My Coupon Fixation

I just can't help myself...I must do another couponing post!

I don't know if it's my love of shopping and getting a bargain that is feeding this couponing frenzy I am in, or if it's the satisfaction of seeing our stockpile increase. I guess it's a whole combination of things, but I am definitely hooked. I love to get a great deal (who doesn't) but I also feel happy to see our year's supply of food and other necessities building up. Our church leaders have been instructing us to do this for years and years and it is very wise counsel. Who knows when a job loss or disaster might strike and it's a good feeling to know that when those times come, we will not be without our Charmin and Honey Nut Cheerios. :)

So, I just wanted to share a few examples of some great deals I have been able to get over the past couple of months. If you're interested in learning more, go to the Fabulessly Frugal website. They have tons of tips, tutorials, etc. It's my favorite coupon site. Couponing does take some time and effort, but I think it's worth it.

Okay, so the first series of transactions I am going to share took place at good ol' Walgreen's. For the month of September, they had their John Frieda hair products on sale for 3 for $15 and you got a $5 Register Reward back when you bought 3 or more. I had a few coupons for $3 off, but I love John Frieda's Root Awakening products so much, I decided to go on eBay and buy more coupons! (Yes, you can actually buy coupons on eBay... for cheap!) So, I bought 20 $3 off coupons for $4.00. Over the course of a few weeks, I did several transactions using my coupons and Register Rewards and this is what I was able to purchase:

15 John Frieda Shampoo and Conditioners
4 Boxes of NyQuil and DayQuil
2 Vicks Sinex Nasal Sprays
3 Carmex lotions
2 Hyland's Children's cold and cough medicine
9 Nivea travel size moisturizer creams
8 Nivea lip balms
4 Nivea men's body wash
2 Tilex spray cleaners
4 Clorox, 35 count disinfecting wipes

What I paid: just under $40 (including the $4.00 I spent on eBay coupons) and I still have a $4 Register Reward to use on my next purchase! This is over an 80% savings. The trick to doing this is rolling your Register Rewards. (RR) You cannot use a RR on the same product you got it for and get another one to print out. So you have to alternate transactions. So, I would buy the shampoo, then use that $5 RR toward the NyQuil, then use the RR that printed for the NyQuil to get more shampoo. Sounds complicated, but it's really not once you get used to it. And the cashiers are used to this for the most part, so you won't get any strange looks or anything! I just try to be courteous so that if there is someone behind me in line I only do one transaction and then get in the end of the line to do my next one.

The next big transaction I did was at Albertson's. I took a picture, but it's a little dark. I need Shandy to start taking my coupon pictures for me. :)



I paid $33.56 for all of this! Since the picture is not the greatest here is a list of what I purchased:
2 Hunt's ketchups
4 boxes of Swiss Miss
6 boxes of frozen sausage
4 two liters of pop
3 49 oz containers of Wesson oil
8 cake mixes
2 Crisco baking sticks packs
2 Karo Syrup
4 Frostings
2 bags of flour
5 yakisoba noodle meals
1 bag of tortilla chips
4 Pillsbury Sweet Moments desserts
3 bags of Snickers halloween candy
3 bags of Pieces candy

I didn't keep my receipts to show how much I saved, but I think I did pretty well here. Again, I used coupons and Albertson's version of a Register Reward which is referred to as a 'Catalina'. I did three transactions all in a row and was able to 'roll' my Catalina coupon each time. That's the beauty of Catalina coupons at Albertson's...you can usually keep rolling them as many times as you want. You don't have to alternate transactions or anything like that.

The next deal is at Fred Meyer this week! So, I love Tillamook cheese. Don't you? It's awesome. In Sunday's paper, there was a coupon for Tillamook cheese for $3.99 for a 2 lb. brick. This is a great price right? And, it doesn't just have to be cheddar, it can be used toward pepper jack, Monterey jack...a great variety. Well, to make the deal even better, there is a coupon on coupons.com right now where you can get $1.00 off any brand of cheese. So, $2.99 for Tillamook cheese! I get five Sunday papers, so I will be buying a nice variety of cheese. Cheese has a long shelf life. So, I'm getting some pepper jack for those holiday cheese trays too. I love it!

Are you as excited as I am right now?!!

I realize that I may have a bit of an extreme fixation with using coupons, but if you are at all interested, I would highly recommend checking out Fabulessly Frugal or any of the other coupon blogs out there to help you get started. It is work, but after a while you sort of get into a groove where it's really not as difficult as it sounds. I'm not having to drag my girls through the grocery store with me every day or anything. In fact, I try to not take them to the store at all! :)