What a day

Okay, so today I did some shopping. I had a few things planned for my haul, but my luck changed when I was given 3 free RP 9/29 inserts from a nice woman who works for the Bellevue Reporter newspaper. I learned a valuable lesson today: make sure you have ALL the coupon inserts. My Sunday paper (Seattle Times) does not supply the Red Plum (RP) inserts, only the Smart Source (SS) inserts and Proctor and Gamble (PG) inserts. To get the Red Plum inserts (in Bellevue), I can ONLY get them from the Bellevue Reporter newspaper, which produces a Friday paper that has coupons inserts as well as ads. It pays to do your research and make sure that you are getting the most coupons possible. When I went down to the Bellevue Reporter office, the woman gave me a list of where to get them and how many copies they receive each week. Best of all, this is a FREE publication, so as long as I can find the papers, I can get all the coupons for free. You bet your butt I will be grabbing myself a healthy stack when I can!

I made a trip to Wal-Mart, Target, and Rite-Aid today. It was my day off, and what better way to spend it than couponing. At Target, I spent $19.71 for $83.62 worth of products, which was a 76.5% savings. My goal is 75-80% (realistically, in a state that does NOT double coupons). So I was content with my purchase. I was super excited to get the 12 Bounce dryer sheets for $0.20 each, and finally got the Colgate Optic White sale I've gone to 3 stores to get. I may go back and get 3 more mouthwashes for $0.82 each (use 3 $2/1 Colgate Mouthwash Qs) and (1 $1.50/1 Target Mobile Q), Pay $7.47, get a $5 TGC (Target Gift Card). Its a great deal on $5 mouthwash. All in all, good deals at Target. I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE $5 off your purchase of $15 on health and beauty brands Q that was in the RP inserts I got today. The 4 Tresemme products I got were pennies on the dollar when I stacked the Target Q with the $5/2 Q in the same RP insert. At $3.94 retail, less the $10 manufacturer coupons, and $5 off target coupon, I paid $0.76 for all 4, so less than $0.20 each!

What I liked about shopping at Wal-Mart with their "everyday low prices" is that it made couponing very straightforward. I didn't have worry about a regular price, sale price, discounts, store coupons, etc. It was a very speedy checkout, despite going at 6 pm, where 2 cashiers were working and there were 100 people in line (I will plan that better next time). But I stocked up on things I needed, soaps and such, and apple juice and paper towels. But I also got a few items that were amazingly great deals. The Suave Keratin shampoo and conditioner was $2.88 each, and I had a $2/1 Q, so I paid $0.88 each for them, but I also had a coupon for buy 2 Suave Professionals products, get a FREE body wash, so I got one of those for free. Since you can not use more than 2 of each Q in a single purchase, I used another Q for 2 Suave Styling products and got those to $0.88 each, and got the free body wash as well! Score one for me! $0.59 each for the Suave was not to bad. I used coupons for everything else too, with the exception of the apple juice, but I needed some. I learned today that Wal-Mart doesn't accept any coupons that are BOGOF (buy one, get one free). So my dog treats ended up costing me $0.50 more than I anticipated, but I got them because they have $1/1 peelies on the front. I will try Target for those because they accept BOGOF Qs.

 At Rite-Aid, I had Up rewards ($10) that I could use so I got some Tide detergent, normally $9.99, on sale for $5.49 and then with Qs and $5 additional Up Rewards, they came to $2.26 each. The Cottonelle bath tissue was $12.49 regular, not on sale, but the awesome manager at the Rite-Aid in Woodinville Jonathan, price matched with Bartell's, for $4.99, and I had a $.50/1 Q and a $1/1 Rite Aid ad perks Q, so I paid $3.49 for my TP! What a deal! I paid $7 after my $10 Up Rewards credit, and got another $5 Up Rewards credit I can use tomorrow for some Dove mens+care body wash.

 All in all, I had a great day shopping and I am realizing more and more the value of money and how much stuff you can get for very little. I think shows like Extreme Couponing exaggerate a little on how couponing actually is, but I am having fun with the whole process and really enjoy the thrill of the hunt. It is a big adrenaline rush.


I also now (in 3.5 weeks of couponing), have had to relinquish my shoe closet to become a stockpile closet. I was running low on space in my kitchen and bedroom closet, so I had to improvise. It is the start of a great stockpile. I am very proud of it!

Back at it!

 I've been on vacation the majority of last week, but I am back and couponing is in full swing again. I am becoming more efficient with coupon clipping and sorting. I even bought a new coupon binder, that feels a little more like luggage but it is so much more effective for me to organize and keep all of my coupons sorted, especially if I need to find a coupon on the fly if I see a sale.

My first day back from vacation, I stocked up on Pantene at Rite-Aid. Each bottle retailed for $5.29-$5.69 at the Rite-Aid on Aurora in Seattle. They were advertised for 3/$10, or $3.33 each when you buy 3. They had a secondary deal for UP rewards where if you spend $30 on Pantene (and other qualifying items), you get a $10 UP reward. I also used coupons that came out in the SmartSource Sunday paper for $4/2. After coupons, store discounts, and UP rewards, they came out to $0.44 each. It was a great deal.

Target has a decent deal on Hamburger helper, this would literally last us a year, since we don't eat it so often but it was $1.29 at my local Factoria Target. If you buy 10 of a qualifying item, you get a $5 TGC (Target Gift Card). Target cartwheel also had a 10% off Hamburger Helper mobile scan code, and I had a coupon for $0.75/5 boxes, which I used 2 of. I ended up paying less than $0.50 a box, which isn't the BEST deal ever, but it stocks up the pantry, and has a long shelf life. (Note: when buying larger quantities of items that you know you are going to stockpile, it may be a good idea to check the expiration dates on the boxes, 3 of the boxes I got at Target had an expiration date of 10/2014, and the remaining 7 had expiration dates of 10/2015.)

The bounce was almost free at Target too, so I picked up some of those! They are $2.19 at my local Target, I have a great coupon for $5/3 Tide, Bounce, or Gain products (no size limits), and so I got the smallest boxes I could, and Target mobile has a coupon for $1.00 off any fabric softener, making it $0.57 for all 3 boxes. I am going back today for more. I have several of those coupons, and for $.20 a piece, its a great deal. I do a LOT of laundry with a 3 year old.

Today, I have a few things on my list to get, so I am going to plan my days adventure. Happy clipping!