Prizes

I won a Stockpiling Moms contest: 65,000 Facebook Fans Contest.  I won $65 of inserts from Coupon Beat and a $65 gift certificate from Coupon Clutch.

My coupons came in the day before I left for Mississippi and I spent the car ride (when I wasn't driving) cutting out coupons.

I split the coupons with my Mother-in-Law because I am unable to use them all before some expire.  It still left me with pages and pages of great coupons.  I've spent the last two weeks cutting out, separating the ones I wouldn't use/need, and organizing them into my brand new coupon clutch.

With the gift certificate I was able to purchase a 40 pages of plastic organizers for my coupons.  Trying to figure out where to put everything is the hardest part.  I can't wait to get the sale papers on Sunday and quickly flip through my binder to compare the sales with my coupons...I'll look so stylish.

Couponing in Mississippi

I've only been out once to coupon.  I hit Walgreens and CVS: below you will find all my great money saving. I accidentally threw away my Walgreens receipts before I could get the coupon info.

Walgreens
1 - Colgate Total Toothpaste
1 - Twix (filler)
2 - Hershey Bar (filler)
2 - Hershey Air Delight (free with coupon)
1 - Claritin 30 count Reditabs
1 - Scott Naturals Papertowels
1 - Carefree Liners
2 - glazed honeybuns (filler)
1 - Yogurt pretzels (filler)
1 - Colgate Total Whitening

Total Cost of Items: $46.10
Out of Pocket: $28.59 + $5 off next purchase coupon
Savings: $22.51


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CVS
1 - Hydro 5 Ravor ($4/1 coup) --> earned $3 Rewards
2 - Pantene Shampoo ($3/2 coup)
1 - L'Oreal Black Mascara ($1/1 coup) --> earned $5
1 - L'Oreal Eyeshadow ($1/1 coup)
1 - Jergens Lotion ($2/1 coup)
2 - Dove Clinical Deodorant (2 - .75/1 coup) --> earned $5
4 - Tide w/ Bleach Alternative (Used 4 - $1/1 coupons) --> Earned $10 Rewards
8 - Gain Dish detergent (Used 1 - $1/2 and .50/1 coupons) - yes I didn't have enough coups   
      but they were  cheap and I needed two more to reach my $30 P&G limit
1 - Venus Embrace Razor (free with coupon)
1 - Venus Embrace Cartridge Refill ($2/1 coup + Buy cartridge get razor free coup)
1 - Olay Bodywash (Buy cartridge get bodywash free coup)
1 - Huggies Snug & Dry Diapers ($2/1 coup)
3 - Venus Disposable Razors (BOGO coupon)

Total Cost of Items: $172.93
Out of Pocket: $94.43
Savings: $83.50

 

Last trip till Mississippi

One of my last coupon hits in Texas before I travel to Mississippi to teach my sister how to coupon.  The CVS coupons (not rewards) were printed from the little red coupon machine they have.  I'll have to remember to scan my CVS Rewards Card each visit.


CVS
 
Transaction #1:
1 gallon milk = $3.49 + $1 rewards
OOP: $3.49

Transaction #2
12 pack Sprite Zero
1 tube Maybeline Mascara
1 compact Physician's Formula Blush

USED: CVS Coupon: spend $12 in cosmetics get $4 off order; CVS Coupon: $1.99 Coke product with a total of $10 or more; CVS Coupon: $1 Rewards from T#1; and Mfg Coup: $1.00 off Physician's Formula product.

OOP:  $13.50 + $5 rewards

Transaction #3
3 tubes Crest toothpaste = $1.99 each

USED: $5 rewards

OOP: .97 cents
         
Store Price: $36.94
Out of Pocket: $17.96 + $5 off next $10 purchase coup so it's like I paid $12.96 or $1.85 per item

Walgreen's

Transaction #1
6 bottles Pantene Shampoo ($7/2 and spend $25 in P&G products get $5 store bucks)
2 bottles Pantene Conditioner

USED: 4 - $3/2 coupons
OOP: $17.31 + $5 store bucks

Transaction #2
4 bottles Softsoap body wash (BOGO sale)

USED: 2 - .50/1 ad $5 store bucks
OOP: $4.31

Store Price: $47.95
OOP: $21.62 - that's like paying $1.80 per item! 

CVS Mega-Couponing

This was my first "real" couponing event.  All the others before were small and not that many purchases.  This shopping outage at CVS had a total of 7 separate purchases.  I don't  have the time to break down each individual purchase so I'll just list the items in the picture, store total and what I actually paid.

1 - Suave Naturals Body Wash

1 - Suave Professionals Shampoo

1 - Suave Professionals Conditioner

1 - Suave Antiperspirant

2 - Suave Mango Madness Body Lotion

1 - Alegra 30 Count

1 - Arm & Hammer Complete Toothpaste (BOGO Sale)

3 - Arm & Hammer Sensitive Toothpaste (BOGO Sale)

2 - Pantene Shampoo

1 - Pantene Conditioner

1 - Zyrtec 30 count

1 - L'Oreal Tru Match Powder

1 - Colgate 360 Twin Pack Toothbrushes

2 - CVS Allergy Medication 30 count (BOGO Sale)

Store Total: $134.79

What I Actually Paid: $68.24 + $10 Shell Gas Card

If I had purchased just the allergy medication without coupons, my order would of cost the same.  The girl checking me out thought it was pretty cool, as did the line of people who ended up behind me.  It's funny how no one is in the store while I'm shopping but when I get ready to check out, everyone decides to do the same.

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Walgreens

For this shopping experience there were some items I needed to buy (Pediasure) because I had a sick baby who wasn't eating that much.  All items were bought in three separate purchases.

2 - Schick Sensitive Disposable Razors

1 - Huggies Little Swimmers

2 - Nestle Crunch (filler item)

1 - Pediasure 6 pack

1 - Schick Hawaiian Tropic Disposable Razors

1 - Butterfinger (filler item)

1 - Babyruth (filler item)

1 - U by Kotex Tampon

1 - Claritin Reditabs 30 Count

1 - Crest kids Toothpaste

Store Total: $81.38

What I Actually Paid: $41.78

Couponing with Jack

Early Saturday morning (usually between 6:00 & 6:30am) is my shopping time to prepare for each week.  I spend Friday night scouring coupons, sale papers and making out my list of needed items.  This past Friday I was too tired to do it and a storm early Saturday kept me in.  To top everything, Tedder was sick and needed to see the doctor, Jack needed some where to go, and I had a hair appointment.  My husband went to the doctor and dropped off Jack at the in-laws. I made it right on time for my appointment.

Needless to say, I didn't get to shop early in the morning and was forced to wait till later in the day.  To make it easier on my husband who was staying at home with the sick baby, I took Jack with me to shop.  I had my envelopes, grocery list and baby in tow.

First stop, Babies R Us.  They've had a sale on store brand fruit and veggie pouches $8 for 10 (usually $1.09 each) which equaled .80 cents each...way cheaper than even Walmart.  The pouches are great for traveling and since we'll be traveling to MS in June, I dropped 20 pouches into the cart.  Jack wasn't too happy he didn't get to eat one but he was soon distracted by something else and we continued through the store.  The store had Koala Baby swim suits on sail for $7.49 each (usually $12.99) and since the boys don't have swim suits yet - I snagged two.  BRU also had their rompers on sale for $5 (usually $9.99).  If I had bought everything at full price = $87.74.  I had $5 in store bucks and thanks to my sale watching Jack and I walked out of the store with everything for $49.23.
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Next stop - Walgreens.  I've gotten better at watching sales, organizing my coupons, and understanding store rewards bucks.  Below is my list with store prices, coupons, and rewards.  * = filler items

1st Purchase: Witch hazel first, paid $4.33 and received $4 store bucks.

2nd Purchase: Two boxes of Special K Snack Bars and Nestle candy bars.  Store price $5/2.  Used $1/2 snack bar coupon and .60/3 candy coup and planned on using the $4 store bucks but the cashier rang everything up before she knew I was paying with it (Not that big a deal because I knew I could use it on my next order.) so I ended up paying $4.47 and received $2 in store bucks. 

3rd Purchase: Two boxes Kellogg's Cereal.  Store price $5/2. Used $1/2 coupon and $4 store bucks.  Paid zero and received $2 store bucks!!

 4th Purchase: Two tubes Aquafresh Kids Toothpaste. Store price BOGO 1/2 price. Used two $1/1 coupons and $2 store bucks.  Paid $1.72.

Items Original Cost: $24.96
OOP: $10.52 + $2.00 store bucks (The store bucks were a total surprise to me and I was happy to take them!)
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Last stop - Kroger.  Let me say, how awesome of a shopper Jack is.  He waves at everyone, holds things for me and points at everything and says "Ooooo" - especially the many helium balloons around.

I won't bore you by listing all items purchased just by telling you about the coupons I used and money saved.  First and foremost, if you shop at Kroger you MUST sign up for their rewards card.  You get additional discounts and every few weeks I get store coupons in the mail with free items listed.  On my last shopping trip I used the store coupons and received a free pack of Hebrew National hotdogs, bag of store brand shredded cheese, and dozen eggs and received a $4 store bucks off my next meat purchase.  On this trip I received a free box of Cheerios and purchased items such as pork chops, chicken breast, fresh veggies & fruit, 5 jumbo packs of diapers, and four gallons of milk (we really like milk).

Total Original Cost: $186.08
Kroger Discounts: $28.87
Manufacture Coups: $17.65
OOP: $139.56

Walgreens Mini-Couponing

Saw the sale ads, had the coupons and on a rare cold Texas Saturday morning went "stockpiling" Walgreens.

They were running a sale on store brand Allegra with a $4 catalina, $2.00 off store brand cough syrup, and Dove products 4/$15 with $5 catalina (didn't know at the time).  If I had known about the catalina from the dove products, I would of made 3 separate purchases instead of two. I'll get better next time.

I purchased the allergy medicine and cough syrup together for a total of $23.48 and received $4.00 in store bucks.  Next I purchased 1 of each Dove products: shampoo, conditioner, women's deodorant, and men's deodorant.  Each rang up for $3.75 each and I had the following coupons: $1/1shampoo or conditioner; $2/1 shampoo or conditioner; $1/1 deodorant; $1/1 deodorant.  In order to use my store bucks I had to have a 5th item and snagged an on-sale bag of peanut M&Ms.  The final total was $7.11.  Not too shabby for Dove products that normally would of cost me $4.50 each.  Plus I was surprised with five dollars in store bucks for my next stock piling adventure.

This week, my goal is to create my binder and try to plan my menu around what's on sale and I have coupons for.  The hardest thing about that is having two babies...they are pretty picky and I can't really alter what I buy to feed them.

First attempt...

So here's my first attempt at couponing and going to the drug stores when they have sales.  I spent the entire two hours of Dancing With the Stars cutting out coupons, scouring sale papers and organizing everything into neat little piles.  I had three destinations: CVS, Walgreen's and Target. My trip to Target had to be canceled.

I was so excited to try my hand that I left during my off period at school for CVS.  I had coupons for Dawn soap, floss, toothbrushes, Allegra, lotion and mouthwash.  CVS had a promotion for buy 2 get 1 free on all Oral-B products and get $5 store bucks for the Allegra.  Here is a break down of everything:

• Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash = $3.99
• 2 Oral-B toothbrushes = $9.98 ($4.99 each)
• 1  Oral-B floss = free ($3.99)
• 1 Lubriderm lotion = $6.99
• Dawn Ultra = .99
• Allegra 24HR - 70CT = $39.99

COST = $54.95

Coupons:

• .50 off tooth brush
• .50 off tooth brush
• .25 off floss
• .25 off Dawn
• $7.00 off Allegra
• $2.00 off lotion
• $5.00 store bucks
• $1.00 off mouth wash

COUPONS = 16.50

SPENT = $38.45
* and received .50 in CVS cash

Not to shabby for my first time.  I hope to become better at this over the summer and next school year.  Since I decided to be a stay at home mom I need to save money how ever necessary and am starting to stock pile pantry, bathroom, and cleaning products.

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This trip made me even more excited to try out everything at Walgreen's. They were having Buy One get One 1/2 off sale on Pantene, Head and Shoulders, John Freida, Revlon, Olay, and Venus Razors and I had coupons for all the same stuff.  As soon as supper was finished and my husband home, I headed out the door.

• Prices reflect the buy one get one 1/2 off sale or in-store promotional
• 1 bottle Pantene Shampoo = $2.49
• 1 bottle Pantene Conditioner = $2.49
• 2 bottles Head & Shoulders Apple Shampoo = $9.73
• 1 bottle Head & Shoulders Conditioner = $6.49
• 2 bottles Olay Body wash = $7.18
• 2 packs Venus Malibu disposal razors = $16.48
• 2 bottles Sally Hanson nail polish = $4.00 ($2.99 each or 2 for $4)
• 1 bottle Revlon nail polish = $2.49
• 1 tube Revlon extreme wear lipstick = $9.99
• 1 bottle John Freida Brilliant Brunette shampoo = $6.99
• 1 bottle Brilliant Brunette Shine Shock = $3.49

COST =  $71.82

Coupons:

• $1.00 off two bottles Pantene
• $1.00 off one bottle Sally Hanson polish
• $1.00 off two bottles Olay Body wash
• Head & Shoulders BOGO free ($6.49 off)
• $2.00 off Revlon face product
• $1.00 off Revlon color product

COUPONS =  $12.49

 SPENT = $59.33