What would you say if I told you that the best sunscreen is actually the store brand? See how sun block from Target and Walmart stand up to brands (though I ended up buying my sunscreen from CVS last week).
What would you say if I told you that the best sunscreen is actually the store brand? See how sun block from Target and Walmart stand up to brands (though I ended up buying my sunscreen from CVS last week).
Did you know that CVS has ended its popular Green Bag Tag program? While you will no longer get bag credits when bringing a reusable bag to CVS, four stores still reward you for your green shopping: SuperFresh, Target, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Read on for the details.
Happy Easter and Passover to my readers who celebrate those holidays. If you have school-aged kids, have they been on spring break this whole week? Mine have, and boy have they been keeping me busy. But not too busy to put together this week’s round up of freebies for the Freebie Friday post, including some Easter freebies. Scroll down for this week’s roundup for Freebie Friday freebies. There are so many new ones that have never before appeared in a Freebie Friday post! FREE STUFF NEW! IKEA is giving away free umbrellas in select cities on Friday, March 29th....
This week's roundup of Freebie Friday freebies includes 22 new freebies that have never before appeared in a Freebie Friday post! I've got freebies from Starbucks, Teavana, CVS, Arby's and more.
Would the promise of a free tote bag and a $5 off coupon inspire you to get a health check up? CVS sure hopes so. Find out the 11 cities where you can go for a free health screening, with $100 worth of tests.
I stopped in at CVS today to check out the store's after Valentine's Day sale. Here are the two things I noticed.
Today's 365 frugality tips, as part of my Year of Renewed Frugality (or YRF), focuses on the benefits of taking reusable bags with you when you shop at stores. While you won't get rich from bag credits that stores offer shoppers who bring reusable bags, they do help you save money in the long run.
For the past few weeks, people have ended up on Suddenly Frugal after searching for ways to get free and cheap flu shots. In fact, a post on how to get free and cheap flu shots in 2012 is quickly becoming the most read post on my blog. Now that it's 2013 I figured it was time to revisit the topic of flu shots and see if I couldn't uncover some new, different and/or updated information on how you can get a flu shot discount.
CVS has a free lotion offer over on Facebook right now. Want to get yours? Here’s how. All you need to do is visit the Minute Clinic special offers page, and enter your name and email address. Your coupon will be emailed to you shortly after that. To redeem you’ll need to print out that email, and bring it with you to any CVS/pharmacy store. You can select from three great scents–Sunblossom, Japanese Garden or Citrus Coconut–while supplies last. You have until 12/27/12 to register for the free lotion, and then 12/31/12 to redeem it. But if CVS runs...
The CDC started tracking flu outbreaks this month, with a few cases being reported nationwide. Since it takes two weeks for your body’s immunity to kick in after you receive a flu vaccine–shot or intranasal–you still have time to get some protection against the flu. You also still have time to find a cheap flu shot or a free flu shot clinic, if you know where to look. Here are some ideas on how to get a free vaccine this fall. Local health department. In my “Deals of the Week” column last week over on NextAvenue I suggested ways...
Every fall I know when flu season is almost upon us–not only because I’ve gotten my own flu shot, but also because I notice that the search terms that bring people to this blog are all about looking for free and cheap flu shots. Because I’ve written about this topic every year, my site comes up in search engine searches. In the past week my 2011 free flu shot blog post has been quite popular, but I’m not satisfied to bring you out-of-date information. That’s why I’ve updated for 2012 where you can go for a free or cheap...
Happy Labor Day. I hope you are able to enjoy a day off from work on this Labor Day Monday 2012. Yesterday’s post offered ways to change how your drive, maintain your car, or even use your car in order to save money. That post also offered a tease that stores were rolling out programs to help consumers save money at the pump. Today, I’m highlighting 7 of those stores where you can see some real savings on gas. Many of these tips are courtesy of Andrea Woroch, a nationally recognized consumer and money-saving expert who has guest posted...
EXPIRED: Would you like free sunscreen from CVS? You have until tomorrow, August 17th, to get your free 2.0 ounce container of CVS sunscreen.
I look for coupons everywhere. You probably do, too. Ever since our family started living frugally five years ago, I have been on the constant hunt for ways for us to save. This includes using coupons, something I shunned at first but which I now see can go a long way towards cutting our spending. Unlike the shoppers on TLC’s show “Extreme Couponing,” I don’t get 90% or 100% in savings. That’s just not realistic. But if I can save between 10% and 30% on each of my trips to the grocery store, then I feel like I’ve accomplished...
You’ve heard me wax poetic before about my extreme couponing at CVS. Well now CVS is helping me accomplish even bigger savings. Between July 15th and July 18th, you can get a $4 coupon, off $20 spent, just by scanning your CVS Extra Care card at the coupon kiosk in the store. I visited CVS today, and everyone in the world must have been scanning their cards, because it took forever for the coupons to print out. But then I thought that the $4 off $20 coupon wasn’t there, until I found it was the very last coupon to...
Last week I completely spaced on writing the Freebie Friday post; not this week. Hope you enjoy the following freebies you can enjoy in the coming days and weeks! And stay tuned–I’ll be doing a 4th of July freebies post soon!
As you know every Friday I put together Suddenly Frugal’s Freebie Friday roundup to let you know where you can go in the coming days or weeks to get free food or free stuff. Additionally, whenever a major holiday rolls around, I do a separate post on freebies related to that day–Mother’s Day Freebies, Earth Day Freebies, and more. (Right now I’m finishing up a piece on Father’s Day Freebies.) Basically, when it comes to getting something for nothing, I’m all for it–because free is my favorite price.” So given my obsession with freebies, it’s no wonder that a...
Are you following me on Twitter? I am @suddenlyfrugal You should, as I will often update deals via my Twitter feed if it’s too late to make the next day’s blog. Please tell all of your frugal friends to find me on Twitter, too. Or, at the very least, to “like” Suddenly Frugal on Facebook! I’m on Pinterest, too, if you are as well!
This time next week it will be June. Wow! Do you have your summer plans in place yet? We’re still working on the kids’ camp schedule. Talk about procrastination! Anyway, here are the freebies for the upcoming week. Don’t forget to check yesterday’s post on Memorial Day freebies! FREE FOOD On June 1, participating Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants nationwide will offer guests a free donut of their choice (while supplies last) with the purchase of any beverage. I’ll be sure to include this freebie in next week’s roundup, too! (Source: Restaurant News) Also on free doughnut day on June 1st:...
I love to wear makeup. Do I wear it everyday? Heck, no. But when I have the time to do my hair and makeup, I’m always glad that I made the effort. When it comes to stocking my cosmetics kit, it probably comes as no surprise that I always try to get beautiful on the cheap. Sure, I splurge on certain beauty products or services–such as having my hair professionally cut and colored–because I’ve found that when it comes to hair, you get what you pay for. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t find ways to save money...
I just got back from a trip to CVS where I was able to accomplish some extreme couponing for breakfast cereal. This week General Mills cereals are 2 for $4 at CVS–limit 4 boxes purchased per trip–which in and of itself is a great price. You rarely find name-brand cereal for $2 a box. Here’s how you can turn this transaction into an extreme couponing opportunity. Click over to SmartSource.com and look for General Mills’ cereal coupons. If you’re like me, you’ll find $1 off 2 boxes of General Mills cereal (shown above), and you’ll be able to print...
Wish I had more Valentine’s Day freebies to share with you, but they don’t seem to be as abundant as in years gone by! Free Stuff Free cooking class on February 12th at Williams-Sonoma on cooking winter vegetables. (Check with your local Williams-Sonoma store for details on this free class.) “Like” Redbox on Facebook and get a coupon for a free night’s movie rental. February is American Heart Month. And CVS wants to help keep your heart healthy by offering free health screenings all month long. Here’s the deal. Every weekday in February, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.,...
February is American Heart Month. And CVS wants to help keep your heart healthy by offering free health screenings all month long. Here’s the deal. Every weekday in February, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., you can stop in to your local CVS location for $100 worth of health screenings done for free–no appointment necessary. Those health screenings include: blood pressure check cholesterol screening BMI assessment osteoporosis screening free consultation with health professionals Since not every CVS location can offer all of these tests, visit the CVS website to ensure that the location near you is participating. (Unfortunately, the...
There is a great deal going on right now for Listerine at CVS that combines an awesome coupon from Coupons.com and a sale/bonus at CVS. Normally, when I see coupons for Listerine, it is something like $1 off 2, and then those coupons never include the Total Care line, which is what my dentist recommends we use. It’s also the priciest Listerine out there. However, this week, there is a deal going on that makes buying Listerine at CVS a real money saver. Visit Coupons.com to get this $1 off Listerine coupon, via my affiliate link. Print out the...
My kids have already been sick this fall, but thankfully not with the flu–just colds. I’m sure getting them flu shots has helped, and I hope that no one in our family ends up ill this winter. Even so I always like to plan for a worst-case health scenario and tend to keep lots of cold and flu medicine on hand at home–especially when I can stock up when things are on sale and I have coupons. Based on that logic, now could be a good time to stock up on Triaminic medicine. That’s because you can get a...
As you know from past posts about what I’ve learned from watching “Extreme Couponing“ and my ability to extreme coupon at CVS, I am a devout CVS shopper. It helps that CVS is the only convenient pharmacy-like store to where I live–within walking distance and around the corner from my daughters’ school. Last month I shared with you about how I was beginning to build my shampoo and conditioner stockpile, thanks to extreme savings at CVS. Well, those extreme savings are back. This week CVS has marked down VO5 shampoo and conditioner to $.77 a bottle again–with a limit...
CVS/pharmacy is hosting its first ever in-store Halloween Costume party on Sunday, October 23! Children who dress up in their Halloween costumes and visit any of the 7,200 CVS/pharmacy locations nationwide will receive a free Halloween gift pack and in-store costume photo shoot with any purchase while supplies last! The free Halloween gift pack includes: · $5 value of candy, toys, trick or treat safety items · $10 in coupons for additional Halloween products Each CVS/pharmacy store will host an in-store costume photo shoot, including a free 5×7 print (photo shoot times will vary by location, so please check...
Enjoy this week’s freebies. Free Food Great a free cookie in October at Great American Cookie locations when you bring in a book donation. Max & Erma’s is giving away free cookies on Free Cookies Wednesday. To get yours, stop by participating Max & Erma’s locations on Wednesdays. Get free pasta at Buca di Beppo every Monday in October as part of the Marinara Monday deals! Free Stuff Free Kodak Prints Week starts October 17th and runs through October 23rd. During this time you can print photos from your Facebook Account for free directly to a Kodak Picture Kiosk...
Want to be able to print pictures from Facebook for free? Well, you’re in luck. Free Kodak Prints Week starts October 17th and runs through October 23rd. During this time you can print photos from your Facebook Account for free directly to a Kodak Picture Kiosk at participating retail partners, such as CVS as well as select Bartell Drugs, Discount Drug Mart, Lewis Drugs and Ritz Camera locations. Fine print: By “liking” Kodak on Facebook during this time period and opting in to receive emails from Kodak in the future, Facebook users will be able to download a coupon...
Enjoy this week’s freebies. Free Food Great a free cookie in October at Great American Cookie locations when you bring in a book donation. Max & Erma’s is giving away free cookies on Free Cookies Wednesday. To get yours, stop by participating Max & Erma’s locations on Wednesdays. Get free pasta at Buca di Beppo every Monday in October as part of the Marinara Monday deals! Free Stuff Starting this Sunday, October 16, you can earn free gifts cards at CVS. and running through December 25, 2011, members of CVS/pharmacy’s ExtraCare Rewards program can earn $10 gift cards to...
Amy Buckman from Saving with 6ABC interviewed me recently on beauty rewards programs, based on this Suddenly Frugal blog posting on the same topic. You can watch the video below! (Note: if you received my blog by subscription, you will need to click through on the headline above in order to see the video. Links through email seem not to be working.)
NOTE: CLICK THROUGH TO THIS POST FOR INFORMATION ON CHEAP AND FREE FLU SHOTS FOR 2012! Last season, an estimated 130.9 million people, or 43 percent of the U.S. population, got a flu shot. “Vaccination is the single most effective way to protect yourself, your family and your community against influenza,” said Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director. “For most people, the flu makes them sick for a few days but for others, especially children, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions, it can be life threatening.” For the 2011-2012 flu...
I’ve posted in the past how I find that I can do my “best” extreme couponing at CVS. Well, a trip to CVS this past week proved that sentiment to still be true. As I do whenever I shop at CVS, I scanned my Extracare Card at the kiosk in the front of the store. (Collin over at Hip2Save calls it the “CVS Magic Machine.”) One of the coupons that printed out was for $5 off a bottle of Zyrtec, 25 count or more. Considering our family has allergies and responds to Zyrtec better than any other allergy medicine,...
Sorry, Suddenly Frugal readers, but so many people responded to this offer the day it was released that it’s no longer available. So, so, sorry! Do you live near a CVS location? Are you aware of CVS Minute Clinic? If you haven’t already done so, go “Like” Minute Clinic on Facebook–before August 17th–and CVS will reward you with a coupon for a free full-size bottle of CVS body wash. I just went through the steps necessary to get my coupon, and it took about 30 seconds. I’m printing out the coupon as I post this message. It’s worth up...
I just read a news alert from the New York Times about how the stock market had another terrible day, with a global sell off, and that the three major American financial markets had lost all of the gains they’d achieved in 2011. Now the warning for the days, weeks, and months ahead was this: prepare for the coming of a possible double-dip recession. Double dip. Sound lovely, like an ice cream cone with two different flavors, right? Well, when it comes to the economy, double dip is nothing delicious. It means that a country (USA), having started to...
You may have heard me say this in the past, but I’ve been able to do my best “extreme” couponing at CVS lately–albeit on a much smaller scale than what you see on the TLC show “Extreme Couponing.” For example, a few weeks ago I was able to get three cases of Diet Coke, priced at $10, for free, thanks to my CVS Extra Care Bucks that I’d earned. Before that I’d combined a manufacturer’s coupon with a sale at CVS and scored allergy medicine for my daughter for less than a dollar. And now it seems that free...
Independence Day sales may have come and gone, but there are still plenty of places where you can find discounts and deals in July, no extreme couponing necessary--unless you want to!
Yesterday I wrote about how to save money when buying beauty products. Today I’m covering beauty rewards programs, which you may not know even exist. Again, like yesterday, the source for this information is ShopSmart magazine, which took a look at the major rewards programs in the beauty category to identify ones that really pay off and where the gotchas are! Here are 4 you might want to consider joining–based on where you buy your cosmetics: Back to Mac – MacCosmetics.com Good to Know: For every six MAC product containers you return at a MAC counter or online, you...
I’m about to head out to CVS with my almost 14-year-old daughter. Of course, I’ll be sure to bring my CVS Extra Rewards card, any Extra Rewards bucks I’ve earned (I keep them in the center console of my car), and my CVS Green Bag Tag with reusable bag. These are all the ways I know how to save when shopping at CVS. It turns out, though, there are plenty of other ways to save and shop smartly in the beauty aisle, according to ShopSmart magazine. “We’ve all had our regrets when it comes to buying beauty products,” said...
While experts don’t expect the mad scramble from 2009, when everyone and his sister was trying to get a flu shot, figuring out a way to get a free or low-cost flu shot is fine, no matter what the pandemic prognosis is. That’s why, like last year’s two posts on free and affordable flu shots, I’ve put together the following list of places you can go to get your flu vaccine and, hopefully, not spend a lot of money in the process. Starting September 20th Cigna Medical Group locations in the Phoenix area will offer flu shot clinics. While...
