OK, today was a divide and conquer kinda day. A few notes to comment on from what I have learned this week: Walgreens is limiting everything to one reward per item, meaning even if you do multiple transactions you only get the discount one time. K-Mart has an awesome match up this week and who knew but Aco Hardware takes coupons! Woo Hoo!
Walgreens:
I was able to get a bar of Dove soap for $0.99/ each
Lysol wipes (32 count) were on sale for $1.99 each and I had had a coupon for $1.00 off. Making them $0.99 each! (Email companies to get extra coupons!!)
The biggest ways to save from today:
If you have any CVS extra care bucks left SPEND THEM! They expire soon! If you are not sure there is a scanner as soon as you go in the store, scan your extra care card and it will print any coupons or rewards you have not used.
Coke products are 5/ $13.00 This is the best price I have ever scored for Coke products. I used my $7.00 in extra care bucks I had saved making 5 Coke products $6.00 (plus deposit of course!)
K-Mart match up this week is also awesome!
This week there is a -$4.00 coupon for a Shick Razor (On sale for $4.99) This means after coupon the razor is $0.99!!! I bought 3 of them! Then I also bought the refills (That way I can donate the whole set) they were on sale for $4.00 each with a coupon for -$2.00, making them $2.00 each. The store only had 2 left so I have one more trip to make before the sale is over.
Finally I spent out of pocket $8.45 and saved (Drum roll please!) $13.50!!! Woo Hoo!
Blogs I am loving this week:
http://www.couponingtodisney.com/
Pocket Your Dollars
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
CVS Today
Transaction #1-
Zyrtec 5 capsules = $5.99
Coupon from web -2.00
Total $3.99 (paid out of pocket) and I received $5.99 Extra Care Bucks back.
(Yes, I made money to shop!)
Total Paid: $3.99 plus tax is $4.35.
Transaction #2
7 boxes of Tic Tac's (buy 2, get one for .01c)
$1.57- .75c coupon for each box of Tic Tac's. Here is the run down:
3 boxes = $3.15- $2.25(I had coupons -.75c for each box)= .90 spent on 3
3 boxes = $3.15- $2.25(I had coupons -.75c for each box)= .90 spent on 3
1 box $1.57- $0.75= $0.82c
.90+.90+.82= $2.62
Then I bought two big bottles of lotion that were priced $3.88 each (normal price is over $11.00) and I had a $2.00 off coupon for each bottle which made them $1.88 each. Total spent is $3.76 for the lotions.
Transaction #2 then was $2.62 + $3.76= $6.38
Then don't forget I had a Extra Care Rewards coupon for -$5.99, I used this to pay for transaction two like this:
$6.38- $5.99= $0.39 for my balance!
Putting it all together:
I paid $4.35 and $0.39= $4.74! (Which is less than just the Zyrtec!)
Can I just say AWESOME!!!!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Steal of the day!!
I went to Rite Aid today. I was able to get Dial hand soap by one get one free. Both soaps were about 2.50ish, then after paying 2.50 for both I was given 2.00 reward dollars. Yay! .50 ish for both soaps!! Woo Hoo! Give it a try!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Stacking
One of the most important lessons I had to learn was how to stack coupons. Stacking coupons comes from using a store coupon (ex. Target) and a manufacturer coupon that you find in news papers.
Example of how this works:
I bought the new Magnum Ice Cream Bars (they are heaven FYI). The price was 3.50 for one box of three. I used a Target coupon for a dollar off and manufacturer coupon for a dollar off making the ice cream $1.50.
This is also called match ups. Check out this site to see the match ups this week.
This site is excellent because they match store promotions with current coupons for you. It saves me a ton of time each week! The more items that you match the lower the prices for each item, bringing down your total!
Happy Saving!
Example of how this works:
I bought the new Magnum Ice Cream Bars (they are heaven FYI). The price was 3.50 for one box of three. I used a Target coupon for a dollar off and manufacturer coupon for a dollar off making the ice cream $1.50.
This is also called match ups. Check out this site to see the match ups this week.
This site is excellent because they match store promotions with current coupons for you. It saves me a ton of time each week! The more items that you match the lower the prices for each item, bringing down your total!
Happy Saving!
CVS
Here is a great website that will help you learn how to save at CVS.
http://hip2save.com/store-guides/cvs
CVS has extra care bucks that are like cash back when you purchase items that are marked. If you don't all ready have an extra care card, you need to! Check out their ads each week because these items are marked.
This week I did really well. Here is how my purchase worked:
Deals copied from http://hip2save.com/2011/06/cvs-deals-65-611.html
http://hip2save.com/store-guides/cvs
CVS has extra care bucks that are like cash back when you purchase items that are marked. If you don't all ready have an extra care card, you need to! Check out their ads each week because these items are marked.
This week I did really well. Here is how my purchase worked:
Deals copied from http://hip2save.com/2011/06/cvs-deals-65-611.html
Crest Mouth Wash (the large one) was marked 4.00. I used a $2.00 off coupon and received $2.00 back in extra care bucks. Price FREE!!!!
Pay $4.00
-$2.00 coupon
-$2.00 extra care bucks
I also bought two packs of Excedrin (8 count) I paid .99c for each one and was given $1.00 extra care bucks back! WOO HOO!
Paid $1.98 for both and got $2.00 back in extra care bucks! Total price FREE!!!
Other great deals this week
Buy 5 Vitamin water or Smart water drinks $1 each = $5
Use the $1/5 coupon (You can get the printable by visiting her website)
Pay $4
Get back $2
Final cost $0.40 each!
Buy 3 Frito Lay snacks $0.99 each
Pay $2.97
Get back $1 Ecb
Final cost $0.66 each!
Total out of pocket cost: $12.95
Extra Care Bucks back: $8.00
Total amount for all of the above items $4.95
My suggestion: pay the $12.95 out of pocket and use the $8.00 to buy other items that you do not get extra care bucks for.
I hope that this works out for you! Good luck!
If CVS deals work for you try Walgreens next!
Lesson 1- Organize!
The most important advice I can give you is to get organized! Have you ever been in a grocery store aisle and the people in front of you have an envelope full of coupons and each time they take a step they dig, dig some more and dig some more and five minutes later they pull out the one coupon?
Yea, me too. Annoying right? Don't be that person! There are many ways to get started. If you decide to use envelopes there are many ways to organize yourself. You can paper clip each section that you have such as snacks, health and beauty, baby, cereal, frozen.... that way when you are ready to use a coupon finding the item will be much easier. Or find what is in each aisle at your local store and paper clip your coupons that way or use separate envelopes for each section.
When I began using coupons I was that annoying person who would dig and dig and after a few weeks (about 3 weeks) worth of coupons I ended up with about 4 envelopes... it took me over 2 hours to do a small grocery shop. (ugh, I know.)
Mistakes I made as I began: Not being organized, only clipping what I thought I needed, finding deals on websites that ended up being regional only and not watching the register as I just handed over my coupons. (FYI not a great idea to just hand them over without paying attention.)
Currently I have a 2.5 inch binder (like a trapper keeper from elementary). In my binder I have dividers to separate each type of coupon and the sheets I place my coupons in are made to hold baseball cards. That way I can place all of my like coupons in one sleeve (I think I can place 8-10 in one card slot) also that makes it easier to check the expiration dates of each coupon.
Yea, me too. Annoying right? Don't be that person! There are many ways to get started. If you decide to use envelopes there are many ways to organize yourself. You can paper clip each section that you have such as snacks, health and beauty, baby, cereal, frozen.... that way when you are ready to use a coupon finding the item will be much easier. Or find what is in each aisle at your local store and paper clip your coupons that way or use separate envelopes for each section.
When I began using coupons I was that annoying person who would dig and dig and after a few weeks (about 3 weeks) worth of coupons I ended up with about 4 envelopes... it took me over 2 hours to do a small grocery shop. (ugh, I know.)
Mistakes I made as I began: Not being organized, only clipping what I thought I needed, finding deals on websites that ended up being regional only and not watching the register as I just handed over my coupons. (FYI not a great idea to just hand them over without paying attention.)
Currently I have a 2.5 inch binder (like a trapper keeper from elementary). In my binder I have dividers to separate each type of coupon and the sheets I place my coupons in are made to hold baseball cards. That way I can place all of my like coupons in one sleeve (I think I can place 8-10 in one card slot) also that makes it easier to check the expiration dates of each coupon.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Terms You Need To Know!
This post will give you a few sites to look at while I get my page started. I recommend that you start on the site below.
Coupon Diva's website is very helpful because she will teach you how to get started!
Here is the site address:
http://coupondivas.com/how-to-coupon-basics-getting-started
Coupon Acronyms
Other helpful sites:http://coupondivas.com/http://bargainstobounty.com/ http://hip2save.com/ I hope that gives you a few places to look while I update my page! I will update tomorrow night on what to look at on each site and I how I got started. |
Welcome
Hi everyone! I thought starting a blog to show you what I know about coupons and what I learn as I go. I am new to using coupons and sometimes I will make mistakes, but I am learning. I hope that my blog will encourage you to save money for your family.
Why Should I?
There are many reasons to use coupons. I love to use coupons because I am thrifty, the further I can stretch my grocery money the happier I am. Many people use coupons and deposit the money they save into a savings account. The savings account can then pay for vacations, college, new vehicles, paying off credit cars, and many other reasons.
How Long does it take?
Depending on how much time you have to get organized you can spend as little time as 10-15 minutes clipping coupons from the news papers to hours researching deals and printing coupons from online coupon sites. Currently I spend about an hour each week planning my shopping trips, finding online coupons and looking at many other webpages to help me learn.
Still interested? Look for other posts from me, I will be updating with helpful terms that you can use, websites I use to learn from or find deals from and my weekly finds with breakdowns for each transaction.
Why Should I?
There are many reasons to use coupons. I love to use coupons because I am thrifty, the further I can stretch my grocery money the happier I am. Many people use coupons and deposit the money they save into a savings account. The savings account can then pay for vacations, college, new vehicles, paying off credit cars, and many other reasons.
How Long does it take?
Depending on how much time you have to get organized you can spend as little time as 10-15 minutes clipping coupons from the news papers to hours researching deals and printing coupons from online coupon sites. Currently I spend about an hour each week planning my shopping trips, finding online coupons and looking at many other webpages to help me learn.
Still interested? Look for other posts from me, I will be updating with helpful terms that you can use, websites I use to learn from or find deals from and my weekly finds with breakdowns for each transaction.
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