I've joined a playgroup and one of the girls in our playgroup is a super couponer. She has helped me and taught me quite a few things. It has been so helpful to have someone experienced who can show you and motivate you!
A few of my recent victories were at Food Lion (which I'm realizing is one of the more expensive grocery stores). I was able to get three boxes of Ronzoni Pasta for .25 cents....TOTAL. That is just over .08cents a box!
Cheaper items:Cinnamon toast crunch- .65 cents a box after MVP pricing with printable coupons for each box
Diced tomatoes were on clearance and I don't remember what the final price was!
Coffee mate-$1.25 after a printable coupon, which I'm still trying to figure if that was a good deal and how I can get it cheaper.
Cake mix and frosting-.45 cents each
Those tic tacs... I want some more of those! They were on sale for .53 cents and I had a .75 cent off coupon, so I made .22 cents! We don't eat tic tacs but if someone will pay me to, I guess I can handle that!
CVS has been a really good spot also lately. Here are a few of the deals:
The free items were:Colgate pro-clinical toothpaste
Schick Hydro razor (which I love)
Renu contact solution
Revlon nail polish (actually made a penny on it!)
Cheaper Items were:
Crest-I believe was .50cents
Tampons-.98 cents a box
Honey bunches of oats-.75 cents a box
Chex mix-$1.00 (this was an impulse buy when I saw it was on sale and I had a coupon). We love the sweet and salty blend!
Buyers Remorse:
If there is anything I'm good at, its returning things. I will often buy a shirt, bring it home, decide I don't really need it and return it. Turns out I do the same thing with this type of thing. I took back:
-Halloween candy-I realized one of the bags was in the wrong spot and more than I expected. I took it as a sign I don't need FOUR bags of halloween candy (especially since we do not have one trick or treater). Side note-I took back 2 rounds of halloween candy, I have a problem.
-Folgers coffee-per ounce Costco is cheaper, even on sale with coupons
-Parmesan cheese-Dollar general is cheaper at $2.50 for 8 oz, but costco is cheaper than that at $2.41 for 8oz.
Things are going much smoother with this now that I've realized a few things. I hope they are helpful for you if you're interested in this.
I spent 4 hours one night (4 hours of precious baby sleep) trying to figure this out using coupon mom and my local paper inserts. I was getting so frustrated because coupon mom tells you the coupon and the insert and voila, its done for you! Well, I couldn't find any of the coupons listed and thought I was just an idiot and wasn't doing it right. The next day, I called the paper to find out that when you buy a paper in a freestanding unit (like at a gas station or grocery store), they just put whatever leftover coupons they have in those, if any. The only people guaranteed to get any coupons are subscribers.
It was a relief to know I wasn't a moron, I just didn't have the right paper! So I've switched to our big city paper, which is .50cents more, but worth it! Its made a big difference getting a bigger paper.
Another thing that has helped was learned that most grocery stores buy one get one free items are really just 50% off, and they ring up 50% off, so you do not have to buy 2 items. Getting something at 50% off plus using a coupon, usually makes for pretty good deals. I don't believe this is the case with drug stores, I believe you have to buy 2 of the items, but you can use coupons on both items (even the one that rings up for free).
Printable coupons are great. I've been googling the product name and about half the time can find a coupon online. A few of the best sites are coupons.com, couponmom.com-the coupon database, and believe it or not, facebook. I've started to like a lot more products on FB, bc when you do, sometimes if will take you to a printable coupon!
I'm working on my items for next week, and will hopefully have up links to coupons and sales. If anyone else is doing this and has tips, I'd love to hear them. I'm loving this!
Phew, that was long. Here is a link to a free bottle of advil. Its limited to the first 500,000 people, so I hope it is still open!
5 comments:
Gracious Grace! I wish you lived closer so you could help me! I did clip coupons the other day. Now they are sitting in my junk drawer at home waiting to expire!
PS. The Advil link doesn't work. :(
Whoops! Try the link now Amanda! Thanks for letting me know!
I am super addicted too! Ask southersavors to be your facebook friend. She always post the best deals, coupons and free samples!
I'm hooked too, Grace! I think the first time that you save more than you spend, or get items for free, it gives you such a "high" that you become obsessed!!! But its a good addiction to have, because us stay-at-home Moms have got to pull our share in the income/expense categories of the budget...and saving money at the grocery store is a great way to do it!
My only tip is to buy things when they are on sale and stockpile them. That way, when they are not on sale, you have some in your pantry to use! Plus, I always make my meal list from my grocery list/pantry so I am purposely trying to use what I am buying or have on hand!
Anyway, thanks for sharing all your tips! Glad you are enjoying it so much!
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