Shifting Gears

Retail Value: $136.14.
Paid: $30.39
Saved: 78%

This couponer has come to that point in their life when their stockpile is good enough. Or rather, enough is enough. I have more shampoo than I could use in the next couple of years, enough chap stick to give 20 of my closest friends 5 of their own sticks, and toothpaste really seems to be spontaneously regenerating itself. For all my ideas about making beauty baskets for people for Christmas and just giving out items here and there, I'm just not using enough of what I've stocked. I've decided it's time to use my powers for good. Couponing for charity! I love couponing, I love to shop, and I like to help people. I cleared out my stockpile, and I'm donating the bulk of it to our local women's shelter. I also decided that since I'm going to be there anyway, I might as well take all my old clothes and shoes while I'm at it.

What I've got going to the shelter tomorrow- 3 large tubs of clothes, 1 large tub of shoes, and 1 large tub chock full of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, razors, deodorant, etc. There's at least 20 warm sweaters in those tubs (among the plethora of other clothing items), I'm hoping they go to good use this winter.

I'm starting 2 other projects as well. A donation for my local animal shelter and a donation for my local homeless shelter.

I'm starting small on these next 2 projects, but everyone's got to start somewhere. I'm hoping to have sizable donations to make in December. How am I doing this? Just using my coupons to pick up free, or close-to-free items.

I'm excited to start some new projects. Here's hoping my pictures of my final donations in December knock everyone's socks off!

August's First Haul

St. Ives Apricot Scrub, Vaseline Spray & Go, Bounty Paper Towels, Downy, Skittles, Starburst, Revlon Nail Polish, Scuunci Elastics, Colgate Toothbrushes.

I've been bad lately when it comes to couponing. I've been keeping up (but barely), and I haven't been super-excited by the sales all summer, so my hauls have been very small. And uninspiring, as you can tell from the frequency of which I've been posting about them. I was in dire need of fabric softener this week however, so that motivated me to find other sales. You know, since I would be at the store anyway. In the end, I'm glad I sucked it up, and schlepped out to the store. My find of the day that had me very excited? Free Skittles and Starburst at Kroger! I love me some freebies :) Here's the breakdown for the week:

CVS:

Colgate Toothbrushes, 2 for $5.98 (Buy 2, Receive $2 in ECB's)

-used (2) $1 off any Colgate toothbrush coupons

Revlon Nail Polish, $4.99 (Buy 1, Receive $3 in ECB's)

-used (2) $1 off any Revlon Color Cosmetic coupons

-Used $4.50 in ECB's, paid $7.46 out of pocket, and made $8 in ECB's.

Rite Aid:

Scuunci Hair Elastics, $2.99 (Buy 1, Receive $2 in UP's)

St. Ives Apricot Scrub, $4.49 (Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off and Buy 2, Receive $2 in UP's)

-used (2) $0.75 off St. Ives Apricot Scrub

Vaseline Spray and Go Moisturizer, $5.99 (Buy 1, Receive $2 in UP's)

-used a $1 off Vaseline Spray and Go Moisturizer coupon

-Used $4 in UP's, paid $9.21 out of pocket, and made $6 in UP's.

Kroger:

Starburst and Skittles, 2 for $1

-used (4) $0.50 off 2 Starburst or Skittle packs (doubled to $1- free!)

Bounty Paper Towels, $5.99

-used a $1 off Bounty DuraTowels coupon

Downy Fabric Softener, $3.99

-used a $3 off 3 Downy products coupon, and a $1 off Downy Kroger e-coupon.

-Paid $12.96

Total Spent- $29.63 on 82.40 worth of product. Savings of 64%.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! :)

Open Season For... Razors?!

Garnier Moisture Rescue Gel, Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Nail Polish, Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Crest Toothpaste, Bounty Basic Paper Towels, Peanut Butter M&M's, Venus Razors.

Being a woman in summer means upping your stakes in the battle against basically any kind of body hair. This also means razors are coming and going a lot faster than they would at any other time of the year, and they are freakin' expensive! I found an amazing deal at Rite Aid this weekend, though. 3-packs of Venus razors normally retail for $11.99. They were on sale for $7.49, and part of a promotion where if you spend $30, you get back $10. I also had in my hot, little hands a "Buy 1, Get 1 Free" coupon for Venus razors. I ended up getting 4 packs of razors- plus 1 roll of Bounty Paper Towels- for $9.92 (I also had $6 in rewards from last week). 4 packs of razors for less than the price of 1? Yes, please! Here's the breakdown for the rest of the haul:

CVS

Peanut Butter M&M's, $0.99
-used a $0.99 Mars candy CVS store coupon
Garnier Moisture Rescue Gel, $8.99 (Buy $15 in Garnier, Receive $5 in ECB's)
-used a $5 off 2 Garnier moisturizers coupon
Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Nail Polish, $5.79 (Spend $10 in Sally Hansen, Receive $5 in ECB's)
-used a Buy 1, Get 1 Free Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Nail Polish coupon
Crest, $3.49 (Buy 1, Receive $1 in ECB's)
-used a $1 off Crest toothpaste coupon

-Used $17 in ECB's from last week, paid $6.05 out of pocket, and made $11 in ECB's for next week.

Rite Aid

*Purchases part of "Spend $30 on Select P&G Products, Receive $10 in UP's" promotion*

Venus Razors, $7.49
-used (2) Buy 1, Get 1 Free Venus Razors coupon
Bounty Basic Paper Towels, $0.99
-used a $0.25 Bounty Paper Towels coupon

-Used $6 in UP's from last week, spent $9.92 out of pocket, and made $10 in UP's for next week.

Kroger

Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal, $1.88
-used (2) $0.75 off Quaker cereal coupons

-Spent $2.26

Total Spent- $18.23 on $92.77 worth of product. Savings of 80%.

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Product Reviews- Philosophy Retinol Clarifying Lotion And Venus Spa Breeze

Philosophy Retinol Clarifying Lotion

I love, love, love Philosophy products! They are pricey but they work! This is a product that I ran out of about a month ago and due to the price ($40) I was trying to go without. I was doing pretty well for about 3 weeks and then out of nowhere, my acne on my chin was starting to rear it's ugly, disgusting head. So I broke down and went to my local Sephora and picked up some more. While I was dying a little bit inside when I had to purchase the product, my skin is now thanking me. I put the tiniest amount of this product on all my spots twice a day. I just starting using this product again 3 days ago and my acne is almost gone once again. I must say that while this lotion is expensive, the last time I bought some was last October. So one tube lasts a long time. If I buy two tubes a year at $80,  it is still cheaper than buying Pro-Activ at $40 every two months at a yearly cost of $240. I keep hoping I will outgrow my acne but I am 28 with no end in sight. Will I buy this again? YES!
Another product that I just discovered that I love is the Venus Spa Breeze Razors. These were actually a couponing discovery, since I picked these up for free! These are the kind of razors that have shaving cream built in. I have to admit I have tried razors of this type before and they are very disappointing. These actually work though! I think they are perfect to take on a camping trip or on a vacation where you are wanting to save space (hey, shaving cream takes up valuable room!). My only gripe about these is the shaving cream part of the razor does not last as long as the actual razor. All in all, a good product though! Would I buy this again? No, unless I can get them for free again.

Venus Spa Breeze Disposable Razors

Honing My Skills

Yesterday was a CVS day. I had a pretty good day and I definitely feel like I made a killing!  I saved 65%, paying $19 on a $55 purchase. The best part is not only did I pay just $19 but I also earned $5 in Extra Care Bucks for next week's purchase. Here is my haul:

To put this in perspective, Febreze Fabric Refresher is normally about $6.40 a bottle. So you could look at it like I paid for the Febreze and got everything else for free. In reality, the Febreze was on sale and then I had a Buy 1, Get 1 Free coupon. Love those! And I really do go through a lot of Febreze at this time as the home we are renting is a bit... musty would be a nice way to put it. The candy bar in the picture? Free! The CVS magic machine spit out that free candy bar coupon when I scanned my card upon entering the store. Oh, how I love freebies! Happy savings friends!