Free deodorant at Rite Aid

Rite Aid has their Speed Stick and Lady Speed Stick deodorants on sale this week. Here's the scenario:

Buy any 2 combinations of (Men's Speed Stick or Lady Speed Stick) deodorants for $4.74. I purchased 1 Men's Speed Stick, and 1 Lady Speed Stick.

Total $4.74

Minus:
-$2 RA in ad coupon
- 2 $1.50 coupons from HERE. Make sure that the zip code says 33907 in order to get the correct page of coupons.

You have to add a small "impulse buy" item at the counter in order to avoid having an overage. I purchased a Mentos gum for $1.49. Both fortunately and unfortunately, the gum was on sale for $1 and I had a $1 off coupon, so my total was the same overage. I ended up adding another gum and not using the other coupon I had, and still only paid .74 for 2 deodorants and 2 packs of gum. Plus, the Speed Stick Irish Spring Icy Blast fragrance smells REALLY good, and my husband likes it too.

This deal worked better than expected, and I am going back later today or tomorrow to do the deal again. I plan on doing this another 2 times or so. Who can pass up free deodorant?

Herbal Essences deal at Rite Aid

Herbal Essences are on sale this week at Rite Aid for 2/$6. So here's the scenario that I see.

2 shampoos = $6
2 conditioners= $6
4 stylers= $12

Total before coupons= $24
*You need to add a $1 item in order to make it $25 to use the $5/$25 coupon found HERE


Minus:
-$5/$25 coupon from HERE
-$12.00 (4 coupons) for Stylers (coupon for Free styler with shampoo/conditioner purchase from last Sundays RP insert)
- $4 Mfr coupons from 7/5 P&G insert (4 $1 off coupons)

= $3 OOP (plus the $1 item to make it to $25, minus any coupons you have for the $1 item)
*Get back $2 SCR

That's like paying $1 for 2 shampoos, 2 conditioners, and 4 styling products. That is a spectacular deal!!!

The only problem I can see with the above scenario is that some RA's say that the free styler coupons are "matched" to the shampoo or conditioner and won't let you use both the free styler coupon and the $1 off of shampoo/conditioner coupon.

If the above scenario does not work for you, here's another one without the free styler coupon.

4 SHAMPOOS= $12
4 CONDITIONERS= $12

Total before coupons= $24
*Be sure to add a $1 item in order to make it $25 to use the $5/$25 coupon HERE

Minus:
-$5/$25 RA coupon HERE
-$8 Mfr coupon (8 $1 off coupons from 7/5 P&G insert)

= $11 OOP (plus $1 from the $1 item to make it to $25, minus any coupons for the $1 item)

*Get back $2 SCR

Like paying $9 for 4 shampoos and 4 conditioners (that's $1.13 each)

Scenario #1 is obviously the best deal, but scenario #2 is still a good price for 4 shampoos and 4 conditioners.

Reason for the long silence

I just wanted to let everyone know what's been going on recently that has kept me from posting any new deals or information. My husband and I, and our 3 kids have been building a new house for the last 6 months. The house was finished 8 weeks ago, but unfortunately there were some snags in the financing. All of our stuff has been in storage for the last 4 weeks so we have been living out of boxes and sleeping on mattresses. Needless to say, it's been difficult trying to keep up on all the sales ads, coupon match-ups, and deal posting that I had planned to do through this blog. We are hoping to know something late next week about our house loan, and after that probably another couple of weeks before we would be able to sign papers and move in. I will try my best to post deals that I find, or that others find, even if I myself am not able to check and see if they work as described.

Thanks for understanding the reason for my month long silence. Check back soon for updated deals and new posts. Please feel free to let me know what deals you are finding and the coupon match-ups via email, and I will try my best to post them (giving you credit, of course).

Free body wash & oreo cakesters at Walgreens

Have you tried these yet? They are really rich and probably really fattening, but very delicious.
Well, if you love them and want to stock up, or if you'd like to try them without spending the money, Walgreen's has Oreo Cakesters boxes (12 oz. size) on sale through Saturday, June 20th for 2/$5 (that's 2 boxes for $5). There was a $1 off coupon for these in last Sundays Smart Source insert. Plus, there is a $3 RR (Register Reward) from Kraft.

Buy 2 Oreo Cakester's for $5
-2 ($1) coupons = $3
Get an RR for $3= FREE after Register Rewards

The Register Rewards have to be spent at Walgreen's, and not on the same item, or it will not print out a new RR. So, if you want to stock up on FREE (extremely sugary ;) ) snack cakes, you must do multiple transactions of 2 boxes in each transaction to get the RR's, and pay using something other than the Kraft RR from a previous Cakester transaction.


Also, there is St. Ives body wash on sale for $2.99 this week, with an RR for $3 courtesy of St. Ives. That is a .01 MM. If you have a coupon for this, it would be an even better deal. You could use the RR's from this deal to pay for the Oreo Cakester's from above, and the Nabisco (Oreo) RR to pay for the St. Ives, and keep rolling it. Again though, you would have to separate the Cakester's and the St. Ives body wash into 2 transactions if you are paying using the RR's from the previous Cakester and St. Ives deals. If you have any questions regarding these deals, please leave them in the comment section.

FREE toothpaste and toothbrushes

I am still waiting for the SCR to clear my account, but the amounts are definitely correct. The SCR clearing for this deal has been confirmed by another couponer on a forum that I belong to. So here goes:

Right now Rite Aid has their Reach value pack toothbrushes on sale (2 in a pack) for $2.99. Make sure you get the pack that is on sale though, as they also have some 2 packs that are $6.99.

There is also an SCR for $5 when you purchase any 3 Reach toothbrushes, or Listerine mouthwash.

Here's what I did:

3 Reach value pack toothbrushes = $8.97
Use 2 computers and print 3 of the coupons at www.coupons.com, using zip code 33332. The coupon you are looking for says $2 off of Listerine, but when it prints it states that it is also for the reach toothbrushes. Trust me, I did this already!!! :) The reason you need to use zip code 33332 is because different zip codes have different face values for this coupon. For instance, my zip code only has $1 off, and a zip code that I previously lived in only has .50 off. The way to get the $2 off face value is using zip code 33332. Silly I know, but they do it for some reason.

Anyways, back to the deal. Rite Aid also has their Colgate Total Whitening toothpaste (4.2 oz size) for $1.88 with a coupon in this weeks ad for $1.00 off making it .88. Then you use the $1 off Mfr coupon that was in the 6/7/09 Smart source insert, making this a .12 MM deal for the toothpaste. The reason that you can use 2 mfr coupons in this transaction is because the one in the Rite Aid ad states that it is a mfr coupon, but it also has a RA logo AND begins with RC49.

Combine the 3 Reach value packs, and the Colgate toothpaste, and you will have an OOP of $2.85, and get back an SCR for $5. This is now a $2.15 MM. Free toothbrushes and toothpaste for the family. Love it!!! And $2.15 to spend on something else next week :)


*If you don't know what SCR's are, or haven't signed up yet, please read THIS previous post. If you have any other questions, please leave them in the comments section, and I will answer them as soon as I can.

Wondering what to do with all those expired coupons?

Each time you purge your coupon binder, or your coupon swap box of all the expired coupons, where do you put them? There is somewhere MUCH better than the trash.

I just recently discovered that expired coupons can be used overseas at military bases up to 6 months past the expiration dates.

There is a civilian run program called the Overseas Coupon Program that is dedicated to helping military families stationed overseas stretch their food budgets. As of March 1st, the 2009 total was $2, 073, 947.68 worth of coupons donated to this worthy cause. The running total has not been updated since March 1st because of family issues with one of the volunteers that maintains the site, but I'm sure it has probably doubled in the last 2 and 1/2 months.

Here are some basics to the program: Cut the coupons yourself before mailing them, please don't send coupons that are more than 2 months past their expiration date, so that the bases have time to process the coupons and get them out before the 6 months window passes. No store coupons, fast food coupons, or restaurant coupons. Manufacturer's coupons only. Please sort the coupons into food and non-food categories. Use small bags or envelopes to keep the coupons separated into these 2 categories, and be sure to label the bags accordingly. Do not use paper clips as they can come apart easily in the mail.

What's food and what's not? Rule of thumb; If it is usually eaten by humans to provide calories, then it's food!

For instance, Dog food is a non-food item. Slim fast or Ensure are food items. Vitamins are a non-food item. Chewing gum and mints are food items. Makes sense right?

Add up the face value of all the food and non-food coupons in one total and write this number on a slip of paper and place it in the envelope. They ask that you do this because it helps the volunteers know which bases may need to receive more coupons.

You can either adopt a base through the program's website, and mail directly to that base every month, or you check the website each month and choose a different base each time you mail. I think it may be easier to adopt a base so that you know where to send the package, and so that the program volunteers have an easier time gauging which bases have the greatest need for adoption.

If you want more information on this, you can checkout The OCP website.

If you are interested in doing something like this, please leave me a comment and we'll see how many people we can get involved.

Coupon Swap Box

It's always a shame to throw away coupons just because you don't think you can use them. I always feel a little guilty, as if I'm throwing money away. But there is something else you can do with those unwanted coupons. Aside from out of state sharing of coupons, here's something you can do locally. Set up and manage a coupon swap box. Here's how:

Buy a plastic shoe box at a store such as Walmart or the Dollar Tree , or use a small cardboard box that you already have on hand. Label it with the words COUPON SWAP BOX and be sure to tape the rules to the top of the box so that others know what to expect and how to participate.

Now, here's the rules:

• Please put the coupons you are donating in a Ziploc sandwich bag, along with a 3x5 note card with your name on it. From now on, this will be called a name card. Each person participating in the coupon swap is responsible for providing their own Ziploc bag and name card.

• Feel free to look through and take coupons from other bags in the box. Please take a bag and remove the coupons you want from that bag. Return the coupons that you don't want to the same bag they came from. Sign your name on the name card in that bag. DO NOT ADD NEW COUPONS TO AN EXISTING BAG, even if it is a bag that you originally started.

• Each time you come to the swap box , only look through bags without your name on the card. Remember, you've already gone through the coupons in the bags with your name on them.

• Around the beginning of each month, I will go through all the bags and remove any expired coupons. If while looking through the bags you happen to find an expired coupon, please remove it and put it in bag label EXPIRED COUPONS at the back of this box. This will be donated to those people who can use expired coupons.
  

* Make sure that you also leave your name and a phone number or email address where you can be reached, if someone should have questions.


Once you have the coupon swap box established, the only job you have left is maintaining it. Basically, the only maintenance it will need is a good monthly pulling of expired coupons.

Hope this helps!!!

**The above information was compiled from a post at aFullcup.com.