Littlest Savings

If you have a baby or one on the way it one of life's most amazing experiences... and one of the most expensive.  Here are a few resources I have used to help save some money on our newest family member:

Formula Savings

http://similac.com/

https://www.enfamil.com/app/iwp/ConsumerRegisterLoadConsentInfo.do

http://www.gerber.com/AllStages/Login/Default.aspx

http://www.brightbeginnings.com/ Call this number to request coupons (800) 410-9629 .  You have to specify the top three stores you shop at and you can make a request for coupons every month.
http://www.membersmarkformula.com/free_sample.aspx

Also, talk to your pediatrician about using formula.  Sometimes they have special coupons and rebate forms not available through other means.  Ask for samples and explain to them if you are having trouble affording the formula, especially if you need a super expensive specialty one. When my daughter was switched to a hypoallergenic formula the doctor arranged to have a case sent to me. Also, have the discussion with your doctor about how to use the different brands and if generic versions are all right for your child.  My doctor surprised me with my son by saying that since he had no feeding issues we were free to try the generic formulations as well as switch between brands depending on what I had coupons for.  For us as long as it was milk based I could use any brand or if we were using soy then we had to stick to soy based but didn't have to be brand loyal. My son didn't have any issues with changing but be sure to get the green light from your doctor first.  Check Ebay for formula rebate forms.  You can also buy formula checks from other people on Ebay but that gets into a grey area with couponing ethics.  You can combine your formula checks with manufacturer coupons.  For example, I buy a lot of Enfamil Toddler formula.  These are about  $17 at most stores.  I use a $5 manufacturer printable from coupons.com and then $10 worth of formula checks to get my price down to $2 a can. There is a coupon for $5 off a can of Enfamil on coupons.com right now.  And then keep an eye out for the catalina's that print when you buy formula.  I have had some print for $10 a can so these can be pretty valuable.  

Diapers 

http://www.huggies.com/en-US/promotions/coupons
http://www.pampers.com/en_US/potty-kit-request
While you are there be sure to sign up for the home mailing list and both Huggies and Pampers offer rewards programs.  So far I have received several packs of Huggies, swim diapers, music downloads and from Pampers a Deigo potty seat which will come in handy some day.
As far as buying diapers I typically buy at the drugstores when they have good sales.  In a cruch I have found that both Amazon and Diapers.com offer competitive pricing and fast delivery. Diapers.com offers new customers $10 off their first order and you can mail in your manufacturer coupons. Delivery is free with a $49 order and they have a great referral program.  If you use my referral code you will get an extra 15% off.
http://www.diapers.com/index.aspx      My Referral Code: SCRA7747


Other items:
http://www.blogger.com/goog_130446388

This month you can print coupons for $5/$25 on Gerber bedding, $1 off Onesies or Sleep N' Plays and $1 off gowns or Sleep 'n Plays.  Check the end caps at Target for these items.  They go on sale when the patterns change and you can get these items really inexpensively.

http://www.parents.com/american-baby-magazine/

http://www.johnsonsbaby.com/offers Get $2 off 2 Bedtime Bath Products

http://www.earthsbest.com/node/311 Organic Diaper & Baby Food Coupons

http://beechnut.com/  Sign up for newsletter to get freebies by mail and printable coupons by email

http://www.desitin.com/which-desitin-product-should-you-choose $1 off Desitin

Rewards Clubs

http://rewardsrus.toysrus.com/enroll.cfm  Get members only coupons and sale alerts

Albertson's 7/28/10 to 8/03/10

Ok guys, this is it.  My very first time bringing you the coupon match ups and deals for the week.  Go easy on me.  Keep in mind that we may night have the same coupons here in Colorado as other areas.  And please, if you find something I have missed, let me know!

I am pretty excited about the sale at Albertson's this week.  Typically I won't go to Albertson's unless there are incredible deals to be had because I feel like they have toyed with my emotions with offering double and triple coupons, then taking it away, then bringing it back.  How can a girl know what to expect?  Anyways, here you go.....

$2 Each When You Buy 10 PLUS $10 Off Catalina For Your Next Visit

Participating Items Include:

Kellogg's Cereal -various $1/2 which would make for 50 cent per box cereal
http://coupons.redplum.com/offers/default.aspx?Id=LogicalMediaCD7968b&DefaultZipCode=
$1/2 Select Kellogg's Raisin Bran Cereals, exp. 9-19-10 (RP 07/25/10)
$1.25/3 Kellogg's Cereal, exp. 8-8-10 (RP 06/27/10)
$1/2 Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats Cereal, exp. 8-22-10 (RP 07/11/10)
http://www2.kelloggs.com/Product/KelloggCoupon.aspx?id=1992
$1/1 Kellogg's Cinnabon Cereal, exp. 8-8-10 (RP 06/27/10)

Kellogg's Clever Kids Fruit Snacks $1 off 1 here-one print per computer 
http://www.redplum.com/pages/ViewOffer.aspx?id=1521611&frm=0&pl=true  

Kellogg's Nutri Grain Bars
$0.75/1 Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Cereal Bars, exp. 9-5-10 (SS 07/11/10) 
also you may have some from inside your cereal boxes

Kebbler Town House Crackers ( If Flatbread Crisps are included)
http://www.snackpicks.com/couponHolder_without.aspx
$0.75/1 Keebler Town House Flatbread Crisps, exp. 9-5 (SS 7/11/10)
$1/2 Keebler Town House Crackers, exp. 8-1-10 (RP 06/06/10)

Kellogg's Pop-Tarts
$1/2 Kellogg's Pop-Tarts, exp. 9-5-10 (RP 07/11/10)
$1/2 Kellogg's Pop Tarts, exp. 8-8-10 (RP 06/13/10)

MorningStar Farms Entree's
http://www.morningstarfarms.com/coupon.aspx
$0.75/1 Morningstar Farms Veggie Product, exp. 8-22-10 (RP 06/27/10)

Here's my plan:

Kellogg's Cinnabon Cereal- 2x $1 off $1
Kellogg's Clever Kids- $1 off 1
Morningstar Farms x 2 $1 off 1
Keebler Townhouse x 2 .75 off
Nutri-Grain Bars x 3 use .75 off and $1/2

10 items at $2 each=$20
less $10 catalina
less $8.25 in coupons
$11.75 out of pocket and $10 catalina to do it all again...or use towards the P and G $10 /$40 deal

Speaking of the P & G $10 off $40 deal here it is:

Pampers Box $17.99
$2/1 Select Pampers Diapers, exp. 7-31-10 (P&G 07/04/10)
$1.50/1 Pampers Diapers or Pants, exp. 7-31-10 (P&G 07/04/10)
$2/1 Pampers Cruisers, exp. 7-31-10 (RP 06/20/10)
$1.50/1 Pampers Diapers or Pants, exp. 7-31-10 (P&G 06/06/10)
$1/1 Pampers Cruisers Diapers (P&G MIR Booklet)

Tide $5.99
$1/1 Tide Detergent, exp. 7-31-10 (P&G 07/04/10)
$0.35/1 Tide Product, exp. 7-31-10 (P&G 06/06/10)

Downy $4.99
$0.50/1 Downy Product, exp. 7-31-10 (P&G 06/06/10)

Downy Liquid or Sheet Fabric Softener $1/1 7/31/10 Rouge Magazine $1/1 Downy Liquid or Sheet Fabric Softener, exp. 7-31 (Rouge Magazine)
Downy Product $1/1 Unknown P&G MIR Coupon Booklet $1/1 Downy Product (P&G MIR Booklet)


I will report back after I get some more prices and see if I can come up with a decent deal.  If you really need Tide, and are brave at heart, you can take the Albertson's ad to Target and get a price match.  Then it would be $5.99 less $1 Tide and $1 Target-Tide coupon which would make it $3.99 per bottle. If you are in need of diapers have Target price match the $17.99 per box from the Albertson's ad and use the $2 off Pampers box Target coupon and a $2 manufacturer to bring your box price to $13.99.  Luvs Jumbo packs are $6.99 at my store and there is a $2 off manufacturer and a $1 off Target to make them $3.99.

Free Swim Diapers!

I redeemed my Huggies points tonight for a pack of swim diapers which are going to come in super handy with swim lessons starting tonight.  My daughter is taking classes first then my son so I will have two wet kids at the same time which is much better than going seperately and having wet towels to wash 4 days instead of 2. Diaper value $10.  Getting into the rec center for just the price of the class twice a week, priceless!      Join Huggies Enjoy The Ride at

https://enjoytheriderewards.com/default.aspx?c=us&bhcp=1

July Challenge 7/19/10

I tried the Amazon diaper deal and am happy to report it is working just as expected. I used a $5 Swagbucks gift card and charged $2.59 to my bank card so just $2.59 out of pocket for a 56 pack of Huggies Overnights which will last approximately 2 months since we just use these at night. You will want to get the 20% off coupon code from this month's Parenting magazine and you do have to sign up for their subscription service which you can cancel or keep getting a good deal on diapers indefinitely. You can also get a pretty good deal on wipes or other diapers.

Since these are usually about $20 a box I am going to call it $17.41 towards the July Challenge.

Item(s) Subtotal:
$15.19
Shipping/Handling:
$16.13
Promotion Applied:
-$4.56
Free Shipping:
-$16.13
Promotion Applied:
-$3.04

-----
Total Before Tax:
$7.59
Estimated Tax:
$0.00
Gift Certificate/Card Amount:
$5.00

-----
Grand Total:
$2.59Payment

Amazon Diaper Deals

There are several diaper deals this week. Amazon has a big box of Huggies overnights for $10.63 for about 56 diapers after sale and signing up for auto delivery club (you can cancel right after or keep it and get this good deal every month). There are also good deals on wipes and Pampers. If I get my e giftcards from Swagbucks soon I'll test it out.

Also, at Target Huggies and Pull Ups are $8.99. Big packs of wipes are $5.49. You would use the $3 off Huggies from coupons.com and $2 off wipes (no longer available) and combine with the Target printable $3.50 off when you buy both for a price of $5.98 for both. You can also TRY to use the Target coupon for $4 off a Toy Story toy wyb Huggies Pull Ups. If you bought Pull Ups instead there is only a $2 manufacturer coupon so it would be $1 more which is still a good price for a pack, wipes and a toy. Some cashiers might not go along with using both Target coupons since one says diaper and the other says training pants so your mileage may vary on this. I'll let you know how it goes when I try it out.
UPDATE- worked perfectly, received my Huggies in two days for only $2.59.  I LOVE AMAZON 

So back to diapers ....

Sorry but I really have a charge on this. Like I said, in the before days, I thought nothing of paying $10 a pack for diapers. Then I realized I had been paying $10, twice a week for something I THREW AWAY and would pay $10, twice a week for the next 102 weeks. Yikes, it really adds up fast! I have made it my mission to reduce that as much as humanly possible. For starters, I started combining the coupons I got in the paper with sales and found that I could get a jumbo pack for about $5-6. Then I started paying attention to drugstore ads, rebates and ecoupons. I hadn't been to a drugstore in years, since I discovered Target and thought it would be too time consuming. But if I look at saving $20 for 20 minutes of my time it starts to make a lot of sense. Originally our plan to "save money" on diapers was to buy at Sam's Club. Once I was enlightened I realized that the price per diaper was much, much higher there. Still better in a pinch than the grocery store, in order to really save I had to venture into the drugstores. For example, earlier this year Rite Aid did a P & G promotion. I think it was a $35 Visa card rebate for every $100 spent on P&G products. So I bought a big box of Pampers for $19.99 and something else P G to get to $25 (Pantene or wipes?) and used the $5/$25 readily available on the Internet, and used the manufacturer coupons I requested from the websites (more on that later), bringing my total to $13 a box. Did this several times. Then I got a $35 rebate and various incentives and "single check rebates" from Rite Aid. I also used those receipts for P&G's promotion for a coupon book (x2) which netted me several free rolls of paper towels, free Olay cleaners (which I sent in for another rebate) and various other discounts. In the end, very little out of pocket 300 diapers, 8 bottles of Olay, may free paper towels. Albertsons' recently did a promotion for P & G where you got $10 back for every $25 spent. So again, I used my coupons, sent in for rebates and got a very good deal. Last month I bought Pampers packs at Safeway for $2.99 a pack. Signed up online for P & G ecoupons (ecoupons are our friends!), used store sale coupon for $7.99, had $2 ecoupon and $3 manufacturer coupon. You can get Huggies at Walgreens during a promotion for about $3.99 a pack and Rite Aid does a promotion where you get a free pack for every certain number you buy ( I think it's 5 or 6). Coupons. com had had a $3 off printable lately (send me your name and email if you want to turn printing grocery coupons into a money maker) so as long as you are not running low you can usually buy these a few packs at a time and still qualify for the free pack. Pampers and Huggies both have rewards programs. I saved up my Pampers rewards for a free Diego potty seat (retails value about $10) and have won many times on Huggies when I play late at night when the site is less busy. They both offer rewards like gift cards for Starbucks, Kohl's, Visa or free products. I won on Huggies twice in about 5 minutes when I was playing late at night. I used those 2 free product coupons at Rite Aid to get closer to my free pack, meaning I only spent about $12 for 6 packs. Hopefully I will be able to upload pictures soon but this week Rite Aid was having a 50% off sale on Mega packs. These are not as big as box but larger than Jumbo's. So I signed up for the rewards card, printed 4 John Frieda hair care coupons (I had already used the ones that came in the paper) & printed a $5 off $25. The hair products were 4/$20 with a $10 "reward". So I used the $10 in manufacturer coupons, bought some fillers (got some free Splenda and Stayfree) to get to $25. My out of pocket was about $6. Then I used the $10 reward to buy a mega pack of Huggies ($8.99 and $3 off) and a pack of Pampers training pants (6.99 and $2 off) for a total of $1.01. So basically $7 for two large packs of diapers, Splenda, 4 packs of Stayfree and four hair products. Much less than I used to spend and I will save the receipts in case any rebates come up.