Last day for a lot of things. Last day this blog will be auto published to my personal page. After today, if you want it to show up in your feed, you’ll have to “like” my bargains.

Last day for Walgreen’s & CVS weekly ads. Remember both had a few freebies to be had and CVS has the Pampers deal. Pampers deal apparently can be done twice, make sure you do in separate transactions.

Last day at Office Max and Staples to get 100% return on backpacks if you buy one.

Last day to do the 50% off Longwood Gardens deal I posted yesterday.

And it’s the last day of the month, so many coupons are expiring. But tomorrow’s another day with more inserts. Support your local Sunday paper and buy it!

This week is looking very promising. Unfortunately I spent most of my Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) during the previous diaper deals, so I probably will end up spending more out of pocket than I’d like. That’s ok, then I’ll have more ECBs to roll into future deals, certainly won’t go to waste.

First, sometimes I’ll post an item and say “It’s free!” That may not always apply. I’m going on the assumption that you already have ECBs to work with, and not everyone does. But nevertheless, it means you will get the same amount back in ECBs that you put into the deal.

For example, this month, the CVS brand pantiliners, 22 count, are 2 for $1. Then when you buy 2, you get $1 back in ECBs. So even if you’re not planning on doing this whole “rolling ECBs” thing, even if you’re just going in to purchase one item, why not just buy the pantiliners first? I mean, say you’re purchasing contact lens solution, which you need. You were going to buy it anyway. Look in the flyer first, see which items are giving back the same amount in ECBs that they cost. Buy those items first, then use the ECBs to pay for the contact lens solution. Get it? You’ve spent the same amount of money as originally planned, you just got a few extra items.

Ok, on to this week:

Of course the big draw for me is the Pampers. For several years now, I’ve done all my trips and rolling ECBs on the goal of getting free diapers. Big box is $21.99 (a horrible price, btw) and you get $10 ecb back. Of course ideally we’d all have $20 worth of ECBs, sacrifice half of them for the diapers.

Reminder, scan your card at the coupon scanner first, maybe you’ll get a $4 off $20 coupon. Please please please let me get one. Because all I have are the $1.50 Pampers coupons from the 7/4 inserts, and about $12 ECBs. So this box of diapers will cost me about $8 out of pocket, ouch. I know, I know, that’s less than 50% cost, but I haven’t really paid for diapers since 2006.

Arm & Hammer laundry detergent, on sale 2 for $7. Get $2 ECB back. Use the coupons here. Hopefully the gel will be included, making it 2 for $5, get $2 back, or $3 final cost. $1.50 for laundry detergent is great.

Kotex U stuff: $4.99 with $4.99 back. Use the $1 coupon here, pay $3.99, get $4.99 back! That’s what supercouponers call a moneymaker!

Photobooks-$7.99, get $7.99 back. I love love love these things and do this deal every time they come around. Tip–I wouldn’t use more than 20-25 photos, or they are too small. Look for store coupons in booklets, maybe laying around the photo center.

Aveeno is buy $20 worth of stuff, get $10 back. Personally, anything that gives me 50% or greater return on my ECBs, I give it a second glance. Again, scan your card, maybe you’ll get a $4 off $20 purchase, which means you’ll only pay $16, get $10 back. Aveeno has also been pushing this “Ageless Vitality” stuff pretty hard, I know there are rebates and printables online.

There are some decent deals to be had. Remember, the CVS game is all about rolling. Even if you don’t want to do it long term, you can do it trip by trip. Get the Kotex U first, pay $3.99, get $4.99 back. Use the $4.99 ECB to pay for the laundry detergent. Use those ECBs to help pay for the photo books. Use the photobook ECBs to help pay for the diapers and so on.

Until I took a break last year, I was rolling the same ECBs from the summer of 2006 until the fall of 2009. Seriously.

Yes, initially it can be overwhelming and take more time. But soon your brain just thinks in terms of deals and it’s second nature.