Publix!

I got a short trip together to hit Publix on their penny item day! Since I procrastinated during the day and wasn't able to head to the store until 6 pm, the hot dog penny item was all out! But they had a good substitute! Ken's salad dressing for a penny! I got the Raspberry Pecan, that just sounds delicious!

Here's what I got:
(2) Philadelphia Cooking Creme
      Retail Price: $5.98 ($2.99 each), Sale Price: $4.00 ($2.00 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $1 off MFG, (2) $1 off Target
      Final Price: $0.00
(4) Nestle Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
      Retail Price: $11.16 ($2.79 each), Sale Price: $5.58 ($1.39/1.40 each)
      Coupons Used: (4) $1 off MFG
      Final Price: $1.58 ($0.39/0.40 each
(1) Ken's Salad Dressing
      Retail Price: $2.15, Sale Price: $2.15
      Coupons Used: Penny item coupon!
      Final Price: $0.01
(2) Sundown Vitamins
      Retail Price: $7.98 ($3.99 each), Sale Price: $7.98 ($3.99 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $1 off MFG, (1) $6 off 2 Publix
      Final Price: -$0.02 (-$0.01 each)
(2) Nestle Chocolate Chips
      Retail Price: $6.30 ($3.15 each), Sale Price: $3.15 ($1.57/1.58 each)
      Coupons Used: (1) $0.50 off 2 MFG
      Final Price: $2.15 ($1.07/1.08 each)
(1) Allegra Allergy, 5 ct.
      Retail Price: $6.49, Sale Price: $6.49
      Coupons Used: (1) $2 off MFG, (1) $4 off Publix
      Final Price: $0.49 
(1) Arnold Bread
      Retail Price: $4.29, Sale Price: $2.15
      Final Price: $2.15 
(2) Domino Brown Sugar
      Retail Price: $2.58 ($1.29 each), Sale Price: $1.98 ($0.98 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $0.50 off MFG
      Final Price: -$0.04 (-$0.02 each) 
(2) Lucky Charms Cereal
      Retail Price: $6.38 ($3.19 each), Sale Price: $3.19 ($1.59/1.60 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $0.50 off MFG
      Final Price: $1.19 ($0.59/0.60 each) 
(1) Spring Water, 1 gal.
      Retail Price: $0.59, Sale Price: $0.59
      Final Price: $0.59
Total: $53.90 (retail price)
Total: $37.26 (sale price)

Coupons Used:
(2) $1 off Philadelphia Cooking Creme
(2) $1 off Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Target
(4) $1 off Nestle Cookie Dough
(1) Penny item coupon
(2) $1 off Sundown Vitamins
(1) $6 off 2 Sundown Vitamins, Publix
(1) $0.50 off 2 Nestle Chocolate Chips
(1) $2 off Allegra
(1) $4 off Allegra, Publix
(2) $0.50 off Domino Sugar
(2) $0.50 off Lucky Charms
(1) $5 off purchase of $25 or more, Save-A-Lot
Subtotal: $3.12
Tax: $2.35
Spent: $5.47
Saved: $50.78
That's a savings of 90.2% after tax!

One important thing to remember is that you almost always will have to adjust your shopping trip once you get to the store. I had planned on also getting 2 gallons of milk, but they were all out. If they were in stock, we would have added 2 gallons of milk to this order, and our subtotal would have been $1 LESS. But, I will be making a trip again this week, and getting *a few* more boxes of Lucky Charms since it turned out to be a better deal than I was expecting! Love our stockpile!

I should probably add that there is a lot of sweet stuff here! But it is holiday baking season! We're going to see a lot of baking items on sale! ;o)

It's Good To Be Back!!!

As many of you know, we recently moved to a bigger and better home! But with the chaos of a summer vacation and a big move comes no time for couponing! I will start off by saying that if you do not organize your coupons for a while, it can be extremely overwhelming doing it all at once. I have not had the opportunity of clipping and sorting my coupons since JULY! Meaning I haven't even been couponing since then... But my "vacation" has come to an end and I must say that it's good to be back! I took some time out of unpacking this week to get my coupons back into some sort of organization. For the time being, I am using the accordion file method with only a few coupons clipped and sorted in my binder, which is my preferred method. Yesterday I was able to get a short list ready for CVS, Publix and Kroger. First I headed to CVS.

CVS Trip, Transaction 1:
(2) Thermacare Heat Wraps, 3 ct.
      Retail Price: $12.78 ($6.39 each), Sale Price: $11.98 ($5.99 each)
      Will receive: $5 ECB WYB (2)
      Coupons Used: (2) $3 off MFG
      Final Price: $0.98 ($0.49 each)
Total: $12.78 (retail price)
Total: $11.98 (sale price)

Coupons Used:
(2) $3 off Thermacare
$5.50 ECB
Subtotal: $0.48
Tax: $1.03
Spent: $1.51
Saved: $12.30
That's a savings of 89.1% after tax!
And I received $5 ECB.

CVS Trip, Transaction 2:
(2) Reach Toothbrushes, 2 ct.
      Retail Price: $12.58 ($6.29 each), Sale Price: $7.98 ($3.99 each)
      Will Receive: $4 ECB
      Coupons Used: (2) $2 off MFG
      Final Price: -$0.02 (-$0.01 each)
(1) St. Joseph's Aspirin, 36 ct. (Raincheck item)
      Retail Price: $2.37, Sale Price: $2.00
      Will Receive: $2 ECB
      Coupons Used: (1) $1 off MFG
      Final Price: $1.00 PROFIT

Total: $14.95 (retail price)
Total: $9.98 (sale price)

Coupons Used:
(2) $2 off Reach
(1) $1 off St. Joseph's
$4.98 ECB
Subtotal: $0.00
Tax: $0.90
Spent: $0.90
Saved: $14.95
That's a savings of 94.3% after tax!
And I received $6 ECB.

Then I headed to Publix:

(2) Barilla Whole Grain Pasta
      Retail Price: $2.34 ($1.17 each), Sale Price: $1.17 ($0.58/$0.59 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $0.55 off MFG
      Final Price: $0.07 ($0.03/0.04 each)
(4) Ocean Spray Craisins (I love putting these on my salads!)
      Retail Price: $9.80 ($2.45 each), Sale Price: $4.90 ($1.22/1.23 each)
      Final Price: $4.90 ($1.22/1.23 each)
(2) Sundown Vitamins
      Retail Price: $7.88 ($3.89/3.99 each), Sale Price: $7.88 ($3.89/3.99 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $1 off MFG, (1) $6 off 2 Publix
      Final Price: -$0.12 (-$0.06 each)
(1) Halls Cough Drops
      Retail Price: $1.45, Sale Price: $1.45
      Coupons Used: (1) $0.50 off MFG, (1) $0.50 off Publix
      Final Price: -$0.05
(4) Whiskas Temptations Cat Treats
      Retail Price: $7.16 ($1.79 each), Sale Price: $3.58 ($0.89/0.90 each)
      Coupons Used: (4) $0.50 off MFG
      Final Price: -$0.42 (-$0.10/0.11 each)
(1) Allegra Allergy, 5 ct.
      Retail Price: $6.49, Sale Price: $6.49
      Coupons Used: (1) $2 off MFG, (1) $4 off Publix
      Final Price: $0.49
Total: $32.12 (retail price)
Total: $25.47 (sale price)

Coupons Used:
(2) $0.55 off Barilla Whole Wheat Pasta
(2) $1 off Sundown Vitamins
(1) $6 off 2 Sundown Vitamins, Publix
(1) $0.50 off Halls Cough Drops
(1) $0.50 off Halls Cough Drops, Publix
(4) $0.50 off Whiskas Temptations
(1) $2 off Allegra
(1) $4 off Allegra, Publix
(1) $5 off purchase of $25 or more, Save-A-Lot
Subtotal: -$0.13
Tax: $1.80
Spent: $1.67
Saved: $32.25
That's a savings of 95.1% after tax!

An important reminder is that if there is an item on sale that can make you money by buying it, do so. I don't have a cat (Mr. Felix ran away last year), but I made $0.42 from buying the cat treats. I know the animal shelter would love gifts like this!

I went to Kroger last. They didn't have everything I needed, and with the mega event you have to buy in sets of 10. So I will go back another day this week to get what I need. I'll be stocking up on some organic vegetable/chicken broth and organic mac and cheese!

Moving Chaos

I wanted to take a moment to update everyone with what's going on in my life. My husband was gone for 3 weeks with the army (they sent him to Germany, I was so jealous), and while he was gone, I decided to go to Chicago for a little vacation. I didn't want me and Cole to stay home alone the whole time. So while we were in Chicago visiting my family, I saw a post on craigslist for a house that sounded exactly like we've been looking for. I called right away, and lady luck must have been on my side because we were chosen to rent it! We had been looking for a house to rent closer to where my husband works for forever. The house is 10 minutes from where my husband works, which means he can come home for lunch everyday, as well as add 3 hours back to his day, which he had been spending driving for the past few years. Another added benefit for me, is that it is also only 10 minutes from all of my couponing stores! I no longer have to plan an exhausting day to drive up and hit all of the stores in one day. Although I haven't been able to take advantage of the luxury of living in civilization quite yet. Moving is such a pain! We spent the first weekend my husband got back packing up and driving 2 trucks and a flatbed trailer of stuff up. It didn't even make a dent in amount of stuff in our house. So we bit the bullet and last weekend we were going to rent a 6x12 uhaul trailer, expecting to have to make 2 or more trips with it. Well, we should have seen the chaos coming. My husband and I are always getting in these kinds of situations where everything goes way different than expected. The trailer lights weren't working, so the uhaul worker had to replace the wiring in our truck. Since we were patient and didn't have a problem with his helping another customer first, he was going to give us the labor and part for free. Then once he had it installed, it still wasn't working. So he replaced a part on the uhaul. Nope, still wasn't working. So then we were at a draw. We couldn't rent it because of the lights being dangerous on the road. So he gave us a deal of the century! He rented us a truck which was 2x bigger than the trailer and didn't charge us for the insurance or the two days we kept it. We were only charged for the miles we drove it, and even then, he only charged us half the price! I have never had such a pleasurable experience with a company. I am going to call uhaul and tell them how amazing this manager is. Of course I won't tell them the deals he gave us, because knowing my luck it would get him in trouble and that's the opposite of what I want! But, anyways, we got our whole house packed up. We ran out of time though and were not able to get everything out of our storage trailer, our broke down car and our dog pen. That will sadly be this weekend. I am really not looking forward to moving our broke down car, since I don't know how we're going to move it. So, that's my life right now. Living out of boxes in a house wayyy bigger than where we were. I love this house. I can't say how happy I am being in a bigger house. There is no word for it. The only thing remotely close is that this move has been life changing. I see my family being much happier in this house.

So the real point of this post is to tell you about my shopping trip today. With the chaos of moving and not knowing where anything is, I do not have the time or energy for clipping coupons. I am very far behind on my coupon organization, and it will take me a while to get caught back up. My plan is that Wednesday I will start couponing again like I did before the vacation and the move. But, for the person who either has no coupons or no time, I want to tell you that you still CAN save a substantial amount by just shopping smart. Shop the sales! Most sales in grocery stores discount products nearly by half. If you walk into a store and only buy sale items, you are already saving 50%! Of course if you had coupons on top of that, you will save quite a bit more. But 50% savings is amazing on it own! It is easy to save, you just have to have your eyes open. I went to Kroger today because I needed bananas, baby yogurt, bread and milk. I decided to pick up a few other things for dinners for the week. I was amazed at the sales! At Kroger, when they have perishables that are coming up to their sell by date, they will mark them 50% off. I found bananas for $0.39 lb. I found organic baby yogurt for $1.89, which is cheaper than the $2.69 I was planning on paying. My favorite thing of all, organic brown eggs for $2.19 a dozen! We usually get our eggs from my father in law, but his chickens have not been laying well lately. So we are back to having to buy our eggs. My rule is that we try to feed Cole organics if at all possible. Financially speaking, we usually cannot afford to feed organics to the whole family, so Cole is of course my preference to get the good stuff. But organic eggs for $2.19, I bought 5 dozen!

Total Value: $79.06 ($82.93 with tax)
Tax: $3.87
Spent: $46.88
Saved: $36.05
That's a savings of 43.5% after tax! Pretty good for heading in with no coupons.

By buying food that is on sale that week, you can vary your meals every week. Just by looking at this, and adding it with my current stockpile, I can make salad for a couple meals, squash and zucchini fettuccine alfredo, eggplant parmesan, quiche, etc. That's a lot of meals out of some cheap produce. I am really excited to see what Cole thinks of the tofu! And with all those carrots, I may have to make some carrot cake just as soon as I find my pans!

As a last note, I did buy 4 1/2 lbs of bananas. At $0.39 lb, I couldn't resist. I'm going to leave a few out to eat, peel the rest, dip them in melted chocolate, and freeze them. It will be a healthy (well, as healthy as fruit with chocolate can be) and cheap snack! Take advantage of the sale items you find. If there is a price that you love for a food your family eats, buy as much as you can! Most foods freeze well, and you will have fresh food at any given moment. It's a great feeling to open up the freezer and see everything you love and know that you paid a fraction of the cost for it.

Organizing Coupons

What do you do to store your coupons? There are many ways to do it, but two are the most popular. The first is the way that I like to organize mine.

Binder Method
With the binder method, you clip and store your coupons according to date or type in baseball card holders in a 3 ring binder. Separate the sections with index dividers. Here is a picture of the first page of my binder.

I choose to sort my coupons by type and then by date. That way when a new month starts, it is easy for me to clear out the expired coupons. I prefer to use a zip up binder, because you will take this binder into the store with you. Since there are so many little slips of paper in there, it is easy for them to fall out. Being able to zip it up ensures that nothing will get lost. I personally separate my binder into 24 sections, so if I am looking for a specific coupon, it is easy to find it.

Accordion File Method
This method is much more time efficient. You store your whole inserts according to date (the date they came out in the paper). Print out a list of the coupons that came in your insert to keep with the coupons. When there is a sale on a product and you want to see if you have that coupon, just look at the sheet with your coupons to know if it came in your paper. If it did, take out the inserts and clip that single coupon that you need. You will still need to store coupons that you print from the internet, so you will also need a small accordion file, index card box or binder for these coupons. For a list of what coupons came in your newspaper, many people volunteer to write the list and send it to Southern Savers. Around mid week, this list will be published and you can print it for your files.

I prefer to use the binder method. This makes every coupon already clipped for when I need it. If I run into an unadvertised sale at the store, I have the clipped coupons with me to use. I also send my expired coupons overseas, so I will have to clip them anyways. If you are on a strict time limit to spend on couponing, use the accordion file method to save yourself the most time.

Extreme Couponing Show

TLC's new show "Extreme Couponing" has raised a lot of concerns among couponers. This show provides false hope for many people, and it gives everyday couponers a bad name. Very few people are as crazy about coupons as the people on the show. The intention of the show is to show how much you can save. The person has to put together their biggest haul to date. Sure, you can pay nothing for $1,000 worth of toothpaste and body wash and go on the show, but why would you want to? I admit, I find the show highly entertaining, but please do not watch the show to learn the tricks of the trade. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• the store is not going to offer their employees to push your 5 shopping carts
• the store will not be okay with you taking 3 hours to check out
• nor will they allow you to do 5 huge transactions, either at one register or spread across several
• some stores on the show stopped allowing the doubling of coupons
• most stores limit the amount you buy to 10 of each item, per customer, per day
• couponers look down upon one person completely clearing the shelves, like someone buying 77 mustards without it being a special order
• many stores do not allow the doubling of a coupon past their value (ex. doubling a coupon to $1 on a $0.75 item)
• there is a very fine line between stockpiling and hoarding
• because of the show, many stores have changed their coupon policies

The stores on the show view this as press. They are knowingly and willingly breaking their own policies  to show you how much you can save by shopping with them. This is a terrible idea. Couponers and stores will spend forever re-educating people about what the real policies are.

So please don't expect that you can feed your family by buying $1,000 worth of toothpaste and body wash and paying $5 for it. If this is what you like to eat for dinner, then go for it. For the rest of us, if we can save 75% off our grocery bill, that's a good end to a great day.

Couponing Excuses

While talking about couponing with people, I hear a lot of excuses as to why they "can't" coupon. Here are a few of the biggest excuses.

I don't have time.
Wouldn't it be great to add a few extra hours to the day? So you can sit down and read a book, or watch your favorite show, or to start couponing? This will never happen, but couponing takes as much or as little time as you allow it to. Sure, you hear of people spending 40-60 hours a week searching the web, gathering, clipping, wasting their life away with coupons. This is not normal, and by no means do I recommend this. Couponing is not supposed to take over your life in a negative way. For the average couponer, it may take a couple hours combined over the course of the week to make your shopping list, gather and clip your coupons. If you don't have a couple hours over the course of the week, then cut it down to just 30 minutes. 30 minutes is enough time to get the essential coupons together. Obviously the more time you put into it, the more coupons you can print and gather and use. But if you don't have a lot of time, you can still save a substantial amount off your shopping trips. If you can spend 30 minutes to couponing, and save even just $50 off your grocery bill, for most people, that is worth a lot more than 30 minutes of work.

The items I like don't go on sale.
This is just a lie. While not every item will be free after sales and coupons, every item does go on sale. Even if it is just pennies to the dollar off the retail value, that is still a sale. If you have to have that specific item, then stock up when it is just pennies off. Over the course of the year, this really adds up.

I don't have any space.
Yes, stocking up on items takes up space. Most of us live without the ability (or want) to turn the garage into a warehouse or a shower into a toilet paper station. And even if you could, why would you want to? I want to live in the space we have, rather than convert my liveable area to stashing my booty. But if you don't stock up, you will have to go out and buy that item 1 at a time when it's not on sale. So this is a give and take kind of deal. If you have cabinets half full or an area under your stairs or empty space above your washing machine, store items there. Put items anywhere you can. I have a 5 tier shelving unit in my kitchen for my food items. I keep my condiments and jarred items in the cabinets above my stove. I have a 45 gallon storage bin under the counter for all of our health and beauty products. I keep our toilet paper, paper towels and detergent on top of the shelves above our washing machine. Yes, the shelves and bin take up space, but I am willing to give up that small area of space for a large stockpile.

I can't go couponing with my kids.
Not every child will tolerate going on a couponing trip at the grocery store. If your kids run wild in the store, it will not allow you to keep 100% focus on your shopping trip, and you may make mistakes. If this sounds like you, try to bring someone with you to the store to entertain the kid while you focus on shopping. Or leave the kid at home with a spouse, friend, babysitter. Yes, if you have to get a babysitter, you will spend money. But if you pay $7 an hour (just an estimate, I have no idea how much a babysitter costs) and you save $100 at the grocery store, that pays for itself over and over (and you may have kept your sanity at the grocery store!) I am very blessed with a well behaved baby in public, but that is because I know how to keep him happy while shopping. I wear my son in my ergobaby carrier while I shop. It keeps him happy, which keeps me happy.

Another word of advice: Don't be brand specific!
If you've used Dove body wash for years, then it's a pretty good guess that's your favorite body wash. In my whole time couponing, I've never seen Dove body wash go on sale to be completely free, but I have seen other brands for free (and even moneymakers!) If you never try any other brands, you will never know if you like something different. Try to not be so specific. If another body wash will make you $1 to buy it, then buy it and try it. If you end up hating it, oh well, you were paid $1 to figure that out. This is one of my favorite things about couponing. You get to try out so many new products for a fraction of the cost, or even free! You never know, you may find something you like even better!

Coupon Match ups

In previous posts, I explained where to find coupons. Many people have the question, after you find the coupons, what do you do now? Now you save those coupons until those products go on sale. In the couponing community, this is called a coupon match up. There are a few ways to do this. One way is to open up your stores weekly sale flyer. Circle any item that is on sale for 40% or more, and any items that you need now (once you have a stockpile, you won't run into this problem very often). This includes all BOGO deals. After circling all of those items, you now need to find coupons to match those items to see how cheap you can get them. There are many coupon databases online that are available for you to use. You just type in the product (ex. Kellogg's) and all available coupons will appear. If they are from past Sunday newspapers that you don't have, you can order coupons online if you need to. A lot of coupons are also available online. The coupon database will provide the link to the printable coupon. My favorite coupon database to use is Southern Savers Coupon Database. You will gather and clip those coupons along with the sale ad, and you just created your own store list! An easier option is to use a website that does the coupon match ups for you. My favorite website to use is Southern Savers. She does match ups for all my favorite stores: Kroger, Publix, Walgreens, Target and CVS. This is how I create most of my shopping lists. Remember, buy at least 6 weeks worth of items at their rock bottom price to last you until it goes on sale again.

A few tips to save even more money:
Even if you can get high value items for $0.50, if you are not going to use that item, you will have wasted even $0.50 on something you don't need. This is not going to help your savings. If an item will be free, buy it. If you don't need it, donate it. ALWAYS buy items that are a moneymaker. I recently made $2 to buy 40 pens. Do I need 40 pens? No I don't. But that $2 went towards paying for my fresh fruits, and I also have great items to donate, and just in time for the school year too! Remember, couponing is not only a great way to save money for your family, but it is an amazing way to help others. You can donate $10 to a charity, or you can take that $10 and buy over $100 of products to donate. I prefer to help this way because I can do so much more with coupons.

Busy Week!

I'm so sorry I haven't posted anything this week! This has been such a busy week it's hard to get my head on straight and sit down and write. Nothing spectacular has happened this week, just enjoyed the time with my baby boy. My father in law got home from AT and I know Cole was happy to see him! He's the only person Cole will wave at, and soon after seeing him, he started waving at his Papa! We also spent some wonderful (insert sarcasm here) time in the storm shelter again yesterday, as they predicted it would get really bad here. But luckily the bad weather passed about 20 miles south of us, thank goodness! Not lucky for the people south of us though, but at least things weren't that bad. Hopefully that was the last time this year we'll have to go to the storm shelter! I'm about tired of all of this weather for one lifetime. I must brag though that I have the BEST baby ever! He really puts up with a lot from me, from couponing to being dragged into the storm shelter at all times of the day. I really am lucky to have the joy of being his mother.
Last night I finally got lured into an addiction of mine! I am a recovering WoW addict (yes, I lost years of my life to World of Warcraft before I met my husband). The perfect way to quit the game? Have a baby! You won't have any time to yourself lol. So anyways, Teddy and I got Rift (super cheap deal for father's day!) and we started playing it last night. I'm really excited about this because it's a really easy transition from WoW because there are a lot of the same elements in both games. Here's to not getting addicted and being able to just play for fun! I think the baby will be a good way to keep playtime down, as I don't ever have time for myself! But what mother does?
I went shopping at CVS, Old Navy, Target, Walgreens, Publix and Kroger this week. I will post photos and prices later when I get the time! This afternoon we're headed a couple hours away to our cousins wedding. It should be fun! Now, what to wear? Things just don't fit the same now as they did pre-baby (might I add breastfeeding is the reason? lol)
Hope all of you had a good week!

Learn To Coupon

Okay so you want to learn how to coupon. The first thing you need to understand is that if you pay full price for an item, you are throwing money away. In many areas, almost all products go on sale about every 6 weeks to what we consider its "rock bottom price." The idea is that you buy enough of that item when it's at its rock bottom price to last you about 6 weeks, when it will most likely be at its rock bottom price again. That way, you will not need to run out and pay full price in between sales. I find great satisfaction when I run out of an item and I can just grab another from the pantry to replace it. I know that I saved the most possible amount on that product, and I saved myself from going out and paying full price.

How To Use Coupons:
Now that you understand how the sale cycle works, you need to understand how to use coupons. If you buy an item when it's at its lowest price AND use coupons, you save the most money! Every store has a different coupon policy, and it is important to know the policy at the store you're shopping at. A certain store in one town may have a different policy than the same store in another town. There is a corporate policy in place, and the manager of each store has the ability and the right to change the policy as they see fit. I cannot stress enough how important it is to know each stores policy. This is important in the shopping trip planning process as well as if you run into a problem during checkout, you are knowledgeable on your right to use the coupons. Many people carry that stores coupon policy with them while they shop just in case.

Stacking Coupons:
Most stores allow you to stack coupons. Stacking coupons is when you use both a manufacturer coupon AND a store coupon on one product. This creates the maximum amount of savings.

Competitor Coupons:
Some grocery stores accept competitor coupons. My closest Publix considers Target a competitor, so they will accept a Target coupon in place of a store coupon on a product. This means that you can use a manufacturer coupon AND a competitor coupon on that product.

Buy One Get One Sales:
When a store has a BOGO sale, you are allowed to use coupons on both items. (Some stores only allow you to use coupons on one item, so again, check your stores policy.) This means that on EACH item you may use a manufacturer coupon AND a store/competitor coupon. Most grocery stores BOGO sale items ring up as half price, while most drugstores BOGO sale items ring up as one full price and one free item. This means that with a grocery store sale, you do not have to buy two items to get the sale price. While at a drugstore, you must buy both items.

Doubling Coupons:
Many grocery stores allow the doubling of coupons. My favorite grocery stores will double coupons with a value of $0.50 or less.

Putting It All Together:
The best way to shop is to wait an buy an item at its rock bottom price, stack coupons with it, and buy enough to last about 6 weeks. It is also important to plan your weekly meals based on what is on sale that week. Not only would this save money, but it would put variety in your weekly meals. One thing my family also does, is to buy our favorite meats and vegetables at their rock bottom prices, and freeze it in smaller portions. This way we always have fresh meats and vegetables on hand!

I hope all of this makes sense to you. Please ask any questions you may have!

Quick Walmart Trip

Yesterday I ran to Walmart after a great LLL meeting! I wanted to take advantage of being around a super Walmart (yes, the town I live in only has a tiny one) and I had a few coupons that were going to expire soon. This is what I got:

(4) Tidy Cats Litter, 10 lbs.
      Retail Price: $8.48 ($2.12 each), Sale Price: $8.48 ($2.12 each)
      Coupons Used: (4) $2 off MFG
      Final Price: $0.48 ($0.12 each)
(1) Votive Candles, 50 ct.
      Retail Price: $2.50, Sale Price: $1
      Final Price: $1
(1) Safe View Mirror
      Retail Price: $5, Sale Price: $5
      Final Price: $5
(6) Visine Eye Drops
      Retail Price: $11.64 ($1.94 each), Sale Price: $11.64 ($1.94 each)
      Coupons Used: (6) $2 off MFG
      Final Price: $0.36 PROFIT
(4) Wilkinson's Razors, 4 ct.
      Retail Price: $3.88 ($0.97 each), Sale Price: $3.88 ($0.97 each)
      Coupons Used: (4) $1 off MFG
      Final Price: $0.12 PROFIT
(1) Bananas, 2.05 lbs.
      Retail Price: $0.54 lb., Sale Price: $0.54 lb.
      Final Price: $1.11
Total: $32.61 (retail price)
Total: $31.11 (sale price)

Coupons Used:
(4) $2 off Tidy Cats Litter
(6) $2 off Visine Eye Drops
(4) $1 off Wilkinson's Razors
Subtotal: $7.11
Tax: $2.80
Spent: $9.91
Saved: $25.50
That's a savings of 72% after tax!

The cat litter, eye drops and razors (which is what I went in for) would have totaled $0 if I didn't add in impulse buys!  I was excited to see votive candles and bananas so cheap! And our car baby mirror was on it's last leg lately and it finally broke this week. I hope this one works well!

Also, I now have 120 lbs. of cat litter taking up a good bit of space. It's finally time to run to the animal shelter to donate it and get it out of my house!

I Love Publix!

I was almost finished shopping when the hubby arrived! We split the items into two separate transactions because I had (2) $5 off a purchase of $30 or more coupons left. Here is how it all worked out.

Transaction 1:

(2) Ball Park Turkey Franks
      Retail Price: $6.58 ($3.29 each), Sale Price: $3.29 ($1.64/$1.65 each)
      Coupons Used: (1) $0.75 off 2 MFG
      Final Price: $2.54 ($1.27 each)
(4) Boca Burger (raincheck item)
      Retail Price: $14.44 ($3.61 each), Sale Price: $6.99 ($1.74/$1.75 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $1 off 2 MFG, (1) $1 off Target
      Final Price: $3.99 ($1 each)
(1) Pillsbury Cake Mix
      Retail Price: $1.79, Sale Price: $0.99
      Final Price: $0.99
(1) Pillsbury Frosting
      Retail Price: $1.79, Sale Price: $1.50
      Final Price: $1.50
(2) Johnson & Johnson Bubble Bath/Baby Wash
      Retail Price: $6.06 ($3.03 each), Sale Price: $6.06 ($3.03 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $0.50 off MFG, (1) $3 off 2 Publix
      Final Price: $1.06 ($0.53 each)
(10) Sargento Shredded Cheese (Extra Sharp Cheddar and Mozzerella)
      Retail Price: $36.90 ($3.69 each), Sale Price: $20 ($2 each)
      Coupons Used: (10) $1 off Publix
      Final Price: $10 ($1 each)
(1) Boneless Chuck Pot Roast, 2.17 lbs.
      Retail Price: $10.82 ($4.99 lb.), Sale Price: $7.57 ($3.49 lb.)
      Final Price: $7.57
(1) Pubix 2% Milk, 1 gallon
      Retail Price: $3.39, Sale Price: $3.39
      Coupons Used: $2 off WYB Pillsbury Cake Mix and Frosting Publix
      Final Price: $1.39
Total: $81.78 (retail price)
Total: $49.79 (sale price)

Coupons Used:
(1) $0.75 off 2 Ball Park Franks
(2) $1 off 2 Boca products
(1) $1 off Boca Burgers, Target coupon
(2) $0.50 off Johnson & Johnson
(1) $3 off 2 Johnson & Johnson, Publix coupon
(10) $1 off Sargento Shredded Cheese, Publix coupon
(1) $2 off Milk WYB Pillsbury Cake Mix and Frosting, Publix coupon
(1) $5 off a purchase of $30 or more, Publix coupon
Subtotal: $24.04
Tax: $3.94
Spent: $27.98
Saved: $57.74
That's a savings of 67.36% after tax!

Transaction 2:

(6) Sargento Sliced Cheese (Colby Jack, Muenster and Swiss)
      Retail Price: $20.34 ($3.39 each), Sale Price: $18 ($3 each)
      Coupons Used: (3) $0.50 off 2 MFG, (6) $1 off Publix
      Final Price: $9 ($1.50 each)
(1) Playtex Insulated Cup
      Retail Price: $4.99, Sale Price: $4.99
      Coupons Used: (1) $2 off MFG, (1) $1 off Publix
      Final Price: $1.99
(1) Tone Body Wash
      Retail Price: $2.93, Sale Price: $1.47
      Coupons Used: (1) $2 off MFG
      Final Price: $0.53 PROFIT
(10) Peter Pan Peanut Butter
      Retail Price: $21.50 ($2.15 each), Sale Price: $10.75 ($1.07/$1.08 each)
      Coupons Used: (10) $0.50 off MFG
      Final Price: $0.75 ($0.07/$0.08 each)
(2) Philadelphia Cooking Creme
      Retail Price: $5.98 ($2.99 each), Sale Price: $5.98 ($2.99 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $1 off MFG, (1) BOGO free Publix
      Final Price: $0.99 ($0.49/$0.50 each)
(2) Pure Protein Bar
      Retail Price: $2.50 ($1.25 each), Sale Price: $2 ($1 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $0.50 off MFG
      Final Price: FREE
(1) Publix Greenwise Bath Tissue
      Retail Price: $2.39, Sale Price: $2.39
      Coupons Used: (1) Penny Item Publix (takes off $2.38)
      Final Price: $0.01
(2) Tums
      Retail Price: $3.98 ($1.99 each), Sale Price: $3.98 ($1.99 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $1 off MFG, (2) $1 off Target
      Final Price: $0.02 PROFIT
(2) Nature Made Vitamins (Vitamin D and Folic Acid)
      Retail Price: $8.38 ($3.99 and $4.39 each), Sale Price: $8.38 ($3.99 and $4.39 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $1 off MFG, (1) $6 off 2 Publix
      Final Price: $0.38 ($0.19 each)
(2) Ocean Spray Craisins
      Retail Price: $4.90 ($2.45 each), Sale Price: $2.45 ($1.22/$1.23 each)
      Final Price: $2.45 ($1.22/$1.23 each)
(1) Garrity Flashlights, 2 pk.
      Retail Price: $4.89, Sale Price: $3.99
      Coupons Used: (1) $3 off Publix
      Final Price: $0.99
(5) Ronzoni Garden Delight Pasta (raincheck item)
      Retail Price: $9.45 ($1.89 each), Sale Price: $4.73 ($0.94/$0.95 each)
      Coupons Used: (5) $1 off MFG
      Final Price: $0.29 PROFIT
Total: $92.32 (retail price)
Total: $69.11 (sale price)

Coupons Used:
(3) $0.50 off 2 Sargento Sliced Cheese
(6) $1 off Sargento Sliced Cheese, Publix coupon
(1) $2 off Playtex item
(1) $1 off Playtex item, Publix coupon
(1) $2 off Tone Body Wash
(10) $0.50 off Peter Pan Peanut Butter
(2) $1 off Philadelphia Cooking Creme
(1) BOGO free Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Publix coupon
(2) $0.50 off Pure Protein Bar (doubles to $1)
(1) Penny Item, Publix coupon
(2) $1 off Tums
(2) $1 off Tums, Target coupon
(2) $1 off Nature Made Vitamins
(1) $6 off 2 Nature Made Vitamins, Publix coupon
(1) $3 off Garrity Flashlight, Publix coupon
(5) $1 off Ronzoni Garden Delight Pasta
(1) $5 off purchase of $30 or more, Publix coupon (they accidentally scanned it twice, so it took $10 off. I'm going to consider this even because there were a few things recently that rang up wrong and I never got a chance to go back and fix it)
Subtotal: $6.74
Tax: $4.39
Spent: $11.13
Saved: $85.58
That's a savings of 88.5% after tax!

Final Tally:
Total: $174.10 (retail price)
Total: $118.90 (sale price)
Subtotal: $30.78
Tax: $8.33
Spent: $39.11
Saved: $143.32
That's an overall savings of 78.6% after tax!

Great prices for 2+ lbs of pot roast, a gallon of milk and 16 packages of cheese! I'm so excited! We are definitely a cheesy family!

Only $15.09!

Oh how do I love Target! I can spend hours in there! (which I did) I came out pretty good on my Target finds!
Here is my purchase:

(1) Glade Spring Collection Candle
      Retail Price: $2.99, Sale Price: $2.99
      Coupons Used: (1) FREE item MFG, $1 off Target
      Final Price: $1 PROFIT
(1) Mossimo Long Sleeve Tee
      Retail Price: $9.99, Sale Price: $2.43
      Coupons Used: $3 off Target (adjusted down to $2.43 off)
      Final Price: FREE
(3) Nivea For Women Body Wash
      Retail Price: $9.12 ($3.04 each), Sale Price: $9.12 ($3.04 each)
      Coupons Used: (1) B2G1 free MFG, (2) $1 off MFG, (3) $1 off Target
      Final Price: $1.08 ($0.36 each)
(2) Zantac
      Retail Price: $15.18 ($7.59 each), Sale Price: $15.18 ($7.59 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $5 off MFG, (2) $2 off MFG
      Final Price: $1.18 ($0.59 each)
(2) Nexcare Kids Bandages (Shrek)
      Retail Price: $3.76 ($1.88 each), Sale Price: $3.36 ($1.68 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $1 off MFG, (2) $1 off Target
      Final Price: $0.64 PROFIT
(3) Father's Day Cards
      Retail Price: $12.57 ($3.59, $3.99, $4.99 each), Sale Price: $12.57 ($3.59, $3.99, $4.99 each)
      Coupons Used: $1 off 3 Target
      Final Price: $11.57 ($3.31, $3.67, $4.59 each)
Total: $53.61 (retail price)
Total: $45.65 (sale price)

Coupons Used:
(1) FREE Glade Spring Collection product ($2.99)
(1) $1 off Glade Spring Collection product, Target coupon
(1) $3 off Mossimo Women's Apparel, Target coupon (adjusted down to $2.43)
(1) B2G1 free Nivea For Women Body Wash
(2) $1 off Nivea For Women Body Wash
(3) $1 off Nivea For Women Body Wash, Target coupon
(2) $5 off Zantac
(2) $2 off Zantac, Target coupon
(2) $1 off Nexcare Kids Bandages
(2) $1 off Nexcare Kids Bandages, Target coupon
(1) $1 off 3 Greeting Cards, Target Coupon
Subtotal: $12.19
Tax: $2.90
Spent: $15.09
Saved: $41.42
That's a savings of 73.3% after tax!

I'm happy to have all my Father's Day cards already! Although I would have only spent $0.64 + tax if I hadn't bought them today!

Kroger Finds!

I stumbled upon a great deal at Kroger today! I went in just for organic lemonade and bandaids and left with diapers (good to have just in case I suppose) and more deodorant! As if we didn't have enough already! But, my husband likes Degree deodorant, and what hubby likes, hubby gets. Alas, I bought MORE deodorant! It was hard to justify this purchase to myself. Every dollar I spend, no matter what it is on, I contemplate whether or not I really need to spend it. So what would convince me to buy 6 more deodorants when I JUST bought 8 at Walgreens and we have a ton at home? I flipped it over and saw March 2013! Okay, my husband can get through this by then. So in the buggy they go! Here is my purchase:

(1) Comforts Touch of Nature Chlorine-Free Diapers
      Retail Price: $6.99, Sale Price: $5.99
      Coupons Used: $3.50 off CAT
      Final Price: $2.49
(2) Santa Cruz Organic Lemonade (Strawberry Lemonade and Mango Lemonade)
      Retail Price: $5.38 ($2.69 each), Sale Price: $2.50 ($1.25 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $0.75 off MFG
      Final Price: $1 ($0.50 each)
(2) Carefree Pantyliners
      Retail Price: $2.18 ($1.09 each), Sale Price: $2.18 ($1.09 each)
      Coupons Used: (2) $0.50 off MFG (will double)
      Final Price: $0.18 ($0.09 each)
(6) Degree Mens Deodorant
      Retail Price: $23.94 ($3.99 each), Sale Price: $8.34 ($1.39 each)
      Coupons Used: (1) BOGO free MFG, (4) $0.75 off MFG
      Final Price: $3.95 ($0.65 each)
Total: $38.49 (retail price)
Total: $19.01 (sale price)

Coupons Used:
(1) $3.50 off Comforts Touch of Nature Diapers
(2) $0.75 off Santa Cruz
(2) $0.50 off Carefree
(1) BOGO free Degree Deodorant
(4) $0.75 off Degree Deodorant
Subtotal: $7.62
Tax: $1.31
Spent: $8.93
Saved: $30.87
That's a savings of 77.6% after tax!

Why Walgreens Is Worth It!

I have a love hate relationship with Walgreens. Their coupon policy is annoying, yet when you understand it, it can really work in your favor to shop there! I bought all of this for only $12.22 OOP!

 

To help you understand how to save on these items, I will break it down by transaction. I had to do 3 transactions today.

Transaction 1:

 

(1) Healthy Woman Soy Supplement
      Retail Price: $10.99, Sale Price: $8
      Will Receive: $8 RR
      Final Price: FREE
(1) Omega Smart Super Critical Ultimate Fish Oils
      Retail Price: $24.99, Sale Price: $10
      Will Receive: $10 RR
      Coupons Used: $2 off MFG
      Final Price: $2 PROFIT
(1) SOBE Yumberry Pomegranate
      Retail Price: $1.99, Sale Price: $0.99
      Will Receive: $0.99 RR
      Final Price: FREE
(2) Reach Advanced Design Toothbrushes
      Retail Price: $8.98 ($4.49 each), Sale Price: $5 ($2.50 each)
      Will Receive: $4 RR
      Coupons Used: $2 off MFG
      Final Price: $1 PROFIT
(1) Goody Powders (raincheck item)
      Retail Price: $1.99, Sale Price: $1.50
      Will Receive: $1.50 RR (since it's a raincheck item, and the RR will not print, the item was supposed to be scanned as $0.00, but instead it was scanned as $1.50, I will be going back to fix it)
      Final Price: FREE
(1) Pure Silk Shave Cream (raincheck item)
      Retail Price: $2.49, Sale Price: $1.99
      Will Receive: $1.50 RR (since it's a raincheck item, and the RR will not print, the item was scanned as $0.49)
      Final Price: $0.49
(1) Complete Multipurpose Solution (raincheck item)
      Retail Price: $7.99, Sale Price: $7.99
      Will Receive: $7.99 RR (since it's a raincheck item, and the RR will not print, the item was scanned as $0.00)
      Final Price: FREE
(4) Degree Mens Deodorant (raincheck item)
      Retail Price: $19.96 ($4.99 each), Sale Price: $15 (3.75 each)
      I didn't realize until now, but they rang up as $3.25 each
      Will Receive: $5 RR (since it's a raincheck item, and the RR will not print, the item was scanned as the sale price and then $5 was taken off another item to take care of the difference)
      Coupons Used: (2) BOGO free MFG, (2) $1 off MFG
      Final Price: $0.50 PROFIT (If it rang up as $3.75, I would have paid $0.50)
Total: $79.38 (retail price)
Total: $33.98 (sale price)

Coupons Used:
$2 off Omega Fish Oil
$2 off 2 Reach Toothbrushes
(2) BOGO free Degree Deodorant
(2) $1 off Degree Deodorant
$19 RR from previous weeks
Subtotal: $2.48
Tax: $3.06
Spent: $5.54
Saved: $76.90
That's a savings of 95.1% after tax and getting my $1.50 back!

Received $22.99 RR to be used later.

Transaction 2:

(4) Degree Mens Deodorant (raincheck item)
      Retail Price: $19.96 ($4.99 each), Sale Price: $15 (3.75 each)
      I didn't realize until now, but they rang up as $3.25 each
      Will Receive: $5 RR (since it's a raincheck item, and the RR will not print, the item was scanned as the sale price and then $5 was taken off another item to take care of the difference)
      Coupons Used: (2) BOGO free MFG, (2) $1 off MFG
      Final Price: $0.50 PROFIT (If it rang up as $3.75, I would have paid $0.50)
(1) Applied Nutrition Triple Calcium
      Retail Price: $14.99, Sale Price: $10
      Will Receive: $10 RR
      Coupons Used: $1 off MFG
      Final Price: $1 PROFIT 
(1) SOBE Fuji Apple
      Retail Price: $1.99, Sale Price: $0.99
      Will Receive: $0.99 RR
      Final Price: FREE
(2) Reach Advanced Design Toothbrushes
      Retail Price: $8.98 ($4.49 each), Sale Price: $5 ($2.50 each)
      Will Receive: $4 RR
      Coupons Used: (1) $2.50 off MFG, (1) $1 off MFG
      Final Price: $2.50 PROFIT
Total: $45.92 (retail price)
Total: $23.99 (sale price)

Coupons Used:
(2) BOGO free Degree Deodorant
(2) $1 off Degree Deodorant
(1) $1 off Applied Nutrition
(1) $2.50 off Reach Toothbrush
(1) $1 off Reach Toothbrush
$11 RR from previous weeks
Subtotal: $0.99
Tax: $2.16
Spent: $3.15
Saved: $44.93
That's a savings of 93.4% after tax!

Received $14.99 RR to be used later

Transaction 3:

 

 
(2) Reach Advanced Design Toothbrushes
      Retail Price: $8.98 ($4.49 each), Sale Price: $5 ($2.50 each)
      Will Receive: $4 RR
      Coupons Used: (2) $1 off MFG
      Final Price: $1 PROFIT
(1) SOBE Fuji Apple
      Retail Price: $1.99, Sale Price: $0.99
      Will Receive: $0.99 RR
      Final Price: FREE
Total: $10.97 (retail price)
Total: $5.99 (sale price)

Coupons Used:
(2) $1 off Reach Toothbrush
$1 RR from previous weeks
Subtotal: $2.99
Tax: $0.54
Spent: $3.53
Saved: $7.98
That's a savings of 69.3% after tax!

Received $4.99 RR to be used later

Final Tally:
Total: $136.27 (retail price)
Total: $63.96 (sale price)
Subtotal: $6.46
Tax: $5.76
Spent: $12.22
Saved: $129.81
That's an overall savings of 92.5% after tax and getting my $1.50 back!

RR Received this trip: $42.97
RR Used this trip: $31.00
RR Leftover: $37.97

Websites I Highly Recommend

There are many places online to get coupons. The best places are:

www.coupons.com

www.smartsource.com

www.redplum.com

www.swagbucks.com – I personally never go to www.coupons.com. I print all of those coupons from swagbucks, because they are the exact same coupons. When you print your coupon from swagbucks and redeem it, you will earn 10 swagbucks per coupon. This can add up fast! You only need 450 swagbucks for a $5 Amazon gift card, and that alone is just 45 coupons printed and redeemed! I highly suggest using this route! I will post more great things about swagbucks later.

These coupons are restocked the 1st of the month, which is a very good day to print coupons for products you know you will buy! Coupons are also added throughout the month. Some coupons are high value or in high need, and these tend to get printed more and faster than other coupons. I suggest printing a coupon you may need right away, because there are limited prints on each coupon. Once that coupon has been printed the max number of times, it will be gone and you cannot have access to it anymore.

Other websites I suggest signing up for:

www.ebates.com – This is a great website for making online purchases. If you buy through this website, you will receive a certain percentage back in cash. For example, you want to purchase something from Sears. If you go to the Sears website through the link from ebates, and make a purchase, you will receive the specified percentage back. For example, if it says 2%, you will receive a check in the mail for 2% of your purchase from Sears. I have used this site and love it! You can consider it as an extra discount, or free money when you receive that check in the mail! Either way you look at it, it's a great site!

www.upromise.com – This website works very similarly to ebates in that you can earn cash back by purchasing items through this website. Another benefit is that they offer online ecoupons. You must load these coupons to your account. You can link your store cards (for example CVS, Kroger, Publix upromise, Rite Aid...) to your upromise account and whenever you purchase an item and there is an ecoupon available for it, you receive cash in your account. Whenever you reach a certain amount, you can receive that money as cash, put it towards an outstanding student loan, or put it away for a future student loan. I opted to have my savings go towards my outstanding student loan. Just by using this site, I have at this time already had $24 credited toward my student loan. Every little bit helps! The best part about it, is these ecoupons can be used in combination with paper coupons to maximize your savings!

www.savingstar.com – SavingStar is a website that offers ecoupons. These ecoupons can be loaded to your card and can be used in combination with paper coupons. You can link your store cards (for example CVS, Kroger, Rite Aid) to your SavingStar account so whenever you go shopping with those cards at the store and you purchase an item when there is an available ecoupon, that ecoupon amount will be credited to your account. Once you hit $5, you will get that money as a gift card, through PayPal or debited to your bank account.

www.swagbucks.com – Swagbucks has many ways to earn bucks! My favorite way is by printing and redeeming coupons (remember, they are the same coupons as www.coupons.com). Other great ways are by taking the daily poll (worth 1 SB), visiting the trusted surveys (worth 1 SB), and going through the NOSO (No Obligation Special Offers, worth 2 SB). These can be done every day. You can also play games with swagbucks and search. I now do all of my searches through swagbucks, as you have a chance at earning bucks with every search!

www.recyclebank.com – Recyclebank is a great way to get high value, special coupons. One of the most popular is the $1 off any Coca-Cola product regularly costing only 70 Recyclebank points. Points are fairly easy to get. Throughout the month, they will upload little videos or quizzes that you need to watch and take the quiz (takes literally less than 2 minutes!) and you will earn points. You can also spend your points on coupon codes, like 15% off Klean Kanteen or 25% off Swaddlebees/Blueberry diapers plus free shipping. This option is not available in my area, but you can also get points for recycling. I am hoping this comes to my area soon, because we recycle everything!

Where To Get Coupons

In order to save money from couponing, you must have coupons! It is possible to get amazing deals just off of sale prices, but to maximize your savings,  you will need coupons to do so. There are many different sources to get them. Some of the best places are:

Sunday Newspaper – Most towns have a few local newspapers available. The size of the newspaper as well as the size of the town and the area covered will dictate what your coupon inserts will look like. In my area, only the Birmingham News and the Times Daily are available at the newsstand. The Birmingham News is the better choice to buy, because it is a larger towns paper, which means it has more coupons. If your area has the option to have it delivered, this is a valuable resource because generally the delivered paper carries more coupons than the papers at the newsstand.

Internet – Many companies will put out coupons throughout the year on their website or their facebook page. This is a very valuable resource because these coupons are easy to access. You may print a single coupon TWO times from each computer (very few coupons have a limit of 1 per computer).

Coupon Clipping Service – Some people like to use a coupon clipping service instead of or in addition to getting the Sunday newspaper. This is a great resource if you want to stockpile a product during a certain sale. When you buy these coupons, you are paying for the coupon clippers "time" and not for the actual coupon, since it is illegal to sell coupons.

Blinkie – A blinkie is a machine found in grocery stores, drug stores and gas stations. It gets it's nickname from the blinking light on the box as you walk past it. These can be found in front of the product it has the coupon for.

Tear Pads – A tear pad is a pad of coupons near a product, where you can just pull a sheet off.

Catalina – A catalina (CAT) is a coupon printed on your receipt during checkout. These can be ECB, RR, + UP,  manufacturer or store coupons. The coupon printed is triggered from the purchase of particular items. The expiration date usually ranges from 2 weeks to 1 month from the date it is printed.

Home Mailer – Certain companies or stores have a home mailer, which is delivered to your mailbox. Often times you need to sign up for a stores home mailer on their website.

Coupon Terms and Abbreviations

To start learning to coupon, it is important to understand the terms commonly used when talking about couponing. Here is a list of the terms you will see on my blog:

BOGO – Buy One Get One

CAT – Catalina

CC – Competitor Coupon

ECB – Extra Care Bucks (CVS)

IPC – Internet Printable Coupon

MFG – Manufacturer Coupon

MIR – Mail In Rebate

OOP – Out Of Pocket

PG – P&G Coupon Insert

RP – Red Plum Coupon Insert

RR – Register Reward (Walgreens)
SB – Swagbucks

SC – Store Coupon

SCR – Single Check Rebate (Rite Aid)

SS – Smart Source Coupon Insert

WYB – When You Buy

+UP – + UP Wellness Bucks (Rite Aid)

Only $0.53 for all of this!

To start this blog off, I wanted to post what I got at CVS today. There are so many great deals at CVS this week, but many of the coupons you need are from today's paper. My mother sends me the inserts from the Chicago Tribune because it is impossible to get a newspaper here. So I will be making another trip to CVS later this week when those coupons arrive, and all of those items will be free! I decided to go ahead and go to CVS today to use a coupon I had that was expiring today. This is what I got:

(2) Coca-Cola 12 packs
      Regularly priced: $4.99 each, Sale price: $3.25 each
(2) Sprite 12 packs
      Regularly priced: $4.99 each, Sale price: $3.25 each
      Will receive: $3 ECB WYB (4)
      Will use: $4 off purchase of $20 or more, CVS coupon
      Final price: $1.50 each
(1) 2% Milk, 1 gallon
      Regularly priced: $3.89, Sale price: $3.69
      Will receive: $1 ECB
      Final price: $2.69
(1) ban deodorant
      Regularly priced: $3.59, Sale price: $2.99
      Will receive: $2 ECB
      Will use: $0.75 off coupon
      Final price: $0.24
(1) Toberlone
      Regularly priced: $1.29, Sale price: $0.32
Total: $20.00

Coupons Used:
$4 off purchase of $20 or more, CVS Coupon
$0.75 off ban deororant
$14.99 ECB from previous weeks
Subtotal: $0.26
Tax: $0.27
Spent: $0.53
Saved: $28.47
That's a savings of 98.2% after tax!

Received: $6 ECB to be used later
At a loss of only $8.99 ECB!

I don't normally buy soda, especially not cans! But we are in the process of stocking up on items for my sons 1st birthday at the end of this month! And 4 (12 packs) for $6 is an amazing price!!

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I've wanted to start a blog for some time now, but something always gets in the way of the luxury of sitting down and writing. My name is Emily and I am a stay at home mom to my incredibly sweet baby boy, Cole Rylan. Being a mother is the hardest yet most rewarding job I've ever had. I wouldn't change my place in Cole's life for anything in the world. Because of my love for him, I try to make his world the safest place that I can. All of my lifestyle choices are made to help my family grow and flourish in this economy. In this blog I wish to write about what interests and inspires me, and I hope they interest and inspire you as well. I like to consider myself knowledgeable about what I love. As in anything, when I feel strongly about something I like to educate myself so that I can make informed decisions for me and my family.

I know many people who are interested in learning how to coupon. I am wanting to help teach my friends and family how to coupon, but I do not want to be like all the other couponing blogs out there. I wish to write about what works for me in this area of northwest Alabama. I will also post pictures of my couponing adventures just to show how couponing is beneficial for your family and how easy it can be.

Before my son was born, I already knew that I wanted to cloth diaper him. I feel very blessed that I am my mother's daughter. Breastfeeding, cloth diapering, natural births and everything else natural are no foreign concepts to me, as I grew up this way. I am proud to say that I have been cloth diapering my son since he was born last June. We are also a breastfeeding family and we have had our ups and downs along the way, but it has been so rewarding to know that I am giving my son the best start to his life.

Please comment and ask questions anytime you're reading this blog! I want everyone to get as much as they can out of it. Thanks!