Rite Aid Cover Girl Deal Today... Rewarding Yet Complicated.

Cover Girl Deal: +Up Rewards, Sale, Coupons, AND Rebate.... Whew..

Through today, Rite Aid has all Cover Girl cosmetics Buy One, Get One 50% off. PLUS, when you spend $30 in participating P&G brands, you get $10 +Up Rewards back (limit one per person). Cover Girl is a participating brand. The $30 is a pre-coupon amount too! :)    AND! Cover Girl is also one of the brands you can use to work the current P&G Rebate found HERE.  You have to hurry though... you have until 10/31 to work this rebate.

Ok.. so if you can stick with me.. it gets a little tricky here.. but I will try to explain how I worked the Cover Girl, Rebate, +UP Rewards Rite Aid deal today. (it ends today... but it will give you an idea how to work similar deals in the future if it is too late for you to catch this one!)

Transaction one:

CG Lip Perfection:  $7.19

CG TruBlend Minerals Powder: $9.89

CG TruBlend Minerals Blush: $9.69 (then Half OFF, so really $4.84!)

CG Lip Perfection: $7.19

CG Lip Perfection: $7.19 (Then Half OFF, so really $3.59!)

Then, I used coupons:  

$8 off 2 CG

$8 off 2 CG

$1 off 1 CG

My total was $17.99 after tax!!   

My TOTAL SAVINGS were $25.45

My Total towards the rebate:  $32.70  (so even though I spent $17.99 out of pocket, I got credit for spending $32.70 because of how the receipt printed the cost of the items, and because these rebates consider the PRE COUPON amount per item.) 

AND, I got a $10 +UP reward back.

SO, Transaction 2:

CG Outlast: $10.99

CG Outlast: $8.99 ($4.49 after half off!)

CG Eyeshadow kit: $8.49

CG Lip Perfection:  $7.19 ($3.59 after half off)

CG Eye Pencil:  $5.99

CG Bronzer: $4.39 ($2.19 after half off)

Then I used Coupons:

$10+Up Rewards from Transaction 1

$8 off 2 CG

$1 off 1 CG

$1 off 1 CG

$1 off 1 CG

Total after Tax:  $14.74

I saved  $31.30!  

Total Towards the Rebate:  $35.74

Goal of the rebate is MET! 

Total out of pocket to get to the $50:  $32.73

I will get $10 back!

I bought $89.48 worth of product for $22.73 after I get my rebate check in! That totally rocks! And I am set on make up for a while now! :)

Which is great. Because I hate to admit it, but I have not bought any make up in 3 years. Sigh. So today was totally fun.. well, once you take out the whole shopping with toddlers factor! :)

Article On How Americans Waste Money... What Do You Think?

A Local News Station Posted An Article on Saving Money On Their Facebook Wall

What is Your Take?

In this time of economic hardship, it seems everyone is getting in on the buzz of saving money. Everyone is thinking about money, after all... I was a little humored to see this article pop up on a local newstation's Facebook wall...

There are some good tips. But like with most things, you HAVE to take everything you read with a grain of salt and use critical thinking.  EVEN when it comes from a newstation. Take a moment and read the article HERE.  My main issue is with point number 3 about buying generics. Who's with me on this? Who agrees that generics are usually a waste of money?  For me and mine, it is name brand all the way. I can't afford generics. Not enough coupons, rebates, or sales. Right?  

At least they were trying, right?

Oh, the tip about haggling? GREAT tip! We gently and nicely do this all the time to get better insurance rates, hotel prices, free desserts,etc at restaurants, and the list goes on.  Recently, we were at a mall where they had this "ride". Our friend's daughter wanted to go on it. She was just about a few months too young to ride it. Our friends were giving up in dismay. The child was disappointed. I stopped and asked the ride operator why the rule was in place... I wanted to know if it was a safety issue or other. Turns out the rule was there because too many kids got nervous, left the ride early, and the parents wanted refunds.  So, I haggled with the guy. I informed him that the parents would waive a right to a refund if he let the kid go on the ride. He agreed to these terms and Voila! the kid got to have a blast.. and she didn't want to leave the ride early. So, it was a win/win for everyone.  So, don't accept no, and don't accept stated terms and pricing. Be nice and chatty and work towards a common goal.  You might be surprised what that can get you.  

Any thoughts?

TARGET TRIP- Excedrin, Kelloggs, and MORE deals!

Target Trip= Success

Found Some Great Deals and Ran Into Some Blog Followers!

Last night, I took a friend with me to Target so I could show her hands on my couponing process.  Of course, we stopped at the in-store Starbucks first for some "Free" coffee. (Pretty Easy to snag free coffee... be super nice and maybe a friend will get you a gift card. Also, you can take your EMPTY Starbucks coffee bags from the grocery section back to Starbucks for a free cup of coffee.)

Here are the highlights from my trip:

• Huggies Pull Ups- $4.99 for the Jumbo Pack. They were $8.99. I used a $2.50 Target Catalina Coupon, and a $1.50 manuf coupon.
• Splendid Little "boutique" Two Piece Outfit on Clearance.. Super adorable, reg $18, I paid $4.74.
• Banana Puffs for Baby- $1.17 after a Target 50c off coupon.
• Planters Peanuts-29c for the single serving. Perfect for an upcoming road trip. Used a 50c off Target coupon.
• Nabisco Honey Graham Crackers, Spongebob Shaped, AND a pack of Nabisco Animal Crackers:  On sale for $1.50 a pack. I used a Target $1 off any 2 Nabisco cookies coupon= $1 each pack!
• Excedrin: 59c  They were $3.59. I had a Target coupon for $3 off. 
• Excedrin:  59c  They were $3.59. I had a Target Q for $3 off (I bought two of these, using two coupons total!)
• Market Pantry Lunch Meat:  $3.90 for 2 packs after a $1 off 2 Target Q
• Market Pantry Fruit Snacks: 89c a box. 10 packs per box. They were on sale for $1.39 each. I had a Target Q for $1 off 2.  I had two of these coupons, so I got 4 boxes of fruit snacks for 89c ea box.
• Kraft Deli Sliced Cheese: $1.95 a pack for the normally $4 packs. They were on sale, plus I used $1 off two Target coupon.

THIS IS A SPECIAL DEAL:
I had some great Kelloggs-y coupons.  Remember the rebate offer I told you about? Go HERE to refresh. Basically, you buy 10 boxes of participating cereals by December, and get a $10 Debit Card Rebate.

Target had a special on various Kelloggs cereals.  They were marked $1.99.  I bought 6 boxes. (3 of the flavors I bought will work towards the $10 rebate offer.)
So, the total for 6 boxes of Kelloggs was $11.94
I used 3 coupons (manuf) that were good for $1 off 2 boxes of Kelloggs.
The new total was $8.94 for 6 boxes of cereal, or $1.49 a box.
THEN,
I had 2 coupons that were $1 off Fresh Produce WYB 2 boxes of Kelloggs.  So, I put $2 worth of bananas in my buggy= FREE BANANAS
AND
I had a coupon for $1 off Eggs WYB 2 Kelloggs Cereals = 39c for a dozen eggs. 

RECAP: Stacking my coupons, I paid $9.33 for 6 boxes of cereal, a dozen eggs, AND 8 large bananas. AND, 3 of the cereals work towards a rebate deal I am working for $10 back.

*I could have bought ten boxes of the participating flavors for a total of $15 after coupons, and gotten $10 rebate back, making it like getting the cereal for 50c a box after rebate. BUT, I was honestly annoyed a teensy bit. I am usually able to get my Kelloggs for less than $1 a box. I never pay more than $1.80 a box, unless my husband demands Crispix and it isn't on sale. (shame on him, right??! LOL) So, I made the decision that I have plenty of time to finish working the rebate offer before December. I plan to turn my rebate deal into a moneymaker. I am determined to do such! :) I will probably end up at CVS with EB's to spend on cheap on sale Kelloggs before all is said and done. 


So, that is my Target Trip this week. Not too shabby:
I spent $81.34 out of my weekly $120 budget. And, I saved $36.72, or 34% off my total (after adjusting for taxes) just by using coupons!

The cool part was running into some new followers at the check out! They were using coupons.. I was so proud. AND, I flipped open my binder and started handing the cashier more coupons for them while they were checking out.  They saved $18 this trip. That is a good start. After all, $18 a week saved adds up to $936 a year! The funny part was when the cashier (one of my fave Target employees.. we got lucky!) had forgotten to hand me my Catalina coupons.. and she joked and handed them to my new followers!  I let them keep the coupons.. I think this time they were advertisements instead of coupons. LOL!

Turn +UP Rewards Into CASH!

I am Loving Rite Aid.

I Just Figured Out How to Turn My +UP Rewards Bucks Into CASH!

Before I posted this deal, I wanted to make sure it would work the way I was hoping it would be. And it did! I am so excited about the prospect of this scenario and the implications it holds for the future of my bank account....

Here's What Happened:

Last Saturday, I had $2.88 in +Up Rewards "bucks" for Rite Aid that were expiring. I had worked a deal a few weeks back where I paid less than $2 for $17 worth of items. Then, I received $2.88 BACK in +UP Rewards.  

As stated, this $2.88 was expiring. So, I took my bargain binder and the circular (and the rewards, of course) to Rite Aid.   I was SUPER ANNOYED, however, bc the items and deals I wanted to work were sold out. As I was walking around trying to think fast of a plan B to use my rewards dollars on, I spotted BLINK Tears drops. They were fully stocked. I grabbed my circular. Hadn't I seen where they were $7.99 on sale that day, with a full $7.99 rebate offer attached?? Yep. It was right there in the circular. Usually those "FREE AFTER REBATE" items are sold out. This one wasn't. Why was that? I think it was because the good folks at Rite Aid forgot to put the hang tag with the offer on the shelf.  AND, they were marked $10+ in price. Again, an oversight of the employees. They forgot the special ad price of the week on that item.

SO, WOO HOO! I could use my $2.88 in bucks to pay for the $7.99 drops, and then get a rebate on the purchase price of the drops going through Rite Aid's Rebate site.  

My question for the check out employee (also a manager) was this:  Would I get a rebate for the FULL $7.99, or would I just get the $7.99-$2.88 amount since I was using "bucks"?  He didn't know. I figured, heck, Free Drops either way and the +UP rewards were expiring that evening, so why not run an experiment for you.

So, I bought the drops, paid with $2.88 in +UP rewards, and submitted the rebate offer. Fast Forward to today. I just got notice that Rite Aid approved my rebate and is mailing me a check for $7.99!!! 

So, I essentially turned my $2.88 into depositable CASH for my bank account. NICE!!  

*Remember, I originally got the $2.88 by spending LESS out of pocket than the $2.88 I got back. This was a TRUE moneymaker!! 

Now you know.  I am really thrilled about the prospect of working rebates more often in the future and getting even more cash to deposit.  Need more info on this? Want to get signed up to start working your own Rebate deals? Go HERE. 

**This is the SECOND TIME where Rite Aid being sold out of the items I wanted originally turned into a moneymaking scenario for me.  The first time was when I went to work an Edy's deal. They were sold out of the icecream. I could have bought 6 of the quart and a half Edy's for $1 total. They gave me a raincheck. The week they stocked the ice cream back up, they had a different sale going on. I bought the 6 ice creams with my raincheck and THEN, it triggered the current week's deal to print +UP rewards out for me.  I ended up getting paid 30c or so to walk out with 6 Edys.  That was better than paying $1 for 6! Yeah. Digging my luck at Rite Aid.. even when it seems like crap luck, it turns out wonderfully. You just have to be patient sometimes.

Make Money With Rebates

My PediaSure Rebate Check Came In

I Made $5 Profit!

Before I started couponing heavily a year ago, I would see a "REBATE!" offer sign posted somewhere.. on a product, in the paper, etc.. and I would scoff. It always seemed to be a lot of work and semi scammy. Just another marketing ploy to be savvy by ignoring, right?  Then, a year or so ago I had my eyes opened.  Now, I make money working rebates from time to time.

It isn't mad money or a lot of money. Most of the time it take a little work to think about and pull your coupons and deals together. Sometimes, after the time you put into it and the cost of postage, etc it hardly seems worth it. 

It can be, though. Several months ago, for example, I worked a P&G brands rebate.. you had to spend $50 in participating products and would get $20 check back. It took a little time and effort, but I was able to combine sales and coupons and ended up spending less than $5 out of pocket to buy $50 worth (pre coupon price.. most rebates ignore your coupons and only look at the pre coupon sale price).  That rebate got me LOTS of great product and I made $15 in profit.

Some rebates are not so labor intensive.  This was a quick and easy one: Buy a PediaSure or PediaSure Sidekicks pack, get a full (pre coupon cost) rebate. It was a "Try Me Free After Rebate" deal.  I saw this when I happened to have a $5 off coupon in my binder.  Score! I bought the Sidekicks drinks for $6.99. I used the $5 off coupon and paid $1.99.  I submitted my receipt according to rebate guidelines. I just received a check I am going to deposit into my account for $6.99.  So, I MADE $5 working this rebate. Ok, $4.50 after postage.

If I worked a deal like this every month, it would be about $54 extra in my pocket every year. That doesn't seem like a whole lot.. but it all adds up.  That is a free trip to the movies for the whole family. OR, it is half the cost of an annual membership to the New Orleans Audobon Zoo and Aquarium for the whole family.

Put it in perspective.  You can rebate with minimal effort. You can get free products at the very least. At most, you can use it to turn a profit. Personally, I love to work a good rebate deal, make a profit, put the items I bought for the rebate deal in a garage sale for super cheap ($3 Fusion Razor Refils, Regularly $15, anyone??!!) and make a second profit! Or Ebay them...

Let us know if you have found any good rebates out there lately!

Ebates Pays You For Shopping Online

You Shop Online, Anyway... 

Why Not Get PAID To Do What You Are Already Doing?

Friends have been recommending Ebates to me for a couple years now. They always act really shocked that I didn't already shop online by going through Ebates. I finally took the time the other day to check them out.  Wow! My friends were right. I am so annoyed with myself at all the money I could have been paid to shop online when I was already shopping online!  

**NEW MEMBERS GET $5 FOR SIGNING UP!!! YAY!

How it works is that you go to the Ebates Site (Sign up HERE if you are new to Ebates!). Then, you can select the participating vendor that you want to shop with.  You will get some great online coupons to use while you shop, if any are available.. and it will tell you how much you will earn when you shop that vendor.  For example, let's say you were going to shop on Gap.com (yes, Gap is a vendor!!). You would select them and see if there are any coupon deals for Gap. Ebates will also let you know that you will earn 3% (a fictional for example number) back when you shop Gap through Ebates.  Then, you just click on the link to the Gap online store and shop/pay as usual.  Your Ebates account will earn money, according to the percentage,etc. Then, every so often, Ebates will cut you a check and mail it to you for the amount your account earned in that period!  Pretty cool!

Just shop as you usually would! Go by the Ebates site first to see if where you are shopping online is listed there. Then, (after signing into Ebates) click through their link on the Ebates site. Continue as normally, and you are set to start getting some rebate checks! Nice!

Thanks so much to everyone who referred me. I don't know why it took so long for me to join!  

*FTD Florists right now is offering 25% off discounts AND you earn 20% back through Ebates right now! Just in time for Valentine's Ordering! WOW! Go browse and see what deals you can snag!  You can go through HERE! 

Update on the P&G Olay, Pantene, Venus, etc Rebate Checks

The P&G "Ladies" Brands Rebate Checks are Going Out

I Got Mine Friday!

Did you all work the P&G Rebate a couple months ago? The deal was you had to buy $50 worth of participating P&G brand products (Venus, CoverGirl, Olay, Pantene,etc) and you would receive a $20 rebate check.  I LOVED this rebate offer! Like many, you got credit for spending the pre-coupon amount, AND travel sized items counted towards the rebate! I worked some really great CVS deals and ended up spending $2-$4 out of pocket to qualify for the rebate. Yes, I got $50 worth of great P&G brand items for between $2-$4.  That was a wonderful deal in and of itself.  

Then, Friday, I received my $20 rebate check in the mail. I deposited it today.  I made more than $16 in profit to own those items.  

Give rebates a try! You just might start making a little extra money doing them.