John Frieda $5/2 Root Awakening products IP

Excellent little internet print coupon popped up on SmartSource’s online coupon printer within the last few days. $5/2 John Frieda Root Awakening excludes trial size. This coupon is gold so print as many as you can. This exact coupon ran in the 10/11 SS (exp 12/31) but it was regional, I didn’t get it, and they were hard to find or expensive. So what a nice surprise to see this pop up the same week as a John Frieda sale.

There are also $2/1 printable qs from the same place that still make this deal a MM if you are using one computer to print from.

CVS this week John Frieda Root Awakening is B1G1 50% which makes the price $6.99 + $3.49, only $.48 more than the mid-November deal.

Deal idea
(only JF Root Awakening products work for this deal – all shampoos, conditioners, and leave-in spray)
2 x John Frieda Root Awakening $10.48 ($6.99 + $3.49)
2 x John Frieda Root Awakening $10.48 ($6.99 + $3.49)
= $20.96
-$5/$20
-$5/2 JF Root Awakening print
-$5/2 JF Root Awakening print
=$5.96 get back $10 ECB (2 x $5)
$4 MM!!

In the Christmas catalog this is a limit 3 (sets of 2), and you will need a manual print of ECBs which the cashier or manager should be able to do for you. This deal is listed plain as day in the Christmas Catalog p.56 but it is reportedly not printing ECBs. It is not because the product is on sale because last month it was on sale for 2/$5 and the ECBs printed without a problem. And technically the 2/$5 sale was a better deal. Take the catalog in with you in case there isn’t one around.

I’m happy with how these turned out. This is totally not my thing, I’m not very crafty, but I figured I’d give it a shot. These gift baskets are for Maurice’s family.

Challenges
We had challenges in that we had to ship them, so they needed to be somewhat small without handles. We originally were going to do several smaller, individual gift baskets, but decided to do fewer baskets with things packed tighter.

What’s inside
We didn’t do themes at all, we just thought about what each person might like. All of it except for a few fillers are from CVS (and one Wags trip), all of the cosmetics, shampoo/conditioner, shaving accessories, chap sticks, lotions, toothpaste, the Ice Age DVD. One basket is for Maurice’s folks, along with a package of candles and a gag gift (not pictured). One basket is for three very little girls, along with a package containing two Zhu Zhu pet hampsters (3rd little girl is too young, Zhu Zhus not pictured), and 2 accessories,  their car and a squirrelly tube, I got lucky at CVS and just paid ECBs for these, using $/$$ coupons. The third basket is for their mother, Maurice’s sister. And the fourth basket is for their son (Xbox gift card) and Maurice’s brother-in-law (everything else). The crinkly shredded paper came from CVS this week, free after ECB, much like everything else or close to it.

Gift Basket Supplies and Assembly
I got the baskets at the Dollar Tree along with the shrink wrap bags, ribbon, and bells. Their selection was surprising and outstanding, the baskets I chose are woven wood with holiday details around the brim. The shrink wrap bags look much nicer in person, they don’t photograph well. You just stick the basket into the bottom of the bag and use a hair dryer on high heat and the thick plastic molds over the items. You really can’t mess these up, you can even remold them once or twice if you make a mistake. They each came with 1 pull bow and I used the bows before realizing they weren’t very Christmas-y. But I’d already spent about 30 minutes adding the bells and red and white ribbons and Maurice was going to kill me if I redid the bows haha.

I’m certainly no Suzy Homemaker and I’m not very creative so don’t judge too harshly! And this is my first attempt people!

We made cards printed from the computer with handwritten messages and stopped at CVS to print off a few recent photos that we put into the cards. These gift baskets were added to a few other gifts we sent in a medium sized box. If you used smaller items and tighter shrink wrapping, you could fit a basket this size in a medium flat-rate usps box and ship it anywhere in the country for $10.35 (after 1/4/10 $10.70).

Stabilize
I taped down all of the items to the basket and to each other. I also taped the tops on shampoo bottles, etc. I then taped the items to other items to stabilize. A lot of shredded paper was used in the bottoms. The shrink wrap also held the items in place. Since these were shipping I had to be more careful. They were packed upright very tightly using the excess shrink wrap as padding.

Resources
I’ve read amazing, creative tips on gift baskets:
Gifting Your Stockpiles – Excellent from SD
Gift Basket Assembly
Gift Basket Theme Ideas
How to make a unique gift basket

Tips
The shrink bag excess goes under the gift basket. I didn’t know that so it’s not the end of the world if you forget or don’t, but it gives the basket smoother lines.

Plan in advance and purchase 50-100 of the shrink bags on eBay for about $16-$20. Mine said 2pc. and were only $1 each but the 2nd piece was the bow and had I known there was only 1 per bag I would have price shopped, I have more gift baskets to assemble this year and bought 10 of these total.

If you have room to store them for a year, grab Christmas baskets and ribbons that go on clearance after the holidays.

Fantastic deal.

Get a gal of milk for $1.09 with a printable coupon.

NorCal area only. SoCal and Nationwide did not get this deal. Regional Sale.

I touched on this last night but tonight when I went to CVS there was Real California milk EVERYWHERE. Me being newish to California, I thought “Real California Milk” was a brand, but it’s not listed anywhere on the front of the milk, you want to check for a sticker on the cap.

This price is not listed or tagged at any of the 3 CVSs I have been to, it is a NorCal regional deal only. Scan the milk at the red price scanner if you are not sure, it will say “Sale price $2.59″ if you have the deal.

Milk $2.59
-$.50 Real California Milk print exp 1/31/10, or
-$.50 Real California Milk newspaper q.
= $2.09
Get $1 ECB
Cost $1.09 for 1 gallon of milk limit 1 at least limit 2

I am not sure which insert or week the newspaper q came from but there were 3 weeks that ran this q so if you have papers from September/October/November you should be in luck. But the PDF above is straight from the Real California website and has unlimited prints. I’ve used it successfully a couple times. Check out realcaliforniamilk.com for other money-saving dairy qs. Even without the Real Milk q (although I can’t see why you wouldn’t use the q), this is a great deal. You pay no tax or crv. Sale price good until 12/19.

I wish I could buy 5 gallons of milk! Tell your mom. Tell your neighbor. Tell the guy looking in the milk section, haha. I told my cashiers who were all surprised and left newspaper qs for them to use.

Deal scenario – (NorCal residents only, sorry!)
Stock up on almost-free All laundry detergent and a gallon of milk:
Grab 4 bottles of All detergent and 1 Gallon of milk
$3.99 x 4 All (26 – 32+6 bonus loads)
$2.59 Real California Milk
$.99 Advil PM 2 ct.
= $19.54 + $1.17 tax (based on 9.25%)
-$5/$20 CVS print
-$8 (4 x $2 All Detergent 12-6 RP)
-$.50 Real Milk print
Pay $6.04 + tax OOP
Receive $1.99 ECB ($1 Milk, $.99 Advil)
So for $4.05 + tax you get 4 bottles of All detergent, good stuff, and a gallon of milk for half the normal price of 1 bottle of All. Many different Alls are in the deal including HE, Small & Mighty, “Regular,” “Regular + Bonus loads,” Bleach Alternative, Free Clear (no dyes, no perfumes, etc), and other varieties. Happy shopping!

Blog is still broke. Someone’s going to look at it for me…I swear I didn’t do it

Great IP coupon, can print as many times as you like because the barcode is the same for everyone. Can use multiple times on the same card. Cannot combine with any other $/$$ CVS coupon. Expires 12/19/09 so you have until Saturday to get your use off this puppy. This coupon is good nationwide.

$5/$20 from The Sacramento Bee

Also NorCal CVS has Coke 8pks 4/$10 limit 4

Could do:
8 x Coke 8pks
=$20
-$5/$20
=$15 for 64 cans of soda
~$.24/can + CRV

Milk 1 gal $2.59 get $1 ECB
-$.50 Real California print
=$1.09/gal after q and ECB
limit 1 at least 2

It looks like we also get $1 ECB on Milk this week. This came from the Sacramento Bee so it should be a NorCal or California promo but I haven’t checked yet at my store to be sure. It’s on but it’s NorCal only. I haven’t seen Real Milk at the CVSs here in Santa Cruz, but it says on their website it can be found in NorCal CVSs. It’s EVERYWHERE but not listed on front label, check the top of milk caps.

PS I don’t know how the site got messed up working on it…

I’m happy to report the NorCal ad is pretty much the same to the National ad again in terms of ECB deals and sale prices. It feels like we’re officially converted. Everything below applies to both the National ad and NorCal ad.

Copied from SlickDeals.net
3 Day Sale Sunday, Monday & Tuesday only
Merry Brite holidays bows 12ct $2.99 with $2.99 ECB (FREE) limit 2
Merry Brite holiday gift tissue 20ct Red and Green $1.99 with $1.99 ECB (FREE) limit 2
Merry Brite Peel ‘n stick gift tag 35- 50 ct $1.99 with $1.99 ECB (FREE) limit 2
-Use $2/$10 of CVS brand products CRT, Merry Brite is a CVS brand

Weekly ECB Deals
99¢ ECB wyb Advil PM 4ct 99¢ FREE limit 1

$2.00 ECB wyb Listerine Total Care, Advanced Citrus, or arctic mint 1 liter, limit 1
-Listerine Total Care Anticavity Mouthwash $2 (12/31/09) SS 3/15/09
-Listerine Total Care Anticavity Mouthwash, 500ml $2 (12/31/09) V 4/26/09
-Listerine Total Care Anticavity Mouthwash, 500ml+ OR Listerine Whitening Pre Brush Rinse, 16 oz.+ $1 (5/31/10) SS 6/14/09

$3 ECB wyb $10.00 on any CG cosmetics Limit 1
-Covergirl Product $1 (12-31-09) P & G 11/29/09

$5 ECB wyb $15.00 on Wrinkle free or Acne free system limit 1

$5.00 ECB wyb 2 Lubriderm lotion Limit 1
-Lubriderm Body Lotion, Cream, or Ointment, any 1 oz or 3.3 oz $2 (12-31-09) V 10/11/09

$4 ECB wyb (2) Dove Body wash 19.4- 24 oz 2/$14.00 limit 1
-Dove Deep Moisturizer, Sensitive Skin or Gentle Exfoliating Body Wash, 12oz.+ $1.50 (12-27-09) V 10/4/09

$2 ECB wyb (3) Suave Body wash 12 oz. 3/$6.00 limit 1
-Suave Body Wash .50 (1/17/10) V 10/25/09

$4 ECB wyb L’Oreal Collagen filler 2 steps lip treatment or RevitaLift deep-set wrinkle am/pm eye repair duo $15.99 limit 1
-LOreal Collagen or Age Perfect Product $1 (2/7/10) SS 11/15/09
-LOreal Collagen or Age Perfect Product, any $1 (12-13-09) V 9/20/09
-LOreal Revitalift Deep-Set Wrinkle Repair 24 Hr Eye Repair Duo $3 (12-13-09) V 9/20/09
-LOreal Revitalift Product $1 (2/7/10) SS 11/15/09
-LOreal Skin Genesis or Revitalift Product, any $1 (12-13-09) V 9/20/09

$5 ECB wyb $10.00 on any Colgate Toothbrush (adult or children) limit 1

$2 ECB wyb Arm and Hammer SpinBrush1ct or Brush heads 2ct $6.99 limit 1
-Arm & Hammer Kids Spinbrush Powered Toothbrush, any $1 (3/31/10) SS 12/6/09
-Arm & Hammer Spinbrush Powered Toothbrush, any $1 (12/31/09) SS 10/18/09
-Arm & Hammer Spinbrush Powered Toothbrush, any $1 (3/31/10) SS 12/6/09
-Arm & Hammer Spinbrush Refill, any $1 (12/31/09) SS 10/18/09

$4 ECB wyb Bic disposable razors comfort 3 advance or Soleil 4 ct. $4.99 limit 1

$5 ECB wyb $15.00 on Gillette Fusion or Venus razor or cartridges limit 1
-Gillette Fusion Razor $4 (12-31-09) P & G 11/29/09

$2 ECB wyb AXE gift set $9.99 limit 3

$10.00 ECB wyb 3 American Express prepaid gift card, limit 4

$1 ECB wyb Duracell AAA-AA 8PK C-D 4pk or 9V 2 pk Batteries $5.99 limit 2
-Duracell CopperTop, PowerPix & Ultra Advanced, or Ultra Photo Lithium Batteries .75 (12/31/09) SS 11/22/09

$1 ECB wyb Duracell AAA, AA 16 pk, C, D, 8 pk, 9V 4pk or bonus pk AA 16 ct + 4 Ultra Advanced $ 9.99, limit 2
-Duracell CopperTop, PowerPix & Ultra Advanced, or Ultra Photo Lithium Batteries .75 (12/31/09) SS 11/22/09

Revlon Cosmetics & Beauty tools Buy 1 get 1 FREE
-Revlon Beauty Tool $1 (12-20-09) SS 11/15/09
-Revlon Color Cosmetic $2 (12-20-09) SS 11/15/09
-Revlon Color Cosmetic $2 (12-20-09) SS 12/13/09

Via TaylorTownPreview, tomorrow’s paper has Revlon qs, supposedly and more Marcal qs but I can’t find it in stock anywhere. $1 Energizer qs. Also Rimmell qs and some others I could see working in so I’ll grab 6 papers, I’ve been cutting back to 4 a week, but I do like my makeup qs

My first rebate check came today. $5 with two more of the same on the way. There is a fabulous S.C. Johnson rebate right now and covers several commonly-used items:
• Glade®
• Windex®
• Scrubbing Bubbles®
• Pledge®
• Shout®
• Fantastik®
• Drano®
• Raid®
• Off®
• Saran™
• Nature’s Source™

I was able to submit three rebates on one day’s worth of three transactions using Glade receipts. The rebate allows 3 submissions per household (separate envelopes) and does not require you to remove UPCs from boxes. You simply write in the UPSs off of 3 items to qualify for each $5 rebate. I used coupons, had low OOP, and profited overall with ECB. So this is a great rebate. Submissions until 7/15/10.

$5/$30 off your CVS purchase

New link!! Open in IE.

Go take it now!! This is a great IP coupon to print and take to the store with you. Use with your transactions and stack coupons for good deals and even tremendous savings. The old quiz was broken and spitting out identical barcodes that beeped for everyone. This quiz is spitting out unique barcodes and people are reporting them working reliably as of today. I am so glad they got this issue fixed. Now they are advertising the quiz on TV so I’m sure their customer service received many phone calls. It is a 3-question quiz. You do not have to get the correct answers.  However, if you get the correct answer on question 2, Dr. Stan eyes you as a rare genius. (hint: it’s b)

Mine say expiration 12/26/09. These are full-page coupons. I don’t have many coupon issues at my stores with black and white internet coupons so I print all mine on draft (or fast) mode in b&w.

To print multiple you want to adjust your settings to not store Flash memory. Use Internet Explorer, right click the “Start quiz now” button, click Settings and change storage to “0%” it will ask confirmation, hit yes, then check “Never ask again.” Then you can retake quiz multiple times and print unique coupons.

This week is a spend $15 in Revlon get $7 ECBs and this coming week is BOGO Revlon tools and cosmetics, so stores will have both sales simultaneously running Saturday 12/12 until midnight.

Planned Transaction
$4.99 x 2 Revlon Tool
$5.99 x 2 Revlon Tool
$6.99 x 2 Revlon Tool
=$35.94
-$5/$30
-$6 (6 x $1) Revlon Tool 11/15 SS
-$17.97 CVS BOGO
=$6.97 get $7 ECB

The 11-15 SS had some great Revlon qs ($1 off any Revlon Tool and $2 off Revlon Cosmetics exp 12-20-09). For tonight I worked out a transaction for just the tools, but both the tools and cosmetics are BOGO (12/13-12/19) if you want cosmetics instead. There is a Super Lustrous or Moon Drops Lipstick lipstick deal $6.99 get $5 ECB limit 3 12/20-12/27 @ CVS  so I am hanging onto my $2 Revlon Color Cosmetics qs for that (coupons expire SUNDAY 12/20). PS there is also a $2 off Revlon Cosmetic in 12/13 SS-tomorrow exp 1/17/10.

You do not want your Revlon BOGO amount to go under $15 (mine is $17.97) because the free ones will not qualify towards your “Spend $15…” But I am planning on purchasing 2 $6.99 items because I wanted the good tweezers they have. You can also add 2 cheap NBs for $5 less on your total. Also tax is only on $12.97 (not counting MQs) because the BOGO and $5/$xx are store promos.  Will post update when I get home tonight.

Taking advantage of the stores that turn their sales on early, most 24-hr stores the Sunday sales are are on by 6pm Saturday. I’ve noticed a non-24 hr CVS on 41st in Capitola to turn their deals on 4pm Saturday, so it might not only your 24-hr stores. To find out if a store has turned it’s sales on, if you see hang tags you are good to go. Or scan an item on the price scanner, if it pops up sale price you’re all set.

Profit $.82

UPDATE–My store run
Revlon Lash Curler $5.99
Revlon Lash Curler $5.99 BOGO
Revlon Lash Curler w/grips $6.99
Revlon Lash Curler w/grips $6.99 BOGO
Revlon Premium Tweezers $6.99
Revlon Premium Tweezers $6.99 BOGO
NB Vitamin D $5.29
NB Vitamin D $5.29 BOGO
Before coupons $25.26 + $1.92 tax
-$5/$30 Medicare Part D Quiz print
-$6 (6 x $1) Revlon Tool 11-15 SS
-$10 (2 x $5) NB print
= $4.26
Used $6 ECB + $.18 on CVS GC (-$1.74 + $1.92 tax)
Received $7 ECB
Profit $.82!

A word about ECBs and tax. And it seems this might be regional. But here in NorCal ECBs can roll over into tax as long as you subtotal isn’t already negative before handing over the ECB.

For example, if my subtotal is $1.50 and my tax $1.50, I can hand over a $2 ECB making my total $1, but since that puts my subtotal negative, I cannot use a $1 ECB to pay the tax. However, I can hand over the $1 ECB first making my subtotal $.50 and $1.50 tax. Then I could then use the $2 ECB for the remainder. Then you only pay a few cents on the tax refigured after ECB (since they are taxed).

I just started CVSing in September or so this year. But I jumped right in. I have a huge and well-stocked coupon binder. I print from 4 computers. I have cashier friends. Heck, I’m blogging about it. So yeah, you could say I kinda got into it.

But Walgreens has always made me nervous. You have to make sure you have at least 1 item per coupon and Register Reward (RR). You can’t use RR that you get from Gillette to pay for anything made by Oral-B, because Proctor and Gamble manufacture both, and you can’t use the $2 that you received from Theraflu to pay for Theraflu again. So it’s a lot of lists. Also the RR expire in two weeks instead of a month like CVS.

I had a really nice experience. I had two options starting with no RR: do 10-12 transactions and have a lower OOP, or do 2 transactions and have high OOP but better profit from the $5 RR WYB $25 in items. I chose the latter.

First Transaction
Conair Vent Brush 2pk $2
StayFree Pads $1.99
Neutrogena for Men lotion $4.99
Triaminic Strips $5
Triaminic Strips $5
Bauch & Lomb Renu Rub twin pack $9.99
Stim-U-Dent (wtf is this) $2
Before coupons $30.97 + $2.56 tax
-$1 StayFree
-$2 Renu print
-$3 Triaminic Strips
-$3 Triamnic Strips
-$2 Triaminic IVC (Adjusted price of Triaminic to $3 because coupon would not scan)
-$2 Triaminic IVC (Adjusted price of Triaminic to $3 because coupon would not scan)
=$17.97 + $2.56 tax
Paid $20.53 on debit card
Received $29 RR!! ($10 Renu, $5 WYB $25, $5 Neutrogena, $5 Triaminic, $2 StayFree, $2 Conair)<–my first RRs!!
Profit $8.47

Second Transaction (attemping to roll $10 Renu)
Just For Men Touch of Gray $6.99
Neutrogena Mens Lotion $4.99
Triaminic Strips $5
Triaminic Strips $5
Stim-U-Dent $2
Hair Stuff (not on sale but look how cute!) $1.99
Scunci Clips $2
Before coupons $26.97 +$2.66 tax
-$3 Triaminic Strips
-$3 Triaminic Strips
-$2 Triaminic IVC
-$2 Triaminic IVC
-$1 ??? I didn’t have any other qualifying coupons so I must have handed her something she pushed, I was pretty nervous, hehe.
=$19.63 incl. tax
Used $10 Renu RR
Paid $9.63 on debit card
Received $24 RR ($5 WYB $25, $5 Triaminic, $7 Just For Men, $5 Neutrogena, $2 Scunci)
Profit $16.77

Last impromptu transaction, forgot about items equaling Qs and RRs
Theraflu Liquid $5
Theraflu 6ct $5
Luden cough drops $1.19 (threw on to balance qs)
=$11.19 + $.87 tax
-$2 Therflu print
-$2 Therflu print
-$2 IVC (she only entered 1 of these instead of 2, even after I asked her at the end, oh well no big)
=$6.06 incl. tax
Used $2 Scunci RR
Paid $4.06 on debit
Received $3 RR Theraflu

Total before coupons $69.13 + $6.09 tax
After coupons incl. tax $46.22
Paid on debit card $34.22
Used $12 RR ($10 Renu, $2 Scunci)
Received $54 RR
Profit $7.78
Will get $4 back from Stim-U-Dent return

So I am missing $4 in RR and probably rolled something wrong. UPDATE Bought the non-RR producing Stim-U-Dent. I even had this written in capital letters to only get the ones that say Johnson & Johnson. Oy. Well I’ll return these and get $4 back.

I like Wags. I encourage other CVSers to check it out. Somethings I wasn’t sure about before going was how the IVCs work. Do Wags cashiers take them? Do they scan them? Can I just tell them a number? I had printed some from Google and they would not scan. When the cashier typed them into the register, it said “Not Found.” This was for Triaminic. So the answer is yes you need the ads if you can find them and other coupon books and yes it takes longer to checkout because of this. The Wag Qs that wouldn’t scan, she cut out and kept. But anyone who coupons at CVS I don’t think would have a problem adapting after a few visits.