Readers' Greenworks reviews

Did you receive a free sample and/or coupon for a full size bottle of Greenworks Laundry detergent from this blog? If so, we'd love to hear what you thought of the product so please do post your honest review!

The folks at Matchstick (who sponsored the giveaway) would be very interested in your review as would the Greenworks brand, and if you could take a few minutes to complete the Matchstick feedback survey here, that would be much appreciated. Plus, here's a great incentive from Matchstick: "Every time one of this blog's readers completes this survey, we will make a $2 donation to The Redwood (www.theredwood.com). You will also be helping Matchstick prove the success of this program and allow us to continue offering programs like this."

Thanks in advance for taking the time to review the product, and happy laundering!

Free 2010 calendar!

Here's a great free calendar, free to both US and Canada addresses!

Start gathering next year's school supplies

Here's a quick freebie from the Public Health Agency of Canada, you can get a free eraser and ruler for the kids.

Be a product tester!

A while back I signed up here and today I received a 32-load Sunlight Green Clean bottle to try out. All I have to do is to complete a 10-question survey after I try my first load. A steal of a deal, if you ask me. Go sign up, you never know what they'll be sending you in the mail.

There's also sign ups for the guy in your life and also for little ones to get free stuff to try and test. Bonus!

Free stuff via email lists and a $5 coupon

I went to Chapters today to use my $5 coupon that came via email. It was a $5 no minimum spend coupon so I managed to get a Transformers book for Master Smith for absolutely free, and that will go into his stocking. It pays to join email lists sometimes! EDIT: Chapters HQ has cancelled this coupon early, it was to have expired on Dec 1. Good for you if you went in early and got to redeem your coupon!

Speaking of email lists, here's a few that I love because you get some great things via email:
1) RW&CO: sign up and get various coupons throughout the year, including a 25% coupon on your birthday!
****PS**** Here's a $25 off $85 coupon for RW&Co, good til Dec 5.

2) Red Robins: I got a free burger coupon for my birthday.
3) Orange Julius: I received a 2 for 1 coupon on my birthday. (You'll also get a coupon when you join their e-list).
4) Boston Pizza: I received a Free meal coupon for my birthday. (Get a free starter when you sign up as well!)

There's tons more such sites and e-lists but hope those will get you going and get you some free stuff!

Go here to complete a very short survey and get a $5 coupon for St Ives - they have a lot of items for under $5 so this will get you something for free!

Happy Sunday!

Yet more deals.

Today only, get 3 items for $30 at The Body Shop. Anything over $10 is automatically reduced to $10 - a great deal! I happen to know Mr.Smith went today and got some tea tree oil stuff for himself and something for my birthday tomorrow as well.

If you're looking for Build A Bear deals, here's one: Buy $30 giftcards and get another $10 gc for $5. Not a great deal, but it's saving you $5 if you were meaning to get stuff there anyway.

Also, get 4 free 8x10s from Costco - perfect for those pics for the grandparents:
Go here to get started.
* Coupon Code: CWFE1123
* Discount: 4 free 8×10 prints
* Expires: 6th December 2009
*** Remember, you can also get 25 free 4x6 photos when you open a new Costco printing account as well! ***

And lastly, get a free Gildan tshirt by completing this survey here.

Freebie Friday!

Get a coupon for a free full size Alberto's product by clicking on their Facebook page here. Even if you don't use their product, you can use the coupon to try it out, or trade the coupon for other coupons you can use.

Also, get 5 sample cards from here - choose a card and click on "order sample." You can order up to 5 cards, and shipping is free too. Don't worry if you see shipping of $16.90, just click continue and you'll see a new page come up with the free shipping.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Glade Moneymaker!

Happy Friday! For those in the West (in Canada), today is the last tax-free day at Superstore, where you don't pay any GST/PST! I went yesterday and got $193 worth of groceries and household items for $100, plus I'll be getting $10 back in rebates and I got 3 $10 off Hasbro games, so my out of pocket was actually $60!

If you haven't heard, Superstore and Glade have partnered up to offer you a $5 PC card rebate when you purchase 2 Glade items. I pricematched candles yesterday (from Zellers), which were on for $5 and I used $4 coupons so I paid $1 for the candles and will get $5 back for every 2 that I purchased.

An easy way to capitalize on this deal is to pricematch the Glade Aerosol that is on for $1 at Zellers this week. Here's the deal:

1) Buy 16 Glade Aerosols at Superstore, pricematching them at $1 (using Zellers flyer)
2) Print 8 rebate forms from www.glade.ca and either cut out (gently) the plastic coating with the UPC from the can, or write down the UPC # on a piece of paper, and send it off (see instructions from glade.ca)
3) Get back 8 $5 PC cards.

So you would spend $16 (no tax today, remember) and get back $40 - this would mean you will make $24, free and clear! You are allowed to claim up to 8 cards per household.

Zellers Friends and Family Event

This Sunday November 22, Zellers is having a Friends and Family sale, where you can get 10% off your purchase of regular priced, sale and clearanced items! It's a great way to save that little extra on your purchases, especially with coupons! :)

Remember to bring your email invite to get the discount, or if you didn't receive one, here's the link to one.

FREE McDonald's coffee

McDonald's Canada is offering free small coffees every morning from 5.30am - 10.30am until Nov 29, no purchase necessary. Some places are allowing you to upgrade to larger sizes and only having you pay the difference between the small and the upgraded size. Other branches are charging you the full amount if you choose a larger size.

FREE Silk hosiery (Canadians only) - HURRY!

ETA: They've hit 500, survey is closed/giveaway is over!

Silk Hosiery is giving away 500 pairs of Silk Hosiery on their website after you complete a survey. Hurry, before supplies run out! I love the feel of Silks hosiery - this is a great freebie!

Go here to complete your survey (click survey link at bottom of the page).

Free Aveeno and Alberto's!

Alberto's is giving away coupons for free product to their first 20,000 fans on Facebook! Go here to get yours (hurry, supplies limited).

I forgot to mention an Aveeno freebie from Superstore this week. There is a $2 Aveeno coupon in their flyer. If you have your save.ca coupons for $2 off lotion and $2 off bodywash, you can get stuff for free or next to nothing as you can stack an instore coupon with a manufacturer coupon at Superstore, which in this case is $4 per item. I got a small tube of lotion ($3.99 - made a penny) and a bottle of bodywash with bonus lotion for $4.99 so in total I paid $0.98 for both items. :)

Free Glade Sense & Spray and Fresh Effects

This week (until closing, Thursday), Zellers has the Glade Sense & Spray kits and the Fresh Effects kits for $4.99. There was a number of Glade $5 coupons in the recent coupon flyers so go and get your free smellies for FREE! While you're at Zellers, check out the clearance aisles - there are up to 75% off yellow-tagged items - we got some great (useful) baby gifts for dirt cheap.

Another deal is that London Drugs is having the Sense & Spray for $7.98, Buy One, Get One (BOGO) FREE! So stack your $5 Sense & Spray coupon with a $2 any Glade, and get 2 Sense & Spray kits for .99cents.

My friend Sarah brought my attention to another fabulous deal at Pharmasave this week. They have Natural Instincts haircolour on sale for $5.49. Use your $5 save.ca Natural Instincts coupon and get the item for .49cents!

The last deal of the day is a multi-deal: Buy 3 Kelloggs cereals at Superstore and use the $3 off wyb 3 instore coupon for a $3 savings, and make sure you purchase the boxes with the $10 Hasbro coupon on it. Then take the $10 coupons and buy your boardgames for cheap! Zellers has all boardgames at Buy 1, get 2nd Half off this week.

Come back tomorrow, I will have a deal for yet another laundry detergent and some clothing deals to share as well!

Hurray for Greenworks winners!

Hey all,
Sorry I'm late with the giveaway, but got ill a bit there. Congratulations to Rebecca, Nicole, Kristin, Erin, Dawn, Sandra and Meliss - you guys have just won yourselves a sample of the Greenworks Laundry detergent, AND a Free Purchase Coupon (FPC) for a free 30-load laundry detergent bottle, value of up to $10.99!!! That's an amazing high value coupon, and I hope you use it and come back and tell us how you liked (ok, loved) the product. I've been using my bottle of detergent since I got it and love the way my clothes have been coming out of the wash/dryer.
Please email me at kmemeric at hotmail (dot) com with your address so I can drop it off or where you'd like to meet so I can pass the sample and coupons off to you.

I'll be posting with a follow up on reviews on the product as I've given quite a number of samples and coupons to family and friends and church people, so stay tuned!

Thanks again to Clorox Greenworks for sponsoring the samples and FPC!!

Locals, try Greenworks detergent, for free!

Recently, I was picked as one of 50 bloggers chosen to receive, review and share about Clorox Greenworks products. A few days ago I received my fabulous package which included a 30-load Greenworks Natural laundry detergent as well as a Natural All Purpose cleaner for me to try out and review.

So far I've only used the laundry detergent and I love it. I was a bit surprised that once the clothes came out of the washer there was a slight scent to it, but then I realized the other detergent I had been using (Pink Solution) had no scent to it, so I had picked up on the slight Greenworks scent right away. After the clothes came out of the dryer, though, there was no scent, just a natural warm and clean feeling to the clothes. My family's not complained about the new detergent, so I will give this a thumbs up. I really like that it is almost 100% natural and that the clothes come out so clean smelling.

Now, the package also included some single load samples as well as some fantastic high value coupons for FREE Clorox Greenworks detergent, that I would LOVE to share with some of you locals. If you are not local to me, don't worry as there are 49 other giveaways that should be going on about now, just google for them, and I hope you find some in your area!

Today I'm giving away 20 samples of single load Clorox Greenworks detergent! Just post your name and two facts about Clorox Greenworks from their site here. One sample per person, please, so tell your friends and neighbours to come and post and win! I'll be announcing the sample giveaway winners on Thursday. Please ensure you are local to me, and can pick up the sample, or that you are close enough for me to drop off the sample. If we have more than 20 posters, we will use a random number generator to pick the winners.

Also on Thursday, I'll be giving away coupons for FREE detergent (a $10.99 value), so come back for your chance to win! Be prepared to either:
1) tell me why you want to try out / use Clorox Greenworks laundry detergent
2) share your review on the Greenworks line, if you have used it before.

You can win BOTH the free sample and the coupon, so post away!

Special thanks for Matchstick.ca and Clorox Greenworks for providing the samples and coupons to our readers!

FREE laundry detergent, anyone?

I'll be posting about how you can get a free Greenworks laundry detergent sample and/or a coupon for a Greenworks 30-load laundry detergent bottle, on Monday! Make sure you're here!

London Drugs coupons

Get new instore coupons from London Drugs, here. You can also sign up for their newsletter to get future coupons in your inbox. Or, you can always come back here to Mrs.Smith's as we'll let you know everytime LD updates their coupons.

Amazing Campbell's Soup deals (expires today!)

Here's a fantastic last minute deal at London Drugs, which expires today! If you're looking for some Campbell's Tomato/Mushroom/Chicken Noodle/Veg soup, this is an unbeatable deal!

IMPORTANT PART OF THE DEAL: Stack the LD instore coupon in the flyerbook for more savings!! (expires today)

Deal 1: Tomato/mushroom/c.noodle/veg: .50 each at WM, pricematch at LD. Use instore coupon $1.50 off 6. So it will be $3 for 6 - $1.50 = $1.50. Then use 2 Campbells coupons save .50 off 3 so you will get $1 off 6 so final price is .50 for 6!!! TADDAAAAA!!!

Deal 2: Campbell's Creation is $1.89 at RCSS. PM at LD. Scenario: Buy 3. Use 3 BOGOF (I picked up some at SaveOn this week) so you end up with 6 for $5.67. Then use 2 of the instore LD coupons ($1.50 off 3) for $3 off, so that will be $2.67 for 6 or .45 each!

A great deal if you are out and desperately need it: Chunky: It's 3 for $5 somewhere, forget where. Pricematch. Then use instore coupon $1.50 off 3 so that makes it 3 for $3.50. Use B3G1 free for 4 for $3.50

With deal #1, that would make a case of 12 for $1 - amazing!

Remember, this deal ends today, Nov 1!!! Thank you, LD for more coupons!

I hope you all got to use up your coupons that expired Oct 31 by yesterday - I was there again yesterday and used up quite a number of coupons, and left quite a few on the shelves as well. I gave a few away to a couple there and showed them how to coupon stack, they loved it and were amazed that one can get such deals at LD - I told them,"welcome to your new favorite store!" LOL.

Have a great day, everyone.

50% coupon for Payless

Thanks to Oprah, there's a 50% off coupon for Payless (both in US and Canada) that is good today and tomorrow only. Click here to print your coupon. I'm hoping to score some rainboots as it's pouring cats and dogs here. Happy shoe shopping!

Coupon giveaway

A lot of coupons out there are expiring Oct 31, and I came across a few that I'd love to give away instead of having them go to waste. If you'd like any of these, please leave a comment. You'd have to pick them up or we can arrange a drop off if you're local.

3 x $5 Maybelline New york Pulse Perfection vibrating mascara
5 x $4 off Pampers Swaddlers
5 x $3 off Pampers Baby Dry, Swaddlers, Cruisers

These are all manufacturer coupons, not printables. Let me know if you want them, otherwise I will be leaving them at a local LD for a lucky shopper to find (and hopefully use!)

As a side note, keep an eye out on your local store shelves as I know of other couponners who will be leaving random coupons on shelves this week hoping that they'll get used up by someone who can use/need them. :)

Brandsampler for Men!

Hey guys, here's an awesome freebie for you. There's a new Brandsampler for Men deal that's up here. They'll send you a Mach 3 razor, some anti-perspirant and some shaving/face cleaning stuff. Mr. Smith will appreciate some new goodies in the mail. :)

Ladies, if you are ordering for your man, note that the sample will only be sent if you check off "male" and not "female."

Get yours now while it's hot, and available!

Babies R Us printable coupons

A good selection of coupons available, both online and printable for instore use. Go here for more information!

New printable coupons!

SCJohnson has added new coupons to their site for printing - great for stacking!

Go here for your new coupons!

Discount coupon for Chapters Indigo

Go here to get a 25% coupon off any item at your local Chapters Indigo store! Offer ends Oct 31 2009. Little Miss Smith is hoping to use her coupon on the newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Dog Days book.

Woolite rugstick printable coupon

For those of you who have the Smartsource insert and a London Drugs that takes printables with a value higher than $2, you can stack the coupon in the insert with this $3 printable from here.

New Smartsource flyer insert!

Received a new Smartsource flyer insert this week in the local Coquitlam Now paper - tons of new usable coupons, my favorites being the Febreze candle ones. Happened to go to the local McD after Master Smith's soccer game and found 2 inserts sitting there. So if you didn't get your copy, maybe go to your local fast food place, they might have them there, lol.

Next flyer insert is the Shop and Save, due Oct 31.

I've been ill so have not been able to post but am feeling better now. Real quick as I'm headed out to young Master Smith's soccer game. Here's an awesome deal on Chunky Soup:

1) Pricematch Walmart price ($1.67) at RCSS and buy 4
2) Use 3 RCSS instore coupon of .75cents
3) Use 1 manufacturer coupon of 1 free Chunky when you buy (wyb) 3
4) Get 4 chunky soups for .69cents each!

The current instore coupon expires today. Sometimes RCSS puts out new coupons for the same items for the following week, but not always.

Back to blogging

Hey everyone, I know a whole bunch of people will be checking this blog out tonight or tomorrow since I just completed a coupon talk at church, so I will be updating this blog tomorrow with more deals and more info. If you have any questions about where to get coupons, how to maximize your coupons, etc, leave a comment and ask away. Back with photos and more tomorrow!

$10 Sears coupon for Juniors (US only)

Here's a link for a $10 coupon for online/instore use for Sears, good only in the US til sometime in November. I might use this the next time I head across the border and see if I can get the Little Smith's something.

Kids' Tylenol for under $1

I kid you not - you can get Kids' Tylenol (cold, cold/cough, and fever) for .73 this week at Superstore. It's on sale for $2.73 so use your $2 from smartcanucks and the Tylenol is yours for .73 - perfect to stock up for the coming winter season. Little Ms.Smith and Master Smith chose Bubble Gum Burst and Grape flavours.

CHEAP shaving gel/creams and more.

Easy peasy at Superstore this week... I saw the Gillette Series shave foam/gel on for $1.96 today - buy 3 and use the $5 wyb 3 coupon that was in the recent P&G Brandsaver and get 3 cans for under $1!

Also, Satincare is $1.96, so use your save.ca and Brandsaver $1 coupons to get it free!

Gillette Fusion Power is on sale for $6.97, use your $4 coupon to get it for $2.97 or price match at LD and stack! (NOTE: I had the manager at my local LD tell me he would only allow price match of 1 unit for various reasons). I had wanted to buy 3 (2 of the Fusion and 1 of the Venus Embrace, also on for $6.97) and use the $5 wyb 3 and a whole bunch of other coupons for a total of $21, making the 3 razors free. No go although I've heard some people getting the deal. Seems that LD's guarantee of matching any printed price out there only goes so far which in my opinion does not make it much of a guarantee at all.

Starting tomorrow, spend at least $14 on Cover Girl makeup at LD and get a Pro Mascara free. There are tons of stackable coupons out there now (save.ca, P&G, Rouge booklet) so you should be able to get some cheap/free makeup with this deal. Also, Gillette Hydragel is BOGO, pricematch with People's ($3.99) and use your Gillette coupons from the Brandsaver to save even more!

Pantene is also on sale at LD, and there's also a number of coupons out there, so this is a great time to stock up. Stayfree is also on sale and free with coupons - I've not done this deal as I don't use that item but may buy some and donate to a local women's shelter.

Oral B Pulsonic coupon

If you're looking to purchase the Oral B Pulsonic toothbrush, go here to get a $10 coupon.

Huggies sample and high value coupon!

You can get some diaper samples and high value coupons from Huggies by signing up here! Good for both US/Canada.

Tomorrow Mr.Smith and I are heading to LD to score some free/cheap Gillette Fusion/Embrace razors and shave cream, amongst other things. I'll share the how-to and pics then!

Ziploc for free

I don't know why I've not taken advantage of this scenario but you can bet that'll change today! (Today's the last day to pricematch as the ad expires tonight).

Superstore is having a promo on Ziploc bags, 2/$4, so you can print off your "get $2 off when you buy 2" and "Buy any Ziploc and get $1 off" coupons, and bring your Superstore ad to LD to pricematch and stack coupons! That'll net you some free ziploc bags!

Here's how it works:
Buy 2 Ziploc bags = $4 (pricematch with Superstore)
Use 2 "Buy any Ziploc and get $1 off" = $2 off
Use 1 "Get $2 off when you buy 2 Ziplocs" = $2 off
= 2 Ziploc packs FREE!!!!!!
Repeat.

Yay - great time to stock up!

Zellers promo.

Starting tomorrow, Zellers is having a promo for a whole slew of products such as Pampers, Tide, Gillette, Crest, Mr.Clean, and more. The promo is spend $25, get $10 gift card back (via mail). The $25 total is before any price matching or coupons you might have, so this is a great time to get those items pricematched and use up those coupons.

Print off your rebate form here (as of tomorrow).

And don't forget to bring your reuseable bags for bonus points! :)

NEW P&G coupons and more news!

Tons of new, awesome coupons for diapers, hair products and more here! Order yours today, and remember you can price match and stack your coupons at London Drugs.

Also, for the local Canadian readers, I confirmed with the Shoppers Drug Mart by Coquitlam Center that they accept internet printable coupons so print off your Ziploc and Glad coupons previously mentioned, and you can use them there! Also confirmed with Superstore HQ that they do accept internet printable coupons. Yay! (Great deal this week: Ziploc freezer bags are $2, use the $1 ziploc coupon and get it for $1! Or, at LD, buy 2 ziploc bags, and use the $2/2 coupons and 2 $1 coupons for free or close to free bags).

An unconfirmed deal: I heard that you can get 100 HBC points at Zellers or HBC everytime you bring in and use your re-useable bag - up to 5 bags or 500 pts per transaction - that would be quick (and easy) additions to your points cards, not to mention environmentally friendly! Now to check out if you can use any reuseable bag, or whether you have to use theirs. Will keep you posted.

Lastly - (phew, this is a great day for coupons!) be on the watch for the Rouge booklet coming in your local papers - there are a number of great coupons there - again, great to stack with coupons from here and elsewhere, at LD!

Great deal at Restaurant.com

For a limited time, you can purchase a $25 gift certificate here for participating restaurants for just $1!! I believe you can print off the gift certificate and use it right away, or hold it for later - expiry is 1 year. Please read the fine print before purchasing the gc as each restaurant has its limitations, expiry dates, etc. But $1 - c'mon, that's excuse enough to cross the border for a great meal, or a perfect opportunity to eat well (and cheaply) on vacation.

Use code NINETY at checkout to get the 90% discount!

10cent prints TODAY ONLY!

You can get 99 prints for 9.99 which is .10cents per print today only at Walmart online. Click here to get your cheap prints!

London Drugs/Zellers Jamieson vitamin deal

Real quick here, as we're off to enjoy the last day of summer before school starts tomorrow. If you have a London Drugs and Zellers near you, today is the last day that you can get this deal:

Here's what you do:
- Bring your Zellers ad to London Drugs to pricematch Jamieson vitamins at 50% off.
- Buy 3 vitamins/supplements and get $10 London Drugs giftcard.

I bought 6 bottles yesterday for $23 and got 2 $10 gc's ($20) so the vitamins cost $3.

LD did not want to honour the pricematch at first as they said Zellers was sold out. So I headed to Zellers and lo and behold, there were vitamins left on the shelf, so I bought 6 and brought it to LD to show them. The manager approved the match and I got my vitamins and $20 gc. I'll be returning the Zellers vitamins this week. They'll be 40% off the rest of the week.

Free movie passes for kids.

Purchase 4 specially marked packs of Oasis Fruit Zoo juice and get 1 free kids' movie pass! Perfect for this time of year when we're all stocking up juice boxes for back to school - getting a free movie ticket in the mix is bonus! (Note: you do have to mail the coupons in to claim the free pass).

I bought my packs from Superstore a few days ago for .98cents, I'm not sure if the sale is still on. If it is, this weekend is a great time to go buy more, as it is Tax Free day - so no tax on your juice! UPDATE: Yes, the sale is still on at Superstore, so get a 5-pack for .98, no tax.

I noticed that the packs are .99 at London Drugs, and there is a BOGO in the Safeway flyer. I wonder if LD will honour the BOGO - that way it would be .99 for 2 packs - even better! UPDATE: LD did not honour the BOGO as it was a Safeway Club Special price - the cashier explained the BOGO was a special deal for Club holders and LD can't match special Club deals ie Safeway Club, Costco, etc - I thought that was reasonable. Anyway, still a good buy! Will have to check the pricing at Safeway to see if the BOGO is an even better deal.

A reminder - no tax on Glade Scented Oil tins

If you printed out the coupons mentioned here, don't forget that you don't have to pay tax on it. I've tried it at a couple stores and one store didn't charge any tax with any questions, and another insisted tax had to be paid until I asked them to read the wording on the coupon carefully. After that, they didn't charge me the tax - as evidenced by the receipt in the photo! TRULY FREE. :)

Total savings this post: $8.94

Total savings towards debt this post: $4.47

Total savings towards debt this month: $11.47

Total savings towards debt so far: $159.16.

My house will smell nice and have clean bathtubs.

A quick run into London Drugs yesterday netted me a Glade Fresh Effects kit and 2 scrubbing bubbles Mega Foamers, for $2.78 including tax!

Here's how I did it:

Glade: On sale for $8.99, used a $5 coupon, a $2 coupon and 2 $2 coupons = FREE.

Mega Foamers: $2.99 each, used a BOGO coupon and a $2 off coupon to get 2 for .99!

Total savings this post: $13.99

Total savings towards debt so far this month: $7

Total savings towards debt so far: $154.69.

Paid towards debt/mortgage at end of August: $147.69 - this is above and beyond normal payments - woohoo!! This is a great motivator to coupon shop and save at the same time!

NOTE: As part of my commitment to pay extra payments mortgage/debt from 50% of my savings from this blog, I am paying the amount at the end of every month and will now list my monthly savings/payments as well. It's easier for me to keep track this way. Ignore the numbers if you wish! :)

The coupons were a mix of save.ca coupons as well as ones from the coupon inserts that are found in the local paper.

New Ziploc coupons and contests.

New coupons for Ziploc!

- $2 off Ziploc Evolve bags (see below for note)

- $1 off snack bags

- $1 off Easy Zipper freezer bags

- $1 off Double Zipper bags

- $2 off any 2 Twist 'n' Loc or Snap 'n' Seal containers

Go here to get your coupons!

While you're there, you can sign up to win free pizza for a year, or to win a Broil King BBQ!

NOTE: The Ziploc Evolve bags are $2.27 at Superstore at the moment, so you can get a pack for .27 each! They are apparently the same price at Walmart, but my Walmart is so finicky with coupons that I prefer not to use them there. The bags are $2.49 at Zellers and $2.99 at London Drugs - both places accept the coupon as well.

It's a lot of stuff - and how to get it.

Here's all the stuff we got for $72.32. Total retail is $233.25. If I lived in the States, we would have paid less as I would have easier access to more coupons and doublers, but this is pretty good, too. :)

If you're thinking of starting to coupon shop in the States, here are a few of my favourite sites to get coupons from:

Here, here, here, here, here, and Target ones here, and here.

Click backspace after printing to get a 2nd coupon at the first 5 sites. :)

The secret to coupon shopping is not just to get coupons - it's to match up coupons and instore sales to get your items for the least amount possible. Sometimes it means getting the smallest size of item, my favourite one being the individual cereal cups. They usually retail for under a dollar, and you can use a $1 off coupon - to get it free. Mr.Smith brings these to work for breakfast everyday. As they say, cheap is good and Free is Better!

I find it impossible to figure out shopping deals without flyers, so being in Canada, it's hard to get US flyers for US stores. A great resource are coupon blogs that talk about sales and the best coupons to use to get the best deal. My favourites are:

CouponClippinMama

KrazyCouponLady

DealseekingMom

CouponCravings

TheBargainJargon

NWADeals

Fortheloveofeverything

NWThrifyMom

There's probably a few more that I've forgotten or not listed. I check these quickly at least once a day. It doesn't need to take hours to clip coupons - and totally worth it.

Coming up this week: Scared to start coupon shopping? Nervous about the cashier's reaction at checkout? Then this post is for you - apost on coupon policies for some US and Canadian stores, and how to shop confidently having these on hand!

Coupon shopping in the USA - August edition.

The Smith family made a day trip out of a coupon shop day this weekend, and we headed out with lists in hand, and coupons ready to go. We hit Rite-Aid, Safeway, Target, Walmart and Walgreens this time around.
First up was Rite Aid.

I bought:
- 1 tube Colgate

- 1 box Tylenol

- 4 Trident gum packs

- 1 Hotwheels boys' hat

- 2 energy shot drinks

(The last 2 were Mr. Smith's purchases).

I paid $13.32 and will receive back $4 in Single Check Rebates (SCR) from Rite-Aid, making this purchase $9.32. If we hadn't added the hat and drink (impulse buys) it would have been $2.84. Watch out for impulse buys!

What are SCRs? Well, they are rebates provided by Rite Aid - when you purchase an eligible item, you get $ back. The good news is that you can use coupons along with the rebates, sometimes getting the items for free, or making money off it (Money Maker) - so you are getting paid to take the items home! To learn more, go here. I am waiting for last month's SCR cheque - I will be getting about $10 back. Woohoo! Not bad for 1 trip per month!

Total out of pocket: $13.32

SCR's: $4

Total saved: $10.70

Next was Safeway:

Safeway is having a great deal on cereal - buy 5 participating items and get $5 off immediately. Good news - coupons can be used along with this offer! So I mixed and matched and worked out which coupon to use with which cereal - came came away with this haul:

- 10 cereal boxes (Kelloggs and Kashi brands)

- 2 boxes Kashi snack crackers

- 4 Wishbone dressings

- 5 Nature Nut Crunch / clusters

- 2 Ball Park franks packages

After coupons and specials, I paid $19.55, and saved $57.78!!!! According to Safeway's receipt, it was a 75% savings. Yay!

The cereal cost me $0.50 - $1 per box. I will not have to buy any more cereal for a few months, plus will have a few extras to giveaway (upcoming post).

The Wishbone dressing was on sale for .99 and I had coupons for .75 off each, so they ended up being .24cents each. I stocked up on Russian dressing as I can't find Russian dressing in my local grocery stores anymore! (I use it to make Russian chicken... yum).

I would have gotten more cereal except they were sold out of a lot of the Kashi ones I wanted - a scenario I worked out would have netted me 5 boxes of cereal for $1.25 - that's total, not each!

Total out of pocket: $19.55

Total saved: $57.78

After lunch, we headed to Target:

Here's the Target list:

- 7 boxes Johnson's Buddies Soap

- 2 containers Johnson's Body Wash

- 12 individual cups Cheerios/HoneyNut cheerios

- 2 packs Kids Boost drinks

- 4 10-ct packs Bics pens

- 1 pack Sharpies highlighters

- 2 travel sized Wet Wipes

- 1 Aveeno lotion

- 2 trial sized All Laundry detergent

- 2 Kelloggs Cinnabons

- 2 Pepperidge Farms Goldfish packs

- 1 Axe bodywash

- 2 Dove deodorant

- 2 Gerber baby bottles

- 2 Betty Crocker fruit snacks

- 2 Transformers toy vehicles (not pictured)

- Renuzit lens cleaner

- 2 "5" gum packs

I had a Jedi of a cashier - she rocked, putting through my coupons and exclaiming,"this is the way to shop!" She couldn't believe how much I was saving and didn't give me any of the scowls or sighs that some cashiers are wont to do. Again, total was higher because Mr.Smith found some gum that I didn't have coupons for (but were a good price) and an Axe wash that I only had a $1 coupon for.

Total spent: $25.80

Total saved: $78.50!

Next up was Walgreens, where I messed up by forgetting to bring in the proper Tylenol coupons so only ended up getting 3 toothbrushes.

Did you catch the deal here? The toothbrushes are $1.59 regular price. I bought 3, and had 3 $1 off coupons making them $0.59 each. Walgreens then had an instore coupon for .40 off each making them .19 each. I paid $0.87 including tax for all 3.

Total out of pocket: $0.87

Total savings: $4.20

And lastly, Walmart.

I went with trepidation, having heard/read about Nazi cashiers at Walmart, but holding with the day's good run with cashiers, I had an amazing one. She even thanked me for being so organized with my coupons! I had to do 2 transactions as I messed up with the hotdogs, but it was an easy fix.

The Walmart list:
- milk

- 2 packages Pillsbury Grand Biscuits

- 4 Bar-S hotdogs

- 8 SOBE drinks

- 2 Dentek floss packages

- 1 Welch's grape jelly

- 1 girls' nylons

I had a $1 off the Pillsbury one so I thought I'd try it, as with the Welch's grape jelly, as I had a .75 coupon off that. I had a $1 off 2 Bar S products, and they were $1 each, so each hotdog package was $0.50 each! I used my BOGO coupons for Sobe, which were already on sale for $1 each, so each drink was $.50 each. Lastly, I had 2 $1 off Dentek products, making the floss $0.12 each! Milk was $2.18 - I usually buy mine for $3.50 or more here!

Total spent: $12.78.

Total savings: $9.75

Here are the final numbers:

Total trip out of pocket: $72.32

Total savings: $160.93!

Total savings towards debt this post: $80.46

Total savings towards debt so far: $147.69

Bonus: The customs officer waved us through at the border.

The day we tried to coupon shop.

Last Thursday, my sister, Little Miss Smith and I attempted to go coupon shopping in the States. I say "attempted" because just after we crossed the border and picked up my mail at a mailbox service, my 3 year old van's front axel gave up the ghost. As in, it broke and spewed ball bearings and grease all over the place. Loud, grinding, whirring noises scared the daylights out of us and lots of hysterical laughter ensued. As is the norm with my sister and I, hilarity and hysteria go hand in hand when we are together.

On top of that, my cellphone battery died. So my sister's cellphone saved the day. She barely uses the phone so the first time Mr. Smith called us back (after we had called him for help), we were both grooving to the music, when 5 seconds later she finally realized it was her phone ringing! More hysterical laughter. Hee hee.

Anyway, long story short, the towtruck came across the line to get me and the van back to a dealership in Canada, and Mr. Smith came to pick my sis and Little Miss Smith up.

My sis had taken the day off to observe my coupon shopping, and what did she get? A few hours in a car, lots of laughing, some Subway (mmmm roasted chicken sub), some ice cream, and some time in a dealership and rental car agency.

I'm thankful she was there with me though, as she kept me sane (and less panicked), and bought me ice cream. :)

We had extended warranty on the van so the only out of pocket expenses were the extra insurance on the rental car ($11), gas, and Mr. Smith's loss of wages (as he was working overtime).

Moral of story: Coupon shopping is meant to save you money, but be prepared, life throws you curveballs sometimes! And also, it's good to have a sister who buys you icecream. And a husband who will come pick you up, in a different country and all.

We went to the Midnight Madness sale at Zellers yesterday, and used our "Try Me Free" coupons for new Glade Candles. They were $3.99 each but the item did not scan through, so the cashier just manually put it through and didn't charge us tax - so these were truly FREE! By the way, way to go, Ms. Cashier - you were awesome.

Go here to get your coupon - and get your free candles!

Total savings this post: $7.98
Total savings towards debt this post: $7.98
Total savings towards debt so far: $67.23

Socks stash.

Here are the photos from our Please Mum $5 coupon shop. We had 6 $5 coupons and you can only use 1 $5 coupon per transaction. We ended up with 14 pairs of socks and a pink hoodie for Little Miss Smith (not pictured). Some of the socks are for her and for Little Mr.Smith, but we did buy a few matching ones for my twin niece and nephew. These socks make me giggle!

The math for this buy will make your head spin. Let's just say there was Buy One, Get One half off's, and all $5 coupons were used.

Clothes from Happy Meals.

Little Miss Smith and I got away to the mall today and came home with 14 pairs of socks (some pairs were just over $1!!) and a hoodie, all from Please Mum, using Please Mum Bucks that we got from McDonald's. We did pay an out of pocket amount of about $35 (which included tax), which was something I hadn't meant to spend, but she was in need of another hoodie and in desperate need of socks, so I guess that balances it out. Some of the socks were for my niece and nephew and for Little Mr. Smith as well. Photos and coupon usage info coming tomorrow/Friday.

For a limited time only, you can get a $5 Please Mum buck with a Happy Meal purchase at participating McDs. I saw a sign at my local branch, but did not receive it when I purchased the meals for the kids (who were THRILLED to get the HM since we stopped getting them a while ago). I asked if the Bucks were still available, and the cashier handed them to me. I've heard some branches are only giving away 1 Please Mum Buck per transaction, but I got 1 for every Happy Meal we got. (Plus I got an extra one thrown in as a bonus the next time we went back with some friends). In total we got 6 $5 coupons, or $30!

Tomorrow I am taking the day off work to go and play/coupon shop in the States with my sister and Little Miss Smith. I've got all my coupons and lists prepared. Hopefully I won't steer too far off the list and only buy what I've planned on buying. I am stopping in at the scrapbook store Treasury of Memories in Bellingham, though... that could be difficult to restrain myself there. Oh, if only scrapbook stores gave out coupons regularly, lol.

Getting free clothes at McDonalds!

It's been a (good) long day, so I'm off to bed, but I'll be back tomorrow to share how I got free clothes from McDonald's this week!

SCJohnson coupons - and free candle!

Ohhh, this is a good printables set:

Try a Glad Scented Oil Candle Tin FREE
Save $2.00 on ANY glade product
Save $2.00 on ANY windex multi-surface product
B1G1 Pledge aerosol
Save $3.00 on ANY raid product
Save $2.00 on any 2 ziplocs
Save $5.00 on Scrubbing bubbles shower cleaner starter kit

Thanks, SmartCanucks, for the link!

Go here to get your coupons!

Free photos at Costco

You can get 8 5x7's free at Costco.ca by using code CWFEA817 at checkout. Also, when you open a new photo account, you can apparently get 25 free 4x6's. I'm going to get Mr.Smith to open an account to test this. Yay for free photo finishing!

PS Costco is also having a .10cent sale on 4x6 going on now. Perfect timing to get all the summer photos printed up and scrapbooked!

This was a successful Zellers shopping trip - done in 2 transactions. One was with a lovely cashier who had no troubles taking internet printed coupons, and another transaction was with a cashier who acted as though the coupon amounts were being deducted off her paycheque and who was quite obnoxious about it.

I had a few more Scrubbing Bubbles coupons so I got 6 more for free. Total savings: 6 packs x $3 = $18.

There was a display of Glade candles with a "Try it on Us" coupon tray, so we bought 2 - one for home and one for business. It cost us $10 per candle, but with the rebate coupon, Glade will refund us the money, making the candles free! Total savings: 2 candles x $10 = $20.

The Hannah Montana movie came out last week, and Walmart had it on for $18.49 (or so) for the first few days. I brought the flyer in to Zellers and they price matched it. Also, if you go to the Disney site and sign up for their newsletter you can get a $5 coupon off, which made the movie $13.49 each. Little Miss Smith was so happy to get her own copy of the movie (the other was a birthday gift for a friend). Total savings: 2 movies x $5 = $10.

Total savings this post: $48.

Total savings towards debt: $24.

Total savings towards debt so far: $50.

First coupon shops.

Last week, Scrubbing Bubbles were 2 for $6 at Zellers, and I had $3 off coupons, so I stocked up. I ended up with 6 sets, so ended up giving a few away. Total savings: 6 sets x $3 = $18.

You can also get a $2 off a Ziploc Evolve pack at http://www.ziploc.ca/. They are $2.27 at the Walmart and Superstore near me, and $2.49 at Zellers, and $2.99 at London Drugs. For a few days it was $1.97 at the Superstore which meant you could get it for free. I managed to get one pack with some trouble (a post coming up on Superstore coupon policy soon) but got another pack at Zellers, which I gave to my mother. Total savings: 2 packs x $2 = $4.

I had a few $5 of Motrin coupons as well so I stocked up at Zellers. Each Motrin pack was $4.27 and the cashiers (I did it in 3 transactions) took the $5 coupons, so I ended up being PAID $0.73 per pack, to buy them! Total savings: 6 packs x $5 = $30. NOTE: I've since been told Zellers will not take a coupon with a higher value than the item being purchased.

Total coupon savings this post: $52.
Total savings towards debt: $26.

Extreme coupon'ing.

Over the last couple months I've started to coupon shop like never before. I've always used a coupon here and there, but had never had a systematic, organized and effective approach to it - before now. Now I am slightly obsessed with getting the best deal, learning the secrets and the tricks of the trade, so to speak. I know I'm just scratching the surface now, but I'm interested in seeing my household and grocery budgets get slashed. I'm interested to find out how to fill my cupboards without breaking the bank. I want to know how I can shop so I can bless others.

I call myself an extreme coupon shopper for a few reasons. First, I seem to be the only one in my circle who actively coupon shops (and talks about it). So I might seem extreme to my circle of friends in my shopping methods. I also cross the border from Canada to the USA about once a month to coupon shop. That's pretty extreme, wouldn't you say, going shopping in a different country to save a few dollars? And lastly, I'm extreme because I really am about saving money. You see, I'm challenging myself that for every dollar I save by using coupons, I will put 50% towards any outstanding debt (mortgage, cards, etc). Once debt is relieved, that money will go towards a savings account. This way, I am saving money AND paying off debt while getting more for less - now that's extreme!

This blog is a way for me to keep track, and also a way to share my journey. Thanks for joining me here. :)