deals, glorious deals

Have you been reading my other blog? If not, you are missing out! I went to Kroger today and got all of this for only $54! I saved $167.74!! Woohoo!

BeCentsAble

I am so excited about my newest adventure! (do you ever wonder when I won't have a new adventure? Corey does...) Anyway - I am now a certified BeCentsAble Educator! What does this mean, you ask? This means that I will be conducting workshops; teaching people how to save time and money on their grocery, household, baby and pet purchases!

As you all know, I just LOVE to get a good deal and save $! I am also quite the talker. :) Becoming a BeCentsAble Educator combines both of these and I get the opportunity to help others. In this economy, who doesn't need to save money??

Another exciting aspect of this is that you can take the course online! This is great for those who do not have an educator living nearby or who are unable to attend a workshop. In-person workshops are $25 and the online class is $20.

I am currently looking for those who might be interested in hosting a workshop in their home. As a host/hostess you get numerous incentives, including a free workshop. All I need is access to a TV and dvd player for the presentation.

In addition to home workshops, I can also do fundraisers. Just think, you wouldn't have to sell or distribute any products!

Please let me know if you would like more information. Thanks!
You can email me at centsable.april@gmail.com

prescription coupons

One easy way to save your family money is to use prescription coupons. Doing this saves my family hundreds of dollars a year! I noticed 2 great coupons in my Sunday paper.

On the back of the CVS ad, there is a coupon good for a $25 gift card with a transferred prescription. This coupon expires on February 14th.

On the front of the Walgreens ad, there is also a coupon good for a $25 gift card with a transferred prescription. But, this coupon doesn't expire until April 26th, 2009!!!

After I get my kids to school tomorrow, the first place I am going is to Walgreens to pick up several more ads and then to CVS for a couple. These coupons are always good to have on hand, even if no one in your family uses prescriptions regularly. Sickness is everywhere during the winter! I always get more than I think I will need and offer them to friends.

You should know that even though the coupon states "transferred prescription," some pharmacies will honor them with refills and new prescriptions. All you have to do is ask! My Kroger pharmacy is very good about this. They will only allow 1 coupon per week/per family, so I space my refills out accordingly.

thank you for your patience

I should apologize for the lack of posting, lately. Life has been crazy (as it always is!). Our 2 extra turkeys left Monday morning. Ahhhh...and life came back at full speed.

So, here is my account of my Black Friday activities...

I actually began my shopping on Thanksgiving Day! Around 11am, my sweet husband offered to take over in the kitchen so I could take a break and run to CVS! They started their deals early. I got a TON of free items! I didn't take any pictures - sorry!

Here's what I remember getting -

2 bottles of ALL detergent

4 Bic Soleil razors

2 Sony(?) headphones

2 king size reeses cups

3 bags M&M's

1 nail polish

2 lip gloss

4 Colgate Total

1 Schick razor

3 gatorade

1 body wash

SD card

1 body lotion

There might have been more, but I forget. Anyway, I got 4 bags of items and paid a total of $8 out of pocket! WooHoo! A great way to begin the weekend.

Onto Friday...

Last year, I went by myself. I got what I needed, but didn't really have much fun. (I am such a social person and I don't like doing things by myself. Lame, huh?) So, this year, Stephanie picked me up at the crack of dawn. No, actually it was BEFORE the crack of dawn - 3:45AM!! I couldn't really believe it, either.

She wanted to get to Walmart and buy herself a Cricut that was a very good deal. The deals there started at 5am, so we were there waiting by 4am. I have never been to Walmart on Black Friday before - I avoided it. But, here we were, so I thought I might as well get a couple of things. I won't detail the entire time there. Suffice it to say, I met some nice people while waiting, when the bell rang there was a LOT of pushing and shoving and I got a couple of things that I wanted. (I'm afraid that I can't tell you everything that I purchased this day. There are some gift receivers that read my blog!)

We then headed to Target. Yikes! The line was SO long. So we went to Home Depot first and purchased some things on Stephanie's list.

When we got to Target, the line was beginning to move. I needed several things here and Stephanie was a huge help! She went straight for the movies and I headed back to toys. She grabbed a ton of movies and met me a little bit later and I got to choose from what she got.

I found movies, bedding, Leapster games, a scooter, dart board, etc.

Then to Ulta Beauty Supply - super long line, but fun stocking stuffers!

Next was Ink Stop - MP3 player for only $19.99 and a camera for Stephanie.

My favorite stop was Avenue. Stephanie had printed coupons for $5 sweaters! The limit was 2. It is always fun to get a few things for yourself along the way. :)

Mardel was next for $5 Veggie Tales movie and Charlotte's Web.

Now, it was on to Cavenders!! Ok - Donna was out of town for Thanksgiving and begged me to stop at this cowboy store and get her these short, pink with rhinestones boots. She was so excited that they were on sale. So, we drive to the store, BUT it wasn't Cavenders! GASP! It was a different cowboy store. (they all seem the same to me) Oh no! After looking on the back of the ad, we found that we had to travel a little distance to get to an actual Cavenders.

Right after we turned around, we passed a car accident. We commented that people must be in a real hurry to get to the sales. We hopped on the highway and Stephanie's cell phone rang. It was her sister - she was in the car accident that we had just passed!!! We headed to the hospital to meet her sister (as a passenger, she was slightly injured).

The Cavender's sale only had about 40 min. left. I called Donna to give her the bad news. She was very sad. (Corey thought I was doing her a favor by not getting the boots! lol!)

After other family members arrived and finding out that her sister was fine, we jumped in the van and made it to Cavendars with about 2 minutes left in the sale. A helpful salesman found us the last pair of boots and they were purchased! Donna couldn't believe it! (the sad part of the story is that I had to get the wrong size, hoping that she could exchange them later on. Unfortunately, they cannot locate a pair in her size anywhere! So, she'll probably end up returning them. so sad)

We ended the day at Walgreens getting lil' webkinz for $3.50 each!!

Ahh...I'm tired just reading this. If you stuck around until the end of this, then "thank you!" Anyway, it was a lot of fun and a lot of good deals! Christmas is just about finished now. Whew!

Are you finished with your Christmas shopping?

Did you get any great deals on Black Friday?

stay tuned

I want to tell you all about my black friday adventures! It is coming soon!

fabulous blog

I just recently found out that my friend, Sandi (roomies from our BYU days), has a coupon/deal blog! I am so excited!! I just love to get a good deal and she has had some good ones. In fact, I just ordered 2 bras and 1 panty from victorias secret and only paid $16.99 shipped - thanks to Sandi. So, go on over and check out her blog!

www.centsofsavings.blogspot.com

Kroger deals

I have had such a fun night! I crashed the Mansfield 2nd Ward's Food Storage Enrichment group and then went to Kroger and saved $72.33!! (I spent $73.32, so I saved 1/2) I wanted to share my good deals with you.

First - Kroger and Tyson boneless, skinless chicken breasts and tenders are on sale for $1.67lb - This is a great price! I am thinking about buying a couple hundred pounds to can...

Next - Yoplait yogurt is on sale for $0.50 each. If you purchase 20 (yeah, we eat a lot of yogurt!) then you will get a "catalina" coupon that prints out at the register for $2 off your next purchase at Kroger. I also used 3 "$0.40 off when buying 6" coupons which doubled. I also used a $0.40 ecoupon (see below). Essentially, I paid $0.26 each!

Golden delicious and fiji apples are on sale for $0.97lb. (mmmmm...apple bar)

Romaine and Red Leaf lettuce are $0.97 each.

And 1lb strawberries are $1.50 each.

Ok - here is the really exciting part - If you go to www.kroger.com you can register your Kroger card for ecoupons! This means that you can load coupons onto your card and they will be taken off of your total when you purchase those items. The bonus, is that you can stack these with "paper coupons!" These coupons can only be used once and will not double or triple.

I used ecoupons tonight for the yogurt, a Macaroni Grill meal kit, crescent rolls and toilet paper.

When you get to kroger.com, you can get coupons through 2 different links - the Proctor and Gamble link, which is on the right with a fairly large ad, and Short Cuts. The short cuts did not have a large ad, just a little sentence. You must register for each of these coupon sites, but it is free and no big deal.

One thing to note - I had a Proctor and Gamble ecoupon that did NOT work tonight...I will be calling someone tomorrow to ask about it - it was for $1.50!

I hope that you all are snagging some great deals and are having fun saving your family money!

*What deals have you found, lately?

CVS

With hurricane Ike being here in North Texas, all of our stake leadership meetings were cancelled this morning. So, I took the opportunity to go to CVS.

In our area, they are doing new dates with their sales ads. Our ads now run from Friday through Thursday. I haven't really liked it, mainly because I am used to following the deals of other frugal bloggers and their ads still run Sunday - Saturday.

Well, I did ok on my own today. There is a deal where if you spend $10 on skippy peanut butter, Ragu spaghetti sauce, mayo, etc. then you receive $3ECB back. We go through a ton of peanut butter, so I was all over this deal, especially since there have been recent coupons for these items.

Transaction #1

6 Skippy Peanut Butters on sale 3/$5 - used 3 $1 off 2 coupons and received $3 ECB
1 Excedrin gel caps on sale for $3.99 and received $3.99 ECB

So, I essentially paid $4 for these products. Of course, I used ECB to pay. :)

Transaction #2 (Corey's card)

4 Skippy Peanut Butters on sale 3/$5 - used 2 $1 off 2 coupons
2 Ragu Spaghetti Sauce on sale 3/$5 - used $1 off 2 coupon - received $3 ECB
1 Excedrin gel caps on sale for $3.99 and received $3.99 in ECB

Same deal as above - $4 paid with ECB.

I did 2 transactions, because the skippy/ragu deal and the excedrin were limit 1 deal per card. If I get more of these coupons, I might start cards for Alexandra and Noah to get more peanut butter.

Do any of you have more than 2 cards for your family? I know Stephanie does. :) Is it hard to keep track of it all?

more chick-fil-a goodness

Visit any participating Chick-fil-A restaurant wearing your favorite football team’s attire or logo on Labor Day, Sept. 1, 2008, from 10:30 a.m. until close and get one free order of our new Chick-n-Strips (3-count). Limit one order per person while supplies last.

Do I Need a Coupon to Get the Free Order of Chick-n-Strips?

No, all you have to do is wear something that has your favorite football team’s logo on it.

Can I Wear Any Football Team’s Logo or Attire?

Yes, you can wear any clothing or accessory that has a collegiate logo, or the logo of your favorite recreational football team, middle or high school football team, or professional football team.

What Time Does the Free Offer Begin and End?

The promotion begins at participating Chick-fil-A restaurants at 10:30 a.m.
For our restaurants located inside shopping malls, the closing time will vary based on mall operating hours for Labor Day.
For free-standing Chick-fil-A restaurants, the closing time for this Labor Day will be 10 p.m.

Is the Free Offer Valid Through the Drive-Thru Window?

Yes, starting at 10:30 a.m. and going to 10 p.m. on Labor Day, you can get the free order of Chick-n-Strips if you wear the appropriate football-themed attire as stated above. Please be sure to inform us at the speaker box what football team’s item you are wearing!

Giveaway!

Don't you just love this bracelet??

Ok, I'm not doing the giveaway, my friend is! Leslie has this great new blog where she sells all of her gorgeous & unique jewelry. I love everything she makes! In fact, I just picked up 2 button bracelets and some hair pins from her this morning that Alexandra and I are already fighting over. (my bracelets are red and pink. You can purchase this blue one from her blog.)

So, here is the scoop...Go to her blog, Altered Art, and leave a comment. She will be doing a random drawing on the 18th, so you have a little time - but don't forget! The lucky winner will get a scrabble tile necklace. Fun!

Now, go leave a comment and let everyone else know!

New Staples Deals

I took the kids and went to Staples yesterday. Here is the rundown on what I purchased.

• $0.05 Staples cap erasers - limit 2
• $0.05 Staples 6" plastic protractor - limit 2
• $0.25 1/2" and 1" simply plastic assorted binders - limit 4
• $0.99 Pentel RSVP ballpoint pens, fine, assorted - limit 2
• $0.35 Elmers School Glue - no limit, I got 6

My total was $5.72. Not too shabby.

They also had the 2-pocket paper folders on sale for $0.05 with a limit of 10, but I didn't need anymore of those. There are also a couple of rebate items, but I don't take the time to mess with rebates. Whenever I do, I always wait to long or forget something so I don't end up getting the $.

More School Supplies

Thanks to Money Saving Mom for this great information about the sales this week at Office Depot!

• "Office Depot Value™ Red Eraser Caps 12-PK - $0.01 each (normally $0.99!), limit 5 per customer
• Office Depot® Brand Semicircular 6" Protractor - $0.01 each (normally $1.99!), limit 5 per customer
• Office Depot® Brand 2 Pocket Paper Folder - $0.01 each (normally $0.29 each), limit 20 per customer
• Office Depot® Brand Acrylic Ruler - $0.01 each (normally $0.59 each), limit 5 per customer
• Also, there is a rebate for a 6-pack TOPS colored junior writing pads - on sale for $7.49, free after mail-in rebate.
• All deals are good through Saturday, July 19, 2008; however, the ad says that quantities may be limited so I'd recommend shopping sooner rather than later if you want to stock up on these school supplies."

At Walmart, their 70-sheet Spiral Notebooks are on sale for $0.05. Unfortunately, my super Walmart has been out of these each time I go. When I asked about rainchecks, I was told that they don't run out of sale items. Huh??? Um, yes you do. Anyway, I guess I'll try again later on in the week.

You're Invited!

You're Invited to an Open House featuring...

Coverwear
stylish & modest clothing
Altered Art
unique, handmade jewelry
Gold Canyon Candles
great summer scents

Tuesday, July 15th
7pm - 9pm
at my home


It's going to be a great night with refreshments and a few door prizes!
Invite your friends and come enjoy a Girl's Night Out!

**Just a note that Coverwear is currently having their annual Red, White & Navy Sale! ALL red, white & navy shirts (including long sleeve) are ONLY $12!!!! This is an incredible price. This is the ONLY time of the year that white is on sale! So, stock up now. If you are unable to make the party, you can email me or order online at www.coverwear.com/aprilfrancom

Free chili dog or kid's cone!

Today, July 15th from 5-8pm, you can receive a free Original Chili Dog OR Kid's Cone at Wienerschnitzel!

"Celebrate National Hot Dog Month with a free Chili Dog or beat the heat with a free Kid's cone. Either way come to Wienerschnitzel for your free treat on July 15 from 5-8pm."

Visit www.wienershnitzel.com for the nearest location.

At participating locations only. Limit one chili dog or kid's cone per person, per visit. Cheese extra.

We have one of these restaurants down the street and we've never been. I don't think we'll get a chance to get there today. If you go, let us know how their ice cream tastes!

go get your sunday paper

This morning, I picked up an early edition of the Sunday paper. As I looked through the coupon inserts, I was thrilled to find this coupon...

$2.25 off Any ONE (1) Electrasol Powerball Tabs or Gelpacs!!

And it doesn't expire until 8/10/08! I am so excited, because I only have 1 1/2 boxes of these left from the last time this coupon came out! That was way back in January and I had purchased 18 boxes. Yikes, we sure do use our dishwasher a lot!

Be on the lookout for sale prices on this product. We want to get the most bang for our buck. :)

More Safeway Promotion...

I just got back from a successful shopping trip at Tom Thumb (our Safeway store). I had 6 kiddos with me, no one was fighting, and we got out of there in 20 minutes. No matter how much money I spent, those facts alone made it very successful!! Don't worry, though - I did save some $! Here is what I got.

• 6 Betty Crocker cake mixes (we make a lot of cake cookies - yum!) - On sale for $1.25 each
• 4 Ragu Spaghetti sauce - On sale for $1.67 each
• 4 Kellogs cereal - Used bonus coupon in weekly ad for 4 for $6
• 4 Barilla Plus pasta - $1.49 each (only the penne was this cheap. all of the others were over $2 at my store)
• 5 boxes of Kleenex - On sale for $1.50 each
• 2 6-pack bottles of Sprite - Used bonus coupon in weekly ad for 2 for $3

I spent $40.63 and got back a coupon for $20 to use on my next visit. I didn't have any problem with my coupon printing for me. Now I just need to get more of my coupons organized and make the most out of my next trip.

Bonus - After Tom Thumb, we stopped at 7-11 and all 7 of us got our FREE slurpee! Mmmmm.

Safeway Promo

The buy "25 items, get $20 back" promotion is going on now at Safeway (that is Tom Thumb for me)! This makes for some great deals, especially when combined with coupons! I will post the items that I end up purchasing, but for all of the details and wonderful tips and information go visit www.sahmmoney.blogspot.com She is amazing! You will love her blog. I know that I do.

If you do this deal, let us all know the details!

FREE slurpee!

Tomorrow, you can get a FREE slurpee at 7-Eleven! Here is what the website says...

"In honor of 7-Eleven day get your FREE 7.11oz Slurpee at a participating 7-Eleven."

*Please contact your local store to make sure they are participating before you take your children. I know that if I took mine and they weren't giving them away, we would end up purchasing them. Calling ahead of time is definitely the more frugal approach. I think I'll just have my friend, Donna, check. She goes there every single day to get her super huge mug refilled.

Do you want to know something really great?? My husband is the one who told me about this deal! He loves it when I don't spend money. heehee :)

school supplies

I know. Doesn't it seem way too early to be thinking about school supplies??? I think so, but I still went to Staples tonight to get some great deals! You should go, too! Hurry - these deals expire on Wed, July 9th.

• 2 pocket paper folders - $0.01 each, limit 10
• Dixon #2 pencils 8 pack - $0.01 each, limit 2
• Purell 0.5 oz. bottle - $0.01 each, limit 2
• 1/2" & 1" poly binders - $0.25 each, limit 4

I should note that I found the pencils and Purell in the back of the store and the folders and binders were near the computers.

I purchased all of these items and my total was $1.23! I also had my husband and daughter go through for the pencils and purell. I think I will definitely be going back tomorrow. Maybe I'll see you there!

free zaxby's

Ok, the picture turned out pretty small and somehow, it only saved part of the picture?? Strange. Anyway...I got this in my email this morning. If you go to Zaxby's on Monday, July 7th between 2:30 and 4:30pm, you can get one FREE Nibbler sandwich per guest. This will definitely be our afternoon snack that day. :)

Here is a small money saving tip: Register your email with all of your favorite restaraunts. I often receive coupons and notices for special savings - like this one!