Couponing in the Real World

I know there's a lot of drama around TLC's show "Extreme Couponing" and Lord knows I cannot even count the number of times I've been asked if I am one of those crazy hoarders that calls themselves "couponers."  I am NOT an "extreme couponer" if by "extreme" you mean someone like the crazies on TLC.  I am, however, a realistic couponer, and I save quite a bit of money by using coupons.

Most of the excuses I get from other people for not using coupons basically boil down to these two:

1.) "I just don't have the time."  (My response:  I guess you haven't been broke enough, because if you were saving 50-70% of each grocery bill I bet you would make the time!)

2.) "We don't eat processed food, and that's what most of the coupons are for, so they are irrelevant for my life."  (My response:  That's great that you are committed to healthy eating habits!  Why not save money on the other items you use -- shampoo, body wash, deodorant, etc -- so it doesn't hurt as much financially to buy all-organic meat/produce/dairy? Oh, and YES you can catch organic items on sale!!)

So, when I saw this article, written by Jenny from Southern Savers, I just had to share.  Please, whether you are new to couponing, curious (or confused) about how to get started*, or just flat-out anti-coupons, check this out and see what you think.  I'd love to chat about it, perhaps have a friendly debate (for those of you who are anti-couponing) and share how coupons have fit into our lives instead of becoming our lives.

*For those who are confused, please check out the other tabs at the top of the page to read about how we organize ourselves, how to read those crazy abbreviations and grocery store ads, etc.  Any questions?  Let me know!!

CVS trip...paid tax only!

I am still stoked about this morning's trip to CVS so I just had to share. :)  I went today to just pick up a very few things and ended up doing well, in my opinion.  Here's what I got:


Being that its summertime and my kids are loving the outdoors, I'm seeing many more scrapes and scratches and they're certainly asking for Band-Aids frequently enough!  Hannah in particular LOVES Band-Aids, so we keep a good stock when we can.  Her favorite Band-Aids are the Toy Story band-aids, so when we ran out a couple of weeks ago, she was upset but making do with her Hello Kitty and Strawberry Shortcake bandages.  ANYWAY.  When I saw the CVS deal for $3 ECB when you buy $10 worth of Neosporin and/or Band-Aid products, I was excited.  I headed on over and picked some up.  I had a coupon for $1.50 off when you buy a Neosporin AND Band-Aid product, so of course I used that!
*NOTE: The register did NOT print up the $3 ECB's at first, but I pulled out the ad and showed the cashier that the ad didn't specify that the Band-Aids had to be plain ol' Band-Aids...just $10 worth of Band-Aid and/or Neosporin products.  She was awesome and agreed with me, so she printed them up for me, but just so you know...the character Band-Aids might give you a problem if you try to get the ECB's by buying them!

I also saw that they were running a B1G1 free sale on Scotch tape.  Since Chris has been developing and expanding his at-home business of selling online (through Amazon and half.com) he does a lot of shipping, so it was worth it to pick up some tape for when he needs to secure the bigger packages.  I had lots of coupons (printed through a link I got off the Southern Savers site) and, since they were B1G1 free, I could use TWO coupons for each set. :)  So the rolls of Magic tape that were $1.99 ended up being FREE after using my two $1 off coupons.  The packing tape was $4.99 and B1G1 free as well, so after using two $1 off coupons I spent $2.99 for those two rolls.

All in all, my subtotal before coupons SHOULD have been $21.12...however, I had $7.50 in coupons, bringing the total down to $13.62.  I then used my ECB's from last week's trip, which totaled $13.49.  When the tax and everything got adjusted, it ended up that they OWED me money.  They are not allowed to give me money back, so I ended up buying a king-size Snickers and a king-size pack of M&M's for Chris (Happy Father's Day!), which brought my subtotal to $0.13.  After adding the tax on these items to that $0.13, I ended up paying $1.53 out of pocket.  I also walked away with $3 ECB for next week. NICE. 
*ANOTHER NOTE:  They have a promotion right now for Mars candy products...spend $10 and get $3 ECB's.  These were $1 each and count as 2 of my 10, so I might be heading back to stock up on more chocolate if I can hunt down some decent coupons to "sweeten" the deal (pun intended!)...

So what about you?  Any awesome deals you've caught or thought about?  Let me know!!

Rite-Aid Rocks!

So I haven't gone to Rite Aid or CVS in a couple of weeks.  Its not that I haven't wanted to...I just haven't had the time and haven't needed anything badly enough.  I am *not* one of those Extreme Coupon crazy people who buys stuff just to buy it.  I don't have the time, energy or storage space in my house for all that.  Anyway, I happened to look at my Rite Aid +UP bucks (which are similar to CVS Extra Care bucks) and noticed that my $10 +UP bucks were going to expire on Saturday!  ACK!  I simply refuse to let $10 just get thrown away.  No way, no how.  Those +UP rewards are like CASH MONEY, folks, so please, please, please do not just throw them away!  OK, enough about that.

So I checked out the Rite Aid ad from this week and decided to make a stop while I was out and about with a good friend yesterday.  If you've been following me on Facebook, you might know that the kids are visiting their grandparents in Alabama for a few days and while there are no little people running around destroying everything, Chris and I are taking the time alone to get stuff cleaned up and organized around the house.  So, when I saw that Rite Aid was having a Lysol promotion, I had to go after it.  (Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of everything I bought, since I immediately came home and started *using* the products.)  Here's what I picked up:

2 bottles of Lysol bathroom tub & tile aerosol cleaner (on sale 2 for $5)
2 bottles of Lysol trigger all-purpose cleaner (on sale 2 for $5)
1 bottle of Lysol trigger bathroom cleaner (2 for $5...since I bought one it was $2.50)
1 bottle of Lysol trigger kitchen cleaner (2 for $5...so $2.50 for one)

Gain dish detergent (on sale for $0.88)
2 bottles of Ajax dish detergent (on sale for $0.88 each)
TOTAL (before coupons): $17.64

Coupons used:
$1 off 2 aerosol bathroom cleaners
$1 off 2 all-purpose trigger cleaners
$1 off one trigger cleaning product
$1 off Gain detergent
$1 off 2 Ajax products
$1 off Lysol product (from Rite Aid video values site)
Also used $10 +UP rewards
Grand total after coupons & sales tax: $3.87!
AND...since I spent $15 on Lysol products, I got $5 +UP rewards to use on my next transaction!

On my second transaction, I decided to pick up some sunscreen.  As much as the kids love to be outside, I figured it couldn't hurt to stock up.  Rite Aid is running a Coppertone promotion, where you get $5 +UP back when you buy 2 bottles of sunscreen for $9 each.  Here's what I got:

1 bottle of Coppertone Sport sunscreen (for me and Chris): $9
1 bottle of Coppertone Babies Tear-Free sunscreen: $9
Total (before coupons): $18
Coupons used:
$1 off Coppertone product (used 2)
$1 off Coppertone product (from Rite Aid video values site...used 2 of these as well)
Also used the $5 +UP rewards from my 1st transaction
Grand Total (after coupons and sales tax): $9.19 (which kinda makes it like a B1G1 free deal!)
I also received my $5 +UP rewards which I will save for my next visit.

Not too bad, in my opinion!  Anyone else get any awesome deals this week?