Wow it has been a while since I've posted! Sorry folks! I haven't had that great incredible deal this month, or maybe I'm just getting too used to this, because I have gotten some great deals this month and I'm not even sure I can recall them all for this blog.
I have been watching the new Extreme Couponing series on TLC. The first show they did a while back is what first got me into this couponing craze, but some recent episodes have been disapointing. Last week twins shopped for items they didn't need, diapers (neither had children) and several, lets even say LOTS of bottles of acid reducer and other vitamins or such. Pretty much all stuff they didn't need. I'm not sure I want to shop like this or have a stockpile like the guy featured after the twins on the same episode. He was on the original episode I watched, but this episode when they showed his stockpile they showed he had things like always maxipads stock piled, he was a single guy, does anyone else find that disturbing? I mean come on, a stockpile is nice to have, I have a small one myself, but his stockpile.....a bit much, okay a LOT much! My stockpile consists mostly of laundry detergent, dryer sheets, trash bags and bathroom items like toothpaste and deodorant. I don't have anymore than a dozen of each of those items, with laundry detergent being most of what I have at around 9 bottles, but when I didn't pay more than 99 cents for the majority of them, its worth having that stockpile.
The two episodes that ran back to back the week before last showed two mothers with families doing their shopping, one girl was seen in the store putting several packages of meat and several gallons of milk in her cart yet she still only paid like $6 for hundreds of dollars worth of groceries. I am not sure exactly what her pre coupon total was or exactly what she paid as I don't recall but I have no idea how I'll ever get meat and milk that cheap. I think different states must have different sales at stores we don't have here and different coupons available. I have already learned if you enter different zip codes at coupons.com that you get some different coupons. So will I ever be as good as some of those? No. Do I want to be that good? Sometimes. Other times I think I'll just be happy at what I am saving, continue to try harder and if I end up being like them, okay. But I don't think you'll see me with a store quality shelving unit in my bedroom (not any time soon that is).
All that being said, I did snag some good deals over the last couple weeks and I did happen upon a customer behind me in line who was excited over my coupon savings, not annoyed at her wait while my coupons were rung through and my raincheck, which the new cashier needed assistance with.
I decided to do my grocery shopping at Shaw's last week, because they do double their coupons 99cents and under and I have been creating my own little "stockpile" of coupons to save for Shaw's, mostly 75cent ones. I have failed to take pictures last week and this week, which probably makes this blog less interesting, my apologies.
At Shaw's I snagged some cheap smuckers jelly, a staple in this house, after my 75 cent coupons doubled $1.50. I decided to use a raincheck I got quite some time back for buy one get one on Arnold bread, which usually retails for over $4 a loaf, was on sale for $2.99 and I had a $1 off 2 coupon meaning I paid just $1.99 for two loaves of bread, sweet deal.
When I was cashing out and the older lady behind me saw all the coupons I had she said "look at that stack of coupons! aren't you good to clip those, I clip them sometimes but then I never use them!" as the cashier was ringing them up she said "wow, I think he's going to have to give you money back, how much do you have there?" I told her I wasn't sure but that the receipt would say and I would be happy to tell her. When the receipt printed out the cashier handed it to me and told me I saved over $48 the old lady about fell over, "$48!" she said. I was glad to finally have a fellow shopper in the checkout line be excited over my coupons! But the icing on the cake at this shopping trip wasn't the coupons, it was the fact that I was in that store over an hour and a half with a 2 (almost 3)year old and a 4 year old who acted like perfect angels the whole time. They were rewarded with some scrumptious McDonald's shakes for the ride home, which makes sister very happy because she's a cherry nut and brother doesn't like his cherry so she gets to eat his too. :)
Kmart is running a special on Purex this week, $1.99 with in flyer coupon, limit 4. I went in the other day to get 4 considering I have 5 or 6 coupons for $1 and there was only two on shelf. I got the last two and asked for a raincheck but was denied being told that they'll have more on the shelf before the sale ends Saturday, well I didn't really want to go back to Kmart between now and Saturday but now we'll just have to see if that is true or not.
I went into CVS yesterday to try to get some deals but was disappointed to get only half the deals I thought I was getting either due to items not being in stock or the deal just not being what I thought it was. Stove Top is on sale there again for 88cents this time but I was just in a few days ago and they still hadn't restocked from their 77cent sale which I still have rainchecks for, so I got more rainchecks for it at 88cents. Did get some egg dye and fake grass for the baskets free after extra care bucks and 4 12pks of pepsi for $10 after $3 ECB. But the 5 for $5 on the toothpaste and Dove didn't pan out like I had hoped because the toothpaste was out and the Dove was only on the small bar which doesn't come in the unscented which I what I use, so I go back to the extreme couponing mention, and that I just can't bring myself to buy things I'll never use, its pointless.
I headed into Rite Aid today and grabbed four bottles of Airwick air freshner for only 17 cents total. They were buy one get one and I also had a coupon from last weeks paper for buy one get one, meaning I paid only tax.
I also headed to staples today and got a ream of HP multipurpose paper which will be completely free once I mail in the rebate. Also used my $10 off HP ink purchase of $60 or more that I got emailed from Staples, and I needed ink anyways.
Next onto wal-mart where I picked up a toy story operation game for only $2. I'm still unsure if I should have bought two at that price since I had two coupons for $3 off and the game was $5. It would make a nice gift some day but seeming though I stashed the other one in the basement until the boy is old enough to use it do I really need two operation games kicking around? What would you have done?
I got two bottles of free ketchup thanks to a heads up on moneysavingmadness where I found a link to print two $2 off Heinz ketchup. I snagged a four pack of Scott toilet paper for only $1.68 after the $1 off coupon I had, I actually bought two at that price. I can say that as good of a deal that was, that last week I got quilted northern plush on sale at CVS and having already had to open the new toilet paper, unless the Scott is FREE or pennies, I'll probably never buy it again! Let's just say its not quilted northern!
I also got some cheese sticks for free after coupon, plus overage to use towards the rest of my purchase after printing off the coupon on coupons.com for Frigo string cheese. I was hoping to get some other deals at Wal-Mart that just didn't pan out. It happens. And haven't checked out any target deals in a while so I'm about due there.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Sunday Savings
Some great deals being told to me with little effort this week by checking out moneysavingmadness.com. I LOVE that site, I'm addicted, I check it multiple times a day, sick I know, but hey there are worse things I could be addicted to, anywho......
Two deals that struck my fancy this week was the Purex detergent at Walgreens (where I have $2 in register rewards to put towards a purchase) and the Diaper deal at CVS (where I have $10 extracare bucks to put towards a purchase).
So my girl and I jump in the car for a Sunday afternoon shopping trip and first we hit Walgreens:
Total out of pocket for all three detergents: $1.68
Which is great, but I thought I was going to get a better deal.
The Purex is on sale for $1.99, with in-ad coupon, limit 3. I had 3 (well I have more but the limit is 3, maybe another trip later in the week?) $1 off 1 coupons and a $2 off your next purchase Walgreens rewards coupon. So I'm thinking I'm going to score these for about $1.27 total. I use the in-ad coupon first and then my $1 off coupons and then hand the clerk the $2 walgreens rewards and she tells me she'll try it but its not going to work, and it doesn't. She explains that you can only have as many coupons as you have items, I had 3 items and 3 coupons (apparently a walgreens in-ad coupon doesn't count but a walgreens reward does?). She says there are cowtails (you know those long caramel creme filled sticks), right next to the register that are 39cents and if I throw one of those in it will work. So I'm trying to read the coupon and look at items close to the register at the same time seeing if I see anything cheaper than the cowtail, and this older gentleman behind me says "she said if you just threw in a cowtail it will work", I tell him I understand that, but I'm trying to read the fine print of the coupon and he says "yeah I understand, its hard to read". If looks could kill he probably would be dead. I did have my four year old daughter with me so I just told the guy he really didn't need to be a jerk about it and grabbed the stupid cowtail and wound up paying the $1.68. Some people, I was getting three bottles of detergent valued at $16.97 for $1 and change, seriously buddy, you think I'm so stupid I can't read a coupon?
As much as I love this coupon thing I have met much resistance from cashiers and fellow customers who are annoyed by my purchases and use of coupons, OH WELL. For once I'd just love a cashier or the customer behind me to say "wow, that's awesome, how'd you do that, good for you, I want do be able to do that!" which is totally what I would want to say to someone and what I almost expected when I started this coupon insane-ness; so I am somewhat surprised by the lack of patience in this world. There's also the "have a nice day" peeve of mine, it really kills me when the clerk can't take the time to say have a nice day! I always say it if they don't say it to me thinking maybe it will a wakeup call to remind them to say it to the next customer.
When I was waiting in line at Walgreens today there was a girl in front of me who had some hairdye of some sort and some walgreens coupon deal and some other coupon, which she said meant the product should be free, but it wasn't ringing up that way. So the clerk is all "I don't know the price or the sale, I don't work in cosmetics" and calls over someone else, and he tells her that she has to have this stuff rung up at the cosmetics counter to get the sale price...WHAT? The customers tells them no one was at the cosmetics counter and he says he was trying to get there but she got to the other counter too fast. If anyone has ever been to Walgreens they have the path to the register (at least at the one I shop at) a clusterf**k of a whole 'nother counter and register I've never seen used, creating a huge waste of space and a huge area to have to walk around to get to the register, its not as if you can run to that register before the cosmetics clerk can get to theirs. So he tells her she has to go over there, so she has to carry all her stuff to the other register, after she waiting in line at this one! I'd be ticked too! The girl didn't say anything, just took her stuff over to that register, and once the customer was gone the cashier rolls her eyes as if she's annoyed that this customer is upset that she has to go to another register to get her deal! So that gives me an opinion of the cashier I put on the back burner until she didn't tell me to have a nice day. So as I grab my bag I had to say "geez it really kills people these days to have to tell someone to have a nice day doesn't it?" Yup that's me. Sometimes I think I'm a big ol' B, but most of the time they had it coming anyways.
Onto CVS where I was going to snag two boxes of pampers diapers for $18.99 which I had two $3 off 1 coupons for (in today's coupons) and get $10 back in extracare bucks after spending $30, I also had $10 extra care bucks from a previous purchase. Can't beat paying just over $20 out of pocket for two boxes of diapers plus get $10 back in extracare bucks. But they were out of the little man's size, so I got a raincheck.
But because I had the girl with me and we got a $2 off 2 Bliss chocolate coupon at the card scanner/coupon printer, I let her hold the coupon and the chocolate and am turning her into a coupon shopper already.
On sale 2 for $6 with a $2 off 2 coupon and got $1 extracare bucks. Its not a great deal but a deal non the less, and well we eat a lot of chocolate in this house!
AND yesterday I thought to go into CVS and get a raincheck on the stuffing as I found two more 50 cent off 1 coupons on facebook. I had her write out the raincheck for 4 since 77cents for a box of stuffing is a good deal anyways I don't mind paying that, then in today's coupons there is a $1 off 2, looks like I will be getting 4 more boxes of stove top for 27cents each. :)
Happy Saving!
Two deals that struck my fancy this week was the Purex detergent at Walgreens (where I have $2 in register rewards to put towards a purchase) and the Diaper deal at CVS (where I have $10 extracare bucks to put towards a purchase).
So my girl and I jump in the car for a Sunday afternoon shopping trip and first we hit Walgreens:
Which is great, but I thought I was going to get a better deal.
The Purex is on sale for $1.99, with in-ad coupon, limit 3. I had 3 (well I have more but the limit is 3, maybe another trip later in the week?) $1 off 1 coupons and a $2 off your next purchase Walgreens rewards coupon. So I'm thinking I'm going to score these for about $1.27 total. I use the in-ad coupon first and then my $1 off coupons and then hand the clerk the $2 walgreens rewards and she tells me she'll try it but its not going to work, and it doesn't. She explains that you can only have as many coupons as you have items, I had 3 items and 3 coupons (apparently a walgreens in-ad coupon doesn't count but a walgreens reward does?). She says there are cowtails (you know those long caramel creme filled sticks), right next to the register that are 39cents and if I throw one of those in it will work. So I'm trying to read the coupon and look at items close to the register at the same time seeing if I see anything cheaper than the cowtail, and this older gentleman behind me says "she said if you just threw in a cowtail it will work", I tell him I understand that, but I'm trying to read the fine print of the coupon and he says "yeah I understand, its hard to read". If looks could kill he probably would be dead. I did have my four year old daughter with me so I just told the guy he really didn't need to be a jerk about it and grabbed the stupid cowtail and wound up paying the $1.68. Some people, I was getting three bottles of detergent valued at $16.97 for $1 and change, seriously buddy, you think I'm so stupid I can't read a coupon?
As much as I love this coupon thing I have met much resistance from cashiers and fellow customers who are annoyed by my purchases and use of coupons, OH WELL. For once I'd just love a cashier or the customer behind me to say "wow, that's awesome, how'd you do that, good for you, I want do be able to do that!" which is totally what I would want to say to someone and what I almost expected when I started this coupon insane-ness; so I am somewhat surprised by the lack of patience in this world. There's also the "have a nice day" peeve of mine, it really kills me when the clerk can't take the time to say have a nice day! I always say it if they don't say it to me thinking maybe it will a wakeup call to remind them to say it to the next customer.
When I was waiting in line at Walgreens today there was a girl in front of me who had some hairdye of some sort and some walgreens coupon deal and some other coupon, which she said meant the product should be free, but it wasn't ringing up that way. So the clerk is all "I don't know the price or the sale, I don't work in cosmetics" and calls over someone else, and he tells her that she has to have this stuff rung up at the cosmetics counter to get the sale price...WHAT? The customers tells them no one was at the cosmetics counter and he says he was trying to get there but she got to the other counter too fast. If anyone has ever been to Walgreens they have the path to the register (at least at the one I shop at) a clusterf**k of a whole 'nother counter and register I've never seen used, creating a huge waste of space and a huge area to have to walk around to get to the register, its not as if you can run to that register before the cosmetics clerk can get to theirs. So he tells her she has to go over there, so she has to carry all her stuff to the other register, after she waiting in line at this one! I'd be ticked too! The girl didn't say anything, just took her stuff over to that register, and once the customer was gone the cashier rolls her eyes as if she's annoyed that this customer is upset that she has to go to another register to get her deal! So that gives me an opinion of the cashier I put on the back burner until she didn't tell me to have a nice day. So as I grab my bag I had to say "geez it really kills people these days to have to tell someone to have a nice day doesn't it?" Yup that's me. Sometimes I think I'm a big ol' B, but most of the time they had it coming anyways.
Onto CVS where I was going to snag two boxes of pampers diapers for $18.99 which I had two $3 off 1 coupons for (in today's coupons) and get $10 back in extracare bucks after spending $30, I also had $10 extra care bucks from a previous purchase. Can't beat paying just over $20 out of pocket for two boxes of diapers plus get $10 back in extracare bucks. But they were out of the little man's size, so I got a raincheck.
But because I had the girl with me and we got a $2 off 2 Bliss chocolate coupon at the card scanner/coupon printer, I let her hold the coupon and the chocolate and am turning her into a coupon shopper already.
AND yesterday I thought to go into CVS and get a raincheck on the stuffing as I found two more 50 cent off 1 coupons on facebook. I had her write out the raincheck for 4 since 77cents for a box of stuffing is a good deal anyways I don't mind paying that, then in today's coupons there is a $1 off 2, looks like I will be getting 4 more boxes of stove top for 27cents each. :)
Happy Saving!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Target Run
I came across some good deals with combined Target and manufact. coupons while going through my coupons this week. So off to Target I go last night with some extra coupons with me and score some unexpected deals as well!
I had a manufact and Target coupon for U by Kotex and thought I might score a good deal there but also had some tampax coupons with me and scored a better deal with those! Tampax were $6.74 and you get a $5 gift card when you buy 2. So I got 2, used $3 in coupons and paid $11.33 for 2 and got $5 back, it was like getting two boxes for $6.33!
Excedrin $3.59
target coupon $3
manufact coupon $.75
=FREE (16 cent money maker!)
Reese bogo Target coupon
Flintstones on sale for $6
Target coupon $2
manufact coupon $1
=$3
Kraft Cheese $2.69
Target coupon $1.50 off 2
Online printed coupon $1 off 1
=$.94 each!
Sometimes you think you're going to get a good deal and don't. I was excited to have the target and manufact coupon for zantac, I usually buy the wal-mart generic, but even after $3 in savings the zantac brand was still $5 more than the target generic, so target generic it was! Though I felt kind of bad this morning thinking how I put those coupons that I'll never use back in my purse, really I should have left them on the shelf for someone else!
I also got some bread and mac n cheese cups and things like diapers that I did have a $2 coupon for but you still end up paying a good chunk of change for. Overall I saved $22.72 on an almost $85 purchase which is about 25% savings, and that doesn't include the Tampax deal. Nothing to complain about!
Happy Saving!
I had a manufact and Target coupon for U by Kotex and thought I might score a good deal there but also had some tampax coupons with me and scored a better deal with those! Tampax were $6.74 and you get a $5 gift card when you buy 2. So I got 2, used $3 in coupons and paid $11.33 for 2 and got $5 back, it was like getting two boxes for $6.33!
target coupon $3
manufact coupon $.75
=FREE (16 cent money maker!)
Reese bogo Target coupon
Flintstones on sale for $6
Target coupon $2
manufact coupon $1
=$3
Kraft Cheese $2.69
Target coupon $1.50 off 2
Online printed coupon $1 off 1
=$.94 each!
Sometimes you think you're going to get a good deal and don't. I was excited to have the target and manufact coupon for zantac, I usually buy the wal-mart generic, but even after $3 in savings the zantac brand was still $5 more than the target generic, so target generic it was! Though I felt kind of bad this morning thinking how I put those coupons that I'll never use back in my purse, really I should have left them on the shelf for someone else!
I also got some bread and mac n cheese cups and things like diapers that I did have a $2 coupon for but you still end up paying a good chunk of change for. Overall I saved $22.72 on an almost $85 purchase which is about 25% savings, and that doesn't include the Tampax deal. Nothing to complain about!
Happy Saving!
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