Shoppers Drug Mart "redeem your points" event

Today is Shoppers Drug Mart's "redeem your points" event. For 95,000 points they will give you $200 in merchandise instead of the usual $170. Great value so I picked up on more holiday gifts. My purchases include:

• 1 men's Givenchy cologne set  reg. $86.00
• 1 men's Paco Rabanne Million cologne set $82.00
• 1 Beckham cologne set $30.00
• 1 bag of sugar (not pictured) $1.99

I paid $26 in taxes and used my pre-purchased SDM gift card to cover that portion. If you're wondering why I bought the gift card is because SDM gives points on their own cards so it's an easy way to accumulate more points.

Nothing tops free product coupons ("FPC") !!

I used 3 Bistro Sliders FPC's from the Carnation Hot Chocolate packets box (bought at Dollorama for $2). Sobey's is currently offering 150 bonus points for each box. 

I also used the Tex Mex shredded cheese FPC from the Old El Paso taco kit.

Total savings today = $17.46 and gained 450 Sobey's points.

Yay me!

I ordered this latte hot-drink maker for FREE !!!

Thanks to swagbucks, I obtained points that I redeemed for cash to amazon.ca. In the past, I redeemed for $10 Starbucks gift cards that I will be using as Xmas gifts but this time I decided to gift myself! I love latte's and buying them outside of the house is pricey so this decision was easy to make. It is currently onsale on amazon for $37.28 and is eligible for free shipping. With the tax added on, this was still a completely free order. I'm so anxious to receive this!

A moment of giving thanks

I keep this blog as an online journal to record one of my passions of finding great deals. I don't turn a cheek at even the smallest of finds and that is to come across coins laying on the ground. It happens to me quite often but perhaps it's because I'm open to receiving the experience of finding them.

Quick story of how I was entering the grocery store one morning and took a double take on the floor. It was a shiny brand new penny and was catching the reflection of the sun. I quickly picked it up and gave thanks. Two days later, I went to the same store and thought of the shiny penny and guess what?... I immediately spotted an older penny. I don't dismiss as insignficant, I appreciate the joy in the finding.

Another story is how my son tossed a coin he found in his pants pocket at the park. I immediately told him how I thought it was disrespectful to just toss away money. The very next day, he found two more coins on the floor while shopping. I had an 'ah-ha' moment that when you give to the world, you receive much more back. By him tossing the one coin the day before, he enabled someone else the joy in finding and picking it up. He picked up the two new coins and kept them.

Every Penny Counts is the tag line of this blog but is also my true belief.

My Walmart shopping trip

Today I used my $10 Walmart gift card earned through the Stouffer's Rewards Program. 1-lb lean ground beef is currently on sale for $1.97 and I bought 5 packages = free!

I also purchased 8 boxes of Ziploc sandwhich bags (40 bag count/box). Walmart has them on sale for $0.98 and I used my $2 WUB2 coupon making them all free!

It felt like an "extreme coupon" moment :)

Stouffer's Rewards Program : 22 codes = free $10 gift card

Specially marked boxes of Bistro and Lean Cuisine offer pin codes to accumulate towards a rewards system. Enter 22 of those codes on their website to receive a $10 gift card. Maximum redemption is ten (10) gift cards over a 10-month period. Offer valid until February 28, 2012.

My story starts here:
I was skeptical about participating in the Stouffers rewards program. I didn't think that buying 22 boxes of their products would be a good enough value for $10. I bought a couple of boxes for the family to try and donated the codes to a couple of Smart Canuck members. The family loved the Crustini's product best and so I decided that since I would continue to buy the brand, I might as well get something out from it. I only shopped when these items were on sale and sometimes had a coupon to apply bringing the cost down further.

I was awarded my first $10 gift card to use at Walmart. I'm currently working on my next $10 gift card.

Carnation Hot Chocolate offering Free Bistro Sliders

Specially marked boxes of Carnation hot chocolate 10pks have coupons for free Sliders or Aero chocolate. Sobey's is currently offering 100 bonus points for every Bistro purchase so I got a box for free and rec'd the 100 points. Fabulous deal!!

Free sample of Schick Hydro 5 razor

Schick is offering a free sample of their Hydro 5 razor. I made a quick and simple call to their call centre and a few weeks later, it arrived in my mailbox. Here's the tel if you are interested 1-866-755-9995.

Free Turkey and SCOP deals at Sobeys

Sobey's has a current promotion that when you spend $100 you receive a 5-7kg turkey free. It was the perfect opportunity to use my x2 $20 gift cards (earned from the nestea / gatorade mail-in rebate from the summer). Thanks to a SCOP and a few coupons, my out of pocket was $59.56
I took home:
x1 turkey (needed another one) $17.30
x1 pumpkin pie $5.99
x1 salmon fillets $4.49 +75 bonus points coupon
x2 cheese blocks $4.99ea
x2 milk $4.39ea
x1 caramilk snack cakes free with SCOP
x1 caramilk snack cakes $2.99 -$1.00 coupon WUB2
x1 recycling bags $3.99
x1 sliced meats $3.96
x3 green apples $2.51
x3 bagel bundle pack $3.89
x1 crusty rolls $1.85 marked down 50% from 3.79 +20 bonus points
x1 cat litter $3.49
x1 quick oats $3.49
x1 quick oats B1G1 free
x1 romain hearts $3.49
x1 mcintosh apples bag $2.99
x1 bread crumbs $2.79
x1 eggs $2.49
x1 dijon mustard $1.99
x2 cream cheese $1.99ea
x2 cranberry juice $1.99ea
x4 cat food cans $0.49ea +100 bonus points
x1 FREE TURKEY

SDM Spend $50 get $10 Tim Horton's gift card

Shoppers had a spend $50 and get a free $10 Tim Horton's gift card today. The cola and chips were at a good price so I bought enough to last a while. Here's what I got and the breakdown of price / points earned.

• x8 Life brand cola (12pk) $1.99ea
• x7 Simply food chips $0.99ea
• x1 Scope mouthwash $2.99
• x4 Gatorade $1.25ea
• + bonus points 800
• x2 Halls candy $1.49ea
• x1 Digital thermometer $11.99 
• + coupon points rewarded 10,000
• x1 over the counter item $6.29
• x1 FREE TIMS CARD 

regular points 520
product bonus points 1890 (not sure where the 1,090 additional points came from)
coupon points rewarded 10,000
total points earned today 12,410