I've heard that people on the Extreme Couponing show frequently get Mentos for free. I tend to get emails from people asking, "Why do those people always get 100 packs of gum and deodorant for free?"
I don't know. But, I did happen to snag my first-ever free candy Sunday. And, it felt good. Do you know how fast I go through gum? And, the funny thing is... it's Mentos. [FOLLOW THE DEALS] It's free at CVS until Saturday night. There's a $1 coupon from about two weeks ago. The gum is on sale at CVS for .99-cents. Woot! Hats off to the Cape Fear Museum! If you missed the museum's luncheon fundraiser, make sure you mark a spot on the calendar for next year. This year's theme was vintage and even honored the Wilmington Junior League. Many luncheon goers wore fascinators and big hats to the event. Jan Wutkowski from aMuse showed off several of her gorgeous custom designs. Plus, chefs from around the area put their own spin on some recipes from the League's latest cookbook, Seaboard to Sideboard Entertains. Money raised will help the museum continue its mission of collecting, preserving and interpreting items related to the Lower Cape Fear region. I love the museum and am thankful for all the hard work that goes into keeping our history alive! Everyone's been talking about all the great deals they've been getting at Harris Teeter this week because it's Super Doubles week. Well, this week has been a crazy week at work... so crazy that I even asked a special guest to share her deals with viewers Thursday because I was on assignment! Delly Mellor from Delly's Deals visited Fox Wilmington to share her amazing savings! Many thanks to Delly - who, by the way, is holding a coupon workshop at the Northeast Library on Feb. 25th. So, after work Thursday, I finally went to Harris Teeter to do my own shopping. I spent only $18 on about $94 worth of stuff - I even got a weird discount that I wasn't expecting: $10 off $50. I haven't seen anyone mention this one, and I haven't been able to find it on the Harris Teeter website. Oh well, I'll take it! I feel bad because I kind of lost track of what I spent on each product. With the mystery discount and trying to figure out overages and whatnot, I kind of lost track of my actual savings for a couple of individual products. I did the best I could... The Got 2 B Rockin It products were only 19-cents each because they were already on sale for $3.19... and I had a coupon from Sunday's paper for $3 off. That's a great savings since it was more than $6 originally! The Seattle's Best Coffee= PAID $4.39 (reg. 8.39, on sale for 7.39 - 1.50 coupon - 1.50 double = 4.39) Glade Plug Ins FREE! (reg. 1.79 - 1.50 coupon - 1.50 double = overage, but HT doesn't give overages) Cherry Pie filling = PAID $.49-cents (reg. 2.49 - 1.00 coupon - 1.00 double = .49) Truvia = PAID $1.85 (reg. 4.35 - 1.00 coupon - 1.00 coupon - .50 ZVR (evic) = 1.85) Only could use the zvr once, so the second Truvia box was $2.35. Wisk Detergent = PAID $2.97 (reg. 6.99, on sale for 4.97 - 1.00 coupon - 1.00 double = 3.97) Waggin Train Dog Treats = PAID $.75-cents (reg. 3.75 - 1.50 coupon - 1.50 double = .75-cents) Rhode White Dinner Rolls = PAID FREE (reg. 2.49, on sale 1.67 - 1.00 coupon - 1.00 double = overage) McCain Potatoes = PAID $.50-cents (reg. 3.45, on sale 2.50 - 1.00 coupon - 1.00 double = .50-cents) Alexia Frozen Products = PAID $2.69 (reg. 4.69 - 1.00 coupon - 1.00 double = 2.69) Smart Balance sprayable butter = PAID $.70-cents (reg. 3.39, on sale for 1.70 - 1.00 coupon for two - 1.00 double = .70-cents each) Smart Balance milk = PAID FREE (reg. 3.99, on sale 3.00 - 1.50 coupon - 1.50 double = 0) ***Then subtract $10 off that total*** We had such a great time at the Cape Fear Heart Ball to raise money for the American Heart Association. It is such a worthy cause because heart disease affects so many people! Did you know heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined? Frances Weller, my friend and the event emcee, told the crowd about her mom's open heart surgery. We learned about New Hanover County Chairman Ted Davis' heart condition. Perhaps, one of the most touching stories centered around a baby who needed heart surgery shortly after her birth. We even interviewed her a while back on Fox Wilmington. We all have friends and family who have been impacted with heart conditions (or potential ones.) My friend Bo Dean has been an inspiration to the Wilmington community for losing more than 100 pounds with the help of his trainer, Adam Freeman. Bo's friends at the Cape Fear chapter of the American Heart Association set him up with Adam, who also had a daughter with a heart condition. Adam's daughter Kayleigh was born prematurely and was one of the smallest patients to ever have open heart surgery.
On a personal note, both of my grandfathers had heart problems. I was there when my mom's dad had a heart attack during one of our summer fishing trips. It was terrifying. I can still remember that day very well, and it was nearly 30 years ago! My dad's dad also died of massive heart attack. Heart disease is something that touches us all. On a much lighter note, I tried to take pictures... but my camera died within minutes! I changed batteries before I left the house but apparently I brought an uncharged battery. Shoot! We love to be honored by the readers of Encore Magazine! It's such a fun honor. Unfortunately, it's always a short-lived celebration as we have to race back to the newsroom to finish our evening stories! Frances Weller received props as Best Newscaster and WECT brought home the best newscast plaque! Frances is the heart of the Cape Fear to us! But she's always too modest. We love being nominated, but as Jon Evans would say, "It feels great to win!"
[Read Encore Magazine's best picks for Valentine's Day] Thank you for trusting us, liking us and voting for us. We enjoy Encore very much! I couldn't beat the early birds today but I did manage to get to Lowes Foods around 10 a.m. There were still many deals to be had, but the sentiment I'm hearing is that the deals weren't spectacular. That being said, people seem to be grateful that Lowes Foods is getting in on the coupon game. Another thing to keep in mind is that many of these shoppers are used to getting things for cheap or free at Lowes' rival store, Harris Teeter. One person wrote on I Got it Free with Coupons: "I am personally disgusted that they decided to raise the prices on everything today. I took note of the prices the night before. One example would be that the Kikkoman Sweet and Sour Sauce was 1.50 last night but today was somehow 2.55 a bottle. I don't plan to shop with them again unless it's for free or next to free ever again." Perhaps, the most positive response I could find came from FB friend, Jenny: "Just got back from Lowes. I bought 2 All detergents, 2 Silk Soymilks, 3 packages of Gardein Chicken Strips, 2 boxes whole wheat pasta and 2 (3) packs of zest soap all for $6.97!! I saved $32.63! Not bad for my first ever Super Coupon adventure! :)" Overall, the reviews seem to be mixed: · Melissa Comstock Thomas I loved my trip this morning! Saved 51% although, yes, the deals werent as spectacular as HT has been. HT has us spoiled ;) Sandi Vulfs Gessner I went early this morning and there were only about 4 of us in the store. That alone made my morning :) I also agree that the deals weren't as spectacular as HT, but still thankful for my $87.88 - $17.26 Rew Card - $18 Reg Cpn Sav - $18 Double Cp Sav for a total of $36.63....and every item I purchased were things we use regularly. Looking forward to round 2 at HT next week :) Sara Kellogg Yeah it wasn't that great, but I did get some freebies: 4 bottles deer park sparkling water, 2 soft soap hand pumps, 2 whole grain mueller's pasta, 3 oral-b dental floss and I think that's it for freebies.I spent 15.36 and saved $65 dollars. I wasn't disappointed with the sales that much, but the cashiers didn't seem to be real knowledgeable on the coupon policy. It seems to be a lot faster and easier at Teeter, but I'm thankful for the money I saved today. I may make one more trip later in the week. As for me, I personally had a good day, though I have had better savings. The thing that's missing in this picture is my Seattle's Best Coffee. It was on sale for $6.99 plus I had a $1.50 coupon that doubled. In all, I spent $37.70 on $81.43 worth of items. That's about a 46-percent savings. I'm always hoping for at least 40-percent, so I met my goal. All of my coupons doubled. Sometimes a coupon will specifically say DO NOT DOUBLE, but not this time.
The deals continue at Lowes through next Tuesday, the 14th. If you've got a great deal or an awesome shopping trip to share, send it to me! I'd love to see it.
Just wanted to show you this beautiful diamond necklace that's going to be given away at the upcoming Cape Fear Heart Ball. Land Rover Cape Fear and Barker Jones & Co. are co-sponsoring the ball this year and together they'll be giving away a beautiful diamond necklace from Kingoff's Jewelers. The necklace is valued at $ 2,125.
The center diamond is 1/4 carat. Come join us! I'll be there this weekend, and my friend and co-worker, Frances Weller, will be emceeing the event. The event takes place this Saturday, the 11th, at the Wilmington Convention Center in downtown. The event starts at 6 p.m. [REGISTER FOR THE EVENT] Hope to see you there! Jason Wu for Target was unleashed to the masses this morning, and by 7 a.m., people were telling me they couldn't order anything online. It was sold out. Since I was up blogging about my morning paper, I decided to scurry over to the Tar-jaay to see what kind of scene we'd be dealing with in Wilmington. Wouldn't you know it? There was already a line. This picture was taken around 7:30 but there were plenty of people who showed up right before the store's opening at 8 a.m. By the way, it was really fun meeting these girls! Some brought their devoted hubbies (nice!), two - including me - were from Wilmington, one came from Topsail, and two were from Southport. Then we had more people show up, but we didn't get to chit chat. Surprisingly or not... it didn't seem to be too crazy. There was a lot of fast-walking and quick-grabbing, but all the ladies in line talked about a little shopping etiquette before the doors opened. I think that little bit went a long way. We had a couple of line cutters, but I suppose that's going to happen. Oh... and for those of you who may not know...Jason Wu was thrown into the spotlight after First Lady Michelle Obama selected his gown to wear to the 2009 Inauguration. He was 27 at the time. Since I work evenings, I typically don't get to bed until the early morning hours. If I don't make myself go to bed, I could easily be up until 4 a.m. I mean, think about it. A lot of people get home at 5:30 p.m... and don't go to bed until midnight. So you can see my dilemma. That's also why I usually miss the Sunday paper. I crawl out of bed around 10 a.m... and by the time I hit the gas station or Barnes and Noble, the stores are all out of papers. They might have a Sunday Wilmington Star News, but let's face it. The Star News is typically not the paper with the best coupons. The smaller market paper is hard to compare to the Raleigh News and Observer when it comes to the coupon inserts. But times...they are a changing. Not for the two papers, but for me. I set my alarm Saturday night so that I'd be one of the lucky ones come Sunday morning. Low and behold, I finally saw the mythical Raleigh News and Observer. Of course, as I type, it's not even daylight... but since I'm doing a lot of this for work now, I knew I had a responsibility to get my booty out of bed. And, just for old-time's sake, I grabbed a Star News. Boy, the inserts are different. Just how different? In a bit, Delly's Deals, will probably post the big differences for you -- if she follows her normal routine, you'll see which paper came out on top. My guess is the N & O since it's thicker. The News and Observer is on the left, the Star News is on the right: There was buzz we were going to get three coupon inserts this week, but unless my tired eyes are playing tricks on me, I've only spotted two. The Raleigh and Wilmington papers got both a Smart Source and a Red Plum insert.
And finally, I want to help the people out there who, like me, can't get out to get a Sunday paper! It's NOT a contest or anything, but I'd like to help someone who may not be able to get up early like me. So, if you'd like a paper, go to my Facebook page and type, "Coupons, please!" and I'll draw for the winner by mid-week. I know that there's some debate on swapping coupons/exchanging, but from what I can see, there's no harm in giving a Sunday paper to someone who may need it. If there ends up being a wild debate over it, then this will be the first and last time to do it... just want to personally help someone like me! Happy Sunday! |
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