My first adventure in couponing

Earlier this week I went to a two hour class my friend Lori taught about saving money on your grocery bill, in part by using coupons. I've used a few coupons in my lifetime, but didn't really understand the ins and outs of using them or how to really get a good deal with coupons. Combined with watching Extreme Couponing on TV a couple times (ok, those people are just crazy), I felt inspired to try my hand at the art of couponing.

I had some trouble getting started because we don't get the Sunday paper, and thus don't get the coupon inserts. A Facebook friend gave me the tip to check the library- jackpot! They had a huge basket of pre-clipped coupons ready to dig through. I snagged a whole bunch and then started scouring store ads/coupons to find things to stack my manufacturers' coupons with. I was able to find a few products that we'd use and that I had stackable coupons for and gave it a try.

I went to a couple stores today, but the first and most successful was Kroger. This was my haul:

This is $15.80 worth of products... I got it for $5.97! That's $9.83 in savings!

Here's the breakdown:

Old Spice: 2.29 x 2 = 4.58
S coupon -1.00
M coupon -1.00
=2.58

Secret: 1.67 x 2 = 3.34 (on sale)
M coupon -1.50
=1.84
(I messed up here and got the wrong kind to use my 1.50 S coupon... didn't realize it til now. Oops.)

Crest: 3.49 (on sale)
S coupon -1.50
M coupon -1.50
=0.49

Oral B: 1.99
S coupon -0.75
M coupon (.75 doubled to limit) -1.00
=0.24

Tax: 0.82

Grand Total = $5.97 (saved $9.83)


Even though I screwed up one of my deals, I still feel good about saving so much money (and spending so little!). I think I'll keep learning as I go... and it will take less time for me to figure it out ;) Next week I'm going to try my hand at Walgreen's Register Rewards game... I was going to this week but the product I was going to buy was sold out.


I did go to Target today also, and although my deals weren't as spectacular I'll share anyway:

Old Spice 3 pack: 4.24 (clearance)
M coupon -1.00
=3.24

Charmin: 13.99
Sale -2.00
S coupon -1.00
=10.99

2 Cover Girl cosmetics: 4.99 + 4. 24 = 9.23
S coupon -2.00
M coupon -2.50
=4.73

Tax: 1.39

Grand Total: $20.35 (saved $8.50)


At least all my coupons worked correctly! We weren't actually planning on buying the Charmin or the Old Spice, but we got good deals and we need those things anyway, so it's all good. Nathan is set on deodorant for a looong time...

I hope you enjoyed my extreme couponing adventure... I did :D