Water, water everywhere: Target gift card deals

Each store has its own benefits and drawbacks, but this week I am loving Target.They run promotions where you get $5 giftcards when you purchase certain items. There is no limit to the amount of gift cards you can earn, at least not that I have noticed.  You can either do separate transactions and roll your gift cards over to reduce the out of pocket expenses and use them that day, or you can use them for the next time you go, OR you can also give them as stocking stuffers or appreciation gifts.

You are not allowed to use them on the same transaction. For example, I cannot buy ten Vitamin waters and use the gift card I earned buying them to pay for them.

Target had Vitamin Water, buy 10 and get a $5 gift card this week. The waters were 1, so after the gift cards they would be .50. They also had a deal where if you bought 2 of the $5 Vaseline lotions, you earned a $5 gf. I had coupons for buy one Vaseline, get a smaller size free. My Nana and daddy use lotion a lot, so I had already planned to get them some as part of their Christmas baskets.

I had planned to do separate transactions to reduce my OOP, but the line was busy, so I just decided to do one big one.

I bought:
2 of the larger Vaseline lotions
2 of the smaller ones
20 Vitamin Waters

Used (2) BOGO Vaseline coupons

OOP: $34, received $15 in gift cards.

I took the Vitamin water to my car and decided to go back and get some more with my gift cards.
Went back and got 20 more of the vitamin waters, and they also had some of the 1 liter SOBE waters on sale for .88. They weren't part of the deal, but that was a good price, so I bought those.

Went back in line, and split the transactions. Fiance met me in the parking lot to hang out, so I just had him do the second transaction (and carry the water to the car! :) ).  I bought:

10 Vitamin Waters
4 Sobe waters on sale for .88

Used two $10 GC
Paid ...3.67 maybe for the Sobe waters
Received another $5 GC.

Fiance bought
10 Vitamin Waters
Used two $5 GC
Spend $0 OOP, and received another $5gc

SO, we bought 2 large Vaseline lotions, two small Vaseline lotions, 40 Vitamin waters, and 4 large Sobe wates for about $37 dollars, AND we still have a $5 gc left, so $32 altogether.

The razors and Snuggle you see here are from a Walmart trip.

So, Target's gift card promotions are great, and even better when you can use coupons with them as well. Remember that Target will allow you to stack one Target coupon and one manufacturer coupon for an item as well.

Target Mobile Coupons

So, if you have read my other posts, you know that at Target, you can use one Target coupon and one manufacturer coupon per item, which can add up to some great savings.

You can print the Target coupons here.http://coupons.target.com/

However, there are OTHER Target coupons you can get on your phone! They are Target mobile coupons. Sign up at the website, and you will receive coupons to your phone via text message. This is the only way to get these coupons; they cannot be printed online. You can use them along with a manufacturer coupon, just like other Target coupons. Just open the text message, and get the link. Then, the cashier can scan your phone and get your coupon! I used mine twice this weekend, and it works in Danville!!

Sample deal!

Coupons.com had a manufacturer coupon for 5.00 off a Transformers toy of 5.99 or more. Target mobile sent me a coupon for 5 off any Transformers toy of 9.99 or more. I was able to get a 9.99 Transformers toy for FREE.

They also had $2 off any two bags of MMs pretzels. They were on sale for 2/4, and I also had a coupon for 1 off, so I got two bags for 1.00.

So, be sure to sign up for those coupons! You can also use each deal in each text message once, but they will send you two a month. I went on Friday and used my coupons for the Transformers toy and the MMs, and then went again Sunday and got another toy (and some other things).

Happy saving!

Piggly Wiggly deal on Campbell's Soup!

Piggly Wiggly has extended their deal on Campbell's tomato and chicken noodle soup. They are 10/5, with a limit of 10, making them .50 each. I had two .40 off 4 coupons, making mine 4.20, or .42 cents each. That's about as cheap as you will find those anywhere.

Sad note: PW in Danville (the one near Cane Creek, or the airport, depending on how you orient yourself) does not accept internet coupons.

Nothing else spoke to me at PW, but you can check out their deals at http://www.idigthepig.com/

Good deals at Farmer's this week!

Farmer's has a few sales worth mentioning.

Hamburger Helper is on sale 10/10. There have been several coupons in the papers the last month for .75 off 3. Remember that Farmer's will double up to one dollar, so the coupon becomes 1.00 off 3, so you get them 3 for $2, or .67 each.

Green Giant frozen boxed vegetables are on sale 10/10 as well, and with a .60 off 3 coupon, which doubles to 1.00, you can get the same deal as the HH, .67 each.

Hunt's spaghetti sauce is 10/10, and the Ragu is still 1.25, which is a really good buy if you have a coupon. I used one ;ast week for .75 off of two, which doubled to 1.00, so I got two for 1.50, making them .75 cents each.

Select Dawn dish soup is 1.99, and with a .50 off coupon, it is only 1.00 when doubled.

Progresso soup is 4/5, and there are several 1.00 off 4 coupons on http://www.bettycrocker.com/, http://www.progresso,com/, and www.coupons.com , making them 1 each.

Last week, I received a $10 off your next purchase coupon for buying select General Mills products, which is still going on this week, but the GM products aren't on as good of a sale. Remember, that the way to really get the best deals is to match the coupons with the sales to maximize savings. I can save my GM coupons for another day and save more money.

There may be some good deals on meat, but I am not a good judge on that. Check out the full Farmer's ad at http://www.farmersfoods.com/.

Here is what I got from Farmer's this week:
6 Hamburger Helper boxes (2  .75 off 3 coupons, doubled to 1.00 off)
6 Green Giant vegetables (2 .60 off 3 coupons, doubled to 1.00 off)
4 Progresso soup (1 off 4 coupons)
2 Dawn liquid soap (2 .50 off coupons, which doubled to1.00)
2 Pillsbury cookie dough packages (.50 off coupon on the cookie dough, doubled to 1.00)
2 La Creme coffee creamer (I had a BOGO coupon)

I also used my 10 off coupon, making my purchase $10.47.

The other 14 dollars of my shopping trip came from the Cottonelle from Walgreens ($12 for 4, using Walgreens coupons, manufacturer coupons, and RR), and the four 2-liters of Pepsi Max from CVS (2.00 total, .99 each, used two 1.00 off two coupons from the Pepsi insert on 10/2)


Also, in an earlier blog, I said that there was a Farmer's in Danville. There ISN'T, but there is one in Martinsville. There is also a Kroger, about two minutes away from the Farmer's. Too far for my SoBo peeps to drive, but if you live in Danville, and there were good sales at both Kroger and Farmer's, it may be worth the drive.

And a final note, Farmer's will no longer accept internet coupons (such as those printed off of coupons.com) for amounts over 1.00. This is not a huge blow because most food coupons are under 1.00 anyway.

Happy shopping!

Granola Bars at Walgreens!

Walgreens is having a great sale on Nature Valley granola bars. With the coupon in the monthly booklet (get one at the front of the store if you don't have one) for 1 dollar off, they are 2 for 3, or 1.50 each. These same granola bars are 3 dollars for one at Walmart, so this is a great deal. Plus, if you are a couponer, you may have a .75 cents or 1.00 off two coupon, which would make them either $1 each or...about $1.12? each, depending on the coupon you use.

Why Shop Where

So, I've been doing this for about a month, along with my dear friend from work, Courtney. We don't have as many stores as some of the people on the show, Extreme Couponing, but here is a little breakdown of the positives (and negatives) of our stores in the area.

Farmer's Foods
Locations: South Boston (Hupps Mill Plaza) None in Danville

They will accept manufacturer coupons and they will double up to a dollar. So, a fifty cents coupon will become a dollar, and a seventy five cent coupon also becomes a dollar. I don't believe they have any limit on the number of coupons you can use.

Many of their prices are higher than Walmart, but they do have sales every week, and their sale prices are pretty close to Walmart's regular price. Depending on the coupon, it would be worth going to Farmer's even if their price is a little more than Walmart, because the coupon will double.

In addition, I have been there twice when they were running special promotions where you spend 25 dollars in certain products, and get ten dollars off coupon for next time.

They are very nice and friendly, and there is a Redbox in the store if you need to pick up or drop off a movie.

Walmart
Location: Danville and South Boston

Walmart's prices on "coupon items:" medicine, toilettries, food, are pretty steady. Sometimes there are rollbacks, or you can catch something on clearance. And they don't double coupons. However, you can count on Walmart to be a good place to use your coupons, since you know their prices are close to anyone's sale. In addition, Walmart is one of the few places that will give you cash back for coupon overage. For example, if a coupon is for three dollars off, and the item is only two dollars (becase it is on clearance, or just really cheap), Walmart will either you give the difference of the dollar, or allow you to use the dollar towards other purchases. This works, because I have done it several times.

Both the Danville and the South Boston Walmart have Redboxes, as well.

Food Lion
Does not double coupons, but they are a bigger grocery store and may have more flavors or types of food availabe, as opposed to Farmer's. They do have decent sales sometimes.

Target
Location: Danville

Target does not double coupons, but you can stack coupons. Target puts out its own coupons on its website http://www.target.com/. You can use one Target coupon and one manufacturer coupon on an item, which can really save you money. Target has decent sales, some of which rival Walmart's regular prices. Plus, Target has great clearance if you walk around the store and check out each department.

Kmart
Location: Danville
Doesn't have the greatest sales, and usually isn't my favorite store. However, they are doubling coupons this month if you are a Shop Your Rewards member (if you aren't, just fill out a form). They double a coupon up to the face value of .99. So if you have a coupon for .99 off, it will double to 1.98. Funny thing, I don't have any .99 coupons. They are all 1.00. But, this does mean that a .75 cent coupon will double to 1.50. Combine this with a sale, and that would be a good deal.

CVS
Locations: Two in South Boston, several in Danville.
CVS has great deals with the ECBs (Extra Care Bucks). Certain items will often be on sale, and then when you purchase them, you get ECBs, which are like gift cards to use on your next purchase. You can also split transactions to get your ECBs immediately and apply them to the rest of your purchase, making your out of pocket expense (OOP) much lower. You do have to have a CVS card to get these deals, but again, it's a form. The ECB deals are tied to your CVS card, so you cannot repeat the deals to get more and more money back, which you can (sort of) do at Walgreens. The good news is that because of this, CVS doesn't seem to run out of stock as quickly as Walgreens.

CVS also has the Magic Coupon Machine, where you scan your CVS card as soon as you come in, and get bonus coupons. Quarterly, you get ECBs back based on how much money you spent. That's free money!

For my SoBoVa people, the CVS over near Italian Delight has very nice employees.

Walgreens
Walgreens also has money back deals, called Register Rewards (RR). Anyone can use RR, as there is no card for Walgreens. However, if you use a RR to purchase the same deal, a new RR won't print.

So, if I buy Colgate toothpaste, and pay five dollars out of pocket and get five dollars in RR, I essentially got the toothpaste for free. I can use the RR to buy two more tubes of toothpaste, and not pay anything of out pocket for that toothpaste, but I won't get another RR.

If I used the RR to buy candy, and got a RR for the candy, I could then use the candy RR to buy more toothpaste, and get more RR.

A bit confusing, I know.

Also nice about Walgreens is that they have a coupon book in the store for each month, and you can use a Walgreens coupon with a manufacturer coupon to save even more money.

There is no Walgreens in Danville, but the nice people in SoBo tell me they are going to build one there soon.

Downside of Walgreens is that because you can replicate RR, and there isn't really a limit, they sell out FAST. We went on Monday afternoon, and the sale started Sunday, and they were out of pretty much all of the items that gave out RR.


Family Dollar and Dollar General will take manufacturer coupons, and there may be a sale there that is a good deal, so you can check those coupons.

Piggly Wiggly in Danville does not double coupons, but they do accept coupons. They also have good deals on meat.

Petsmart and Petco in Danville sometimes have really good deals. They also have savings booklets of coupons in the front of the store, loyalty cards, and tearpad coupons throughout the store. I will have to get back to you on whether either of them will let you stack a PetSmart coupon with a manufacturer coupon.

I LOVE Farmers!

When I lived in Halifax, there was a Farmer's up the street, and we used to walk up there as kids with Mom to get a few things. But other than that, I have never really shopped at Farmer's. And now it's my favorite store because they double coupons.

We went there today because they had the Toaster Strudel and Toaster Scramblers on sale for 2/4. Now, they are always that price at Walmart. They may even be 1.97. However, I had 50 cents off coupons, which double to dollar at Farmers, making them 2 for 3, or 1.50 each. Taking that same coupon to Walmart, they would have been 2/4, with the coupon 2 for 3.50, or 1.75 each. I bought eight boxes because you can freeze them, and Fiance really likes them. Plus, there are six of them in a box, so if we both eat two, we've eaten most of the box.

Sometimes, Farmer's has really good deals. They had Frosted MiniWheats in Blueberry for 1! Sadly I had no coupons for them, but a dollar for a box of cereal is a really good deal. They also have Apple Jacks for 1.99, and I had a fifty cents coupon, which doubled, making Apple Jacks 1.00.

We got a few more things, including free Birds Eye brand steamable broccoli (10 for 10, use a fifty cents off coupon that doubles to 1). They rang up my purchase, which was 56 dollars, then scanned my Farmer's card, which brought it down to 36. After running all my coupons, the total was 29, and after THAT, the register printed a Catalina coupon for 10 dollars off my next purchase. So, 29 out of pocket, and with the gift card for next time, that's 19!

I believe I received the Catalina because I bought 25 dollars in General Mills products, which I did a few weeks ago. I didn't realize the promotion was still going on, so if you live in South Boston, take your coupons for General Mills products (Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, etc) and go to Farmer's!

These is the haul for the day. We hit CVS and Walgreens as well. There were coupons for BOGO on Dove and Tresemme. CVS has a promotion right now where if you spend 15 (before coupons) on Dove products, you get 5 ECBs back, so I paid for two, got two free, and got a Dove deodorant with a 1.00 off coupon. Plus, the deodorant was a twin pack, so four shampoos and two deodorants for 9, plus five dollars in ECBs, made this deal 4 dollars. :)

I am done couponing for the week. And I am done buying shampoo! Now I am off to find a place to put it!

Shopping Trip and Updates

This is mostly a breakdown of today's shopping trip. If you are not interested in the breakdown, I put the lessons learned and information gathered in bold for easy skimming. :)


So, I found out that Piggly Wiggly in Danville does not double coupons, more's the pity.

However, if you have a Kmart loyalty card, you can get double coupons on weekends this month up to .99. So, a .75 cent coupon will double to 1.50.

We took advantage of that today! They don't have a ton of groceries, and some of them are a little high, making it not the most exciting place to coupon. BUT, they had a sale on Edge and Skintimate shaving gel, BOGO, reg. price 2.79. And we had a coupon for .75 cents off of one, which doubled to 1.50. So, for two shaving gels, I only had to pay 1.40.

COUPON LESSON: Combine BOGO sales with coupons for even better savings!

Here is the most "extreme" couponing of the day. I purchased this stuff for 3.43. I got the cat food from Petsmart; they have coupons for 5.00 off the cat food, which is on sale for 5.99, and you get two cans of cat food free when you buy it. There is also the Edge shaving gel, which is from KMart. If you live in Danville, it may be worth running into Kmart on these double coupon weekends to see what you can find, but I'm not sure it would be worth the trouble for my SoBoVA friends, unless you were already in Danville.

I needed some soda at Walmart, and the Dr. Pepper had peelie coupons on them for .35 now, so I saved .70 there, and then I got the razors, 1.97 reg price, used a 3 coupon off each, and got the whole thing for .06.

Today was the first day I ran into some opposition. The cashier at Walmart told me I couldn't use the razor coupon because it would make them free, and she would have to go ask. I offered to give her my copy of Walmart's coupon policy to save herself the steps, but she insisted on asking. Even after getting the verification that I was right, she wasn't too friendly. Alas.

Are you familiar with the Magic Coupon Machine? At every CVS, there is a tall red machine that you can use to price check items. However, if you scan your CVS card, you will get coupons! And apparently once a month or periodically, or something, you get 2% back of what you have spent. (*Maybe it's quarterly? I will check!*) Anyway, today I scanned my card, and I got $2.50 free Extra Care Bucks, which are like money at CVS. If you don't have a CVS card, please get one! You can scan your CVS card once a day for coupons.

At CVS, I got 2.50 free Extra Care Bucks! They had Always pads on sale for 3.99, and I got $2 off coupon, so I got those for freeee.

We also went to Target today, so here is everything I bought today.

Grand total: 57.89. Plus, what's exciting is that black and white bag thing is a twin comforter set with the comforter, fitted sheet, flat sheet, dust ruffle, and pillow case :)

Walk around the store to look for clearance items. It's good exercise, and sometimes there are clearance items in little corners of the store!

I got several things at Target today on clearance. The twin bed in a bag was only 15, the large organge piggy bank was only 2.50, and a pink ombre curtain was only 3.74. The curtain and the piggy are for my classroom at school! :)

Nothing super exciting to report on the rest of it. I used lots of coupons and got good deals (the little first aid kits, and the travel size Aquafresh were free).

Looking at the sale papers for Walgreens and CVS, there isn't anything super exciting for me this week. However, I would definitely get a Sunday paper this week, because it looks as if there will be some really good coupons!

Learning the Hard Way: Get there early, and split transactions!

Okay, so I spent a couple hours last night couponing (while watching Desperate Housewives: get more for your time AND your money). I organized my coupons into little baggies for each store, printed out the shopping lists and planned out my transactions. I was going to split transactions to minimize my out of pocket costs. This means, for example, you buy something at Walgreens that has money back in Register Rewards, pay, get the RR, and then use the RR to pay towards your next transaction. I had four transactions planned, and my total would have been six dollars out of pocket, with five RR left over, so I would have gotten a TON of stuff for $1.

After work, Courtney and I headed over there...only to find out a lot of the things I wanted (the Walgreens maxi pads, the Remington razor, the cough syrup)...were sold out. So I couldn't use their Register Rewards. Then, I was flustered because my beautiful plan was messed up...and I made a mistake. I split my transactions into only two instead of three, and while I do have 5 RR to use for next week, I could have split it and had five dollars less out of pocket.

This leads me to two couponing lessons:

GET THERE EARLY -- This is Monday. The sale started yesterday. They were out of a lot of the things I wanted. Actually, now that I think about it, they were out of the things that were free without coupons. For example, buy Walgreens maxipads for $2, get $2 back, so even people who don't coupon can do those deals without working too much. The ones that were free or a moneymaker WITH coupons (like my razor: 8.99-5 dollar coupon = 3.99-5 RR = 1 moneymaker) there still were some left. Though not many of those either. I am going to have to start going Sunday. Which is rather stinky.

In fact, since at the moment there is no Walgreens in Danville, I may be missing out on some of the deals because while I love to save money, it's not worth driving to SoBo on the weekend. Though the lady at the register told me they were opening a Walgreens in Danville.

SEPARATE Transactions! I messed up at Walgreens, but I did it right at CVS and did three separate transactions. To be polite, just ask the cashier if this is okay, and go to the back of the line if they are busy.

First transaction:
Buy 2 Softsoap for $6, get 4 Extra Care Bucks (like a gift card, if you didn't know)
 - 1.00 coupon of any one Softsoap body wash
 - .50 coupon of any four pack of Softsoap bar soap

Cash due: 4.80
ECB printed: $4

Second transaction:
Quatro for Women Razor 8.99, get 4 ECB
 - 5.00 coupon off any Quatro for Women (printed from coupons.com)
- 4 ECP

Cash due: .45
ECB printed: $4

Third trasaction:
Kotex Buy 2 for $7, get 1 ECB
 -1.00 coupon off one at website
-1.00 coupon off one at website
- 4.00 ECB

Cash due: 1.35
ECB printed: 1

Total spent at CVS: 6.60


This can be a pain keeping it all straight. You also have to keep in mind what deals are better. Walgreens was running a sale on Softsoap, but I would have ended up getting them for like $2, and with ECB, I got them for .50 for both. But, I think this is kinda fun, so it's entertaining on top of saving money. Next week I am going to go and do my regular monthly shopping trip, but all I am going to buy are meat, eggs, milk...and they may be it. So that will be a big savings.

I didn't go to Piggly Wiggly today; I was tooo tired! But I will try to go tomorrow and let me readers (reader?) know about their coupon policy.

I made a couple mistakes today, but here is the "haul:"


Total OOP: 32 - 6 RR and ECB to use next time = $26.

Happy shopping!

Piggly Wiggly deal!

Piggly Wiggly doesn't carry a lot of brand names, or rather, not many brand names were advertised in their weekly mailer this week. However, they are having a REALLY good deal o Campbell's condensed soups: 10 for $5. This means they are .50 cents each. From what I am finding out from a quick Google search, this is Piggly Wiggly's coupon policy from I Dig the Pig:

Coupon Policies

Our Coupon Acceptance Policy:
We will gladly redeem your coupons. The following guidelines apply when presenting manufacturers’ coupons clipped from newspapers or magazines, received by mail, or obtained legitimately from the internet through our website or that of our partners:
•The coupon must be legible and have a scannable bar code (UPC) and a remittable manufacturer’s address.
•Coupons with an expiration date must be used within the stated time frame. Expired coupons will not be accepted.
•Only one manufacturer coupon per item will be accepted.
•Coupon values that exceed the price of the item will not be accepted.
•Digitally duplicated copies of coupons (copy machines, scans, etc.) will not be accepted.
The following guidelines apply to internet coupons:
•Manufacturer coupons that involve any kind of free product will not be accepted, including “buy one, get one free” offers.
•No coupon that exceeds $3.00 will be accepted.
•Internet coupons are not eligible for double coupon promotions or any other program that exceeds the actual face value of the coupon.



Also, *some* Piggly Wiggly stores double coupons. I have some coupons for these soups in my coupon binder for forty cents off two, or forty cents on three. Even without doubling, this could lead to a really good deal, like ten cans of soup for about three dollars. I could eat tomato soup every day, and chicken noodle is also super yummy.

I will probably go to our local Piggly Wiggly (near Cane Creek and the airport) this week and I will let you know if they double.

Happy saving!

Coupon Lessons from Shopping

This is today's coupon haul from Petsmart, Walmart, and Target.

Petmart had Authority cat food on sale for 5.99, and there was a 5.00 printable coupon, plus you got two free cans of cat food. PLUS, while I was in the store, a lady handed me a coupon for 15% off my entire order. I got the bag of kitty food and two cans of cat food for .87. I'm going to start a donation box for the local animal shelter. :)

Petsmart and Petco in Danville are good places to save money on pet food and treats. They have decent sales, rewards for their card members (just fill out a form) and they take manufacturer coupons. Plus, they were running several promotions with various types of dog and cat food where you got free cans of wet food when you bought dry.

Target doesn't double coupons, but they do have their own coupons online. You can stack one of their Targt web coupons with a manufacturer coupon to save a lot of money. I did this today with Aquafresh: they had it on sale for $3, but there was a 1.50 coupon on the Target website, and I had a .75 coupon off from the Sunday part, so I got the toothpaste for .75 cents.

COUPON LESSON: Stack store coupons and manufacturer coupons for even better deals.

Before I went to Target, I planned out my trip and took out all of my coupons that I planned to use, and then put them in a baggie. I still took in my coupon binder in case I found something else good, which I did! Target has Milkbone dog biscuits for 2.54. I don't have the oz in front of me, but the decent sized box, not the jumbo. On the dog was a peelie coupon for a free pouch of Milkbone soft and chewy treats when you buy two boxes of dog biscuits. I opened by binder and found a Target coupon for 1.50 off two boxes of Milkbones, so I got two boxes of Milkbones, plus the soft treats (which were 3.59) for 3.58.

COUPON LESSON: Keep your coupons with you!

Also, when I was checking out, the cashier told me to make sure to leave a peelie coupon on the product instead of peeling it off. If it has expired and you leave it on the product, they still have to honor it.

COUPON LESSON: Don't remove stick-on or peelie coupons from the product.

Target is running a sale this week on granola bars. You can get 4 for 10, from a combination of Nature Valley and Fiber One. These can be as much as 2.98 at Walmart, so that's a decent price, BUT if you buy four, you get one free, making them 5 for 10. I had two coupons for $1 off 2, so I got all 5 for $8, making them 1.60 each. I each one or two granola bars every day at work, so I'll definitely use these.

At Walmart, I had the best time. :) Walmart doesn't double coupons, and they don't run many sales on their various products. Sometimes they do rollbacks, but their average price on almost anything is pretty comparable to other stores. They will price match, if you are used to doing that. What Walmart WILL do, and a lot of other stores won't, is that they will give you cash back if your coupon is more than the price of the item, or you can use it towards the cost of other items in your transaction.

Example: I had a coupon for $6 off two packages of Schick disposable razors, excluding the 2 count pack. Walmart has a 10 count package of Schick disposable razors for 1.97. They aren't as nice as the more expensive razors, but they will get the job done. The price of two is just $4, so for each coupon I use, I MAKE $2. I had four coupons, so I bought 8 packages of razors, and got 8 dollars BACK to use towards the other items in my basket. I bought 2-liters of Coke and a box of Capri-Sun, since we are always using those and Walmart has the cheapest price. I also bought two bottles of Diet V8 Splash because I love it, and because I had a coupon for $1 off too, making them 1.50 each. I got my eight razors, four bottle of Coke, two bottles of V8 Splash for 2.88. PlUS, when I got home, I realized that the razors have coupons them for $3 off of one package of Schick razors, so I can use those to increase my stockpile if I wanted, or save them to use later. They don't expire for another six months.

COUPON LESSON: Watch for moneymaking coupons! Use the overage to buy things you don't have coupons for and still need.

If you watch Extreme Couponing, this is the type of coupon those ladies would have used to be able to buy things like meat and produce. I only had four of these coupons, but some of the extreme couponers on the show would very likely have had, say 100 of those coupons and received LOTS of money back. That's one of the ways the people on the show are able to buy so very much for so very little.

Today, all of my purchases together were $31.60.

I still wish we had some of these other great stores with awesome coupon deals and policies, like Harris Teeter, Kroger, or Rite-Aid, but you can still do a lot of good couponing and saving with Walgreens, CVS, Target, Walmart, and Farmer's :)

A great run today: an example of how couponing works.

Here is the result from my couponing trip today. I thought I'd go over it quickly to show how much money couponing can save you!

Walgreens had Poise liners on sale $3/9, with $3 in Register Rewards (money you can use on your next trip there, to buy anything) returned. I had 2/1 pack of liners coupons that I got off the Poise website. I had three of them, one for each pack. I found out about the coupon from The Krazy Coupon Lady website. That would make my cost OOP $3, and then the $3 RR, so all three packs of liners would be free. However, I still had a $3 RR from the last time I went to Walgreens, so I used that, and I got all three packs for zero out of pocket, plus $3 back. However, you cannot have more coupons than items, and I had four coupons (three manufacturer coupons plus one RR) for three items, so I purchased the Mickey bubbles for 1.49 OOP. I spent 1.49 at Walgreens, and received $3 RR, so I made 1.51 from this purchase.

At Farmer's Foods, they had the Starkist authentico tuna fish on sale for 1.29. I had a coupon from the September ALL YOU for .50 off, and remember that Farmer's doubles, so I bought the tuna fish for .29.

I also bought the Breakfast to go boxes. They were on sale for 2.79 a box, and I had two 1.10 off one coupons and one 1.00 off one coupon, so two boxes were 1.69 and one was 1.79.

Then...The Select Harvest soup was on sale for 1.29 a can, and I had several coupons. Some were for 1.00 off two, 1.50 off three, .50 off two, which doubled...etc. I got eleven cans.

After she scanned everything, I still had my $10 off coupon from last week, so I used those, and my grand total from Farmer's was 4.93.

SO, I spent 6.42 total today, and received a $3 RR, so the total cost was 3.42.

So, even though we don't have a Harris Teeter or Kroger, we can still save serious money! It takes a little bit of time, but I search for coupons while I am already online working, or cut them while I watch television. Combine sales with coupons, and once you start, you will have RR or other kickbacks to use on new purchases!

Do you like the Select Harvest? 1.29 is a really good price, even compared to Walmart, and there are always coupons for it on http://www.coupons.com/.

Shopping at Farmer's

Why I like Farmer's

Sadly, we do not have some of the awesome stores that I read a lot of the bloggers using for their couponing. We used to have a Harris Teeter in Hupps Mill (anyone a member of the cookie club when he or she was a kid?), and there used to be a Kroger in Danville, but no longer. The closest Kroger is in Martinsville. I find this very unfortunate, because if you combined some of Kroger's 10/10 deals with coupons, and the fact that Kroger doubles coupons...well it would have been nice.

However, we do have a Farmer's Foods. There is one in Hupps Mill (where Harris Teeter and the cookie club used to be years ago!) and I know there is one in Danville because we drove by it the other day, but I can't remember where exactly.

Farmer's is great because they double coupons up to a dollar. So, a coupon for fifty cents off a product will magically become one dollar off. A coupon for seventy-five cents becomes a dollar off as well. Now, all of Farmer's prices aren't comparable to Walmart; many things are cheaper at Walmart, except for what's on sale.

I had a GREAT shopping trip at Farmer's last week. They were running a promotion on General Mills products (Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Green Giant, Pillsbury). Once you spent $25 on select products, you received $10 coupon off your next order.  Most of the products on the list were things I buy anyway, AND things I had coupons for. My initial price was $56, and then with coupons, it went down to $30. After that, I received the $10 off, so my out of pocket cost was thirty dollars, but overall, it cost me only 20. Here is what I got:



I didn't save my receipt, so I can't go through all of the deals with you sadly, but here is one example:
The Totino's pizza rolls were on sale for 2.99 each. At Walmart, they are a little over $3 each regular price. I had a coupon for 40 cents off of two, but since I was at Farmer's, it was really 80 cents. I got both bags for 5.20, and then that five dollars went towards my 25 dollar total. I actually overspent by about three dollars because I would have made my twenty-five dollar quota without the brownie mix. I didn't have a coupon for that, but it was on sale for 1.29, which is a good price, and I didn't want to come up short and miss the $10 back promotion, which would have ruined the whole deal. I like to keep cake mixes on hand anyway to surprise my students, or in case we get invited to something and I need to take a dessert. Or you know, in case we want to eat brownies, because they are delicious.

Soup's On at Farmer's This Week!
I got the sale paper today, and nothing is super exciting for me, except that the Campbell's Select Harvest soups are on sale for 1.29. This is about thirty cents cheaper than Walmart, and I have a lot of soup coupons because we eat a lot of soup, and it's canned, so it keeps for a while.

The best coupon I have for that is a fifty cents off two coupon, which will double to a dollar at Farmer's. So, I will get two cans for 1.58, or .79 each, which is a great deal considering they are usually 1.50 at Walmart. I have a few more coupons with one dollar off three, etc. The one dollar off three coupons will make them 2.87 for three, and .95 each. Another coupon has 1.50 off of three cans, which would make them 2.37 for the three, and .79 each. If I use all three of these coupons, I can get eight cans of soup for 6.82.

But wait, there's more! I still have the $10 off coupon from last week, so I would get all eight cans of soup for ZERO out of pocket.

Too much math? Tell me about it, and I'm an English major! But that's a good example of how combining coupon policies with sales can really save you money.

Other deals...
They have the Starkist 5.5 0z cans with vegetables and peppers on sale for 1.29, and if you get the Sunday paper, there was a coupon for fifty cents off any one can. Double this at Farmer's, and I can try it out for .29.
Pasta and Rice a Roni 10/$10 (I REALLY want to find a coupon for this one, but no luck yet!)
Pet Ice Cream   $2.50 each, plus 1.00 off coupon from Sunday paper, would make it 1.50
Quaker Instant Oatmeal 2.50 each (you may have a coupon for this, but I don't seem to have one)
Emerald Breakfast to go: 2.79 plus there is a coupon on redplum.com for 1.10 off, making it 1.69
Various cereals (Capn Crunch, Honey Grahams, etc) 2.50 each
Hanover pretzels $1.25
Aunt Jemima Pancakes 2.50
Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce: 10/$10


More good things about Farmer's...

You do need a card to get the deals, but you don't have to fill out a single form. You just say, I would like a card, and they hand one to you. The store also has the Smart Source coupon machines throughout the store for additional coupons, which is exciting. The one in Hupps Mill has a CVS in the same shopping center, so you can do your couponing in one stop. AND, Farmer's has a Redbox machine, which I love on movie night. You cannot beat one dollar a night, and often there are codes for a free movie.

In fact, Wednesday night I see a nice cozy dinner of hot soup and a good movie! Dinner for two and a movie for one dollar out of pocket!

Good luck, and happy saving! :)

Couponing 101

A very brief lesson on couponing

Coupons are great, and they will save you money however you use them, as long as you use them to purchase foods and items you use. Spending two dollars and using a coupon for a dollar off doesn't really save you money if the item collects dust for three months because you don't like the product.

If you want to save LOTS of money by couponing, it will take a little research. As I get older, I realize that nothing is ever truly free, and anything worth having or doing takes a bit of work. The way the people on television saves lots of money is by combining coupons with in store deals and other benefits. You have to be on your toes to do this correctly because you have to know whether the milk on sale at Food Lion is cheaper than WalMart's regular price. You will also need to organize your coupons and take some time to find, clip, and organize them. You also cannot go to just one store and buy all of your items if you want to take maximum advantage of the sales because different stores have different prices, sales, and coupon policies.

For example, I have a 50 cents off coupon for Cambell's Chunky soup. The canned soup is on sale, let's pretend, at Farmer's Foods for 1.50 a can. That is the same price as it is at Walmart, but I'm still going to buy it at Farmer's. Why? Because Farmer's doubles coupons up to $1, so my 50 cent coupon is worth a dollar at Farmer's, and only half that at Walmart.

Ideally, to really save money over time, you will also need a place to stockpile your stuff. If you find a deal where you can get deodorant for a quarter, then you will want to buy enough to use until you can find another great sale (usually six months to a year). You can also use your stockpile to donate to canned food drives, etc. Though you won't need this in the beginning, eventually you'll want to to maximize your savings.

Some stores have other great benefits: Register Rewards (Walgreens) and Extra Care Bucks (CVS). These items will give you a coupon for a certain amount of money off your next purchase, and you can use that money on anything. Plus, you can still use coupons!

For example, CVS was running a deal on tampons. A package of them was 6.79, but you received 6.79 in Extra Care Bucks to use on your next order. However, I also had a coupon for $1 off those same tampons, so I only had to pay 5.79 for them, thus getting free tampons and a giftcard for a dollar more than I paid for them. They, in effect, paid me $1 to take the tampons out of the store.

Where do I find coupons?
The best place is the Sunday paper. Other places include http://www.coupons.com/, http://www.redplum.com/, http://www.smartsource.com/, All You magazine (available at Walmart), and the websites of various products. I really like the Betty Crocker website. Sometimes you can find coupons actually on the products (called peelies) that you can use on your next purchase, or on this one.

How do I organize my coupons?

There are several ways to organize your coupons, and really anything that keeps them together for you would constitute as an organization system. Some of the coupons websites I frequent suggest buying a binder and those protective sleeves people use for baseball cards. I had an empty photo album around the house, so I use that, because it was free.


My friend Courtney uses one of the small expandable file things that are made for coupons and organizes hers that way. Other people use an envelope.

I like to keep everything in the binder and then pull the coupons and put them into a plastic baggie when I plan out a shopping trip.

So, why do stores give things away for free? Is couponing ethical?

I am adding this because whenever I read posts or YouTube videos by couponers, I see a lot critical responses and questions on this topic.

No one really loses from couponing. Most of the coupons are manufacturer coupons. A big company, like say, Betty Crocker, decides to put out coupons to increase sales or promote an item. They only release so many coupons, so they have already budgeted to reimburse retail stores, say, one million dollars from one million coupons. So the big company do not lose anything. In fact, the coupons have enticed shoppers to buy a product, a product the company probably still made some money on, and a product the consumer may buy again at a later date.

The retail companies, like WalMart, Food Lion, etc, do not lose from coupons because the company, like Betty Crocker, reimburses them for the coupon, plus eight cents processing fee. Even if I took one thousand dollars worth of coupons to WalMart, it doesn't hurt WalMart because Betty Crocker will pay them back, and Betty Crocker had already budgeted to spend this money.

The people on Extreme Couponing order multiple Sunday papers, get papers from family members, and go through the recycling bin to get multiples of coupons. They are only using coupons that other people wouldn't use anyway, because remember there is a limited number of any coupon.

Helping Others...

There are many things you can do with your stockpile and excess items to help others. You can donate to any type of homeless shelter, women's shelter, disaster relief, canned food drive, etc. Many animal shelters need litter, food, and treats, all of which can be purchased with coupons. You can send care packages overseas to our soldiers through Adopt a Soldier programs. You can also mail your expired coupons to military bases, where they can use expired coupons for up to six months. I am going to start stocking up on toothbrushes and toothpaste to put in my Operation Christmas Child boxes this year.

Learning from the masters...

I am such a coupon novice. I started this blog to let people know about deals in the area, but I felt I needed to added a tutorial for those who are also new to couponing. To learn more, check out some of my favorite websites, and feel free to share yours!


The Krazy Coupon Lady
A Frugal Chick
Southern Savers
My Coupon Teacher

I suppose this didn't seem so brief, but I read a lot of blogs, websites, and watched many YouTube videos to give you that overview. My Coupon Teacher has a great step by step plan to learn how to coupon, and The Krazy Coupon Lady website gives you more specific information about individual store's policies.

Good luck, and happy saving!

Introductions and Salutations

I love blogs.

They are so interesting and weird and random, and I swear I think of about five different ideas for a new one every week. Shame I never seem to follow through on any of them...But perhaps this one will be different, since this is something I have done since I could say the word "clearance" and an idea/belief that has influenced my shopping ever since the days of my weekly dollar allowance.

I was initially going to make a blog about couponing in the Danville, Virginia area, but I decided I'd expand it to saving money on lots of things! My shopping mantra is always "Never pay retail" and while I can't truly own up to the absolute of never, I do try to avoid it as much as possible. I hope my little savings journal will entertain and educate you about ways to save money.


How I learned to save

Growing up, my daddy worked in various warehouses and factories, and my parents agreed that my mother should be a stay at home mom, which she was until I was fifteen and my little brother was eleven. Factory workers do not make a lot of money, so while we always had everything we needed, we didn't have a lot of extra money. We went to McDonalds on Family Night, when Happy Meals were 99 cents. We shopped at Goodwill, and one of my happiest shopping days was finding a pair of Calvin Klein jeans for six dollars. We went to yard sales and thrift stores, and I wore hand-me-downs. We shopped sales and clearance. In fact, I don't believe I wore anything that was purchased at retail price until I was a teenager, and I still don't do it often now. We often had a garden and chickens, and Daddy loved to hunt and fish, so we ate a lot of deer and fish and garden stuff. I remember going to the grocery store with my mother and she would have me add up how much she had spent at the grocery store to make sure she didn't go over her budget.

I don't tell you any of that because I feel sorry for myself or my family. I and my brother had a wonderful childhood with everything we needed, and many things we wanted. I don't think we were "deprived" because we were playing with an Atari when everyone else had the new Playstation. We played and had fun together and as a family, and were so very blessed in many ways.

Unfortunately, people in our country, and throughout the world, are so focused on money. There are people who would be embarrassed to shop with coupons, buy clothes at Walmart, or even walk into a Goodwill. For many, their possessions or money defines them as a person, and not being able to buy expensive things at retail is a shame to them.

 Personally, I think there is nothing wrong with being a smart shopper and saver. In fact, in our current economy, it seems silly and even dangerous to spend money...haphazardly. I enjoy having nice things as well, certainly, but there is no shame or disgrace in getting items cheaper in ethical and legal ways.

So, if you are embarassed to use coupons or used items, this may not be the blog for you. And that's okay. The great thing about blogs is that they are so plentiful and diverse, so you can move along and find one called Always Pay Retail and Go Broke (just kidding).

SO, what are you going to blog about?

Anything that comes to mind; isn't that the beauty of blogging? Mostly, about coupon deals in the area. I follow several great blogs, one of which is based in Virginia, but I haven't found one that's for our specific area. Different areas have different grocery stores. For example, Farmer's Foods is actually a good place to shop and save because they double coupons up to a dollar, which Walmart and Food Lion do not. The closest Kroger is in Martinsville, and we don't have a Harris Teeter or Winn Dixie (I am sad about the Harris Teeter; they had triple coupons recently). So, I'll teach you how to use coupons, since I am teaching myself and trying it out.

But I also like to save money on...everything else. So you can expect to see posts with deals I find in local stores, links to good websites or blogs, or tips on how to save money on things like magazine subscriptions (in fact, that may be tomorrow's post).

With any luck, this will be the first of many posts. My last blog, Thirty Days of June, has been sadly neglected, but hopefully I can get that going as well. :) Since I have started couponing, I have started meal planning as well, and that is certainly a June-worthy activity.

Alright, I am off to finish making dinner. Tonight we are having deer tenderloin (free, courtesy of my father), baked potatoes, and steamed broccoli (purchased with a coupon)!

Good night, and happy saving!