
Betty Crocker Transformers fruit snacks - .40 coupon (doubled) - .40 Cellfire coupon .29
2 BC Warm delights - (2) .50 coupons (doubled) , 1 .50 shortcuts coupon, and 1 .50 Cellfire coupon .39 each
2 Macaroni grill chicken marsala meals - $1.00 coupons $1.49 each
3 Hamburger Helpers- .75/2 (sent by Kroger) - .75/3 Shortcuts - 1 free wyb 3 Betty Crocker potatoes .29 overage (register took off regular price!)
3 BC potatoes - .40 Shortcuts .86 each
Betty Crocker Sugar cookies - .40 coupon (doubled) - .40 cellfire coupon .29
2 Pillsbury cinnamon rolls - .40 shortcuts - .40/2 coupon (doubled) .39 each
3 Grands Biscuits -.40/3 coupon (doubled) .72 each

A few other good deals- (3) Danimals crush cups clearanced .89 - $1 coupons .11 overage each
Tyson fresh chicken $2.44-1 coupon = $1.44
Simply Potatoes .98 each - $1/2 coupon = .96/2


I ended up with a cart full of food for $34.89 Total savings (coupon, bonus coupons, and Kroger plus- $72.67)

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My Walmart trip went like this:

Easy mac cups .76 each - .55/2 = .97/2
3 Glade candles - free coupons
Bounce dryer bar 3.97- $2.50 coupon = $1.47
3 Birdseye steamfresh corn $1.78 each - $1.50 coupons = .28 each
4 Chinet plates $2.54 each - $2 coupons = .54 each
3 Reach flosses $1 each - $1 coupons = FREE
Buffalo chicken jerky something or other $7.67- free coupon
2 Schick razors 12 ct $1.97 each - $3.00 coupons = $1.03 overage each
And my favorite...the Jennie-o turkey in the little pans are $3 each. I bought 2, used a $5 Jennie-o coupon and got them both for $1

Not a bad trip!
Walmart here is also resetting toys so a lot are going on clearance!

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Pinecone research sign ups are open...these are rare. Each survey (not household questions...they prequalify you for surveys) is paid $3 and I usually get a lot of product tests, too! You can be paid via Paypal https://www.pineconeresearch.com/Signup/Signup_Form.asp

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Walgreens is offering 20 free 4x6 prints today only with this code: 20FREE4ME

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Have a great shopping day!





Tuesday, August 18, 2009

I love shopping..

Ok, on the surface, it seems like I've been a bad girl and just abandoned you all, but this is not the case!!! My son had emergency surgery last Sunday (not the one that just passed) and I was dealing with that. He had his appendix out (in the middle of the night!) and he is fine now, thanks to some great and efficient doctors.

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SO, I had 2 really great Walgreens trips last week right before that, and now all of that is over, so there's not a big point in telling you that. However, this week, I had a $10 RR that was expiring Sunday that I needed to do something with, so I went Sunday afternoon. I bought the SoftSoap body wash that is free after RR for $3.99, 4 Starbucks drinks- they are on sale with the in-ad coupon again 4/$5 and I also had 4 $1 coupons, making them $1 for all 4, 3 packs of papermate pens at .49 each, and a Maybelline Great Lash mascara for $3.99..you get a catalina for a free one wyb one. It was $10.49 plus tax...I used the $10 RR and got back a $4 RR and one for a free mascara.

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Last week's trip to Walmart was pretty decent too. Some deals:

2 J&J first aid kits .97 - $1 coupons

2 Kellogg's special K (smaller boxes) $1.68- $1 coupons

3 Glade small candles - free coupons (I got extra inserts for these, I'm just going to spread them out!!)

2 small Transformer toys $4.97 each - BOGOF coupon (coupons.com)

2 Ziplock freezer bags $2 each - $1.50/2 coupon

4 2packs of Colgate toothpaste, clearanced for $1- $1 coupons (FREEEEEEEEE)

3 2 packs Reach toothbrushes clearanced for $1 each - $5/3 coupon ($2 overage!)

3 Chinet lunch plates $2.54 each- $2 coupon

Rolaids 3 pack $1.32 - $1 coupon

Reach floss $1- $1 coupon

Not bad huh?
I'm going back tomorrow.

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Kroger is doing a buy 10 select items, get $5 off. I am going to go through coupons and see what deal I can come up with. :)

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Have a great shopping day!

Monday, August 3, 2009

Food Lion, Walgreens and oh my!

First, I want to say I rarely shop at Food Lion...reason being, they don't double coupons and that breaks my heart...plus they are kind of out of the way from me. BUT, after doing some deal reading, I headed over yesterday.

Trip one: Food Lion had buy 1lb of Smithfield roast beef in the deli and get a pack of Kaiser rolls free. I went to combine this with a $3/$10 FLIP (Food Lion internet printable. If you sign up on the website, they will send you 4 random printables every week.)

Also Stella brand romano cheese in the deli was .99! It said $4 something regular.

My Kaiser rolls didn't come off but the manager refunded it...she was nice.

I bought some tortillas for $1.69 minus a $1 Guiding star FLIP (Guiding stars are on lots of things in the store, on the tags. This flip was god for anything with the stars on it)

I bought foil for .99 using a $1 360 (Private brand) Flip

Flushable wipes at $1.68 minus a $1.50 wipe flip

I also found that the Glade 3 wick candles are BOGOF and that made them $4.50. I have a bunch of $3 coupons, so I got them $1.50 each, plus they have new ones votive size for $3.19, so I got one using the same coupon. I'm going to go get more. I wasn't sure if there was a same coupon limit like Kroger, but when I asked the manager while she was refunding my Kaiser rolls, she said there wasn't!

I found 3lb ground beef shortdated and marked down to $3.13, a family pack of pork chops for $3.67, and 2 2 packs of steaks marked all the way down to $1.51 and $1.57. They were originally $8 something each.

I ended up spending $27 because I got some other things I just needed, but I ended up with 4 steaks, 3 lbs ground beef, bread, bologna, roast beef, kaiser rolls, 3 packs of tortillas, 2 romano cheeses, flushable wipes, aluminum foil, sour cream, 2 3 wick candles, 1 votive candle, and a family pack of pork chops for that price.


Trip 2 today:

2 Stella romano wedges (.99 each)
1 lb honey baked turkey (6.09)
1 lb honey baked turkey (5.93)
2 Glade 3 wick candles (8.99 each BOGOF)
4 smaller glade candles (5.99 each BOGOF)
1 Aluminum foil (.99)
1 Whiskas 4lb bag (3.50)
2 reeses whips bars (.89 BOGOF)
1 zero bar (.89 BOGOF)
360 flushable wipes ($1.68)
FL spaghetti, 2 lb ($1.99)

I used:
$1 360 flip
$1.50 wipes flip
$3/$10 deli flip
$1 Guiding star flip
$2 Whiskas IP
(6) $3 Glade

She subtotaled before I gave her my card and it was $40 something...total: $13.32

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Walgreens has a list of items in their ad that if you buy 8, you get $10 RR. There are Dove bodywashes, etc...but one item that caught my eye was Suave Deodorant. It was 25% off. I bought 8, and a bottle of Vitamin Shampoo that is free after RR. I used a .75/2 coupon for the deodorant (wish I had more, but it was a Redplum insert coupon and I don't get many Redplums, mostly Smartsource) and a previous $1 RR. My total was a little over $13 and I got $14 in RR back.

Another option I have not tried is to take the coupons for Dove from this past weekend and buy 4 Dove deodorants, 4 Dove body mists. Use 4 Dove BOGO and 4 $1.25 coupons (the $1.25 coupons are for the deodorants and with the BOGO coupon you get the mists free, so you are attaching those coupons to the mists, not the deodorant). This should bring your total to around $9 and get $10 RR back. The issue with this is whether your cashier will accept all 8 coupons or not.

There are also booklets in the photo dept on clearance, some as low as $7 that have a kit in them to make your own postage stamps. You send off for them with a picture of your choice and they are mailed to you. They get you .44 stamps for .30 some-odd cents. AND if you are a member of U-promise, you can do it through them and get $8 deposited in your account.

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Kroger had P&G items buy 4, get $4 off. You can also load P&G e-saver coupons on your shopping card to use with paper coupons. You can get to that site through the Kroger website.
I went and double dipped shampoo, etc, but now that I have the new P&G booklet, I will go with my Covergirl coupons and use those. Use the $2.50/2 coupons to make them free or even money makers, depending on the makeup you get!!!

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If your child has a Leapfrog toy, sign up for the learning path and get a book free!

http://www.leapfrog.com/en/freebook/splash.html

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Want free food? Schwans is offering $10 in free food to the first 500,000 new customers to sign up. It will be delivered to your door! Go here: http://www.schwans.com/promos/freefood/freeFoodBegin.aspx

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Go to the Kelloggs website and print off the rebate form that says Fuel for School. Buy 10 Kelloggs items, get $10 back, plus a $70 Dell code. Kelloggs are on sale everywhere right now. There are also coupons on Coupons.com (link to the left!) for Kelloggs products.

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Hopefully I will get back on a normal track soon..the kids go back to school on Wednesday! WOO HOO!! Have a great shopping day!