July 30, 2010

Hello All,

I’d been putting off shopping because I worked this week. Man, was I tired when I got home. I must say that experience was better than I expected. I trained five scorers and I honestly believe that I now have new friends. All of them are elementary Music Teachers and I think that our personalities went very well together. But enough of that, let’s talk shopping.

I must say it took me a while to get my coupons together. I started off with CVS. They didn’t have much to offer in the way of sales, but I received an email that had a link to a $5.00 coupon, on a $30.00 purchase. They had 12-packs of Coca-cola products for $2.98, so my children got lucky there. They also had a deal where you buy any $15.00 of Irish Spring, Softsoap and Speed Stick deodorant and you got $3.00 in Extra Care savings (to be used on another purchase). They had Arm and Hammer detergent for $2.50. Anyway, I’m getting lengthy, huh. My first transaction was $20.57, I paid $9.70, saved $10.87. Second CVS transaction was a bit more because I had to spend $30.00 to use the $5.00 coupon. I got a LOT of soap, the sodas, and toilet paper (no coupon because I hadn’t planned to buy it, but needed it to make $30.00). The total was $57.84, paid $25.16, saved $32.68.

Then on to Target. Target was just okay for me. They didn’t have a few items that I was looking for. There was a good deal on Nature Valley granola bars. I eat these a lot when I am working because they are just easy to grab and go. They were on sale for $2.39 a box. I had 2 coupons, $.75 and $.50 off, so I paid $1.14 per box. I bought one thing (hair glosser) without a coupon and it was $4.14. My total was $47.29, I paid $32.24 and saved $15.05. I could kick myself because I’d earned a $5.00 gift card on a previous purchase and forgot to use it. It’ll be good for next time.

Walgreens didn’t have much to offer, but I had a $3.50 credit from the last trip. Oh, they had Listerine on sale and I had a $1.50/2 coupon. Reach toothbrush $1.79 and I had a $1.00 off. Ajax was $.39 with an in-ad coupon. I paid $4.32 total. Did I say 2 large bottles of Listerine?

Lastly, I went to Bi-Lo. I bought two things without a coupon (if I remember right) and that was Gain fabric softener for $2.99 (on sale) and a dozen eggs. I came out with seven boxes of cereal. Certain boxes of Kellog’s cereal was buy one get one free at $3.69 a box. I had two $1.25/3 coupons and two $1.00/2. So with a start price of $1.35 I did really well. They also had a $1.00 of the Kellog’s Cinnabon cereal. I got a box of that also. Usually the cashier will ask for the bonus card before they begin, but I was unloading. He proceeded to ring everything up and the total was $116.54. I gave him the card and coupons and my final total was $61.71. I had a $5.00 gift card from another trip and my final was $56.71!!!! That’s my best so far.

Oh, did I mention the meal deals at Bi-Lo? I bought two pizzas from the deli for $13.98 and got a dozen wings free. On Monday I plan to go for another deal, buy two Red Baron pizzas or two pans of pasta for $14.98 (I think) and get bread sticks, Mayfield ice cream, cobbler, and a liter of soda FREE!!!

Wow, that was a lot of savings, but I enjoyed it and am happy to save money!!! If I did my math correctly, it's a savings of 49%!!!!!

July 23, 2010

July 23, 2010

Hi, I went shopping a couple of days ago. This was probably my least productive shopping trip. I went to Bi-Lo, Walgreens, and Target. Here's how it went.
I'm going to start with Bi-Lo. I was a little disappointed because many of the items that I went to shop for were not being sold at the expected price. Another problem that I have with Bi-Lo is that I am NOT used to the layout of the store, so I find myself going back and forth. I previously shopped at Piggly Wiggly. I still shop there some, but the site that I use for couponing doesn't offer the sales information for Piggly Wiggly.
Here's what I spent at Bi-Lo. Before any savings or coupons, my bill was $77.25. My savings amount was $23.95, so I spent $53.30. That's a total of savings of 31%. Oh, and I'm at $0.15 fuelperks. If you're not familiar with that it’s when you buy certain products at Bi-Lo, you received discounts on Shell gas. So the next time I pump gas at Shell, I'll save $0.15 per gallon.
Then I went to Target. Target's shopping trip was easy. I found everything I was looking for and the prices matched! My total before any coupons or sales was $54.49. I saved $17.90. This doesn't look as good, but I did by about $10.00 worth of merchandise that I HAD to have, but had no coupon or sales discounts. So, including the two things, I saved about 32%. I also received a $0.75 off coupon for Oscar Mayer lunch meats (which is always on sale somewhere) and $4.00 of IAMS dog food.
Then on to Walgreens. I like shopping there, but they didn't have a whole lot of stuff that I needed. Walgreens required two separate transactions. They offer "Register Rewards" when you purchase certain items. They were offering $3.50 RR if you bought a certain colgate toothpaste for $3.49 so it was like getting it free. Thing is, you have to use the $3.50 on a future purchase. So I had the cashier ring that up, then used the $3.50 on a second transaction. My first transaction was $11.77. I paid $5.75 and saved $6.02. Then my second transaction was $22.79. I saved $6.95 and subtract the RR $3.50. Paid $12.35 For a total saved of $10.44. That's 54% saved

Store Total Paid Saved
Bi-Lo 77.25 53.30 23.95
Target 54.49 36.59 17.90
Walgreens (1) 11.77 5.75 6.02
Walgreens (2) 22.79 12.35 10.44
Totals 166.30 107.99 58.31

Overall savings is: 35% (if my math is correct)

July 19, 2010

What a week it's been. I worked last week and that didn't leave much time for anything else! I keep asking myself, why is that different from any other time? Well, I figured it out!

I worked last week for Pearson, being trained to be a trainer of scorers for National Board assessment center exercises! It was sitting down all day, doing a lot of reading, and worse, a lot of listening to somebody else talk! I went home so tired each day. In comparing that to teaching, where I'm standing much of the day, where I get to do the talking all day, where I interact with hundreds of children each day...training is MUCH harder!!!!

There were so many times when I just wanted to stand up a walk around that small hotel room. Oh, did I mention that the site is the Radisson Hotel? The hotel is nice enough, I'm not complaining about that. But we're not in a conference room. They cleared out the beds on half the floor and the rooms are now offices. Oh, did I mention that we can't even use the bathrooms in the rooms? We have to go down to the first floor...oh, I digress!

There are positives. The pay isn't bad and food is free! Perhaps that's why I gained weight last week!!!!

Well, I'm off this week. I go back next week for the actual scoring. I told my family that I was so good, they gave me a week vacation! Hopefully, I'll have time to do my coupon shopping!

Happy days to you!

Let's Talk Coupons

I started couponing a few weeks ago. Well, actually, I used to clip coupons a long time ago. I remember the little envelope-accordion-type folders that were sectioned off into various categories. I sat down and clipped coupons every week. I remember that it was time consuming and sometimes, the savings were just not worth it.

Well, couponing has taken on a different look. Today I used a site called southernsavers.com. The manager of the site goes through the weekly sales papers and coupons and tells you what's on sale and where you can find a coupon for it. Sounds simple right? Well, it isn't. It took me about three weeks to get the hang of it.

It has been quite an experience and I must say, even though I spend a little time doing it, the savings are great! I'm going to use this blog to document my experience with couponing. Perhaps it will help someone else save a few pennies.