Paige Hall, NC
Anxiously awaiting the new Walgreens!!
After not doing the Easy Saver rebates for almost two years (I know, I know, youre all shaking your heads!) I decided I needed to get back in the game. We moved here two years ago, and there was not a Walgreens within 25 miles, so I just kind of stopped doing those rebates. Think of all the free things I have missed out on! Its actually been hard to keep up with all of the wonderful deals you all post on Chit Chat, since we live so far from anything. I know from reading Tips and Talk that I shouldnt complain, some of you are much father away, but our closest grocery store or drug store is 19 miles away, and with gas prices rising, it was hard to shop as much as I would like to. Before we moved here, I was used to having four grocery stores, a new Super Walmart, Kmart, and three drugstores within six miles of our house. Imagine the culture shock when I realized how long it would take me to drive to anything from our new house. The area is super quiet, I have a big yard and low property taxes, but its not very convenient for bargain shopping. I just learned to consolidate trips on the days my son was in preschool. Luckily, he attends preschool in Raleigh, a really good sized city, making it easy to shop in all types of stores. Tuesdays and Thursdays became my power shopping days. I would scan the new grocery store ads on Wednesdays online, since we only subscribe to the Sunday paper, make my lists and get the coupons together, put the cooler full of ice packs in the trunk in the mornings, and hit the stores as soon as I dropped Alex off at school. I even mapped the way to a Harris Teeter in Fuquay-Varina that tripled to .99 everyday. Some of you reading this know the store Im talking about, and unfortunately, no more everyday tripling, but I had just enough time to get there, hit the thrift store- they have a super one there, get all of my deals at Harris Teeter, and get back to Raleigh in time to pick him up. Needless to say, that was a lot of driving in one day, but I think the deals were worth it! We have since traded our gas hog Chevrolet Trailblazer for a Honda Accord, and get at least twice the gas mileage as before! That has helped a lot. We didnt need such a large vehicle anymore, as we only have one child, and no more baby gear to haul around!
Recently, while in Wake Forest, which is where my closest stores are, I noticed some construction going on in front of the Super Target shopping center. As I turned the corner, I saw the sign - Opening Soon- Walgreens. I almost ran into the curb I was so excited! Easy Saver Rebates here I come! Time to get back into practice reading the Walgreens Double Play list again. The store is scheduled to be open by the end of the summer. Believe me, I will be one of the first in line when it does!
Something else besides moving to a rural area that has slowed down my deal searching is that I started a home jewelry business last fall. To get my home office set up, I put into use a lot of the tips I had learned from all of you at Refund Cents. Of course, I would need lots of printer paper-so after learning from you all that you could trade in empty printer cartridges for a ream of paper, I started collecting cartridges from anyone that would give them to me! All set with the paper- now other supplies- I got pencils for free after rebate, staplers and paper clips from the clearance endcaps at Target, spiral notebooks for .08 during back to school sales at Walmart, and for those of you that remember the Office Depot free after rebate blitz from last winter?- I think thats right- plastic file crates in different sizes and colors, cardboard file boxes, and pens galore that I had been saving.
Shopping here hasnt been that bad, though. I have a nice Kroger to shop in while in Wake Forest, with doubling to .50 everyday and they do super doubles several times a year. Here is a picture of my son with some of the deals I got on the most recent super doubles (to $1.50) shopping spree. Some of the things I got free were- 11 toothpastes, 3 toothbrushes, 9 deodorants, 6 jars of pickles, 3 Eclipse mints, 2 EZ Marinaders, and 3 cartons of juice. I also got 14 boxes of Kelloggs cereal for fifty cents each. Not free, but a great deal anyway. Just last week, I got two free movie tickets from Kroger for buying $50 worth of select items. Of course, I used coupons on everything I bought, so I didnt really spend $50. They were all things that we needed anyway, so the movie tickets were a great bonus. Now, we just need a babysitter so my husband and I can have a date night! I have also loved being able to use Kroger Upons, internet coupons that you can add to your Kroger customer card- that of course, I learned about from reading Chit Chat. My most recent score using those was with Aquafresh toothpaste and toothbrush deals- I got several for free combining the upons with coupons! Kroger has also been great about sending little coupon booklets in the mail every month or so. Id have to say Kroger is my favorite store to buy groceries, although Im envious of the deals some of you get from Albertsons 10 for $10 sales! Maybe I could plan a trip
I have really enjoyed reading about all of your stockpiles and seeing the pictures posted on Picture Trail of how you have everything organized. My stockpile isnt a fourth of what most of you have, but Im getting back in gear. The Easy Saver rebates should help me build that up a lot!! Maybe by next spring Ill be ready for a yard sale. I havent had one since we moved from our old house. Ill keep reading about all of your tips for holding a great sale, so I can be successful too! Maybe some of the Memorial Day rebates from Ace Hardware would be good sellers- I plan to hit Ace today armed with battery coupons and the rebate form in hand. I havent done any Ace rebates yet, so hopefully Ill have good luck with those. We have a new Ace Hardware in Creedmoor, so maybe they will be fully stocked.
Thanks to all of the money saving tips I have learned, Refund Cents and all its readers has helped our family reduce our grocery bill, buy toys- Alex loves his buy one get one free Little Tikes trucks with free shipping, gifts, and housewares- the flannel Wamsutta sheets have been my favorite- for next to nothing on Amazon, and even helped me set up an almost free home office for my new business, all the while being able to save us enough to stay home with our son. That by far is the greatest gift of all for me! Keep up the great work everyone, and thanks for sharing all the great deals and coupon codes you all find.
Paige Hall, Creedmoor, North Carolina
