artofthecoupon.com

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Keybank is giving away a free Garmin nuvi GPS if you open a bank account and make one debit card transaction plus a combination of two direct deposits and/or automated payments each of $100 or more.  I like this offer because it doesn’t require a direct deposit, since I don’t like to switch my paycheck around to different banks.  Its pretty easy to set up and cancel an automated payment after I get the GPS, and the GPS looks pretty nice.

FYI- You will get a tax form at the end of the year with the value of the GPS on it.

Here are a few things on my shopping list this upcoming week:

At CVS, you can get $4 in ECB for purchasing the Schick Quattro for Women razor with 2 cartridges or trimmer.  The Razor is $8.99 and there was  $4.00 coupon in the 4/26 Smart Source, so the razor ends up being .99.  The limit on these is 5.  Extrabucks role, unlike at Walgreens where Register Rewards don’t.  So, you can buy 1 razor, get the Extrabucks, and use those extrabucks to buy another razor.

Also at CVS, you get $2 in ECB for purcashing the 4 count box of Bayer Quick release crystals.  The product is $2, so the item is free after ECB’s.  There are coupons available on tearpads at CVS for $1 off this product.  The limit on this is 1.

Finally, you get $5 in ECB for purchasing the Bayer/Ascensia Contour Diabetes Monitor this week.  The emter is $14.99 but there was a coupon for up to $30.00 off (in the 3/22 Smart Source, the 10/26 Valassis, and the 2/1 Valassis).  Use the coupon, pay $0 and get $5 back.

Best scenario for newbies with no ECB’s:

• Buy 1 contour. Pay $0. Get $5
• Buy 1 razor and 1 Bayer for $10.99.  Use a $4 Razor coupon, a $1 Bayer Coupon, and your $5 ECB.  Pay about $1.  Get $4.00 and $2.00
• Buy 1 razor.  Use a $4.00 coupon.  Pay about .99.  Get back $4.00 Repeat.

Even if you have no Extracare bucks and not one single coupon from the newspaper, this is a great week to stop in to your local CVS or Walgreens and start building your stockpile.  This is a quick, simple and easy deal.  And, you won’t get ’sucked in’ to the drugstore game if you don’t want to, since you don’t get Register Rewards or ECB’s back which you then have to spend- it is just a straight deal… pay $0, get stuff. (more…)

I’m excited.  Every two weeks, we go to this Butcher in this little local market in the city.  We’ve developed a relationship with him because I buy a lot of my puppies meat from him, and we get all our ground beef from him ($1.29/lb for the good stuff, all the time!).  He called me and told me that his supplier sent him an extra box of beef rips and that he needs to get rid of them, so he’s selling them for .59 lb.  Beef is the item that we have the hardest time finding for our puppies, but it is very important as a part of their diet.  So, needless to say I am thrilled and planning on buying 40-60 pounds of it!

So, it pays to develop relationships with local stores, and to shop outside of your standard “Grocery Store” environment.  Not only is it cheaper on a regular basis, but it also allows you great little perks that come from actually getting to know your store owner.  How many people can say that Mr. Safeway has their interests at heart and would give them a call if a good deal came??  Just some food for thought…

I’ve written a few posts that are designed to help you save money on groceries, so I thought I would provide a very brief and basic summary: (more…)

Lately, the deals at CVS haven’t been quite as good, so I have been expanding to Walgreens and Rite-Aid.  These stores, too, offer a wealth of great deals.  But, they can be confusing for newbies to the Drug Store game.  This confusion is compounded by the fact that there are different rules for Walgreens, Rite-Aid, and CVS.  Here, I provide a guide to newbies who want to take advantage of the deals that Walgreens has to offer. (more…)

Extrabucks, the free “cash” you get for buying certain products at CVS, have a 1 month expiration date.  So, there are a few different ways people handle these.  Some people (no one reading frugal websites I hope!) forget about them and let them go to waste.  Others turn around and spend them on the first thing they need from the drugstore.  Still others will refuse to spend extracare bucks on anything that doesn’t net them more than they spend, so they end up with a glut of expiring extracare bucks and managing cards begins to feel more like a job than a fun and frugal activity.   (more…)

For those who aren’t familiar with the Extracare program, let me give you a brief summary of how CVS-ing turned into a verb, and why there are a select few of us who frequent the store 3, 4, 5, even upwards of 6 times a week. (more…)

I have a confession to make. Sometimes I feel a need to shop. The thrill of going out into the world, finding shiny new items and making them mine is just sometimes too much to tame. And I know I’m not alone here. I’m convinced that this Urge to Shop which many woman (and even some men) seem to possess stems from our natural hardwired tendency to hunt and gather. We no longer need to go and track food, or to forage for berries so we fulfill this same internal drive by heading to a strip mall and hunting down the latest and greatest in whatever items catch our fancy.
(more…)