Giggles & Hugs Free Play Today Only 2/28!

I got an email from Giggles and Hugs that play is free all day today (Thurs 2/28)!  You just need to show the email, but I just told them I got it and they didn't ask to actually see it on my phone.  If you want the email post a comment and I will forward to you:)

Free Nivea Lip, Neosporin and Poise!

Here are some great deals at Rite Aid this week, valid through 3/2:

Nivea Lip Products are on sale for $1.50 each.  There was a $3/2 coupon in the Sunday paper a few weeks ago - that means FREE Nivea!  I love these.

Neosporin products are part of a spend $10 get $3 in rewards deal this week.  The wound cleaners are only $2.50, so you can buy 4 to make the $10.  Even better, you can print coupons for $2 off each one on coupons.com.  If you can't find the coupons go to www.krazycouponlady.com/riteaid and look for the post about this item for direct links.  There are 2 different coupons that you can print twice each, so you get 4 coupons for $2 each.  You spend only $2 for all four products, and get back $3 in rewards.

Poise products are on sale for $2.99 and generating a $2.99 reward.  The only thing that can make this deal better is a $3 coupon from the Sunday paper.  So you pay nothing and get $2.99 back for a future purchase.  I bought the cooling towelettes to use this summer, or to donate. The limit on this deal is 2.

So I bought 8 Nivea chapstick, 4 wound cleaners, and 2 Poise towelettes, paid $2, and got back almost $9.  :)

A Perfect Example of Extreme Couponing!

There have been some great deals on Advil Congestion lately, mostly because of a mail in rebate that was in the 1/27 coupon insert.  The rebate is for $6 when you buy 3 participating Pfizer products.  Using this rebate and coupons, you can actually make money to buy cold medicine!  Check it out:

Advil congestion is $4.99 this week, and when you spend $15 you get $3 in store rewards.  (At CVS they will round up to reach the rewards total, so you can buy 3 at $4.99 and it will count as $15).

The 2/10 coupons had a $3/1 coupon that expires today (2/24).  This makes each Advil only $1.99.  Also, if you save your coupons from the CVS coupon machine (where you scan your card in store to get printed coupons), you might have a $3 off any $15 cold purchase coupon.  So your $6 total just came down to $3.

Then, you submit the $6 rebate for buying 3 items.  Also you get $3 in rewards from the store.  So you get paid back $6 for buying these items.  Isn't that awesome??

I already submitted this rebate last week, so I am out of luck, but I still got 3 boxes for free so I can't complain!

If you don't have the coupons and the rebate it is still a good deal with coupons you can print on the Advil web site or their Facebook page.  You can get 3 $2 coupons, so you spend $9 and get $3 in store rewards. Still a great price for something that would be great to have on hand:)

Giggles & Hugs One Month for $19!

I just got an email from Giggles & Hugs at Century City Mall offering a one month membership for only $19!  I just bought the same deal through Plum District last month, and I used it a ton!  With one admission costing you $8, this deal pays for itself in only 3 visits.

To redeem the deal and get the membership the email said to just print it out and bring it in.  If anyone would like the email to print just contact me with your email address and I will be happy to pass it along:)  It must be presented before March 1, 2013, and the one month starts on that first visit.

Happy playing!!

FREE Arts & Crafts at Century City Mall

I was at Giggles & Hugs the other day and saw a sign for free kids crafts every 4th Wednesday of the month from 2-4 pm. This month it is the 27th, and they will have bird houses to paint.  Perfect after school activity!

Buy and Sell Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle.com!

I saw an ad for a site called Plastic Jungle in the CVS flyer last week, and I finally got a moment to check it out (Daddy is doing bedtime!!).  What a cool site!

Plastic Jungle will buy your unwanted gift cards for a percentage of the balance.  I checked out few brands, and the payout was between 75-90%.  The payout will depend on the brand demand and balance on the card, and I imagine they would pay more for an even amount ($50) than for an uneven one ($45.82).  They would be easier to sell!

They then sell the cards at a discount as well, so you can buy a card for (they say) up to 35% off the value of the balance.  The cards I looked at saved closer to 10%.

I think this could be a great deal as a buyer - if you know you are going to shop and spend money at a given store it would be a great deal to pick up a gift card and save 10% off the top.  Or, if you like to give cards as gifts this could really save some money too!  Selling cards is not as great a value, but I guess if you are not going to use it you might as well get some cash for it!  Also, the pharmacies often run promotions close to the holidays where you can earn store rewards when you purchase gift cards.  It might be possible to buy a card and earn rewards, then sell it for cash and break even:)

Plastic Jungle pays out via Paypal, check or in an Amazon gift card, and shipping is free (both for buyers and sellers).  I just might try it out next time I know I will be shelling out some cash at a certain store!

Free After Rebate at Staples

Staples has 2 free after rebate items this week. Staples rebates are super easy - just go online and enter some info from your receipt and you will get a check in the mail in a couple weeks.

This week you can get photo paper for your printer and mechanical pencils, both free after rebate. You pay only tax.

Don't wait until August to do your back to school shopping! Grab these little freebies all year round:)

P&G Rebate - Spend $50 get $15

There is a new P&G rebate available for purchases 2/13/13 - 4/30/13.  I have to say that I LOVE rebates. I know a lot of people think they are not really worth the trouble of saving receipts, mailing in the info etc., but all of these little bits of money can really add up, and before you know it would have earned back hundreds on items you would buy anyway.  My rebate total is over $300 in just over a year.

Anyway, back to the rebate at hand!  The link to the rebate is below:

http://www.pgbestinbeauty.com/BOBrebate.pdf

It applies to mostly women's beauty items (Covergirl, Venus, Pantene, Olay and more) so make sure your purchases qualify.  The best part of these rebates is that you need to reach the $50 subtotal before coupons, so you can spend a fraction of that out of pocket and still earn back the $15!  Here is a post from my favorite couponing site, krazycouponlady.com, with some ideas for the rebate:

http://thekrazycouponlady.com/2013/02/17/new-procter-gamble-rebate-1-35-razors-and-more-at-cvs/

I have used this before on the Crest Whitestrips.  They usually retail for around $50, and you can often find a $7-$10 coupon from P&G.  Also, the stores often run promotions where you get $10 in rewards when you purchase these.  So, you could pay $40, get $10 in rewards and a $15 rebate for one purchase.  Not bad!!  If I Make this rebate happen I will post my "scenario" here too:)

Free Play Spaces - Westfield Sherman Oaks

I love finding new, great, FREE places to play.  My kids are 1.5 and 3.5, so attention spans are low, and I don't want to shell out admission fees when we might only stay for 30 minutes!!  I like to highlight different free play spaces that might fill a morning or afternoon for you and your kids too:)

This week I was back to the Westfield Mall in Sherman Oaks (at Riverside and Hazeltine).  The play area is pretty big, and both my kids like the climbers and the huge fish tank.  On Tuesday afternoons they have live kids music as well.  Just be warned that they usually close the space around 3:30 or 4:00pm for a quick cleaning.

As with all Westfield Mall locations that I have been too, this one has a great family restroom, with toys, TV, change tables, nursing areas, microwaves, and kid-size toilets.

This mall also has a really cute train, the "Ladybug Express", that runs around the top floor of the mall.  I think the fee was $3 per person.  Worth every penny to NOT have the awful diesel smell that most of those kid trains produce:)

Almost Free Venus Razors at CVS!

If you happen by a CVS, pop in and see if you can find these razors on clearance. They retail for $8.49, and I found them 75%, so $2.12.

If you are a couponer, you may also have $2/1 coupons, making them only $.12, or a B1G1 coupon, making them $1.06!! Awesome deal!

While you are there look for more clearance in the shaving and bath aisle.  I also got Gillette men's shave foam for only $1.07 and used a B1G1 free coupon. Also, I found Softsoap body wash for only $1.24 and used a $.75 coupon.

Let me know if you find any deals!!

Shopping with rewards at CVS

The whole rewards scene can be a bit intimidating, and sometimes seems like it probably isn't worth the trouble.  But rolling store rewards (which means using rewards to buy items that produce more rewards) is the best way to shop and keep your out of pocket expenses low.

At CVS, store rewards, called ExtraBucks, print on your receipt and can be used immediately on your next purchase in store.  I think that anytime you have the opportunity to buy something where you earn back equal rewards (spend $3, get $3 rewards) or to earn back more in rewards than you are spending (spend $5 get $7 in rewards) you should do it.  Check out these deals to see what I mean!

Last week my friend Wendy told me about a clearance deal at CVS that was part of an ExtraBucks promotion.  Select curling irons were 75% off, making them only $2.49 each, but they generated a $5 reward.  The limit on this deal was 2 (this is always printed on the item tag in the store and in the flyer), so I got 2 irons for $4.98 and made back $10.  Let's say I was planning to pick up diapers that day.  It would absolutely make sense to spend $5 on the irons first, then use the $10 reward to get the diapers.  Not only did I get the diapers for half price (I spent $5 total instead of $10), but I also have 2 curling irons to use or donate.

Anytime you are going in to a store to buy something that you need that day it makes sense to first do the rewards deals.  Very often you will see even money rewards deals, especially on items like toothpaste.  They will sale price toothpaste for $3 and give a $3 reward.  If you have a coupon, even better!  But either way, if you need to buy something worth $10 that day, you should buy the toothpaste first and then use the rewards to buy what you need!  Why not have an extra toothpaste on your shelves, and spend the same as you planned?

Using rewards to buy items that you need immediately is great, but even better is rolling rewards.  Whenever possible, use rewards to buy items that give you more rewards with the least out of pocket expense.  Here is an example:

This week at CVS if you spend $30 on Gillette saving products you will get a $10 reward.  I bought 4 men's Custom Plus 3 razor packs, each retailing for $8.29.  The great thing about CVS is that the promotional threshold only needs to be met before coupons, so my original total was over $30.  I used an email coupon for $5 off a $30 purchase from CVS, plus a CVS coupon for 20% any full price items.  I also used 2 buy one get one free coupons.  Last, I used $5 in ExtraBucks.  I paid about $4 out of pocket (mostly tax), and earned back $10.

I could have spent that $5 in ExtraBucks on diapers, but instead I rolled it into a $10 reward and spent only $4.  Now I can use the $10 reward and get a pack of diapers for free, or roll it into more rewards next week.

It seems complicated, but all you really need is a great website to highlight the deals for the week (www.krazycouponlady.com), and a little practice, and you'll be rolling rewards like a pro in no time:)

Save $10 on an order of $10 on Shutterfly!

If you missed the promotion for 101 free prints, here is another promotion on shutterfly.com that can score you some freebies!

Use code LOVESTRUCK and you will get $10 off a purchase of $10 or more.  I am not sure if this is good on any purchase, or if it has to be cards or photo books etc., but I will update the post if I find out more on the website.  The promo code is good until Wed Feb 6.  You will still pay for tax and shipping, but if you were planning to buy custom Valentine's Day cards anyway, for example, this could be a nice savings:)

Natural History & Page Museum Free Days Next Tues!

I love that most museums in LA have a free day each month.  It might be a bit busier, but when school is in session it is still worthwhile to make the trip for free admission!  The Natural History Museum (aka dinosaur museum) and Page Museum (at the Tar Pits) are both free on the first Tuesday of each month.

Both of these museums charge $12 for adults and $5 for kids, so you are saving a big chunk by going on a free day!  I love both spots - the Page you can do inside 1 hour, and the Natural History you could stay a whole day, so depending on how much time you have you can pick your spot.  Both have great outdoor space as well so you can bring a picnic, and the gift shops are pricey but definitely have some great stuff for under $5.  A day well spent, I would say!

Rite Aid deal of the week!

Pretty much every week there is an awesome, trip-worthy deal at both Rite Aid and CVS.  This week at Rite Aid there were lots of great deals (check out www.krazycouponlady.com if you want to see them all) but my favorite was this deal on Munchkin baby items:

Baby bath temperature ducks - $2.99
Baby gel teethers - $2.99

When you buy 2 Munchkin items, you get $5 back in store rewards for your next shopping trip.

If you shop at Rite Aid a lot (like I do!) you will get a discount on these because they are full price items.  Mine rang up at $2.39, which is 20% off.

I bought 2 at $2.39, which is $4.78, and got $5 back in rewards.  Even without the discount it is a good deal - you spend $5.98 to get back $5 that you can use on anything - diapers, cold medicine, cosmetics, anything you would buy anyway!

You can do this deal 2 times per card.  These are going in my baby/kids gifts stockpile.  Yes, I have one of those!  It has saved me a lot of last minute trips to the toy store with 2 kids!!

When you get rewards at Rite Aid you can't use them until the next day, so if you have one close by you can always get one set one day, and then go back and pay for the second set using rewards.  Using rewards to pay for items that give you more rewards is the best way to shop for free!

Almost Free Lysol No Touch Soap Dispensers at CVS

Nothing makes me a happier shopper than coming across a unexpected clearance on an item that I have coupons for!  If you have been saving your coupons head to CVS and see if you can find any of these for just pennies!!

My store had the Lysol no touch soap dispensers in white only on clearance 75% off.  That brought the price down to $2.07.  I checked my coupon organizer, and sure enough had $2 coupons!  These also come with batteries included.  Sweet!  If you feel like you don't really need them, tuck them away to add into a housewarming gift basket.  If you score the deals when they come you will be amazed how easily you can put together gift baskets and stockings just by digging through your stockpile:)  They also make a great item to donate!

Awesome pizza deal at Vons!

I always like to have a bunch of frozen pizza in my freezer for a quick meal, or when I have a last minute play date.  This week, the Sunday paper had a great DiGiorno's coupon - buy 2, get one free!  The Superbowl sale at Vons made for a great deal:

DiGiornos Pizza - $3.88

Use B2G1 free coupon, total cost = $7.76

Cost per pizza = $2.59

That's an awesome price!  Also, through Sunday when you spend $75 in store you get a $10 coupon for your next shopping trip.

There are tons of great buy one get one free deals on meat and condiments this week, and some good prices on other staples like Go-Gurt (a must-have in my house) only $1.88 per box (plus use a $.75/2 coupon!).