Waiting for Monday......

As a general rule, I don't shop on Sundays. No oxes in the mire, no emergencies, no casualties...no need to speed down to Walgreens. But Monday is tomorrow and I'm heading there first thing...because I have deals to make. I ordered my dishwasher tablet coupons last week for the ad that broke today. They are on sale for $3.99 with a $1.50 Register Reward. I got $1/1 coupons. And while not necessarily free, they are going to be a great price once I apply the register rewards from last week. I'm sitting on $28 in register rewards to start my deals tomorrow--and I can't wait!!

All the deals haven't quite gelled in my head about what combinations I should buy them in to maximize the savings. But one of the deals I'm pleased about is the Suave shampoo sale. It's on sale for 2/$6 with a $2 Register Reward. I have coupons for Buy One, Get One Free. What's nifty about Walgreen's--they apply the price of the highest item as the price they put in the coupon box. Since both items are the same price in this deal, it will be $3 taken from the total. So I will pay $3+tax for two 32 ounce bottles of product and then get a $2 register reward. Since I am getting TWO bottles (one for free), I am able to use a register reward from last week without having to use a "filler" item in the transaction. That's awesome! So I'm thinking that since I have $5 register rewards to use, I'll buy the dishwasher tablets and two bottles of Suave together, put the coupons on the transaction, and then apply the register rewards. That should bring the total down substantially...

Transaction 1:

Finish Dishwasher Tablets--$3.99

Suave Shampoos (32 oz)----$6.00/2

Total---------------------------$9.99

Minus coupons---------------$1+$3

New Total---------------------$5.99+tax

Register Reward----------- -$5.00

Grand Total-------------------99cents+tax

Savings-------------------------90%

Bonus------------------------$3.50 in Register Rewards to use on the next transaction

I've planned my combination of items I'm going to purchase around the register rewards that items produce and if there is a coupon available for them. I've been shopping for a lot of personal care items so that my family can assemble hygiene kits for the local shelters. We've been fortunate to find amazing deals on deodorant lately, so that will be another item that we can add to the kit.

Transaction 2:

Mitchum Deodorant---------$2.99

Carmex Healing Lotions----2/$10

Total---------------------------$12.99

Coupons-----------------------$3 ($1/1 for Mitchum and 2 printables for Carmex)

New Total---------------------$9.99

Filler items--------------------75 cents--3 cans of tomato sauce @ 25 cents each

I'm going to need 3 of them because I want to use the two register rewards from the last transaction, plus a $5 one that I earned on M&Ms last week. Remember to choose the cheapest item available, if possible.

Total---------------------------$10.74+tax

Register Rewards----------- - 8.50

Grand Total-------------------$2.24+tax

Bonus: $2 Mitchum Register Reward + $5 Carmex Register Reward=$7 RR

If you are doing multiple transactions for the same item, you will have to alternate every other transaction if you plan on using the Register Rewards to buy the additional items, because if you use a Carmex Register Reward to buy more Carmex lotions, a new Register Reward will not print. You can avoid this situation by having your transactions planned ahead of time to assure that you are generating new rewards, as well as being able to use the ones that you already have.

Filler items...necessary little transaction makers! Last week was brilliant because Pentex highlighters were on sale for 9 cents each. Almost every transaction I did had a highlighter thrown in to keep the ratio between items and coupons/register rewards. Register Rewards aren't technically coupons, but the register sees them that way. So if you have 3 bottles of soap, you have to have 3 coupons or register rewards, in any combination--and no more, or you will need a filler. And the amount of the coupons and register rewards cannot super cede the amount of the transactions before sales' tax. For example, if you total is $3.20 with tax and you have the cashier a register reward for $3--it probably won't work because only $2.96 of the total is hard pricing and the rest is tax.... The way around this is to add a cheap filler. They have 25 cents candies near the front registers--or look for usable fillers from the add, like the highlighter scenario I did last week.

Remember that even though an item may be deemed as "free" by applying a coupon/register reward to the balance...you are still on the hook to pay the sales' tax for the item as if you had paid sales' price in full. An item for $2.99 that you have $2.99 in coupons/rewards for...will still have a balance at the end of the transaction of whatever your state's sale tax is for the $2.99 price. In Washington state, more specifically Spokane County, I pay 8.7% sales' tax. So I would have a remaining amount of 26 cents to pay. But paying the governor is still better then paying full price...sales' price, or even half price.

Savings in the Fine Print....

Sometimes I have privvy to some delicious scuttle-butt. This one is going to pay off BiG TiMe if you like Revlon Cosmetic products. Next week, Walgreens has all their Revlon products on sale for 40% off. You also receive a Register Rewards of $3 for every $10 purchased. Most of the super coupon shoppers are aware that there is a $1 off one Revlon Cosmetics coupons. But this is setting up to be a beautiful deal, because there is an In-Store coupon for $2 off ONE product available as well.

A little birdie told me about next week's sale and to make sure that I use my coupons from the store and manufacturer's as well. But what she didn't tell was about the Register Rewards. And spending $10 in make-up won't be hard, since that's the total before coupons. That tidbit came from the fine print in the sales' ad. So make sure that you are reading the microscopic paragraphs under the pictures of the goods. There might be some additional penny-pinching strategies that can be plotted in the game of savings.

For newer thrifty shoppers--the Register Rewards act like cash towards anything on the next sales' transaction. There is one caveat: if you use the Register Reward from an item to buy/pay for the exact same item--another Register Reward will NOT print. You make sure that you are using the Register Reward on something else; preferrably an item that will print another Register Reward.

This is one of those extreme savings moments when you can "layer" your coupons; ie. use more than one coupon per item in a transaction--starting with the store coupon, the manufacturer's coupon, and then the Register Rewards from a previous sale. But you have to remember that at Walgreens you cannot have more coupons/register rewards than you actually have products. Thus--this requires the "Filler" items to be used as well. And there are some great and inexpensive filler items from the in-store coupons in the ad, like 10 count Papermate pens, packs of erasers and pencil sharpeners for 29-39 cents; mini composition notebooks for 15 cents; and numerous other items for under $1.

Additional savings can be found when you use your Register Rewards and coupons in conjunction on items that generate another Register Reward. You roll your savings from sale to sale and keep the cost low on the products that you would buy anyways!

HUGE Campbell's Deal Coming NEXT WEEK!!

A little bird drop a HUGE worm of information in my lap yesterday. It's worthy of sharing too, especially if you have kids in school and would like to participate in fund-raising without having to break the bank. Starting next Wednesday, the Campbell's Labels for Education coupons are going to be HUGE for minimum transactions at Albertsons'. My source couldn't disclose the full details, but said that it looked like a minimum purchase of $15 in Campbell's products (before coupons) would generate a 500 (yes--that's FIVE HUNDRED) label coupon!! It's the largest label volume coupon I've seen from Campbell's. And for all of you that aren't aware of this...unlike the General Mills' BoxTops program which redeems their coupons in cash, the Campbell's program cashes in the labels with point values attached to the label for redemption of products that the school can pick via a catalog. Either way--it's free stuff for the schools from the manufacturer's. And the beauty of this kind of incentive program--we all have to eat. I look forward to this time of year to stock up on cream soups that are great for cooking with, quick-meal soups, and other products that my family loves. If there is a coupon available for the desired product, we buy a LOT of that item because the price is usually the cheapest it has been all year and for the determined purchase amounts, we are able to donate a TON of points for the school to redeem on things like playground equipment, classroom supplies, computers, and all sorts of new items for improved learning opportunities.

http://www.campbellskitchen.com/ is a great place to print off coupons to use next week. Each computer is allowed to print up to 2 of each desired coupon. If you have access to multiple computers, the sky is your limit. It is one of the few places that you are able to find coupons for the "great for cooking" soups, like Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom. So stock up and don't forget to send those 500 point coupons to school with your child. Make sure they get collected and counted so they can be used for all the great products the school could use to improved their educational inventory.

**This week, I am taking advantage of the Box Tops incentives offered at Albertsons' as well. For every 10 products purchased from the pictured sales' items, a 50 Bonus Box Top coupon prints for cash redemption. That's awesome because it's worth $5...and for me--that's called Making Money because each 10 items will not cost be $5!! In fact, I'm stocking up on Betty Crocker potatoes and Suddenly Salads, both with coupons on them that bring the product down to a big fat (), except the cost of the coupons from ebay.... And since I've ordered almost 300 items between the 2, that's $140 in cash from my kids' elementary school. Disclosure: I spent $30 on all the coupons 280 products. With the cost of the coupon taken into consideration, it works out to be about 9 cents a box. I'm OK with that.