Budget: Weekly CVS and Walgreens Freebies

Each week CVS and Walgreens have specials that can save or even make you money with the use of their extra bucks programs.
In order to make money, you can use coupons on top of the great deal so in the end the store pays you to buy the product!
These deals are sometimes hard to spot in the sales ad though so I often use thekrazycouponlady.com to find the deals for me.
On that site you can click on the CVS or Walgreens tab to pull up the weekly savings and possible freebie buys. There are even posts that point out the exact coupons needed and where to find them in order to make money when buying products.

A few weeks ago CVS was running a sale where when you buy a box of tampons at six dollars you recieved six dollars back in extra bucks making the product free. However the tampon brand also had a printable coupon on their website for 1 dollar off. Therefore by using the coupon on top of the sale, you would pay five dollars and get six back in extra bucks. You make a dollar and recieve a free product!

Blainey

How to Coupon at Target

Target is a great store to coupon at for non-food items.
They take all manufacture coupons and also have their own store coupons.
Store coupons can be found at target.com by clicking the "coupons" button on the right of the page.
From there you can pick out what coupons you'd like and print them. Each coupon can be printed twice.
There are often coupons for $ off of clothing brands. By matching theses coupons up with clothes on the clearance rack, you can get cheap or even free clothes!
Target coupons can also be stacked with manufacture coupons. That means if there is a Target coupon and a manufacture coupon for a product, such as Iams cat food, you can use both coupons on a single product.
If your looking to purchase a large amount of items using coupons at Target, (your extreme couponer you...) you can pre-order stock so you aren't clearing the shelves and can get all the items you need at once. However, your pre-coupon total on the pre-ordered items must be over $100 for one type of item (ex. just Scope mouthwash) or $500 total for multiple items (ex. scope mouthwash, Iams cat food, Pantene Shampoo, and ect).
Also, Target often has giftcard deals so if you buy a certain item or certain amount of items, you recieve a Target giftcard. This is one way Target can offer products to it's customers below the price that the manufacture allows. These deals often are offered on baby formula, video games, diapers, prescriptions, movies, and electronics.
If you have any problems using coupons at Target, contact the salaried manager of the store. If the manager does not solve the problem, call the corporate number. Target usually is extremely helpful to couponers. Just make sure you have names of those who you had problems with, UPC codes of the products, and the coupon information prior to calling. If you aren't helped correctly, call back to get another customer service employee. Some are better than others.

Big Changes Coming to JCPenney on Feb 1st

Starting February 1st, JCPenney is completely revamping their store. With a new ceo from Apple Inc, JCP is changing all their sales tactics.
Here are some changes that employees have heard of so far:
1. No more coupons except the 15% off from doing surveys.
2. No more one day sales or doorbusters.
3. No mailings sent out.
4. Instead of big sales they will have "everyday low prices"
5. They are attempting to bring in huge brands and want to be in competition with Abercrombie and Fitch, Sephora, and other high end stores.
6. There will no longer be a catalog.
7. Multiple stores are closing.
Will this be the end of the store we know and love?
Right now, they are clearancing out huge amounts for products in nearly every JCP store. So use your coupons and stock up now!
The sale is said to end January 31st and we will just have to wait and see what changes actually happen on the 1st.

Our Thirty-One Tote Giveaway Winner!

Due to the small amount of comment entries, I entered all of our Facebook fans into the giveaway!
Using Random.org, I made a list of all fans in order of when they liked the page (which is the way they are listed on Facebook). Random.org gave me number 1 which matched up with... Michelle Chance-Sangthong!
Congrats Michelle! Please email budgetcowboybaby@gmail.com to claim your prize and pick out which fabric you would like your tote in!
Look out for more giveaways in the future!

How I Made $4 By Buying Babyfood!

I purchased 108 Beech-Nut stage 2 baby food jars at my local Meijers.

By doing 5 transactions and using nearly 30 coupons, I was able to MAKE $4 on these!

That's right, I paid $0.00 and then a $4 store catalina printed out for me to leave with.

The catalina is a coupon good on any purchase at Meijer.

This is just one example of how to make money using coupons.

Plus I recieved at least 2 months worth of baby food for my son for free!

Keeping watching my blog for more posts on how to make money by living a frugal life.

Paid $5.12 Including Tax for Over $45 Worth of Product!

The above is valued at over $45

I paid $5.12 including tax!

items include:

2 - Similac Sensitive Ready Made Tubs

24 - Beech Nut Baby food jars

1 - 20 count Finish Powerball

2 - Purell 8oz bonus packs

1 - Palmolive 10oz bottle

2 - 32 load ALL detergent

It's as if I only paid for 1 Purell and got the rest for free!

Interested in the breakdown for a specific product?

Email us!

Hot Deals Week of 1/08

Here is this week's shopping with coupons so far.

The above is valued at $51

I paid only $10

Here are the HOT deals this week:

All these products are under $1.50!

 

CVS:

Finish 20 pack Powerball

on sale for 2 for $7

- (2) $2.15/1 coupons from 1/1 RP

Total: $1.35 each!

Palmolive 10 oz

on sale for $.99

- $.50/1 coupon from 1/1 RP

Total: $.49 each!

Listerine Total Care

on sale for $3.99

- $1/1 coupon found here

Recieve $2 ECB

Total: $.99 each! after ECB

Kodak Archive DVD

on sale for $4.99
Receive $4.99 ECB

Total: FREE! after ECB

Mars Chocolate Singles

on sale for $0.75
Receive $0.75 ECB

Total: FREE! after ECB

Target:

Gillette Fusion Proglide Shave Gel 2.5 oz.

on sale for $0.97

- $1/1 Gillette Fusion Shave Prep from PG 1/1

Total: FREE!

Market Pantry Boxed Macaroni & Cheese 6 oz

regular price $0.69

- $1/1 Market Pantry Boxed Macaroni & Cheese 
Total: FREE!

Aquafresh Extreme Clean 0.8oz Travel Size

Regular Price $0.97

- $1/1 Aquafresh Extreme Clean

Total: FREE!

Meijer:

Clorox Liquid Bleach 82-98 oz
on sale for $1.98
-$0.50/1 Clorox printable coupon
Total: $0.98

Kool Aid Jammers 10 ct pouches
on sale for $1.67
-$1.00/3 Meijer mPerks digital coupon
plus if you buy 3 or more Kool-Aid Jammers (10 ct),
get $3.00 off instantly at the register
Total: $0.33 each! when you buy 3

Kraft Shredded Cheese 8 oz
on sale for $2.00
-$0.50/2 Kraft printable coupon
Total: $1.50 each! when you buy 2 

Wal-Mart:UP2U Gum
Regular Price $1.28
- $1/1 UP2U multipack from 1/1 SS or RP (I can't recall which one it was)
Total: $.28! 

Back on Track!

Now that the holidays are over it's time to get back on track!
Our giveaway has been extended until January 19th!

Also, my new years resolution is to organize my life.
So I will be posting organization tips throughout the year as well.

Here are a few couponing trips of mine from during the holiday season:

Week of 12/11

8- Sally Hansen Salon Effects

2- Wet and Wild lip glosses

Grand total: 17.50

Saved: $73

Week of 12/31

Bought 9 bottles of brand name shampoo plus a $2 pack of mints (for my mom :) ).

Grand total: $10

Saved:at least $42 estimated

Transaction 1 of week of 1/8

2- Tide 32 load bottles

1- medium sized Downy bottle

4- 9oz Dawn soaps

2- 16 count Always Infinity boxes (usually sooo expensive)

2- 20 count boxes of Tampax pearl

2- 3 count packs of Ivory soap

Grand total: $5.07

Saved: $51.00

I'm planning another transaction this week once I get more coupons! The CVS deals are great!

So over the last month, I've saved $166 dollars using coupons!

And that's just on drug store deals!

 

Best Soda Deal of the Season!

Only on December 17th, the CVS magic coupon machine will be printing a coupon for Coca Cola 24 packs only $8 for 3!
Scan your rewards card at the machine in order to get your coupons.
Also there should be a tearpad near the 24 packs for $1 off of two.
Stack the coupons for 3 packs for only $7 or $2.34 each!

Limit three per card. Coupon expires same day.

Thirty One Tote Giveaway!

Thanks to the new Thirty One fundraiser, we have a thermal tote to give away to one of our lucky readers!
These lovely totes are great for anyone on the go! They are stylish, fun and lined with a special thermal material that can keep items warm or cold. They are great for packing lunch for work or school or for packing drinks and snacks for the car. And they can even be personalized with your name or a fun saying for an additional cost. (Pictured on left.)

You have 5 different ways to enter!

1. Like us on facebook then leave a comment telling us you have.
2. Refer a friend to like us on facebook and have them leave a comment with your name (both of you will gain an entry!)
3. Blog about us and leave a comment with the url to the post.
4. Share our blog on facebook and leave a comment saying you did.
5. You will recieve one entry per item purchased through the consultant listed in our post. (Proof of purchase required.)

If you win, you will be able to order a free Thermal Tote (not cinch) in any available fabric. Personalization is available and would still cost $7.

The winner will be chosen at random.
Contest starts Dec 12th, 2011 and ends December 30th.
All entries past December 30th at 11:59pm EST will not be included in our drawing.
All comments must be on this post to count, not our Facebook page.
You can be have up to 8 entries including referrals and items purchased.

Budget Cowboy Baby has the right to change ending date or cancel giveaway at any given time. Winner will be chosen at random using a computer program. Shipping fees must be discussed with consultant by the winner if there are any. No exchanges for other products.

New 31 Special Offer That Helps Cancer Patients!

Independent Thirty-One Consultant Marty Kingery welcomes you to the Thirty-One Thermal Tote Fundraiser to benefit the Cancer Walk Team as they raise money for cervical and breast cancer patients who are under or uninsured.

Thirty-One offers a large variety of items including purses, totes, gifts, and organization items.

They are offering our popular Thermal Totes starting at only $10 and our new Cinch Top Tote for only $15!

That is a $5 savings from the original price! So, not only are you getting a great deal but the profit of all totes sold will go directly to the cancer walk teams contribution for under and uninsured women in WV with cancer.

Thirty-One Thermal Totes are great for anyone on the go! They are stylish, fun and lined with a special thermal material that can keep items warm or cold. They are great for packing lunch for work or school or for packing drinks and snacks for the car.

They make a wonderful Birthday or any special occasion gift! And they can even be personalized with your name or a fun saying. At this great price for a great cause stock up your gift closets for all those last minute gifts thru the year! Never be caught empty handed again. Women, Men and Kids all LOVE our thermal totes!

The original thermal tote normally sells for $15.00 each (plus shipping and tax) and are on sale for only $10.00*! They come in 19 fun and stylish prints including new spring prints so you are sure to find one for every member of your family. They can be personalized for an additional $7 per tote.

Personalization can be 12 characters on one line or 8 characters on each of two lines.

The new cinch it up thermal tote originally sells for $20.00 each (plus shipping and tax) and are on sale for only $15.00*! They can not be personalized but they come in 5 fun prints and have a drop handle for hands free carrying! They will even hold a gallon jug of milk!

Ordering is EASY! You can shop online at

WWW.MyThirtyOne.com/PartyWithMarty click the place an order button on the top left then select Cancer Walk Fundraiser as the party event. You can then pay securely using your Visa, Mastercard, or Amercian Express credit or debit card.

Or if you would prefer to pay by paypal you can directly contact us at

PartyWithMarty31@aol.com

You can browse the online catalog or use the search field. If you would like to go directly to the thermal totes -original Thermal Tote is item 3000 or New cinch thermal tote is item 3785

　

In addition to the donation for the totes she will also be donating a percentage of all sales placed on the Cancer Walk party event link. So, while you are ordering your totes be sure to look around and all the wonderful items offered!

 

80% of the profit will be donated to the cancer walk team.

*Orders will be charged an additional 8% shipping and your tax rate %. There will also be a flat $4 per order direct shipping cost. This cost provides fed-ex or UPS shipping directly to your door.

And the $4 charge is the same regardless if you order 1 or 100 totes/items.

NO Returns. If product is damaged it will be exchanged for the exact same item.

Please be careful when choosing personalization as items can not be returned.

Orders will be sumbitted every two weeks until January 28^th and will ship 2-4 weeks after submission.

Your card will be authorized upon entering it to the system and then will actually be charged and the authorization will fall off upon order entry. This is similar to the process of gas stations where they check for available funds then one charge drops off and the actual charge is submitted. You will only be charged once but just something to be aware of if you see the two charges at first this is why. 

Giveaway and Special "31" Promotion Coming Soon!

Within the next week we will be annoucing a great giveaway as well as a special sale on various 31 products!
Not only will you get a great deal on a few 31 products, a portion of the proceeds will go to help cancer victims pay for their medical care!
More information will be posted soon.

Also, we will be giving away a 31 thermal tote to one of our readers!
You have 5 different ways to enter!

1. Like us on facebook then leave a comment telling us you have.
2. Refer a friend and have them leave a comment with your name (both of you will gain an entry!)
3. Blog about us and leave a comment with the url to the post.
4. Share our blog on facebook and leave a comment saying you did.
5. You will recieve one entry per item purchased through the special promotion link.

The winner will be chosen at random.
Contest start will be posted next week.





Contest officially starts

$.09 for Campbells Chicken Noodle Soup!

This week at Meijer:
Buy 5 Campbells Chicken Noodle Soup or Tomato Soup for $0.59 each
Use 1 $1.00/5 coupon = (-$1.00)
Pay $1.95, get a $1.50 catalina.
Final: $0.45 for 5 or $.09 each!

You can do multiple transactions if you can print multiple coupons. I don't advise rolling the catalina since another might not print.

These soups are great to stock up on for the season and to use for food pantry donations.

Cowboy Baby Diaper Bag Packing List

Here's a printable diaper bag packing list in a "cowboy" theme.
This is a great tool for new moms so they don't forget something they'll need when out on the town.
It should fit well in a diaper bag pocket or you can turn it into a hang tag.

 

This would be so cute in a diaper bag as a gift for a cowboy themed baby shower!

 If you are having troubles printing the list, send us an email as budgetcowboybaby@gmail.com and we can send you a printable file.

CVS and Walgreens Black Friday Haul

I visited my local CVS at midnight on Thanksgiving morning in order to get all the great deals.

Here is what I bought for $22 dollars including tax: ($162 worth of product!)

1 Theraflu Daytime or Multi-Symptom (TS 1 pack) @ $.99 each

1 Theraflu Caplets 8 ct  $1.87 each
Breathe Right Nasal Strips  $5.99 each
Cepacol Lozenges 16 ct  $4.99
Excedrin Bonus Back Extra Strength 8 ct. + PM 8 ct.  $.99
Advil PM 4 ct.  $0.99
Advil 10 ct.  $2.99 
Kleenex Cool Touch Tissues 50 ct.  $1.50

When to Clean Out Expired Coupons

When you clip and save multiple coupons, there's always going to be some that you never use in time and they expire. Then after the expire, most people aren't able to use them anymore and they are just wasting space in your coupon folder/ binder. So when should you clean them out?

My advice is to clean it out monthly; usually before the first week of the month. It will take some time so make sure you have at least 30 minutes to work on it before you start. Put all of the expired coupons in an empty envelope. You can label it "expired" on the back.

Military families can use expired coupons for up to 6 months past expiration. However, they only accept manufacturer coupons; not restaurant or store. For more information on how to label your envelopes and where to send them you can go here.

If you choose not to donate them to the military families, please remember to recycle them! Couponing should be as eco-friendly as possible on our part.

Small Business Saturday in Michiana

Just a reminder that Small Business Saturday is tomorrow! (November 26th)
Try to make a point to shop locally and help support small business in our community!
I'm sure there will be lots of great deals out there!
For more information on the Small Business Saturday movement you can read more on the official website.
If  your looking for small businesses in your area you can visit this website and type in your zip code for businesses near you.
I personally recommend checking out these small businesses in Michiana:
Jolly Nails
Between the Buns
Gloria Jean's in Granger
Explorations Toys
Orange Tree Gifts
Wakarusa Dime Store
Al Bar Ranch
Uptown Kitchen
Flourish Boutique
Sorella Boutique
Suellen Miller Designs
Kilwin's Chocolates

Product Review: Itzbeen Care Tracker

 

The Itzbeen Baby Care Tracker is an amazing device for new moms. I recently bought one at my local Babies R Us for about $25.  The concept is simple and easy to use. 

Instead of writing down when you last fed your baby, you just press the feeding button and it starts a timer. It has four different care buttons: diaper changes, feedings, sleeping/awake time, and an extra button for whatever you choose. I use the extra button for when I give him gripe water for tummy aches.

You can also set timed alarms so once a care time passes a certain length the Itzbeen will beep and flash the care button red. This way you can set it to when you should get a bottle ready or measure out medicine.  The beeping can be muted as well using a switch on the side of the Itzbeen and the device will only flash for alarms.

For breastfeeding moms, there is a slider on the bottom that will remind you if your last feeding was left or right. 

For night time, there is a flash light function and a button to turn on the back-light.

Also there is a lock function so you can't accidentally hit a care button when you didn't mean to.
This device has made all the care scheduling a breeze for me! It's really nice for when you have a babysitter as well since they know exactly when the baby last ate, slept, and was changed so he won't be taken care of wrongly without you there.
With the Itzbeen, taking care of my baby is less stressful, easier, and there's a lot less crying!

One Stop for Black Friday Deals! Walmart is pricematching!

Just released on Wal Mart's website, they are planning on price matching any other store's printed Black Friday ad for exact items!
The only catch is if a store doesn't start a deal until 4am or etc, Wal Mart can not price match until 4am for that store.
Other than that, you can get all your great bf deals in one stop!
Just be sure to print off the article on Wal Mart's website found at http://walmartstores.com/pressroom/news/10743.aspx just so there isn't any confused cashiers!
Be sure to tell all your friends by sending them a link to this blog post!

Happy shopping!

What is Stockpiling?

Once you've gone on a few shopping trips with coupons, you may want to take it to the next level of saving: stockpiling. Stockpiling is when you buy items in multiples to save until you need them later. That way later on you won't have to pay full price. This is one of the best ways to save money.

Start out small. The best items to start a stockpile of are toiletries. Once you find a free or cheap item such as toothpaste, buy at least 3 of them. Remember to use coupons on these items if you can!