Still Saving

It's been a while since I posted ... But it's been the same old same old. I still spend more at walmart than I save. But save more at cvs than I spend! Boy do I wish walmart would start a customer loyalty program with register rewards like cvs. I would save a TON!!! This week was a good example of what a normal shopping trip for me is. At cvs, I had 3 transactions which included 1 that I had a raincheck on from the previous week. All totaled, I got $75.55 worth of products. This included: 2 14ct Prevacid, 2 tubes of toothpastes, 2 banana boat sunscreens, 1 mascara, 1 loose powder (make up), & 2 grape jellies. I saved $44.29 using coupons & ECB's (register rewards for buying a certain $ amount of particular products). I spent $31.26 in cash. Basically I paid for the 2 prevacids & the mascara & got everything else for FREE!!! We use every single product I bought. I didn't buy anything that we don't use or didn't need in the next few weeks! Then came walmart ...... I MUST by regular groceries even when I don't have coupons for some things. Things that I didn't have to buy this week - that I could have waited to buy but bought anyway- I had coupons for. Things we will use, but weren't out of yet. But if I have coupons that are about to expire, I go ahead and buy the stuff. On the flip side, if I'm out of something, I have to buy it - coupon or not! This is why I only saved $17.85 at walmart. And why I spent $140. :(. But there were groceries that HAD to be bought. Things that I could not wait for a sale or coupon for! Still, in my book, some saved is better than none saved! So, I'm still wandering around in couponland. Still searching for the best deals and those coupons. I almost had a stroke when a friend of mine said she threw her coupons in the trash!!!!!!!! I told her, quickly, to give them to me!!!! She's basically throwing money in the trash as far as I'm concerned!

Soap, soap and more soap

I have now used all the Ivory soap coupons I had.  I have 26 pkgs (3 bars of soap per pkg).  I paid a total of $5.98 (including tax) for 78 bars of soap!  I'll be taking this soap to the Church tonight for our youth minister to take when he goes to work in the distribution center at Smithville, MS.  It feels really good to give - even if it's not a lot.  But, it feels even better to know that I could give without much effort. It means that people who don't have a lot of money or time, can give too. :)

Stockpile

A few things that I have stockpiled so much of that I MUST refrain from picking up! (Even if it's free or VERY cheap!)  I just don't have a lot of storage space. So, I have to S-T-O-P! At least for a few weeks..........

*Dishwashing liquid.  I have tons of this.  I use a dishwasher and only need the liquid for prewashing the bad stuff or soaking.  All that I've purchased, I got for tax only or less than .25 cents each.
*Dishwashing detergent.  I have probably 8 weeks worth stocked up right now.  I suppose I'll pick it up if I can get it for less than $1....... We do use a lot of this!
*Axe bodywash, deodorant spray & deodorant. I got a lot of B1G1 free and $1 off coupons for this stuff.  Walmart, at the time, was offering a special packaging where you could get the deodorant and spray together for the price of just the deodorant.  Then I used the $1 off coupon and got both for $2.50 ... that's only $1.25 for each deodorant and each spray!  That's a GREAT deal!!!!  The bodywash was $3.86 and at buy 1 get 1 free - it made it $1.93 each.  I just HAD to go on and use every single coupon I could get my hands on for this!  In about 6 weeks, they'll probably print another one and I'll probably use them again because all 3 of the guys in my house use the stuff.  But, for now ... I don't have to buy any.
*Clean and clear bodywash.  This was another B1G1 free coupon!  I ended up with 12 bottles.  With the coupon, these ended up being $2.49 each.  I'm the only one that uses this ... it'll last for a while. So I don't feel the need to pick any up anytime soon - unless the B1G1 free coupon comes around again!
*Free & Clear laundry detergent.  This was on sale at CVS at B1G1 free and I had 4 $1 off coupons.  This made each bottle $2.49 each.  They are the smaller bottles.  But, Jonathan is the only one that uses this detergent.  He has eczema and needs the free & clear stuff.  I like my clothes to "smell" like something... so I use gain on everything else.  4 bottles should last, only washing his clothes, for a while!
*Toothpaste.  I've lucked up on a few sales that were combined with CVS ECB's ... I took my coupons and got as many as allowed each time they offered it.  We have enough to last us probably the summer.  So, unless I can get it for free, I won't be picking up anymore for a while.


What I WILL pick up more of .... Ivory 3pk bar soap.  I have come across a TON of $1 off coupons. Fred's (and probably walmart) has the 3pk for $1.15.  This means I can get them for .23 cents (with tax).  We do not use ivory soap.  But, I figure those who lost everything in the tornadoes don't really care what brand the soap is. Soap is soap.  So, I'll use as many as I can and donate all of them to tornado victims.

More Savings!!

This was an AWESOME CVS trip this time!  I brought home $80 worth of products.  In my first transaction, after I used $5 in ECB's (from a previous earning) and my coupons, I paid $12 and change.  I also earned a few ECB's to use in my next transaction.  I had a coupon emailed to me from CVS for $5 off any $30 purchase.  I added these to the coupons that I had and for my 2nd transaction, I only paid $8 and change!  Less than $21 for $80 worth of stuff!!  AND, again, it's all stuff we use on a regular basis!
I then went to Walmart to get the grocery stuff.  I paid a lot more there than the $21 at CVS, but I still saved almost $35 in coupons there.
Saturday is double coupon day at Fred's.  I picked up some really good deals with sales and coupons.  I got $50 worth of stuff for $30  Not as good as CVS, but still that's $20 more in savings. 
That's a grand total of $115 in savings this weekend!  I still spent more than I saved overall.  But, in Mississippi, you MUST pay tax and the tax is based on your PRE-COUPON total.  Sooooooooooooo, there you go!
I'll have to slow down on picking up "stock-pile" stuff for a while.  Even if it's free.  I only have a few shelves I can use to store this stuff.  Those shelves are almost full.  If I don't have a place to store it, then I just can't buy it.  For example, I'll have to resist the urge to pick up more dish washing liquid just because it's free after coupons or only a few cents.  I have all I could use in a reasonable amount of time and just about out of space to store it!  So since I WILL NOT be like those people on TV with cereal stored under their beds and BBQ sauce in the the closets with their clothes, I guess I'll have to pass the coupons and the savings on to someone else. :)
I'm also proud to say that I have only bought 1 product just because I had a coupon for it and not because we used it.  But, it was a new product that we had never tried before.  We have also used similar products in the past and with coupons, I could get them for $2.99 each instead of $7.99.  So, I figured it was a GREAT time to try out the product!  I've also tried different brands of toilet paper and paper towels, because I had a coupon that would make it cheaper than my "normal" brand.  But, that's different.  We need that stuff regardless of what brand it is!  I haven't bought things that we would never use just because it's cheap - or free! 
Right now I'm really on the hunt for those elusive coupons.  The ones for stuff we use, but rarely have coupons for!  I'm doing some online digging.  Maybe I'll luck up!
Happy Couponing!

Cheap!

Food giant had Ronco spaghetti (7oz pkg) on sale 3/$1.  I lucked up and got 4 $1 off any ronco pasta coupons.  That made them free + tax.  I got 12 pkgs for $0.28!!!  They are the small pkgs and it will take 2 to feed my family - but that's still 6 suppers of spaghetti for $0.28!  WOO-HOO!!!! Now, I'm searching for coupons off spaghetti sauce! 

Free Free Free

Today I got to do some of that free couponing I keep hearing about. I had 4 coupons that read "$2 off any 2 Reach toothbrushes". I went into Fred's and they had Reach toothbrushes for $1 each. That made them completely free! Well I did have to pay the tax on the $1 each. But since Saturday is double coupon day at Fred's (they'll double any coupon with a value of .70€ or less), one of my doubled coupons gave me enough extra off to pay that tax! So, I got 8 toothbrushes for free! I'm looking forward to getting even more stuff for free by using coupons!!!!!

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I forgot to mention that a few days earlier, I got free reach floss from Dollar General!  I had 4 $1 off any 1 reach floss - Dollar General had it for $1 each = FREE!!!!!!!! 

Becky In Couponland

I titled this as "Becky in Couponland" as sort of a play on Alice in Wonderland.  She was pushed and pulled in so many different directions.  She was confused at times.  She was in way over her head more than once ... almost to the point of losing it!  She had lots of decisions to make - some were good for her and some could have been better!  I feel like that sometimes, in the sea of coupons and saving.  It can be overwhelming sometimes. 
I've learned that you have to have a plan.  And I've also learned that to save money, you first have to spend a little.  This month, I've been working on my "stockpile".  Now, I don't stockpile foods (much).  I came up on some fabulous coupons for buy 1 get 1 free on body wash for the guys in my house.  Also, I found some for buy 1 get 1 free on some body wash for myself.  Now, I've gotten dozens of bottles of body wash for free.... but remember I had to buy 1 to get each free 1!  I used all my coupons that I had becuase body wash doesn't really expire.  And with 3 guys using that body wash, they'll have my stock pile used up in just a matter of months.  I won't have to buy any body wash for several months, and half of it was free!!  But I had to buy more than I normally would at one time.  The same for their deodorant.  That stuff has a shelf life of about 2 yrs!  I had $1 off coupons for that deodorant.  Walmart had it specially packaged and priced with the body spray that they use.  I was basically buying the deodorant and getting the body spray for free PLUS $1 off each package.  I had SEVERAL coupons for this also.  I used them all.  They'll use up that stuff before it would "expire".  Again, I had to spend more at one time than I normally would.  But, in the long run, I've saved a lot of money!  Make sense? But, I have to decide what's better to go ahead and buy now when I have a coupon and what's better to wait on.  I don't have room to store EVERYTHING!  And, is it worth breaking my budget this week to save $1 on something that I could wait a few weeks to buy?  But the coupon expires THIS week!  See my problem?
I'm hoping after I stockpile several deals on household stuff that we use, then my grocery bill will begin to shrink!  Maybe if I only have to buy food items for a while, it'll cut that bill down!  I really would like to go into a store one day and bring home $100's worth of stuff and only have to pay $10 after sales, deals and coupons.  But, we have to have food and weekly groceries, so I'm not really counting on that!  But, if I can just save a few dollars here and a few more dollars there .... I'll be happy!  I'd be THRILLED if I could get all those groceries for just a few dollars, though! 
So, I have jumped in with both feet, running wild through Couponland!