Guilty Sunday Pleasures

When I was a kid, one of our Sunday traditions was going through the newspaper. It was parted out by sections. I always got the "Funny pages"--the cartoons. As I got older, the newspaper was still a weekly event, but my interests lent themselves to Hollywood highlights and the front page stories. Then, when I moved away from home, the newspaper reading waned to just reading the obituaries and doing the crossword puzzles. But now--as a frugal freak--I still get the weekly Sunday paper--but for very different purposes...I love the ads!! Now don't get me wrong--I've always looked at the ads throughout the years, but now they have become the ultimate treasure hunt for me because with a little checking, sleuthing, and planning--I can turn a good deal into a great deal. Today I found a few things that I thought were worth sharing.

I've been out of town and in a super-crazy whirlwind lately...but I'm taking advantage of a quiet Sunday afternoon to catch up on my great finds. Albertsons' had two double coupon weeks in a row and I figured there wouldn't be one this week--and I was correct. So in order to get my "fix" of great deals--I'm looking closer at the Walgreens and Rite-Aid ads and I found a few great deals that might warrant some attention if layered with the best coupons.

At Walgreens--When you buy $10 in Suave products, a $3 Register Reward is generated to use on you NEXT in-store purchase. The products included in this are deodorants, haircare products, and lotions. When looking for matching coupons on http://www.ebay.com--/ I came across some great coupons that could be used in the transaction. There were lots of options, but to maximize the savings, you want the greatest value coupons to apply to each item. So there were some for $1 off coupons for lotion and a variety for the kids' shampoos and deodorants.

It's best to plan this purchase in conjunction with another purchase that produces a register reward so that you can apply that savings to the Suave transaction, then add the manufacturer's coupons to greatest savings. Then the Register Reward will still come at the end that can be used on another transaction. Mega savings!

Store coupons include Colgate for 99cents--limit 3. Colgate always has great coupons, so you can get your toothpaste and toothbrushes for as much as 24cents, all the way down to free. Even though you may not need this kind of product today, you want to be cognizant of how the deals work in cycles--purchase the 3 tubes/brushes now and put then in your home storage. You'll have them ahead of time--but that saved a larger portion of money from being spent in a more timely fashion.

At Rite-Aid--I love Up Rewards!! I still have some that were generated last week that I can apply to anything that I buy this week for greater savings. I haven't bought laundry soap in almost 3 years and it's getting low in the reserves. I noticed that Purex laundry detergent is Buy one, Get one free this week. I found coupons on http://www.ebay.com/ that are Save $1 on each bottle. Remember that you are able to apply one coupon to each item. So even if one is free, you can still use a coupon, making the total of the two coupons apply to the one that you are ultimately paying for. Tremendous savings!!

Easter Candy!! Who doesn't need some of that this season? Mars is running a "BOGO" deal on their packages of Snickers, M&Ms, and more! That means, you Buy One, Get One FREE! Then you apply a Save $1 on 2 coupon on the 2 bags...and voila--you've got a great deal. Do it a couple of times, and you will have a great assortment of Easter candy. (Make sure to get some good kinds so you can help your little ones out by not letting them eat it by themselves ;)

And for all of you with babies in diapers--I think this may work out to being a great Huggies stock-up deal with coupons! You get a $10 Up Reward when you buy $40 of participating Kimberly Clark products--like Huggies. But they are already on sale for $8.99 and then you would use the $2-3.50 off coupons on each package. (I just saw some on www.ebay.com) $40 in total purchases will add up quickly--and then you get a $10 Up Reward to use on any of your other purchases or more diapers! Stellar deal.

**Ad correction: It is the diaper wipes that are buy one, get one 50% off. But there are loads of wipes coupons available to make this a mega sale as well. And I think that they will also help accrue dollars towards the $40 mark for that $10 back!

Scott toilet paper is a Kimberly Clark product and there are $1 off coupons for 12 count packages. You could layer your savings and not have to buy just the diapers--but it's a great savings if you have a little on in diapers.

At Safeway--they have some great in-store coupons that are good through 3/26/11. There are lots of manufacturer's coupons out there for Kraft and Nabisco products for add to your transaction for a greater savings. You can use any of the coupons in the same transaction and it only requires a minimum transaction of $10 to get the savings amount [which would automatically include the item's price that you are already getting]. If you like Classico Pasta sauce, I noticed that Rozoni pasta boxes have a $1 off 1 jar of Classico pasta sauce on them. If you could get your hands on a few of those, that would make each jar only 59cents. Not too bad on sauce that is normally $3-4 a jar.

At Fred Meyer--I love Springtime in the grocery stores!! That means the fruit gets less expensive and the produce looks less tired. Fred Meyer has 1lb strawberries for 2 for $3! I know of people who flash freeze them and then add them to smoothies and desserts all year long--especially when they are normally $3.99 a container and you now can get almost 3 containers for the regular price.

Tillamook cheese, in assorted varieties, are a great buy this week at $1 a package. That's a 50-75% savings without a coupon. I just bought the 5lb bag at Costco because it would have cost more than twice the amount yesterday (before they went on sale)--but I have 5lbs of one kind of cheese. Tillamook is the best cheese--and it comes in all kinds!! I may have to carve a hole in the freezer....just saying.

***Because http://www.ebay.com/ requires that you purchase the whole bundle of coupons, you might look at http://www.thecouponclippers.com/ or http://www.thecouponmaster.com/ for coupon clusters that don't require you to buy big bundles. Bundles are great if you are going to buy in bulk or can share some with a friend. Many similar coupons may be found on the internet that you can print for free, at such websites as http://www.smartsource.com/ or http://www.coupons.com/. Particularly with the diapers, you may already receive mailers or have some that came on the package--those are as good as gold at the register.