Category Archives: Coupons

Sunday Shopping and my soapbox

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As soon as the kids were all down for a nap today, I started getting ready to head to CVS. I had read on one blog that Cokes were on sale. I called my mother to check the ad because as I stopped to buy a paper yesterday, I realized I was one quarter short. I decided not to worry with the extra paper and will just use her coupons this week. Pepsi products are on sale this week not Cokes, (dang it). I was also hoping to get a 3 off $15 coupons that I had read were printing. Well I did get a 3 off $15 but it was for “facial care products.” Grrr but even tho it sounds like this would be a bust trip I was actually very pleased with the results:


I spent $2.66 and saved $34 or 93%. I actually left the store with 2ECB so that means total out of pocket was 0.66. I am really pleased with this trip I ended up doing 4 separate transactions and did start with 5ECB from completing a survey. The ThermaCare wraps were a raincheck from several weeks ago but but the other 3 transactions were all planned from SouthernSavers.

My first transaction was for the U Kotex pads and one tube of toothpaste. Total OOP was $1.01.
Second Transaction was the raincheck for the ThermaCare wraps. That I paid for the ECB and 0.39 tax.
Third transaction that I really didn’t think about or would have purchased another soda was a second tube of toothpaste and the pack of gum. I needed a 0.75 cent item and the cashier suggested gum. This transaction ended up costing me $0.66 OOP.
Finally I purchased the diapers and 2 soda costing me $0.59 OOP. The diapers were on sale for $8.49 and I had a $1.50 off coupon and exactly $8.49 in ECB to spend so without purchasing the soda I was losing money! I was really bummed at myself for forgetting my green bag because I would have earned another ECB and the trip would have been a money maker.

Now for my soap box, I am really pleased with the CVS trip especially paying 0.66 total OOP but do these items actually look like a value of $37?? The items I bought today with the exception of the wraps are necessities that would have to be purchased with or without coupons. I honestly don’t know how we could afford to live in the lifestyle we do without either my use of coupons or me returning to work at least part time to be able to buy toothpaste and diapers! I am going to post about my first real trip with coupons to Walmart either later or tomorrow so stay tuned!

Cheap is Good…. Free is Better

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DUH you say of course everyone knows this but let me clarify. I am talking about new or even slightly used items I have been able to gain over the past couple of weeks. When I say FREE, I mean with no out of pocket cost to me (this includes tax and shipping/handling). So I am really excited to report that I was able to get a Free Razor (New Fusion) for Matt just yesterday. On Sunday I picked up 4 FREE Magnets from CVS. I was not sure I would like these so I stopped ordering at 4 instead of the 6 I could have gotten. Now I am really disappointed that I didn’t get the other two because they are AWESOME! I order a photo collage today from Walgreens, my plan is to hang it in the new bathroom but if it is ugly then at least I don’t feel bad about throwing it away:). With Mother’s Day on Sunday there are several offers floating out there that I am hoping to take advantage off because FREE IS THE BEST! I have been able to “earn” 15 ECB during the past week just by taking surveys for CVS. I had signed up for the advisory panel over a month ago and these are the first 2 surveys that I have been sent. I really hope they continue to send them! They are easy and quick and I like being able to print my ECB right as I finish.

But don’t get me wrong cheap is good. For example my CVS trip this past Sunday I spent $30 and saved 77% or $102. I did start out with $2 ECB from the previous week and 10 ECB from a survey but I was excited about this trip. Highlights include Body wash for $0.60 a piece (3 total). Diapers for 0.07 a piece. With the diapers I really debated on purchasing and ended up buying a large size for Zach but the fact I had 2 coupons expiring I decided to use them. I also purchase both face cleaner and feminine products that should last between 3-6 months during this trip. Another cheap item that I have received is 2 “snowball” bushes. I have always wanted one or more of these in the yard. A nursery online was offering a $25 discount on a 25 purchase. So basically I paid 12.95 (shipping ) for 2. They arrived yesterday and we planted them at the corners of the trampoline, I hope they grow. They are suppose to have a life time guarantee with a minimum of 3 months prior to obvious growth so we will see?

Triples….

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So I made it back from Harris Teeter triples. I ended up spending around an hour actually shopping. I went to my favorite store in Salisbury and it was the busiest that I have ever seen it. And for the first time ever at a Harris Teeter, I loaded my own groceries in the car. But I am still going to return again the next time they have either a triples or super doubles. I was not impressed yesterday as I got my list together and was even less thrilled when I arrived and found that 4 of my 12 free items were either not carried at the store or already out of stock. My initial plan was for 2 trips this week but after today, I have no need to return. I did load my car and go back inside to claim my free loaf of bread and $1.00 off meat.

The details, I spent 32 and saved $66 for a total saving of 67%. Not to bad especially considering that I have 7 coupons that did not triple, four were for a $1.00 each and 2 additional Harris Teeter coupons that don’t triple as well as a free item that did not triple.

Highlights- Earth’s Best Baby food was on sale BOGO, this is regular priced at 0.89 a jar, I had in my binder 2 coupons for $1.00 off 10 jars so that bought the actual price to around 0.35 a jar. I also purchased boxes of Baby cereal for 0.99 each using both manufacturers and HT coupons. Matt really liked the fried cheese sticks that I purchased 3 packs of for FREE!!

Harris Teeter usually has a “Theme” to their sales. This week it was Mexican I ended up buy chips, salsa, taco sauce and meat today so I am going to change my menu plan and have Mexican instead of steaks.

Budget wise for the month I am currently $60 UNDER budget!!!! YAY!!! This includes a huge stash of diapers and some baby food!! I am excited!

Paid to Shop at CVS

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So I didn’t get a picture of this trip but here is what I bought at CVS today:

1 6pk Scott Paper Towels $4.99 on sale, $1.00 coupon
2 packs of “fake nails” one was $4.49 and the other $5.99 but I found a coupon on a pack for $2.00 off the second package
1 Resse Dark chocolate pack, 1 regular Resse cup and 1 Caramello bar, $0.89 each, $.55 off the Dark Resses and B2G1 sale
2 Oral B Cross Action Toothbrushes $2.99 each used $1.00 off coupon and B1G1 coupon for these.

I also used a $5 off 25 coupon from Rite Aid and $10 ECB from last week. Total out of pocket was $2.47 (2.01 tax) and I received back 6 ECB ( 2 from the toothbrushes and 4 from the nails)

CVS paid me $3.03 to take these items home!!! I am so excited and I still have 3 ECB from last week as well!

Catch up!

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It feels like forever since I have had a chance to sit down and blog! But I am excited to say that I think***Hope**** that is going to change. So this post will be a random list what I can think of that I need to write down post! I am waiting for my tub to fill with hot water so I can enjoy a LONG LONG bath and hopefully a phone conversation (uninterrupted) with my BF.

I just checked my menu plan for the week and realized that I had Pork Chops down for Wednesday but that will not be happening as there are only 2 pork chops in the freeze. This week is a hard week because although we have PLENTY of chicken, that is about all the meat we have. Friday evening we had “Cabbage Rolls” which are by far my favorite cabbage dish and I will be making again so I am going to move the chimis to Tuesday since they will be a heat and serve dish after me working. I just have to remember to get them out of the freezer. I actually have a new cook book from Pamper chef so I may try something out of there as well.

We have decided that instead of buying a temporary sink for the new bathroom, on the day of inspection we will move the one from our bathroom to it. After the inspection is complete we plan on re-financing and buying the sink we want then. So at this point, we need $300 for a new hot water heater to be ready for our “Certificate of Occupancy.” I am hoping/praying that our State Income Tax Refund comes in this weeks so that we can get this ball rolling.

Matt and I attended a free “Financial Peace University” class today. The good thing was that it gave us some time to talk in the van. We have decided that we have to make an emergency fund a “MUST” so starting this month I am going to deposit $100 in it prior to paying bills and as soon as we get able to make the budget then we will stash anything extra in it until we have the $1000 that is recommended. We also talked at length about me working more and I think that Matt understands he is going to have to “sacrifice” some of his work time in order for it to work. This is a huge adjustment in his way of thinking but I hope it works.

I have been able to “find” some awesome deals this weekend. I made a trip to Food Lion yesterday and because of couponing I was able to purchase 1 gallon of milk and 2 packs of Oreo cookies for $1.63 but in reality I also spent $72 first to be able to do this deal. I am hoping that we can greatly reduce our food budget this month and it appears that will work but with a 5 week month that may change. Our neighbors were throwing away a dresser and nightstand that we decided to get. The dresser will end up being Zach and nightstand is ours and we may decided to go with a “wrought’ iron bed frame for the new room. The night stand is really cool so if we can find a bed to match that will be awesome.

Zach decided that sitting up was not enough of a milestone and is now able to crawl across the floor. He is also very difficult to get down for naps and bed so I am hoping that will get easier in the next few weeks. Currently he has been crying for 30 minutes. I am thinking that I will go and hold him and see if I can get him asleep before he wakes up Kendall.

Successful Shopping Sunday

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This is the picture of my “nap” trip to CVS on Sunday. I spent $23 and saved $71, 75% savings. I did split this up into 3 separate transactions. ECB were only given on the first purchase of diapers but because of the coupons I had ($3/1) and with rolling ECB. I decided to stock up. I only counted the drinks and diapers in when calculating prices because these are the items I would “normally” buy. The cost of diapers was at $0.08 each for all 5 packs.

My 3rd and final trip to Harris Teeter for Triples was this afternoon also. Matt decided that he and the little kids would go with me. He admitted he wanted to see how this was done. I was not expecting this to be as profitable as it was. I had a $4./ off shopping order from my second trip and was able to earn another $4 off by separating this into two transactions. I spent $26 and saved $56 for 69% savings.

For the day I spent $49 and saved $127, 72% overall savings.

At Harris Teeter this week I have spent a total of $95 and saved $172 or a total of 64%. I am very excited that the currently plan for April is only to buy Angel Food and things we run out of like Laundry Powder. This should let us reduce the grocery budget by $300 for the month!

Adventures in Couponing

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I have been debating how much information to put in this one post.. but think I have decided to keep this a general post of all things related to coupons and not include my actual trips today. I saved a ton at both CVS and Harris Teeter! I will share about these in a separate post so I can “link up ” on several of the blog I read! So this is a tidbit post!

Since posting pictures of my Harris Teeter trip on Wednesday, Lily has asked several times to see the picture. After the second time, I started wondering why…. So she looks at the picture and says “Mommy, where is THAT gum?” Since gum is a treat around here, I gave Matt a pack and hide the others. Lily has figured this out and since she didn’t know the name of the game to ask for, she figured out that she can look at the picture and ask where certain things are since she has proof I have bought them.

Yesterday on our way home from the Easter Egg hunt, which was awesome! I reminded Matt that I wanted to get a paper with 3 coupon inserts this week. We literally checked 10 different paper boxes before locating a single local paper at 4pm in the afternoon. I was totally shocked but guess that someone has figured out that $.50 for the Saturday paper with coupons is better than $1.50 for the Sunday “big city” paper!
Speaking of papers, I am still currently only buying one paper but usually I get the majority of coupons each week from my mother and several of the ladies at church have started bringing me coupons as well. On Wednesday I received a whole envelope full, this lady sent them on Wednesday instead of Sunday because she knew I wanted to go to triples. Today I had someone else bring me diaper coupons! I am definitely becoming known as the coupon lady or as the lady who used ALOT of coupons!

Matt and the little kids all went to Harris Teeter with me this afternoon. He told me last night he thought it would be fun to go as a family. He actually wanted to see what I was buying and saving! I think he was impressed! He did say that his favorite part was watching the amount of tax go down with each coupon!

I am done shopping for the week and actually think that I may skip the Costco trip in April because of the stockpile we have now! I am excited! I do plan to go to CVS weekly depending on the deals but no more trip to Harris Teeter until Supers!


Harris Teeter 2nd trip

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I returned Thursday night to Harris Teeter for my 2nd of 3 planned tripped. This trip took a little bit longer and was more expensive but overall I am pleased. I spent $54.91 and saved $55.64 so a little over 50%. I ended up buying 14 more containers of baby food to use the coupon I received from the last trip. I also bought Graham cracker crumbs without a coupon to use for the desert Haley is responsible for this weekend. I did receive a $4 off my next order so that will be nice on my final trip. I need to sit back down go through and make a new list to make sure I use at least 20 coupons on the final trip. This trip will probably be the most expensive since I will be purchasing items that are not on sale but I have a coupon for that triples and are items that we normally use!

I did realize that I am ok with saving only 50%-75% because we like certain items and I would buy some or most just on sale for the same price or more without the triple coupons!

82% Savings at CVS and Harris Teeter

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Yesterday was the first day of Triple coupons at Harris Teeter. I have been working and planning for this for the past couple of day. I would estimate a total of 2 uninterrupted hours but it ended up beginning 4 for me. My plan is this I will shop 3 times. Yesterday the trip focused on “free items” but I also picked up 10 packs of baby food because they were on “sale” and I had store coupons which did not double. I spent a total of 30 minutes in the store because I had a list printed and my coupons were sorted by “free”, “good deals” and “check”. On my first time through the store, I picked up the wrong band of taco seasoning so I went back and got just the two packs that I needed. The coupon for 0.75 off 2 would not go through so she had to call a manager to put it in. So it tripled and the register showed I owed 0.26. She looks at me and says “I guess you get it free.”

I spent $14.45 and saved $60.15.

After Harris Teeter I made a quick trip to CVS, unfortunately somewhere in the store, I lost my card so now I have to call to get my new and old card linked. I want to be sure and get my quarterly ECB in April. I bought 1 pk of Pampers size 5 and 2 packs of skittles and 2 packs of Starburst. I had a BOGO coupon from facebook for each so I used a filler to reach my $10 because of a 3 off 10 from Walgreens. So OOP I spent $1.73 and walked out with 3 ECB!

Total savings was $75 and OOP was 17.22 for 82% saving! I will be heading back to Harris Teeter tonight for my second trip!

CVS ROCKS!

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I made my “trip at nap” to CVS on Sunday. I ended up with 2 rainchecks from last week after 3 trips to find the “Princess and the Frog” DVD for Easter. So I decided to check once again to see if they got any in. They did !!! So I spent OOP $24 and saved $58 with 6 ECB to use next week on the Huggies diaper deal that I hear they are having. I had a savings of 71%, my personnel highest this year!
I wanted to highlight a couple of things I bought. The DVD on raincheck was $19.99 with 3 ECB back with purchase. I ended up paying $10.85 for this as my first transaction. My second transaction included both soap and toothpaste to donate as well as a couple of bags of candy to donate as well. My third transaction was the best. I purchased 2 bags of diapers, total OOP was $5.84 and I earned 6ECB back. I was so excited, by the math I paid $0.08 per diaper!!!!!

I also had to go to Food Lion to purchase some baby food. Zach is eating 6 jars a day and I am trying to only buy with coupons and when on sale.

Future deals this week should also help manage the budget this month. Harris Teeter is having a triple coupon event and I have already started my list which will entail at least 2 trips depending on the sales this week, which will post later today. CVS is scheduled to have Huggies diapers on sale next week and I have recently printed 4 $3 off coupons. I should be able to get at least one free pack of diapers !!!