Coupons and Stockpiling

Last night, I met with some ladies in my neighborhood and a few of their friends to talk about couponing. It felt great to help others realize how much they could save, and I think they were pretty impressed, too.

Since they found it helpful, I figured I would share a few tips here for those that are interested.

1. If you are already shopping at a store where you use a "savers" card, you can load coupons to it! Visit cellfire.com, register your card and begin selecting coupons.

• If you shop at Target, visit Target.com for coupons to print. 
• If you shop at CVS, make sure you have their card as well as the green bag tag and scan both on every visit!
• If you shop at Meijer, visit Meijermealbox.com for coupons and sign up and load coupons at www2.meijer.com/mperks
• Stores that have their own coupons typically allow you to use a manufacturer coupon and a store coupon on the same item!

2. Take advantage of websites that already provide sale matchups with coupons.

• hip2save.com (CVS & Walgreens)
• totallytarget.com (Target)
• spectacularsavings.net (Meijer)

If you are interested in couponing, focus on one store to begin with (the store you shop at most often). Learn all you can and get some great deals!

I have a nice small stockpile...NOTHING like those on Extreme Couponing, but one of my favorite parts of couponing is that I have so much more to donate to those who need it! And, it's not costing me any more. It's actually costing me less than I used to spend on groceries alone.

If you're reading this and have a question you want to ask, leave me a comment. I'll answer all of your questions in a post later this month.

CVS & Walgreens

Today's trip took me to CVS and Walgreen's. Here's my purchases:

CVS6 - 4 ounce Wheat Thins ($1.00 each)
1 - Downy Dryer Sheets ($3.99)
1 - 2 ounce Bio True contact solution ($2.99)
1 - 2 ounce CVS Hand Sanitizer ($1.19)

Coupons:
6 - $1 off any one Wheat Thins
1 - $1 off any Downy Dryer Sheets
1 - Free 2 ounce Bio True contact solution (from scanning my CVS card)
1 - Free 2 ounce CVS Hand Sanitizer (from scanning my CVS card)

Saved $18.42

Total OOP: $3.61, got $1.00 ECB (and, I still have my ECBs from last week!)

WalgreensTransaction 1:
2 - Softsoap Body Wash (2/$7)
1 - Colgate Toothpaste ($2.99)

Saved: $4.58
OOP: $5.57, $5 & $2 RR

Transaction 2:
6 - Kraft Easy Mac ($1.00 each)
4 - Tomato Soup ($0.99 each)
1 - Charmin ($3.79)

Used Walgreen's coupon for Easy Mac ($0.59 each), Tomato Soup (2/$1.00), and Charmin ($2.99).
2 - Buy 2, Get 1 Free Kraft Easy Mac
1 - $1.00 off Charmin
$5 RR

Saved: $14.04
OOP: $1.64

Total OOP: $7.21, RR: $2.00

Amazon Diaper Deal!

If we're friends on Facebook, you may have seen how I got a box of 76 Size 3 Pampers last week for $0.98! Yes, you read that correctly 98 CENTS!

Well, today, I got a box of 152 Size 2-3 Pampers diapers for $2.64 delivered to my house! That's less than $0.02 per diaper! I heard about this deal, but I couldn't believe it until I actually tried it. Here's how my receipt looked:

Order Summary:

Shipping Details : (order will arrive in 1 shipment)

Shipping Method: Two-Day Shipping Shipping Preference: I want my items faster. Ship them as they become available. Subtotal of Items: $41.49 Shipping & Handling: $18.90 Promotion Applied: -$12.45 Free Shipping: -$18.90 Promotion Applied: -$8.30 Promotion Applied: -$8.30 Promotion Applied: -$8.30 Your Coupon Savings: -$1.50 ------ Total for this Order: $2.64 Delivery estimate: August 30, 2010 1 "Pampers Swaddlers Dry Max Diapers, Size 2-3 152-Count" Health and Beauty; $41.49

Check out this link to see how you can do it, too!

http://www.deals4dummies.com/2010/08/crazy-amazon-diaper-deal-step-by-step-yes-cloth-diapers-too/

But, do it FAST because the extra 15% off is only good through the end of the month.

Coupon Trip to Meijer

Here's what I purchased on my trip to Meijer yesterday:
9 Helper meals (10/$10, get the 11th item free)
2 Suddenly Salad (10/$10, get the 11th item free)
10 Pizza Rolls (10/$10, get the 11th item free)
1 Ronzoni Spaghetti (10/$10, get the 11th item free)
4 Ziploc Containers (2/$4)
2 Degree Deoderant ($0.96)
2 Cinnabon cereal bars (on sale for $1.99)
1 Gallon of Milk ($2.39)
1 Case of Beer ($14.99)

Manufacturer Coupons:
3 - $0.75/3 Helpers
1 - $0.50/2 Suddenly Salad (doubles to $1.00)
5 - $0.40/2 Pizza Rolls (each doubles to $0.80)
1 - $0.55/1 Ronzoni Spaghetti
2 - $1.50/2 Ziploc Containers
2 - $1.00/1 Degree
2 - $1.00/1 Cinnabon

Meijer Coupons/deals:
2 - $1.50/2 Ziploc containers
2 - free items ($2.00)
1 - $5.00 mPerks coupon

Total before Coupons: $53.28 (plus tax)

Total OOP: $31.13

Not too bad. If I took off the beer and milk, I'd only be around $14.00.

Target & CVS Couponing

I forgot to take pictures, but here's what I've done this week.

I went to Target yesterday and bought:
3 Pampers Wipes (on sale for $1.99 each)
2 2.5 Gallon Nursery Water ($2.99 each)
1 Lysol All Purpose Cleaner (on sale for $1.99)
3 Gerber 1st Foods ($0.97 each)
2 Travel Size Right Guard ($0.97 each)
1 Schick Intuition Razor (on sale for $6.29)
3 Suave (on sale for $0.89 each)
1 Cesar Dog Treats ($3.04)
Total before tax - $29.32

Coupons:
2 - $1 off pampers wipes (I actually had a 3rd coupon for $1.50 off, but they were having trouble with my Schick coupon and accidentally deleted it. I didn't mention it.)
1 - $1 off nursery water
1 - $0.50 off Lysol
2 - $1 off Right Guard
1 - $4 off Schick Intuition Razor
3 - $0.75 off Suave (Target Coupon)
1 - $2.00 off Cesar Treats
Total coupons: $13.00

Total: $18.65 --- But, I had a gift card from my credit card points, so it was free!

Then, today, I went to CVS. I actually to the one by my house last night, but they were out of the good deals. So, I went to the new store closer to my work today. :-)

Transaction #1:
3 - John Frieda Root Awakening Shampoo/Conditioners ($5 each)
1 - Glide Floss ($3.49)
1 - $0.75 coupon on floss
3 - $3 coupons on John Frieda Root Awakening
ECB from last week $7.99

OOP: $2.14; Got $7.50 in ECB

Transaction #2:
1 - Blink Tears ($7.99)
1 - $1.50 coupon
ECB from last week $2.00 and from Trans #1 $2.50

OOP: $2.07; Got $7.99 in ECB

TOTALS: OOP - $4.21; ECB - $12.99

Couponing!

My friend, Mel, and husband have convinced me to blog about my couponing. I'll start by saying that I have been using coupons for a while, but little did I know that I wasn't using them to their full effectiveness! After seeing a few posts on Facebook and blogs about people that were saving more on shopping trips than they were spending and scenarios where people were getting $80 worth of groceries for $5. I had to figure out what I was missing. So, I started searching for blogs that gave me the info I needed. I'm sure I still have a lot to learn and figure out, but here goes.

This was my Meijer purchase today:

1st Transaction:

Buy 2 Similac Advance Powder Formulas - $19.99 each
Use 2 $5 Similac Checks
Get $5 Meijer Gift Card
OOP - $30.38

2nd Transaction:

Buy 5 Pasta Roni (5/$5)
Buy 4 Barilla Pasta ($0.89 each)
Buy 4 Pillsbury Sweet Rolls (4/$6)
Buy 2 Suave Deodorant (3/$5)

Use $1/5 Rice or Pasta Roni Meijer Mealbox coupon
Use $1/3 Rice or Pasta Roni manufacturer coupon
Use $1/4 Barilla Pasta Meijer Mealbox coupon
Use 2 - $1/2 Barilla Whole Wheat Pasta manufacturer coupons
Use 2 - $1/2 Pillsbury Sweet Rolls manufacturer coupons
Got $1 off Pillsbury Sweet Rolls due to buy 4, get $1 off
Use 2 - save $.50 Suave Deodorant (coupons double to $1)
Use $5 Meijer Gift Card from previous transaction

OOP - $3.20

Total Out of Pocket (OOP): $33.58

Total Savings: $25.00

If you haven't used coupons before, most stores accept 1 Manufacturer's Coupon and 1 Store Coupon per item. Also, at Meijer, you don't have to buy the full number of the item to get the sale price (ex: Suave deodorant - I only bought 2, but the sale price was listed on 3.).

From what I have read, you typically spend more money in the first three months building your stockpile, but after that you can cut your grocery bill by half or more. I am finding that sometimes I will get all excited about something that I think is a deal, but then realize (usually after I have bought it), that I can wait for a better deal! ugh! I guess it will take a little time to figure out what those "rock bottom" prices really are on items.