Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Perhaps I've changed my mind about coupons...

Couponers. We all know one or two. In the past I've posted about coupon divas and the like, but came to the conclusion that I wasn't really all about cutting those coupons and walking around a store with a giant coupon binder...but I've changed my mind!

I have decided what kind of crazy couponer I want to be. There are those who will buy four hundred packages of gum to get their meat for free (which in all honestly seems totally too much for me) and there are those drugstore lovers, the people that heart CVS and Riteaid. I found myself intrigued by these savvy drugstore shoppers. They post blog and facebook pictures of their shopping trip successes were they would buy 12 items and pay only 2 cents! Amazing! I had to figure this out!

Not to toot my own horn...but I will! I'm a really good grocery shopper. I feel confident that I plan well for food shopping trips and I always only buy what I need. That was the draw back with extreme couponing at the grocery store. It seems like those people need extra storage to keep all that stuff they don't need. That's all I need is MORE stuff! This is by no means a knock on extreme couponers, because I realize that a lot of people who do this, donate the extra to charity and that's really great! I just can't handle that myself.

When it comes to shopping for household items, I feel less confident that I'm being frugal. I'm not sure that I'm not hemorrhaging billions of dollars to Walmart every year when I buy shampoo and toilet paper!

Walmart...ahhh, Walmart or the "hundred dollar store" as I've often heard it called. You go in to spend five dollars and an hour later you come out with a hundred dollars worth of crap you swear you needed! Walmart is one of those dangerous places I try not to go to, but alway end up frequenting multiple times a week. It doesn't hurt that I live right down the road from a Super Walmart. Ay-yi-yi.

So I've decided to try my luck at my local CVS and Riteaid. I want to see what I can score for free. Here's how I did:

Shopping trip one: Riteaid


Carefree Panty Liners- originally $1.99, on sale for $1.00.
   - $1.00 off  manufacturer's coupon
   - Total cost: FREE

Similac Formula- originally $6.99, on sale for $4.49
   -$5.00 off  manufacturer's coupon
   -Total cost: FREE

Irish Spring Soap- originally $3.49 each, on sale 2 for $3.49
   -$1.00 off  manufacturer's coupon
   -Total cost for: $2.49 a 64% savings

Aveeno Shampoo and Conditioner- originally $7.49 each, on sale buy one get one for %50 off
(originally $14.98 total for both, on sale $11.23 total for both)
   - $3.00 off manufacturer's coupon
   - $1.00 off Riteaid coupon for watching Riteaid Value Videos
   - $2.00 off $10.00 or more purchase at Riteaid form watching Riteaid Value Videos
   -Total Cost for both: $6.23 a 58% savings

Got2B Styling Products- originally $6.49 each, on sale 2 for $6.49
   -$2.00 off Riteaid coupon from Value Videos
   - Total cost for both $4.49 a 65% savings

Total Cost: originally would cost $50.91 I paid $13.21 with sales and coupons. 74% savings

Not a total success, but I saved a lot on the higher priced purchases. But really the goal of hearting CVS and Riteaid is getting your bill down to a dollar or less! I have to try harder.

Shopping Trip Two: CVS


2 Lysol Wipes- originally $3.49 each on sale 2 for $5.00
   -$2.00 off 2 Lysol products manufacturer's coupon.
   -Total Cost for both: $3.00, a 57% savings

Lysol All-purpose Spray Cleaner- originally $4.99 and Lysol Toilet Cleaner- originally $3.39, on sale 2 for $5.00
   -$2.00 off 2 Lysol products manufacture's coupon
   -$1.00 off manufacturer's coupon
   -$1.00 off manufacturer's coupon
   -Total Cost for both: $1.00, a 88% savings

Lady Speedstick originally $3.89, on sale for $1.99
   - $0.50 off manufacturer's coupon
   -Total Cost: $1.49, a 71% savings

Speedstick- originally $4.29, on sale for $1.99
   - $1.00 off manufacturer's coupon
   -Total Cost: $0.99, a 76% savings

Total Cost: originally $23.54. I paid $6.87, a 70% savings.

Still not what I was going for. So one more time and this time I researched and tried to keep my cost under a dollar. Here's how it went:

Shopping Trip Three: Riteaid

2 Similac formulas- originally $6.49 each on sale for $4.49 
   - 2 manufacture's coupons for $5.00 each
   - Total Cost: FREE

2 Finish Dishwashing Detergent Powder- originally $4.99 each on sale 2 for $4.99 
   -$1.00 off Value Video Riteaid coupon
   -$3.00 off Riteaid coupon
   -Total Cost: $0.99, a 80% savings

Oral-B Satin Glide Dental Floss- originally $3.99, on sale $2.99
   -2 +UP reward
   -$1.00 off manufacturer's coupon
   -Total cost: FREE

Oral-B Dental Floss Picks- originally $3.99, on sale $2.99
   -2 +UP reward
   -$1.00 off manufacturer's coupon
   -Total cost: FREE

Total cost originally $30.90, I paid $1.01, a 97% savings

I Did IT! I feel like I won!! In a way I did, because I bought $105.35 worth of merchandise for $21.09! That's awesome because it's all stuff I use! Take that Walmart!! 

6 comments:

  1. This is great! I usually buy all my toiletries and cleaning supplies at Target because, well, I love Target, but I have a Rite Aid about a mile from my house, and I've got to try this! You make it look really easy! I just registered on RiteAid's site for AdPerks and the coupons are great! Any other suggestions of where to find coupons online, especially ones you don't have to register for?

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  2. I'll tell you, after a few weeks of doing this here are some tips: You're going to get a bulk of the best coupons from your local paper. I live in the Philadelphia area so I get the Philadelphia Inquire and the next city over's paper, the Reading Eagle every Sunday Morning. It took about three to four weeks to get the right coupons for some of the products I purchased above. Another coupon source is this Magazine called All You. I just ordered it at Amazon.com. A year's subscription is $19.95. Online you will find Coupons.com the most helpful, but to be truthful I get most of my coupons from the newspapers.

    I found that there are a lot of sites that will break the deals down for you just like I did above, showing what sale the store is having and what coupons to use with the sale to get the best possible price.

    Some that I have used are I heart riteaid and I heart CVS. The best by far is Coupon mom. You have to register, but it's free. If you go to Drugstore Deals she will break down every deal in the store and what percentage you will save using the coupons with the sale that week. She covers all the major stores including Target!

    Best of luck to you and if you have anymore questions I'll try my best to answer them.

    Angela

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my, thats awesome. How did you find the coupons and the value videos? We have a rite aid near by, I must get in on this!

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  4. I got the coupons from the Sunday paper, but Riteaid gives you coupons too, if you mindlessly watch advertisements on their website. I say mindlessly because after a while I'd just play the videos and watch TV. True Story. Anyway the value videos are found by going to the home page and clicking save now. On the save now page you click Video Values, which has several commercials you can watch and in return they give you coupons for the products featured in the videos. Sometimes they even give you an extra coupon if you watch all the videos in the category. For instance, say you watch all the videos in the cleaning category, they might give you a coupon for $2.00 off your next cleaning purchase. Play your cards right and you'll score some free stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks! I just ordered a weekend subscription to our local paper and registered on Rite Aid, Target, Fred Meyer (grocery store I shop at the most), and other coupon clipping sites. I think the approach you take, by only going for a few items at a time that you know you'll use, is great. It makes it much less overwhelming. I'm excited to try this out this weekend!

    ReplyDelete
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