This coupon is only good today.

For the top diaper and formula deals this week go here. Baby Cheapskate has a list every week.

Online only. Today is your last chance to save site-wide. Just enter this code at checkout: SAVINGS94

For additional savings, you might want to see if anyone is selling Home Depot gift cards on ebay or PlasticJungle.com. Sometimes people get gift cards and don’t want them, so they sell them for slightly less than the amount offered on the card.  10% savings here and there can really add up.

Was it just the 2 stores closest to me or did anyone else have this issue?…

My CVS stores always start the new sale week on Saturday.  I went to 2 CVS stores and, though they had started the new sale week, both stores told me the ECB wash items (only one this week – Revlon buy one for $9.99 and get $9.99 ECB) start Sunday.  I haven’t heard any chat about this, that’s why I’m wondering if anyone else ran into that problem.

Is this a new policy, that “wash” items will start on Sunday even though the rest of the sale starts on Saturday?  Dopey me didn’t think to ask either mgr.  I guess I could call.  Did you buy your Revlon Saturday and get your ECB’s?

I went to Kroger and got my standard 10 Sunday papers. Then, in the car, I quickly clipped the coupons that I needed. Went back in the store and scored the following:

9 packs of Irish Spring soap (3bars/pk)
10 Lady Speedstick deodorants
2 Speed Stick 24/7 deodorants
9 Softsoap liquid hand soaps

My total OOP (out of pocket), papers included = $20.95

My total savings = $71.65

The papers more than paid for themselves. That was just one store! I still haven’t even finished with the coupons I’m going to use this week from those same inserts. Of course there are also many other coupons from this week’s inserts that I will use in weeks to come.

Yes, multiple inserts are worth it.

By now you know I take, depending on how good the coupons are, 6-10 Sunday papers a week. People often ask if it’s worth the time. YES! Excuse the shout. I’ll be taking 10 this week because I went to Taylor Town Preview and looked at the coupons that will be in this week’s insert. I found…

1. There will be a 30c coupon for a 3 pack of Irish Spring bar soap. We don’t use these, but they’re great for our Operation Christmas Child boxes. Through next Tuesday they’re 10/$10 at Albertson’s. They’re also $1 each at Kroger. I’ll get 10 for $1 because the coupons will triple (if I make separate transactions).

2. There will be a 35c coupon for Softsoap Liquid Hand Soap 7.5 or 12 oz. Through next Tuesday Kroger has them for $1 each. When the coupon triples, it will create a 5c overage.

3. Bandaids will be on sale for $1/box at CVS. The 50c coupons don’t double at CVS, but it still makes for some cheap bandaids.

4. Kroger also has Speed Stick and Lady Speed Stick on sale for $1 each. The coupons are 75c for Speed Stick (making those 25c each) and 50c off 2 Lady Speed Stick which doubles (making those 50c each).

My Sunday papers more than pay for themselves immediately. That’s just what I see at first glance for those inserts this week. There will be more sales in weeks to come when I’ll be able to use more of the coupons from these same inserts to score lots of freebies and cheapies.

It’s worth the money to buy the extra papers. It doesn’t take more time to clip because I stack and clip them all at once.

I get my Sunday papers on Saturday at Walmart or Kroger. I love the day early advantage. I’ll get to the stores sooner to get what I want before it’s all gone.

I do have to say the only disadvantage for GroceryGamers is that by the time you are able to print the list, the great sale items are often already off the shelves. I still do the game though because it helps me find the more hidden deals. When I have 6-10 coupons, those hidden deals can really add up to big savings. Happy stockpiling!

Here are the August ECB deals at CVS. Remember monthly deals are different than weekly deals (although sometimes they put monthly deals in the weekly sale ads). Always keep your latest receipt to keep track of deals you’ve maxed on.

If you’re new to shopping at CVS for free, go here to learn it all.

You will want to shop on the morning of the 1st of the month to get the deals. I don’t know about all the other CVS stores, but the 5 in my area of town do not replenish monthly ECB stock after it initially runs out. I’ve waited before the whole month and they never restocked. It seems only the greedy get the deals. So be greedy and show up first thing on the 1st of the month.:)

Another thing…my stores usually start the new sale week on Saturday (times vary depending on manager). However, the monthly sales do not start until the morning of the 1st. By the afternoon, they’re wiped out of all the good stuff.

Hope I’ve been helpful. I just don’t want you to miss out on those great one day monthly deals.

For all you loyal patrons of The Cheesecake Factory you might want to schedule a girl’s night out for Wednesday, July 30th.  That price is good on any of their cheesecake slices.  Sorrowfully, there is a limit of one per person, but that’s a cheap girl’s night! (For more info. go here.)

Here is this week’s ad scan (Thanks to HCW). Don’t forget to check out TaylorTownPreview.com to see what coupons are coming out in Sunday’s paper.

If you’re new to shopping at CVS for free, go here to learn it all.

Kroger freebie of the week is Advil 24 ct.  It’s on sale $2.50, but if you buy 10 you get $5 off at the register (which knocks the price down to $2 ea.).  I had 10 $2 coupons.  All 10 were free!  I also scored some cheapies.  You just need to look over your sale ad.  They’re easy to spot.

I just got back from Albs and got the following freebies among many great deals. You may want to scour your sale ad because if you wait for GroceryGame, your store is likely to be wiped clean by then.

Powerade 32 oz. is 10/$10. Used $1 off coupons. If you buy 10, the price gets knocked down to 50c each automatically at the register, so you only need to use 5 coupons and all 10 are free.

Purell 2 oz. hand sanitizer is 10/$10. Used $1 off coupons. Free!

Suave shampoo is 10/$10. Used 50c coupons and did several transactions so all the coupons would double. Free!

There are more freebie and cheapie deals I’m sure you can find for yourself. Have a great time stockpiling!

If you have a frugal mindset, you know about Craig’s List. If not, hop over there and take a look. But do you know about Angie’s List? This is a listing of service providers. They have over 250 types of services listed including plumbers, landscapers, electricians, etc. Contractors do not pay to be listed, and there are reviews by normal people like you and me who have used them. You might want to take a peek. Just passing on another find.

Frugal birthday parties work for me! When my kids were younger, we always did parties at home. I have since sworn off boy parties at home. Even five boys in our house deafens me. We had indoor and outdoor games (mostly outdoor). Here’s our list.

1. Races – running, running backward, rolling peanut with nose, blowing a cotton ball across the floor, crab walk, with an m&m on a spoon, with a balloon between their knees, hopping on one foot, 3-legged, after twirling around with forhead on a bat.

2. Teams – toilet paper cocoon, treasure or penny hunt, tug-o-war, hoola-hoop pass (Each team holds hands and the hoola-hoop is placed on someone’s arm. It must get passed all the way around the circle without any team members letting go of hands.) Always name the teams.

3. Misc. – guess the number of items in a jar, draw items while blindfolded (turtle, house, mother, etc.), musical pillows, spit the pit (boys love this) – use a target and sunflower seeds, frizbee toss, freeze tag, balloon stomp (tie a balloon around each persons ankle and let them try to pop each others’ by stomping on them, limbo contest, pinata

Pass the socks please – each person gets a wrapped candy (smarties work well), the kids on each team get in a line. Each team gets one pair of socks. The first person to go has to put the socks on his hands, unwrap the candy and put it in his mouth, take the socks off and pass them to the next person on the team (who does the same thing). First team done wins!

End it all with a massive water balloon war! This is fun in hot or cool weather. Just make sure each child brings a towel to the party.

The winner of each game always gets about 5 m&m’s. Every once in a while you might want to yell “Everyone wins!” and just give everyone 5 m&m’s. This works well when little ones start to pout about not winning.

For over 300 more Works For Me Wednesday ideas, go to Rocks in My Dryer. You’ll find a lot of great tips. Hope you look around while you’re here.

Pay as little as $3 for a $25 gift certificate. Great gifts! Let imommies show you how here.

Once again it’s time for us to stuff our mailboxes full of freebies! If you don’t already have a secondary email (junk email), you might want to establish one just in case you get hit with 3,000 emails because you’re wanting these little extras. Yes, you need to sign up for all these freebies, but presents in the mail are sweet! I can’t vouch for any of these deals, but I’m taking advantage of them all.

There are two great sites I visit to get these deals. They have a ton of samples to sign up for. However, many of them require you to endure extensive surveys or a purchase (ever so small, but still…a purchase). Since I use a junk email account I don’t want coupons emailed to me. The sample freebies I list will always have easy forms to fill out (maybe a short list of questions I think are appropriate), will not have purchase requirements attached, and will come to your mailbox. I really try to weed out, best I can, offers that require too much personal information, extensive questions, junk offers, etc. I’ll do the work for you if you want to take advantage of these wonderful little freebies.

Here we go!

Super sampler pack
Ear plugs
Parent’s Choice formula
Dandy-Lyon Bites
Steri-X Disinfectant
Zoe’s Chunky Granola
Treat People dog treat
Ponds Clean Sweep
Seattle’s Best coffee
Fiber One cereals & bars

If you’re new to Mailbag Monday you might want to go here and take advantage of all the previous freebies.