Great deals and another booking.

I have been getting a lot of great deals around town. Last night I made money at Walgreens using the ecotrin coupons. I gave the ecotrin to a woman I know. She takes one everyday and she is going to be 97 in two weeks. I bought 16 packs of the Beggin' strips dog treats, 3 packs of Dentastix and 3 packs of breath busters and 2 packages of bic razors all for under $8. I gave some coupons to the publix employees after they were impressed with my deals.

I received a message from another Library last night. I called them today and set up a class for Sept. I cannot wait!

Blog from the Library

Last Tuesday night, Riverview Branch Library was graced with a royal visit when Carrie, the Coupon Queen, presented a lively program on how to save big at major retail, grocery and drug stores. Carrie shared money-saving secrets like combining coupons, taking advantage of sales and discount card programs, locating coupons in unlikely places and using rain checks. She also covered specific store policies. Audience members were impressed with her real-life examples of getting products at a deep discount, free or the store owing her money at the end! Other tips included organizing and planning shopping to maximize savings, using websites to scout out deals and networking with other coupon clippers. Carrie closed the program with a sharing session in which audience members asked questions and dished on their own money-saving strategies. Everyone agreed that Carrie nobly earned her royal title of Coupon Queen, but if anyone doubts it, she has a $4 case of cereal bars and twenty free toothbrushes to prove it!

Another booking.

I had another library contact me about booking two, maybe even three classes. We have the dates set for the first two classes. One is in July and the other is in August. The head librarian wants me to do the classes on a Saturday and a Sunday so more people can attend. I am thrilled! Most of the attendees from the last class have signed up for my group on big tent. A few of them are active through email. One person even emailed me to thank me for the sneak peek of the new Publix ad. I told him it always helps me plan my shopping trips.

I did a coupon class play date the other day. It ended up being really fun for all of us. It was nice to sit around and talk about coupons while the kids played. I love this age because the kids can really do their own thing with little supervision. I have another coupon class play date that I am going to schedule next week, for the people who were not able to make it the other day.

Coupon Class was a HUGE hit!

I taught a class at the Riverview library last night and it was a huge hit! There were 25 people there and they all learned something new about saving money. I even received some money saving tips that I didn't know about. I had everyone laughing and having a good time. The class lasted a little over an hour and the question and answer period was about a half hour. The program director that booked me said that she will blog about how successful the class was on an internal blog so all of the libraries can read about it. She thinks others will start booking classes too. I will keep my fingers crossed.

Another successful experience I had was on Saturday at the Westchase garage sale. I made a nice amount of money in just a few hours. My friend had to leave early to take her kids to soccer, so I stayed and sold some of her items too.

Bust

The coupon class at the JCC was a bust! I had one person show up, whom I happened to know from one of my jobs. We spent a little bit of time catching up on things and then she gave me her email address so I can email her with the information on my next class.

I have been shopping like crazy lately because the deals are great. I have a garage full of items that I am hoping to sell this weekend. I got rained out last weekend. I ended up taking some of the items to my Mom's meeting to sell. I made a little over $100. I cannot wait until this weekend! I have only been shopping one store this week because I don't have room in the van for everything. I even asked my Husband to bring some items up when he brought the kids to visit me. I have also decided to focus more on the flea market and less on the classes. The classes are too uncertain. The time I spent driving too and from the JCC the other night, could have been spent on shopping. I am putting all of the money in the twins' college fund. I know they will appreciate it when they get older!

Epcot

Yesterday we went to Epcot with my family. It was fun. The kids and I went to the flea market on Saturday to let them know that I wouldn't be there on Sunday. I made $40 including the $10 that my friend made me. She asked me to leave 5 bags of cat food with her and she sold all of them before I even got home. So nice! I have a class tomorrow night at my Mom's house. She invited a few of her friends over so I can show them how to get the best deals. I have another class on April 20th at the JCC. The director already put the flyer out to all of the preschool parents and posted it on their website. I am really looking forward to my class in May at the library. I hope that it creates a snowball effect for all of the libraries. I have a feeling that if I am able to get into one of the libraries in Tampa, a lot of my friends will attend.

I shopped Kmart last week for their double coupon event. It was nice, but they only allowed 5 double coupons per day. I think that makes it fair for everyone. I felt like a criminal at Sweetbay on Saturday. I had some $10/$50 coupons that expired yesterday, so I decided to use 2 during their 2 day sale. I bought 2 steaks on sale bogo, 10 boxes of ideal, 15 cans of mighty dog and 1 box of bayer low dose. My total was .78. The manager came over and took my receipt. He told me "I am having a hard time wrapping my head around your balance, can you please show me how you did that?" I said sure. I showed him how I had the $10 coupon, 3 $3 coupons for the Mighty dog, 10 free product coupons for the ideal and a competitor's coupon for the Bayer. He was amazed. Then I did my second checkout. I did it this way because I wanted to keep everything straight. I bought some mighty dog, 2 family size packages of boneless skinless chicken, bayer, bread and bologna. My total was a little over $10. This time another manager came over and bagged my items. She pulled everything out of the bags to make sure they matched the coupons. Then I tried to use a manufacturer's coupon with a competitor's coupon on the same item and she said that I was trying to commit coupon fraud. I politely explained to her that other stores accept store coupons and manuf. coupons together. She said "well, we don't and that is coupon fraud" I am going to email their corporate office just to find out if she was correct. If their answer is different, I will print out the email and keep it with me. I had to do that with Target before with a different coupon issue.

.75 and $2.08

We went to publix the other night on the way to dinner, I had a lot of coupons that were expiring this weekend. We walked into the store and the manager and bag boy greeted us with a huge smile. The manager said he was waiting for me to come in for the huge cereal deal going on this weekend. I introduced my dh to everyone as we walked in the store. The cashier even said she was happy to see us. I picked up a few things including, 6 bottles of fish oil, 2 lysol bathroom cleaners, 1 box of fruit loops, 4 sure deodorants, and a few other things that I can't remember. My total after coupons was .75 (.21 subtotal and .54 tax).

Today I bought 8 bottles of bertolli pasta sauce, 2 lysol bathroom cleaners, 4 sure deodorants, and vitamins. I paid $2.08 including tax.

I also stopped into Super Target this morning and got 3 bottles of kids crest toothpaste and 4 boxes of character band-aids all for free.

I have been doing great at the flea market! I look forward to selling there every weekend. I have started taking requests from my "regulars." This week I have a lot of requests for sundowns.

Deals and more Deals

I am sorry that I haven't written. I have been busy getting deals. I went to Target today and bought 2 packages of oreos, 2 packages of cakesters, 6 gillette body washes, 6 clinical strength deodorants, and 1 package of GE light bulbs, all for under $5. I had them price match the oreos, and I had a lot of free product coupons from the paper.

My next stop was CVS because I heard about a great huggies wipes deal. It happened to be a glitch in their system and they fixed it. I still bought 4 bottles of ester-c and a few valentine's items so my balance would be over $2.00. I needed to use my extra bucks, so I ended up paying 6 cents. The Ester-C coupons expire today, so that was perfect.

Publix was a success also. I bought 6 packages of bacon strip dog treats, 2 packages of pedigree treats, 2 containers of progresso bread crumbs, 4 cans of indoor formula cat food, and 2 packages of frusions yogurt all for $7.73. I am going to sell most of these items at the flea market. Last weekend I did great with all of the pet treats and food. I kept a few items to donate to the local shelter. I promised the kids we could go there the next time I found a good deal on pet supplies.

I have not seen the new ad for Publix yet. I can't wait. Nothing too great is going on at CVS or Walgreens this week. I will do a few shops there, but I am focusing on Target and their special K deals. The grocery manager was nice enough to order a case of the fruit crisps for me. He said the kellogs rep even left coupons for me. He was telling me all about the deal and the coupons, I don't think he realized who he was talking to :o).

"I love it when this happens"

I went to publix on Friday night for a few things. I had some meat coupons that were going to expire that day, so I wanted to take advantage of the deals. I called my order in because the butcher is really busy at this store. The ground beef was on sale for $2.29 a pound and the Publix coupon was for $1.00 off of 2 pounds. I also had a competitor's coupon for $2 off any $5 meat purchase. I signed up to receive the Albertson's ads in the mail, so I received 2 on Thursday. They each had $5 off $50 on them. They also had some meat coupons, but Publix doesn't carry the kind of meat they were advertising. My total was $98.77, so the cashier told me I could not use the second $5 coupon. I quickly ran to get 2 more Hallmark cards to bring my balance over $100. I knew the cards would be free anyway, so it was money I was not going to spend. My total included 9 Huggies wipes, 6 packages of ground beef, shampoo, conditioner, cards, stickers, Stacy's pita chips, Cuban style pork, 6 Dixie plates, and 6 Dixie napkins. The cashier looked at my receipt and said "I love it when this happens, you saved $128 and spent $12.02" I saved so much with the deals and coupons. I gave my Mom some of the plates and the Advil that were free last week.

I did great at the flea market today. Advil, paper towels, and toilet paper were some of the best sellers. I also sold a lot of shampoo too. I traded some for a 6 piece sheet set and a vase. I was kidding around with the vendor next to me, he said to make sure to sell all of the sheets at his booth, and I said make sure to get me some kettle corn on your way back. Well, to my surprise, he did get me a bag of kettle corn. That was really nice of him. The other guy I met there told me that I can use part of his covered area if I ever needed to because of the weather. I told him that I would just pay him rent. He refused and said he likes me and he would do it for free. The funny thing is, I thought he was a grumpy old man in the beginning, but he has turned out to be really nice. He sells old antiques. I actually have some regulars already. When I opened up the back of my van, they spent $60 right away. I can't wait to get the deals this week.

One of my best shopping trips ever!

Friday I received some coupons in the mail. I traded some coke points for $25 worth of coupons. I went shopping Friday night to stock up on a few things for Sat. I bought over $100 worth of groceries for $3.98 including tax. The tax was $3.65 and my total was .33. Some of the items on my receipt were a jumbo box of huggies, huggies wipes, bertolli pasta sauce, bic razors, dole fruit cups, vitamins, quattro trimmers, yogurt, and aspirin. The bag boy and cashier were floored at my total. I am sending the receipts in for a $10 rebate and some dole coupons. Dole is doing a 30 day challenge, where you buy 8 packages of dole, you get 4 free. They were on sale bogo, plus I had some .75 coupons.

I did great at the flea market on Saturday. I made $150 for a few hours of my time. I stayed longer than I had planned because I was having so much fun talking to everyone. When I drove up, I was afraid that I wasn't going to get a spot because there were so many vendors. I was placed next to one vendor that sold antiques, and the other one who sold sheets, and a little bit of everything else. I cannot wait to go back on Sunday.

I went shopping today for a few things that I plan on selling on Sunday. The deals don't look that great this week. I hope I will have enough things to sell, so I can make at least $100. I was really happy at Walgreens tonight because I asked the manager if he could reduce the price of some marvel comic toothbrushes that were on clearance for .74. I asked if he could mark them down to .40-.50, he told the cashier to mark them down to .25 each!! There were 4 in each pack, spiderman, the hulk, etc. I am probably going to use them for the boy goodie bags at their party this year.

Great success at the Flea Market

My dh and I have been talking about selling my overstock at the flea market, but we never acted on it. Finally last Thursday I asked him if I could take my things and go sell them. He was shocked because it was such short notice. I made all of the phone calls to different markets and I found the best one for us. I got all of my items together and packed them in the car on Friday. I asked my Mom if she could watch the kids for 30 minutes on Sat. while my husband went to do a paying survey at the mall. I strolled into the flea market around 9:15 and asked the receptionist for a booth. I also asked her how much it would cost if I wanted one of the spots in front of the front and she said it was only $6! I was going to pay $9 for a booth. Not only did I save money, but I was right in the front when people walked in. Luckily I had packed my own table because they do not supply them for the $6 spots. I had a tiny round table that held some of my stuff and then I set everything else up on boxes. I was almost sold out in an hour and a half. I called my Mom to tell her that she didn't have to watch the kids because I was already on my way home. I made over $100 in less than 2 hours. I am going back this weekend. I have more things to sell. The only downfall about this flea market is that I cannot sell food or drinks at all. I have to carry a special insurance and I have to pay over $30 a day to rent a spot. I just hope I can continue to buy enough stuff to keep this going.

$1.02 and .50 at CVS

I went to 2 different CVS stores today to see what they had on clearance. One had 3 Hanukkah window decals and Hanukkah candles for next year. I had $1 in ECB's so I only spent 50 cents. The other store had some headbands and really nice bobby pins for .39 each. I also had a $1 in ECB's so I spent $1.02 for 5 packs. I am happy to be back into the coupon groove after my break. I am cleaning out all of our pantries and trying to get organized for more items. I have been collecting boxes to store the 10 boxes of razors that I am going to get for free. I am going to buy my Mom some snack mixes to serve when she hosts cards. I am also going to stock up on 100 calorie packs since they are .75 a box. We only have a little room in our freezers, but I am going to buy the organic veggies and potatoes that are on sale this week. I stocked up big time on organic grape tomatoes at $1 each. I also bought 2 pounds of strawberries, cheese, a bag of apples, chives, 4 pears, 4 big packages of boneless skinless chicken breasts, 6 packs of Duracell batteries, 2 boxes of 100 calorie packs, milk, 4 boxes of chow mein noodles, 5 bags of eat fresh veggies, 1 bag of Cesar salad, 2 (24) packs of Angel Soft toilet paper, all for $47. It wasn't my best trip, but I did get a lot of items that I did not have coupons for. We needed to stock up on toilet paper. Tomorrow is the last day for the Publix sale, so I want to make sure I have everything, if not, the sale will come around again soon.

Stayfree Pads and Reach Toothbrushes

I am sure you are wondering how they go together lol. They are both free or almost free this week at Walgreens. The Stayfree pads are .29 for 2 big packs and the Reach toothbrushes are free. The Reach total care floss is free too. This is how I got the deals. There were buy one get one free (bogo) coupons in the paper on 1/3 for the floss, toothbrushes and pads. Walgreens has in ad coupons for $3 off the pads and $2 off the floss and toothbrushes. The limit says 3, but I am buying 4 so I can use the bogo coupons. The coupon has been working for 4 items, but even if it didn't, the deals are still good. When I was at Walgreens last night I saw 14 princess and fairy diaries with feather pens on clearance for .50 each. I told my friend I was going to ask the employee if she would give them to me for .25 each if I bought all of them? My friend said "no way, but you can ask." The employee asked the manager and he said yes. My friend's jaw dropped. I am going to put them away for party favors. I always start collecting early for the goody bags, one less thing I have to worry about when it is time for their party. I also found some other really good clearance items. Walgreens also has a lot of their salon style haircare on sale for 75% off, so I bought some Daisy Fuentes shampoo, conditioner and hairspray for $1 total since there were $2 coupons attached to the products and they were on sale for $2.19 each. After that we went to the CVS across the street. They marked their Almay mascara down to $1.99 from $8. I found a few bonus packs that included the eyeliner, which normally sells for $6 by itself. I used the $1 I earned from the bag tag and I asked the cashier if I could use an expired ecb, he said yes, so I paid .07 for the Almay mascara and eyeliner. Earlier I bought 5 boxes of Electrosol for $5 and I got $10 in ECB at CVS.

I am planning on doing a big grocery shop this weekend. I traded some coupons with another person in my coupon group. She gave me the Winn Dixie coupons for $10/$50 and I gave her some Bayer meter coupons. She was looking for some coke reward points for more of the $10 coupons, so I am going to set that up. My Coke Rewards is doing a promotion until 1/13 where you earn an extra 20 points if you enter at least 3 codes. I entered them yesterday, so we'll see.

I spent $2.05 at Target

I went shopping today at Target. I am waiting for them to mark their toys down to 75% off. While I was there I bought 5 Johnson's buddies (the kids love those things), 1 20oz bottle of Johnson's bubble bath, 1 tub of pampers wipes (for school), 1 bag of crunch bells, and 1 bag of marshmallows. I got .10 credit for using my own bags. I have my list for my shopping trip tomorrow. I am planning on getting some dish washing detergent, pads and a few other things while the kids are at school. Things have been slow in the deal department. I have 12 papers from yesterday. I sorted them and am waiting for deals to come up. I decided to make a fresh start at the beginning of the year.