Couponing?

Allrighty...we are back from our grocery shopping. Went to Kroger and total bill was $107.84...after coupons and discounts $43.39...yay!!!!

We got enough groceries to totally fill the back of the van.

On another note- school supplies were a big need for us (3 kids going to school this year and I am enrolled in school full time also) and we were able to find one subject note books for .01, crayola crayons for .20/box, rulers .05 ea, folders .05 each, and pencils #10 for .10, back packs 2 for 9.99, highlighters .19ea, wide rulled and college ruled filler paper .25 a pack, and composition notebooks for .19. I got everyones school supply list completely filled for less than $30 together (and we bought plenty of extra notebooks, crayons, and filler paper to last the rest of the year).

Whoo hoo!


Chrissy

Great job! Isn't it amazing how much you can save using coupons? In the past I would use a coupon here and there but nothing major. I was never big on it and could not understand why all the women in front of me at the stores would use so many! Boy was I wrong!

When we hit hard times, I really started to budget and did the old "watch the sales flyer thing" and cut coupons.

I then realized that weeks after I would get coupons-things would go on sale. So I started planning around that. Now I get carts of stuff for a few bucks. I love it! I have a stockpile like you would not believe!

I am hooked and I love it. We saved so much money with coupons. I am in the South and we don't have Kroger-we have Publix. They have some pretty good deals and BOGO sales.

Glad you are saving! Keep up the good work! :lol:

I love my coupons....and I have done the $200 shopping trips that only cost $30 after coupons. My trick is I stock up on the coupons I use a lot and the freebie ones too. For example, there was recently a $2.50 off coupon on dishwasher tabs....cascade I think. I got 10 of the them...waited for them to go on sale for $2.99...bingo....dishwashing needs done for a year!

www.thecouponclippers.com This service is my godsend...I order the coupons I need and use most often.

I just posted. Where did it go? I guess I wrote too much! Way to go with the Cascade. You have Cascade to last 1 year-I got a years supply of Electrasol Tabs. Looks like we will have clean dishes for a while. lol

i love coupons but i have noticed that sometimes with the coupon the name brand is still more than if you would buy the generic or going to the dollar store.

i noticed that, too ^^ i also notice that my local wal mart is often cheaper than the dollar store (they have things that are say two for a dollar for example)
i really should look into coupons as groceries can be very expensive (as other household products)

You have to know your prices...that is all part of the game. Certain products I will not buy at the dollar store....the quality on some of the cleaning products is low...I end up using more than the name brand so I not skimp. I do shop at walmart and I do use some of their house brand products.

soaplady, i agree :) there are some things i will not buy at the dollar store but i love it for getting some simple things.. it is also a lot closer than other stores for me so it saves on gas :)

i love the dollar stores but yes i do agree alot of times i have noticed that they are pricier than walmart. so like she said you do have to know your prices. I got alot of friends that swear on giant eagles fuel perks so i did try it out some things there were very good deals others were horribly expensive. so the money that you spent extra for the free perks wouldnt have mattered if that makes sense? i dont know if i just made that confusing but it makes sense in my head! LOL!

I agree that buying generic can be cheaper-sometimes. If I need something in a pinch and I don't have a stockpile of it or coupons to combine with a sale-yes, I buy generic.

But, the way I try to do it nowadays is buy multiple papers, print internet coupons-trade coupons-whatever I can to get the most coupons of things I know I need/buy. I combine those with BOGO sales, clearance, and stack store coupons with manufacturer coupons. Most of these things I buy on sale are not generic, but I get them for pennies or for free. Seems to be working out for me so far.

As far as the dollar store, I do still go for holiday stuff (decorations) and little knick knacks, but don't shop for toiletries or food there anymore. I usually find it cheaper in other stores---especially Walmart.

It is great to save money on your everyday necessities. It leaves more money for other things-especially if you need it to pay off debt. That is how I started couponing in the first place.
:wink:

:) great tips here, i really gotta get on the ball with these coupons!

one of my favorite deals was last week i finally broke down and went school shopping. for the most part i usually do walmart, but i happen to hear on tv about a exclusive sale at jcpenny from 7-noon only by one get one for a penny. so i got on line and they had a coupon for 15.00 off of 75.00. so i printed my coupon and went. there was some great deals shirts for 5-6 dollars hoodies for like 10, and so forth. and what made it even greater was the sales clerk rang in 75 dollars used my coupon then rang in the rest of it and used the coupon again. so i got a pile of clothes that will last him forever for a little over 100.00 socks, underwear,pants,shirts, and hoodies. it was one of the best deals that i had in a very long time. i would have never thought that i would have done better at jcpennies than walmart but i got twice the amount i would have at walmart. online coupons are the bomb!

thats great! :)

I stumbled across this site www.hotcouponworld.com when I was trying to reduce my expenses. I have learned so much that I wanted to share with others.

thanks for the tip i will check it out! :)

thanks for the link! im gonna check it out too!!!

Thanks for the link! I have been a coupon shopper forever since my mom was a coupon gal so she taught me.

I love my dollar store...they just started crrying Sara Lee bread products for a dollar...so I stock up every payday and then freeze them.

we just got a dollar tree that is wonderful!

I shop dollar tree for some things-bread for sure, sometimes they have big boxes of granola bars (not the 2 or 4 pack) for $1. I always try and wait for my double and triple coupons on staples like veggies an toothpaste (you can almost always get colgate for free if your store doubles up to $1). Last trip I got FREE all of the following: glade candles (4 of them and they went into the gift closet), 6 tubes of toothpaste, 3 ban deoderant (donated to the nursing home cause I am allergic but it helped someone else), spritz on dressing, 3 hellmans mayo, 6 boxes of GM cerals, and some skintimate shave gel.

Also, if you have a dollar general, watch them for coupons-last week Dr Pepper was on sale for $1/2liter and they had .55 off coupons.

Even though Walmart doesnt do double coupons, they do price match and you can often get better produce there without having to make 100 stops for the sales.

Chrissy

oh thanks for the reminder also glade if you sign up with them sends out some great coupons in the mail sometimes you get free coupons, or like thier plug ins if you purchase the product you can get refills for free. i get tons of free coupons from them regularly

Chrissytex446-I just wanted to say that I think it is great that you donate to others. I give a lot of the freebies and things I get for cheap to people around us that I know need them. Even though I have animals of my own, I always see cat and dog food deals on brands I usually don't use, but get them anyway because they are such good deals. I have a pile getting ready to go to an animal shelter in our area. I love animals!

I clip coupons alot!! Nothing wrong with it...I say!!LOL Does anyone happen to know if there is an actually website that you can go on that sends coupons in the mail? Or..some of those 'freebie' things?

Oh gosh-there are plenty! There are many coupon blogs/sites I follow that give tons of advice, printable coupons, info on deals at your favorite stores and links to freebies, etc. I have also gotten tons of free stuff and samples. I also get freebies that are offered on commercials that say "request your sample now". Yeah, they really send samples and usually give coupons for the product along with it. Of course-all free-I never pay for anything. Oh yeah-some big stores offer freebies on their websites too (Walmart for example). I am not sure if I am allowed to post links of these sites or not so I wont... but if you search "coupon mom"-you will find TONS of them.

If you can't find them-let me know...:D

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thanks again for those tips..