Father's Day Quick Gift Ideas + Savings!

Father's Day is this Sunday!  I know, I'm a little late with this list, and I really should've done this last week...but for those of you who haven't thought of anything yet, you are in luck!  Here's a last minute list that I came up with and to make it better I found coupons to go along with it!  (No items from this list are from online shopping.  No time to get them delivered anyway and who wants to do over night or 2 day shipping?  Too expensive!)

• Does he need a new pair of shoes?  Famous Footwear has a 20% off printable coupon available through 6/17!  There are some nice pair of shoes for around $40.  I love Famous Footwear because they have quality name brand shoes for great prices!  Don't forget to sign up for their rewards program also while you are there!

• Is he an outdoors man?  Does he love sports?  Golf?  Fishing?  Sign up with just your email at Sports Authority and receive a printable coupon for $10 off $50 purchase!

• If he is a fashionable man, H&M has nice shirts starting from $9.95!  They also carry nice sunglasses and hats.  If you sign up for their newsletter, you will get a printable 20% off coupon through email!  I personally love everything from H&M!

• If he is a handy man, I have something for him too!  Does he need new tools?  Maybe he needs a wrench set (for $19.99)?  A hammer? Harbor Freight has a whole bunch of printable digital coupons one of them being 20% off any item.  My husband is a handy man and he goes to Harbor Freight all the time.  They have quality tools at an unbeatable price.

• Make his life easier with an electric shaver!  Couponnetwork.com and Target.com both have printable coupons for the Philips Norelco Electric Shavers!  The Norelco SensoTouch Electric Razor is $89.99.  Print the $15 off coupon from couponnetwork.com and $15 off coupon from target.com and get a whopping $30 off of this quality electric shaver!  And YES you can combine the two coupons!  Target will accept 1 Manufacturer's Coupon and 1 Target Coupon per item!  Also, both sites have $10 off of ANY Norelco Electric Shaver coupon.  I believe there are some Norelco electric shavers for around $40-$45.  If you use the 2 coupons from both sites, you can buy it just for around $20-$25! **UPDATE** I went to Target today and I saw electric shavers from $35-$40!  Which means you can score one for $15-$20!  What an awesome deal!

I hope this helped!  I'll keep you posted if I come up with any other ideas!

Happy Father's Day!

-Nerdy Mom

Couponing Tip: Buying Sunday Newspapers for Cheaper Price

If you are thinking about couponing, you should start with buying Sunday newspapers for cheap.  I buy 4 newspapers every Sunday to get 4 stacks of coupon inserts.  Where I live, a local Sunday newspaper costs $1.75 normally at super markets and convenient stores.  Philadelphia Inquirer is the metropolitan newspaper (they stopped carrying the RedPlum coupon insert) and it costs $2.00.  If you are lucky enough to live in an area that delivers coupon inserts every week, I envy you!  I live in one of those unlucky areas!  And since I'm such a penny pincher, I don't like to spend that much on newspapers especially because the only reason I get them is for coupons.  If I paid regular price for those newspapers, I'd be paying $28 a month!  Sure, the coupons I get from the newspapers and then couponing to buy groceries pays off but I just like to save a little more.

So here are few things that you can do to buy them cheaper:

• Buy them at your nearest dollar store.  I'm not sure if all dollar stores carry newspapers but I know Dollar Tree does.  The local Sunday paper (The Intelligencer or The Courier Times in my area) comes with both SmartSource and RedPlum coupon inserts and they only cost $1.

• The obvious option would be getting them delivered every Sunday to your door by subscription.  Only reason I don't like to do this is because sometimes the coupon inserts can be missing and there is no way for you to check them before you buy them. Also, the special price is usually set for a certain time and after that period is over, they'll start charging you regular cost of the newspaper or more.

• Go to the super market or convenient store at the end of the day and ask if they can sell the newspapers for a cheaper price.  It's a hit or miss though, the stores may do it for you or may not, and by the end of the day they may be out of newspapers too.

I go to the Dollar Tree every Sunday morning to get 4 newspapers.  I think it's a great deal.  Do you know any other cheaper ways to get coupon inserts?  Let us know!

-Nerdy Mom

Put Those CVS ExtraBucks to Use! See How I MADE Money from This Shopping Trip!

I can't believe some people actually throw away their ExtraBucks!  They don't even look at their receipt!  Sometimes I just want to say right to their face, "HELLO, YOU ARE THROWING AWAY MONEY!"  You know what though?  That was me before.  Not caring what I spent my money on.  I'm so glad couponing has opened my eyes to another level of shopping for groceries.

Anyway, my CVS ExtraBucks were about to expire so I had to make a quick trip.  I'm usually good at tracking when my coupons are about to expire but I've been so busy with the blog that it completely threw me off!  This sale is from 6/3 - 6/9.  I had $7.99 worth of ExtraBucks to begin with for this shopping trip, so I ended up paying $5.68 out of pocket but MADE $10 BACK!  So I actually made $4.32 from this shopping trip!  Oh, how I love couponing!  I caught some of these great deals so I'm glad I got to use those ExtraBucks before they expired.  I scanned my receipt to set an example(click to zoom in).

Here is a step by step guide of what I did:

I bought:

• Crest Pro-health Mouth Wash 1 liter $5.99 (Buy 1, receive $5.00 ExtraBucks) limit 2
• Lady Speed Stick $2.99 (Buy 1, receive $2.00 ExtraBucks) limit 1
• 2 Starbucks Refreshers 12 oz. $1.50 (Buy 2, receive $1.00 ExtraBucks) limit 1
• 3 Hershey's Air Delight Chocolate Bars 1.44 oz $1.19 (Buy 2, get 1 Free) limit 9
• 3 Hershey's Milk Chocolate Almond Bars 1.45 oz $1.19 (Buy 2, get 1 Free) limit 9
• Oral-B Pro-Health All-In-One with Crossaction Bristles $2.77 (Buy 1, receive $2.00 ExtraBucks) limit 2
• 2 CoverGirl LashBlast Waterproof Volume Mascara $8.99 (Buy 1 Get 1 50% off)

Coupons Used:

• 1 - $0.20 off 1 Crest Rinse from P&G Sunday coupon book 6/3 Final Price: $0.79*
• 1 - $1.00 off 1 Any Lady Speed Stick from a coupon booklet I got from buying Colgate Toothpaste last week Final Price: Free*
• 2 - $1.00 off 1 Starbucks Refreshers Beverage 12 oz. can from starbucks.com (coupon is no longer available sorry!) Final Price: Free*
• 3 - Free Hershey's Air Delight Aerated Milk Chocolate Bar, when you buy 1 Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar from Sunday Paper 5/20 SmartSource Final Price: $0.25 each after buying 6*
• 1 - $0.20 off 1 Oral B Pro-Health Toothbrush from P&G Sunday coupon book 6/3 Final Price: $0.57*
• 1 - B1G1 Free CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Mascara from P&G Sunday coupon book 6/3 and,
• 1 - $4.00 off any $12.00 cosmetic purchase from CVS Coupon Machine (Scan your CVS ExtraCare Card at the bright red machine usually near the entrance, the coupons are hit or miss though, it's pretty random) Final Price: $1.04 each after buying 2*

I saved $41.13 today. 

* - Price after coupons and ExtraBucks

I almost jumped up and down for joy when I also received my free $5.00 ExtraBucks from the CVS coupon machine.  You can get it every $50 you spend on beauty products.  You don't think I REALLY spent $50 do you?  That will be another how-to I'll be covering soon.

Ok, so let's try a different scenario instead of my scenario where I used coupons and my $7.99 ExtraBucks that I got from before.  If you do the scenario where you just buy the items that gets you ExtraBucks, it's still a decent deal.  You'd have to pay $14.75 +tax out of pocket at first but you'd get $10 back in ExtraBucks.  So it'll be like paying $4.75.  Not too shabby huh?

Read: How to BUY for FREE!

-Nerdy Mom

How To Take Advantage of Catalinas and Pay Less Out of Your Pocket

I paid $28.49 for all this.  Not the best I've done but I really needed some toilet paper and paper towels and ShopRite happened to have a pretty good deal going on this week through 6/2/12:

The Sparkle paper towels and Angel Soft toilet papers were on sale for $5.88 each.  Which is a nice deal.  But on top of that, according to the ad, if you spend $20 on these participating products you get $5 off on your next shopping trip.  At the cash register, there is a little machine usually near the receipt printer and when you make the qualifying purchases, a $5 coupon will print from that machine and the clerk should hand it over to you with the receipt.  In the couponing world those coupons are called "catalinas". 

So how can you take advantage of those catalinas and pay less out your pocket in your shopping trip?  The trick is to do 2 separate transactions.  All you need to do is kindly ask the clerk if you can do 2 separate transactions and they never have a problem to do so.  Here is what I did:

1st Transaction

2 Sparkle Paper Towels - $5.88 each (on sale with club card)

2 Angel Soft Toilet Papers - $5.88 each (on sale with club card)

8 YoCrunch - $0.60 each (on sale with club card)

1 Box Fudgesicles - $0.88 each (on sale with club card)

*Coupons Used:

1 $1.00 off for 2 Sparkle Paper Towels from previous Sunday paper

1 $1.00 off for 2 Angel Soft Paper Towels from previous Sunday paper

2 $0.65 off for 4 YoCrunch from www.couponnetwork.com (after they tripled the coupons I got all of them for free)

Total: $24.70 after tax + $5 catalina from spending $20 on participating products

2nd Transaction

1 20 lb ShopRite Long Grain Rice $8.79 (with club card)

*Coupons Used:

1 $5 catalina from 1st transaction

Total: $3.79

It's that easy.  I wish I had this kind of knowledge on grocery shopping a long time ago.  Oh well, better late than never!  I hope you found this post beneficial.  I'm such a nerd when it comes to saving money! :)

Happy saving!

-Nerdy Mom

How to BUY Drug Store Items for FREE!

Getting stuff for free is so easy with drugstores these days!  They actually advertise them like the picture on the left!  You will see this on the Walgreen's ad from this week on the last page.  So how does it work?  Let's say you are going to buy the Tecnu First Aid Gel.  The sale price is $7.  Then it says you'll get $7 Register Rewards good on next purchase.  You pay the $7 out of pocket at the register and  you will get a little long coupon with your receipt that looks like this:

You may not like the idea of having to pay out of your pocket first but, you can use that $7 register reward towards other items such as ANOTHER FREE ITEM!  Right below the first aid gel, you will see Youtheory Collagen Type 1 & 3 for $7 sale price.  It also says you get $7 Register Rewards good on next purchase.  You can use the $7 Register Reward that you got from the first aid gel and use it to buy the Collagen pills.  Guess what? You get ANOTHER Register Rewards for $7!  You won't have to pay a penny! (You can actually do 2 separate transactions for this in the same shopping trip) Now you can save that $7 Register Rewards for similar sales next week!  I save my Register Rewards and hunt for sales like this every week.  It's like getting to try all these items for free!

My total for the above items came out to $20.08 after coupons and before tax.  I used a $0.35 coupon for the toothpaste and used $0.55 for the shaving lotion.  I got $2 back from shaving lotion, $3 from toothpaste, $7 from first aid gel, and $7 from Youtheory Collagen.  So I got $19 total back in Register Rewards which means all this stuff was for $1.08!  You have to try this it's so much fun!  Oh, and remember to read the fine print on the Register Rewards - you can't use it on certain items such as dairy, lottery tickets, etc...  If you have any questions about couponing please don't hesitate to contact me!  Have fun free shopping!

-Nerdy Mom

Free 2.7 oz Crest Toothpaste at CVS! No Coupons!

Woohoo!  I love sales like this!  CVS is running a promotion this week - when you purchase Crest or Oral B Clinical Gum Protection, you will receive $3.00 Extra Bucks.  The Crest Complete 2.7 oz costs around $2.99, and after $3.00 Extra Bucks it'll be free!  You will get the $3.00 Extra Bucks after you pay but you can use it for any item in the store in your next shopping trip.  It's kind of like a gift card!  Make sure you have your ExtraCare Card and the limit is two, so you won't get the Extra Bucks after you buy 2.

Crest Complete, 2.7 oz - $2.97-$2.99

Pay: $2.97-$2.99

Get $3 Extra Bucks (limit 2)

Final Cost:  Free!

-Nerdy Mom

Fabulous Baby Item Deals at Target this week! Starting from $0.24!

If you are running low on baby shampoos and lotions you can stock up on these right now.  Target is having some great baby item deals this week!  And best of all, no Sunday newspaper coupons!  You can print them right from your home!

Up & Up Petroleum Jelly Skin Protectant, 2.5 oz. $1.24, Regular Price
Use $1.00/1 – Up & Up Baby Skin or Hair Care Item, Excludes Trial Size, One per guest, Target Coupon – (target.com)
Price after coupon: $0.24

Up & Up Baby Lotion, 15 oz. $1.49, Regular Price
Use $1.00/1 – Up & Up Baby Skin or Hair Care Item, Excludes Trial Size, One per guest, Target Coupon – (target.com)
Price after coupon: $0.49

Up & Up Tear-Free Baby Shampoo, 15 oz. $1.49, Regular Price
Use $1.00/1 – Up & Up Baby Skin or Hair Care Item, Excludes Trial Size, One per guest, Target Coupon – (target.com)
Price after coupon: $0.49

Up & Up Baby Hair & Body Wash, 15 oz. $1.52, Regular Price
Use $1.00/1 – Up & Up Baby Skin or Hair Care Item, Excludes Trial Size, One per guest, Target Coupon – (target.com)
Price after coupon: $0.52

Up & Up Baby Hair Detangler Spray, 10 oz. $1.74, Regular Price
Use $1.00/1 – Up & Up Baby Skin or Hair Care Item, Excludes Trial Size, One per guest, Target Coupon – (target.com)
Price after coupon: $0.74

Below isn't a baby item but I just thought it was a good deal to post.

Up & Up Liquid Soap, 7.5 oz Pump $0.97
Use $0.50/1 – Up & Up Liquid Hand Soap, Target Coupon – (target.com)
Price after coupon: $0.47

85% Savings on Groceries! Saved $98.00!

My shopping trip from ShopRite on Saturday!  Sorry I don't have all the coupon links to the groceries on this post, but this was a last minute shopping trip and the sales are already over!  But I wanted to share with you the picture and the receipt (the receipt was actually too long to scan) so I scanned the bottom part.

The total savings reflect ShopRite's sales and coupons.

I will post my other shopping trips with instructions more often!

Enjoy your holiday!

-Nerdy Mom

My Target Trip Today: See how I paid $7.25 for all this!

 click to zoom

My last minute trip to Target today before this week's sale is over!
I'm glad I got this deal because I was running low on bandaids and I can't wait to try the Kid's Neosporin Foam because my little one is always getting hurt somewhere!


1 MP Gallon water - $0.89
2 Morning Star veggie burgers - $3.00 each (price cut)
4 MP Mix frozen vegetables - $0.99 each (price cut)
1 Kid's Neosporin Foam - $3.54
1 Bandaid 40ct - $1.97
1 Benadryl anti-itch stick - $2.39
1 Johnson & Johnson Red First Aid Bag - $4.69
Total Before coupons: $23.44


Coupons used:
2 - $1.00/1 off Morning Star Veggie Burgers (under grocery)
1 - $1.00/4 off MP Frozen Mixed Vegetables

1 - $1.00/1 Neosporin Product from SmartSource 4/15 or $2.00/1 – Neosporin Antibiotic Product – (neosporinfirstaid.com) (too bad i didn't know that there was a better value coupon!)

1 - $2.00/1 Benadryl Product – (benadryl.com) must sign up
1 - $0.50/1 Band-Aid Product (band-aid.com)

FREE Johnson & Johnson's First Aid Bag when you buy 3 participating first aid products (purchase must exceed $4.69)

1 - $5.00 Gift Card (from purchasing 2 Banana Boat Cool Zone earlier this week)


Total $7.25 It could've been $6.25! Oh well, I need to get over that.  Haha.

Must See Deal: Old Navy Tank Top $2 + 10% Coupon!

I can never have enough tank tops!

Right now through 5/28, Old Navy tank tops are just at $2.
Combine that with a 10% coupon that you can print at Old Navy Facebook Page!

You can score 5 tank tops for just $9.00!  What a great deal!

-Nerdy Mom

Couponing Tip: How to use store coupons at other stores

click to zoom in

Have you ever gotten one of these?  Ever wondered how-or if -you can you use them?  I am here to put your fear of couponing away little by little!

First of all, they are exactly what they seem.  You get a certain amount off when you present these coupons at the cash register.  How do you get them?  By purchasing certain items that are running special promotions that are advertised in the ad flyer.  After you pay at the register, there is a separate little machine near the cash register that will print one of these coupons and the clerk should hand them over to you with the receipt.

What is the difference between these two coupons?  On the right side of the coupons they both say "SHOPRITE".  But near the expiration date, the coupon on top says "MANUFACTURER CPN" and one on the bottom says "STORE COUPON".  

So how can you use these Shoprite coupons at other super markets or stores?  The one that says "STORE COUPON" cannot be used anywhere else but Shoprite.  The bar code is specifically for Shoprite scanners.  Now the one that says "MANUFACTURER CPN" can be used at another super market.  Why?  Because manufacturer coupons are straight from the manufacturers(not from stores) and the super markets can send it out to the manufacturer to get the value of the coupon redeemed.

Check with your super market and ask if they take competitor's coupons.  Most will say yes, as long as it says "manufacturer coupon".  Some stores may have store policies that are more strict so my advice is just ask.  It never hurts to.  

You are a consumer and you are entitled to save money.

I go to both Giant and Shoprite frequently and always use Giant coupons at Shoprite and vice versa.  Whichever store that has the best deals that week, I take my coupons there.

-Nerdy Mom

P.S.  If you have any couponing questions please don't hesitate to ask!

Gerber coupons: Save on formula, baby food and more!

Check out these coupons!  Save on formula, baby food and more! click here

-Nerdy Mom

Awesome Deal: 4 Pack YoBaby/YoToddler $0.25 per Yogurt at Giant!

If you have a baby or toddler that loves yogurts, there is an unbeatable deal going on at Giant!  They are $2.00 each this week for a 4 pack YoBaby/YoToddler yogurts!  To top it off, you can use these printable coupons ($0.50 off for a 4 pack), but make sure to look through and print the correct ones.  You also have to sign up to get the coupons and they only allow you to print once and I believe the coupons reset every month.  I made 4 different accounts just so I can get more coupons.

Click to zoom

Now the deal gets better if your Giant doubles coupons!  You will be able to score these for $1.00 for the 4 pack which makes it only $0.25 per yogurt!  Here is my receipt to set an example. :)

Oh, and make sure you have your Giant's club card!

-Nerdy Mom

Great Find: 2 Banana Boat Cool Zone for $0.98 at Target!

Summer is near and you know what that means... SUN BURN!  Good thing I stocked up on enough sunblock for the summer :) But just in case you didn't, you're going to need this! Here's a great deal that's going on at Target.  I picked up 2 of these for $5.98 +tax AND I got a $5.00 gift card!  Which means I only paid $0.98 +tax!

Here's how I did it:

Banana Boat Sport Coolzone,$4.99 ea.
Get a $5 Target Gift Card when you buy 2 participating Banana Boat products

I used 2 - $1/1 Banana Boat Product coupons from SmartSource from 4/22 Sunday Paper

and printed 2 - $1/1 Banana Boat Sport Sun Care Item Target printable under "beauty"

Even if you don't have the SmartSource coupon, you can still get a pretty good deal regardless,  paying just $2.98 +tax after the gift card for 2.


Oh and those of you who don't know, you CAN combine 1 Target coupon and 1 Manufacturer's coupon per item.


-Nerdy Mom

Gerber Fruit Strips Vs. Archer Farms (Target Brand)

Please click on the picture to zoom in.

Cheaper & healthier alternative to Gerber snack.  This is what I get for Jae's one of on-the-go snacks.

I want to make this short and to the point so here it is :)

Gerber "Graduates" Fruit Strips:  

1. $2.49-$2.99
2. 5 strips
3. Non-organic

Archer Farms Organic Real Fruit Strips :

1. $2.99 Reg. Price ($2.69 Temporary Price Cut)
2. 10 strips
3. Organic

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