Couponing Craziness

[AuburnJen 777]

I haven't seen a thread on crazy people doing coupons. Since I am fairly new to this and do this as a getaway from my stresses in life, I certainly don't think I am an expert by any means, but hopefully someone here is better than I am. I hope to learn from people who have done this more than I have.

So, last week I went to Publix and spent less than $100 for the first time in many, many years. I also went and used 27.65 in vendor coupons, 8.00 in publix coupons and 39.65 in bogo savings, so I had a total of 75.29 of savings at the register and a 95.33 purchase. I was a happy woman and I had enough groceries for the week.

I also took advantage of the CVS promotions flyers. I had to go back several times and use my mother's CVS card to accomplish several feats, but I did get some major things done there this week too.

For instance...

They were running a $10 reward bucks if you bought certain items. Most of these items cost a pretty penny at regular prices because they were things like suntan lotion and razors, so if you spent $25, you got $10 on your next purchase. The sunday paper was running coupons on these items so here is how the purchases went this week.

Purchase 1 ....went for the suntan lotion deal and spent $25 for the $10 rewards bucks and also used the coupons for sure deod and finesse shampoo

spent 35.93 with tax, had 35.81 in coupons and sales

Purchase 2: did the lotion thing again with the razors on my mom's card this time to get the $10 rewards bucks, no coupons for sure and finesse

spent 23.60 and had 18.76 in coupons and sales

Purchase 3: I needed to finish up my rewards bucks earnings on my card, so I bought three Hallmark cards (got some Mother's Day things out of the way now), and that earned me $3 reward bucks. I got a listerine zero bottle and they let me use a coupon for a 1.5 liter because they don't carry it, that was 1.85 off. And I got a sonicare refill pack that was normally 36 bucks on sale. I used $10 in reward bucks from last week's purchases, a $5 off coupon for sonicare and the 1.85 coupon, so I paid 23.16 with tax and saved 27.75.

Purchase 4: (I am most proud of this one!) I used both $10 rewards bucks (which I am told I am not allowed to do again because it was from two different cards) on this one and only paid the sales tax on the purchase. I wanted to get the final rewards bucks for the week to use on this week's stuff, so I went in and got some items on their list for the $4. All of them had coupons and as a bonus, two of the bottles of cleaner had extra coupons attached to them for instant checkout savings! So, I go two glade candles at 3.00 on sale, two shout liquid bottles on sale and with extra coupons for 50 cents each, BOGO Post Cereals with coupons for dollar off two and two bayer aspirins (not on the $4, but I needed aspirin) and that was buy one, get one 50%off and I had a coupon for that as well. So, I had a total of -.14 for the merchandise with all the rewards bucks and coupons and .78 in sales tax, so my net total was .64 to the cashier. My savings was 40.34. I really need to do that more often.

Who else is, as my husband says, crazy as a loon, like me?

[SCTigerCock 171]

Great job!

Check out shouter savers southernsavers dot com. She will give you great coupon machups for the stores.

ETC phone auto corrects, @#$% phone.

[AuburnJen 777]

oh, that is one not on my list

thanks

eta, you meant southern savers, right?

[Retired & Tired (Judy) 90]

Jen, I love couponing but after I take the time to cut them out, file them in my coupon folder......get to the store.....left coupon folder at home. Now, do I use gas to return home for them....I think not at the price of gas right now. So, I decide to keep the folder in my purse or in my van. Yep...get to the store, changed purses and the only thing I forgot to move was the coupon folder. Next trip I decide the best place for them is in the van. You guessed it......I took his van instead. I give up. :banghead:

I have watched the TV shows where these women do extreme couponing......they spend all day Sunday going from house to house asking for the coupon section of the newspapers, check out paper recycling boxes, etc.....then they spend several days sorting coupons and making up the shopping list. O.K. They are saving money but.....once home from the store where they have $650.00 worth of groceries which only cost them $2.50 and sometimes not even that.....they show you their spare room, garage, etc. where they keep all these food items. 1.) Does no own a dog yet she has 100+ bags of dry dog food. 2.) Does not own a cat and she has 50 bags of cat litter and 49 bags of cat food and 100 cans of cat food. 3.) 50+ jars of ketchup (now at my house and the way Shawnee loves Ketchup that might be O.K. :rofl3: And the list goes on and on and on. Every now and then one of the women will mention that she donates food to a food pantry in her city from time to time. Now, that is a good thing but where in the world do these women find the time to spend doing all they have to do to save money on food they are never going to use.

Jen, when you make it on TV I will watch you because you bought what you needed.......I am so proud of you girl. Shucks you could be a Crimson Tide Fan after all.

Love you bunches.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Great job Jen!!! (Also, glad to see you hangin around, yes we noticed!!) I don't have the patience, plus I don't shop anyway.

Judy, you really didn't need to insult her!!

[Retired & Tired (Judy) 90]

Carol....Jen would make the best Tide fan ever........we would accept her. We love her. :welcrowd:

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Jen, you did a great job on your couponing! Wish I had the patience for it.

My daughter is a huge couponer ... has entire closets in her house for excess inventory. She will bring home several bags of food and pay $3.00 or so for it. But she does it out of necessity. She's feeding 3 growing boys (the 12 year old is 6'4") and a 6'7" husband. The amount she cooks for one dinner would feed me and David for most of the week!

What I'm seeing here now is that most of the food coupons are for what I consider "junk" food -- cookies, chips, other snack items.

[SCTigerCock 171]

eta, you meant southern savers, right?

yes, as someone says "damn phone".

corrected post for future references.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

I really need to start clipping coupons again. My mom will constantly tell me about the deals she gets where she will end up with discounts on purchasing gasoline. Alabama does not allow discounts for gasoline. :argh:

[Total Joker ... TJ 203]

The other thread

http://www.fortfiends.net/forum/topic/2619-extreme-couponers-are-people-crazy/page__p__58229__hl__coupon__fromsearch__1#entry58229

[4mickey2 41]

The problem I find with couponing is that the coupons are almost always the same. deoderant, laundry soap, baby stuff, air fresheners, etc... with just the two of us I did the couponing thing for about 6 months. I have enough deoderant for at least a year or so. Laundry soap is stocked up fairly good. Baby stuff and air fresheners are tossed. As of now I have decided to quite the couponing because I just don't need anymore of this stuff.

It was alright while I was doing it. But, found that I spent more to buy things that had a coupon and got things I wouldn't normally want or need. Yes, I got awesome deals on the soaps and deoderants. I think it is important for families to do couponing. There are some great deals out there-you just have to go get them. :)

[MicknMin...Holly 54]

Great job on the couponing, Jen! I use coupons regularly, but I won't use them on products that I don't normally buy, and I don't stockpile (no room for the stuff, and it would go bad before we could use it). I love Publix and their BOGO sales!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

We used to coupon but for us it seems 98% of the coupons are for items we don't buy. Most of our shopping at Publix is around the perimeter of the store....produce, meat, dairy items, eggs. No coupons for that stuff.

I do enjoy the bogo items at Publix...and in TN you have the option of just buying one at half price if you don't want two. Love that!

[CKCK 45]

We use southernsavers and couponmom.com. She basically lays it all out for you.

[Retired & Tired (Judy) 90]

I agree with everyone above.....I will use the coupons for things I need or want. I do not buy something just because I have a coupon. I also share my coupons with family members who might need them. The baby formula coupons are the best so I try to clip them for friends who use baby formula. I need all the baby food coupons I can get. Kimberly can only eat the strained foods as her brain does not allow her to chew. She eats any type applesauce, puddings, ice cream and yogurt too.

[AuburnJen 777]

Judy, I can start saving them for you if you would like.

I tend to try to use the ones that I need or will need in the future. This week's deal that is the best is dog food at Publix. The rest is just so so this week. I guess that is why I haven't been so gung-ho about it, but I will get there. We are saving a lot of money this way and if we want to go anywhere after we get some medical issues with the son out of the way, we will need it for diesel. As soon as I figure out the coupons on CVS and Publix when I go, I will post them in case someone is looking for the deals.

[AuburnJen 777]

I wasn't as good of a girl as I would have liked this week. I didn't stay under a hundred bucks at Publix. However, I spent 140 and had 130 in savings and coupons. I won't have to go back for two weeks u til I go shopping for stone Mtn.

[wdwpoohbear...Jennifer 40]

hey, I use iheartpublix dot com and truecouponing dot com for my couponing and love both sites. I have saved tons over the last couple of years because of these sites.

[AuburnJen 777]

I love iheartpublix. I will have to try the other one you mentioned.

[J&J Adventuring..Julia 22]

I am a fellow couponer! Southersavers.com is my favorite couponing site. I went to CVS the other day, spent 67.43, paid .08 cents and walked out with $15.00 in ECB.

BTW, CVS now has Disney Gift Cards.