$1.50 Money Maker Excedrin at Walgreens 2/21-2/27

This week Excedrin is on sale at Walgreens for $2.50 each. There are printable coupons for $2/1 Excedrin at coupons.com. The menstrual variety (pink box) is giving back $2 in Register Rewards. Although labeled for menstrual issues it is the same active ingredients as the migraine. So just pop it into an old bottle for the man in your life.

Here’s the math:
(1) Excedrin menstrual 2.50
-(1) $2/1 excedrin IP
.50 oop get back $2

Of course you can print two coupons per computer, which means an extra $3 this week for you. Good way to roll some RR forward as well.

Its Greek to Me

Many of you will be familiar with the phenomenon of Greek Yogurt. I have stood back as I found it to be a bit expensive to buy. However this week and next the sales and coupons aligned and I found myself in possession of coupons for both Oikos by Stonyfield Farm and Chobani.

Chobani is on sale at Shaws for .99 this week and the coupon is for $1 off. Chobani seems to be $1 or .99 at quite a few stores which explains why people buy coupons on Ebay for .40-.60 each. Its comes in a lovely range of flavors that include plain, vanilla, honey, strawberry, blueberry and pomegranate. Fruit on the bottom. Unfortunately I bought all pomegranate and the fruit includes the seeds and is cooked/processed. So big crunchy seeds get stuck in your teeth. Not bad if you avoid it.

Oikos is on sale for 1.29 each at Shaws next week and their coupon is also for $1 off. Oikos is just over $1 at most stores which similarly explains why their coupons are going for $1-2 per set of ten on Ebay. it comes in a range of flavors that includes plain, vanilla, honey, strawberry and blueberry. The ad says chocolate and caramel coming soon in the four pack. I’m looking forward to trying it out next week.

Greek yogurt also comes in a couple other brands such as Brown Cow. Its thicker and creamier than regular yogurt and silkier on the tongue if not a bit more tart. Kind of like tart sour cream (the full fat kind). Definitely a nice change from the watery junk they sell as yogurt these days.

So pick up a cup or two at a great cost and expand your horizons.

Need vs. Want

In today’s still crumbling economy, it is a rat race to get to the good deals. Many people seem to think that they are entitled to buy thirty of something since there are thirty on the shelf, even if its the last thirty in the store. Still others think they can judge you for taking ten of those thirty items, since as a single adult you can’t possibly use ten, even if there are twenty left for the next shopper and more out back beside.

It seems everywhere I turn there are rude ignorant people out to make me feel bad for shopping and finding and using coupons. Which only goes about creating hard feelings and showing new couponers that they cannot trust anyone because you never know when someone might go from friendly to jealous and stab you in the back.

A popular forum listed in the glossary here has banned me for being “rude” without any prior warning. Which leads me to believe they just don’t like me. I’ve been a mod and an admin on enough large forums to know you don’t EVER deviate from your own rules unless someone tries to hack your forum. Which I clearly did not.And since no clear example of me being mean could be furnished it smelled of simple favoritism. Just because you run a forum/blog/website doesn’t mean you are above the law. It just means you have to continually ban people who see you for the greedy, self serving brats you are. Obviously you do this only for monetary gain and the better chance to get the coupons you want, since people are too blind to realize that people trade with mods/admins hoping to gain favoritism. Sickening.

Another forum has a member with a signature line about how it must be Smash&grabbing if you have more winetag than you can possibly use instead of leaving enough for others. When I contacted her to mention I make one to two dozen or more trips to almost a dozen different stores and thus have alot more coupons than some people, she still said obviously since I was hoarding winetags I was greedy. Now if I was hoarding peanut butter I was not. Contradictory or what? My mention that several members wouldn’t find me greedy as I sent them large envelopes of winetags, without asking a thing in return, was ignored since clearly it did not support her theory.

Something in the chase, the adrenaline rush, the missed deal seems to bring out the rabid fangs of jealousy. That most couponers are women and thus more emotional and hormonal doesn’t seem to help. We tend to get so caught up in trying to find the good deal we forget to not turn on each other without provocation. Instead we start calling each other greedy and slamming people for asking that they get what they are supposed to and tell them they should “fly under the radar” at all costs. Which is just another euphemism for bending over and taking it and praying you can fix it other ways. Which makes you feel victimized and weak, not empowered for taking your finances into your own hands.

My own feelings are that you have to look at yourself in the mirror and sleep with yourself at night. If you take every winetag and tearpad you see and sell them on Ebay, I can’t say I agree with you, but you aren’t going to stop because I tell you to. Calling you greedy isn’t going to make it different either, and a newbie is going to see right through to the jealous rage causing the issue.

I have always been blessed to find plenty of coupons and deals. I do go out of my way at times to do so, and thus work hard to get what I have. Yes winetags are hard to find in some areas of Maine, but I drive 30mins out of my way to search in York, another 30mins to search in Wells. If I find what I want I’ve earned it. If you don’t want to search in new places you probably won’t find them. Thats the trade off. I trade my winetags with others, and find more often than not the person whining about not finding any also wants every last winetag I have but not to trade their own winetags in return. Which tells me they are very much greedy and jealous and just mean spirited. Karma clearly isn’t going to reward such behavior.

So go forth, search and be frugal. But remember to use your own discretion so that you don’t have doubts as to whether you’ve been greedy and mean about it.

Frugal Friday Apple Crisp

After a rather disappointing day I decided to make myself (and my husband when he gets home from work) a nice dish of apple crisp. Having all the ingredients on hand is priceless in itself, but its the cost of these items that truly highlights the delight with which I will enjoy it when its done.

(1) carton of Breyers vanilla ice cream (made $1 buying after coupon and CAT)

(3) medium Granny Smith apples (free with produce WTs)

(1) cup of brown sugar (.50 for bag after coupon)

(1) cup Quaker old-fashioned oats (.30 for whole canister after coupon)

(1/2) cup of flour (.60 for bag after coupon and CAT)

(1) stick butter (.25 per stick after coupon)

(1) assortment of spices (varying prices but cheap after coupons)

Our baking dish was bought on clearance at Target for 1.49. Its non-stick Nami green apple ware. Its amazing even at full price. And of course afterward I will use my free dishsoap to clean out the pan and other dishes.