Christopher & Banks (misses sizes 4-16) and CJ Banks (women's sizes 14-24) are having a "Friends and Family Event" on October 25th and 26th. They are offering 40% off of everything in the store, with a coupon. So stop by one of the stores before then to get your coupon, and then put on your comfortable shoes and go back on the 25th and 26th to stock up!

This is a great deal, ladies! Last year I got 40% off on top of the clearance prices, so I got several short-sleeved shirts for only a few dollars each. Perfect for wearing under sweaters and jackets at work!

Arm & Hammer Essentials is a new cleaning product, made to reduce packaging waste. I'd been wanting to try it anyway, but then I saw a free-after-mail-in-rebate (up to $3.50) form in Sunday's paper (10/5 SS). I also saw tearpads for the rebate at my local Jewel-Osco grocery store. OR, you can print a free form!

To sweeten the deal, Arm & Hammer has $1 off coupons on their website. (Yes, there is a typo on the coupon form, repeated three times. Yes, I have emailed to let them know. Yes, I do hope that they send me some coupons for letting them know that they are publicly embarrassing themselves.)

Moneymaker Scenario: Purchase Arm & Hammer Essentials product anywhere, up to $3.50. Use $1 coupon. Send in rebate form. Receive rebate for purchase price.

or

CVS has the Arm & Hammer Essentials product on sale this week 2/$5.00. Buy 2 bottles @ $5.00, use 2 - $1 coupons printed from the website, and pay $3.00, and then receive a $2.50 rebate for one bottle, for a net total of $.50 for two bottles of cleaner.

Another good shopping opportunity! Walgreens is offering $5 off of a $20 purchase on Friday, October 3rd and Saturday, October 4th. I think that these coupons are pretty easy to use, provided that the store is well-stocked! (And remember, most stores will enforce the fine print that your total must be $20.00 or more before tax and after all coupons.)

A good way to get added value from the coupon is to use it on items which produce Register Rewards. (Check out a fantastic scenario at Common Sense With Money and an easy one at Deal Seeking Mom. More possibilities at Blissfully Domestic.) I'm really proud of Scenario 2, also; hope you got multiples of the 9/28 paper!

FG Scenario 1 10/3 - 10/4:
Claritin Allergy Relief 40 ct. @ $19.99
-$2 9/07 S1 insert
2 Dove Chocolate Bars 3.53 oz. @ 2.39
-BOGOFree coupon from Walgreens weekly ad (p2)

Pretax Total of $20.38
Minus $5/$20
Out-of-Pocket Cost: $15.38, plus receive $5 Register Reward (RR) to use on future purchase

FG Scenario 2 10/3 - 10/4:
Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush @ $4.49
- $.75 coupon from 9/28 PG insert
($4.49 - .75 = $3.74), earn $4.49 RR
4 Febreze Air Effects @ $2.49
- 4 $1 coupons from 9/28 PG insert
($1.49 x 4 = 5.96), earn $5 RR
Sudafed PE (10 to 24 ct.) @ $3.99
-$1 coupon from 9/28 RP insert
($2.99)
2 Tylenol Allergy 24 ct. @ $4.99
- 2 $1 coupons from 9/28 RP insert
($3.99 x 2 = 7.98), earn $5 RR for Tylenol and Sudafed

Pretax Total of $20.67
Minus $5/$20
Out of Pocket cost of $15.67, plus receive $14.49 RR to use on future purchases

I know that Jewel-Osco can be an expensive grocery store, but I do find some good values by combining sales and coupons. Your prices and specials might be slightly different; view your local ad here. Also, don't forget to activate your Avenu savings, before going to the store, by entering your preferred card here. (My stores don't have the Avenu machine in-store anymore; I miss it!)

With all of the excitement over KMart's super double coupon days, we can't forget that Kroger doubles coupons, up to $.50, every day!  Here are some of the best deals that I see at Kroger this week.  (You can see the sale ad for your store here; I based these on an ad for Illinois/Indiana.)