Fall Time Savings

It should be no surprise that I love I bargain!  I especially love it when it is for such a high volume item.  Couponing is actually nothing more than a game.  You have to learn the rules, read between the lines and hunt for the deals.  Although most places leave the accepting of a coupon up to the manager's discretion, if you go in there armed with your whits, confidence and charm, you are gonna get the deal.  

Perfect example.  I had 2 different coupons for the same product.  For Herbal Essence products, one was a "buy one get one free" AKA B1G1.  The other was for $3 off of 2 Herbal Essence Shampoo/Conditioners.  A lot of times it will say on coupons, "one coupon per item", but neither of these did! :)  Now it was just a matter of getting the manager to accepts it, and they did!  I paid $0.19 a bottle.  SCORE!!!!  It was not wrong and it was just a matter of using the coupon and it's working to my advantage.

Next deal I had was for Gillette Razors.  Although we are fond of the more expensive type of razors, (the more blades the better the shave for husband who shaves his head), a great deal on them makes them great!  I again had 2 coupons.  One was a B1G1 the other again was for $3.00 off.  The coupon stated you buy one of any pack of Gillette razors you get the Gillette Mach Turbo for free.  It had a value of nearly $9.00.  Since the buy part technically didn't use a coupon to save, they let me use the $3.00 on the cheaper razors that were priced $4.59 a pack.  When all was said and done, I paid $1.59 for one cheap and one Turbo razor.                                                                                                      

I have only had luck a couple of times with tooth brushes, and now make that 3!  I found the mother load of coupons for Reach!  They are for $2 off a Reach product.  And while at Walmart, I found a 2 pack of the Reach Crystal toothbrushes for $1.97!  There was no limit on how many you could use, the only stipulation was one coupon per product, not a problem!  I think I bought 15 packs and I still have about 15 coupons.  The only reason I didn't get more is because I hate to wipe out a shelf if I don't have to.  The coupons are good until sometime next year, so I can go back and use them up sometime soon.

My last great buy of the week was Treeseme products.  There were a lot of B1G1 free coupons out there this week.  This was a surprise deal, because for one, I don't usually use this brand and for 2 I didn't know the deal was there until I was at the store.  We were are CVS picking up some medicine for one of our kiddos.  We always scan our cards at the Kiosk every time we are there.  We both got coupons for $2 Tresemme product and $1 ECB (extra care bucks).  While paying for the medicine, we then got another $3 ECB!  I thought I might as well look at see what the shampoo.conditioner was on sale for.  SALE!  They were regularly priced $4.99, on sale for 2/$7 and I on top of the CVS coupons, I had one for B1G1, by a shampoo and conditioner, get a styling product for free, (up to a $6 vaule).  They also have their bonus bucks (or some name like that for program) going on.  So here's the math:

$3.50 -Shampoo
$3.50 -Conditioner
$3.50 -Hair Spray
Total
$10.50

Savings:
$2 CVS coupon
$2 CVS double days bonus
$3 ECB
$3.50 manufacturer's coupon

Grand total...FREE, (well, I paid $0.16 in tax).

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  Until next time, save big!!!!

  

So, this week was a bust for my couponing...don't get me wrong, I used coupons, but it wasn't much!  To make it worse, I went to a store closer to my house and I am not very familiar with the layout yet, that might have kept me from finding a better bargain.  This weeks goal was to make a list, stick to the list and keep it cheap.  With the holidays, we needed to keep costs down as much as possible with no extras.  And it would make sense that coupons would help with that.  But actually when I am saving money, I am also spending it.  Are you lost yet?   


Let me explain...I have found the "golden ticket" of coupons several times now.  That is when I find a coupon that will make an item free or nearly free.  Or just down right cheap for that item.  That is when you want to find multiple coupons like that and stock up.  A couple of weeks ago it was like that for canned goods and frozen veggies.  I paid no more than $0.25 a can for the canned veggies and about $0.50 a bag for the frozen ones.  Veggies are now off of my shopping list for a while.  I also stocked up on canned fruit at $0.50 a can during that time.  So, in the long run I will save money by getting it that cheap, but I have to pay for it all up front.  Hence the spending money to save money.


We have done that with several things and are starting to get the hang of it, but it is not as easy as they make it look on TV! lol  We are learning that these product coupons come out in cycles, sometimes they are great ones, other times you wonder why they bothered to spend more on the paper than the coupon was worth.  It is a lot of work, time and effort to make this work but I am determined!  I dream of having a stock pile like some of the people of the show Extreme Couponing.  I would love to be able to go to my pantry and know I have tons of needed items.  


I have also noticed that when you get those coupons, and use it to stock up, the next time they come around the price has been raised or the coupon value is dramatically lower.  It slightly irks me to see them do that.  Just because we have figured out a way to use the coupons to their full advantage and get a great deal is no reason to make it harder.  If you do not want all of those coupons used, then do not publish that many...gezzzz!


So, with the start of the new year, I vow to to rule this couponing game and save my family some money while getting great deals!  I know this blog is a slow work in progress, but please check back frequently and I will keep you informed of the great deals I come across!