Coupons: $5 off any $20 purchase at Walgreens this weekend

Sometimes timing is everything.

Today when I was checking my feeds with Google Reader, it recommended that I add BeCentsAble. Good thing, because otherwise I would have missed this tip about the Walgreens coupon for this weekend.

Take a look at the coupons.com widget in my sidebar. Scroll through the coupons and you'll find the Walgreens one.

Remember, timing is everything. You only have two days to use that coupon. Last time, I was able to get a real sweet deal.

Coupons: $5 off any $25 purchase at Whole Foods

Be sure you grab this printable coupon from Whole Foods. It runs from 10/15-10/22/08, and bring your recycled grocery bags to save an additional 10¢ per bag. You can also grab their "The Whole Deal" guide as you enter and use their coupons as well.

Watch out for the coupon fairy!

Last night, I had been poking around a few frugality sides before bedtime and found this article from Freebies 4 Mom. I kind of chuckled at the idea of coupon fairies leaving behind coupons for other shoppers.

Well, I'm glad I kept my eyes open. I hadn't bought any soda this week and was just dying for a Diet Coke on my way to my weekend job. I ended up stopping at a Walgreens on my way to work, kicking myself for succumbing to my addiction enough to settle for a 20 oz. bottle that was convenient to take with me but probably cost the same as a 2-liter bottle. And I was especially unhappy to remember that the Costco two blocks away from work had vending machines selling 20 oz. bottles for 75¢, but they wouldn't be open in time for me to stop on the way to work.

Enter the Coupon Fairy. In the refrigerated beverage section were coupons for a free Hershey bar with the purchase of any 20 oz. Coca-Cola product. With the coupon for the free candy, my Diet Coke because a much better deal, and I was a lot happier.

Moral of the story? Keep your eyes peeled for coupons in unexpected places.

Are Coupon Users Cheapskates?

The Consumerist reported on a study that other shoppers tend to look unfavorably on coupon users, according to a study.

Researchers proposed that the reason for the coupon-hating is "the modern consumer tends to prize status and luxury over thrift."

I was kind of thrown by this one. Just today, I stocked up at the grocery store and combined coupons with sales to save $23 on my groceries. I was so excited to see that total come down. That is an extra $23 in my bank account that I can use on something else I need. That's money in my pocket. In fact, as I left the store, I noticed that people were leaving the self-checkouts without picking up their store coupons that print up with their receipts, and I wondered how people could just throw money away like that.

I didn't always use coupons. It's something that I started doing recently as my paychecks got smaller and smaller. Obviously, as the economy worsens, more people are going to be in the same boat as me.

If you're worried about what others are thinking of you as you redeem your grocery coupons, do what you can to minimize your check-out time, as waiting in line seems to be everyone's pet peeve. I pull my coupons as I make my shopping list, keep them paper clipped to my list in store, and the ones that don't get used get put away before I get in line. It took longer to bag my groceries today than it did to scan my coupons.

Also, be careful with those printable coupons. You can trust the ones from Smart Source or Coupons.com (which you see in the sidebar on my blog). A lot of times, they're the same coupons that come in the Sunday paper. My local Target takes them without a problem, and one of their cashiers even tells me when there's a good coupon on their website. At my local Jewel, they sometimes call a manager over, so I stopped using the printables there. At my local Whole Foods, I haven't had problems, but then again, I know the cashiers. And I've heard horror stories about Wal-mart refusing coupons, so I avoid it. Your mileage may vary, but as you get better at using coupons, you'll find out for yourself how to best save time while saving money.

Coupons: Save $12 On Scrubbing Bubbles Products

You've probably seen the ad on TV to visit scrubbingbubblesoffer.com for coupons. Just as an added tip, check out the Walgreens Easy Saver Catalog for October. They're giving a $10 rebate on the Automatic Shower Cleaner Starter Kit and up to $6 in rebates off 4 Scrubbing Bubbles products. I've never tried their Easy Saver rebates, but you can submit them online so I'll give it a try.

Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner: $10 rebate plus $5 off coupon == $15 in savings
Scrubbing Bubbles Fresh Brush Starter Kit: $1.50 rebate plus B1G1 Free Coupon
Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber Starting Kit: $1.50 rebate plus $2.75 coupon == $4.25 in savings

Additionally, the site had a B1G1 Free coupon for Scrubbing Bubbles Flushable Bathroom Wipes. Print them out and have fun shopping!

Double Coupon Days At KMart

Just an FYI, Kmart is running Double Coupon Days through Sunday. However, there are reports going around that stores have empty shelves and some individual stores are not honoring it despite a mandate from the corporate office. If that's the case, a call to the national customer service number should do the trick, but your mileage may vary.

It's really a shame, though, that individual stores are turning this into a negative experience for so many shoppers.

Thanks to LiveLarge4Less for the tip!

Coupons: $5 off any $20 Walgreen's purchase

Here's another one! Printable coupon from Walgreens that's good for Friday and Saturday only (via The Bargainist).

Saving Money at Whole Foods

Whole Foods has a reputation for being expensive because they carry natural and organic products, plus they don't carry the same national brand names that advertise in your Sunday paper. However, that doesn't mean that you can't save money there. Here's some tips from the Whole Foods Blog on how to save money.

→ Mambo Sprouts has a quarterly publication that carries coupons for organic and natural products. They will start offering e-coupons later this fall, but for now you can sign up to get offers by mail and e-mail.

→ Organic Valley has printable e-coupons for their organic and soy dairy products. It looks like they're being offered through coupons.com, so keep your eyes open!

→ Organic Prairie has printable e-coupons for organic meat products, including steaks, hot dogs and deli meats.

→ Pick up a copy of The Whole Deal newsletter when you get to Whole Foods. The copy I got last week has budget recipes and meal planners for under $4 a serving plus over $30 in coupons.

Whole Foods also goes one step further and gives you 10¢ off your purchase for every bag that you re-use, and even if you're re-using bags from another story. Those 99¢ re-usable bags pay for themselves after 10 trips.

Wow!

OMG, I managed to save $15 off my groceries today! I've been getting good about clipping and using coupons, but this week I also went through the sales circular and only added stuff to my shopping list if it was on sale and if I had a coupon for it.

I've been adopting the mentality that those 50¢ I save with a coupon just adds up with the 50¢ I save from all those the other coupons, and today they really did add up to something! Add in the $10.50 I saved with a coupon for a free body lotion from Bath & Body Works, and I saved $25 today.

If you're not sure where to start, Northern Cheapskate has some really good tips. I can also vouch for the coupons at coupons.com, and you can view and print theirs right from my sidebar.

One tip I like for staying organized: I checked my coupons against my sales circular at home while watching TV, made a shopping list based off of that, and paper-clipped the coupons I was going to use to my shopping list to help me find the exact products I wanted. The rest were kept neatly in a coupon organizer that I carried with me, and when I came across an item on sale that I hadn't already pulled the coupon, I grabbed it from there.

Coupons: $1 Off Any Sally Hansen Lip Product

Register at Sally Hansen and they'll give you a $1 off coupon for any Sally Hansen lip product. If you're a lip gloss junkie like me, this is a coupon you have to get.

Health Care Coupons

You might notice that I haven't been posting as frequently this week. I've been dealing with a UTI that is making life pretty miserable, and it seems every time I sit down at the computer, I have to get up again.

But on the plus side, I managed to dig up these coupons for Azo products.

Save $2.00 on any Azo product until 9/30/08.

Save $1.00 on any Azo product until 12/31/08.

Heading to Walgreens this weekend?

Be sure you print out this coupon before you go! It's good for $10 off your in-store purchase of $30 or more. Just be sure you get there today or tomorrow, because it's only good for 9/12 and 9/13 (via The Bargainist).

Have you found the Target coupons yet?

A Target cashier alerted me to the fact that they had coupons online, not that I was able to find them on their website. So, for further reference, this is the direct link to print out Target coupons.

But if you really want to have fun, check out the coupon generator at organicgrocerydeals.com. You can select the Target coupons you want multiples of, and the generator will print them for you on the same sheet, saving paper.

Saturday Coupon Round-Up

Just making it in before the end of Saturday. I've got one coupon for you for $1.50 off Dove Cream Oil Body Wash (via Coupons.com).

Not such a good deal

Remember when I got a good deal with a coupon from whitecastle.com? Today I wasn't so lucky. I had another coupon for a 59¢ chicken ring sandwich that said "limit 5." I took this to mean I could get up to 5 sandwiches at 59¢ apiece. The cashier couldn't figure out how to give me the discount and had to get a manager, who gave me the 59¢ on one sandwich only. I tried explaining again to the cashier that I wanted the five sandwiches, but she gave them to me at full price.

It seems to me that White Castle isn't really educating their staff in the promotional deals they offer online. I feel that these coupons are pretty much worthless unless their corporate office includes ringing instructions on the coupons so it's clear to both cashier and customer just what the deal is.

Friday Coupon Round-Up

Craving pizza? I checked out some of the Papa John's promos at RetailMeNot before ordering last night. Again, it's not exactly gourmet, but a few dollars saved means a few more to spend on another meal. I found one coupon code that worked for two 20 oz. sodas free with a large pizza at regular price.

Be sure you look through those extra take-out menus before tossing them. I found some my sister tossed aside that had $2 coupons. That's money on the table that you're throwing away.

And the last deal today is Buy One, Get One Free on Wallflowers at Bath & Body Works, plus a printable coupon for a free Aromatherapy item (up to $13) with a $15 purchase (via The Bargainist). You might want to use it for the new Aromatherapy Sleep Warm Milk And Honey fragrance.

Also, buy a body product in their new Black Amethyst fragrance and get a free lip lacquer worth $15.

Now that's a deal!

It's not exactly what I'd call gourmet, but last night I found a coupon at whitecastle.com for a $0.99 sack of fries. I went there for lunch today and found that the regular price is more like $2.19, so by using the coupon, I saved $1.30.

But it got even better. The cashier either didn't read the coupon correctly or couldn't input the price, and my total seemed a lot lower than I expected. After checking my receipt, I saw that she gave me the fries for free. That's an even better savings than I anticipated!

The bottom line: it can really pay to watch for and collect those coupons.