Last night I saw that Banana Boat suncare products are buy one get one free (BOGO) at Pick ‘n Save! I clipped a $1 coupon from last week’s paper, which doubled at the register. I picked up one bottle each of Ultra Defense 50 and Ultra Defense 30 for just $7.49 — a savings of $11.49, or 60%. That is one fantastic deal on sunscreen that will last all summer.

This stuff is awesome. It sprays on evenly and clearly, which is great for loading up the kids with SPF. I have experimented with other kinds of sunscreen, and this is definitely one of the best.

I hope it stays on sale for a while — this is a good one!

Update: This week’s ad showcases this Banana Boat deal. Stock up next week! I’m not sure how long it will last.

I get this email newsletter from Hot Coupon World every Tuesday. Some weeks the deals seem ho-hum. But this week is different. There is a ton of great information, so I wanted to share the highlights of my email with you. (I highly recommend signing up for this newsletter, if you haven’t already.)

Lots of Mother’s Day-related pricing this week out in stores to watch for.

Brands to watch this week:

Jimmy Dean - If the kids or hubby are making you breakfast in bed on Sunday, you might see this in your shopping cart.  Watch for sale prices (there was a coupon this past week in an insert) and combo deals like “Buy X product, get eggs and juice” type offers.

Kraft - Big Kraft sale coming across the brand,  so it will be salad dressings, mac/cheese, Capri suns, etc.

BBQ sauces and condiments - all brands - With Memorial Day around the corner, you’re going to start seeing BBQ/picnic foods coming on sale.  But for whatever reason, condiment sales seem to kick off the season first, usually starting right about now.

New Brand Alert - Huggies Pure and Natural Diapers - $3.00 printable off any one - LINK

Seasonal Allergy Meds - this should be getting into the competitive stage of spring marketing this month - Claritin has a $4.00 printable - LINK -  and we’ll also be seeing more insert coupons this month for assorted brands.

Falling prices this week:

Ok, whoever decided asparagus is symbolic of love was a really good marketer because the idea stuck.  You’ll see asparagus on sale this week for mother’s day - as low as $1.49 per pound.

Keeping with the Mother’s Day food theme, you’ll also see choice cut beef (think t-bones and ribeyes), lobster tails, king crab legs, halibut steaks, and salmon on sale.  A good price on the choice cut beef right now is going to be anything less than  $4.99 per pound. The seafood is going to be a special buy for most stores, particularly the lobster tails, so if you like them, this would be a good time to pick up a few spares for the freezer to pull out later this summer.
You’ll also find strawberries and whipped cream should be on sale as well.

Printables are going to be HOT this month.

If you didn’t already print out all those awesome Kelloggs coupons, they’re just tip of the printable coupon iceberg this month.  I have it on really good authority that the coupons are going to be rapidly changing all month and we’re going to work to keep you posted because they’ll be fast, furious, and high-dollar off values!!

HCW Printables - LINK
HCW Smart Source Printables - LINK
HCW Red Plum Printables  - LINK

There’s already new ones in all three of those even from last week, and Heidi’s doing a great job keeping them updated in the Coupon Database - just search by printables to get the full list - there are currently over 3000 links in there!

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Hot Deals and Great Money Making Opportunities

HOT - $25 Restaurant.com gift cert for $4 plus a free $15 FTD Reward Certificate -  Use code GIFT  - LINK TO OFFER

Boca Java coffee - 4 bags at the intro rate of $4.95 plus free shipping - LINK TO OFFER

Nielsen Net Ratings (survey site) is open again - get prizes to do surveys - LINK TO OFFER

Don’t have an account to Bidz.com?  Get one now for free. Bidz is a dedicated online auction site for jewelry - they have great prices and you can save a chunk of change - LINK TO OFFER

This week's incorrect Kmart ad

This ad from the Sunday paper says that Kmart is doubling coupons up to 75 cents through Saturday. I was really disappointed in this change from the $2 doubles. But I heard that this might be wrong, so I stopped into my local store today to check out that rumor. I’m glad I did! Kmart is doubling coupons up to $2 through Saturday!

Along with the super doubles, there’s a great P&G promotion: Buy $35 worth of P&G items (such as Bounty, Tide, Charmin, Crest and Pampers) and receive a $10 Kmart gift certificate.

Today I bought two packages of size 4 diapers at $19.99 for a box of 82 diapers. I had a $1 coupon for each box. When doubled, those coupons gave me $4 off my total. That totaled $35.98 for diapers — just enough to qualify for the $10 gift card. (I love hitting it so close to the cut-off amount!). After including the gift card, which I can use on my next purchase, that totals $25.98 for 164 diapers — about 15 cents a diaper. Not bad for a premium brand!

This online printable coupon is good only through Saturday. If you haven’t already taken advantage of the super doubles at Kmart this week, you should pair up your $1.25-$2 coupons with this one. I’m a little bummed that I did  my super doubles shopping before I knew about this sweet deal.

Thanks for letting me know about this, Sam!

My friend Karen recently asked me a great question about my coupons:

How the [bleep] do you organize them? We get two papers, and I have them all in a big box. I want to go to CVS tonight and it is impossible to find what I need — there are sooo many!!

My organization method

I have an 9″-wide blue coupon organizer that I got in the Target dollar section over a year ago. It weighs about 1.5 pounds (I am not kidding…I weighed it at the store one time), and it’s jam-packed with everything I need for a shopping trip: coupons, rebates, receipts, customer loyalty cards, etc.

My categories

I organize my coupons in three categories:

1. Food/drinks
2. Cleaning/household
3. Personal care

Each category gets its own slot in the organizer.

I reserve the front slot for my weekly shopping list and coupons that I will definitely use this week. The second slot holds random coupons that I want or need to use soon but aren’t sure when to use them. The third slot holds food/drinks coupons. The fourth slot holds cleaning/household coupons. The fifth slot holds personal care items. All the slots behind that hold an assortment of receipts, rebates, mail-in forms, store guides, etc.

When I clip new coupons on Sunday, I clean out my organizer, tossing expired or useless coupons as I add new ones to each slot. I tend to add new coupons to the back of each slot, which leaves coupons that might expire soon up front and easier to find.

The 5-step coupon organization process

It can seem overwhelming to start organizing an entire pile of random coupons.But if you break it down step-by-step, it can be accomplished fairly easily and quickly.

1. Decide how many categories you want. I recommend starting with no more than five categories, just to keep things simple.
2. Sit at a large table (or on the floor) where you can spread out. Go through every coupon and toss old ones or ones you know you won’t use.
3. Stack coupons in front of you according to the categories you’ve chosen. Within each stack, sort them by expiration date, with the ones expiring soonest on top.
4. Put your coupons in your organizer, by category, with the coupons expiring the soonest at the front of each section.
5. As you clip/add more coupons, continue to organize them by category with newest coupons at the back of each section. Keep moving soon-to-be expired coupons to the front of each category and toss old ones as they expire.

Karen reported that she spent about five hours organizing her box-load of coupons. That’s a ton of time, but that first effort will pay of in the long run. Now coupon organization will be nearly effort-free, and you’ll never miss an opportunity to save.