About Me

I recently started couponing on January 1, 2011 as a New Year's Resolution. I had never really couponed before because it always seemed time consuming- "how could a 25 cent coupon REALLY save you money?" I thought. Plus, I have never really stuck to a New Year's Resolution. So this year I decided to make a change- I would stick to both! And I have. So far I have cut our weekly grocery budget 70%! We used to spend $150 a week on little things that we could not even make a meal out of AND then we would eat out on top of that! Thousands wasted over a year. Now I spend on average $58 a week on groceries and personal items (toilet paper, body wash) AND I stock up on many of these items so I won't need them again for another 6-12 months! These number keeps going down as we begin to live off our stockpile. If you follow my blog, I will teach you some of the ways this newbie couponer has saved lots of money!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Rare Egg Coupon! 55 cents off ANY 2 cartons of eggs

Great egg coupon!

55 cents off ANY 2 cartons of eggs.

Awesome $1/2 20z Coke products! *Hot*

Print this *hot* $1/2 20 oz Coke products coupon. 


These are rare and will go quickly!


Happy couponing!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Ah, the value of a raincheck!


I posted this deal a few weeks ago and I finally got to actually do the deal myself! This deal shows the awesome value of rainchecks- an important part of couponing that most people don't know about!

Raincheck- If a store is out of stock of a sale priced item, get them to write you a raincheck. Then when the item is in stock you get the sale price using your raincheck.

Lots of places have rainchecks- Kroger, Publix, CVS, etc. Just check with customer service.

So this is Clean N Clears new body wash. It was on sale a couple weeks ago for $2.99, regular price $5.89. I had (4) BOGO (buy one get one) Clean N' Clear body wash coupons from the Sunday paper and (4) $2 off Clean N' Clear body wash coupons that I posted the link to. 

Here is how the deal played out:

  • (8) Body Washes priced $5.89 =$46.88
  • Used Raincheck good for (8) at sale price $2.99 = $23.92
  • Used (4) BOGO coupons= Minus $2.99*4= $12 savings
  • Used (4) $2 off printable coupons = Minus $8 in savings
  • Used $3 ECB coupon from CVS

TIP: I had 8 items so I could use 8 coupons.

TOTAL: 96 cents+tax
Price per item: 12 cents
Percentage saved: 98% without tax (93% with tax)

96 cents without coupons would have paid for...not even ONE bottle of body wash! :)

Also, you see a toothbrush in here. It was on sale for $2.99 and you get $1 in ECB back for buying it. I had a $2 off that toothbrush coupon from the PG mailer and $1 in ECB, so the toothbrush was FREE and I got $1 back in ECB towards my next purchase! Money maker. :)

Happy couponing!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Yummy & Healthy Pizza for Pennies



Tonight I was able to make a fun meal that was fairly healthy yet cheap.

Recipe:

  1. Pita Bread (Low Carb, Whole Wheat, 130 calories, 9g Fiber)
  2. Homade Marinara (1 canned crushed tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano, stevia, crushed red pepper, dash olive oil, garlic)
  3. Fat Free Mozzarella Cheese

Assemble all the ingredients and grill! Tastes similar to a pizza cooked in a brick oven like in the stores. :)

The neat part of this is how cheap it was to make! The Pita Bread was free (see previous post), the cheese was from my stockpile (50 cents for the bag) and the can of tomatoes was free from a Kroger mega sale. The fresh herbs were out of my garden, and the rest of the marinara ingredients (stevia, olive oil, etc.) were all on sale with coupon purchases. What's fun is that all the ingredients were from my stockpile- all I had to do was get the ingredients out of my pantry and fridge, and I had everything I needed for a homemade, healthy, inexpensive meal.

Bon Appetite!


Freebies and Cheapies: Utilizing Qs to Stack


This was a fun week at Publix to get some necessities I have needed- but not a huge stock up trip since only a few items were free.


I was pretty pumped about my FREE reusable Publix bag. If you got the Sunday paper last week there is a "Green Flyer" from Publix filled with Publix coupons. If you did not get one, check with customer service or the circular plastic ad thing in the front when you walk in. In the Green Flyer there is a "free reusable Publix bag when you buy two of the following..." well two of the following were CoverGirl products...and they were on sale for $2.99...and I had a $1.50 off Publix Q and a $1 off manufacturer's Q...so 2 eye shadows for 50 cents each plus a free 99 cent bag I will use when I shop. :) More information on this and other deals below.

TIP: Publix coupons are wonderful since you can *stack* Publix coupons with manufacturer's coupons- literally you can use two coupons for ONE item. This was the first week that a manager had to come over and override the machine because I had more COUPONS than PRODUCT! Ha! And it is because I stacked my Publix coupons with the manufacturer's coupons.

Below is how I did my deal:

(1)Vanilla Wafers: (Reg. $1.85) FREE! The penny item was Mac N'Chesse but they sold out so these became the penny item. Saved $1.85. 

(2) Low Carb Pita Bread: (Reg. $3.49) This was kind of confusing. I bought 2 of these since they were BOGO (50% off each) and I figured I would use one and freeze one. Well, I came home and looked at my receipt and they rang up $3.49 EACH. $7.50 for 8 pita breads? No way...so I went back to double check they were BOGO and they were. Apparently when this happens at Publix you get the item for free! So I returned one and got one FREE! I went from spending $7.50 to get $7.50 back and a FREE PITA!

TIP: ALWAYS check your receipt when you leave, or at least when you get home. I have a hard time checking in the store, but I usually check in the car or when I get home later. If you were charged incorrectly, go to customer service and see if they have a "you get the product free since it's our mistake policy." I had NO clue Publix even did that!

(2) CoverGirl Eye Shadows: On sale for $2.99 each. Used (2) $1.50 off Publix coupon and $1 CoverGirl from this weeks newspaper. Paid 50 cents each, saved $5. And because I did this deal...I got a FREE Publix bag!

(1) Reusable Publix Bag: Reg. 99 cents. FREE! In the Green Flyer there is a Publix coupon for a free bag when you buy 2 of any product, and CoverGirl was on there!

(1) Glass Plus Cleaner: (Reg $2.49) BOGO for $1.24,used (1) 50 cents off 1 coupon which Publix doubled so paid 24 cents, saved $2.25

(4) Beggin Strips: (Reg $3.50) BOGO for $1.75. Used (4) $1 off Purina coupon printable Publix coupon from their website and (2) $1/2 coupons from SS 3.20. Paid 25 cents each, saved $13!

(2)Silk Almond Milk: (Reg. $3) Used (2) $2 off coupons. Paid 50 cents each! Saved $4. Note: There are a lot of printables or blinkie coupons for this...the $2 one is on Silk's website. If you take their survey they will give you (2) $2 off coupons.

What's a blinkie? Blinkie's are those red boxes that blink in front of product.

(1)Post Cranberry Almond Cereal: (Reg. $3.45) BOGO for $1.73. Used $1 off from SS 04.03 this past week and paid 73 cents! Saved $2.72

(1) FiberOne Bars 10 pak: (Reg. $5.49) BOGO for $2.75. Used SS 03.06 40 cent off coupon which my store doubled for 80 cents off. Saved $3.70.

(1) Coppertone Sunscreen (Reg. $8.50) on sale for $6.99. Used $2 off Publix coupon from Green Flyer. paid $4.99, saved $4.51.

(2) 3 Packs Trident Vitality Gum (Reg. $2.49): This was I messed up on. I had (2) buy one get one coupons which I used, so theoretically they should both be *free.* But I did not read the fine print and it was only for the individual packs...so this was a mess up on my part, but now I have lots of gum at least. :) 
(2) Wishbone Dressings: (Reg. $2.89) BOGO for $1.44, used (2) 40 cent printable coupons from Wishbone's website which Publix doubled for 80 cents off each. 64 cents a piece, saved $4.50.

TOTAL: $14.98
PRICE PER ITEM: 71 cents
PERCENTAGE SAVED: 71%
VALUE OF PRODUCT RECEIVED: $64.20

Happy couponing!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

PG Deal & using Quarterly ECBs, Beauty Club ECBs and coupons! (CVS)


Normally I would not have gone to CVS this week because I am not running too low on body wash, toilet paper, etc. (and I have yet to get my Clean N Clear Body Wash deal since my CVS is still out of stock!) but I had a $5 off $25 purchase (expires today) and $20 in ECBs ($10 from my Winter spending; $10 from beauty club) and I wanted to use the $5 off before it expired tomorrow. Can't leave money on the table! ;)

What is Winter Spending? 4 times a year CVS gives you BACK 2% of what you *spent.* This amount is what you have *spent* BEFORE coupons. Since I *spent* roughly $500, I got $10 in ECBs back! This is pretty awesome considering I actually spent $90.93 at CVS since Jan 1 (and I am fully stocked up now on makeup, detergent, body wash, gel, etc!)

What is "beauty club?" Beauty club is something you must join at CVS- it is free to join- just ask your cashier. For every $50 you *spend* (BEFORE coupons!) you get $5 in ECBs. I have gotten a lot of cheap makeup, body wash, etc. lately so I *spent* $100 on beauty club items, so $10 printed off. I actually spent no where near $100, but it is nice to be rewarded. :)

So today I actually spent the most out of pocket I have ever spent, but it was ok since I wanted to use up my coupons before they expired. My philosophy is if you have to use ECBs and you get more ECBs and product you need that won't go bad, you might as well do it. It's like using money to make money, only you use coupons/ECBs to make more ECBs. Don't just spend frivolously, but spend on items that your family can use.

Here is how I did this deal:

Deal: Spend $30 on PG products, get $10 ECB back.

Note: All PG coupons were from today's 04.03 PG circular.


(2) Charmin 9 pack toilet paper packs: (Reg. $7.28 each) on sale for $5.49. Used 25 cent off coupon. Saved $4.10. These two regular priced are more than my entire total for EVERYTHING. :)

(4) Herbal Essence Shampoo/Condition: (Reg. $3.99) on sale for $2.74. Used $1 off 2. Saved $7.

(2) Cover Girl Mascara (Reg $8.79) on sale for $6. Used $2.50 off 2. Saved $8.08. This mascara is great- just always pricey! I am glad I finally found it for a decent price.

Deal: Get $3 ECBs when you buy 3 softsoaps 

(3) Softsoap Bodywashes (Reg. $4.39) on sale for $3. Used .75 cents off coupon (x3) from last SS 3.27. Saved $6.42.

Deal: Get 99 cents ECB when you buy Oral B toothbrush

(1) Tooth Brush $2.99, used $2 off coupon (PG), paid 99 cents. *Note: I was going to get the next toothbrush free, since I had another $2 off coupon and the 99 cent ECB but they were out. I will go back later to get another one for free or get a raincheck.

I used all the coupons listed above, but also used the $5 off $25 or more coupon CVS mailed me and around $20 in ECBs from the beauty club and winter quarterly ECB printoff. 

Total paid: $13.19
Total ECBs received to use for next purchase: $14. 
You *could* say I made $1. :)
Total Saved: $53.08
Value of Product Received: $68.65
Percentage Saved: 77.32%
Price Per Item: $1.09

These deals are good for a week at CVS so head on in if you need any of these items. Also, these $10 ECBs are a great way to start if you are new to couponing and want to stock up on some essential items!

Happy couponing!