followup blogging

A little interactive blogging here. Evelyn saw this photo of Petra in blue_eyed_girl's journal just now while lounging in baby prison waiting impatiently for Mommy to get on with it and get her out, and she was VASTLY amused by it so I grabbed the camera for a quick follow-up post here. "BABY! BABY!" (Never mind that she is the smaller baby in this story... she thinks anyone under eight is a baby. :)

Evelyn wants to be friends with Petra

Free stuff = teh awesome

I have been dabbling at the drugstore game and couponing lately, and have been having great fun buying things for free and/or ridiculously cheap. Previous purchases have been free boxes of cereal, mouthwash, vitamins and dietary supplements, antacids, glucose shots, light bulbs, chocolate, pickles, etc. Evelyn and I went out to Rite-Aid and Walgreen's today for my first ultra-planned shopping spree, and the above picture was taken when we got home. I tried to take a better picture of just the stuff, but, well, she wanted to be in the picture. Ha! Actually, she just wanted to play with all the fun shiny new things.

Walgreens
1 4-pack of lightbulbs, $1.50 (free, ESR*)
1 water filter replacement cartridge, $6.99 (free, ESR)
1 bionfusion organic shampoo, $5.99 (free, ESR)
1 bionfusion organic conditioner, $5.99 (free, ESR)
1 Jane mineral foundation, $4.99 (free, ESR)
1 Pert Plus shampoo, $3.79 (free, ESR PLUS $1 coupon, so $1 profit)
2 Huggies Cleanteam wipes, $2.39/each - $3/2 coupon = $0.89/each
And, I also used a $5 off $20 coupon (from email).

I will ultimately have made over FIVE DOLLARS just for bringing this stuff home.

Rite-Aid
1 Fructis shampoo, $2.99 (free, SCR**)
1 Fructis conditioner, $2.99 (free, SCR)
1 Colgate toothpaste, $.99 ($0.49, coupon)
1 Lady Speed Stick deodorant, $.99 (free, -$0.01 profit with coupon)

I spent less than seven dollars (which was actually free money anyway, from a transferred prescription a couple of months ago... that I transferred solely to get a $30 gift card) and when I get the rebate check, I will have bought all four items for the whopping sum of $0.96! Soo.. all of the items that you see above were free, plus $4.48 profit. Cool, huh?

The cleanteam wipes were a semi-loser purchase, though. I should have bought those at Walmart, because even though they were on sale at Walgreens, they're still cheaper at Walmart. I couldn't find them there when I looked before, though, but I found out tonight that they're not located with the baby stuff so I just didn't look in the right place for them--I could have gotten them for $0.14/each. Oops. Oh well. Mustn't get greedy, right? I was also disappointed that my store doesn't carry the last two free-after-rebate items, which were two sizes of those vacuum bags. I might run into the one on the other side of town if I get over there this month, but I won't make a special trip just to check. (Yes, I am allergic to the telephone.)

Most of this stuff we will use, or I have someone in mind to give it to. It may not be our preferred brand but it's nothing that we won't be able to live with, by any means. Some of the previous Walgreens months have been bizarre stuff that I have given away as quickly as I brought it home. (Dietary supplement for people taking Lipitor? Given to Dad. Calcium supplements--Mom. Bad breath starter kit? Umm... WTF? Except I can't find any takers for this one so it's languishing in the cabinet.) Heck, I sold one item in our yard sale last month. The exception is the water filter replacement cartridge. I don't even HAVE a pitcher filter. But.. you get 10% extra if you have your rebate put onto a Walgreens gift card, so in essence, they paid me $.70 to take it. I actually think I might go back and pick up a pitcher unit.. it was just $6 and we have talked about having one of that type before anyway. I have almost paid for it by taking this stuff home, after all.

There are also super deals to be had at CVS but I haven't tried it yet. I think I might this month, though. It's farther away, not in the nicest neighborhood or the easiest to get to for me, and I am a little intimidated by the system and afraid that I will mess up the savings by not remembering to use my ECBs, which expire monthly or so. However, part of the appeal of this type of shopping for me is that it is an errand that Evelyn and I can go on to get out of the house. I will sit at home most of the time if I don't think of things like this to do. I don't want to be constantly running to stores for actual purchases because I don't want to spend money. Sure, it costs gas money for these little errands, but not too much. Four miles, maybe, to these two stores, and seven to CVS. (I am so freaking anal that I mapquested them just now so I wouldn't be lying. I am such a dork.) Annnd... all of these are things that I will now no longer need to buy at regular price anymore. It's a win-win situation! (The only bit of lose is that it does take some planning and preparation with sales papers to figure out what to buy, which is kind of fun too, but sometimes difficult when one has a baby screeching at them.)

*ESR - Easy Saver Rebate program at Walgreen's. You submit your receipts online (or by mail) at the end of the month and they send you the cash/gift card. Very smoothly done.
**SCR - Single Check Rebate program at Rite-Aid. Same as ESR but they mail you a check. It seems a little clunkier than ESR but I've only done it once.