Monday, September 29, 2008

The "Coupon Lady"

Yes, my husband now calls me the coupon lady. Even though I took offense at first, I realized . . . I don't care what I'm called if I am saving money. Bryan initially thought that all my couponing (I dedicate a few minutes each night to searching for new deals) was silly, I knew I could make a difference given the tight financial situation of our family.


I have been inspired my several women writing blogs about couponing and saving money (check out the blogs I follow). In particular there are great deals to be made some weeks at CVS and Walgreens in particular. I am posting my "conquests" this week because I feel particularly proud of my savings, considering I took the time to figure out how to work the deals to spend as little as possible out-of-pocket (oop). A lot of the women posting "money-saving" blogs say that they will not purchase anything that is not free, but I'm not quite there yet. Since I need to buy diapers and baby wipes on a regular basis, I do not mind spending money on these items, especially when I can get them in combination with other deals. Likewise, our family was totally out of razor blades (of which the price is the bane of my existence)! At any rate, check out my savings & how I did it below!


I think after seeing this, Bryan was blown away! Maybe the "coupon lady" will turn into "my coupon princess"!



Walmart

12 Johnson's Buddies Soaps (.97 each)= $11.65
Cascade Dishwasher Crystal Clear Rinse
Used 4 coupons for $3 off 3 products, free Cascade rinse coupon
Total spent $0


CVS

Transaction #1
deal--buy 1 Cover Girl Foundation @ 5.49, get 5.79 in Extra Care Bucks (ECBs)
Used $1.00 off coupon & Buy one get one free coupon
Got 2 Cover Girl Foundations
Total spent $4.49, earned $5.49 EBCs

Transaction #2
deal--but one Gillette Fusion Razor (with 2 blades) @ 9.99, get 5.00 in EBCs
Used $4.00 off coupon & 5.79 in EBCs (transaction #1)
Total spent .20, earned $5.00 in EBCs

Transaction #3
deal--buy 2 Gillette men's shampoo @ 9.00, get 2.00 in EBCs
Used 2 $2.00 off 1 shampoo & 5.00 in EBCs (transaction #2)
Total spent $0, earned $2.00 in EBCs

Transaction #4
1 pkg. Venus disposable razors @ 4.99
2 Colgate kids toothpastes (on sale for 1.50 each) @3.00
2 Dawn dish soaps (on sale for .99)
Used $2.00 off Venus razors coupon, 2 $1 colgate coupons, 2 $1.00 off dawn coupons & $2.00 in EBCs
Total spent $1.97
Total spent @ CVS $6.66

Walgreens
Transaction #1
deal--buy Gillette Fusion razor @ 8.99, get 4.00 Register Rewards (RR)
Used $4.00 off coupon, Used $1 in-store coupon
Total spent $3.99, earned $4.00 RR

Transaction #2
deal--buy 1 Colorsilk Haircolor @ 1.99, get $1 in RR
deal--buy one Oral-B toothbrush @ 4.49, get $4.50 in RR
Used $1 off Colorsilk in-store coupon, $.75 off Oral-B coupon & $4.00 RR
Total spent $.73, earned $5.50 RR

Transaction #3
deal--buy $14 in Huggies products, get $3 in RR
Huggies diapers @ 9.99, Huggies wipes @ 5.99
Used $1.50 Huggies diaper coupon, $.50 Huggies wipes coupons & $5.50 RR
Total spent $8.48, earned $3 in RR

Transaction #4
deal--Colorsilk hair dye (see above)
Eggs (on sale for 1.29) @ 2.58
2 Crest toothpastes @ 1.99
Used 2 $1.00 off in-store crest coupons, 2 $1.00 off crest coupons, 1 $1.00 off in-store Colorsilk coupon & $3.00 RR
Total Spent $.55

Transaction #5
deal--buy Gillette Fusion razor @ 8.99, get 4.00 Register Rewards (RR)
Used $4.00 off coupon, Used $1 in-store coupon
Total spent $3.99, earned $4.00 RR

Transaction #6
Huggies wipes @ 5.99
Used $.50 off coupon & $4.00 RR
Total spent $1.49
Total spent @ Walgreens $19.23

Total Spent Today $$$$ 25.89 WOW!!!

Toals before coupons, RR, & EBCs=$108.55
Total Saved=$82.66




4 comments:

Becky said...

LOL! My husband tells people that I am a crazy coupon lady. He knows full well though the benefits of my craziness!

Unknown said...

Where can I find the "in-store" coupons (ie. for Gillette)? Are they from the ES Booklet?

N. VanDervort said...

Jem--the "in-store" coupons were taped to the boxes of the products @ Walgreens. You can't imagine how surprised I was to find them! I only found 1 for the Gillette razor, but they were on most of the Colorsilk hairdye, and on all of the Crest toothpaste.

Tiffany said...

ahhh...i can tell what family you're from :)
I did similar things this week at the commissary...example...$1 coupon for pasta and the pasta was on sale for...you guessed it...$1
I love coupons!