How to score deals

This summer has been pretty amazing for getting stuff free or almost free. I have been stocking up on school supplies, mostly. CVS had buttloads of free after extra bucks deals all through July - not as much this week, though. Staples has also had crazy free after rebate deals going on. I barely have time to get out and do all the shopping, much less blog about it.

So, I encourage you to check out what's there and score your own deals. If you want to do your own research, the main sites I use for my free stuff research are

http://www.dealseekingmom.com/

http://www.wickedcooldeals.com/

Deal Seeking Mom has a very clear walkthrough of al the drugstore deals fro Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens, plus other random goodies she finds. Lots of links to printable coupons and Sunday paper coupons. She's out of the midwest, though, so the supermarket chains are different.

Wicked Cool Deals is out of New England and has local (for me) grocery deals, particularly Shaw's, which is where I shop. While Shaw's has mediocre prices on most things but pretty good sales,

PLUS Shaws has these things going for them:
-Take competitors' coupons - (like the $2 off a 12-pack of coke that Rite Aid put out this week!)
-DOUBLE coupons up to $0.99
-Send out weekly online store coupons
-Let you stack a store coupon with a manufacturer coupon for extra savings
-Put lots of Manager Discount stickers on their refrigerated items - like meat and prepared foods
-Have lots of deals and promotions that will print out store credits at the register for future shopping.
-Give 10 cents off per gallon at the pump for every hundred you spend there.

I have these websites on my browser tabs all the time - they are updated with new deals several times a day, as blogging is these ladies' full-time job.

I also recommend buying the Sunday paper every week to get the coupon inserts. I usually buy several copies, because some o the free stuff deals require a stack of the same coupon. You can also just buy the inserts or coupons online for a few cents a coupon. That's lots of work, though.

Printable coupons usually limit you to 2 prints per computer(hit "back" a couple times to print again), but if you have access to multiple computers you can score a bunch of them. Each print has a unique code, so if you just photocopy them I think the store doesn't get reimbursed by the manufacturer.

Another great coupon source is All You magazine, found only at the evil WalMart (ugh) or by subscription. It's like $2.50(?) an issue in the store, but you can get a 2-year subscription for less than a buck an issue from some websites. There is a coupon on every other page, pretty much, and often there is one coupon for a product that is just totally free. This month I think it's free beef jerky. One month it was nail polish... random stuff. Good coupon source, though. It pays for itself several times over, even if you don't use half the coupons in it.

For more targeted drug store deals, you may want to check out the following three:
http://iheartcvs.com
http://iheartwags.com
http://iheartriteaid.com
Check it out!