Discontinued Items = HUGE Discounts

I was at Weis Markets the other day and whenever I go there, I always check out the dollar aisle. Right next to the "dollar buys" is the small shelf of discontinued items. Sometimes I find some great deals there. Well sure enough, I found diapers. Not just any diapers, but chlorine free, eco-friendly diapers. They were Full Circle brand diapers. I'd never used them before, but I know a good deal on name brand diapers when I see it. I knew they had to be pretty expensive considering, it's a grocery store, and they are eco-friendly. We all know eco-friendly products are always more expensive. So, I checked the regular price before mark down, and sure enough it was $13.99! These diapers were on clearance for $3.49. I couldn't pass up saving over $10 on a pack of diapers. Besides, Jake was running low on his disposable stash. So, I grabbed two packs and felt very satisfied that I'd just saved over $20 on diapers, and that I walked out with 60 diapers for just under $7! That's less than $0.12 per diaper. That's a great deal on Pampers or Huggies, much less chlorine free. So, I went back in about a week later to pick up some grapes for Luke, and checked just to see if they had anymore. Well, I ended up leaving with 3lbs of grapes and two more packs of diapers. Yay! What an awesome deal. So, if you have a Weis (or any store for that matter) near you, definitely check the sale aisle for discontinued items. You never know what you might find.

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Huggies Slip-Ons $3.99 at Walgreens (starting 8/12)

There is a great deal starting tomorrow (Sunday, 8/12) at Walgreens on Huggies Slip-on diapers. I love using cloth diapers to save money, but I still use disposables at night. I think a good price for a pack of diapers is around $5, so $3.99 isn't bad! Here is how this deal works:

First you'll need to buy a paper for the $1.50/Huggies Diapers coupon. Unless you have a Huggies coupon from the littler mailers they send out (I don't.) In the August 2012 coupon book at Walgreens there is a $4 off Slip-ons Walgreens coupon. With a sale price of $9.49 and using the two coupons, the diapers come out at $3.99 per pack! I will be buying a pack tomorrow if I can hunt down a paper and find Walgreens (I know there are three here, which I'm totally excited about.) There's also a deal on a large pack of wipes, final price is $3.49 after a .50 manufacturers coupon (in the paper) and a $2 coupon from the August booklet. If you're fairly new to using coupons, YES, you can use both coupons because one is a store coupon and one is a manufacturers coupon.

Here are a couple of other deals that I think are worth checking out tomorrow at Walgreens:

Renew Life Omega Smart Super Krill (fish oil) $10, with a $10 register reward. I use this fish oil and recommend it.

Palmolive Dish Soap $.94 (minus manufacture coupon of .25 if  you buy a newspaper) so total $.69

Let me know what deals you get at Walgreens this week!

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Is there a point when you go too far to save money?

This may seem like an odd question, but is there a point where one can go too far to save money? The reason that I ask this is because I follow a few other money saving blogs. Every now and then I come across a way of saving money that seems to go a little too far. Saving money is great, but is there a point when it can hurt a person or family more than help them?

I think the answer to that question is yes. You have to ask yourself, WHY am I trying to save money? Are you trying to get out of debt? Buy a new car? Go on a great vacation? Save some money for a rainy day? Any reason to save money is a good reason, I personally think that there has to be a balance. Of course it's great to save money, but depriving yourself all the time isn't good either. I read something online a while back where a family said they didn't go out much or visit family (even though they didn't live terribly far away) because it cost too much. That made me kind of sad. At the end of your life are you going to be happy that you saved $40 on a tank of gas, or wish you'd spent more time with your family and friends? I also remember watching an episode of TLC's "Extreme Couponing" (yes, I've seen two episodes, and they were stupid) where the woman was HORRIFIED at her son asking for something that they didn't have a coupon for. On Extreme Couponing they usually pay little to nothing, so I seriously think a $3 treat for the boy who was behaving himself would have been perfectly acceptable. I guess it just wouldn't have been extreme enough for the show. I've also read where people spend so little on food that they miss out on a lot of foods they really like. I totally get not buying expensive treats all the time, but why not once in a while? That is exactly what I mean, if you are doing little things to save money, whether it be couponing, cloth diapering, conserving electricity, etc, you should definitely treat yourself from time to time!

I'm certainly not saying that those with absolutely no disposable income should go out and waste their money, I am just saying that ultimately the person who does with the most money is not the "winner." Spending a couple of hours a week to save some money with coupons is awesome. Spending all day, every day obsessing about coupons/what is on sale is NOT. We should enjoy life! If that means a visit with some family who live out of town or a box of fruit snacks at full price, so be it.

So what does everyone think? Where do you find your balance? How do you treat yourselves or your family?

Speaking of treating yourself, Coach factory outlets has a nice 30% off coupon that can be found here. :-) This could make for a pretty good deal if you are a Coach fan!

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CVS vs. Walgreens

If you are new to shopping at drugstores or new to using coupons, you may be confused as to why people shop at places like CVS and Walgreens. CVS and Walgreens are two of the three major drugstores where couponers shop. Rite Aid is the third, there are none of these in my area so I won't include Rite Aid in this post.

Why would you shop at CVS or Walgreens when their prices are so high? It's true, regular prices at CVS and Walgreens are sky high. The reason for shopping at the drugstores are sale prices, in-store coupons (which can be used in conjunction with a manufactures coupon, or "stacked",) and rewards programs. In this post I will tell you a little more about these two stores and where there differences are. With this knowledge in hand you can decide at which store you would prefer to shop, or if you'd be up for tackling both.

So what are the differences between shopping at CVS and shopping at Walgreens?

Rewards Programs: Both CVS and Walgreens have a rewards program. Walgreens has Register Rewards, which print on a catalina machine separately from your receipt. CVS has Extra Bucks which print directly onto the bottom your receipt. Both stores have similar sales (ex. spend $5.99 on lotion, receive $5.99 Register Reward/Extra Bucks) but they way they are redeemed is different. Walgreens considers RR's (Register Rewards) to be manufactures coupons. With all stores you are required to have as many items as manufactures coupons, so you may need to use cheap "filler" items if you are using coupons for every other item you are buying. At CVS, EB's (Extra Bucks) are redeemed more like a gift card. Meaning that you don't need to have extra items. This means redeeming EB's is somewhat easier than redeeming RR's, at least until you get the hang of it. Keep in mind that Walgreens coupons are not manufactures coupons, so don't count them in your coupon total.

Item Limits: CVS has a shopping card (like a store loyalty card) that must be used to receive sale prices or Extra Bucks. Walgreens does not have a similar card. CVS usually has limits on it's reward items (usually 1 or 2) and Walgreens does not. A few Walgreens stores require that you only buy one Register Reward item per day, but without a store card there is no way to really enforce this rule, and it only applies to that store so you can always check another store for the same item. The item limits are both a good and bad thing. This means that CVS usually has better stock of an item that is a particularly good deal, but you can only buy one or two. Walgreens will usually sell out of items that are very popular, but if you find a store that is completely stocked you can buy as many as needed. Many people take advantage of this and will clear shelves at Walgreens, it may not be against the rules but it certainly isn't nice.

Number of Stores: In my area (and most that I've been to) there are more Walgreens stores than CVS stores. That means that it may be more convenient to shop at Walgreens because there are simply more of them. It also means that if one Walgreens is sold out of an item that you want, another might have it. I regularly go to about four Walgreens stores and about 75% of the time at least one of them will have what I am looking for.

Friendliness of Staff: It may not seem like a huge factor, but if you are using coupons it is always good to have staff that is coupon knowledgeable or at least open to the use of coupons. I have personally found that cashiers and managers at CVS know more about their coupon policy and are more helpful than those who work at Walgreens. This may not be true in every area, but it certainly is where I live.

"Magic Coupon Machine:" This is a little red machine at CVS that prints coupons automatically when you scan your card. Sometimes it will even print coupons for FREE items. CVS has this, Walgreens doesn't.

In-Store Coupons: Both CVS and Walgreens have in-store coupons. Store coupons can be "stacked" with a manufactures coupon for great savings. Walgreens has more of them, and they are usually easier to find. Walgreens has a little book every month that is out by the weekly sale ad with lots of coupons. They also regularly have coupons in the newspaper, as well as other little booklets in the store. Some of these booklets are seasonal, or found near the pharmacy. CVS occasionally has coupons online or in the newspaper, as well as coupons that print from the "magic coupon machine." I heard that Walgreens will soon have mobile coupons, I'll update when I have more information.

So with this information in hand, you should be able to understand the differences between these stores a little better. Which store is "better" is entirely up to you. I prefer CVS if I am in a hurry, because there is no figuring out filler items. However if you are really looking to stock up on a product Walgreens may be the better option.

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