Coupons!

Over the last month I've been trying my hand at this thing called "couponing". I've learned so much over the last couple of weeks that I thought I'd share a little of what I'm learning with you guys.  I decided to gather up everything I bought just over this weekend & add everything up to see just how much I am saving by using these coupons. I'm new to this "coupon" thing, so I was curious. Now, what kinda bums me out about this example is that I have a few "high dollar" items in there that drove up the out-of-pocket (oop for future reference) cost for me this weekend, but they were items that I bought in bulk because I got such a great deal on them this time & they earned me some pretty sweet "Extra Bucks" (we will get to what "extra bucks" are in a minute). I have not been buying things in "bulk" lately because it's usually cheaper for me to buy them in smaller quantities so that I am able to use more coupons per item to save more money. However, my diaper and wipes purchase(s) this weekend ended up helping me come out on top even though I had to pay a little more money out-of-pocket this time. I'm still learning how to do some of this, so I'm sure I'll get better at spending even less oop in the near future!

First, I'll show you everything I bought & then I'll break it all down for you. :-)

OK...Here is what you are looking at:

(1) Bottle of Downy Fabric Softener.. ($1.00 cp)

(2) Special K Protein Shake 4 packs..($1.00/2 cp)

(1) Celsius Green Tea 4 pack.............($2.00 cp + $3RR)

(1) Box of Act II Mini Bag Popcorn...(.40 cp)

(3) Gillette Pro-Fusion Men's Razor(s) ($4.00 cp + $5RR x 3 = $15RR total)

(2) Packs Of "Little Swimmers" diapers ($1.00 x 2 cp = $3EB)

(1) Box of Pamper's Cruisers Diapers.. ($2.00 cp + $10 EB)

(1) 240 ct. Pack of Huggies Baby Wipes ($2 MFR cp + $2 CVS cp. Coupon "stacking" = 2 cp for 1 item)

(1) 62 ct Box of Pampers Baby Wipes. (FREE with coupon for "buy one box  diapers get wipes free!)

(1) 2 oz. Bio True Contact Len's solution ($2.00 cp + $2.99 EB = $2 money maker)

(3) Band-Aid Brand boxes of band-aids ($3 cp + $5 EB)

(2) 4oz Colgate "Total Advanced" toothpaste ($1 and .75 cp + $2EB)

(1) Nature's Way Brand "ALIVE" multi-vitamin (no cp...but $10 RR)

(3) Papermate Brand 6-pack multi-highlighters (no cp...on sale with rewards card)

(2) 10 ct Penway #2 pencils....................(no cp...on sale with rewards card)

(2) 2ct Penway Pink Eraser sets...............(no cp...on sale with rewards card)

(2) 16 oz bags of Twizzler Brand Licorice (no cp...on sale + $2RR)

(2) Snicker's Candy Bars.........................("filler" item to use up RR)

(1) 9.9 oz Bag M&M Pretzel Candy........($1 cp + used as "filler" item)

(2) 10 pack Kit Kat "Fun Size" Candy.....(no cp...on sale...used EB to buy for free!)

(1) "Fun Size" Laffy Taffy" (.10 filler item so that 2 cp could be used for one item *Rule at Walgreen's).......

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Total Amount Paid Out-Of-Pocket for All Items  = $59.95

Total Value Of Goods Purchased  =  $176.71!

Savings Of = $116.76

Now, one of the main ways I was able to save so much money was by utilizing the "store rewards" programs offered at Walgreen's and CVS. Most (but not all) of the items I purchased were either on sale, or the store was offering "extra bucks" (CVS = EB), or "Register Rewards" (Walgreen's = RR) for those items. EB's and RR are used very much like cash when you go to purchase item's at these stores. The only difference is that you are not allowed to receive cash back from EB's and RR's, so you must use the full amount of the stated EB or RR when you go to check out. For example, if you have a RR worth $5 then you must purchase another item worth $5 or more to cover the full value of your RR (because you cannot receive cash back from these rewards). If the item you are wanting to buy with your RR only costs $4.50 then you must find a .50 "filler" item so that the full $5 RR can be used up. My last little "trick" is that I also try to combine manufacturer's coupons on almost all of the items that I purchase that offer EB's or RR's. 

 In this case, the bulk of the money that I spent out-of-pocket (oop), ended up being the purchase I made for all of the Diapers and wipes that you see in the picture. The total for that transaction was $56.33 before my coupons and EB's. I paid $37.49 oop for that transaction, and I got $15 EB's back from that transaction that allowed me to purchase more of the item's that you see above for next to nothing!

The second store I shopped at was Walgreen's & I used the same "formula" at that store by combining manufacturers coupons with items that were also offering "register rewards" (RR). The only exception I made to this "formula" was the purchase of the women's multi-vitamins. I was out of my regular vitamins & I saw that Walgreen's had these vitamins on sale for $10, & when you purchased these vitamins you also earned $10 in RR! I used the $10 in RR to purchase the Special K Protein Drinks that also earned me $5 in RR! 

I paid .15 for the "Special K Transaction" that also included some school supplies for the kids!

In all, I made 2 trips to each store (1 trip on Sat & 1 on Sunday) & divided my purchases up into separate transactions according to which transaction would earn me a specific amount of EB's or RR's to use on the following transaction. In the end I STILL walked away with $12 worth of EB's (CVS), and $5 worth of RR's (Walgreen's). I'll use those EB's and RR's later this week to either purchase grocery items we need, or to buy more items that will earn me more rewards! I don't plan on spending any more money oop though....just the EB's or RR's! Pretty sweet, huh?

This is what my receipts will look like for the rest of the week!

*I'll be posting more stuff like this on my blog from time to time to break down specific deals that everyone can go buy for next to nothing! However, if you are interested in trying your hand at the "Drug Store Game" then you'll need to start buying the Sunday paper & saving the coupon inserts from each weeks paper. The only other thing you would need to do would be to sign up for these "Rewards" programs at your local CVS and Walgreen's. Maybe next time I'll teach you about "internet printable coupons"...those three words have become very important to me!. Can't wait to share more money-saving deals with you all!