After watching Extreme Couponing on TLC this a refreshing video and very funny video. Yes, I love the show. However, I realize that it does not give an accurate portrayal of my couponing experience.
You can find her website at www.chachingonashoestring.com.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Where Has the Time Gone?
Sorry to my 3 followers! I fell off the coupon wagon around the holidays in December and have been negligent in posting my most recent shopping trips. Fear not! I am back and going strong with my savings. Be on the lookout for updates soon!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Giant Eagle This Week - Coupon Matchups and Personal Summary
I was checking the blogs and going through my Giant Eagle ad to find the best deals this week. I have a difficult time finding a blogger that sufficiently covers Giant Eagle. I love Deal Seeking Mom for Kroger and Meijer match ups but am not finding any sites that are frequently updated and accurate for Giant Eagle shopping in Columbus, OH. If you find a site that you love, please share it with me.
I picked up Huggies this week. They are $19.99 per box but you also get $0.30 in Fuelperks when you buy two. I have some $3.00 coupons left but I can't find any of them anymore to share. You can get $2.00 off per box from Coupons.com.
2 boxes = $39.98
$4.00 off = $35.98
+ $0.30 in Fuelperks and the $35 counts toward your Fuelperks earnings
In order to maximize my savings, I had 2 orders at the check out this week. The first included the diapers and the total was $53.21 the second was only $3.89. The second is pretty amazing to me because for that $3.89 I was able to get: 4 cans of Tomato Soup, 3 Kraft Homestyle Mac & Cheese's, 2 bags of gummy lifesavers, 2 cucumbers and 1 box of Ronzoni pasta.
If you take the diapers out of the equation for the first order I spent $19.23 and here is what I purchased:
3 bags Kraft Homestyle Mac and Cheese
2 boxes Ronzoni pasta
2 bags Lifesaver gummies
2 jars Vlassic pickles
1 bag Texas Toast croutons
4 cans of Campbell's Tomato Soup
6 cans of Hunt's diced tomatoes
2 Vanish drop ins
1 box of Purex 3 in 1s
1 bottle of Purex laundry detergent (32 loads)
1 tube of Colgate toothpaste
Kraft Mac & Cheese: I was able to get a fantastic deal on the Mac & Cheese, it is a new product so that usually means sales combined with coupons. The blog I checked before heading to the store had these listed at $2.00 each. At my Giant Eagle they were $1.85 so combined with my $1 off coupons they were only $0.85 each! You can find the $1 off coupon in your Smart Source from 8/8 - I had 4 of them so was able to stock up on them. If you don't have the coupons from 8/8 you can also find the $1 off here: Kraft Homestyle Printable. Remember this is a Bricks coupon so you can hit your browsers back button to print it twice.
Hunt's Tomatoes: The Hunt's tomatoes were $1 each. I used two $1 off 3 coupons from the 8/1 Smart Source insert. This made them $0.67 each. I like to stock up on items like this because I add it to my spaghetti and chili when I don't have enough vegetables from my CSA.
Colgate Toothpaste: Colgate is $1, you can use the $0.50 off coupon from the 7/25 Smart Source and once the coupon is doubled the toothpaste will be FREE!
Lifesavers: Bags of gummy Lifesavers are $1 this week. Print the $0.50 off coupons and score free Lifesavers once it is doubled. The coupon can be found here: Lifesaves Printable. The link will take you to a promo page for Wal-Mart, just scroll to the bottom of the page to Sweet Savings and click on Get Special Savings Now.
Pickles: Some varieties of Vlassic pickles are $1.88 this week. Use this $0.55 off one printable and get pickles for $0.78 each. Pickles Printable
Soup: Campbell's soup is on sale this week 2 for $1. I used a printable $0.50 off 2 coupon. When doubled this was $1 off 2 so the soup was FREE! Campbell's Soup Printable
This is my first time posting match ups, I hope you find them useful and all the links work for you. I appreciate any feedback - positive or negative.
I picked up Huggies this week. They are $19.99 per box but you also get $0.30 in Fuelperks when you buy two. I have some $3.00 coupons left but I can't find any of them anymore to share. You can get $2.00 off per box from Coupons.com.
2 boxes = $39.98
$4.00 off = $35.98
+ $0.30 in Fuelperks and the $35 counts toward your Fuelperks earnings
In order to maximize my savings, I had 2 orders at the check out this week. The first included the diapers and the total was $53.21 the second was only $3.89. The second is pretty amazing to me because for that $3.89 I was able to get: 4 cans of Tomato Soup, 3 Kraft Homestyle Mac & Cheese's, 2 bags of gummy lifesavers, 2 cucumbers and 1 box of Ronzoni pasta.
If you take the diapers out of the equation for the first order I spent $19.23 and here is what I purchased:
3 bags Kraft Homestyle Mac and Cheese
2 boxes Ronzoni pasta
2 bags Lifesaver gummies
2 jars Vlassic pickles
1 bag Texas Toast croutons
4 cans of Campbell's Tomato Soup
6 cans of Hunt's diced tomatoes
2 Vanish drop ins
1 box of Purex 3 in 1s
1 bottle of Purex laundry detergent (32 loads)
1 tube of Colgate toothpaste
Kraft Mac & Cheese: I was able to get a fantastic deal on the Mac & Cheese, it is a new product so that usually means sales combined with coupons. The blog I checked before heading to the store had these listed at $2.00 each. At my Giant Eagle they were $1.85 so combined with my $1 off coupons they were only $0.85 each! You can find the $1 off coupon in your Smart Source from 8/8 - I had 4 of them so was able to stock up on them. If you don't have the coupons from 8/8 you can also find the $1 off here: Kraft Homestyle Printable. Remember this is a Bricks coupon so you can hit your browsers back button to print it twice.
Hunt's Tomatoes: The Hunt's tomatoes were $1 each. I used two $1 off 3 coupons from the 8/1 Smart Source insert. This made them $0.67 each. I like to stock up on items like this because I add it to my spaghetti and chili when I don't have enough vegetables from my CSA.
Colgate Toothpaste: Colgate is $1, you can use the $0.50 off coupon from the 7/25 Smart Source and once the coupon is doubled the toothpaste will be FREE!
Lifesavers: Bags of gummy Lifesavers are $1 this week. Print the $0.50 off coupons and score free Lifesavers once it is doubled. The coupon can be found here: Lifesaves Printable. The link will take you to a promo page for Wal-Mart, just scroll to the bottom of the page to Sweet Savings and click on Get Special Savings Now.
Pickles: Some varieties of Vlassic pickles are $1.88 this week. Use this $0.55 off one printable and get pickles for $0.78 each. Pickles Printable
Soup: Campbell's soup is on sale this week 2 for $1. I used a printable $0.50 off 2 coupon. When doubled this was $1 off 2 so the soup was FREE! Campbell's Soup Printable
This is my first time posting match ups, I hope you find them useful and all the links work for you. I appreciate any feedback - positive or negative.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Save $0.75 on Coffee-Mate Creamer
Use this link to save $0.75 on Coffee-Mate creamer. When there is a sale, you can usually pick this up for free or less than $0.50.
They have a new Honey Vanilla Creme flavor that I might try with this coupon.
They have a new Honey Vanilla Creme flavor that I might try with this coupon.
Meijer Savings Week of 8/8 - Had to Do Some Math on this One
This week taking my husband and kids to Meijer with me may have been a bit of a mistake. I have had them join me on my couponing adventures before but there must have been something in the air that made us spend money and my kids crazy.
In order to reflect the actual money spent on what what I typically buy, I had to subtract the additional items from my bill. I left the unplanned food items on as that is a realistic view of what can happen at the store when impulse food is purchased. I ended up subtracting $108.38 from my total amount spent as we ended up buying some planned and unplanned home goods items.
What we bought for $108.38: 1 bulb for my tail light, 1 gal jug for hubby's iced tea, 2 storage ottomans, 5 plastic totes, 1 pair of silicone tongs, 2 honey/sugar bottles, 2 insulated soup jars, and 3 Kitchen Aid knives.
My total bill for Meijer was $129.24, when I subtract the $108.38 I only spent $20.86 on my food and household items this week.
Items Purchased:
1 small can potato sticks (Evan was starving)
1 bag of Entenmanns donuts (hubby snuck these in)
1 small bag M&Ms
1 Milky Way bar
5 cans Campbell's Healthy Request Soup
4 jars Ragu pasta sauce
2 1/2 gallons Smart Balance milk
1 1/2 gallon Rice milk
2 jars Skippy Natural peanut butter
1 pack popsicles
The items I planned on purchasing cost $17.83 before coupons, my total coupon savings was $16.44 which means the planned items only cost $1.39 out of pocket. I planned on buying the soup, pasta sauce, smart balance milk and peanut butter.
The remaining items were impulse buys these impulse buys cost $19.47. This is how most people shop and how I used to shop. I had a vague idea of what I needed, I may have even had a list but I didn't shop the sales or with my coupons. This meant I had lots of impulse buys and not very much to show for it. I typically ended up spending $150-$200 in one store per week and most of the items went bad because I didn't use them. Not only am I more dedicated to stretching my budget through smart shopping and stockpiling, my husband and I are more dedicated to eating what we have at home.
It can be a challenge, we both noticed we have had fast food more times over the past week than we are comfortable with. He started a new job and my work has been very busy so it has made us lazy in our eating habits. We both agreed that we need to get back on track this week. The food usually tastes better and is better for you when it comes from home.
In order to reflect the actual money spent on what what I typically buy, I had to subtract the additional items from my bill. I left the unplanned food items on as that is a realistic view of what can happen at the store when impulse food is purchased. I ended up subtracting $108.38 from my total amount spent as we ended up buying some planned and unplanned home goods items.
What we bought for $108.38: 1 bulb for my tail light, 1 gal jug for hubby's iced tea, 2 storage ottomans, 5 plastic totes, 1 pair of silicone tongs, 2 honey/sugar bottles, 2 insulated soup jars, and 3 Kitchen Aid knives.
My total bill for Meijer was $129.24, when I subtract the $108.38 I only spent $20.86 on my food and household items this week.
Items Purchased:
1 small can potato sticks (Evan was starving)
1 bag of Entenmanns donuts (hubby snuck these in)
1 small bag M&Ms
1 Milky Way bar
5 cans Campbell's Healthy Request Soup
4 jars Ragu pasta sauce
2 1/2 gallons Smart Balance milk
1 1/2 gallon Rice milk
2 jars Skippy Natural peanut butter
1 pack popsicles
The items I planned on purchasing cost $17.83 before coupons, my total coupon savings was $16.44 which means the planned items only cost $1.39 out of pocket. I planned on buying the soup, pasta sauce, smart balance milk and peanut butter.
The remaining items were impulse buys these impulse buys cost $19.47. This is how most people shop and how I used to shop. I had a vague idea of what I needed, I may have even had a list but I didn't shop the sales or with my coupons. This meant I had lots of impulse buys and not very much to show for it. I typically ended up spending $150-$200 in one store per week and most of the items went bad because I didn't use them. Not only am I more dedicated to stretching my budget through smart shopping and stockpiling, my husband and I are more dedicated to eating what we have at home.
It can be a challenge, we both noticed we have had fast food more times over the past week than we are comfortable with. He started a new job and my work has been very busy so it has made us lazy in our eating habits. We both agreed that we need to get back on track this week. The food usually tastes better and is better for you when it comes from home.
Kroger Savings Week of 8/8 - This Might be My Best Trip Yet!
 | |
| My cart when leaving the store today |
I get the coupons from: B1G1 Sobe Link. You have to play the unscrew the cap game, I always receive the coupon it is a Bricks coupon which means you can print it twice, just use your browsers back button after the first time printing. You can get the coupon once a day, I usually make my trip to Kroger on Saturday morning which means I can get 14 of these coupons throughout the week if I remember to log on each day to play.
Spent: $20.23
Saved: $76.31
Earned: $3 on my next order
When I initially saw my total of $96.00 I thought there was no way I would be able to get out of the store for less than $50. Once my Kroger Plus card kicked in and my coupons were scanned, I was very happy to see the savings.
Items Purchased:
3 boxes CoCo Puffs cereal
4 jugs of Sunny D
2 boxes Hefty Gallon storage bags
2 boxes Hefty Quart storage bags
16 bottles Sobe Lifewater
4 bags Quaker True Delight rice cakes
8 cans Progresso Soup (this earned my $3 OYNO as well as $4 of Mega Event savings)
2 jars Welch's jam
1 container Oscar Meyer Deli Lunchmeat
 |
| My receipt - the scanned coupons are almost as long as the items purchased |
CVS Savings Week of 8/8
This week at CVS ended up breaking my order into two transactions. I decided that since I have stopped nursing, I would like to go back on Alli. CVS had the refill kit (120 pills) for $49.99. I ended up paying $37.29 after using my coupons. I used a $5 off $25, and the $11 ECBs I earned last week. Now to the real CVS shopping which took place on my second order.
Spent: $12.44
Saved: $27.75
Earned: $7 ECBs
Used: $5 off $25
Items Purchased:
4 2-liters of Diet Coke
2 packs of Huggies wipes (216 wipes in each)
1 Schick Hydro 5 razor
1 Schick shave gel
The wipes were $6 each and if you spent $10 in Huggies products you received $3.00 ECBs. I also had coupons for $2.00 off each so I spent $8.00 out of pocket but received $3 back. This made the wipes $2.50 each.
The razor was another ECB special, with the purchase of 1 you received $4.00 in ECBs. The razor was $8.97 but I also had a $5 off coupon. This made the razor $3.97 out of pocket and then I received $4 for next time. I was also lucky enough to grab a razor with a tear off coupon that gave me a free shave gel with the purchase of the razor. I was able to pick this up for free, it had originally be $4.29.
Diet Coke was not a planned item for me, however I received a $1 of 2 from the Extra Care machine. Coke was on sale 2 for 3 and I found a bottle that had a coupon for a free 2 liter when you purchase 3. I grabbed 4 and ended up getting all 4 for $3.50 or $0.88 each.
I decided to go ahead with my Walgreens ban and it made my shopping this week much less stressful. I
Spent: $12.44
Saved: $27.75
Earned: $7 ECBs
Used: $5 off $25
Items Purchased:
4 2-liters of Diet Coke
2 packs of Huggies wipes (216 wipes in each)
1 Schick Hydro 5 razor
1 Schick shave gel
The wipes were $6 each and if you spent $10 in Huggies products you received $3.00 ECBs. I also had coupons for $2.00 off each so I spent $8.00 out of pocket but received $3 back. This made the wipes $2.50 each.
The razor was another ECB special, with the purchase of 1 you received $4.00 in ECBs. The razor was $8.97 but I also had a $5 off coupon. This made the razor $3.97 out of pocket and then I received $4 for next time. I was also lucky enough to grab a razor with a tear off coupon that gave me a free shave gel with the purchase of the razor. I was able to pick this up for free, it had originally be $4.29.
Diet Coke was not a planned item for me, however I received a $1 of 2 from the Extra Care machine. Coke was on sale 2 for 3 and I found a bottle that had a coupon for a free 2 liter when you purchase 3. I grabbed 4 and ended up getting all 4 for $3.50 or $0.88 each.
I decided to go ahead with my Walgreens ban and it made my shopping this week much less stressful. I
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