Your screw up is my gain

So last week, I posted about spending $16 and walking away with a $5 off coupon on diapers. I was hoping that Stop and Shop was still doing this deal as I received more coupons to use. I called ahead and spoke to someone from that department. He came back and told me that they were, so ahead I go. When I got there I found it was Huggies this week and not Pampers. I was pissed to say the least... Luckily for me there was ONE sign still up. I put my items in the cart, took a pic on my phone of the sign and headed to check out. After speaking to a manager and explaining that they have to honor an incorrect sign, I was able to get over $25 worth of product for $4 and walked away with another coupon for $5 off pampers. IF A STORE HAS INCORRECT SIGNAGE, THEY MUST HONOR THE SIGN!!!! Occasionally, you will walk into a store and see as you walk in that a price may have been wrong in the ad and they will not honor it. By putting up that notice, they are covering themselves and dont have to honor that.  Breakdown of how I made out so well....


Pampers $10.99 but old sign stated $9.99
Kandoo wipes X 6 $2.49 on sale for $1.99
If you add the original total would be $25.93 covering my have to purchase $25

After coupons my total became....

Pampers $9.99 less $1.50 off coupon $8.49
Kandoo wipes X 6 less .50 off coupon that doubles $5.94

Total then comes to $14.43

Manager adjusted total to take off $5 which last week printed as a coupon, I also had the $5 off coupon from last week, making total $4.43!!!!!!

The bonus was the catalina machine actually printed off another $5 off pampers coupon!!!! The manager gave to me and said just go.... I think she may have been aggravated in the employee that didn't take down the sign.....



Scarlett

DIAPERS!!!!! Almost free

Building my diaper wall!!!! Yes Super Savers, I have a diaper wall. I am having a baby and have kids already, so yes I am aware that a baby goes thru an average of 3000 diapers in the first year alone!!!! That is crazy.... So every week that I have coupons and see great deals, I am stocking up on diapers... Check out this deal.....

So this week Target had a cool deal... If you bought 2 boxes of diapers on sale for $19.79 a box, you received a gift card for $10. Also if you bought 2 boxes of wipes on sale for $12.99, you received a gift card for $5. I had 2 target coupons that were $3 off if you bought wipes and diapers together. I also had 2 coupons for $1.50 off a box of diapers. So when I got up to the register, the wipes actually rang up for $10.99 instead of $12.99, BONUS.... After coupons my total became $52.56. I had 2 gift cards that I had received doing taste testing, so out of pocket cost was just under $3.00. So don't underestimate my links to the focus groups on this blog. After all was said and done, I also received $15 in gift cards that I could use on my second transaction....


Scarlett

Start of September was AWESOME

So today was AWESOME!!! First I had a focus group in which I literally sat there for half and hour and got paid $75. My son and friend each got a $25 gift card and HUGE bag of brand new toys... so seriously, check out my links on focus groups and get your butt on those data bases.

I also just got home from Stop and Shop, I spent $173 instead of $303, I saved a total of $130!!!!! Super Savings, but ALSO received 500 EXTRA gas points, a free gallon of milk, and extra $7 off order immediately, and $5 off pampers.

The diaper thing was a shocker. I went in to buy diapers and a pack of wipes in order to get the items needed for extra gas points. I had coupons for kandoo wipes, which are made by pampers. There was a sign that said if you spent $25 in pampers product, you would receive $5 off for next time. I ended up getting it, this is how it broke down.



Pampers Jumbo pack    10.99 on sale for 9.99 less 1.50 coup = 8.49
Pampers Wipe refill pack 7.39 on sale for 5.99 less .50 coup which doubles = 4.99
Kandoo wipes 2.49 on sale for 1.99 x 3=  5.97 less .50 coup which doubles and had three =2.97


So without coupons and before stop and shop card total would have been $25.85
but after coupons and savings, I paid $16.45. I was eligible for the $5 off next order because of original total reaching the $25 mark. Right now jumbo pack is $9.99 and I have a coupon for $1.50 that can be combined with the $5.00 off making the diapers only $3.49!!!!! That my Super Savers is an AWESOME day!!!!




Scarlett

On hiatus for a bit

Sorry I have not posted for awhile. Scarlett has a lot going on lately and my brother is getting married soon. Still been saving, just not documenting. Will be starting up some workshops soon to teach you what i do :)

Holy Hot Dogs!!!

I am hosting a backyard bbq bridal shower next Sunday. I needed hot dogs. I was just going to go to BJs. I ended up getting these dogs at Stop and Shop. Each pack of dogs retails at $4.59, so these would have cost $27.54. With the sale and coupons, I paid $10.77!!! My whole shopping trip tonight without coupons would have been $142.53 but I only spent $73.98, and I got  174 gas points...


Scarlett

Today I actually bought food!!!

So today I went to Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens, Stop and Shop and Roche Bros.  I had to go actual food shopping... My grand total if I had NOT had coupons would have been $445, but Scarlett is just plain awesome, so I spent ONLY $238!!!! Yes that is $207 in SUPER SAVINGS!!!!!  In terms of actual food, we had 2 1/2 carts of food, which usually for us averages to $100 per cart. I could not possibly take a picture of everything, so I took a picture of a few items that I am going to point out.  All of those items pictured would have cost me $50.00, come on guess what I spent?? $4.50!!!! 

Tylenol Precise Heating pads

Ok This is my ultimate goal, to actually show how this was done. I will try to show at least one scenario every week. As of now I am a Matron of Honor in a wedding and that in itself is extremely time consuming....

So back to the Tylenol. This is a new product. When new products come out, as do high value coupons for that product. They want you to buy it and try it, so they give you a break and alas get you hooked, hahaha. There was a $5 off coupon in Sundays paper for this. Tylenol was on sale at Walgreens for $8. So do the quick math. Tylenol now becomes $3. Sweet if you were going to buy this item. This gets better, the Walgreens flyer also had a store coupon for $3 off. So yes, you math whiz, that makes this FREE!!!!!! In this scenario, you can matchup a manufacturer and store coupon to maximize savings.....

Scarlett

A little adjustment

So I was getting aggravated trying to organize my coupons alphabetically before adding them to my binder. I would be wasting more time looking for the pile that was for "S"... so i just made a tiny adjustment by labeling these cards that I am able to pull out each week. I was able to sort these out alphabetically and then by month they expire and put into binder within just 5 minutes!!!!!

OMG I am pretty good at this!!!

So today I just did CVS, Walgreens and Target. This was my best yet. All items pictured total about $110 and I spent $24!!!!! Nope not a typo peeps, I said $24!!!! Best parts, another receipt at .04... and I was paid to buy hair dye that retails for $12!!!!

Scarlett

So what is a focus group?

So what is all this talk about focus groups.... what is it? How do you find them? How do you actually make money??? Well my super savers, Scarlett is here to answer all those questions and to provide you with a list of databases that I have personally made money from.

Focus Group.  Defintion-

A small group selected from a wider population and sampled, as by open discussion, for its members' opinions about or emotional response to a particular subject or area, used especially in market research or political analysis.

yup yup blah blah blah, to me it's a hour or two of meeting some new peeps, talking about potential new products and providing your honest opinions, and best of all getting paid to talk :)

The list that I will be providing, YES I have actually done groups with all of these, so I personally know that are legit.

I honestly can't remember how I first got into these, but after going to one, meeting new peeps, getting referals to others, word of mouth, and online invites, I have made this list.

Each company is different. They ask you to put yourself into their database with some basic information. From there, they will usually email, but I have gotten phone calls as well to ask you more questions. Usually any given group will be looking for a certain demographic. For example, Looking for Women ages 18-30, Parent of a child 5 yo, and have an income of over 50,000. If you fit the demographic, you will be asked more questions to see if you actually qualify for the specific study. It may sound complicated by super easy.

The list I will be giving is what I consider worth the drive. I usually go to Braintree, Dedham, Canton and Boston. If the pay is good, it's usually worth the drive.
 Note: Thus far the groups that I have done in Boston will validate your parking.

Now the only courtesy that I ask, Is that once you start getting emails or phone calls, you let me know and forward me any studies that I may eligible for as well :)


1. http://suburbanfocusgroup.com/
2. http://www.newenglandfocusgroup.com/
3. http://focuspointeglobal.com/pages/fpg_Home.aspx
4. http://www.focusonboston.com/join.htm

Focus Groups

Hello my super savers!!! Within the next few days I will be posting a list of all the focus group databases I am on. Tomorrow I am making $100 for an hour and half of "work". With this list you will be able to receive emails and phone calls and make money too.

My Super Savings for 4/25

So instead of waiting until the end of the week and missing on quite a few deals, I did my shopping today. I went to CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Target. All items shown total over $85, but do you honestly think me, Scarlett would pay that? I think not. I paid under $35!!!!! Highlight of this trip was I got paid $1 to buy the 2 veets, so free veet and a dollar!!!!

My Super Savings from 4/22

So I put all of this crazy planning into action, and I think I may have a knack for this.... Below is a picture of what I bought on Friday. I went to CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Walmart. The 2 highlights of this trip were I actually had a receipt for .08, yes that was EIGHT CENTS!!!!!! The other great part was I bought 2 bags of M&Ms for $1.00 instead of $7.00. The total of all the products in the picture was over $80, I bought ALL of this legitamately with coupons for about $28!!!! With just a little planning, you too can become a super saver!!!

My binder

Ok after countless hours, I have figured out how to organize my binder. I have put printed labels inside the edge of plastic sheet covers. It is alphabetical and by month. I will keep up to 4 months for each letter. First for example A-April, A-May, A-June, A-July. If I had a coupon for Aveeno and it expires in April, well then it would be placed in the A-April. As April comes and goes, that page will be taken out of the binder and put into a different binder, and replacing it with the A-August page, thus ensuring that I would only have 4 months for each letter. I am going to mainly focus on CVS, Walgreens and Rite-aid ads for now.

     

This is a label, I put it on the inside of the protector as it will be handled often.

                                              

This is one of my pages, I have four of these for each letter

Each week, I will go thru the ads, see what store coupons I could matchup with my manufacturers coupons and which products I will get rewards for, Register Rewards, Extra Care Bucks, Etc. I will check on my new fav site, http://www.coupondivas.com/ to see if there are any exceptionally good deals at Target, Walmart and Stop and Shop, and pull those coupons. While making my normal grocery list for the week, I will see if there are any coupons for the products I currently use. I will start with obviously the current month only. When I am doing my last 2 weeks of grocery shopping, I will look at my coupons that are in danger of expiring and see if I would actually use any of those products.

Newspapers with coupons

So today I bought 4 newspapers, i quickly glanced thru them to see if they had ads or coupons inside. I compiled a list of what was useful and figured out which newspaper is the best value to buy each week. Keep in mind this is for the south coast area in Massachusetts. After looking thru them all, I have come to the conclusion that buying The Boston Globe is my best bet, even if the paper costs $3.50

Sunday Taunton Gazzette

ADS
Bobs         Best Buy        Famous Footwear
Dicks        Walgreens       Aldi
Staples      Old Navy        Michaels
Big Lots    CVS               Rite Aid
Target       JcPenney         Kohls

COUPONS
No coupons

Sunday Stardard Times

ADS
Sears        Old Navy    Ac Moore
CVS         Michaels     Rite Aid
JcPenney   Bennys       Best Buy
Target

COUPONS
Smart Source (1)

Boston Herald

ADS
No Ads (I was kinda surprised at this)

COUPONS
Smart Source (2) both different


Boston Globe

ADS
Old Navy      JcPenney                Toys R Us
Bobs            Famous Footwear    Michaels
Dicks            Walgreens               CVS
Rite Aid        Best Buy                 Sears
Target

COUPONS
Smart Source (2) both different
Red Plum (2) both different

Coupon Binder

This is my coupon binder, it zips, has lots of pockets, pics of inside to follow once i figure out how I want it organized.

Tomorrow is the first day :)

I have started to collect coupons from various places. Newspaper, Magazines, Friends, etc. Tomorrow will be the first time, I will actually look at the store ads and figure out where to use my coupons for the best "save". Also checking out store coupons to try to stack them for even more savings. As I get better at this, I will post my super savings trips.

Lists

I am composing a list of companies that I have and will be emailing to ask for coupons and free samples. These lists will be updated as I get new info. There will be 3 lists.

1. Companies contacted.
2. Companies that have sent me a reply and their reply.
3. What I received and from who.