I've couponed before, many times in fact, but I didn't stick to it long and I never noticed a savings. I was doing it wrong of course. You take your coupon for blah item, and when that item comes on sale at a low price, you combine the two and pitchicow savings. And if you have a fab store (which I do not other than Walgreens, damnit 3 times for living in the middle of nowhere) you get in-store credit, extra savings, or double or tripple coupons and you've got extra awesome savings my lovelies. My goal is not to have a $1000 grocery total and only pay $15, that would be incredible and I'd have to change my panties after but that's not my goal. One, I don't have the room to store that kind of stash. And two, well that's too much time spent in a grocery store for this girl who is not a fan of shopping. ECK. If I can save $100 a month on groceries I'm a happy girl. If I can save more then woohoo but I have no plans of going over board and opening up my own mini grocery store in my garage. I will share whatever goodies I accrue with my Mama and Daddy cause I am a good daughter and any baby stuff with my niece cause I'm a good aunt. I have no plans at the moment to stockpile like crazy...but I've been warned it almost always happens.
Here's what I got today, my first day out:
Walmart:
Barilla Whole Grain Pasta: Sale price $1.28, coupons at $.55 off, comes to $.73 item, I had 5 coupons bringing the total from $6.40 to $3.10 for 5 boxes of pasta.
Tabasco Hot sauce : Sale price $2.82, coupons at $.75 off, comes to $2.07 per item, with 5 coupons bringing the total from $14.10 to $11.35. (This was advertised on a blog for $1.27, I didn't write down this price so I was not aware of the giant price difference until I looked at my receipt. Lesson learned, must write down all sale prices to make sure it all matches and watch the register with each purchase/coupon...grrrr).
Huggies Little Movers Slip-Ons Jumbo pack: Sale price $8.99 (price matched with a Walgreens sale), coupons at $3 off, comes to $5.99 per item, with 5 coupons bringing the total from $44.95 to $29.95 (another note to self, keep all coupons together, and NOT in my back pocket or coupons won't get discounted...MAJOR grumble on that one).
V8 Splash: Sale price $1.88 (price matched with a Harps sale), coupon $1 for 2, with 1 coupon the total was $2.76.
Not on sale:
Pop Secret popcorn: original price $4.48, coupon for $.50 for 2, with 1 coupon the total was $8.46
Walgreens:
Hyland's Nighttime Cold N Cough Kids: Sale price $4.99, receive $4.99 Register Rewards (limit 1 per customer per transaction) making this free. I still paid tax though.
Garnier Fructis Shampoo/conditioner: Sale price $3.33, coupon for $1 off, comes to $2.33 per item, with 6 coupons bringing the total from $19.98 to $13.98.
Total before coupons: $103.14
Total after coupons: $69.15
Savings of $33.99
After watching the Extreme Coupon show, this feels a bit shitty since they get $1500 in groceries and spend $30. BUT the thing is, I have Wal-Mart and Walgreens as my stores and they are not as good as the stores used by people on that show. I don't get double or tripple coupons, and I don't earn store points. Walgreens gives me Register Rewards which is awesome, but that's my only extra freebie and it means multiple trips to the store through the week for it to pay off. I'll never (unless by some ginormous miracle) get things for free or next to nothing. I'll still save it just won't be as incredible as those seen on the show.
It's still pretty cool to see all those items and know I didn't pay full price.
Side not: I was reminded 4 times why I suck at math. Even with two calculators, a scratch pad and an Excel spreadsheet (with formulas to help me add sheesh), I still got 4 different totals and I'm HOPING this is the real one otherwise I'm so fired. Can't do math for nothing and the best coupons were in my back pocket until I got home, meaning a second trip to Wal-Mart and embarrassing explanation.
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