Free is beautiful (I hope!)

Alright, I feel like a colossal dork posting this pic, but figured it would be good idea to share the results of my free haircut- particularly for those of you who are on the fence about trusting your locks to a stranger. As previously reported in this blog, Alter Ego in downtown Raleigh is offering free haircuts to first-time customers up until September 7.

Since I have no issues being a guinea pig of sorts and was in need of a cut, off I went yesterday afternoon. Feeling particularly brave (or foolish, I'm not sure which), I asked to get a pretty drastic cut. My hair was probably about midway down my back when walking in and usually styled in the typical harried mom 'do (a hastily made ponytail). I walked out with it a little shorter than shoulder length and layered.

My stylist, Drew H., gamely took on the challenge and displayed no discernible 'tude when I noted that I was there for the free cut (although it should be noted that the client across from me was drinking a glass of wine which I was never offered - yes, I have grown more observant over the years). Drew was warm & personable and I really loved the look of the cut when finished. At first glance, my husband thought I looked like a "snotty soccer mom" but he grew to like it as the day progressed and the styling products wore off.

This was a very impressive freebie! I also walked away with 2 referral cards that I can give to friends for $10 off their first cut, $15 off their second and a freebie for their third. So local readers, let me know if you'd like one of these referral cards for discounts. You can email me at nccouponqueen@gmail.com with your address and I'll send one your way.

Drugstore Deals!

Each week's drugstore deals start on Sunday mornings. While there's nothing that will get me up exceptionally early tomorrow, there are some good deals to be had- an excellent source to get some deal ideas is from http://www.southernsavers.com/ - click on the tabs for stores you're interested in. Jenny does an amazing job at crafting scenarios for freebies, near freebies and (my personal favorite) moneymakers.

Here are some highlights:

Rite Aid
Colgate Total Advanced Toothpaste - $1 moneymaker (use a SCR to make it free and a $1 coupon found in 8/9 paper's Smart Source insert)

Tylenol 20 ct- another $1 moneymaker (use a SCR to make it .99 and a $2 off coupon from the 7/26 SmartSource insert or an internet printable coupon)

Zyrtec- can make this an outstanding moneymaker - see http://www.southernsavers.com/ for scenario details. I did this deal earlier this month, buying 2 bottles of Zyrtec in 2 separate transactions and getting a $25 SCR, a $10 Rite Aid certificate and a $10 manufacturers rebate- using a $5/$25 coupon for each transaction, this was one of the best moneymaking deals I've done yet...and a useful one since hubby suffers from seasonal allergies.

Rubbermaid Chug Bottles 20 oz- pay only 50 cents each when you do a $1 SCR and use 2- $1 off Rubbermaid coupons found in 6/28 insert

Goody Ouchless Elastics 17-36 ct hair bands - not sure what the price is but these should be free or nearly free after $2 SCR

Glade Sense & Spray and/or Lasting Impressions - make these 99 cents to $1.99 by using $2 SCR each and either a $4 off Sense & Spray coupon from July All You and/or a $3 off Lasting Impressions coupon found in 8/02 SmartSource insert (NOTE: You can get a better deal on the Sense & Sprays at CVS this week -see below).

Phillips 5 Device Flip Style Remote Control - pay 1.99 for this after a $9 SCR. This is a potential moneymaker as the ad mentions something about a $20 mail-in-rebate as well.

Walgreens
Sudafed PE for 99 cents/box when you buy 2 - use 2- $2 off coupons from 8/02 SmartSource and get $4 back in Register Rewards

On Wednesday, get a free 8 x 10 photo collage with in-ad coupon

CVS
Composition Notebooks free after ECB (limit 2)

Glade Sense & Spray- $1 moneymaker when you buy 2 @ $5 each - use 2-$4 off coupons from July All You and get $3 ECB

Free Scrapbook page from Walgreen's

Tip courtesy of the amazing Jenny from Southern Savers:

Today only you can get a free Scrapbook page at Walgreens online photo center using code SCRAPIT select in store pick up to make it really free! Don’t scrapbook? Just put one 8×10 picture on there and get a free large size picture!!

Remember these don’t have to be picked up today just ordered online today

5 cent pasta @ Lowe's Foods

I'm not a big Lowe's shopper...but from what I hear from other coupon shoppers, it can be a great place to shop & save. According to a poster on HCW, they are currently offering Mueller's pasta 8 ounce boxes of certain pastas for 60 cents each. Pair that price with a doubled 55 cents off 2 insert coupon and you're getting two boxes for a dime! Sweet deal and one I'll be taking advantage of tomorrow.

Oh noooooooo...it's another Super Doubles at Harris Teeter

The rumor mill is a-jumping - apparently, Harris Teeter is throwing a big old curve ball at all of us and doing another Super Doubles promotion this coming Wednesday 8/26! And I barely have had time to recover from all the triples madness. Looks like I'll have to get my binder in gear yet again.

Great Hidden Deal @ CVS- Hurry ends Saturday!

Thanks to Jenny at Southern Savers for this scenario...

There are two Hidden Deals at CVS this week!!

1. Get $1.89 ECB wyb CVS Tampons at $1.89 (limit 1) FREE (some regions have this for $1.49 so ECB will be $1.49)

2. The following Loreal Deal is actually a limit of 2!
$10 ECB wyb L’Oreal Advanced Revitalift Deep Set Eye Wrinkle Repair & any Cleanser
L’Oreal Advanced Revitalift Deep Set Wrinkle Repair $14.99
L’Oreal Age Perfect, Revitalift, or Skin Genesis Cleanser 5-8oz $5.99
-$1 off LOreal Age Perfect product RP 6/21
-$1 off L’Oreal Revitalift product RP 6/21
-$1 off L’Oreal Moisturizer or Cleanser, RP 8/02, 5/31
-$5 off L’Oreal Deep Set Wrinkle Repair printable
-$4 off $20 in Facial products “CVS Autofill” booklet (ask the pharmacy about their autofill program & the coupon booklet you get for asking about it!)

**Deal Idea**
Buy:(1) Loreal Cleanser $5.99
(1) L’Oreal Deep Set Repair $14.99
Use:
-$4 off $20 store coupon
-$1 off Cleanser
-$5 off Deep Set Wrinkle Repair
Total Due: $10.98
Get Back: $10 ECB, makes it $0.49 ea
Repeat transaction all over using your $10 ECB from the first.

I did this deal scenario yesterday using all coupons and splitting my transaction into 2- one with the Daytime Deep Set Repair and one with the Nighttime Deep Set Repair. Normally, I don't buy cosmetic type items but when you're talking $1 out of pocket for two creams and two facial cleansers, I just couldn't resist. Hey, I'm no spring chicken anymore!

And the experience probably gave me some wrinkles- it was my first ever experience where I was made to feel like a criminal for using coupons. When I was handing over coupons for the second transaction, the cashier rolled her eyes, gave a big sigh and grumbled, "how do you get so many coupons? People like you are shamming the system and they'll put a stop to it soon!" It flustered me so badly, that I messed up on the handover of my ECBs and was out of pocket a little over $4 rather than the .98 and tax I would have been had I correctly handed over ECBs. Oh well, now I have $20 worth of ECBs to use for the next go round.

I had a few choice grumblings of my own after leaving the store. If you've had a similar experience, feel free to comment. Let readers know how you handled it.

My First Ever Contest! Enter today.

In order to get things kicking here on the blog, I'm running a site kickoff contest with 4 ways to enter (you can do more than one to increase your odds of winning!).

The prize will be your choice of either:

A) A complete carry to store coupon binder kit- including zippered binder, pair of small scissors, pocket size calculator and baseball card inserts. This prize would be a great choice for those of you just getting in the swing of coupon shopping. You can organize how you see fit- do item categories, aisle categories or (my personal choice of organization) by store. I file my inserts and coupons based on date and type, then clip as needed for stores. I also have a front section for soon to be expired or try-me-free type coupons.

B) $50 worth of coupons - if you have a wishlist on http://www.hotcouponworld.com/, I will include as many on your wishlist as I can, including some great rebates, tearpads and winetags I've lucked into. If you win and don't have a wishlist on hcw, just let me know what type of coupons you're most interested in and I'll create an envelope with as many of your wishes I can.

You can enter in any of the 5 following ways:

1. Follow this blog! Click on the follow tab on the right to start the process.
2. Subscribe to the blog. Click on the subscribe tab on the right to start the process.
3. Post your best savings tip(s) on my "Tales from the Thrift" post.
4. If you have a blog, be sure to include mine on your Reading List. Email me at nccouponqueen@yahoo.com to let me know your blog url.
5. If you have a hot tip involving a freebie or special limited time offer, email it to me at nccouponqueen@yahoo.com.

Improve your odds of winning by entering in all 5 ways!

Entries will be accepted until 9:00 PM EST on Wednesday, August 26. I will draw from a hat of all the entry names on Thursday, August 27 at 10:00 AM EST.

Best of luck to all of you!