(43-264) Savings Of The Day

It's Sunday, so you know what that means.  I had errands to run and grocery shopping to do.  I bought a newspaper, reviewed all of the flyer's, as well as my stash of coupons; and I headed to Fry's.

I had to replace a number of staple items, since our fridge had been on the fritz last week; and I didn't have many coupons for the things that I needed, but I did have the Albertsons $10 off a $100 or more purchase; and since Fry's honors competitors coupons, they gladly accept it.  I LOVE that coupon!

After watching "Extreme Couponing," I', convinced that couponing can be an addiction; although it's not one of mine.  I do really enjoy the rush that I get when I find a great deal; but I don't think I'm quite ready for a Twelve step program, like some of the people on that show.  I'm sorry, I admire their savings abilities, I really do.  But if you're buying things that you don't even use, just because you have a coupon for it and you can get it for a good price, I think that there's a meeting that you need to go to.... But I digress.

I'm very excited to tell you about my savings of the day.  In case you're interested, you have until Wednesday to follow in my footsteps, if you use this plan... This week Fry's has Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios and a couple of other General Mills cereals, on sale for $2.79 a box.  They're offering a $5 gift card, if you buy four boxes.  I had two coupons, each for $1.00 off of 2 boxes of cereal; so I purchased four; which dropped the price to $2.29 a box AND I received the $5 gift card to use towards my next purchase.  I'm sure the extreme couponers would have found a way for the store to owe them money; but I am very content with my purchase and savings; and I hope these hints may be helpful for you too.  Happy shopping!
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-222) Pennies In MY Pocket

I am a big fan of symmetry.  It makes me happy when things fall in line, or when something positive happens and it coincides with something else. I'm particularly pleased when I come up with a blog idea that relates back to something that I have written about previously.  I suppose it's because I feel like I'm expanding on an idea or thought that I've shared before and I'm crazy about the continuity. 

When I posted "100 MORE Random Things About Me," # 11 was I get great joy out of using a coupon; and today I TOTALLY did.  To the tune of $52.38 in savings.  OK, OK, not all of the $52.38 was due to coupons; BUT I did use a lot more than I usually do and coupled with buying items that were already on sale; I managed to save MORE than half of what I spent.  Woohoo!!

Today I fancied myself quite the domestic goddess; if I do say so myself.  I balanced my check book; paid bills, did laundry, cleaned my kitchen, dropped off my City of Peoria bill, vacuumed, got a hair cut, and went to the supermarket; where this big,(yes) HUGE savings occurred. 

Now although I typically review all of the flyers before I go to the grocery store; and I attempt to arm myself with as many coupons as possible; today was an extraordinarily, lucky day for me; because I found things that were on sale, that I actually needed; AND I had coupons for many of them.  So even though I don't typically buy Bounty paper towel - when I only had to pay seven cents for a roll; I sure did.  I also had a coupon for Kroger brand waffles, and they were on sale for .99 so I bought a box of ten for .54 rather than Eggo for $2 something.  Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch were on sale for $1.97 each and I had a coupon for $1.00 off 2 boxes; so I added those to my cart.  I had a coupon for Charmin (which I don't usually buy) and it was on sale; so when all was said and done; a 12 pack cost less than the same quantity of the store's brand.  Shall I go on??  I typically pay about $3.50 for the spray that I use to give that scrunchy, curl to my hair.  Fry's had it on sale 2 for $5.00 and I had a $1.00 off coupon; SCORE!  Dawn dish detergent was on sale for $1.99 and I had a .25 coupon that they took $1.00 off for; making the dish soap a mere .99; I also had a coupon for .75 off of finish power tabs; they took off $1.00 from the sale price of $5.29 for 32 tabs; so I paid only $4.29.  Safeway had the same on sale for $4.99 and I thought that was good; but I'll take the additional .70 savings; thank you. Another impressive purchase, was Tropicana Orange juice.  It was on sale for $2.49 and I had a $1 coupon for that too.  SWEET! I could go on; you know I could, but the last coupon that I'll tell you about was my biggest savings of all.  During the soccer season, the sister of one of Luis' players was selling a coupon book for $20 and it had at least $20 worth of savings for Fry's alone; so we thought that any additional coupons would just be a bonus.  Tonight I used the first of my Fry's coupons from the book and got $5 off of my total purchase. OH JOY!  I was giddy all the way home as I recalled the checker saying, your total is $94.97 and your total savings was $52.38  I couldn't wait to tell Luis.

I've always admired people who can save money through "Coupon Sense." I tried it for a couple of months, many years ago; but I just didn't have the time to go to all of the different markets.  Now that Fry's is honoring competitor's coupons, it's a lot easier for me to save money. YAY Fry's!

I still have a little more shopping to do for the week, because Fry's doesn't price match like Super Wal-mart does. I honestly don't mind going to one more store though; because it will ensure that I keep more pennies in my pocket. I like that!
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING             

FREE Movie Tickets

I LOVE going to the movies!! Not just any movie mind you. I'm pretty particular about what I see. Which is not to say that I am a movie snob by any means nor that I see all the epic films; because for the most part I DO NOT. I could run off a laundry list of classics and blockbusters that I've never seen, never will and yet I set Girl's day/night movies months in advance for such classics as "Connie and Carla" (ever heard of it; yah...) or more mainstream films like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" or "Hairspray;" which some of you may recall I actually wrote" I cried the first time I saw the preview." Michelle (One of these days will become legally) K had a field day with that one. And then of course there was "Sex in the City" which although I NEVER saw on HBO, I've seen the G rated version on regular TV and I RAN opening night to see it and have since seen it again - MMMM; Mr. Big!! Now, on the "Scrapbooking from the Inside Out" message board, I mentioned that I got my first ticket for "Sex in the City" by buying the Season 1 DVD at Blockbuster. The DVD sold for $19.99 and actually came with a movie ticket. Well, you know that I just thought this was TOO good a deal to pass up; and I must say that I was awfully proud of myself for making such a wise purchase. So, if you have yet to see "Sex in the City," or you want to see it again and again; and you have any interest in owning any of the seasons of the show on DVD; take yourself over to Blockbuster and see if they still have any for sale - you can't lose.

Now, another must see film for me will be "Mamma Mia." It comes out tomorrow July 18, 2008 and I emailed my girls about seeing it a couple of months ago; after the first time I saw the preview on "American idol." In case I haven't mentioned it before; I am a HUGE ABBA fan. Just call me, that's right the "Dancing Queen." LOL Anyway, what could be better than seeing "Mamma Mia" Saturday morning with my girlfriends? How about seeing it for FREE?? Yep, you read that right and I'm gonna tell you how to do it. Why? Say it with me, "Because I'm all about the GREATER GOOD!!"

OK, so I wish that I could take full and total credit for this find; but credit actually has to go to my pal Patti. It seems that Ponds has a little postage stamp sized "coupon" (for lack of a better word) on their packages of moistened face towels. There are a few different kinds of face towels, varying from Microdermabrasion to age defying etc, etc. They're also great just for taking your make up off (got that guys?) Anyway, all you have to do is purchase a package of the towels but make sure it has this little "coupon" stamp on it. I happened to buy mine at Target and guess what? This gets EVEN better; they were on sale. I paid $5.49 plus tax, I got the towels (which I will definitely use;) and a FREE movie ticket for "Mamma Mia" or any Universal pictures release.
Here's what you do. Go to Ponds.com and you'll need to register; but big deal. Then I think you go to spotlight or something like that. It will ask for your reward code, and ALSO the UPC off the box. You'll need to type in the full UPC, but it will guide you. Then just follow the couple of simple steps, and Presto! you will have a free movie ticket to print. You can do up to 3 per household; so for instance I bought a second package so that I could get Luis a movie ticket too. No, not for "Mamma Mia;" he wouldn't be caught dead; but remember I said "ANY Universal pictures release." So now, Luis Ramos is registered on Ponds.com hahaha, well, he'll be taking his newly cleaned face and laughing all the way to his free movie; just like you can.

Now, for those skeptics out there; I printed this off of the Hollywood Movie Money website:
Can't find a participating theater within 30 miles? No problem. Just go to the theater closest to you, pay to see the movie and send us your receipt and the original certificate. After verification we will reimburse you.

Did a theater mistakenly turn you away? No problem. Just send us your certificates along with the theater manager/employee name, the theater you attended, and the date and time it happened. After verification we will reimburse you.
Refunds/reimbursements MUST be postmarked within (1) week of the certificates expiration date in order for them to be honored. Please be advised that if you were turned away from the theater because your ticket was expired you will not be eligible for a refund.
I hope that some of you are able to take advantage of this little tip. The tickets are good until October; so get em while they're hot.
I know I'll be singing all the way to "Mamma Mia." and maybe I'll even provide you with a little review - MAYBE. I wouldn't want to put anyone in shock by posting more than 2 blogs a month. HAHAHA"

Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING