CVS Shopping with Rainchecks

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April 1, 2011

Hi Friends,

I'm back! Recently, I've been sidetracked from my blog writing and will try to get back on track now!

Tonight, I want to write about rainchecks. Many stores give rainchecks for advertised items which are out of stock. Whenever shopping, remember to check to see if rainchecks are available for items that you wish to purchase that are not in stock.

Recently, I have obtained rainchecks for a few items at CVS, that were out of stock by Saturday, the end of the sale. Actually, I purposely shopped then, because I didn't really need the items then, and figuring they might be out of stock, which they were, I got my rainchecks to save for another day. When doing this, you can save your raincheck for when you have a coupon.

Today, I went to CVS, with a raincheck for Purex Crystals Fabric Softener. I love this product! The product was for the raincheck price of $2.99 each. I bought two bottles of Purex Crystals @ $2.99 each, used a $2.00 Purex coupon, and $3.00 in extra care bucks, thus paying only around a dollar and some odd cents for both bottles. If I had purchase them at the regular price, I would have paid $4.00 per bottle before using the coupon and ecbs.

I will be going back tomorrow to spend my end of the quarter ecb earnings which are available for printout today for those of you with a CVS rewards card. I earned $15.50 in ecbs for the quarter. I was also emailed a coupon for $5.00 off of $25.00. Tomorrow, I will use the ecbs and and $5.00 coupon on a $25.00 purchase, along with some product coupons and will probably walk away paying nothing. I plan to purchase some Zest products with coupons, use a raincheck for $1.99 on a case of bottled water, purchase Pepsi, which gives back ecbs, purchase Tuna and canned chicken stock which is on sale. I use the tuna for tuna noodle casserole and tuna spread. Often, I used canned chicken stock in recipes. Both products are on sale. There are also some other items on my list.

Getting back to rainchecks. I also have a raincheck for the Purex 3 in 1 sheets which were on sale a couple of weeks ago. These are detergent/fabric softener combo sheets. I will save the raincheck for when a coupon comes out, which I've noticed does come out every so often.

Well, as I end this entry, remember to get your rainchecks for sale items that are out of stock. If the cashier allows you to request a quantity, have him or her write that on the raincheck.

CVS is having some good sales, which are stated in the circular for the week beginning April 3rd. Go to www.southernsavers.com. Click on the CVS tab for that week and you can see how to land some great deals at CVS. When you go to see CVS, scan your card at the red machine to get your quarterly earnings ecbs to use on your purchase.

Have a great shopping week!
Iva Jean

The Cash Envelope Savings System

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February 21, 2010


Hi Friends,

Today, I'm going to share with you a savings system that I have been reading about called the "cash envelope saving system". I first read about this in one my magazines a couple of years ago, and have seen random articles about it since. I decided to do a little research about this savings system and have decided to give it a try!

Evidently, according to the internet research that I've done on this, the cash envelope system goes back to your grandma's time, to when money was put in an envelope or envelopes to budget out the cash from payday to payday. That is how our grandmas kept enough money going from one pay period to the next. I can actually remember my grandma keeping an envelope of money in her purse. The philosophy of the envelope system is that if you are actually using "cash" and not a plastic bank card or credit card, that you are more apt to spend less. Evidently seeing the actual cash leaving your hands helps you save rather than using plastic, in which you don't see your hard earned cash leaving your hands.

With this system you are to label envelopes with each of your monthly bill titles, putting the amount of cash in each envelope with which to pay each bill. There are various ways to do this, and in just a minute I will be giving you some websites that I have researched that explain this system more in depth. For my use, instead of using envelopes, I went to the Dollar Tree at the mall and purchased a coupon organzier for a dollar. I'm going to label my cash categories with the titles "groceries/household", "eating out", "entertainment", "gifts",and "clothing" as well as a few other categories. If I put a few bucks into the clothing envelope each payday, then I've saved a bit of cash for new clothes for my family, instead of reaching for the plastic card each time we see something we like. If I set aside X amount of dollars each week for eating out, this will help me to keep track of the "eating out" budget. Each week, I will put an allotted amount of cash into each category. Once the money is gone from that particular envelope (or in my case the file inside the coupon organizer), my budget has been reached and I cannot spend more in that category for that week. I will continue to pay my regular bills online, but for everyday purchases where I normally reach for my bank card, I will use this cash system. I'm going to give it a try and hopefully, I will save by realizing I am using my cash, (not plastic), and seeing that, "Hey, I only have $20 or whatever left in this category to spend and I've got to be cautious and prioritize what I spend."

In order to do this blog entry justice, let me list some websites below, which you can visit to learn more in depth about this money management system. These websites will give you different scenarios on how to budget out your cash envelopes depending upon how you get paid, whether weekly, biweekly, or monthly. The websites will also give you suggestions of category lists and scenarios. You can copy and paste any of the following sites for additonal information:

http://www.daveramsey.com/article/dave-ramseys-envelope- system/lifeandmoney_budgeting/

http://frugaldad.com/2008/01/31/how-to-implement-an-envelope-budgeting-system/

http://www.debtbeater.org/how-to-create-an-envelope-budget-system

http://www.myspendingplan.com/planbetter/EnvelopeSystem.aspx

I hope that this entry has been beneficial. And whether you coupon or not, if you have a cash category for groceries, you know that you HAVE to stay within your budget by allotting a certain amount of cash a week for groceries. And if you eat out weekly, if you predetermine that you don't want to go over X amount of dollars in eating out, put that amount of cash into your "eating out" budget envelope. And with the "gift" envelope category, if you put a few bucks in that envelope weekly, then when it comes to family birthdays or birthday parties that your children attend, you have a little stash waiting for you in your "gifts" cash envelope. You could even create a Christmas gift envelope to occaisionally put a few bucks in each time you get paid.

Good luck! Hopefully I will have some luck with my budgeting envelopes and you will too!

Iva Jean
P.S. Refer to my other blog entry titles, in case there is an entry that you missed reading.

Free Kindle Apps

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February 16, 2011


Boy, am I ever excited!!! My brother D started telling me over a week ago about free Kindle apps that you could get from Amazon. I put the free Kindle app link in the sidebar of this page, but am just now getting around to using it. He told me that you could download the Kindle app to your cellphone that has Android, as well as free Kindle books from Amazon. Well, I am just tickled pink!

First, I went to the Market icon on my cellphone. Then I typed in Kindle and easily downloaded the free Kindle app from Amazon, which included three free Kindle books. Next, I clicked on the Free Kindle App link from the sidebar on my blog page, which took me directly to Amazon. There I have already downloaded two other free books, one of which is Little Women, a classic of all time and a favorite of mine. The first time that I ever read the book was in seventh grade as a reading assignment. Loving history and anything about Abraham Lincoln, I downloaded a free book about Abraham.

Now, whenever I am waiting in the parking lot at school to pick up my daughter, I have instant reading material. Now, whenever I am waiting in the doctor's office or anywhere else, I have reading material.

Be sure to download your free Kindle app, as well as free Kindle books, by clicking on the link in my sidebar. Being that I don't own a Kindle or other specifically labeled, electronic reading device, this is great for me! Whenever you get to the Amazon free Kindle app page, it lists other devices that you can download the Kindle apps to, such as your PC.

Have fun getting in on these freebies from Amazon!

Iva Jean

Food Pantry Challenge

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February 16, 2011

Get ready for this money saving pantry challenge! Go through your pantry and organize your items, tossing out items that are expired. Do the same with your refrigerator. Being organized with your pantry and refrigerator will allow you to save more, by using food items that you already have on hand. Too many times, we waste and throw away food that we have forgotten that we have, because it is hidden in the clutter and then boom! IT HAS EXPIRED OR IS SPOILED. Try to plan a week's worth of meals with what you already have on hand! Any leftovers from your week's menu plan that are freezer eligible can be saved for next week's meals, or used to plan for one of this week's meals. Good luck with this challenge! If you are able to do a week's worth of meals or even a few days worth of meals with this challenge, THEN you are on your way to saving!

HERE IS MY FOOD PANTRY CHALLENGE PLAN, USING FOOD ITEMS THAT I ALREADY HAVE ON HAND.

Day 1- Tuna Noodle Casserole
Day 2-Crock pot steaks, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn
Day 3-Pizza - I ALREADY HAVE PEPPERONI, SAUCE, CHEESE. I JUST NEED TO BUY FROZEN PIZZA DOUGH FROM WALMART. I HAVE TRIED THEIR FROZEN DOUGH AND REALLY LIKE IT.
DAY 4-Baked chicken drummies, potato wedges, veggies
DAY 5-Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, veggies

IF YOU WORK AND TIME IS A FACTOR IN PREPARING FOOD WHEN YOU RETURN HOME FROM THE WORK DAY, DO SOMETHING I USED TO DO BEFORE RETIREMENT. SOMETIMES I WOULD COOK THE MAIN DISH THE NIGHT BEFORE AND REFRIGERATE IT OR MAKE IT ON THE WEEKEND. NOT ALWAYS, BUT SOMETIMES I DID THIS TO HELP OUT ON THE TIME FACTOR.

GOOD LUCK WITH THIS CHALLENGE. LET ME KNOW IF YOU DO THIS AND IF SO, LET ME KNOW HOW IT GOES FOR YOU. KNOWING WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE IN YOUR PANTRY AND REFRIGERATOR HELPS YOU TO PREPARE MEALS BY USING WHAT IS ALREADY ON HAND. SOMETIMES WE GO OUT AND BUY GROCERY STAPLES AT THE REGULAR PRICE THINKING THAT WE NEED IT, WHEN ALL ALONG USABLE ITEMS ARE HIDING IN THE PANTRY OR IN THE REFRIGERATOR. SEE WHAT YOU CAN SAVE THIS WEEK BY ACCEPTING THE FOOD PANTRY CHALLENGE!


Iva Jean

Sorry if there are any typos. I am having problems with my keyboard, especially the caps/lowercase shift key, as well as the symbols/punctuation keys. Time for a new laptop!

New Links

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February 15, 2011


Hi Friends,

I have added a section to my blog that lists my favorite links. This should make it easier to find some of my fave spots to learn about couponing, find deals and print out coupons. I will be gradually updating the link section with some of my favorite links.

Some upcoming blog entries that I will be working on include budgeting with the envelope system, creating a monthly meal plan for grocery savings, creating a master shopping list, doing a pantry inventory, ways to organize coupons, shopping without coupons and more!!!!

Come back soon!!
Iva Jean

P.S. I apologize for any typographical errors. I believe that I need a new computer. My keyboard buttons, including shift keys are giving me trouble on typing symbols, such as punctuation marks, and is not wanting to allow me capitalize. I've been having to PUNCH, PUNCH, PUNCH my keyboard letters at times and correct errors! FRUSTARATION PREVAILS AT THE KEYBOARD! Time to form a plan for buying a computer!

My Freebies/Savings at CVS, Today 2/14/11

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Feb. 14, 2010


FREE OLAY MOISTURIZER, FREE HERBAL ESSENCE SHAMPOO,FREE TOOTHPASTE, FREE CEREAL, FREE WHITMAN'S SAMPLER, AND ALMOST FREE ON SOME OTHER ITEMS


Today's trip to CVS was a great shopping trip! My two transactions were as follows:

TRANSACTOION 1
-Got two of the Colgate toothpastes which were $3.79 each, used $1.25 in Colgate coupons, got back $7.58 in ecb's on the toothpaste. (Although, I used coupons, I still got the full value of the ecb's back, so this was a $1.25 money maker and is like getting both tubes of toothpaste for free!)

-Got the Reach toothbrush two pack on sale at $3.99, used a $1.00 coupon, got back $2.00 in ecb's, which in essence means almost free toothbrushes.

- Purchased Oil of Olay Body Wash, got a free Oil of Olay facial moisturinzing lotion that was reg. price of $8.99, used a coupon for the freebie. I am out of moisturizer so I needed this item for use now.

-Bought an Herbal Essence shampoo (had a facebook coupon for free bottle, bought Herbal Essence conditoner,used $1.00 off coupon, got back $2.00 in ecb's for purchasing two Herbal Essence products, even though I used a coupon for a free one, and a $1.00 off coupon on the other.

Since the shampoo, conditioner and the two Oil of Olay products totaled $20.00 before coupons, I got to use my $4.00 off of $20 beauty club certificate that was emailed to me today, which was for use on beauty products. So for my entire first transaction, I used a total of $19.25 in coupons, which brought my subtotal to $14.29THE BEFORE COUPONS and BEFORE SALE PRICES SUBTOTAL WAS AROUND $40.00.

To sum it up:
Before coupons and sale prices=$40.00 subtotal
After coupons and sale prices=$14.29 subtotal
Total Savings=$26.74
Total ecb's earned from first transaction=$11.58


Transaction 2

I used the $11.58 in ecb's to put on the purchase of the following;

Whitman's Candy Sampler, BOGO, which means buy one, get one free. Plus I used a $1.00coupon on Whitmas's. If I had two coupons, I could have used both. The boxes of candy were Valentine's Day gifts.

Two boxes of POST cereal, BOGO....I brought the wrong cereal coupon, or I would have also got a dollar off of this also.

1 can of Skintimate shaving gel was $1.99, used a coupon for $1.50 off.

Bought 2 American Greetings Valentine's cards, used Facebook printable of $2 off of 2A.G. cards. I could have got these at a less expensive elswhere, but to save time I got them at CVS.

Bought a gallon of milk @ $2.69,which is about the least expensive you can get milk around here. Got a small pack of NABISCO cookies @ $1.00 off with the pruchase of the milk.

I realize that this entry was a little long, but I wanted to demonstrate how you can put items that earn ecb's on one transaction, then turn around and use the ecb's on another transaction. I also wanted to demonstrate how that my before coupon total on the beauty items allowed me to use the $4.00 off of $20.00 beauty club coupon. I used the beauty club coupon BEFORE using my Oil of Olay and Herbal Essence coupons. And remember that I had a coupon for FREE shampoo and FREE Oil of OLAY moisturizer

Even if you don't need toothpaste right now, it's like getting it free with the ecb's. And you are allowed to purchase two with the ecb deal. Just check out your CVS circular and see what kind of deals you can whip up!!!!

Hopefully this info will help you when shopping at CVS. If you have any questions about how any of the above deals work, just message me.


For tomorrow, I am planning a blog entry about saving with groceries.

Thanks for visiting!
Iva Jean

Summary of First Week's Blog Entries

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Feb. 13, 2010


During this writing, I wanted to express my appreciation to those of you have viewed my blog this week. I have been very excited about the visits to my blog site. I hope that the information has been beneficial.

I have had some email messages from a few viewers who have said that they have tried to post comments, but that the comments didn't show up. I believe that when you make a comment that you will need to click on the tab that says Google, sign in with your home email, then create a password for the google website. Much like you would set up an account with any site that you visit, you usually sign in with your personal email and create a password to the site. If that doesn't work, message me or send a comment to my Facebook and I'll see if I can help you with your post.

I wanted to sum up my first week's entries with reminding you of some of my favorite websites, which can be of help in assisting you to find deals on your purchases.

www.southernsavers.com lists various grocery stores and drug stores to help you in matching up sales and coupons.The site is also good at posting newly released printable coupons.

www.iheartcvs.com is also a great site for CVS shoppers. You can also obtain info on upcoming sales.

www.iheartthemart.com is a great site for Walmart shoppers. On the right side of the iheartthemart page is a section that shows you deals that you can get for under a dollar.

For the shopper who doesn't have time to coupon, visit the www.soap.com website. There is a button to the right of my page, which will take you directly to the site. You can scroll down on the first page of SOAP to the savings section. Click on that area and it shows you hundreds of products that you can apply ecoupons to. This site is also great for sending care packages to family members. You can also obtain free shipping as long as your "BEFORE" dicount total is $25.00. The after discount total does not have to be $25 for free shipping, or so it was in my experiences with ordering.

I have blogged about my favorite magazine from which to obtain coupons, which is the All You magazine. I received my March issue of All You in the mail yesterday. It contains $80 plus dollars of coupons in the March issue. There is also a coupon for ten dollars off of a twenty five dollar purchase at Fashion Bug. The magazine is available at the register area at Walmart, you can order directly from the company, or you can order the magazine from Amazon. Amazon currently has a magazine special going where you can order $20 worth of magazines and receive a ten dollar credit to use at Amazon. You can click on the Amazon carousel at the top of my post to go directly to Amazon.

Ebates gives you a rebate back from purchases made through their site. Currently, if you go through their magazine store, they are giving around a 26% rebate. Check the site for details as to how this works..the ebates button is to the right of this page. I have an ebates account, which is free. I have already earned around ten dollars in my account, by just going there to order via their site. There are stores such as American Eagle, FTD, Harry and David, photo shops, and numerous other shops, listed through ebates.

Well, I hope that everyone has saved a little this week!!! I'm working on my shopping and savings plan for this week! Be sure to get your free Colgate toothpaste at CVS. Toothpaste is free after ecb's. Check the front page of the CVS ad to see what Colgate toothpaste to purchase in order to get back ecb's for the total purchase amount of the Colgate. I will have to recheck my ad, but I think that you can do this deal twice. If it does allow you a limit of two, purchase the first Colgate toothpaste, get the ecbs back, then purchase the second Colgate with the ecb's you just received. You can even use coupons on the toothpaste to make the deal even better. There are several Colgate $1.00 coupons out there. I've saved them from previous Sunday papers and I know that I have one in one of my All You magazines. Message me or make a comment to any good deals that you find!!!

And, as I go, I will leave you with a new website to explore, which is www.couponmom.com. The coupon mom has been on televised shows, explaining her expertise. She has also written books on couponing. Click on the coupon data base on her site, to search for coupons that you are needing.

Have a great week shopping and saving! Just remember to have a plan. Hope to hear from you!

Iva Jean