4.19.2012

My Couponing Adventure

Warning, I go into great detail on the savings I saved. :-)

The past 2 days I have filled my days with grocery shopping and couponing.  Finding the best deal is my goal.  I don't typicaly chart out my deals and savings, but I thought I would this week since I'm so excited about what I found.  Thanks to some amazing blogs that point me in the right direction, Money Saving Mom & Southern Savers, I have been able to print store coupons and manufacture coupons that save me lots of money.

So this was yesterday's shopping trip.  I'm gonna break it down for you.

CVS
From last week's CVS trip, I had acquired $5 in Extra Care Bucks.  So, I headed to CVS to grab a few more needed things and see what kind of deals I could get.  I knew there was another shaver deal and I had also printed a $2 manufacturer coupon to use with it.  First thing I always do when I get to CVS is scan my Extra Care card and see what store coupons I'm given.  Yesterday I got a great one, a $4 off of $20 purchase.  Combined with my previous $5 extra bucks, this was a good savings.  I also noticed that if you spent $20 in Burts Bees product, you got $5 extra bucks.  I try my best to purchase healthy products that don't have any parabens and sulfates, so I liked this deal a lot.  I found some great conditioner, lotion, and lip balm that I knew I would use a lot.  I also picked up the BIC shaver I came for.  


BIC Soleil Shaver - 6.99 get $2 ECB
Burts Bees - Spend $20 get $5 ECB

$2.99 after ECB's

BIC Soleil Shaver - $6.99
use $2 coupon (print here)
Pomegranate Conditioner - $8.99
Radiance Lotion - $7.99
SPF Lip Balm - $3.99
Used $4 off of $20 CVS coupon
Used $5 ECB
Paid $16.96
Earned $7 ECB

If you are not familiar with Extra Care Bucks, you can read about how to use them here.  They are CVS dollars that you earn by purchasing certain items.  Once you begin getting them, you can then just keep using them towards other purchases that give you back more ECB.  It's wonderful!  I have not done it in a really long time, so I'm jumping back on the CVS train. :-)

Harris Teeter
This week, at Harris Teeter, it is Super Doubles.  That means they will double any coupon up to $1.98.  I didn't need a lot of groceries and I didn't get the paper the last couple of weeks, but I quickly did a scan of the printable coupons and deals.  Coffee was definitely on my list of things to get, and there were GREAT coupons and sales on Starbucks coffee.  After printing coupons I headed out to the store as soon as I could.  The first couple of days can be hectic during coupon week.

Starbucks Flavored Coffee, on sale for $6.99
Used printed $1.50 coupon (doubled to $3)
$3.99

Starbucks Coffee, on sale for $6.99
Used printed $1.00 coupon (doubled to $2)
$4.99

Kashi Chicken Fettucini, on sale for $3.00
Used printed $1.00 coupon (doubled to $2)
$1.00

Febreeze Pet Stain Remover, on sale for $3.99
Used $1.50 coupon from Sunday Insert (doubled to $3)
$0.99

Yoplait Greek Yogurt w/ Granola, on sale for $2.50
Used .75 coupon from Sunday insert (SS 3/25)
$1.00

Paid $11.97

Food Lion
TJ & I have been eating the Morningstar Spicy Black Bean burgers a lot lately.  It's our favorite.  So, I definitely wanted to stop and get some while they were on sale at Food Lion and use a $1/2 coupon.  

Morningstar Spicy Black Bean Burger, on sale for $3.69
$3.19 each

After checking out, a coupon printed out at the register.  On my next purchase, if I buy 4 boxes of black bean burgers, I can get $3 towards ANY Food Lion purchase.  So, next time I will use two $1/2 coupons, and get back a coupon for $3.  This will bring the black bean burgers from $3.19 a box to $2.44.  Not bad considering its something we eat a lot.

Aldi
If you have an Aldi near you, I would highly suggest it.  I buy most of my fruits and vegetables there.  Although I try to buy organic, it's not always possible due to the price.  Buying at Aldi gets you great quality fruits and veggies for a whole lot cheaper.  I also like to buy my tortilla chips and certain cereals there as well.  They do not take coupons, but their prices are good enough that it doesn't matter.

Half & Half, $1.79
Multi Color Peppers (3 pack), $1.39 (This is the BEST deal around right now)
Dried Cranberries, $1.39
Kiwi (5 pack), $1.49
Tortilla Chips, $1.19
Strawberries, $1.89 (last week I bought these for .99 each)
Deli Sliced Cheese, $1.99
Diced Tomatoes, .59
Paid $10.33


Last night I was on a cleaning high.  I scrubbed our kitchen sink, washed dishes, organized cupboards, vacuumed the living room, etc, etc, etc.  After all that I decided I would have a cup of coffee (the yummy Vanilla flavored Starbucks coffee I got at Harris Teeter).  This was a bad idea as it was 8:00pm.  Needless to say I was wide awake in bed.  So, I started browsing the coupon sites on my phone and saw all these amazing Target deals.  I was so awake and literally got so excited that I got up at 1:00am to print the coupons. LoL.  I don't think I can drink coffee in the evening anymore.  It was around 2:30am before I finally started to get sleepy. Oye!  BUT, I had my Target trip planned out for today.

Today's Target trip


Target
What's great about Target is that you can use both a manufacturer coupon AND a store coupon on the same item.

Purina Beneful Dog Food, on sale for $24.99 (For our monster puppy)
Used printed $2.00 Target coupon
$22.99


2 Purina Beneful Baked Delights dog treats, $3.89/box
Used printed .75 Target coupon
Used B1G1 free coupon from Sunday insert
$1.57/box


2 boxes of Magnum Ice Cream Bars, on sale for $3.25
Used two printed $1.50 manufacturer coupons
Used printed $2/2 Target coupon
.75/box


2 Mossimo Tank Tops, on sale for $6 each
Used printed $3 Target coupon
$3 each


Merona Tank Top, on sale for $6
Used printed $3 Target coupon
$3


4 NUK/Gerber Baby items
2 items for $2.69
2 items for $3.00
Used two printed B1G1 Free coupons
$1.50 each

Paid $39.61

I hope this post helped you find some good websites and tips for saving money.  I would love to start doing more posts like this and letting you all know the great coupon you can find online.  I enjoy being pointed in the right direction as well.  Money Saving Mom & Southern Savers are where I find all my information.  They also have lots of other links you can check out from other people who love to save money.  It's just a matter of taking the time to look.

Have a great day!

2 comments:

  1. You are my hero! I wish I could coupon like that. I always clip them and let them expire. Fail.

    ReplyDelete
  2. what a success- go youuuuuuuuuuuu! <3

    ReplyDelete

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