Walgreens- $5 off coupon, this weekend only

Today and tomorrow are great days for deals at Walgreens. They have issued a coupon valid today and tomorrow for $5 off any $20 purchase ($20 after coupons/discounts.) I used this coupon to my benefit today when I was out on my lunch break. Read and try this scenario, or if you have the coupons, try my scenario:

• BioInfusion Organics Shampoo- sale, $5.99,
  
• BioInfusion Organics Conditioner- sale, $5.99
• These both have a rebate for $5.99 each this month making them FREE.
  

• 3 boxes Jiffy Muffin Mix, $.39/each
• 6 jars Skippy- sale, 6 for $10
• (used three $1.00 off 2 coupons + received $4 in RR)
  

• 1 loaf Sara Lee Soft & Smooth Bread, sale, $2.50
• (used coupon for free loaf of Sara Lee Bread)

The outcome: $15.73 OOP, received $4 in RR's, and $11.98 rebate for shampoo & cond= $ .25 overage!
Now is anyone out there besides me tryin' this stuff??

Walgreens Trip- 8/21

We did a few deals at Walgreens before dinner tonight. HG seems like he gets annoyed when I'm running him around a store and I don't have my scenario nailed down ahead of time.
While I did not need it, I did this deal just for the overage. What can I say? It helped pay for my Cheerios! Pert Plus is on sale this week for $3.79 and a rebate is available for $3.79. I used a $2 off coupon for $2 overage! I got 6 jars of Ragu Spaghetti Sauce for $10, used three $1/off 2 coupons and got $4 in Register Rewards back, making them $ .50/jar. You can do the same thing this week with Skippy Peanut Butter which has the same sale and the same coupon.
I saved $22 and paid $10.35 OOP (out of pocket.)

Spending Disorder

All the extra cash that we would normally put on the car in a week we gave to ourselves this week. No saving for ANYTHING. Just blow it on whatever we want 'cause next week it's back on the wagon. Now tell me why we can only bring ourselves to blow $77 on dinner and a play last night??! The rest is still sitting in my wallet with no plan to be spent. I'm gonna go looking for something to spend it on this afternoon. Really though, it seems as though we have a spending disorder, does it not?

Learning Serious Frugality: Starting With Toothpaste

Ever a student, I am now on a quest to learn how to get free and nearly free stuff using coupons & rebates. I've been researching for a couple weeks now- stay-at-home-mom blogs are a fantastic source for such information.
So yesterday, I decided to do one of these deals. I got Colgate toothpaste for 34 cents at Target. Not a big deal, not even a free deal, but it was a start for me. Use the Target coupon here for $1 off and the manufacturers coupon here for $1.50 off. The 4 oz. Colgate Total is $2.84 at Target (at least where I am- others report it at $2.50!) And the answer is yes, they will take both coupons.
Cool, huh? This is my first taste of "The Drugstore Game", and while it was small compared to the pros, it was fun.