Monday morning my mom came over to watch the kids and I was off to score some deals. First, I raced to make in time for McDonald's breakfast so I could get my iced mocha, sausage biscuit and hash browns, all for just one dollar. I love breakfast at McDonald's! =) Although, the free Mocha Mondays are no longer being offered, you still can get free hash browns when you purchase a sausage biscuit, sausage mcmuffin or sausage burrito off the dollar menu. Click on the picture above to get your coupon (good through 8/22/09)!After my yummy breakfast, I headed over to Rite Aid to take advantage of a bunch of their freebies before they ran out of stock. If you're not familiar with Rite Aid's Single Check Rebates, they are very simple to do - just log in to their web site, fill in a bit of info off your receipt, keep adding to it as you buy more items throughout the month, and then make your submission at the end of the month and you'll receive your rebate check in a couple of weeks. Many times Rite Aid has things that are completely free if you factor in the rebate and sometimes you can even make a little money if you have a manufacturer's coupon since the rebate comes off the original amount. Thanks to other bloggers out there who provided the links to the coupon match-ups, I was able to get all my stuff and come out with $7.58 in profit!! Here's the deal I scored:
Natrol Probiotic - $.8.99 ($8.99 Rebate)
EZ Start Packing Tape - $1.49 ($1.49 Rebate)
Renu Contact Lens Solution - $9.99 ($9.99 Rebate + $2/1 coupon)
Crest Pro Health Toothpaste - $2.79 ($2.79 Rebate + $.75/1)
Gillette Venus Embrace Razor - $7.00 ($5.00 Rebate + $2/1)
Werther's Carmel Chocolates - $2.99 ($2.99 Rebate)
Zantac - $4.99 ($4.99 Rebate + $3/1 )
GE Lightbulbs - $2.00 ($2.00 Rebate)
EZ Start Packing Tape - $1.49 ($1.49 Rebate)
Renu Contact Lens Solution - $9.99 ($9.99 Rebate + $2/1 coupon)
Crest Pro Health Toothpaste - $2.79 ($2.79 Rebate + $.75/1)
Gillette Venus Embrace Razor - $7.00 ($5.00 Rebate + $2/1)
Werther's Carmel Chocolates - $2.99 ($2.99 Rebate)
Zantac - $4.99 ($4.99 Rebate + $3/1 )
GE Lightbulbs - $2.00 ($2.00 Rebate)
Total Spent = 27.49 (+3.17 in tax) Total Rebates = 38.24
Net Total = -7.58
Net Total = -7.58
Next, I dropped by Walgreen's. Walgreen's has Register Rewards instead of rebates. When you buy an item with a Register Reward, it will print out with your receipt. You then have two weeks to use it on another transaction, but it cannot be for the same item. Here is what I did:
I bought the shampoo for $3.99, and got a $4.00 Register Reward (RR), and a GUM toothbrush for $3.49 and got a $3.50 RR, so they were FREE! I took that stuff out to my car (you don't necessarily have to do this, but it makes me feel not so weird!) and came back in to do a second transaction so that I could use the RR right away. I got 6 bottles of Ragu and 2 Skippy Peanut Butters, all of which were $2.00 but were part of a promotional deal that if you buy 8 participating items you'll get a $10 Register Reward. I had three $1/2 coupons for the Ragu (by the way, for those new to couponing, that's short for $1 off when you buy 2) and one $1/2 coupon for the peanut butter. Basically I spent $12 but received $10 back in Register Rewards so all my Ragu and Peanut Butter only cost me $2 (that's $.25 each) !!
I bought the shampoo for $3.99, and got a $4.00 Register Reward (RR), and a GUM toothbrush for $3.49 and got a $3.50 RR, so they were FREE! I took that stuff out to my car (you don't necessarily have to do this, but it makes me feel not so weird!) and came back in to do a second transaction so that I could use the RR right away. I got 6 bottles of Ragu and 2 Skippy Peanut Butters, all of which were $2.00 but were part of a promotional deal that if you buy 8 participating items you'll get a $10 Register Reward. I had three $1/2 coupons for the Ragu (by the way, for those new to couponing, that's short for $1 off when you buy 2) and one $1/2 coupon for the peanut butter. Basically I spent $12 but received $10 back in Register Rewards so all my Ragu and Peanut Butter only cost me $2 (that's $.25 each) !! On Monday night, I was pretty stoked from all my awesome deals. I bragged about my shopping on the phone to my husband (he's out fishing pretty much constantly right now) and he encouraged me to keep at it. So, I stayed up until 1:30am trying to figure out the best possible scenario for a trip to Albertson's the following day. Once I got my list perfected and all my coupons in order I went to bed, but I was so excited that I couldn't get to sleep until 2:30am! Be forewarned, couponing is addicting and can be very thrilling at times! =)
Before my Dr. Pepper deal the other week I hadn't shopped at Albertson's much, but I will be from now on! Not only do they often have double coupons in their circulars (where they'll match your highest value manufacturer coupons up to $1.00), but they also have tremendous promotional deals such as the one going on right now: buy $30 worth of participating products (before coupons) and get $15 off your next transaction (prints out as a coupon with your receipt and is what couponers call a "catalina"). Half off sale items is already a good deal, but if you can pair up manufacturer coupons with the products, you can get an even better deal! Here's my first transaction (sorry, no picture):
6 bottles of Ragu @ $1.67 each (plus I had 3 $1/2 coupons)
2 cartons Lipton Tea Bags @ $2.50 (plus a $.75/2 coupon)
2 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch @ $2.00 (plus a $1/2 coupon)
6 bottles Wishbone Dressing @ $1.67 (plus 5 $.75/1 coupons and a $1/1 coupon)
1 box Kix @ $2.00 (plus a $.75/1 coupon)
Add three Albertson's double coupons that were in the Sunday paper and I got another $3 off. My end total came to $20.54. But as soon as paid I got my $15 catalina back, which means I really only paid $5.54! That's $.33 an item! Not bad!
6 bottles of Ragu @ $1.67 each (plus I had 3 $1/2 coupons)
2 cartons Lipton Tea Bags @ $2.50 (plus a $.75/2 coupon)
2 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch @ $2.00 (plus a $1/2 coupon)
6 bottles Wishbone Dressing @ $1.67 (plus 5 $.75/1 coupons and a $1/1 coupon)
1 box Kix @ $2.00 (plus a $.75/1 coupon)
Add three Albertson's double coupons that were in the Sunday paper and I got another $3 off. My end total came to $20.54. But as soon as paid I got my $15 catalina back, which means I really only paid $5.54! That's $.33 an item! Not bad!
I had also decided to go ahead and complete my Kellogg's Fuel for School promo at Albertson's. The Fuel for School promo is simple: buy 10 participating Kellogg's products in one transaction, mail in the rebate form with UPC 
codes and receipt, and receive a $10 rebate check from Kellogg's and a $70 coupon code to spend at Dell.com. Albertson's had certain Kellogg's cereals on sale for $1.67 if you buy 8 and Pop Tarts on sale for $1.00 if you buy 5. I bought 8 cereals and 5 pop tarts (not all pictured) even though it gave me more items than I needed, since those sales were so awesome and I would have spent more by buying less items. I had several manufacturer coupons I was able to use and it brought my total to $14.81. Once I mail in all the UPC codes, I will receive $10 back from Kellogg's and $70 to spend on Dell.com. That means I made $65.19!!
****Update: Since writing the above, I just noticed that the flyer for the Fuel for School promo says in fine print, "Offer good toward select DELL Inspiron Mini and Studio Laptops." Arg! Not very excited or happy anymore. $4.81 for 8 boxes of cereal and 5 boxes of pop tarts is still a good deal, but I wanted $70 to spend on Dell.com too!!
Tuesday afternoon we had out of town company, but for dinner we headed over to Jack in the Box to get our free Tacos. They're doing it again this Tuesday if you'd like to get you own free Tacos. Go here to get your coupon!
codes and receipt, and receive a $10 rebate check from Kellogg's and a $70 coupon code to spend at Dell.com. Albertson's had certain Kellogg's cereals on sale for $1.67 if you buy 8 and Pop Tarts on sale for $1.00 if you buy 5. I bought 8 cereals and 5 pop tarts (not all pictured) even though it gave me more items than I needed, since those sales were so awesome and I would have spent more by buying less items. I had several manufacturer coupons I was able to use and it brought my total to $14.81. Once I mail in all the UPC codes, I will receive $10 back from Kellogg's and $70 to spend on Dell.com. That means I made $65.19!!****Update: Since writing the above, I just noticed that the flyer for the Fuel for School promo says in fine print, "Offer good toward select DELL Inspiron Mini and Studio Laptops." Arg! Not very excited or happy anymore. $4.81 for 8 boxes of cereal and 5 boxes of pop tarts is still a good deal, but I wanted $70 to spend on Dell.com too!!
Tuesday afternoon we had out of town company, but for dinner we headed over to Jack in the Box to get our free Tacos. They're doing it again this Tuesday if you'd like to get you own free Tacos. Go here to get your coupon!
On Thursday evening, I hovered near my computer hoping to score a coupon from OldNavyWeekly.com. If you haven't heard about OldNavyWeekly, I'll try to give it to you in a nutshell. Each Thursday evening, Old Navy resets the ad page at various, unknown times (usually sometime between 5pm PST and 9pm PST, but I've heard it can happen during the middle of the night or even not until early Friday morning!). Throughout the page are "hidden coupons," i.e. you must click around until you find something that moves and figure out what to do with it. When you've done the correct thing with the object, a coupon will pop up. To see what I mean, go to the website right now (which has last week's ad up). Click on the pink shirt in the upper right hand box and drag it over to the girl in the blue shirt in the center of the page. Up pops a coupon for 25% off, but unfortunately it tells you they are all gone. The best two coupons are for $75 of $100 and $50 off $100. Two weeks ago - my first time doing it - I got a $50 off $100 coupon and it nicely coincided with Old Navy's additional 50% off clearance items sale. This is all the stuff we (Kevin, Stephen, Abby and me) got:
$63.54, or $2.76 per item of clothing!
Thankfully, you don't have to sit right in front of your computer, hitting refresh all night long just to save a few bucks. You can join a chat room, like the one on ThriftyNWMom (notice the little blue chat icon on the left-hand side of the page). Then just make sure your volume is turned up, and the chat room moderator will ring a bell to let you know when the OldNavyWeekly site has reset. And then make a mad-dash to your computer, start clicking away like mad, and try to score that $75 coupon. =)
On Friday, I decided to head back out again, this time with my mom and three children in two (Abby, Ben and my niece Hannah). The idea was that my mom would do one transaction (using my $15 catalina from Monday's transaction) and then give her resulting $15 catalina to me to use on my transaction. Well, I'd messed up on her list and she ended up having to run back and grab two bottles of Ragu to bring her up to the $30 total. Lesson learned: double and triple check list or you'll have a headache trying to figure out what went wrong! Here's the revised transaction:
2 Best Food Mayo
2 Ragu
2 Lipton Dry Soup Mix
3 Tuna/Hamburger Helper
2 Nut Clusters
4 Betty Crocker Supreme Brownies
2 Pillsbury Refrigerated Cookie Dough (not pictured)
The total came to $8.59 (with coupons and catalina), or $.51 each.
I won't bore you with the details of my transaction, especially since I don't have a picture, but I got some good stuff including regular size Breyer's Ice Cream and Klondike Ice Cream Bars for about $.50 each.
2 Best Food Mayo2 Ragu
2 Lipton Dry Soup Mix
3 Tuna/Hamburger Helper
2 Nut Clusters
4 Betty Crocker Supreme Brownies
2 Pillsbury Refrigerated Cookie Dough (not pictured)
The total came to $8.59 (with coupons and catalina), or $.51 each.
I won't bore you with the details of my transaction, especially since I don't have a picture, but I got some good stuff including regular size Breyer's Ice Cream and Klondike Ice Cream Bars for about $.50 each.
On Friday evening, I went returned to Albertson's (this time by myself), since my double 
coupons expired at the end of the week. On one of the blogs I frequent, someone mentioned an unadvertised deal in which you could buy 4 boxes of Chex Mix Bars and/or Fiber One Bars and get a catalina coupon for a free case of water. So I bought:
2 Skippy Peanut Butter
1 Betty Crocker Warm Delight
2 Chex Mix Bars
2 Fiber One Bars
4 Betty Crocker Au Gratin/Scalloped Potatoes
1 Nature Valley Nut Clusters
1 Chex Mix Snack Mix
1 Lipton Dry Soup Mix
2 Kix Cereal
After the promo, coupons, and the $15 catalina factored in, I only paid $6.67, or $0.42 each. Unfortunately, I didn't get my free bottled water and after I got home I found out the deal apparently ended two days earlier. That's the problem with word-of-mouth-unadvertised deals - you never know when they'll be over!
coupons expired at the end of the week. On one of the blogs I frequent, someone mentioned an unadvertised deal in which you could buy 4 boxes of Chex Mix Bars and/or Fiber One Bars and get a catalina coupon for a free case of water. So I bought:2 Skippy Peanut Butter
1 Betty Crocker Warm Delight
2 Chex Mix Bars
2 Fiber One Bars
4 Betty Crocker Au Gratin/Scalloped Potatoes
1 Nature Valley Nut Clusters
1 Chex Mix Snack Mix
1 Lipton Dry Soup Mix
2 Kix Cereal
After the promo, coupons, and the $15 catalina factored in, I only paid $6.67, or $0.42 each. Unfortunately, I didn't get my free bottled water and after I got home I found out the deal apparently ended two days earlier. That's the problem with word-of-mouth-unadvertised deals - you never know when they'll be over!
After all that deal-scouting, errand-running and blog-hunting I did last week, I'm ready for a break! No couponing for me this week. I got too far behind on housework, paperwork and various projects because of all my couponing last week. But I'm glad I gave it a whirl. I feel like I have the hang of it and I know better what things to look out for and what things will work best for me. Next week, I'll try to get back on it, but not to the extent that I did last week! =)
Here's some of the things I learned throughout the week that I haven't mentioned so far:
Here's some of the things I learned throughout the week that I haven't mentioned so far:
- Try to follow just two or three couponing websites or blogs. My favorites are: ThriftyNWMom, the Krazy Coupon Lady and It's Hip 2 Save! Couponing/Bargain blogs are your life-savers and your key to being a good couponer. Just follow the blogs and they will alert you to all the great deals out there and will provide tons of coupon links to match up with the sales.
- Don't get bogged down with all the scenarios out there. You'll find lots of scenarios on couponing blogs and sites. While they are helpful to give you ideas, don't feel locked in to following a certain scenario just because it saves the most money - go for the items your family wants/needs even if you have to pay a little more. Sure, you can get 18 bottles of Ragu for $.06 each, but will you use 18 bottles of Ragu? Or how about $30 worth of Q-tips for only $3 (wink, wink, Andrea =)? I decided to spend a little more and get items we want - it's still stinkin' cheap anyway!
- Be careful with the coupon links and always read the coupon details for yourself. Sometimes a blogger will erroneously post a link to a coupon that is for the incorrect size/flavor than the sale calls for. But leave a comment so they'll know to change it and to alert other couponers.
- Most stores will accept one store coupon and one manufacturer coupon per item.
- Write your list/scenario out before you go, but be prepared to improvise and be flexible since some of the items you'll want will most likely be out of stock.
- Access to more than one computer is very helpful since many coupons have a two-print limit.
- Child-care is a must. Abby is a great shopper and I do enjoy taking her with me, but even just jabbering with her distracts me when I'm crunching numbers and trying to improvise.
- A calculator in your purse is very handy.
- Some type of organization for the coupons you'll acquire is a must! I still haven't figured out how I'm going to organize mine yet...
- The Dollar Tree is a great place to get the Sunday newspaper that has all the wonderful coupon inserts that the bloggers reference (for those locally, buy the Tacoma News Tribune rather than the Olympian as they usually have more coupon inserts).
Well, that's about it! Did detailing my experience help you at all? Do you coupon already? If so, what are your favorite blogs to follow or stores to shop at? If you are interested in couponing, has my post given you some direction? Do you have any questions? Would you like to see me make future posts about the deals I find (obviously not so detailed in the future!!)? Or did this bore you to death and you just want to see cute pictures of my kids? Please leave a comment!
8 comments:
Wow! That is WAY too much for me :P haha!
We actually dont buy much of the stuff you got, but wow you have scored! I also just dont think I could justify all that time spent--I am so happy you are enjoying it! (you must for how much time you are spending!) Sweet deals! :)
Those are some awesome deals. And you are quite the resource as you learn all the ins and outs. I think where I've always made my mistake is "childcare is a must." I never have childcare when I shop and get SO distracted, usually forgetting half the things on my list, coupon or no.
Kristal - While I do love a good deal, it's more about cutting our budget down during tough times for us rather than a new hobby. I don't plan on spending as much time on it in the future (this past week was more of a trial-run to see what all I could get), but I do need to try to save as much money as I can, even if it means taking more time before I go shopping.
Also, some of the food is kind of "junk food" type stuff that I don't normally like to get too much of, but it's great for Kevin and Stephen on the boat where they are out for days - even a week - at a time and need stuff they can just grab. Abby certainly doesn't get to eat much of it! ;o)
Alysun - Yes, it is very helpful having my mom so close. My mom seems to have a hard time with the couponing and being able to improvise and think quickly on her feet. So we've been talking about working out a deal where she'll watch them one morning a week while I go out do my coupon shopping and then I give her a portion of my purchases in exchange for her babysitting services. =) But maybe you could work a deal with another friend who needs to do some shopping and take turns watching each other's kids? Just an idea.
good job sara!! its fun and addicting =) i started doing couponing like this last november. we have cvs' here so its really fun- don't really like walgreens anymore. it is hard b/c so much of the stuff is processed- but you can give it away or use it as needed (like your doing for your guys). i LOVE hip2save. she's my favorite and a couple others. im not as hardcore anymore but if there's a great deal i can't do without, i don't =). keep up the great work!! it saves a ton of $ and no way do i ever go with my kids if i can help it. way to many mistakes are made that way =)
i am SO impressed!!! could you just lend me your brain every week so i could come up w/ the awesome deals you do? :o] i'd very much like to see future posts of your deals...it's fun to see, and it helps to give the rest of us ideas for the future. btw, did you have all those coupons on hand from buying multiple papers, or have you bought some off of ebay? sometimes, i'm not sure which is the best way to go w/ that...also, you went HARDCORE couponing for the week! no wonder you were exhausted/disenchanted by the end of it!!! another thing you might add to your list of money saving tips is www.ebates.com...if you order anything online through them, you'll usually get $$ back...sometimes upwards of 10%!! pair that w/ some of the online sales, and you've got a winner! k, this comment was much too long...but, you like comments, right? and yes, i love q-tips...lol. when aaron asked me "what are we going to do w/ that many q-tips?" i said, "use them! cotton doesn't expire!!!" LOL...oh, the joys of stockpiling...i don't think we'll be needing anymore q-tips for awhile :o]
Wow that confused me, but that's way cool. I'm all about finding ways to be thrifty. Hmm... when I get married, I think I'll start emailing you for grocery shopping tips. :)
Way to go, Sara!! It is so fun to get good deals! And stockpiling can be very handy! Make couponing fit your life, and around your schedule, and you'll be good to go!!
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