I love free stuff!!

I can't believe I waited so long to try out the Staples easy rebates.  It is actually really easy to do, and you can get some great stuff for free!  My first Staples trip I got 2 reams of printer paper, 2 packs of tissues, 2 packs of pens, and one package of address labels.  I paid $44.31 at the store.  That night I filled out the online form for getting my staples rebate check.  Then about 3 weeks later I got my check in the mail for $40.93.  The remaining $3.38 was for taxes.  I think I will start shopping at Staples more, especially when they have such great deals!

Best shopping trip yet!

I can hardly believe the deal I got this week at CVS.  I did better than get items for free, I actually MADE MONEY!!!

This is what I purchased:

6 Ragu Pasta Sauces

6 speed stick deodorants

1 ThermaCare heat wrap (3 in a package)

1 Reeses Egg

2 Advil PMs

3 greeting cards

My total out of pocket there at the store was $7.23.  I received a $4.00 CVS extrabucks (it is like a store gift card with an expiration date.)  And I am sending in 2 mail in rebate forms to get a total of $15.00 back in the mail.  So after all is said and done I will have earned $11.77!

Here is a breakdown of what I did at the store.  I made three separate transactions.

1st Transaction

6 speed stick deodorants on sale for $1.99 each

I used 3 Buy one Get one Free speed stick coupons (each coupon took off the full price of one deodorant $3.99)

Because they could not give me overage they reduced the third coupon amount to 3.69.  Looking back I should have purchased the $0.87 Reeses Egg with this transaction to account for the overage, but I'm not complaining.

I paid $0.27

They then gave me my earned extrabucks

$6.00 for spending $12.00 on speed stick (before coupons)

2nd Transaction

6 Ragu Pasta Sauces on sale 3 for $5.00

1 Reeses Egg on sale for $0.87

3 greeting cards $0.99 each

I used 4 $0.50 off one Ragu coupons, 1 $2.00 off 3 greeting cards coupon, and the $6.00 extrabucks I earned in the first transaction.

I paid $3.97

They then gave me my earned extrabucks

$3.00 for spending $10.00 on groceries (before coupons)

$3.00 for buying 3 greeting cards

$1.00 for buying one Reeses Egg

3rd Transaction

2 Advil PMs on sale for $4.49 each

1 ThermaCare on sale for $5.99

I used 2 $1.00 off one Advil PM, 1 $3.00 off one ThermaCare, and all the extrabucks I earned in the 2nd transaction($3.00, $3.00, and $1.00)

I paid $2.99

They then gave me my earned extrabucks

$4.00 for buying 2 Pfizer products

Great Savings

I think I may be starting to get the hang of this couponing thing.  Here's a pic of more items I got for free by using coupons.

I was able to score all these canned veggies, around 32 cans, and 8 canned beans for only $0.25 each.

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UPDATE

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I can't believe I forgot to include this.  How cool is it that I was able to get 2 packages of carrots for FREE!  And who knew that couponing helps cut costs on produce along with everything else.  It was such a blessing too because none of the carrots we planted in our garden grew this year.

Couponing

I have entered the exciting world of couponing.  While I have used coupons casually in the past, I never became very successful at saving money with it.  For the first time I did some research on the subject and found a lot of good advice at how to really save money.  The site I found the most helpful was The Krazy Coupon Lady site.  I highly recommend it for anyone looking to start clipping coupons.  At first I would spend hours looking at everything, feeling very overwhelmed, getting lots of headaches, and not really accomplishing much.  But after a few months at it, I no longer get so many headaches and I can normally save at least 50% if not more on a shopping trip.  I do still get a little overwhelmed though.  I have been doing well enough that Matt got us a subscription for 4 Sunday papers (up till now I have been getting coupons from neighbors who don't use theirs). The best trip I had was last month at Smith's when I bought 10 boxes of cereal, 2 cans of tuna, and 2 cans of vienna sausages all for $8.32.  I saved 78% that trip!

I know that I am just getting started and that I will get better at this as I go.  But for having only been doing this for a few short months I'm impressed at some of the deals I have been getting. 

Toothpaste for $0.24 a box.

Wipes for $1.24 a bag.

Crayons for FREE!!!!!

Oh the joy coloring brings Levi, and the joy I get and not having to pay for this wonderful form of entertainment.

This is my coupon book.  I take it with me every time I go to the store.  It is a bit of a pain to have to carry along with a 16 month old, and a diaper bag.  But the savings are well worth it.  It's so nice to be building our food storage while saving money.