Free OPI Nail Polish

Go here to print off a coupon for a free bottle of Nicole by OPI nail polish at any participating Ulta.  My husband once bought me a pedicure- I think it was for my birthday, and they used OPI nail polish.  That stuff is absolutely amazing!  It didn't really chip.  Now you have to realize that the stuff that I normally use is really old bottles that were extremely cheap to begin with, but I have to say that I am really excited about this coupon!

Also, seventeen runs a decent amount of these type of free deals and they've always worked for me.  I've scored a free tank top in the past, so it's worth printing off and bringing to the store.

Free Benjamin Moore Paint Sample

From now until June 30, participating Benjamin Moore stores are offering 2oz color samples when you bring in this printable coupon.  If you are anything like me, you have a lot of projects that this sample will be perfect, such as adding accents to a lamp, coffee table, etc.
Thanks, Freebie Blogger!

$25 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates for $2

It's the nearing the end of the month which means Restaurant.com has cut their $25 gift certificates down to only $2! Now would be a great time to buy some to use next month for a Father's Day dinner. Just make sure that you read all of the fine print before you buy! Go here to check out this great deal.

Free Photo Magnet

Right now Kodak Gallery is offering a free photo magnet when you use the code FREEMAGNET.  This could be a great small item to add to a graduate's gift.  You could have some type of inspiring quote or something as fun as "happiness is painted toenails."

Menu Plan Monday: 5/23-5/29

Today we went to CVS (made $$ off of the Gillette Body Washes) and Aldi's.  It was definitely my lucky day.  They had marked down ($2 off) each package of boneless skinless chicken breasts.  My husband laughed as I whipped out my cell phone to do the math to determine the price per pound.  That's what you get when you are married to a math teacher/frugalista.  We ended up buying nine packages (close to 18 lbs)of chicken because the price averaged out to be about $1.38/lb (the packages that weighed less cost slightly less per pound and the package that were heavier cost slightly more per pound- hence the average). 

There was a time when I would have only bought a few packages because I would not have wanted to spend so much on one trip.  However, I now completely abide by the stockpiling principle.  If something is on a great sale that I use a lot (chicken, hamburger, peas, etc.) I will buy a ridiculous amount.  It might be "expensive" that one week, but the price overall is great.  My first experience with this was finding 93/7 hamburger marked down to only $2 package.  I bought ten packages, which I thought was a lot then.  However, now I would have bought out that section because after I used that I up I had to buy much more expensive hamburger.  I have never seen that high percentage meat on sale for much lower than $3.

Moral of the Story:  Strike while the iron is hot (as my mother would say).  In other words, take full advantage of great deals (while of course keeping an eye on the budget).

The menu this week was pretty much designed by my husband (as was last week's which I didn't get around to posting).  This is the end of the year and I have been pretty much living at the school.  My husband has been taking care of much of the cooking (and I do the clean up:)  ).  Here's what he chose for the week:

Monday:  Hamburgers on the grill, tater tots, carrots and dip

Tuesday: Chicken fajitas, strawberry smoothies

Wednesday: Spaghetti, salad, bread

Thursday:  Grilled cheese, clementines, apples with peanut butter

For more menu plan ideas, visit Organizing Junkie.

Family Christian Bookstores Deals

If you have a lot of graduations coming up, giving an encouraging book or CD can mean a lot to a graduate.  Right now Family Christian Bookstores is running a few deals that could help with the upcoming graduation parties.

Save up to 75% at FamilyChristian.com's Clearance Center.

25% Off Any Regular Priced Item or 10% Off Any Sale Item - Enter Code 1284508 at Checkout

Receive $10 Off Your Purchase Of $65 Or More

Family Christian Stores - Buy One Item, Get One Item 50% Off
- Enter Code 1256775 At Checkout

Top 20 Bestselling titles in music just $13.97 or less at FamilyChristian.com.

Irregular Apron Sale!

I am always interested in anything that will make me feel better in the kitchen.  Right now Flirty Aprons is having an Irregular Apron Sale - $12.99, while supplies last (they are guessing it will last max of a week).  So if you are on the market for an apron or could give one as a gift, then now's a great time to look for one!  I have never seen them this cheap!

Frugal Flop: New Market Coupon Policy Print-Out

New Markets are running their triple coupon sale this week.  I just went today and I was in a slight hurry.  Never plan on couponing in a hurry.  I quickly scanned through the store looking for items that would match up with coupons and get a better deal than Aldi's.  I only found a few items that were worth picking up because I believe they might have raised their prices even higher now that it is getting close to the start of "laker season" (lots of vacationers will be arriving to go to their lake homes).

I went through the checkout and noticed that the cashier was manually putting in every single coupon.  There were no "bonus coupons" popping up.  In fact on two occasions it said "bonus coupon suppressed".  I was a bit upset, but I tried to stay calm as I let the cashier know that it did not double or triple my coupons.  She says that "it will only double or triple $0.50 coupons."  That doesn't make sense.  Either it doubles at $0.50 or it triples, not both.  I repeat that I was sure that they double to $1 and triple to $0.50, so she then asks the other cashier who says that my cashier is correct.  Well, at that point I just decided that I just wasn't in the mood to be the "pushy customer", so I paid and left.

Now that I am home and can look through my receipt I can tell that none of my coupons doubled or tripled.  I also looked through my past emails and pulled up the email sent to me by the manager of the Syracuse store which states:

Syracuse Coupon Policy:

•  Valid vendor coupons will double up to $.50, with a maximum value of $1.00. 
• During the specified triple coupon period, valid vendor coupons will triple up to $.50, with a maximum value of $1.50. 
• During the specified triple coupon period, valid vendor coupons with face value between $.51 and $1.00 will double, with a maximum value of $2.00. 
• One additional vendor coupon may be used per item that meets the purchase requirements and has a valid date. These additional coupons will be redeemed at face value. 
• In-store coupons and any vendor coupon that states “Not To Be Doubled” will be redeemed at face value. 
• Vendor coupons for beer, wine, or tobacco products will be redeemed at face value. 
• Catalina coupons may not be used until the next transaction. 
• Catalina coupons will be redeemed for face value only. 
• Catalina coupons may not be used with a vendor coupon or any other checkout coupon for the same item. 
• We will gladly accept internet or computer generated coupons.

Therefore, I have now printed this policy and will carry it with me any time I go to that store.  I lost over $5 from not getting the doubles and triples today, and I am also trying to decide whether to go back and ask for a refund.  I am not sure whether that is worth my time though. 

Moral of the story: Have a printed copy of the store's coupon policy at all times.  It can save you lots of time, $$, and mainly stress from dealing with uncooperative cashiers.

Have you ever had difficulty at the register with double/triple coupons at grocery stores?  Tell us about it in the comments section.

Incredible CVS trip!

In the middle of this crazy end of the school year rush, I actually had a bit of time tonight.  I decided after seeing Money Saving Mom and Freebie Blogger's amazing CVS line up this week that it would be worth my time to go over to CVS and I am so glad that I did.  This was the first time that I actually made more than a few cents from my transactions.  The final tally for the trip:

Before Coupons: a little over $32 (with tax)
After Coupons and $11 Extra Care Bucks : $3.76
Total ECB's earned: $17!!!!!

Items purchased: Carefree liners, Bayer aspirin, 2 Right Guard deoderant, 2 Crest toothpaste, Kotex U tampons, Dove Dark Chocolate bar, 3 Hershey Candy Bars

Side-note: I know that many of you use the envelope system and only use cash.  I think that is great.  Someday we hope to switch to that.  However, now is not the time to push that on my husband.  We currently use our Discover card for almost everything (and pay it off every month of course!).  If you happen to use Discover, use your rewards to get CVS gift cards.  I buy my newspapers using that card (and get a ECB every four times for using my green bag tag), and I haven't paid a cent for any of my CVS purchases in ages (not that I spend more than a few dollars).

Showers of Babies (as opposed to baby showers)

Whew!  Three babies in five days!  That's got to be a record.  They have been keeping everyone busy!  We've been able to visit all but one of them which we are desperately trying to find time to travel to meet.  They have to be about the most loved babies in the world :).

Other news, there are three weeks of school left (students' last day is June 1), which means sadly that my absolutely pitiful lack of any posts of substance will continue until the end of the school year.  Right now my life is filled to the brim with end of the school year happenings.  However, I have such great hopes for things outside of school this summer like finally getting to writing all of my ideas for posts, but we'll have to see what happens.  My mind has been percolating over what to do for the $20 challenge.......

Free Book: The Radical Question

I have the day off today, yippee!  Therefore, I have been catching up on printing coupons, clipping coupons, organizing my coupons, hopefully later cleaning my house, cvsing and more.  I had hoped to go garage saling, but the weather is just awful. 

I just found out about that if you go here you can sign up for a free copy of The Radical Question by David Platt.  You will have to sign up for their mailing list and they send you an email that you must respond to in order to receive the copy.  This offer expires May 9.

Thanks, Empowering Mommy!