Adventures in Couponing

I’ve always been one for finding deals and finding things on sale for what I think is a reasonable price…which basically tends to be more than 40% off of retail price. You’d think this would be hard, but with some time and effort, it’s really not very hard at all. You just need to have PATIENCE, which is something I possess a lot of luckily. :)  I started doing this when shopping for clothes and accessories, but now it has overflowed into my other purchases.

So the past couple of weeks, I have been experimenting with using coupons and finding deals. I’ve built up a small collection of coupons – mostly for things like shampoo, body wash, razors, lotion, toothpaste, makeup, and anything else I frequently buy. I have also been visiting blogs and websites that help you get the most out of your coupons – some of my favorites include The Krazy Coupon Lady and Living Rich with Coupons. With these resources, I have been able to score some incredible deals! Some I even figured out on my own, and it makes me feel like a proud soccer mom!

Now, in order to do this correctly, it takes a lot of time and (again) PATIENCE. You have to spend time planning and looking for sales. Here some things I have learned so far:

·    Stores don’t advertise ALL of their sales. You have to physically GO to the store to see what they have on sale. For instance – I never know what’s on sale in the beauty department at Meijer. They don’t post it on the website and usually only have a page or 2 in the weekly ad. Luckily I live only a couple of miles away!

·    You get the most out of your money when you stack your coupons. Stacking means that you use a manufacturer’s coupon with a store coupon. If you can also find the item on sale, THAT’S when you start getting things for dirt cheap or free. I have a bunch of Meijer coupons to use that I am going to match up with my MFT’s coupons, so I should be getting some really great deals here in the next month.

·    It’s worth it to pay money up front to get rewards back. Here is an example – at CVS this week you can buy Crest toothpaste for $2.77, and you get $2.77 ExtraCare bucks back. Basically that means you are getting the toothpaste for free. You have to pay the $2.77 up front, but you then have $2.77 to spend at CVS on anything you want. You can also use coupons to make it cheaper if you have them! I spent $9.04 at CVS yesterday, and got $7.54 in ExtraCare bucks back. I pretty much got 2 toothpastes, a body wash, and a deodorant for free! (Or $1.50) It would have been cheaper if I didn’t have to pay the sales tax on my sister’s wine she made me get her!

·    It’s worth it to buy 2 or 3 newspapers! Enough said! If you don’t have any other way of getting more than 1 set of coupons, buy more papers! It’s a small investment on big savings! Plus you can donate or recycle the coupons you don’t use. The school I work at collects discarded coupons for soldiers. I have been bringing all of my unused or extra coupons in to donate. Find someplace that does that!

Want to know some of the things I have been getting? You may not believe me when I show/tell you, but I have the receipts to prove it!

My favorite deal so far I got last week at CVS. I’ve never been much of a CVS or Walgreens shopper before last week, but after finding out the deals I could get, I have drastically changed my shopping habits. I would go in there occasionally, but it always seemed like their prices were higher than Target or Meijer. Coupons have definitely changed my feelings on that!

So last week they had a “buy $15 worth of Clean & Clear products, get $5 ExtraCare bucks” deal going on. I remembered that I had a BOGO Free coupon for Clean & Clear body wash – which sells for $5.99 there. I also live on Clean & Clear Oil sheets, so that was my third product – all 3 costing $17.97 before tax. I used my BOGO Free coupon, so there went $5.99. I also used two $2 off 1 Clean & Clear product, and one $1 off 1 Clean and Clear product. I had $5 ExtraCare bucks from a previous purchase too. I paid a whopping $1.98 before tax, and I also got a $5 ExtraCare bucks. I MADE MONEY! This deal I came up with all on my own – I didn’t see anyone else on any websites doing this.

Yesterday I went to Family Dollar armed with my Reach toothbrush coupons and also a $1 off Febreze coupon. I got 4 toothbrushes and a full size bottle of Febreze for $1.88. Here’s a rundown:

BOUGHT:
4 Reach toothbrushes @ $1 each

1 Febreze Thai Dragon Fruit fabric refresher @ $2.50

COUPONS:

2 - $2 off 2 Reach toothbrushes

1 - $1 off any Febreze product

Now, I understand that I don’t really have a need for 4 toothbrushes. The best part about this whole experiment is that I am going to donate whatever I don’t use. I am going to keep using my coupons and finding deals, and whatever I have at the end of the year that I don’t need or don’t plan on using will be donated. My aunt collects travel sized products and purses to donate to her church, where they fill the purses with products and give them to needy or homeless women. My sister and I have been helping her out with the collection the past 2 years, and I can’t wait until she sees how much stuff I am going to have for her this year! I was also thinking about making care packages for US Soldiers (like the crazy man on Extreme Couponing!) if I can come up with enough stuff. I don’t really have anywhere to “stockpile”, so a little at a time with have to do for now.

I know it’s nerdy, but I am really excited for this! It’s a good experiment and in the end it will help out people who need it. Does anyone else do this? (Or just soccer moms? LOL)