Didn't think I'd keep my promise about more frequent posts, eh? Shame on you!

Some of you have written me asking about my newly found love of bargain hunting. So I thought I would give you a scenario of my most recent "drug-store diva" excursion and give you some websites that have helped me learn how to get the good deals.

Today I visited CVS, Rite Aid and Target (all of which are close by each other, so no wasting of the liquid gold I have in my gas tank). I took a picture of my booty for you to see....all name brand stuff. The whole shebang cost me less than $20.00.

Here's the break down:

Herbal Essence Shampoo & Conditioner
On sale 2 for $5.00
Total price to me: FREE!

Crest Pro Health Toothpaste
Regularly $2.49
Total Price to me: FREE!

Infusium Shampoo
Regularly $4.99
Total Price to me: FREE!

Kashi Go Lean Cereal
On sale: 2 for $5.00
Total price to me: $1.00 for 2 boxes

Pert Plus
Regularly $3.99 per bottle
On sale 2 for $5.00
Total price to me: $1.00 for 2 bottles

Oil of Olay Body Wash (3 Ribbons, 1 Botanicals)
Regularly $29.86
On sale for $23.96
Total price to me: $6.46 for 4 bottles ($1.62 each)

Always Maxi Pads
Total Pad Count: 80
Regularly $24.16
On Sale for $18.11
Total price to me: $6.73

Oral B Cross Action Toothbrush
Regularly $5.99
Total price to me: $.99

Venus Razor
Regularly $7.99 (includes 3 cartridges and tub pod...whatever that is)
Total Price to me: $1.99

Axe Antiperspirant
Regularly $2.99
Total Price to me: $.99

I really should take a picture of the stock pile that I have going...I mean, when you can get toiletries this cheap, you stock up. You might argue that you can get better deals at Costco, Sams, etc., or, that you can buy cheaper brands (ie. Suave) or just buy the drug store no-name brand. Yes, it's true that you can do that. But, if I can get a bottle of brand name shampoo and it's less than a dollar (or FREE), why not? Plus, if you can get something for free that YOU may not use, why not pick it up and bless someone else with it?

Using this latest trip as an example...how did I get $93 worth of stuff for less than $20? You align coupons with sales and drug store reward programs. It's that easy. The drug store reward programs vary, but in a nutshell what happens is you buy something and then you get a piece of paper at the end of your receipt that is the same as money to use on your next purchase at that store.

For example - take the Oil of Olay deal...I did that at CVS. They have a deal this week where if you buy $20 worth of Oil of Olay, you get $10 Extra Care Bucks back. Extra Care Bucks are exactly like money - they print out at the end of your receipt and you use it LIKE CASH. So I bought $23.96 worth of Oil of Olay - but I had $7.50 worth of coupons (4 coupons, 1 for each bottle of wash). So I paid $16.46 out of pocket, but now I have $10.00 in my wallet (net being $6.46). I could have used that $10.00 for a 2nd transaction at CVS, but the only other thing I had to buy was the 2 bottles of PERT, and I only paid $1.00 for that so I just did it all together. I'll save my $10.00 for the next deal at CVS - then, I'll be starting out with $0 out of pocket (assuming if what I get is under $10).

I also have been scoring awesome deals at the grocery stores as well. One of the local stores here (Publix) tends to be more expensive, but they have incredible BOGO deals (buy one, get one free). The way to score there is to have 2 coupons for the product and then buy them as BOGO's. For example - yesterday I purchased 2 bags of Stacy's Pita Chips (yum-o!). Regularly, they are $2.99 per bag. They were on sale, BOGO. I also printed 2 $1 off coupons from the internet. So, I got 2 bags which normally would have cost $5.98 for .99 cents!! You use one coupon for the "buy one" and one coupon for the "get one". Most people don't know that they can do that... Not only that, but most stores have their own coupons. Did you know that you can use an in-store coupon AND a manufacturer's coupon for 1 item? That's called stacking...you line that up with a good sale and now you're cookin' with gas, baby.

Here are some blogs that I subscribe to using Google Reader
...whenever I'm online, I'll quick look at the Titles of the posts to see if they would apply to me. Some of these fabulous lady bloggers actually type up the deals and give you links to Internet printable coupons as well as reference coupons from various newspaper inserts. They also have posts that detail how the various reward programs work and things of that nature. Here they are:

Money Saving Mom
The "Cent"sible Sawyer
More Than Enough
Fiddledeedee!

There are actually more blogs that I am subscribed to, but these are the ones that I started with. These bloggers reference alot of other blogs that you may explore and end up subscribing to (that's how it happened for me).

Anyway - I just wanted take the time to share with y'all one of my newest hobbies. It's a great feeling to be a good steward of the money God has blessed us with. Every penny that I save is a penny that can be used somewhere else.

love and BOGO's,
k