Shoppers Optimum Card

Recently on a website I visit often (http://smartcanucks.ca/) I started reading about people getting hundreds of dollars worth of free stuff from shoppers drug mart.  I decided to check out what the hype was all about and get a shoppers optimum card.  The program goes something like this: For every dollar you spend in the store you receive 10 optimum points and after you accumulate certain levels of points you can use them to get free stuff.  The 10 points on the dollar in itself would take awhile to get a large amount of points but they have special events such as spend 50 get 20X the points.  Also there are mega redemption days where your points are worth more than they normally would be.  For example instead of 95000 points being with $170 it would be worth $250.  So far I have had my card about a month and I have about 13,000 points which is only worth about $15 (more for a mega redemption) but for only one month and for just buying groceries which were all on sale I think its pretty good! 

 I never realized that shoppers actually has quite good prices on groceries! Milk and eggs are cheaper there than Walmart and RCSS! I have also got great deals on crackers, cookies, peanut butter and so many other things. The great part is that you can also still use coupons and get the points for the full price of the item.  So if I am buying cereal that's $5 and I have a coupon for $2 off I still get points on the full $5.  This is great when they have events like spend 50 get 20X points because you can actually spend a lot less than 50 and get   points that could be worth $20!

Another trick is to figure out about how much you will be spending when you go into the store and purchasing a gift card first because then you get points for buying the gift card and for your purchase.  I figure by the end of the year I should have enough points to get at least $250 in free stuff :) Just from buying things like milk and eggs! For anyone interested in the program you can read all about it here: http://www1.shoppersdrugmart.ca/en/Optimum.aspx

Right now shoppers also has a spin to win event on which is pretty fun! To play go here: https://www.optimumcollectgame.com/?

My Beautiful Stockpile!

One thing I love about couponing is that I can stock up on items that we use on a regular basis.  It is so nice to not have to worry about buying things like deodorant and razors on grocery shopping trips because they just get so expensive!  Until recently, my cupboards and closets were full of items I have been collecting and we were running out of room fast!  My BFs grandpa recently made us a beautiful shelving unit which has been amazing! Not only does it look great having all the products neatly lined up in a row, but I have cupboard space again! Its like having a mini grocery store in our storage room :)  For those who are interested you can pick up shelving units at many stores for under $50 that work great for stockpiles!  I could never find one in the right dimensions for the small space we had to fit it in so this one is perfect.

Here is a picture of my small but growing stockpile! I took it with my phone but there is a bunch of laundry detergent on the bottom that you cant see and a basket on the top filled with all the samples I have received.  Pretty much everything in the picture was either free or under $1.

Its been awhile, but the deals are still out there!

Lately I just have not found as many deals as I would have liked but things feel like they are picking up again fast!  Today was a great day for shopping!  Here is what I ended up picking up:

The purex I picked up a little while ago when it was on sale for 2.99 and I had 3$ off coupons. The rest I bought at Walmart with the exception of the toothbrush, 1L bottle of Listerine and Aveeno which are from the Real Canadian Superstore.  Here is the break down:

Walmart:
12 Gillette body wash: on sale for 1$ each and I had 4 buy 3 save 5$ coupons which meant an 8$ overage!
3 Olay body wash: on sale for 2$ each and I had 3 1$ off coupons.
1 bottle of Listerine whitening: $4.77 and I had a 5$ off coupon.
2 bottles of Listerine: $3.27 each and I had 2 3$ off coupons.
1 Venus embrace with 2 cartridges: on sale for 6$ and I had a 2$ off coupon.
1 Proglide razor with 2 cartridges and aftershave: on sale for 6$ and I had a 2$ off coupon.
2 40ct. boxes of ziplocs: on sale for 98cents each and I had buy 2 save 2$.

Superstore:
1 oral b manual toothbrush: on sale for 1$ and I had a 1$ off coupon.
1L of Listerine whitening: $6.99 and I had a 5$ off coupon.
Aveeno hand cream: Free with my purchase of the Listerine! And also came with a 3$ off coupon!

Without coupons this would have costed 63.23+7.59 in tax=70.82

I paid: 4.72+7.59 in tax=12.31

Not to bad at all!

Here is where I got my coupons:

Smart source insert for the Gillette (body wash and razors) and Olay which can be found in your local newspaper.  The next insert should be around Nov.5th.

Printable coupons were used for the Listerine which can be found at:
http://coupons.smartcanucks.ca/type/printable-canadian-coupon/

The Ziploc coupon was from an online mail to you coupon site which you can find at:
http://coupons.smartcanucks.ca/type/save-ca-canadian-coupons/

Finally, the Purex coupons were a special promotion that has ended. You received a 3$ off coupon along with a Purex sample in the mail.  Hopefully they start it again soon!

Right now I am waiting for a few things to arrive in the mail! Most importantly is the new P&G brand saver samples.  Go here https://www.pgbrandsampler.ca/en_CA/home.php?P=Y&CS=true to get yours!

New Site and great deals!

Just got home from another successful shopping trip!  Got lots of stuff for a total of $11.35 which is less than the cost of the proglide razor itself from Walmart :)  Not include in this picture is a 24 pack of water that I also got for free! I found a great deal at RCSS where they have an in store coupon if you buy any 3 kelloggs cereal you save 3$.  I already got 3 boxes of strawberry medley for 99 cents each so I found some other kinds that had coupons for freebies with them.  The 3 boxes of cereal ended up costing about $6.00 but got free juice and yogurt which was worth $5.50!  Here it all is:

A great site I have started using is http://smartcanucks.ca/  what is so great about it is not only that they keep up to date on freebies and deals but they also have forums.  Its great a great tool to find out where other people are finding deals!  $$$$$

Just a reminder: clearly contacts is giving away free glasses again tomorrow!  Frames with lenses included and all you have to pay is shipping which is less than $15.00!  www.clearlycontacts.ca and you enter in the promo code FREEGLASSES77 when you are checking out!

A Great Day for Shopping!

Its free chocolate cheerios day! Today was my first big shopping trip with coupons!  For my "first time" I thought I did quite well.  I saved 59% of my total bill, and I also forgot to use over $7.00 in coupons :(  My final total was 21.33.  Here is the breakdown:

-3 boxes of kelloggs strawberry medley cereal: 1.99 each with a coupon for buy 3 save 3.00 making them 99 cents a box! (This is a in store coupon at RCSS)
-box of chocolate cheerios: FREE (reg 3.47)
-box of triscuits: FREE (reg 2.49)
-Sunlight dish soap: on sale for 1.49 with a coupon for 50 cents off made it 99 cents.
-Asana yogurt-FREE (reg 3.97)
-Colgate total whitening: 2.49 with a 1$ off coupon made it 1.49
-Degree for men: $1.00
-Dove deodorant: 2.99 and Dove soap: 1$ with a coupon if you buy 2 dove products you save 2$ making the soap free and the deodorant 2.00
-Kotex tampons: 3.99 with a 1$ off making them 2.99
-Lysol no touch hand soap dispenser: on sale for 9.99 with a 5.00 off coupon making it 4.99
-Lypsyl cherry lipbalm: $1.00
-Natural instincts hair color: FREE (reg 10.99)
-Pure protein bars: FREE (reg 1.89 each)

Here is a picture of all my goodies!  I love coupons :) I hope I start getting mail again soon!

Site of the Week!

First of all let me start off by saying that Clearly Contacts is giving away another 10,000 pairs of glasses today!  You get frames and lenses all for the cost of shipping (about 15$)! Find them on Facebook and you can get the coupon code that you enter in on your order form to get them for free! They don't last long so make sure you grab some soon before they are all gone!

Alright so a great site that just posted a whole bunch of new coupons is P&G their website is:  http://www.pgeverydaysolutions.ca/offers-promotions.jsp

This site is also a great place to get freebies.  Every couple months they give away a whole bunch of free samples on their products but you have to get to them fast so make sure you check back and see if they have a new offer posted.  Rumor has it they will be posting new freebies towards the end of this month!
Rating: $$$$$

I have been getting lots of coupons in the mail lately and I am crossing my fingers that the postal strike doesn't effect the mail too much!  I cant wait for June 21, its when the coupon for a free box of chocolate cheerios and I have also been saving a whole bunch of other "freebie" coupons to use on this day!

Happy Couponing!

New Site of the Week!

Red Flag Deals: http://www.redflagdeals.com/

This site really has it all.  You can find deals that retailers are having, coupons, and freebies all in one spot.  What I really like about this site is the comments section on each "deal".  It is much easier to find out which deals are worth your time when you can read about what other people have experienced first.  This site takes some getting  used to because there are so many different things to look at!  It is not as straight forward as some of the other sites but I have found some really great deals on this site and there are also some really great printable coupons.
Check it out for yourself!
Rating: $$$

In other news I went shopping yesterday and used a coupon for a FREE Glade Sense and Spray.  I love the smell of it the only problem is that it has a motion sensor and it scares me every time it goes off! Going to take some getting used to I guess!  I also brought my friend Sara with me shopping and I was able to give her some coupons I wouldn't be using!  It was great to see someone else getting a deal too!
 
Happy Couponing everyone!