Couponing 101

My friend Amanda has gotten really good at couponing. I've been reading her blog for the past couple of weeks and have been inspired to try to do some money saving myself! This past Sunday, I sat down with the coupon inserts and all the weekly specials. Here's what I got on my first money saving venture to CVS:

Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom Cleaner Foam 2/$5.00
Used 2 $0.75 off coupons
$1.75 each after coupons


Colgate Total Whitening Toothpaste 2/$5.00 PLUS $1 Extra Care Buck (ECB)
Used 1 $0.75 off coupon & 1 $1.00 off coupon
$1.75 for one, $1.50 for the other PLUS one had a free toothbrush attached - SCORE!


Glade Sense & Spray Air Freshener $5.99 PLUS $1 ECB
Used $4.00 off coupon
$1.99 after coupon


Scrubbing Bubbles Tub & Shower Action Scrubber Starter Kit $2.99
Used $2.75 off coupon
$0.24 after coupon


Electrasol Powerball Tabs on sale for $3.99
Used $1.00 off coupon
$2.99 after coupon


Windex Original Glass & Surface Wipes 2/$5.00
Used 2 $0.75 off coupons
$1.75 each after coupons


TOTAL after tax: $17.11
Total Savings: $27.79


Then, in a separate transaction (so I could use my ECB's), I bought:


Sally Hansen Creme Bleach priced at $5.29
Sale: Buy 1, Get 1 Free
Used 2 $1.00 off coupons
Used $2 ECB's
After tax, $0.88 each after coupons and ECB's!
Spent $1.55 on this transaction
Saved $9.29!!!


Other great deals I got:

Food Lion has Wishbone Salad Dressings on sale 10/$10.00
I bought 3 at $1.00 each
Used 2 $0.75 off coupons and 1 $0.65 off coupon
Paid $0.25 for two bottles and $0.35 for another bottle!


Hall's Cough Drops 25 count at Walgreen's - regularly $2.49
Bought 2 packs using in store coupon which brought them down to $1.39 per bag
Used 2 $1.00 off coupons
After tax: $0.49 per bag!


Plan to go to Wal-Mart tomorrow ...
16 oz. Kraft Salad Dressings on sale for $1.58
Will use $1.50 off coupon
Will pay $0.08 after coupon!


See how much FUN this is!?!?


Some of these deals may not be the best in the world, but I am hoping to get better as I go and collect more coupons. All of these deals came from just the coupons that were in this past Sunday's paper (plus a few here and there I printed online). Some things I did learn this week: First, I can't be overly brand conscious. Truthfully, I've never used Scrubbing Bubbles or Electrosol Dishwasher Tabs. However, I'm sure they will clean my bathroom and dishes just fine. If not, then I'll chalk it up to experience and know to bypass those brands in the future! Secondly, I bought some things that I didn't necessarily need at this time but got them because they were a good deal. Nobody in my house is coughing right now so we don't need Hall's Cough Drops at the moment, and I don't have an immediate use for 3 bottles of Wishbone Italian Salad Dressing. However, at some point in the year, somebody will use the cough drops, and I plan to use the salad dressings as marinades or ingredients for suppers over the next few months. The point is, I'm buying ahead at good prices and stocking up for later. When the time comes that I need the cough drops, I won't have to spend money on those (and probably pay full price!) but may spend my money instead stocking up on shampoo or deodorant or something else that particular week that happens to be on sale. Once I get going, I hope to have a steady supply of things stocked up so I only have to replenish at times where I get the best deals!



My next mission is to go to Wal-Mart during my Spring Break with a list of several of the food and toiletry items we typically buy from there. I want to have a running record of the Wal-Mart price, which is where I typically shop, so I will know if comparatively, I am getting a good deal elsewhere or would come out better at Wal-Mart. See ... I'm serious about this!

Baby Shower!

On Saturday, Sarah Ellen, Jennifer, and I threw a baby shower for Justin & Lindsay. Although I think the pouring rain probably kept some people away, we still had a great turn out, and they got lots of great stuff. Here are some pictures from the day. We are so excited for our little guy to get here!

The food table

Starting that little boy out right!

They got lots of great gifts!

The proud grandmothers

The proud cousin

Yay for great gifts!

Another awesome banner made by my sister-in-law!

The happy parents-to-be

Saturday Linkage

Your Coupon Buddy Freebies
Updated weekly with lots of offers for free items!

Chance to Win a Free Book
There's a giveaway going on over at The Preacher's Wife. Leave a comment and get entered for a chance to win a great book! If I don't win, I'm going to buy this one for myself!

Trade You! Slow Cooker Recipes
Whitney Caroline Designs is offering a 10% off coupon in exchange for your slow cooker recipe. You get a coupon, the chance to win the grand prize, AND lots of great slow cooker recipes. Check out the things in the Whitney Caroline store. ADORABLE stuff!

Fun Learning to Read

I've heard special education teachers recommend this for years to parents of students who are struggling with reading. It's great for that as well as for teaching letters and beginning reading skills to little ones. Camryn loves it!

Funny Videos

I am not one for stupid humor. Jason thinks I am no fun sometimes because I don't laugh at a lot of things he finds funny. Things just have to be really good for them to make me laugh. The two videos below fall into the "stupid humor" category to me but for some strange reason, I find them hilarious. Happy Friday!

Have You Ever ... (AKA My Week Thus Far)

Have you ever dreaded everything about your week? From meetings to certain responsibilities/tasks, I haven't looked forward to a single thing this week.

Have you ever wanted the weekend to get here so badly because a certain set of friends are coming into town, and you are crazy excited to spend time with them?

Have you ever wondered what you'll be when you really grow up? Sometimes I wonder if psychology is going to be it.

Have you ever been excited about a new recipe only to make it and realize you could only eat a few bites of it, because you were totally unimpressed and then had to throw out 3/4 of it because nobody was going to touch it again? Pizza stuffed meatloaf. Sounds so promising, but really ... not a good idea.

Have you ever thrown away your pizza stuffed meatloaf and wished you would have stuck with your old faithful meatloaf recipe all along?

Have you ever stayed up way too late watching reruns of The Office with your husband, thus making you extra tired in the morning, thus making the dreaded things you had to do that day look that much worse?

Have you ever overanalyzed someone's tone of voice or the tone of their email and wondered if they were mad, aggravated, or indifferent toward you, when it's probably just all in your head?

Have you ever lost your patience trying to teach your child something new, thus reminding yourself for the billionth time you could never homeschool?

Have you ever celebrated each time the clock ticks off another hour because that makes it one hour closer to Spring Break?

Have you ever wished summer vacation was already here when Spring Break hasn't even gotten here yet?

Have you ever gotten tired of listening to your same old radio station, thus turning it over to the county station for the ride home, thus making you feel extra sassy for the rest of the day?

Have you ever wondered how many people are aggravated with you by this point for your overuse of the word thus?

Have you ever been completely disgusted by another woman's un-femininity and wondered how the opposite sex still finds her attractive?

Have you ever gotten ill with Blogger because it doesn't always update when someone last posted, and you only find out when you finally go to their blog and realize they've posted 4 times since Blogger last updated?

Have you ever been really bummed because all you needed was a Coke to get you through the rest of the day, and the only drink machine in the building is Pepsi?

Have you ever sent emails or texts to the wrong person? Happened to me twice in the past week. Glad I didn't say anything bad about them!

Have you ever almost gagged at the smell of the cafeteria food in an elementary school?

Have you ever felt incredibly uneasy when the principal announces over the intercom the school is on lockdown? First time I've ever had to experience that. Not fun when you're in the back of the building and have no clue what is going on.

Have you ever had a pile of laundry sit for days on end waiting to be folded, and you really have no intention of getting to it any time soon?

Have you ever sat staring at the computer for 10 minutes, trying to think of a way to end your post AND use the word thus one more time?