Day Thirty: A Mediocre Experience

Tonight I made my first venture to Crest.  They accept coupons except for internet printed ones and do not double.  However, there were still some good deals to be had.  Here are some of the ones we found:

Ziplock Food Storage Containers $0.99 - use $1.50/2 Sunday paper coupon to make them $0.24 each!  Variety of sizes ranging from 1-5 containers per pack. 
Ziplock Food Storage Bags $0.99 - use $1.00/2 Sunday paper coupon to make them $0.49 each.
Ken's salad dressing $1.25 - use $1.00/1 Sunday paper coupon to make them $0.25 each.
Sargento sliced cheese $1.67 - use $2.00/2 Manufacturer coupon from Homeland flyer to get 2 packs for $0.67 each.  (Must be reduced fat or reduced sodium, but there was a good variety available.)
Tornados $1.50 - use $1.00/1 Sunday paper coupon to make them $0.50 each or $0.50 coupon from inside a previously purchased Tornados to make them $1.00 each.
Tyson Anytizers $2.50 - use $1.00/1 box Sunday paper coupon to make them $1.50 each.
Suave deodorant $0.68 - use $0.50/1 Sunday paper coupon to make them $0.18 each.
Craisins 4/$5.00 - use $1.00/1 coupon from bottle of Ocean Spray juice to make them $0.25 each.
Cheese Nips $1.29 - use $1.00/1 Nabisco crackers coupon from Sunday paper to make them $0.29 each.
Friskies Party Mix cat treats $1.42 - use $2.00/2 coupon with two BOGO coupons to get 4 for $0.84 or $0.21 each.

To determine a more specific date/type of insert the coupon you seek can be found in, try checking the Personal Coupon Box at Deal Seeking Mom.  This is something I've been working on but it will take some time to locate each of the huge number of coupons in my library so your patience in the meantime is appreciated!

There were a few more items on my list that were supposed to be very good deals, only the cash register rang them up at the wrong price.  For example, the Roland olives I picked up for my husband despite not having a coupon should have been $0.69, but they rang up at $2.00.  It took some scouring through the receipt after it printed to find the discrepancies, and the store manager stated that we would have to come back tomorrow as Customer Service was closed for the night despite the store being open 24 hours.  That coupled with the cashier's questioning of each and every coupon in my stack (I had to pull out and display the physical items each time so she could be sure I had the right number, size and brand) and several attempts to tell me I could not use certain coupons (she did not want to use the $1.50/2 ziplock container coupons, for example, because she thought it would cause an overage even though I was still paying $0.24 apiece) caused a somewhat disappointing end to a fun evening.  My receipt only showed a savings of 42%; however, nearly all the items purchased would have cost a good deal more at Homeland and once the erroneous items are corrected or removed the percentage should jump significantly. 

One exciting thing I noticed after getting home was a label on my Arm & Hammer baking soda purchase.  It only cost $0.54 for a 1lb package, and 5there is a mail-in rebate on the back!  For this to work you need to buy one Arm & Hammer baking soda 1 lb. and one Arm & Hammer liquid laundry detergent in the same purchase.  They must be bought in the same transaction and between 09/07/09 and 02/15/10 - just 5 days away!  The laundry detergent is on sale 2/$5.00 at Crest right now so the refund would be good for $2.50.  (the refund will return the price of laundry detergent up to a maximum of $5.00). 
Deal idea: Buy 2x laundry detergent and 1x baking soda.  Use $1.00/2 laundry detergent coupon found in or on various packages of Arm & Hammer product.  Spend $4.54.  Submit for $2.50 mail-in rebate.  Final cost: $2.04 + tax for 2 laundry detergents and 1lb. of baking soda.  Not bad!! 

Day Twenty-Seven: Odds and Ends

Couponing to Disney put up a nifty link to the Recycle Bank where you can earn points and spend them on coupons like $4/$20 at CVS, Buy any Green Works product and get $5 off their laundry detergent, free Seventh Generation baby wipes, all purpose cleaner, or dish liquid, BOGO Huggies Diapers, $1/2 Bumblebee products, BOGO Celestial Seasonings Tea, $1/1 Coca Cola product, free box of Kashi cereal, $2/1 Pom Juice, and more!  You get 40 points for registering (not 100 as it stated on Couponing to Disney; maybe because Oklahoma City does not offer a curbside recycling program) and 50 for agreeing to the Ebay deal which is enough to redeem at least one coupon!

Also check out this money-making mail in rebate deal for Schick razors!  Mail-in rebates can really help bolster your coupon fund and they aren't a whole lot of work.  My first two mail-in rebate checks arrived in the mail this past week.  It sure felt great to open those envelopes and find money instead of bills!!

Visit Bite of OKC for 50% off gift certificates to local restaurants.  There is one restaurant featured each week and these are not the same as the restaurants advertised by Coupon Mom (restaurant.com).  By the way, until Monday, February 8th you can input code BLOOM at restaurant.com to save 60% (making a $25 gift card just $4) AND get a $15 FTD reward for flower savings! 

On Saturday, February 20th from 10am - 3pm, Auntie Anne's will be giving away free pretzels!  There is one in the Quail Springs Mall as well as one in Penn Square Mall.  If you sign up, you can also get a coupon for a free original or cinnamon sugar pretzel when you buy any pretzel, pretzel dog, or stix.  Today, for a free pepperoni pretzel when you buy any pretzel dog or stix. 

If you are planning to hit Walmart sometime soon, be sure to check out Passion for Savings, formerly known as NWA Deals.  Some of these deals (such as tabasco sauce and rhodes rolls) are better at Homeland, but it is definitely good to see what all your options are! 

Homeland has booklets of coupons for $1.00 off produce when you buy Earthgrain Bread.  This is really awesome bread, very healthy and delicious, and it's so nice to be able to choose any produce you like to go with it!  Stop by Earthgrain's website for a $0.75/1 coupon (Do not Double) to sweeten the deal, or grab the $0.55/1 coupon from this week's paper!

Sign up at Eat Better America for a $10 coupon booklet.  It doesn't say what the coupons are for so this will be a fun surprise.  You can also print coupons at their site!

Day Two: Into the Deep End

It looks like this is a fantastic week at Homeland, so be sure to visit "Simple Saving Savvy" (also shown in the links section to the right) for the first round of match-ups.  My plan for the week's shopping is to meet up with Valerie (a fellow couponer encountered at CVS) on Friday evening to knock out Homeland together, as her computer is on the fritz so she is not able to access the current lists. 

Tonight held an impromptu Walgreen's session with Mayalynn Rin, who scored over $100 savings and spent only half that, and picked up everything she needed for the $10 Johnson and Johnson Mail-in Rebate (Click on Beauty Care Savings Center on the left bar of coupons.com).  We will go again on Saturday at 10pm, to catch that magical window when the sales prices from both weeks are active, although the register rewards for the new week will not print until after midnight.  By going at this time we avoid the crowd, visit with the same cashiers, and maximize our chances at getting the hottest deals before they're all gone! 

New today on the blog are the Freebies link section and "About the Author."  It has also accrued its first fan and apparently been posted to stumbleupon.  (Eek!)  It looks like content will have to be generated at a faster rate than originally planned.  Always good to stay on one's toes...