I'm Still Alive

I'm so sorry I've been MIA for so long. The holidays wiped me out and took up so much of my time. We had family here , staying in our house, for 10 days, and lots of people in and out until the first week in January. We just finished cleaning the house today. Sad, but true.

I've slowed down my couponing lately, not because I don't need/want to save money, but I am low on time these days. I'm currently working on a non-coupon related business that's taking up most of my days, coupled with maintaining my house, raising my kids and feeding my family.

I still know how important is to all of you to continue to save money through couponing and will try to get back to a point where I can regularly update the blog. I will probably start posting the great, fantastic, unbelievable deals that I find, but I imagine it won't be too regular right away. I need to concentrate on getting my business running for now.

I do hope you will still check back and that I will soon have the time to update the blog regularly. Thanks so much for your dedication and understanding and I hope to "see" you all soon!

--Kendra

Check Your Newspapers Carefully

Lately, I have been having a big problem with missing inserts in my Sunday papers. I buy 4 each week and yesterday, 2 of my papers didn't have any inserts! I returned them to the gas station where I bought them and they refunded me the money (I would have preferred just to get 2 with inserts in them, but they were out of papers by the time I got back up there).

It was partly my fault because I didn't check them before I left the store. So learn from my mistakes: (1) Check Taylor Town before you buy; and (2) Check through all your papers before you leave the store. If you check Taylor Town, you will know what you're looking for and you will know if anything is missing.

And if you're lucky like Melissa was this week, maybe you'll get 2 of the same insert in your paper :)

$5 Off $25 at Walgreens - 12/1 - 12/2 Only

Click the picture above to get your $5 off coupon. Remember, it's $25 after all coupons and discounts. You can also use this coupon at Walgreens.com using coupon code FROSTED.

Inserts in the Nov 30 Paper

I thought there wasn't supposed to be coupons in this weekend's paper because of the holiday, but on TaylorTown there is a list for the P&G insert. You can see it here.

Also, tomorrow's paper will have all the "Black Friday" ads and supposedly some coupons in that paper as well (according to signs on the newspaper boxes). It's $1.50 for the Thanksgiving Day papers, so maybe get one and if it's worth it, get a couple more. I'm not sure what will be in there, or if the coupons are everywhere, but in the Florida Times Union, there will be coupons.

Happy Turkey Day and good luck if you decide to brave the crowds on Friday :)

How To Organize Your Coupon Inserts

For those of you that buy more than one paper (or more than one set of inserts) a week, here is an easy way to organize them so you only have to clip once when you need them. I stole this method from Erica at IHeartCVS.com:

First, clear a space on the floor or table. I have 4 inserts each week, so my dining room table usually fits the bill, but today, we're using the floor. Line up all your inserts (of the same one, please).Next, open those suckers up. Look at all those pretty money-saving coupons...
Then grab the top page from each insert. You will have a nice little stack of the same page.
Staple (not on the actual coupons). Make sure to check the back so you're not stapling any coupons there. If you prefer, you can paper clip instead of staple.
Rinse and Repeat until the whole insert is organized this way. I toss the "ads" for little figurines, credit cards, checks, etc. If there's no coupon on the back, it gets tossed.
Look at all those organized coupons. Notice all the empty covers from the inserts on the floor.
Stick the whole stack in one insert cover. Toss the rest (unless there are coupons on them).
Now you have one nice "monster-insert".
When it's clippin' time, just grab the scissors and clip once, because all your coupons are in one easy-to-get-to stack.

If You're Going To Buy Coupons on eBay...

Buy them from lorihas3kids! I bought 40 coupons from her last week and got them on Saturday. And for some reason, there were 2 envelopes in the mail from her. So I opened one and it was my 40 coupons. I opened the other and it was a whole different stack of coupons. So I emailed her and told her what happened and asked if she would like me to send them back, since they were obviously someone else's.

Do you want to know what she said? Keep them! She had more of them and hadn't gotten anyone who was missing any, thinks she sent me duplicates of someone else's order, so her loss, my gain. I thought that was great. And we're not talking about 20 coupons here. This was at least 100 coupons!!! For 5 different things.

Does anyone need Beech Nut Cereal? I have 20 coupons for $1/1 any Beech Nut Cereal Product. Email or comment if you want them.

So don't forget, lorihas3kids for all your eBay coupon needs. She's nice, has great customer service, she has LOW prices and shipping is only $0.99 and $0.19 per item after that.

And as an added bonus, if you are signed up with MyPoints, you can earn 2 points per dollar spent on eBay now until November 30th. If you're not signed up, click here to do it, and use my email address (kendrabenson at gmail dot com) as your referral. It's an easy way to earn points by opening emails and later redeem your points for gift cards. They even have CVS gift cards :)

Have a Garage Sale

I've been preoccupied this week, because I have been planning a garage sale. We're moving in a few weeks and I need to unload some stuff so I don't pack a bunch of unnecessary stuff. I also decided to add my stockpile of health and beauty stuff from couponing to the sale. Two reasons: (1) I'm running out of closet space and if I pack it all and move it from house to house, I doubt that will make my husband too happy; and (2) Let's face it, times are tough and I need the money.

So in two days (a small preview for a few people on Thursday and regular garage sale on Friday) I have sold half of my stash with a whole Saturday to go. Folks, I am giving other people a great deal on stuff they would ordinarily pay full retail for and I'm making some money on the side. Being a mom doesn't pay that great (or at all, in cash, anyway). So far, I have made nearly $150 on half of my stash. And I still have half plus 12 glucose monitors left (only sold one at the garage sale). I'll sell them on eBay, worst case.

Has anyone told you it's not worth their time or money to clip coupons? I beg to differ, and so does my wallet! So do yourself a favor, have a garage sale. Or something, especially if you have a super huge stash that's taking over your house. I know we should keep a year's supply, but I'm pretty sure that 58 tubes of toothpaste is a little bit overkill. Plus I know I'll get more :)

Everyone out there is looking for a great deal. And this can benefit everyone, the seller and the buyer. Happy holidays :)

I decided to add pictures, so you have an idea of how much I had. If you have more, AWESOME!!! Do it!!!I sold all 16 of the Excedrin to the first lady!

Triple ECBs and $10/$50 Online!?!

UPDATED: Well, I jumped the gun, as usual. I called CS and "Extra Bucks" are different than "Extra Care Bucks". Basically, if you spend $10 online, they triple that amount to put towards your quarterly earnings and you earn 2% back on $30 instead of on $10. And if any of you already knew that, don't tell me, it will make me feel more stupid :)

Okay, so I have never purchased anything online at CVS.com. I got this email today from CVS saying

You may have experienced technical difficulties with our email yesterday.

As our apology, please enjoy $10 off any nonprescription order of $50 or more now through November 16, 2008, midnight EST. To redeem, enter coupon code HOLIDAY10 at checkout and your discount will be deducted from your order. Please note, coupon code is case sensitive.

I'm not really sure what that's all about, since I didn't have any email issues, but if they want to send me a coupon, great!

So I scrolled down in the email and saw this little picture:

Hmm, intriguing...

So I clicked it and it took me to this page. I know we can't use coupons online, but if they're giving away triple ECBs, is that on Free After ECB items too? And I can use the $10/$50 Q online? Sounds too good to be true. Does anyone else know about this? Obviously, you would have to pay OOP first, but talk about moneymakers!!!

Let me know what you think/know. I'm very curious...

$5/$20 Walgreens Coupon - 11/14 - 11/15 Only

It's back! Another $5/$20 Walgreens coupon.
But remember, this is only good on $20 after coupons. So spend wisely.

FREE Snapfish 8x10 Custom-Cover Photo Book

Another great thing from Oprah's show today:

Create a Snapfish.com account now or log in to your existing account to receive this special offer. Get your free book!

Edited: I was confused about the fine print below, the dates in red. There were 2 dates, and I wasn't sure why. Here's the reason: you have to click on the link to get the credit applied to your Snapfish account (create one if you don't have one already - it's free) by Friday, the 14th, and you have to place the book order by Sunday, the 16th. Make sense?

Fine Print:
* This offer is only good for one standard 20-page 8" x 11" custom-cover photo book per household. Coupon dispersal ends at 11:59 p.m. PST Friday, November 14, 2008. Free photo book must be redeemed by 11:59 p.m. PST Sunday, November 16, 2008. Offer does not include customary shipping and handling changes or additional pages. Offer applies only to mail-order delivery to U.S. customers. Offer cannot be combined with other coupon codes. Coupon cannot be resold or otherwise transferred and is void on the earlier of redemption or the offer end date.

20% Off Entire Purchase at Container Store

Oprah had a "de-cluttering" show today. And on her website is a printable coupon for 20% off The Container Store. You can get it here.

But what if you can't get to a store and want to buy online? They didn't forget about you. Use this coupon code for the same deal: CLUTTERCREW

You can also order by phone: Print this special offer and call 800-733-3532. You must present the bar code number on the offer to the phone representative when placing your order.

Fine print:
Promotion ends at 11:59 p.m. CST Wednesday, November 19, 2008. Printed offer must be present at checkout for in-store purchases. One printed offer per visit. For phone orders, customers must present the bar code number on the printable offer to the phone representative. Offer is not valid on delivery or installation. This offer cannot be redeemed for cash or combined with any other store or online discount, coupon or gift card. This offer cannot be combined with any free shipping offer. It is nontransferrable and is not valid toward previously purchased items. No exceptions. Visit ContainerStore.com for store locations.

Kmart Ad During Super Doubles

I found this ad on the Kmart site. It may not come up if you click on the link, you might need to enter your zip code. For me, it brought up 3 ads. View the one with the dates Nov. 11 - Dec. 8. Super Doubles will be from Nov. 30 - Dec. 5, so these prices are during the event.

If anyone feels like contributing some matchups, send them my way and I'll post them, giving you full credit. I'll try to get some up by the weekend.

Kmart Ad

EDITED: Kmart Super Doubles Rules
-All coupons up to $2 doubled ($2 doubles to $4). Anything over $2 won't double and will be taken at face value.
-Max of 75 coupons per transaction
-Max of 4 of the same coupon
-No IPQs (internet print coupons)
-No overage allowed

EDITED AGAIN:
I added some match ups on the deals page. If you have any I missed, let me know :)

Black Friday is Looming

Are you ready to hit the stores and beat the stampedes on Black Friday? Maybe you would be a bit more brave if you had a few weeks to prepare?

Have no fear, my fellow money-savers! I have just posted 11 new Black Friday ads on the Deals page. I will constantly be on the lookout for new ads (as they are popping up all the time) and will let you know when new ads are posted. So go check them out. Plan your day, and get some awesome deals! Black Friday doesn't have to be a scary thing :)

FYI - WalMart is cracking down on every site, so their ad will not be available for preview until the officially release it on November 24th. Bummer.

Don't Toss Those Expired Coupons!

Military families overseas can use expired coupons at commissaries up to 6 months past the manufacturer expiration date. So don't toss those expired coupons anymore. Save them up and ship them out.

I've added a permanent link on the left-side of the blog of a constantly updated list of addresses of where to send your coupons. So help our military families out, because they are the ones securing our freedom to coupon as we please :)

Click here for the list of addresses

Look For This Insert

Check your Sunday newspaper on November 16 for up to $13 in savings on your favorite Unilever brands such as Hellmann’s^®, Country Crock^® and Ragú^®.