FREE At P.F. Chang's

Be sure to follow the link to "like" P.F. Chang's on Facebook.  On Wednesday, they will be offering a coupon for a FREE lettuce wrap.  Which comes in a gluten free version too for my fellow GF-ers out there.  Mmmm!

From their Facebook pages...

PFC Fans, how do FREE Lettuce Wraps sound to you? As a part of our 18-year anniversary celebration in July, we are going to be giving you, our Facebook Fans, FREE Orders of Lettuce Wraps. Check back July 6 to download yours… Tell your friends (not with a photo to help share)!

Good Mail

So this is what has arrived since the last time I posted about three weeks ago.  Lots of coupons, dog stuff, baby stuff and two different spice rub packs.  This is why I post all of those links to FREE samples.  It's just so much fun to open the mailbox when free treats arrive. 

And as always, I do give away the items I won't use (such as diapers, wet dog food, and baby formula). 

Target, Advil and Cheap Rice Tips

I am not going to break down my Target grocery purchase because I didn't remember to take a photo of everything before I put it away.  I always forget when I putting groceries away!

But I do want to point out a few little things...

First, using the $4/2 Advil coupon on the 10 count has worked great at both Target and Walmart for me.  The cashier today asked me if I was planning a trip.  Confused I said, um no??  She then asked if I just like little bottles.  Ha.  I then explained coupons to her.  All of that Advil and Visine...totally FREE!  With overage, actually.  So I bought 40 Advil tablets (in total from the four tubes) for FREE.  But a 24 tablet bottle of Advil sells regularly at Target for $3.69.  So yes, I do like little bottles when they make things FREE!

Second, is the difference between buying Minute Rice and regular old takes 40 mins to cook rice.  OK so I will give you the fact that Minute Rice (which really takes @10 minutes according to this box) is much faster.  But, it's also MUCH more expensive and less healthy than regular rice.  The bag of regular brown rice, not on sale, sold for $0.79 and contains more product than the Minute Rice selling for $2.04.

My tip is to make a bag or two at one time of rice.  Then freeze portions of it in baggies.  This way, all you have to do is defrost a baggie in the microwave when need it for a meal or salad.  You save yourself both time and money in the end if you are willing to put in all the time upfront.  And really, it's not like cooking rice is hard.  It's totally worth it in the long run!

FREE Sample : L'oreal Youth Code

Click the image to request a FREE sample of L'oreal Youth Code.  Yay for fun freebies!

Rite Aid : I Should Have Planned Better

So I planned to do a quick little run to Rite Aid.  But I have yet to clip coupon from the last TWO weeks.  So I've not even really looked at this week's ads.  What can I say, I was out of town and then busy.  But I should have paid closer attention.

You see, I planned to use up some coupons (the PowerAde was expiring on the 30th) and a $10 +up Reward.  So to get to the +up Reward mark, I picked up the two Snickers (they are BOGO).  I needed a boost to get me higher.

But...what I didn't realize was that the PowerAde was on sale for just $1 this week.  And then the cashier gave me the full value on the BOGO coupons (so each subtracted $1.49).  Which all significantly lowered my total.  I know what you're thinking..."but that's a good thing, right?"  Yes, it's good.  But it messed up my plan.  My +up Reward plan, to be specific.

What I should have done was either remove the two Snickers or add something of a $0.38 or greater value and used my $2.99 +up Reward too.  But I just couldn't think on the fly like that to figure out what went wrong with my big plan.

So I paid more out of pocket than I intended for things I didn't necessarilly need.  I mean, it's nice in the summer months to have PowerAde and such on hand, but it's not necessary by any stretch.  I do use the baby wipes daily to remove make-up and clean off flip flop feet.  But I also just bought a pack so I didn't need them.  You see what I mean? 

But I guess we all win some and lose some.  And I did do pretty well in the end.  Just not as well as I had planned.

Purchased ...
(1) Huggies Wipes  reg. $8.49, sale $2.12
(2) Dial Nutra Skin Lotion  reg. $6.99, sale $3.50
(2) Snickers  reg. $0.99, sale BOGO
(6) PowerAde  reg. $1.49, sale $1

Minus ...
-(2) $2/1 Dial Nutra Skin Lotion coupon
-(3) BOGO (-$1.49) PowerAde coupon
-$5 +up Reward

Total value purcahsed ... $36.36

Paid out of pocket ... $3.93

Percentage saved ... 89.2%

Earned ... (1) $1 +up Reward from 2 Dial and

(1) $1 +up Reward from PowerAde

I had been hanging on to this FREE coupon for a while (I think I got it from a Facebook deal maybe?) but it expired yesterday.  So a quick run into Pet Smart and all I had to pay was tax.  Sweet Sadie is set for a lifetime when it comes to dog treats!

Total value purchased ... $4.31

Paid out of pocket ... $0.28

Percentage saved ... 93.5%