Vegas on a dime without feeling cheap

There are certain times in Vegas where the city is deserted. December is one of them and you can pick up some killer room rates. If you do a quick search you'll see you can get rooms for as little as $12 a night. We chose to stay somewhere new at the Rumor Hotel. Rumor is a boutique hotel that is not attached to a hotel. This is perfect if you plan to drive to several other hotels for food and entertainment because the time to get from the door to you car is about 30 seconds and valet is equally efficient.

We paid $41 for a suite that would go for about $200 on a busier weekend. Like all things in Vegas you get a lot of style for your money. Though as lovely as the hotel was it didn't have the glitz and glamour as some of the more upscale hotels such as the Bellagio but we'd paid $300-400 a room for that luxury so for 10% for 80% of the style well this couponista will take that bargain any day.

Service was great for the price not excellent but personalized. When we checked out they knew what room we were in and they had our car out front without asking. Though the entire city was deserted so we may have simply been the last guest scheduled to check out that day.

The room was almost exactly what was pictured on the website and we had a suite that stepped right out onto the pool area. Pity it was freezing!

To save money and time we drove ( yes driving from LA is quicker than flying nowadays ) plus when you have your own car in Vegas you save big bucks on taxis. Valet is always free and you just have to tip $1-2. Having your car out front already buys the valet a nice $5. If you lose your valet ticket and they find your car for you anything less than $10 is being cheap and mean. One thing we NEVER skimp on its tips. These are your fellow human beings here trying to make money to take care of their families. Don't be a jackhole and stiff them just because you think shouldn't have to pay.

Another thing I don't skimp on is food but again that doesn't mean you can't save. I love a good buffet and my 3 favorites are the Bellagio, The Rio and The Wynn. The Wynn buffet can run you $36 a person at night but during lunch is about half that at $18-20.

If you like to play the slots make sure to join the casinos slot club. Usually they'll give you a few bucks to play with. You can stretch that into an hour of entertainment. Grab a free cocktail ( don't forget to tip!) and your on your way to a good time. Don't forget to quit while your ahead

Turning of the TIDE

I have to admit I'm not really that brand loyal when it comes to cleaning products. I think they all have the same ingredients and paying significantly more doesn't make sense. Of course some very low end laundry detergents are low quality but the average laundry detergent is good enough for me. So I'm not a TIDE girl.  I know TIDE devotees swear up and down that TIDE cleans better than the others but I'm just NOT interested.

What I am interested in is paying less for more. So when the TIDE's aligned  I was receptive to trying new things in the laundry department.

The sale was on the TIDE 32 loads bottles which sell for around $9 a CVS. Might be (probably) cheaper at the supermarket. This week they are on sale for $5.94 PLUS they are part of the buy $30 get a $10 Gift Card PLUS I had a $5/25 CVS Coupon and 5x $2/1 TIDE coupons. The math breaks down like this.

Regular Retail $45

5x $5.94 = $29.70 - $5/25 = $24.70 - 5x $2/1 = $14.90 - $10 Giftcard received = $4.70

94c a bottle.

I used my ECB that I earned on Thanksgiving Day so I only paid 91c OOP and a got a $10 American Express Giftcard back effectively turning my ECB's into cash. You'll notice I only had $29.70 towards the spend $30 get $10. CVS gives you a leeway of about 50c on these deals. YMMV though.

Thanksgiving Day CVS Haul

I came I saw I got my Extra Bucks on.

I rolled into my favorite CVS store at 9:30 in the morning and didn't really expect much since it seemed my fellow couponer's on AFC were going at either Midnight or 6am. I excepted to get there and the cupboard to be bare.

A pleasant surprise not only were my husband and I the only people in the store but the store was fully stocked with all the freebies and all labelled too. I didn't get everything that was free since I'm well stocked on cold and flu items. The only things I "forgot" to get since I was so happy to have gotten everything was the coffee drinks which I wouldn't have drunk anyways and the toothbrushes and balance bars. Not a big deal since they come as freebies on a regular basis.

I won't do an elaborate breakdown. I did 2 transactions. One on each card. Paid $31.73 OOP after coupons and the $13 ECB I had coming in. I didn't have many ECB's which is why only 2 transactions and why I didn't get everything. Came out with $62.32 in ECB's. Overall I got a retail value of $87.22 and it was a Money Maker of $17.54.

Mixed Feelings About Black Friday

You would think as a bargain hunter I would be all gung ho to burst out of my apartment at some ungodly to head to the stores. Alas dear reader I shall not. Why? Because the bargains aren't that good on Black Friday. The first year after I moved to the States I lined up super early at Best Buy to buy a CD Writer ( hey those things used to be pricey) of course have been in the country for all of 3 weeks I wasn't aware of the strategies involved or where things were located or the fact they store may only have 3 of them. Needless to say I left empty handed and bitter.

I DO plan to go over to CVS sometime on Thanksgiving Day so see if I can get some of there bargains but if I can't I'm not going to be super upset because those deals will roll around again just one at a time not all at once.

Whats your Black Friday strategy?

Righty's Haul

When my sister from New Zealand came to visit a few months ago she had a desperate need for a flat iron at 1am in the morning so off to Rite Aid we went. Except she doesn't call it Rite Aid she calls it "Righty's" much in the same way my mother dubbed the 110-105 interchange "Spaghetti Junction" Not sure if it's a hereditary thing or if it's a New Zealand thing. Need more data on that one. Anyways the name has stuck in my household so off to Righty's it is. This week I did 3 different deals

Deal #1 was the Slimfast deal: Buy $25 Get $10 +UPs. The 4 packs were on sale for $5 each I had 4x$1.50/1 and 1x 0.95c/1 coupons. So the math works out like this:

5 x $5 = $25 - 4($1.50) - 0.95c = $18.05 - $10 = $8.05 = $1.61 4pk or 40c bottle.

Deal #2 was on some Almay Eyeshadow. They were on sale BOGO50% PLUS plus one get $4+UP (limit 2) I also used 2x $1/1 coupons I had grabbed off a display tear pad at CVS. 

2($7.49) - 50% off second item $3.74 = $11.22 -2($1) = $9.22 - 2($4+UP) = $1.22 or 61c each

Deal #3 was my favorite the Wet N Wild deal. All Wet N Wild 40% off PLUS Spend $10 after discount and get $3+Up (limit 2) I got 4 of the 6 eyeshadow palettes. These things have a cult following and can be hard to find in other parts of the country. I had 4 $1/1 Wet n Wild coupons left. Here's what I paid.

4($4.99) - 40%off 4($1.99) = $12 - 4($1) = $8 - $3+UP = $5 or $1.25 each

A balm to heal your soul

Or that must be what drives me to buy so many lip-balms. Every time a lip-balm comes up on sale I HAVE to buy it and not just ONE but several. Luckily there are store limits so I don't have a collection of 1000 lip-balms (yet).

Most of them I got for free after store incentives and coupons. Walgreens is the holy grail of lip-balms. I acquired most of my burgeoning collection from there. Every other week they seem to have a lip-balm for free after Register Rewards usually a Blistex or Carmex one. The Maybelline Baby Lips I got in last weeks CVS gift card/BOGO50% sale. The Nivea ones were free for the blue "Touch of Smoothness" ones and 50c each for the others.

To be fair I do have a history of losing lip-balms and they do get gunky and unhygienic pretty quickly but I wonder how long it will take to go through this many. Maybe I should stop buying them?

Nah!

Maybe she's born with it.

Or Maybe it's Maybelline.


I have to admit I'm not that impressed with Maybelline and I would never pay full price for any other their product except for their Great Lashes mascara though nowadays there are better mascaras out there. It has nothing to do with the quality of their product more that their image is not attractive to me. It's more your mother's makeup.


But I don't let that get between me and a deal. This week at CVS they have a BOGO50% sale paired with a Buy $30 get a $10 gift card. I also had 2 of the free Illy coupons which worked into my senario nicely as it gave me a little bit of overage. Here's how things played out.

The retail price for Maybelline is ALOT more in my stores than it is online about $2 more in some cases so that threw my scenarios off a little.

2 Maybelline Baby Lips $4.29 + $2.14
2 Maybelline Color Sensational Lipliners $7.99 + $3.99
2 Maybelline Shine Sensational Lip Gloss $7.49 + $3.74

Total pre-coupon for Maybelline: $29.64

2 Illy Cappuccino Drinks $2 (the coupons gave me 50c overage each)

Grand Total before coupons: $31.64

Coupons used: 6x $2/1 Maybelline Lip Color + 2x $2.49 Illy Coffee Drink

Total after coupons $14.66
Received $10 American Express Gift Card

Final Cost after gift card $4.66.
Final Cost after 10% back from Beauty Club about $1.50
Breakdown per item 77c or 25c after Beauty Club


For that price maybe I could be a Maybelline girl. At least until the next makeup sale.

Nielsen Consumer Panel

Now if your even vaguely familiar with T.V ratings you will have heard of A.C Nielsen Company. What you may not know is that do more than just TV ratings they also have a Home Scan program where buyers record all their purchases into a scanner and upload it once a week. They also have the participants answers surveys about their buying habits and why they buy what they buy. I applied to join their National Consumer Panel (which is what the renamed the HomeScan program to) to be one of their panelists and I was chosen to receive a scanner and become a panelist.

I've always had a love of making my opinion know and I love to answer surveys. I actually was a radio ratings participate when I was a teen in New Zealand where they gave you a cute little notebook to write down what radio stations you listened to, at what time and for how long. Everyone in the house had their own and were to record their listening for 2 weeks. I was overjoyed. Of course I didn't really listen to that much radio but pencilled in what I though were cool teen appropriate choices. Alas my mother started recording her stations into my notebook so the ratings people probably thought I was a very dorky 13yo that listened to Cool FM which you KNOW is anything but.

So fast forward to about 10 days ago when my scanner finally arrive. It's a very cool retro looking thing and it took a bit of learning to get the scanning down right as it has this little pointy protrusion that you run over the barcode to scan. Though once you got that down it's fun and easy to use.

Transmitting was a bit of a challenge though it was eventually pinpointed down to the fact that the mouthpiece of my retro Pottery Barn phone could not make a tight seal with the speaker on my scanner. Plugged in a old phone with a regular mouthpiece. Works like a charm. I had assumed when I joined the panel that the scanner would sync via the internet but it actually transmits over the phone like a fax machine. A little weird but I guess they want a cross section of opinions not just those with the internet. Fair enough.

Now I would have done this just for the smugness that comes from know my opinion counts just a little bit more than yours. However they do allow you to earn points to earn gifts so thats a plus. But the BEST part about it? The scanner has a coupon button on it. I am going wear that thing out!

Lumene Your Life

Now I originally did not see this in last week's flyer when I first looked over it so was not fully prepared for this sale. While Don Coupon was getting his flu shot at the Minute Clinic I took the time to wander up and down the aisles as CVS and stumbled across a sale for Lumene for Buy One Get One 75% off. Of course I silently squealed with delight knowing I could order some $4/1 coupons and combine them with the $5/20 skincare coupons that the magic coupon machine was spitting out. I ended up doing 4 transactions over 3 cards to score all kinds of lotions and potions.

So here is how it broke down. The prices listed are the regular full price for that item. Each pair of items rung up as one at full price and one at 75%. I ordered 10 of the $4/1 Lumene coupons. The coupons excluded trial sizes and 10c wipes. I DID have to exchange one of the wipes packettes because after I unpacked my haul I noticed one had been opened and some of the wipes used. EEEWWW. Luckily CVS did not give me any hassles about that.

Trans #1 11/2 
10 Lumene 10ct wipes. $3.19 

No manufacturers coupons used. Used $5/20 skincare. Was $15 for 10 packs paid for with GC and ECB's $0 OOP

Trans #2 11/3
Pure Radiance Night Cream $23.99
Pure Radiance Beauty Drops $23.99
Used $5/20 and 2x $4/1 Qs Came to $13.88 after Qs $3.88 OOP after ECB

Trans #3 11/3
Radiant Touch Toner $11.79
Radiant Touch Moisturizing Cream Cleanser $11.79
2x Arctic Touch Deep Cleansing Peat Masking $10.49

Used $5/20 and 4x $4/1 Qs $6.84 OOP $1.84 after ECB's

Transaction #4

2x  Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover $6.79

Used 2x $4/1 Qs OOP $0.48c. Gave last two coupons to the cashier. Grand total $5.42 + tax OOP. I earned $5 Beauty Bucks on each account which gives me $15 to replenish some of the ECB's I used to lower my OOP.

Total Retail Value : $138.02 I could have dropped that at Sephora for one cream and a toner. I am proud of my haul. My goal of buying one of everything in the line is almost complete. 

Wet n Wild Haul.

So I decided to get the Wet N Wild 8 Shadow Palettes with some of my $1/1 coupons.  I got "Blue had me at hello" "Comfort Zone" and "Petal Pusher". The regular price is $4.99 so with the $1 discount they came out to $3.99. Only a 20% savings over retail but the real value come when you compare them to MAC eyeshadows as many of the colors are near duplicates of MAC shadows and the quality of the Wet n Wild Palette is pretty good the colors are very pigmented.

Ok so for each palette there are 8 shadows at a cost of 25c each.  A Mac shadow is about $15 so retail at MAC the same colors would cost you $120 for a palette. Now the Wet n Wild pans are about 1/2 of a normal MAC so in reality about a $60 value.

A 97% savings?

Free and Wild!

This coupon in my sunday preview paper makes me happy. I like Wet n Wild that make cheap but fairly good quality makeup items if you know what to look for. Their "666" lip pencil is infamous. W n W is good for trying out crazy new colors you'd NEVER pay full price for. With many items for 99c or less this makes a nice free thrill.

The wording is weird though. $1 off on any wet n wild eye, lip and nail products/

So is it $1 off any 1 or just $1 off any products you happen to be buying. IDK Theres no one per purchase disclaimer either. It seems like it was written by a copywriter who is not used to writing coupon fine print.

I'm going to use it as a $1/1 because that makes sense but if I buy more than 1 item does that preclude me from using more than one coupon? Thoughts?

Bargain or Bust?

I'm a Stila makeup girl ( Smashbox too ) I've been really good and haven't bought any very high end makeup in over a year. Last year Stila released a holiday eyeshadow palette that was like a color wheel. I really really really wanted that but refrained because it was a need. So I've been pining over it ever since.

This year they released another one a "Dreamcatcher" palette that also included blush and came with a free eye pencil. This year it seemed like a better bargain coming with 7 blushes and 29 eyeshadows and the aforementioned smudge stick eye pencil. The cost $39 a bargain for prestige cosmetics but a fortune when you can compare it to what you can get at the drugstore will deals and coupons.

I had just received my $10 P&G rebate gift card so I used that to reduce my OOP to $29. Now on the box it states you are getting a $366 value which I guess is based on the concept of you buying each eyeshadow individually  A single eyeshadow from Stila is $18 and blushes are $20 and I HAVE paid that in the past. Of course these aren't full size pans but let's compare anyways  29 x $18 = $522 plus 7 x $20 = $140 plus the smudge stick alone is $22 so bought individually it would cost you $684 so I guess the retail value figure is probably correct prorated based on how much of each color you get.

Of course good couponistas would NEVER pay that much for fear of having their binder seized and their coupon privileges revocked. So lets see how this compares to other bargains. So I paid $29 for it. Now lets assume that we got the $22 smudge stick for 50% off so $29 - $11 = $18.  Ok divide that by the 36 eyeshadow + blushes it comes out to 50c per color which is exactly what I paid for the Covergirl singles in this weeks CVS sale. Now the pros and cons. Pro = better quality shadow than Covergirl. Cons = Less product than the Covergirl singles.

I think its a bargain. I have Stila palettes that have lasted me for years and colors are fantastic. What do your think. Bargain or Bust?

Mailbox Surprises: Target Beauty Bag

I received this little gift from Target yesterday in the mail. I had submitted for it months ago when I first started being a "extreme couponer" All the other bloggers had reported receiving theirs so I assumed I was SOL. Before whenever I used to try and get those little beauty giveaways I would always be the last to know and miss out. Now I'm connected to the freebie matrix I've had ALOT more success.

The best part about this freebie is the bag. Its a nice quality lined little cosmetics bag and came at the perfect time as I was hunting around for something to put my eye pencils and mascaras in. Problem solved! The coupon booklet was disappointing. Not because the coupons weren't goo but because they expire in 2 weeks. Sadness :( . The samples were a 5pk of Ponds Cleansing Wipes. Always useful. A sample of John Frieda's Full Repair Shampoo and Conditioner. Probably more excited about the attached coupon though it's actually printed on an empty foil packet. I know the cashier I present that one to will be like Huh? There are also samples of Tressemme and Garnier and a sample of L'Oreal's Youth Code. Have wanted to try there creams but they don't have the super coupon deals like Olay does.

All in all a nice little mailbox surprise.

Got a dirty mouth? Clean it up!

Now when I first started using coupons one of my goals was to find a good deal on whitening strips for your teeth. I had first started to use them when they came out several years ago and the price was reasonable but then they started to add more claims and features I started buying them less and less as the price when up and up. I  think a set of white strips costs now between $35-50. Even with a $10 coupon that is pricey especially since I don't do the full course but just use one here and there to just lift the surface stains off. I've heard there are trial packs of the white strips but I've never seen them.

The night before I found this deal I had had a coupon dream about finding a killer deal on Crest White Strips. So you can imagine my delight at discovering that the Krazy Coupon Lady had posted a deal to get a 7 day supply of white strips for free. The deal was that you signed up as a new customer of SaveMore.com and they gave you a $10 credit. Then under the daily deals was a deal from Smile Bright for a 7 day supply of white strips for $7 ( normally $29 ). Use your $10 credit and they were free. If its free it's me.

Now this deal wasn't without it's hassles. I received my order on 11/1/11 but the order was originally placed on 9/9/11 so 8 weeks for the product to arrive and I had to contact Smile Bright several times and eventually had to contact SaveMore to ensure I got my order. Based on that alone I would not reorder. Also the strips come in very plain unmarked packaging. I'm sure they will work just the same maybe better but if you love fancy packaging this may not be the deal for you.

BOGO's and Coupons and +Up's OH MY!

My favorite type of couponing are the more subtle deals. The ones that require combing this sale and that coupon and getting that incentive or rebate. The type of bargain hunting the average person can't or won't do.

The weekly sale at Rite Aid starts on Friday in Southern California and often the big coupon matchup sites don't have their drugstore matches up until late Saturday but I wanted to shop today so I had to make my own deals. The early start usually gives me a chance to use coupons that expire before Sunday which is a nice perk

 This week select Gillette and Old Spice Bodywashes, sprays and deodorants are on sale BOGO50% which for those of you not familiar with the slang means Buy One at full price Get One 50% off. There is also another promotion which is spend $50 on select P&G products get $15 +UP's back. I had some $2/1 Gillette Bodywash, $2/1 Gillette Deodorant, $2/1 Old Spice Body Spray and $1/1 Any Old Spice Product coupons that expire 10/31. So I wanted to put them to good use.

Now Rite Aid has a coupon policy that only lets you use 4 like coupons per transaction and the register will actually beep at the cashier when they try to scan more than 4 so you can't be sneaky and try and sneak an extra coupon or two through. Now my cashiers at my local Rite Aid know this and will ask you if you want to do multiple transactions which is why I like that location. I don't actually ever DO multiple transactions but it' nice to have the option. I had preplanned my trip to only use 4 of each coupon as the P&G coupons have wording on them that limits them to 4 like coupons per shopping trip and I like to honor that where possible.

I bought 4 Gillette Body Washes, 4 Gillette Deodorants, 4 Old Spice Body Sprays and 2 Old Spice Body Washes. I had $2/1 coupons for everything except the Old Spice Body Wash which I used the $1/1 ANY Old Spice product coupons on. All of them were $4.99 regular retail which makes the math really easy. The regular retail price was $69.86. With the BOGO50% the precoupon/tax total was $52.36 which was enough to trigger the spend $50 get $15 deal. After coupons the total was $26.36. I used a $15 +UP from last week. Paid $11.36 + tax in cash and got a $15 +UP to replace the one I spent.

An 84% savings over regular retail price. Now of course the bargain doesn't stop there. Each bodywash came with a free mini deodorant. These travel sized deodorants normally sell for about $1 at Target so thats another $6 in retail value. If I had done separate transactions and not gotten the Old Spice Body Wash and gotten another 2 of the products I had $2/1 coupons for I would have gotten change from a $10 bill.

I'm happy with the deal I got though 20 items for $12 thats 60c each which is my buy price for premium body wash and deodorant. Besides I'm an Old Spice girl. Don Coupon will be smelling good for a good while to come.

Even Squirrels Love Coupons!

Filmed this little guy outside my apartment. I was being frugal and licking the last remains of the peanut butter from the jar. Then through the corner of my eye I see this squirrel barreling down the driveway making a beeline for my door. He stood outside sniffing. I put the jar outside to see what would happen.

The Skippy Peanut Butter was naturally purchased with a coupon I think I paid about 50c for the jar. Secret Squirrel appreciated and approved of my purchase! Maybe he'd like to try the Planters next time.

Tell me a story...

I'm a sucker for a good story. A color story that is.

To quote Mary Lisa Gavenas 

"A story. That's what women get when they come to the beauty counter. A parable that takes strange, scary styles and explains them as something any women can own and wear. A diversion, an amusement, a distraction from woes and worries. A fantasy, a fable, a romance with a role for them to play"

With couponing to get the best deals on makeup you have to buy multiples of single items. Blushes or lipsticks or eye shadows. To get the whole story, the whole package will cost you a whole lot more. But let's face it we crave the story. We can't look like the model and live the fantasy like but you can wear the lipstick.

I wanted to see if I COULD buy the whole story and see how much I would save. I KNEW I wouldn't get it down to free but I could keep the OOP down and with using drugstore rewards maybe not pay any cash out of pocket.

Color stories are usually consisted of a few lipsticks a light one, a dark one and a crazy one and warm and cool eye shadows and sometimes matching blushes and eyeliners/mascaras. I'm normally inspired by the eye shadows and that's usually what I buy assuming I can match it up with a lipstick when I get home. I used to end up with eye shadows and no lipstick and no blush or only lip glosses.

 I was originally inspired by the L'Oreal Project Runway Fanciful Fowls collection and in particular the Watchful Owl color way. Color stories don't tend to stay on the store floor very long. Stock is limited so despite this collection being heavily advertised in all the Rite-Aid flyer's this month it was no where to be found in store.

I had seen it in store at CVS but Rite Aid had the far better deal this week with all L'Oreal being Buy One Get One 50% off PLUS $15 +UP rewards when you spend $50 before coupons. I DID end up buying two color collections. The "Color of Hope" collection. This collection is produced every year in support of ovarian cancer and L'Oreal donates $1 for each item purchased from the collection. The collection itself consisted only of eyeshadow palettes and lipsticks. I got the warm palette "Nostalgic Beauty" and the cool palette "Sentimental Splendor" and two lipsticks "Faithful" and Courageous" I chose what I thought were complementary blushes and a grey and brown eyeliners which I think are more wearable than black.

For coupons I had several $1/1 any L'Oreal Cosmetic, $1/1 any L'Oreal Eyeshadow and $2/1 any Blush. I also had a Rite Aid Video Values Coupon for $2/1  Color Riche Lipstick. With all the coupons and +UP I had from last weeks deals I paid $22.83 with taxes and got $15 +UP back. Not bad for 2 "stories"

Just dab a quarter sized amount on.

A quarter sized checkout that is as in 25c.

I really like taking good care of my skin and Sephora has traditionally been my first stop for my skin care needs but when you think about it Sephora's whole concept is to have a drug store like feel where you can browse or shop without the sales people getting in the way. Or it used to be. I remember the first Sephora's so nice and clean, it was fun to sample and play but now they have too many makeup artists annoying you and the displays are alway s empty and grotty dirty that it doesn't really make me want to buy. That and my coach wallet has a hole in it.

So as part of my savings adventure it makes sense to see how far my skin dollars can go. I have been buying my Retin-A from Mexico for years so I'm not stranger to skin care adventure.

Everything you see was purchased for 23c + tax cash OOP. I DID use some ECB/+UP/ so if you were to recreate these hauls without any ECB or +UP's banked up You might pay $15 for over $100 worth of skin care products. In addition to only paying 25c out of pocket I received back $10+UP from Rite Aid $10 ECB from CVS and $10 CVS Beauty Bucks.

The first transaction at CVS I did I picked up the Lumene Anti-Puffiness Roll-on Eye Serum. It was on clearance for $2.10 and I used a $4 off Lumene coupon. The coupon should have been adjusted down but was not and the overage applied to the rest of my transaction.

The second transaction at CVS was the Lumene deal. Spend $20 get $5ECB I bought the Lumene Radiant Touch Toner and the Arctic Touch Deep Cleaning Peat Mask. Both were $11.79 each and I used a $4/1 coupon on each.

The third transaction was at Rite Aid. The sale was buy one get one 50% and then also buy $30 get $10+UP. Then you could submit for the $10 Olay rebate  as well. I used the $3/1 any Regenerist Moisturizer or Cleanser coupons. This was the transaction that was 23c OOP. The other two came out a zero balance.

 If you just wanted to buy moisturizer you could use the $10/2 coupon thats for the more expensive moisturizer only. It would be $35 for 2 of the moisturizers -$10/2  plus submit for the rebate and get the $10 +UPs so $5 for 2 expensive moisturizers.

For a money maker you could buy 6 of the $7.99 cleansers and use 6 of the $3/1 coupons and receive the +UPs and the rebate for a $3MM. You'd have to do two transaction because of the P&G limit and Rite Aid's own limit 4 of each kind of coupon.

My last transaction was a MM transaction and a zero balance before taxes even without ECB. I have two CVS cards so I was able to get the Lumene deal twice. These little pots were $3.99 each and I had a $4/1 coupons. Now the coupon DID say they were not to be used on trial products but I researched and it seemed this company makes an even smaller pot that is the trial size and that others had not had any problems using thing coupon on this item. So due diligence done and my CVS had no problem with them and if they had I wouldn't have fought them on it.

So my total was -.05 before taxes plus I received $5 ECB making it a $5MM. It also triggered me over for another $5 Beauty ECB.

Not bad for a budding frugalista.

The Green Bag Tag

In my haste I forgot to mention the third reason I love CVS: The Green Bag Tag.

The way it works is pretty simple. You buy one for  $1. They are available at the checkout counter where the CVS giftcards are usually kept. The cashier will scan it every time you make a purchase and decline a plastic bag. You can either use your own bag : reusable, recycled plastic, paper etc type doesn't matter OR just hand carry your items out. For ever 4 scans you will receive $1 ECB so 25c a transaction.

Fine print: You can only get the credit once per card per day. Picking up prescriptions count which is good since they come in their own bag. If you a shopping with a friend you can both use the same green bag tag as they are not tied to a particular card.

I keep mine on my keychain so I never forget it.

Big Box Mart

'Cause now my house is full of crap and it used to be empty!

I still giggle at this video. It's an oldie but a goodie from '05 but it rings true now more than ever.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Except you probably don't still have a house or credit cards but Walmart is still there for you *wink wink*

Oh CVS how I love thee

I heart Huckabees  CVS

Unlike Walmart which I do NOT heart CVS is really the apple of my couponing eye. It's easy and friendly to coupon at and the staff is friendly and the store is well stocked and red very very very red.

There are three things that makes CVS my first choice in stores to coupon at and the one I recommend that people learn to coupon at first. The Extra Care Rewards Bucks, the Green Bag Tag and the "Magic Coupon Machine."

Extra Care Bucks are store credit that you can earn on certain deals to make the actual cost of the item lower or even free. ECB's as the are commonly called can be used on basically anything thing in the store except booze, pills and ciggies. The are tied into your CVS Extra Care card so your going to need one in order to earn and spend them.

If you've never shopped at CVS before the FIRST you need to get is a CVS Extra Care rewards card. You can pick them up in person from the store or they will actually mail them to you if you register online ( you can print out a temporary card )

Now you can just march yourself into the store and just start saving OR you can take your card and log onto CVS.com and register your card and sign up for Email Savings and CVS will send you a $4 off your $20 purchase. Also go to the "Moneytrashers Pledge' site to earn $2 free ECB to spend on your next purchase.

Ok so now your in the store the first thing you want to do is scan you CVS at the big red kiosk aka the MAGIC COUPON MACHINE. It looks like a price scanner which is what it doubles as. You scan your card or key fob and coupons will print out the side. Don't just scan it once, scan it until it tells you no more coupons. Sometimes the coupons are coupons you can "stack" or use at the same time as another manufacturers coupon or a coupon for x amount off your next purchase. But the BEST coupons are for free times. The free coupons that have printed out in the last few weeks: ALL kinds of candy, band aids, body wash, Advil and cookies.

Ok you've scanned your card and got your coupons and maybe scored a CVS coupon for something free. Whats next? Well your next move will depend on whats on sale that week. Something I recommend planning ahead but your awesome and you can do ok doing it on the fly. Some deals you don't even NEED coupons for.

Here's the deal I did this week:

1 Box of pur-Absorb Iron Supplement $21.99 On Sale for $15.99 Receive $15.99 ECB
4 Bags of M&M's 12oz 2/$5 Buy $10 get $3 ECB

So before coupons the math was something like this

$15.99 + 4($2.50) = $25.99

Now I had a $5 off $25 coupon that I used. You could use your $4/20 that you have in your hot little hand. Remember if you have any coupons that are based on purchase size like $4/20 you want to hand them over first before any other coupons

So that makes my total: $25.99 - $5 = $20.99

Then I handed over my CVS coupons I had 2 0.50c off one bag of M&M's 12oz coupons that I had collected from the magic coupon machine.

$20.99 - 2($0.50) = $19.99

Then finally I handed over 2 coupons I had printed off the internet for $1.50 off 2 bags off M&M's. You can find it here M&M's coupon

$19.99 - 2($1.50) = $16.99

Ok so at this point we are done with all our coupons. Now I had ECB form previous transactions so I used those to "pay" with and only paid for tax in cash. If you didn't have ECB's to spend you'd just pay the old fashioned way. You always have to pay for tax sadly though.

So you give the nice cashier $16.99 + tax and she gives you a receipt and at the bottom you'll see two vouchers. One for $15.99 for the Iron Supplement and the $3 for the M&M's so if you quickly do the math you'll realize you got $18.99 in ECB but only paid $16.99.

They PAID you to shop.

This is a very simple and common transaction at CVS. There is almost always something that is free after ECB or ECB and coupons.

The "RITE" way to save

At the beginning of my savings adventure I gave Rite Aid a whirl but didn't really find any deep savings or anything that wowed me like CVS did. I plan to write a post soon about just how much I love CVS but Rite Aid or "Righty's as my sister visiting from New Zealand called it has been slowly winning my heart. First with some free body wash and toothbrushes and then BAM! with this weeks monster haul.

First of all let me say YES I do have two Rite Aid Wellness Cards because I have two addresses. I have 2 CVS cards too and I think it's more than fair. If you have a compelling reason why I shouldn't feel free to let me know.

So here's what I got.

4 Rite Aid Hand Sanitizer $1 - $1UP+ = FREE

( I had one from last sale this comes up for sale a lot) Your allowed to get 4 per card so I could get 4 more if I felt like it. I'm a nurse who goes out in the field so having bottles of hand sanitizer that I can leave everywhere and not worry about the cost is a bonus.

2 Cepacol Sore Throat Drops $2.50 - $250 UP+ = FREE (
2 Burt Bees Natural Throat Drops $1.49 - $1.49 UP+ = FREE 
8 John Frieda Shampoo and Conditioners $5 each - $2 coupon - $5UP+ WYB 2 = 50c bottle  
6 Colgate Optic White Toothpaste 4.0oz 2/$7.98 - 2 $1/1 coupons - $6UP+ WYB 2 = FREE
2 Colgate Optic White Toothbrushes 2/$7.98 - 2 40c/1 coupons - $6UP+ WYB 2 = 60c each
1 Preparation H Totables Wipes 10ct $3 - $3UP+ =FREE
2 Comtrex Cold and Flu $3.99-$3 UP+ = 99c
2 Blistex Lip Ointment $1.49 - $1.49 UP+ = FREE
1 Bayer Asprin $2.99 - $1/1 coupon - $2UP+ = 0.01 MM
2 Neilmed Nasal Mist $5 - $5UP+
1 Choraseptic Throat Drops $3.99 -$1/1 coupon - $3 UP+  = 0.01 MM


Overall I spent just a little over $4 OOP. I did multiple little trips to reduce my OOP and partially because I only realized certain things were on sale until later. So far as limit goes most of the freebies except for the hand sanitizer were limit 1 per card. The Optic White was a limit of 4 UP+ rewards per card so you can get a combo of 8 toothpastes or brushes. The John Frieda is a limit of 2 UP+ Rewards so you can get 4 bottles but this is a monthly deal so if you did it last week you can't do it this week.


I WILL use everything I bought. I DID pass on some deals this week


WYB = When You Buy
OOP = Out of Pocket
MM = Money Maker
UP+ = A form of store credit Rite Aid gives you as an incentive to purchase.

Friends dont let friends pay retail

Today I had a chance to show my strut my savings off to a friend of mine. We went to Rite Aid where the sale in Southern California breaks on Friday to grab some of the special fall flu savings they have this week.

I kept my list short and sweet and only had coupons for the toothpaste *shock* because everything else was free after UP+ rewards.

I got 4 tubes of the Colgate Optic White toothpaste I've been trying to find since I seemed to be striking out on each and every toothpaste bargain I found. I also got the Blistex Lip Balm, some Cepacol drops, 2 bottles of hand sanitizer and some Preparation H tote able wipes because my ass is precious.

It came to $10.63 including tax after I used my 4 $1/1 coupons for the toothpaste and my $12.50 UP rewards from the Covergirl and Scope deal from last week. I got $20.99 in UP+ back though the cashier miscounted and told me I got $18 :).

So the final cost when calculating UPs received and UPs used was -4c plus tax.

For those new to couponing you always have to pay tax on the precoupon total. Sad but true. Some times all you have to pay is tax. So my full after tax costs was $2.14 for 8 items.

To my fabulous friend who may be reading this a good couponers price for the M&Ms 1.5oz bags is about 9c each.

Smashbox HALO Hydrating Perfecting Powder Alternative?

Ok since my post yesterday I have decided to make it my mission to find a cheaper alternative to my favorite powder foundation from Smashbox. I love Smashbox products. I love the colors I love the packaging and I love the brushes. The prices not so much.

What I use now is Smashox's HALO Hydrating Perfecting Powder. Wow what at mouthful. According to Sephora it's made from "an advanced formulation of pure gold, 48 minerals, 11 amino acids and a powerful peptide."

Seriously people gold? That put gold in that stuff? Does this even serve a purpose other than make it super expensive. It's $60 a pop btw. I really don't need all the amino acids I don't think. What I LOVE about this powder is a) its a pressed powder with a twisty shaver that turns it into loose powder. So thats just the packaging really and not a quality of the actual formulation. And b) I love that I can dust just a little on and look flawlessly airbrushed.

So do you think there's a cheaper alternative out there or should I just stick to a good (expensive) thing?

Oh Make Me Over!

Well thanks to that lovely $8/2 any Covergirl FACE product coupon from the October P&G insert. I think I own nearly every shade and type of blush that Covergirl makes. Add that to the haul of free Revlon lipsticks I got a few weeks and my already extensive eyeshadow addiction err collection I'm probably set for awhile.

However what to do when my favorite powder foundation runs out. I currently use Smashbox their HiDef loose powder and this stuff is AMAZING. It's lasted forever so far but its $60!. I can't believe I paid that much and that was 2 years ago ( when I was a student and didn't have a job.) Sad thing I'll probably fork over that much again unless I can find a good (free after coupons?) alternative

PSA: Nivea lip balms are $1 at VONS this week. Combined with the coupons from last sundays $1/1 equals free lip balm and this stuff is high end lip balm my personal favorite. There is also a $3/2 coupon out but seeing how VONS doesn't give overage thats an overkill

It has been suggested that you could price match it at Walmart then use the $3/2 coupon and net some overage but I have had issues with Walmart and shall have to be satisfied with merely free.

Oh what a night!

Well the month started with a real couponing bang. 7 coupon inserts in the paper this weekend. That's a lot of clipping. If you could get your hands onto any papers that is. I usually pick up a Weekend Edition of the L.A. Times which is the Sunday paper on Saturday. Sold out everywhere. When my husband tried to buy a Sunday paper after his Sunday run he was told by the 7/11 clerk that he was 5 hours to late.

Apparently an overzealous Extreme Couponing inspired lady got there at 4am and bought 50 papers. How do I know this is a newbie? No experienced couponer would buy that many papers at retail price $2 bucks a pop. They would either negotiate a bulk rate, have them delivered or just order the inserts for waaay less.

All over the couponing boards I have heard stories of stolen coupons, stolen papers and sold out newsstands. Now while I was inspired to resume couponing by the TLC show I did start my journey before I had even seen an episode. I think if I had I would have turned out and dropped out. I'm just not that crayzee.

Judging from the manila folder I found tucked into my glove box I think I resumed clipping about January but stopped and then made a concentrated effort around the middle of July. Things started to click in mid August, started to get serious in September. Now it's October and I'm on fire thanks to some HOT coupons from this weekend.

Oh and to newbie keep your eyes off my newspapers.....

Saving money for the lazy = Fresh & Easy

I know I know your a busy lady or gentleman and you just don't have time to clip coupons or match sales. Thats what I always used to say. But I still saved money just not as much of it.

I used to shop at Fresh & Easy. In general Fresh & Easy is a cheaper alternative to Trader Joes that sells mostly store brand merchandise with a few brand names mixed in. For a single person or couple with limited time and fancy tastes they are probably the way to go for 3 reasons.

1) Overall prices are lower without lowering quality

2) They have a really great clearance corner and I once picked up a $20 ham for $4 after Easter. I think that was the ham that started it all.

3)While they don't take manufacturers coupons they do issue their own store coupons which if you shop right can take off of 25% of your total without trying too hard.

A couple of tricks for the coupons.

Sign up for the mailing list and you'll get my favorite coupons $5/20 which is your buy ~$20 = 25% off there already low prices. Stock your cart with some of their sale meats or veggies and you ain't doing so bad.

Second the register will allow you to scan 2 coupons per transactions so lets say you spent $70 and had a $10 off $50 coupon and a $5 off $20 coupon you can use both to save $15 off your $70 purchase.

I used to consider these Fresh and Easy coupons to be like free money and you should too!

How many papers does one person need?

1? 10? 100? 10000?

When I first started I bought one solitary paper and clipped only the coupons I thought I would use. That didn't go well especially since I was trying to find the deals all on my home. My binder was a manilla folder I had stuffed in my glove box. The experiment lasted about 2 days and I wrote couponing off as a stupid fad. I think many wannabe EXTREME COUPONER'S fall into this category.

Then I tried again a few months later with a little more discipline using deal matchup sites. Still I bought only one paper and found I couldn't do most deals and it required buying more than one to get the good price or I would get something at a good price and then it would be eaten in 5 minutes and I would be left trying to find the deal again the next week.

Now I tend to get around 4-6 papers a week depending on how good the coupons are. If they coupons are good and I can use them straight away I get more. If only a couple are must have I get less papers and order more of a specific coupon of eBay.

I get 3 delivered to my door on Sunday. I buy 1-2 Weekend preview papers on Saturday since they have all the coupons too and sometimes you can use the coupons on a sale that ends Saturday. Then I will buy  my remaining papers on Sunday or throughout the week as the paper remains on sale all week.

I only buy the LA Times as the Daily Breeze and other smaller papers have less coupons even if they have the same inserts. Trust me on this

A money saving tip. I pay $1 a week per 4 day delivery. The cost of a Sunday Paper is $2. So it's better to get 2 delivered than 1 at the newsstand. Right now they have a deal for the Sunday paper only for 50c a week

If you have to buy a paper off the newsstand get the "Weekend Edition" It's available Saturday and is only $1.50. They remain on sale all week too.

Shout out to Toni my soon to be new convert. Don't go out and buy 10 papers like a crazy madwomen.

Public Service Annoucement: Don't be a money trasher!

Head over to http://www.cvs.com/moneytrashers/ make the pledge not to be a money trasher and get $2 Extra Care Bucks to spend on whatever you like as long as its not booze, ciggies or pills.

Walmart Update

In response to my comments a customer service rep from the store in question called me within 1/2 hour which impressed me. Of course even he didn't really understand the point I was trying to make of the "supervisor that wasn't really a supervisor" accusing me of photocopying my coupons. He said they would talk to the two employees involved but I don't expect much to come of it. He told me to go straight to upper management next time I have a problem. Umm good luck with that as it seems no one in the store wants to let you talk to a manager.

I consider that whole trip as an experiment in what things can go wrong. Price matching was the thing I expected to be the hardest and in fact was the easiest. There might be some value in taking a flyer from a mexican supermarket and price matching the meat and produce as the mexican markets that have the best prices have B grade produce. Not always though last time I went to one I was surprised that the 33c/lb bananas were just as good as VONS

I hate the mart

Some couponers love the mart aka Walmart because of the overages they can achieve. I'm not really big into overages as I think they encourage coupon fraud and misuse and the purchase of 100's of unneeded items.

I've never found it to be anything other than a dirty place to go people watching the downside being that you feel like you need to scrub yourself clean to make sure you don't come out feeling like you contracted scabies. I understand that the non LA stores are nice and have nice people that work there.

Here is my letter as sent to Walmart corporate let's see if they reply. (Unlikely)




I have just returned from an very unpleasant experience at Walmart [Transaction and store details removed to protect the guilty]. As you know in Los Angeles we have a lot of choices for shopping and one can live in LA for years without ever needing to shop at Walmart. Which is why I don't understand why customer service is so bad.

I came to Walmart today specifically to buy All You Magazine so while there I decided to price match some shaving cream I intended to purchase elsewhere using my coupons. I printed out a copy of your price matching policy and your coupon policy and reviewed it and made sure everything I was trying to do was within the policy. It was as my transaction was straight forward.

I easily found the products I was looking for and put them into my cart making sure they were both the same as the ad I was trying to match and the same as on the coupons. They were. I pulled up to the checkstand and was hearted by the sign that said Ad Matching welcome and Coupons? No problem.

Not no problem. BIG PROBLEM.

Now I should point out 2 things I was only purchasing two kinds of items. The magazine and 9 shaving creams. I let the cashier [EDIT] know I was price matching before she started ringing the order up. She had some trouble ringing the order up but managed to ring everything up correctly. I then handed her my coupons. She read over the coupons to read the details and then immediately pointed out something that makes most coupon users pull out their hair. "It's says only one per purchase you can only use one" I pointed out the purchase is synonymous with item and that it doesn't mean one per transaction as a transaction is made up of multiple purchases. I also showed her the coupon policy which I have come to the conclusion none of your employees at this location have ever seen.

A "supervisor" was then called over [ELIZABETH] who then insinuated that my coupons were photocopies. I happily pointed out that they all had unique barcodes on them and pointed out the security features that would void an internet printable coupon if photocopied. After that she told me I couldn't price match AND used coupons.

I pulled out both the price matching and coupon policies and asked her where it stated that. She then grabbed my policies and flounced off to the managers office. She came back a few minutes later shoved my policies back in my hand, said "It's OK" over her shoulder and ran off.

Now this is not the level of customer service I expect from any store I spend money at. Low prices should not mean low customer service. Especially when the prices aren't low otherwise price matching wouldn't be necessary.

I always thought Walmart's slogan was "Save Money. Live Better." in fact its "The customer is always wrong. Spend your money elsewhere."


So in summary here's a list of the problems I had.

Cashier didn't know how to ring up price matching or just not proficient.
Told that purchase = transaction.
Accused of photocopying my coupons
Told I couldn't price match and used coupons.
Basically treated like shit even though I was polite.

Some people just don't play by the rules

One of the first things you need to learn as a budding couponista is to find out what the rules of the game are. There are two sets of rules. The first set are the "ground rules", which include using only ONE manufacturers coupon per item and using the coupon only for the products the issuer intended. The second set are the rules of the store which can be found in each specific store's coupon policy. These may include things like only x amount of the same coupon per transaction or only the first of each specific coupon will be doubled i.e if you present 10 of one specific coupon only the first will be deducted at double the value. Or doubling only up to $1 e.e a 50c coupon becomes $1 as does a 75c coupon.

Some people choose to ignore these rules, plead ignorance to them or just simply defy them claiming that savings is the name of the game and why do you care what I do?

Well I DO care! One bad apple can spoil the barrel.

Here is an example of a transaction gone wickedly wrong

Couponing at its finest NOT!

Two specific parts of this transaction stick out to me among many mainly because they were for two item  that I also bought at VONS (a Safeway affiliate) with access to the same coupons and I played by ALL the rules and STILL got a good deal.

PEPSI MAX
SALE PRICE 4/$5 = $1.25each
USED $.55 OFF EACH (DOUBLE)
USED $.50 OFF TWO (DOUBLE)
FINAL PRICE FREE

Ok the problem with this deal is that the buyer is using 2 manufacture's coupons on 1 item, which is a big NO NO. If she only used one per item her cost would be $1.25 - 55c off 1 (doubled up to $1) = $0.25

Now here's the thing I have the exact same coupons 55c/1. I used it last week when the Pepsi MAX was on sale for 88c. My coupon doubled up to 88c and I got my soda for free also with NO cheating.

2 KRAFT DRESSING
SALE PRICE $1.19 WITH INSTORE COUPON
USED (2) SAVE $1.00 ON KRAFT DRESSING WHEN YOU BUY KRAFT BBQ SAUCE
USED $1.00 OFF 2 KRAFT DRESSINGS
FINAL COST: -0.62 (OVERAGE)

Now the problem her is she is using 1 store coupon and 2 manufacturers coupons per bottle of dressing. This is called SUPER stacking and is not allowed. What is allowed is one store coupon and one manufacturers coupon per ite,

I also did this deal last week. My VONS had the Wishbone dressing on sale instead of the Kraft but the price and store coupon was the same. With the store coupon the price of the dressing was $1.19 add to that ONE manufactures coupon for $1off one then you get salad dressing for 19c which is nothing to sniff about though you can quite frequently get FREE salad dressing without cheating as I did a couple of weeks ago when Albertson's had Ken's Dressing for sale for $1 and I used a $1 off coupon. FREE salad dressing without stealing!

Now this shopper could have used her coupons legally get the dressing for either .19c or .69c each.

Now there are plenty more things wrong with this transaction including using several coupons for $$$ of an item when you buy BBQ but only buying 2 BBQ sauces but using several of these kinds of coupons or using a coupon on an item that is already free. Essentially this shopper is manipulating her transaction to get overage (what happens when the coupon value is greater than the price of the item and you get the $ in the form of a store credit (many stores do NOT allow this)) to pay for some of the more expensive items in her cart.

All these examples came from a real life shopping trip posted by the shopper along with a picture of the items purchased. Judge for yourself.

I can't tell anyone what to do but I can tell you what I THINK about it.

Count Von Count did NOT come to my rescue

So I received a nice yet smarmy reply from the restaurant I had eaten at the other day that had misapplied my coupon discount. They basically insinuated that we the customer were wrong and that we had ordered the wrong thing.

Now in my mind buy one sandwich get one free with the purchase of two drinks is fairly straightforward. Apparently not. 20% entire order seems straightforward too. Apparently to them it means a discount off our drinks only. Whoopie I saved 74c on my soda.

They did state this "We receive about 15 of those coupons every day and unfortunately every 2 or 3 days we do have to make it a little more clear to the customer.  What's even more unfortunate is that there is no other way to make it more clear on the coupon (it is mentioned on the bottom of the coupon that it cannot be combined with any other specials)  as this coupon will be running for another 4 months with the same design."

To me this implies that there are rules of redemption not printed on the coupon so they are violating the contract between the customer presenting the coupon and the place of business. They want to change the terms and conditions because they didn't create the coupon correctly in the first place OR they did not anticipate the response and are not willing to give the discount on that scale

I didn't mention the restaurant name before because I wanted to be nice and fair but gloves are off now the restaurant is Fantastic Cafe on Gaffey Street in San Pedro.

The link to the yelp review is here

Fantastic Cafe Review

UPDATE: Just received another message from Fantastic Cafe. Now they want me to send them a copy of my receipt so they can check to see if their registers are working properly. In reality they want my receipt so I can't use it to file a complaint with the LA County Department of Weights and Measures but here's the thing I already did.

Couponers create scandals too.

I guess it is to be expected when you try and turn saving money into a televised sport. It's bound to happen where someone plays dirty, bends the rule, embezzles your coupons.

When I first started watching Extreme Couponing there was one character in the first season that just rubbed me the wrong way. Not sure if it was her heavy makeup or skunk hairdo or the fact that she acted like she was hot stuff when really she looked like a hot mess.

Also the scene where she coerces her husband into cleaning the shelves of all the mustard ( which he doesn't even like) was really a WTF moment for me.

But of course that's just the scratching the surface. Read on if you dare.

Dirty Coupon Ho

The new season of TLC's Extreme Couponing loos even worst from the preview that shows a lady clearing the shelves of all the energy bar and there's a poor surfer dude guy just standing there looking at her cart full of energy bars asking if she took them all. She quips " Early bird catches the worm!" Surfer dudes all like "Are you serious?"

If that happened to me I would be finding the store manager and asking if they had more in stock mentioning the fact that one lady took them all and asking don't they have limit per person in the hopes the manager would deny her the bars. But I'm petty and snarky like that.

Judge for yourself

Where's Count von Count when you need him?

I always though that counting money was absolute not relative...

There is this diner near us that has some decent food and reasonable prices. There are several locations all independently owned but Don Coupon is partial towards one particular location. So imagine my happiness when on the back of my supermarket receipt there is a coupon for either Buy one sandwich/burger and 2 drinks and get one free OR 20% off.

Sounds simple right?

Well so we head to the counter and  order 2 sandwiches and 2 drinks. Presented the coupon. Was told we could not use the sandwich coupon because one of the sandwiches was "on sale". Now this I take an issue to. The prices on the board are the SAME as they have been for years. This does not a sale make. It simply means they are FOR sale not ON sale. Was told we could use the 20% of your entire order coupon. OK fine whatever still a good deal.

When I got home to look at the receipt I noticed that on the line item where it said 20% of it took 74 cents off. On a $20+ ticket. On what planet is 74c 20% off your entire order. Not mine! It looks as though we got 20% off the drinks only. 

What to do, what to do. Complaining to the manager/owner is useless since he was standing right behind the cashier the whole time. It really does seem like they want the benefit of having customers come into the store but don't want to yield the discounts promised. I really DO feel like filing a complaint with the L.A County Department of Weights and Measures on this issue....

See Spot Save

When I first started this experiment. I started an excel spreadsheet to track how much I was spending and how much I was saving and where I was saving it.

The figures

Retail value of items bought: $804.90

Total price paid : $237.41

Total saved: $567.49

Not bad for a months work right?

This spreadsheet has allowed me to track which forms of savings are most effective. So far sale prices and coupons are neck and neck being only 75c apart at about $225 each. Together they make up about 90% of the savings. The drugstore rewards programs and catalinas make up the rest.

These figures don't include taxes or crv which I do log but don't take into account when calculating  things but I do track them.

Awkward!

Ok maybe I'm paranoid BUT

There are about 5 Walgreens near me. This week I went to 4 but only bought sale items at 1

Today I went to one Walgreens and they were out so I went to the one I had gotten my first 2 transactions from. When I went through the door they announced the "Code Q" over the loudspeaker. When I got to the register a staff member was there waiting for me and said after I commented I came for more M&M's "weren't you just at the other store?"

Am I being paranoid? I think it can be 2 things one I'm targeted as a couponer. Unlikely because I have only just started shopping at Walgreens or 2) they think I'm a secret shopper.

Something is odd. We'll see what happens tomorrow when I go in again to drop off my film to be processed. Yes film film. I AM from the stoneage. *wink wink*

I would think in L.A.  one you go to and fro and buy what one likes where one likes to buy it.

Insight anyone?

Freeganomics

When most people used to think about couponing they would think about their blue haired granny patiently clipping away and taking her coupons down to the local market to save 25c on some milk and cookies. Nowadays most people associate coupons with those CRAYZEE ladies on the tellie. Piling their carts high with a million periods worth of free Midol. Digging through the dumpster for coupons. Beating up their husbands for bargains (ok so I made that last part up) but you get the idea on TLC's "Extreme Couponing" is all about the bigger the better, the tighter the sweater.

Being the hardcore cynic that I am automatically figured out that obviously the fix was in on the show. They must set up the registers to allow all the coupons to double and to allow 63 of the same coupon. Basically stuff that will get your kicked out of your local VON's. So I didn't really think free items were possible. Maybe one or too but not many.

Oh yee of little faith.....

In the past 3 weeks I have managed to get the following free sometimes multiple of each item. All legal no shoplifting, sometimes a little coupon yoga but all above reproach. Ethics are important to me.

Dish Liquid x3
Tweezers x2
Gatorade x10
Salad Dressing x6
Pepsi x3
Allegra (free after rebate)
Clorox Wipes (free after rebate)
Hand Sanitizer
Lip Balm x4 ( 2 different brands)
Body Wash
Candy Bars x2
Bandaids x2
Eye Shadow
Eye Lash Curler
Nail Clippers x2
Nail Buffer
Toothpaste x2

I've also gotten numerous other things for AT LEAST 75% off of retail. I keep an Excel spreadsheet of every couponing transaction and am sitting at an average of 68.8% saved.

This experiment might just work out.

Birthday Booty

No! Not that kind of booty!

Ever since I moved to the United States from New Zealand I've always had the dilemma of deciding when my birthday actually is. Y'see New Zealand is 20 hours ahead of the U.S so today is yesterdays news to them. So do I celebrate my NZ birthday or my US birthday. Of course there is only ONE logical conclusion. Celebrate my birthday on BOTH days. Now in my household this stretches out to be a birthday week/month depending on how festive I am feeling that year.

Of course with birthdays come birthday bargains. This is what I partook in this year to reduce the cost of eating out so many days in a row.

Benihana: Now I LOVE me some Benihana not as much as I love Gyu-Kaku but I still love it. What do I love more? A $30 free birthday gift certificate to be used within the month of my birthday simple for belonging to their "Chef's Table" club. What nice about this offer is it covers all your food and non-alcoholic beverages up to $30 which is a better value than just a free entree.  The catch is it's only valid m-Th. No big deal we ate on a Tuesday at lunch (better value) and got a whole table to ourselves. What impressed me was when we sat down because I had made a reservation 30 minutes prior and mentioned it was my birthday she asked me if I had my birthday certificate so NO problems redeeming it. Also I got a free picture with me and my honey and green tea ice cream. Also I should note that the certificate doesn't require you to take another person so if you wanted to pretend your not getting older you could go by yourself. (Hey don't knock I used to eat lunch at Benihana's up to 3x a week by my little old lonesome no big deal and is super fun and you meet a lot of cool people.)

Black Angus Steakhouse: Now if you a member of Black Angus's "Prime Club" you will receive a coupon for a free steak dinner on your birthday up to $20 in value but only if someone else goes with you and buys a full meal. You also get a cookie sundae and a silly happy birthday chant. Two things I like about Black Angus. 1) Blackberry Gingerale- tastes better than any drink in a chain restaurant has a right to. 2) Call ahead seating OR Reservations with Open Table which is my favorite. Just book a table on your mobile on the drive over.

Acapulco Cantina: If you belong to their "Email Club" (needs a sexy name doesn't it?) you will get a coupon for one free entree to use any time during the month of your birthday. You also get a flan and a birthday song in Spanish. I went to the location in San Pedro Ports 'O Call where we sat by the waterfront and they have mariachis to hire to play your favorite song. For me that is Besame Mucho which I sing along to in my broken spanish. General cost of mariachis is $5 a song.

Dennys: Now this one you don't need to belong to any club or list just show up at Dennys on your birthday flash the server your drivers license and get a free grand slam. Simple. Eggs, Bacon and Pancakes. Whats not to love?

Just a friendly reminder to be kind to your server and tip on the prediscounted bill. It takes just as much effort to serve a table with a coupon as it does without. Unless of course server was terrible in which case I a big fan of writing something dry and witty on the bill in lieu of a tip.

All links provided for your savings pleasure and not to line the insides of my pockets.

Bring on the clowns or not.

Coloring your can sometimes be a nerve racking experience even when your in the hands of the professional. I remember crying in the salon chair as I realized that the hair dresser I had chosen was all that good. The color turned out OK but I refused to let her cut my hair.

But at least if a salon messes up your tresses you have some recourse be it a do over or a refund but when your own your own things can go very bad very quickly. Case in point. One afternoon I was applying my own highlights in the bathroom. As you do. Well I had the misfortune of splashing some dye in my eye. Going into emergency mode I immediately stuck my eye under the faucet and rinsed it for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile the bleach I had applied to my hair was still cooking.....

When I finally came up for air my stomach started to sink the last foil I had partway applied had come loose and the bleach had leeched out to the rest of my scalp. I frantically jumped into the shower to wash it all out and assessed the damaged. Once dry it was glaringly apparent that I had a GIANT highlighter spot in the middle of my hair.

Sighing I called the salon where I usually get my hair done ( when I have a 50% off coupon of course ) and managed to get an appointment for later on that evening. They managed to fix my hair at the cost of $300 for a full set of highlights and low lights plus base to disguise my hatchet job. Don Coupon was not amused either by the cost or the fact that he spent a Saturday evening at the hair salon instead of elbow deep in a tub of popcorn at the movies. I was forbidden to dye my hair again.

Flash forward several years to last Sunday. I perused the Rite Aid flyer and they had a sale for Samy FAT FOAM hair color. It was on sale for $8.99 plus you got $5 +UP for your next purchase AND I had a coupon for $1 off so $8.99-$5+UP-$3Q= $0.99c. For 99c cents it was worth a go.

I haven't had any hair color in my hair since Thanksgiving and that was a demi-permanent so I was essentially starting with a clean slate. I chose R5 Medium Reddish Brown.

Now the first and only problem I had with this brand was NO where on the box did it state what level of hair color it was. Was it a permanent or does it wash out. I assumed from the ingredients ( ammonia+peroxide) that it was a permanent color but I really didn't quite know what I would get as I'm standing at the sink clutching the little red box that would hold fate.

Would it be a very subtle can hardly tell not worth my time even dying it red or would it be fire engine red CLOWN hair ( oh please not clown hair please not clown hair ) There is only one way to find out.

Now what is different about this hair color and what I REALLY like about it is that its a foam, y'know like mousse. Each box comes with a plastic cocktail shaker. You pour the liquid processor in and then sprinkle the peroxide color powder in. Put the lid on and shake it like a Polaroid picture for 30 seconds. What you SHOULD have is a nice thick foam like mousse. After this part its all easy breezy beautiful. Just apply the foam in the order in the directions let it cook for 30 minutes and rinse.

The foam was very easy to apply and I had less problems with dripping and dying my ear accidentally and getting dye all over the bathroom. I usually let my hair over-process a little to make sure I'm getting the full saturated color especially with red hair dye since the color molecule is bigger than other colors it tend to fade and oxidizes quicker so I prefer it to be a little darker in the beginning. Also most home hair colors tend to self exhaust meaning once they get to a certain point they won't process anymore. This is make it easier for DIYer. Obviously this is not the case when your mixing your own bleach for highlights.

The finally result is a nice deep reddish brown that "pops" a little in the sunlight. Just the way I like it. I didn't expect this. Most red dyes are not like this. They are either too subtle or have a burgundy tint. I wouldn't have expected this from the color on the box but when have I ever achieved the color on the box.

So for 99c this gets a big thumbs up from me and if your near a Rite Aid and you have the $3 off coupon I would suggest picking a box up for yourself. It's a really good hair dye for beginners.

Great hair done cheap. Clowns need not apply.