So Good to go to Tuscany

Thanks to MrsSmith-ExtremeShopper class student, Shawna, who sent me this link to a contest to win a trip to Tuscany, compliments of So Good!

Go here to enter.

New site - Scottbrand

Scott has released a new site called Scottbrand and they are offering a $2 printable coupon, go here to print. Here's a little tip: hit backspace and you will get to print the coupon twice.

The coupon looks very much like the coupons you find in the USA but it's because Scott is using the same technology that most companies in the USA use - maybe this might be a sign that more printable coupons are coming to Canada? (Let's hope).

Good for Canada only.

Win a $5000 room makeover

You could win a $5000 room makeover, courtesy of Shaker products, or you can enter daily for Best Buy/Toys R Us giftcards or Shaker products!

Go here to enter.

Once you've entered, you will also receive a special pincode for another contest sponsored by Oetker called the Adventure Romantica contest which is giving away a trip to Italy. The product connected to this contest is Ristorante products.

Some blog love today

I'm sharing some love on the blog today, as a thank you to those of you who have taken the time to join and follow on the blog. I appreciate you - it makes a difference to know that you are reading and following!

Today I'm sharing some of the Mr.Clean loot that I recently got, and my friend Caryn picked the lucky winner, who is ERIN CALDWELL!!

Erin, I'll see you this week and will pass along the prize to you!

Thanks again, everyone, for following... and those of you who aren't following the blog yet, go and sign up, because you never know when I might share some love on the blog again! :)

Giveaway tomorrow

I know I have a giveaway for Hostesses and Class Students coming up on March 31 but I couldn't wait to do another giveaway. If you've been reading this blog you would have read recently about how I'm planning to give away some items very soon. Well, that will be tomorrow, and you'll need to read my recent posts to find out how to enter. Good luck! :)

15%- 25% at Chapters/Coles stores (BC)

This Sunday Chapters is offering discounts for card-holders and non-card holders, you can get 25% off with your irewards card, or if you do not have the card, you can still get 15% off your instore purchase.

To print the coupon, click on the picture and then click print on your toolbar.

Smartsource coupon insert - due out March 27

Here's what is in this weekend's Smartsource coupon insert:

$2 off on any one Purex Complete 3-in-1
$1 off on any glass ceramic Scrunge
Buy any 2 get $1 off on Lysol cleaning product
.75cents off Airwick Aqua Mist
$2 off on any 2 Airwick Aqua Mist
$1 off on any Airwick scented oil refill, Freshmatic refill or candle
$2.50 off on Huggies Pull-up training pants
$4 on any Restoralax product
$4 off any Lakota product
$10 off any Teleflora bouquet
$1 off any 1 tub or refill Cottonelle moist wipes
$1 on any 6 pack or larger Cottonelle bathroom tissues
$1 off on two or more rolls of Scott Towels Long Lasting rolls or Mega rolls

NOTE: The coupon insert may vary according to region. These were the ones in the insert I received.

Mama needs a new kitchen

Reynolds is giving away a free kitchen makeover or $8000 in cash, contest is open for Canadians only. Go here to enter.

For USA readers or Canadians who shop across the border, go here to print a $1.50 coupon.

Sale on K'Nex , Lincoln Logs and Brio!

If you have a son about Little Mr.Smith's age, your house is probably full of building toys like K'Nex. Little Mr.Smith can spend hours building and playing and it blows my mind how he takes things apart only to rebuild them, or even better, builds bigger and better versions. With Easter and his 7th birthday coming up, I'm starting to look for some gift ideas for him - on sale, of course!

K'Nex is having a 25% sale on selected Easter building sets, plus when your order is over $50, you will receive a free bag of parts! To save on shipping, I'm ordering items for his Easter basket, birthday gifts and some special "just because" gifts all on one order, which will also net me the spare bag of parts - I know he will love them!

With the sale, there are some items under $4.50, and I was thinking of getting these for the "loot bag" toy to give out at his birthday party. I like to give away one big-ish item versus a bunch of cheap dollar store junk - how about you? I'm pretty sure his friends are just as builder-crazy as he is so these should hit the mark.

Just browsing the site and saw that they have Lincoln Logs on sale too!

If you have younger boys to buy for, try Brio - they've got a 50% off sale off classic trains & tracks, Network, My First Sets, Play Tables and more!

Good for both USA and Canada.

See all the K'NEX Special Offers

Save up to 50% on BRIO select items

HOT - Last day for cheap/free Mr.Clean!!

I love Mr.Clean products. Especially the Magic Eraser. My kids love them too and this mama especially loves the days when my kids decide that their bathroom needs a "Mr.Clean Makeover" - and then go to town scrubbing everything in sight.

This week's Walmart flyer expires today, and so goes with it the $2 price for Mr.Clean products. So if you are needing some Mr.Clean products, you have until the stores close tonight to get in on this great price.

I went to London Drugs and saved $2.60 PER spray/liquid and $1.49 per Magic Eraser right off the bat.

Then of course came the coupon savings which was $32!

I got 4 sprays, 4 liquids and 8 2-pack Magic Erasers for nothing but tax which was $3.84! Got to love Extreme Shopping! The (male) cashier was so awesome and said,"I really take my hat off to you," and even asked where to get coupons and of course I referred him here! :)

If I had walked into LD and bought all these off the shelf it would have cost me $73.29 (inclusive of tax) but instead I walked out only paying $3.84. That is a 94.77% savings! Of course, If there was no tax then I would have 100% savings.

Happy cleaning days are here again!

PS I just *may* be giving away some Mr.Clean soon... and you just *may* want to make sure you're a blog follower. :)

Win VIP Screenings and movies for a year!

This one is good for local Lower Mainlanders, especially if you are in the Langley, Abbotsford, Surrey, Cloverdale, etc areas! I know a lot of my blog readers and class students are from these areas so hopefully one of you will win!

Willowbrook Mall/Colossus is giving away VIP Screenings and movies for a year - go here for your chance to win.

Entries accepted until April 19 2010.

Need a movie and some Nature's Path?

Nature's Path is giving away some prizepacks! Here's the information from their site:

Here at Nature’s Path we think you deserve a movie night in complete with healthy treats and a great family movie, so to celebrate the DVD release of Free Willy: Escape from Pirates Cove on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD on 3/23/10, we’ll be giving away prize packs with the DVD and some healthy organic treats from Envirokidz. We’ll be giving away prize packs every day until April 9th.

Go here to enter.

How I saved 90% on 3 items using 1 coupon each

Some days, I am just either too tired, too out of time, too lazy or too befuddled to even have the strength to work out some deal scenarios. I'm using a lot more math since I started coupon shopping, and some days I just don't want to have to think in order to save money.

That's when clearance items come to the rescue.

I have mixed results when it comes to shopping clearance aisles. A lot of times the items are a modge-podge variety, and if I end up finding a product I want, then I have to work the math then and there - so most of the time I end up not purchasing it because I hate having to work the math in the store. LOL.


But sometimes, the clearance fairies are kind and make things easy. Like yesterday, for example. I'm at Save On Foods picking up some things, and I wander down the aisles into the make up section. Which that in itself is hilarious because I barely wear makeup! Anyway, I'm digressing. I walk into the last make up aisle and there is an endcap with signs all over it! Sale! Sale! My super spidey extreme shopper radar goes off!

Turns out it's a bunch of Glade and Febreeze items on clearance for $2.99 each! The diffusers, 3 wick candles, even a 4-pack candle set, and my favourite, the Febreze AirEffects packaged with a candle in a nice box. Right away I think of all the $2 Glade and Febreze coupons I have. That would mean I would get the items for .99cents each!

I've spoken in my classes about how cheap you can get after a while on the Extreme Shopping method. 99cents, you say, is pretty fantastic for a few candles, not to mention the gift packs. 99cents is nothing. Right?

Nope.

I stood there for a good couple minutes warring with myself.

Me: "99cents is pretty good."
Self: Not when you have 50 Glade candles in the cupboard that you paid nothing for.
Me: True.
Self: You not only got them free, you made money on them.
Me: I am the Extreme Shopper, hear me roar.
Self: So put these ones back, they cost .99 cents each.
Me: But I could use them as gifts, prizes and...
Self: No.
Me: But...!
Self: Just admit it, you're a shopaholic and a sucker for sales.
Me: Ok.



In the end, I bought 2 diffusers and a giftpack for under $3 plus tax. I saved $36 off a $40.05 bill (including tax) which is about 90% savings, just using 1 coupon each. I actually bought them to show you readers that sometimes great deals can be had without any math equations involved - just a simple clearance sale and a $2 coupon.

By the way, this was done at the SOF by the Port Coquitlam Costco. Check your local SOF to see if they have similiar clearances. Remember, I found them in the make up aisle!

New site - Swapsity

There is another avenue to savings, this time in the form of bartering. Now there is a new site that facilitates the bartering of skills and products, currently serving Ontario and BC. I clicked through the site and found the majority of the listings were for Toronto. Perhaps the BC component will pick up and then we can all get in on the bartering. Looks interesting, though.

Here's their press release:
With the official launch of Toronto’s consumer bartering community, SwapSity.ca, budget-conscious Canadians will have a new way to save their money.

Creative thinking goes a long way when it comes to avoiding a private recession at home. Smart businesses have long turned to barter as a way to conserve cash and acquire what they couldn’t otherwise afford. Now, Canadian consumers can also use barter as a way to shop and save when SwapSity opens to the public on March 22, 2010. Until now, the website has been in private beta and membership required an invitation.

SwapSity is an innovative swapping community where virtually every imaginable good and service can be bartered, turning trash into treasure instead of sending it to landfills. Some members have already saved as much as $2,500 by simply choosing to barter instead of buy. According to SwapSity founder, Marta Nowinska, “Online swapping of unwanted possessions, free time or talents is a perfect solution for cost-conscious Canadian consumers seeking a more affordable way to acquire goods and services during these trying times.”

The recent Consumer Confidence Report from TNS Canadian Facts indicates that “confidence numbers remain quite flat” and there is little indication of “significant consumer spending.” As everyone cinches their financial belts, bartering all kinds of goods and services has become a hot trend.

SwapSity makes the barter process a breeze. Members simply create one list of their swappable goods and services and another for the things they want in return while SwapSity instantly generates local matches to jumpstart swapping. It is also possible to enhance listings with YouTube videos, photos and web links. Members can communicate freely and decide whether they want to accept a swap offer, negotiate or decline it. They can also equalize uneven barter exchanges with cash. Most importantly, membership and transactions are free, so users can swap to their heart’s content without breaking the bank.

So clear out your attic, garage and basement or start taking inventory of all of your talents and post them. It’s time to open your mind instead of your wallet!

Their FAQ indicates their services are free. Might be worth checking it out!

SmartSource coupon insert this weekend

We should be getting a SmartSource flyer in our local papers this weekend (March 27) so keep an eye out for it! I'll post its contents as soon as I find out.

Free Mr.Clean Magic Eraser

Canadian Tire has the single Mr.Clean Magic Eraser on a special buy as of Friday til April 1 for .99cents. If you have a $1 coupon, that would get you the item for free!

Other special buy items include 20-sheet Snuggle fabric softener and Glade air fresheners.

They also have Fantabulous cleaners on for $1.

**UPDATE** There should be a $1 off any Snuggle coupon coming out in the stores as of March 29 - if you find this coupon, that would mean FREE Snuggle. Just remember not to take the whole tearpad - leave some for others! :)

Watch for a Michelina's coupon

There was a Michelina's coupon in my local paper today - it has a 50cent coupon on it and also a Scratch and Reveal coupon where you could win Free Entrees for 1 year. Mine turned out to be another 50cent off coupon.

Try Me Free - Sunlight

Recently I blogged about the Sunlight Try Me Free deal going on in stores - and this week I noticed that RCSS has them on for $5. If you have any coupons for this item, you can use it and then submit for the mail in rebate as well.

Old Navy 30% coupon

If you're looking for some great clothing deals, here's a 30% coupon for Old Navy, good til April 4. Good for USA and Canada.

For all class students, please note that the OldNavyWeekly.com program is ending April 1 2010.

Pillsbury Toaster strudel coupon

If you like the Pillsbury Toaster Strudels, or if you've never tried it and want to, this one's for you! Get your $1 coupon here.

Aveeno coupon

There is a new Aveeno bodywash coupon here!

HUGE coupon giveaway!

EDIT: Thank you to everyone who posted here and on FB! The 5 winners are Taunya, Joelle, Jennifer V, Sympatica and 2boysand2girls! Please contact me with your full name, province and postal code. Thanks!

I've found a new source of coupons/savings that I can't wait to tell you about! My Parent Rewards is everything a coupon book is, but in a card! Instead of buying a coupon book that can only be used in 1 city, the My Parent Rewards Card is less expensive and can be used at over 100,000 locations in both USA and Canada.

To check it out, click here for a 30 day FREE TRIAL of My Parent Rewards and put in your zip/postal code. A list of local merchant savings will come up. So you can use this card where you live, AND also, if you are planning a vacation in either USA or Canada, just put in the zip/postal code of your destination and see what savings you can get for your vacation as well!

If you're an Entertainment Book coupon user, this is definitely up your alley. I just love that with one card you can get access to so many merchants, in so many cities!

I looked through my postal code and saw lots of restaurant deals and will be checking out hotel and golf deals - I'm sure Mr.Smith will like that one!

This week, in honour of Little Miss Smith's 10th birthday, I am giving away five(5) 1-year subscriptions to My Parent Rewards. To qualify, you must:

- be a MrsSmith-ExtremeShopper blog follower
- Sign up for a 30 day FREE TRIAL of My Parent Rewards
- post a Happy birthday wish for Little Miss Smith!

I'll pick the winners on Thursday at noon PST. Good luck!

Where would you go if you had the chance?

One of my favourite things to do is to travel. I've been blessed to have been able to travel quite a bit for work, and if there was ever a place that I fell in love with, that would be Paris. I would love to go back again, and get to stay longer and just soak in the ambience and history. I am hopeful that one day I will find a way to be able to stand on French soil again, and well, winning a contest to do so might as well be one of those ways.

Travelalert is running a great contest where you and your guests can get a trip! Go here to enter - and maybe invite me along if you are going to Paris! :)

Safeway deals - ends today!

Safeway's got a $1 milk coupon out in the local paper, and it expires tonight. So go get your milk - those coupons don't come out very often! Did you know you can freeze milk? You can, and it takes just the same as it would fresh. Just pour out a little before you freeze it to give it space to expand.

Also, I noticed there is a BOGO deal on Windex Trigger. With your $2 coupon this might be a pretty decent deal.

For those with access to the Class Blogs, this week's deals will be uploaded to the blogs tomorrow!

I love it when women take control of their lives.

One of the reasons I am so passionate about sharing the Extreme Shopping method is the fact that we can start taking more control over how much we spend (and save). As a woman, and as the traditional "spender" of our household grocery budget, I feel empowered as I whittle down our monetary requirement month after month. The less I need in the household budget, the more we can use elsewhere or the more we can save.

That is why I am in awe of this woman. She manages to save thousands on furniture - that she builds herself! I don't know about you, but I'm always bemoaning the fact that we can't get the furniture we want because of the cost... but this blog shows you how to build furniture for way less than what you would spend at the store. She provides plans for FREE, which is incredibly generous as well.

I love this quote from her: "When you buy something, it comes with a price. When you build something, it comes with a story."

I am not a tools type of girl at all, and I know nothing about carpentry, but she makes me feel like I could do it. Remember what I said about feeling empowered? Yeah. It is so cool when women can encourage other women and empower them to try something new!

I'll share a little MrsSmith-ExtremeShopper secret: I live with a husband who is super traditional when it comes to furniture choices. Do you see the oak table in my photos? My hubby's choice. As is all the other sandy blonde furniture in the house. I had to get on my knees and thank God when the hubby agreed on the couches I wanted, which were modern and featured dark woods. Now I am starting my nefarious scheme to replace all the furniture I don't like/want in the house.. bwahaha! I will start with this - we need an entry table and I think I could build this... I think. And I will stain it in dark colours. And he will love it. Or else.:)

And I would looooooove this bed. The look, the finish, everything about it just melts my heart. To die for. If anyone was asking, I would also take it in black, please and thank you very much.

Go check Ana and her blog out. And be prepared to want to hop over to your local DIY store and pick up some lumber. You've been warned.

Friday Freebie - $10 London Drugs giftcard!

If you know me at all, or have read this blog for any given amount of time, you know I loooooove London Drugs. So today's freebie is all about LD. I'm giving away a $10 gift card to one lucky winner! $10 can get you a lot of stuff when you use the Extreme Shopper method!

You must be a MrsSmith-ExtremeShopper Facebook fan AND a blog follower for a chance to win today's giveaway. Post something about MSES on YOUR facebook wall and link back to the MrsSmith page(put an @ in front of MrsSmith-ExtremeShopper on your post) to qualify. Giveaway ends Saturday night at 11pm PST and winner will be announced on the Facebook page.

Go!

Shop with Mrs.Smith: 27 items for 30cents!

Last night after the coupon class at Trisha's, I hit LD for a very quick shop. The advantage with going in with a prepared list and all your deals worked out beforehand is that you really don't need to spend a lot of time in the store. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes, as I had my list ready and my coupons already clipped and ready to go.

I did miss out on getting some free Primo pasta as my coupons were nowhere to be found (they were found later in my purse). Sigh! Organization really is key to getting the best deals!

They were out of the large Ziploc freezer bags so I got a raincheck for them. You'll be seeing lots of Ziploc at the Hostess Giveaway on March 31!

By the way, the deals above (except for the Luminaries which were a raincheck) are listed on the Class Blogs so if you want to emulate the above scenarios, the Class Blogs will help you out with that as the deals/coupons are listed out for you already!

After coupons, I spent .30cents out of pocket (oop) but tax was $12.82 - so my total was $13.12. Before tax, my savings ratio was an amazing 99.967% but after tax it is 89.14%. Darn taxes! I saved $106.50 - hurray!

Softlips - Organic, Glossy, Tinted, Sweet, Pure Lip Balm

I suffer from chapped lips, and am always on the lookout for great products that help heal and protect my lips, and a while back, I picked up Softlips, a product that was new to me, and tried it out. Turns out, I loved it, and wrote the company to tell them. I also told them about MrsSmith-ExtremeShopper and they have ever so kindly provided me with $2 off any Softlips product coupons to share! Yay, Softlips!

From their website:
"New Softlips Aromatherapy lip balms combine natural ingredients to keep your lips feeling soft. Their gentle aromas bring about a state of well-being for mind, body and soul. New Softlips Aromatherapy has the dual benefit of being applied and absorbed into your skin as well as being inhaled.

Unlike any other lipcare brand Softlips offers a variety of Flavours, TINTS, Glosses and Aromatherapy to keep your lips soft and healthy. The unique slim packaging is attractive, discreet and small enough to fit into purses and pockets.

Use Softlips as your everyday lip conditioner and kiss away dry, chapped lips!"

I was impressed that the coupon was $2 when the average retail price of Softlips is $3-$4. So for a company to give out coupons that are 50% of the average retail price is awesome and yet another reason to love Softlips!

I'll be sharing these coupons with MrsSmith-ExtremeShopper class students and will also do a coupon giveaway soon, as supplies last.

Click here for locations where Softlips are sold.

Psssssst - Instant Spray Shampoo

I came across this freebie and was intrigued as I've never heard about it. Anyone tried this before? I was told it was a spray and go kind of product... hmm. Anyway, go here to enter your email and get your free product. Good for USA and Canada.

NoFrills: sale on meat = cheap and good dinner!

NoFrills has the Whole Eye of Round Roast on sale until March 25 for $1.97/lb which works out to $4.34/kg, and I thought it was a pretty good deal, so I bought one pack. Considering that one pack is about the length of my arm, that is a lot of meat! I decided to cut the roast down to 4 roasts: 3 of them at regular size and one smaller one for when I decide to make a meal where the meat is an accessory, not the main part.

I like that the meat is Canadian beef, and even though NoFrills might give off the assumption that it is a discount store, I've found their products, meats, diary and produce to be just as good as at any regular grocery store. My favorite place to purchase fabulous meat still remains Thrifty Foods, however.

After cutting up the meat, I packed up the roasts in freezer paper and then into large freezer bags, labelled them and put them into my freezer with the other 2 roasts I still have, from the last NoFrills meat sale. Tomorrow I'll also be restocking my freezer bags by purchasing them from London Drugs, who has the Ziploc freezer bags on sale for $1.99 this week. With my $2 coupons I will be able to get them for free (as I'll be buying them from a LD that allows overage).

So I've got tonight's dinner in the oven and the house is smelling delicious. I love roasts, not only because they taste so good, but because they are so easy. I pretty much follow her recipe, and I throw my carrots and potatoes in with the meat, because that just makes things so much easier. I've successfully used various cuts of meat, and they always turn out fabulous. This particular cut also works well for crockpot meals as it turns out so tender after the slow cooking is done.

I figure tonight's dinner just cost me about $5-$6 as I bought the potatoes last week at 20lbs for $2.99 and the carrots were on 5lbs for $2. Yay for cheap, good, easy and delicous meals!

For NoFrills locations, read this post.

Happy St Paddy's day - A Green giveaway!

EDIT: The winner of the Greenworks 32-load bottle is comment #8, Laura K! Laura, please email me at kmemeric at hotmail dot com with your address! Thank you, everyone!

In honour of St.Patrick's Day, instead of wearing green, I am giving away a bottle of 32-loads Greenworks Laundry detergent! A few months ago I was part of a social media team that was given coupons and samples to share, and I managed to get some detergent with those coupons, and I'm giving away a full bottle today!

To enter for this giveaway, just post below and let me know if you're wearing green and/or whether you are planning on pinching someone who is not wearing green today! Winner will be picked tonight at 10pm.

Giveaway is only open to readers in the GVRD area (Tricities, Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, NewWest, Abbotsford, Langley, Cloverdale). This bottle is HEAVY and would cost an arm and a leg to mail, sorry about that!

Free pink Vileda gloves

As previously posted, Zellers has the Vileda Sensitive Foam Gloves on sale this week (until Thursday) for .99 cents. Use the $1 coupon from the Smart Source coupon insert and get it free! (Zellers DOES allow overage if there is tax required on the item. I usually take my overage transactions to the customer service desk and not go through the regular cashier lines).

Class blogs are up and running!

If you've taken one of my Extreme Shopping classes, the class blogs are up and running. You will need an invitation as these are closed blogs. If you have taken my class and did not receive your invitation, please email me at kmemeric at hotmail DOT com.

Thank you - and enjoy!

Silhouette Danone and Satisfaction coupons

Here are 2 coupons for the Danone Silhouette and Satisfaction brands.

Don't forget to get your Free Pampers diaper sample!

As blogged here, don't forget to sign up for your free Pampers diaper samples - I got my sample pack a couple weeks ago so this is a freebie that actually does get sent out. :)

You might also like this blog post about more diaper samples and coupons.

P&G Brandsampler coming soon!

I got a notice today that the P& G Brandsampler (Canada) will be coming out in May 2010 - so go here and sign up because you won't want to miss the sampler! They give away great samples and coupons too.

If you're in the US, go here to get your samples now.

$2500 of monthly spa treatments from Clairol

You could win $2500 of monthly spa treatments from the Natural Instincts Healthy-Looking You, here.

You could win an LG Washer and Dryer!

Cheer is offering you a chance to win a daily prize or an LG Front Loader washer and dryer, here. Contest ends June 30 2010. Canada only.

Free Dog Food!!

Here's a great printable coupon for free Natural Defense Premium Dry 3kg dog food!

Free Kelloggs cereal FPC (Canada)- Wake up to a free breakfast promotion!

Heads up, Extreme Shoppers! Look for specially marked Kelloggs boxes, for Free Purchase Coupons (FPC) for cereal, milk, bananas, juice and yogurt!

I'm hoping to find the ones with the cereal FPC and will buy a box, then use the FPC to buy another box for free, then use the FPC on that box to get another box for free and so on and so on. It's like the cereal coupon that keeps on giving and giving! This could mean boxes and boxes of cereal for the price of one box!! Don't forget, you can use your Kelloggs cereal coupon towards your first box to make this deal even better!!

RCSS has the cereal for $2.97 to $3.48 but the cereals will be available at most grocery stores. Coupon is good until August 2010.

EDIT: These are the products participating in this promotion:
* Kellogg's Frosted Flakes* cereal: 485g
* Froot Loops* cereal: 380 g
* Corn Pops* cereal: 345 g
* Mini-Wheats* Original cereal: 555 g
* Mini-Wheats* Brown Sugar Flavour cereal: 555 g
* Mini-Wheats* Strawberry Flavour cereal: 540 g
* Mini-Wheats* Cinnamon Streusel Flavour cereal: 540 g
* Mini-Wheats* Blueberry Muffin Flavour cereal: 540g
* Mini-Wheats* Maple Flavour cereal: 540 g
The coupons are for 1 FREE box of Rice Krispies* Original cereal (525 g), Froot Loops* cereal (380 g), or Corn Pops* cereal (345 g).

For more information, go here.

Super Staples contest

Win some Old El Paso, Betty Crocker products, Hamburger Helper and Green Giant products by entering the Super Staples Contest here! Good til May 30 2010. Good only in Canada.

For US readers, here's the Ultimate Kitchenaid Stand Mixer contest, you have til April 11 2010 to enter!

Good luck!

Winner of the Glade Candles giveaway!

These 3 ladies will be receiving 10 Glade candles each from the Friday Freebie, courtesy of MrsSmith-ExtremeShopper!

Congratulations, Shawna, Marcy and Shellie!

Please email me at kmemeric at hotmail dot com with your address so I can arrange for drop off or mail! Enjoy your candles!

Meet the latest Mrs.Smith-Extreme Shopper convert!

My sister in law is in town and came shopping with me today after taking a look at my stockpile. We went to RCSS and she got 14 items for wait for it, 3 cents. Yes, 3 cents!!! And that was including tax!

Her total would have been $76.16 (including tax) if she had purchased everything at full price. Instead, she used a Buy One, Get One (BOGO) coupon for the Scrubbing Bubbles, and used 12 $2 off coupons for the Glade. Because the candles were $1.44, she made .56cents PER candle, which went towards the Scrubbing Bubbles and tax. Her savings ratio is an incredible 99.96%!!!! How can you not be convinced that coupons are the way to go after that shopping trip??

Here's a cute video she did once she came home, her husband was suitably impressed! Aren't you? :)


Sorry about the video, I may be good at couponing but my filming skills need some brushing up! Also, this video was totally unrehearsed, and I was giggling all the way through it because she did such a good job talking about her deal!

Here's a picture of her receipt - 3 cents, can you believe it? Woohoo!

Because we all love to celebrate together when the other gets great deals, won't you leave a "yay" message for Stacey? :)

50% off at Body Shop

Today only, when you purchase a $5 bag, get 50% off anything you can stuff into the bag at the Body Shop!

Friday Freebie - on the Facebook page!

Happy Friday! I'm giving away 10 Glade candles each to 3 MrsSmith Facebook fans today! Make sure you're a fan and then post under the Friday Freebie post there by 11pm PST for a chance to be one of the lucky 3! You can get bonus entries by telling your friends about MrsSmith, have them fan the page and post as well!

Hope your weekend is fabulous!

Free Movies - US only

US readers, get your TVs ready, here are some great movie deals for you!

1) Become a Fan of Redbox on Facebook and get a free movie rental on March 17 2010!

2) Get 6 Free Blockbuster Express rentals with these codes:
GA13A2 - Get a free one night rental (exp 3/26)
OUFXMV – Get a free one night rental (exp 4/17)
6HHQLC – Get a free one night rental (exp 4/17)
ETKGH7 – Get a free one night rental (exp 4/17)
ICA33W – Get a free one night rental (exp 4/23)
VGG8U2 – Get a free one night rental (exp 4/23)

Happy movie nights to you!

Free Lego magazine subscriptions!

If you've got a child in your home who is of Lego age, this magazine is a must! It's free and comes in the mail. Little Mr.Smith loves getting his magazine, especially since it's addressed to him - he loves getting stuff in the mail!

We do go through the magazine first and have taken out a page or two before letting him read it because sometimes there are cartoons in there that are a little more violent/scary than we'd like to expose him to constantly.

Other than that, he treats it like an idea book and tries to replicate the pieces that are in the magazine, which a lot of times means he needs more new Lego. Hmmmm, those Lego people might have something goin' on here...

Go here to get your magazine. Offer good in several countries, just click on your country of choice.

Great deals from Leap Frog!

Leap Frog is offering 4 printable coupons for Leap Frog products, including:
- $4 off any Tag Book
- $4 off any Leapster Learning Game
- $3 off any Junior Tag Book
- $3 off any Leapster Learning Toy

Go here to get your coupons, good in Canada except Quebec. Offer expires Dec 31 2010.

Free True Lemon sample and coupon!

True Lemon invites you to try a free sample, if you are Canadian, go here to get your sample, and if you are in the US, go here to get yours.

There is also a US coupon available here (have your printer ready).

Join BzzAgent and get free stuff!

BzzAgent is a pretty cool way to get and try some free stuff! It's a word of mouth marketing tool, that provides "agents" various products to try out. The "agents" then tell others about it, post their reviews on the internet, and voila, "buzz" is created. It's free to join, so go here to join up. The current campaign is for Danone Danactive products. I should be getting mine in a couple weeks.
PS Agents do not get perks to sign others up, so be well-assured that I'm recommending BzzAgent solely based on my experience with them. :)
Good in both US and Canada.

Free Glade candles at RCSS!

You might want to check your local RCSS/Extra Foods, or any other store for that matter, as I believe it's planogram change time and lots of items are going on clearance to make space for new items.

Another great freebie (with coupon) this week are Glade candles. At my RCSS (Westwood Coquitlam), selected varieties of the jar candles are on clearance for $1.94, normal retail price is $4.


In last weekend's Red Plum flyer there was a $2 off any Glade product coupon. With this coupon, you would get the candle FOR FREE! Your mileage may vary (YMMV) as to whether you get the overage or not, as the item is $1.94 and the coupon is $2, the overage is 0.06. Usually RCSS will adjust down the coupon so you do not get the overage but your cashier may just scan it through at $2 and you would profit by $0.06! :)

There are other $2 Glade coupons out there as well, so now might be a good time to use them and stock up like I did. Don't worry, I didn't clear the shelves, when I left there yesterday there were still lots left. Little Mr.Smith wanted to have his picture taken and posted since his sister Miss Smith was featured on a previous post.


RCSS also had the diffusers and 3 wick candles for under $4 which is a great price, and if you have coupons for those items, you can use them against that sale price to get it even cheaper!

Working a deal - another example.

Here's a video that talks about working different deals with the same coupons. Enjoy!

Free Sunlight Green Clean!

Sometimes I think the manufacturers really love us. I mean, they want to give us free stuff! Yes, I know they want us to try it in the hopes that we become loyal customers, but I prefer the lovey-dovey idea instead. (grin).

Keep an eye out for the Sunlight Green Clean in the detergent aisle or in a display. I found a huge display of these at the Zellers at Coquitlam Center and they all had the red "Try Me Free" sticker on them.

The premise is that you would purchase the item and then send in the receipt AND the Try Me Free mail in rebate, and then the company would send you a cheque for what you spent on the item, so the only thing you are paying for are taxes and the stamp.

I've seen the stickers on the product at Save On and Safeway as well.

Cheers for free detergent!

Working a deal - which one is better?

Today our "deal dilemma" is over Ziploc bags.
Recently I blogged about how you could use the $2 Ziploc coupon that was in the March 6 Red Plum coupon insert to get free Ziploc Evolve packs at Zellers. What is interesting is that I noticed Zellers has the regular Ziploc 50 pk bags for $2.49 regular price, and the 100-pk bags on sale at 2 for $5 or $2.50 each. So keep your eye out for the sales to get the best price for whatever it is you are looking for.

In this case, you could buy the Evolve 50-ct bags at $1.99, use your $2 coupon and pay nothing but tax.


Or you could buy the regular Ziploc 50-pk at regular price for $2.49 and use your $2 coupon and snag it for $0.49.


Or, you could buy one regular 100-pk bags for $2.50, use your coupon and get it for .50cents.


Which deal would you work? Any guesses to what I did?

Another use for the $2 Ziploc coupon

This coming week, London Drugs will have Ziploc freezer bags on sale for $1.99. If your London Drugs allows overage (most don't), you can get them for free. Or, you can pricematch it at Zellers and get it there for free. In my experience Zellers allows overage coupons but it has to be done at the customer service area. Sometimes they will adjust the coupon down to the value of the item, and other times they just put the full value of the coupon down.

Speaking of Zellers, if you kept the $1 off Vileda gloves that was in the coupon insert recently, you can score them for free as well. Zellers has them on for .99 starting the week of March 12, for a week.

Red Plum coupon insert this weekend!

There is a Red Plum coupon insert due in your local papers this weekend. Don't forget you can keep track of the coupon insert schedule by following the link at the top right of this blog.

Here's what is in the coupon insert this week:

$1.00 Scrub Free Plus OxiClean or X-treme. exp Dec. 31
$1.00 Scrub Free soap Scum or Mildew. exp Dec. 31
$1.00 Scrub Free Naturally Clean. exp Dec. 31
$ .10 Iams cat or dog wet food. exp June 30
$3.00 Iams dry dog food. exp June 30
$3.00 Iams dry cat food. exp June 30
$2.00 2X Ultra Sunlight WUB 2 bottles, any size. exp June 30
$ .50 Ultra Downy. exp May 31
$5.00 Osteo Bi-Flex. exp April 30
$5.00 Febreze Flameless Luminaires Starter Kit. exp May 31
$1.00 Febreze Flameless Luminaires Refill. exp May 31
$2.00 Febreze Soy-blend Candle. exp May 31
$2.00 Febreze Scented Reed Diffuser exp May 31
Febreze Buy one 800mL Fabric Refresher, Get one 500 mL Fabric Refresher FREE exp May 31
$1.00 Old Spice, any product. exp June 30
$3.00 Old Spice, any 2 products. exp June 30
$ .50 any Cascade ActionPacs. exp May 31
$ .50 any Cascade product. exp May 31
$10.00 Swiffer Sweeper Vac starter kit. exp April 30
$1.00 Swiffer Dusters starter kit or Swiffer Dust & Shine. exp April 30
$1.00 Swiffer refills. exp April 30
$3.00 Swiffer WetJet starter kit. exp April 30
Oral-B Pulsar toothbrush B2G1 FREE. exp April 30
$2.00 any Nature's Bounty vitamins and supplements. exp April 30
$2.00 any Disney High-Quality Vitamin Products. exp April 30
$1.00 Palmolive WUB2 591 - 1.1L dish liquid. exp June 30

I'm most excited about the $10 Swiffer Sweeper Vac coupon and also the Febreze refills, it's the first time I've seen a coupon for the refills. And I can't believe how many Old Spice coupons are coming out all the time - my cupboards are overflowing with Old Spice products and the hubby is happy!

MELANIE and NAOMI - please claim your prizes!

Recently I held a giveaway for Nature's Path products and the winners were Melanie and Naomi. If that is you, please contact me with your information by March 17th, or we will redraw some new winners. Thank you!

Mrs.Smith, we need online classes!

The deluge of emails from Facebook Fans and blog readers has taken me completely off guard. There are so many of you who cannot get to a class but want to learn the Extreme Shopping method and get all the tips and secrets to slashing your grocery/household bills. I'm working on an online solution so please hang tight, I will post as soon as we are able to offer the e-class. This goes for both the Canadian and US coupon Extreme Shopper classes.

PLEASE note that effective immediately, if you email me, I will not be providing links to sites, or answering questions that are covered in my classes UNLESS you have taken the specific class. My students have taken the time to attend and paid the class fee, so I cannot turn around and offer it to others for free. Please understand and respect my position on this. Thank you!

FREE - Splenda No Calorie sweetener

I don't use this product but I thought I'd pass this freebie on to you in case you do use it. Livingwell is giving away samples here, hurry as supplies are limited.

Free Crest regular toothpaste

If you have a NoFrills near you, or if you can get your hands on a NoFrills flyer this week, they are having the Crest regular toothpaste for $1. Pricematch at LD and use the .50cents coupon from save.ca and the .50 one from the P&G insert to get free toothpaste!

Ziploc bags - free/cheap at Zellers!

If you received your Smartsource coupon insert last weekend, you can put the $2 off any Ziploc product coupon to good use. The Ziploc Enviro bags are $1.99 at Zellers so you would only pay the tax on them. Check around the area to see if you can snag any other Ziploc products for free/cheap - I think some of the Steamer bags are a few cents extra.

Didn't get your Smartsource insert? Call your newspaper distributor and see if they have any extras, or ask your neighbours for theirs if they are not using them. Another favourite place to get coupon inserts? McDonald's. Yep. They have weekend papers and guess what, weekend papers have coupon inserts!

Lipstick Powder N Paint - Product Testers

Lipstick Powder N Paint is looking for product testers for the Dove Damage Therapy System. If you are interested in applying for be a product tester, go here before March 11 and fill in a survey to qualify.

According to the LPNP site, testers will be asked to use Dove Damage Therapy System™ Intensive Repair Shampoo and Conditioner and complete a survey, providing their detailed feedback. Results will be shared on Lipstick Powder N Paint in April, 2010.

SC Johnson - Chance to win a TV

You've been stockpiling all that SC Johnson products, here's another great way to put them to use! From March 8 - 14, enter the Spring Collection Early Bird contest daily, for your chance to win a TV. And from March 15 onward, enter for your chance to win a $10,000 NYC shopping spree!

You have a be a SC Johnson online member to enter (it's easy, and free). Go here for the entry form. You'll need the UPCs of any of these participating products: Armstrong®, Drano®, Fantastik®, Future®, Scrubbing Bubbles®, Toilet Duck®, Windex®, Shout®, Nature’s SourceTM and Pledge®.

While you're logged in, don't forget to click on the "Right At Home" section and print out your coupons as well - there are currently $10 worth of coupons for Scrubbing Bubbles, Glade, Windex, Ziploc and Pledge!

Support the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association

Here's an easy way to use the power of Social Media! From now til April 9 2010, Royale will contribute $1 to the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association for the first 10,000 people who become fans for their Facebook Page. You can also send Jenn Heil your personal message of congratulations by posting on the wall.

Go, Canada!

(graphic borrowed from the Royale FB fan page)

Free cards!

Need some cards? Here are a few freebies for you!

Give the special child in your life a boost with a free encouraging card from your local Hallmark Gold Crown store. Choose from 9 designs, up to a value of $1.99! Go here to get your card and brighten up a child's day! Valid til March 13 2010. Good only in USA.

Receive up to 5 sample cards here, good for both US and Canada.

Shop with Mrs.Smith - US trip, March 2010

I went across the border into Bellingham, WA yesterday with Marcy on an informal test of my Extreme Shopping USA Edition class, and we had a blast as she followed me along as I hit up some deals. The whole point of the trip was to introduce Marcy to a few US stores, to introduce her to some lingo and programs that only exist in US and which are not available in Canada. We talked about store policies (even had an example to show her in real life), and I shared some secrets and tips that can extend the coupon value, or enable her to get more items for free. I had Marcy print some coupons as well, so she was able to follow along with some deals as well.

Note: Each week's deals are different, this week's purchases are representations of deals available this week and mostly to act as aids to show Marcy how to work some deals, and may not reflect MrsSmith's regular weekly purchases. That means, sometimes I actually buy fresh stuff and not just sugary treats! :)

We hit Target, Albertson's and Walgreens while we were there. I also usually like to go to Walmart, Safeway and RiteAid/CVS but there was no time, and also, we were happy with what we'd gotten.

Looking at the picture above, I got 69 items for $11.22 - although I forgot to add the last item to the photo - it was a Starbucks Frappucino bottle which I got for $0.25. The regular price from Walgreens was $2.19!

So, 69 items for $11.22 - that is less than 16.3cents per item! That is fabulous savings! Here's what I got:

From Target:
- 2 4-packs of GE lights
- 4 SOBE drinks
- 13 individual Kashi cereal cups
- 5 boxes Kashi crackers
- 3 boxes Kashi cereal
- 1 box Kashi frozen Chicken Pasta Pomodoro
- 1 24-ct Excedrin
- 1 Degree trial sized deodorant
- 2 J&J Soap Buddies

From Walgreens:
- 1 Starbucks Frappucino bottle (not shown)
(everything else I wanted was out of stock)

From Albertsons:
- 4 boxes Cheerios
- 1 loaf of bread
- 1 10-piece Oreo Cakesters
- 25 boxes of Roll Ups, Stackerz, Gushers
- 5 rolls of Starbursts

At Target, I had an opportunity to show Marcy how important it is to
1) know your store policy
2) know exactly how much you are going to spend before going to the till

We had a cashier who did not know that if you have a coupon for $1, you can use it on an item that is less than a dollar. She said I could not use the coupon and called over her supervisor who agreed with her. I knew this was not the correct policy and since I had a printed copy of Target's coupon policy with me, I showed it to them and was able to use the coupons. However in all the mix up, the supervisor accidentally deleted my entire purchase and had to restart over, and in the end instead of paying $2 I ended up paying about $5, and I didn't fight it because I didn't want to go through all that again and we had spent a bit extra time there because of them not knowing their own policy. They had wanted to charge me $14 but because I knew the policy, I ended up paying $5. My savings at Target totalled $54.69 and I spent a total of $5.32.

On to Walgreens, where although they were out of everything I wanted, I got a chance to show Marcy how to work the instore specials with the monthly coupon booklet and manufacturer coupons. I showed her moneymaking scenarios and we perused the weekly ad for deals.

Lastly, we headed to Albertsons where I knew they were running rolling catalinas (see, that US coupon lingo again), and we went crazy there. The Betty Crocker Roll ups, etc were on sale for $1 each, and for every 5 that you purchased, you would get a $3.50 catalina back. On top of that, there were doublers available and we had coupons to double! Here's what my deals looked like at Albertsons:

Transaction #1:
5 Betty Crocker Rollups at $1 each = $5
2 .50/2 coupons, doubled
OOP: $3
Got back a Catalina of $3.50 which meant I made .50!

Transaction #2 and #3:
5 Betty Crocker Rollups/Gushers at $1 each = $5
2 .50/2 coupons, doubled
Total cost: $3
Used a Catalina of $3.50 which would have meant everything would be free, but I bought 2 Starbursts, using a BOGO coupon ended up paying .19cents total for each transaction.

Transaction #4:
5 Betty Crocker Rollups/Gushers at $1 each = $5
1 .50/2 coupon, doubled
Total cost: $4
Used a Catalina of $3.50, paying .50.

Transaction #5:
5 Betty Crocker Rollups/Gushers at $1 each = $5
no coupons used
Total cost: $5
Used a Catalina of $3.50, paying $1.50

Transaction #6:
1 Oreo Cakesters at $2.99 each
used 1 FPC = $0
4 Cheerios at $1.77 = $7.08
used 2 $1/2 Cheerios, doubled
1 Starburst, .69cents
Used a Catalina of $3.50, ended up paying .27

Received a free loaf of bread as a Thank You from Albertson's!

Total spent at Albertsons: $5.65
(NOTE: If I had chosen not to purchase the Starbursts, I would have paid $0 for Transactions #2, 3 and #6.

Total SAVED at Albertsons: $92.00!

Total spent: $11.22, for 69 items.
Total saved: $148.63.
Total savings of 93%!!!!
PLUS, I came home with a $1.50 Catalina for cereal that doesn't expire until April 30!

Want to know how to save 93% off your groceries just like I did yesterday? You might be interested in the Extreme Shopper US edition, please read this post for more information.

NOTE: Currently I do not have access to any US coupon inserts, so if you are worried that you can't get great deals without these inserts, I hope this post shows you that you can still get coupons and a 93% discount rate without them!

Video - cheap antiperspirant/bodywash at RCSS

Hi Extreme Shoppers, sorry for the late video, unfortunately I believe this sale is over. I could not post because Blogger was giving me trouble with accessing the blog - still having some trouble and I'm hoping this video will actually post! Anyway, here you go. I got 4 items for .28cents!

Facebook and Coupons

There are some great coupons to be had on Facebook, although most of them are for the US. I'm going to list some here because I have a number of students/FB fans who shop across the border and can use these coupons. Enjoy!

Note: for all the printables you may need to download a printing software (provided) to enable the coupons to print.

$1/1 Wheat Thins: Become a fan of Wheat Thins and print out a $1 off coupon (scroll down their page on the left) here - looks like you can print this twice (hit backspace).

$1/1 Wheaties: Get your coupons from the Wheaties fan page.

Get your BOGO Starburst coupon here. You can print twice.

BOGO Skittles: Become a fan here and go to "Coupon the Rainbow" tab to print your coupon.

New York Fries has been having some great coupons lately, go here to check it out.

ONLY if you have a valid mailing address in the USA:
Get a coupon for a free bag of SunChips here (supplies limited).

Get a free sample of Zone Perfect Caramel Toffee or Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse bar when you sign up here.

I'm sure there are more, and I will add as I find them. There were a couple other Fan pages I had joined, like the Louisiana Hot Sauce promo, but that promo is currently over. Keep your eyes peeled on your favourite manufacturer FB pages though, as I think we will be seeing more and more of specials, coupons and samples being given away on social media sites like Facebook.

New - Stevia sample! (US/Canada)

Go here to get your free Stevia sample! Good for both US and Canada.

New Smartsource insert

Heads up, Extreme Shoppers - there is a Smart Source due this weekend (March 6) - look for it in your local papers!

Tim Hortons' Breakfast Deal

Today, get a free hash brown with a purchase of any breakfast sandwich at Tim Hortons. Has anyone tried the hash browns there? I haven't, so I can't vouch for them. Don't forget that McD's is still giving away free small coffees til March 14. I don't drink coffee so this freebie is no good to me, but maybe some of you out there might like the free daily jolt of java?

Free Heluva Good product coupon

Become a fan on Heluva Good on Facebook and sign up here for a free product coupon which will be sent in the mail. Hurry as offer is good for the first 5,000 people who sign up!

Happy March - the lion is here.

My March started off like a lion. None of this gentle, lamb thing. March 1 brought me a busted pipe, a few inches of water in my furnace room and lots of wet stuff that had been in boxes on the ground. Clothes I'd been meaning to donate, now have to be rewashed and repacked. Hopefully this time, they will make it out the door to the donation center. Which reminds me that if you do it right and do it once, it will save you money. Sigh. I have to learn that.

March is here and my garden is not turned over yet so that is my goal today, even though it is slightly wet and cold out. It's warm enough to have started a garden already but I am a little behind. But I will persevere because I want to reap the financial gains of having a vegetable garden this summer.

I posted a link to a fun "how many meals can you get from one chicken" post on the Facebook page, do take a look, and maybe share your ideas there as well.

Happy March, dear readers.