Couponing is one of my favorite things to do other than thrift shopping- however I usually do both with my mom and after she stocks up from January-May we usually don’t coupon any more- I mean maybe here and there and something random but when her blueberries, blackberries, gardening and honey come into play – we are pretty well stocked up so we still go thrift shopping , but not couponing! I have been looking forward to getting out and turning deals again for a while- it also makes some nice posts here on the site and keeps things mixed up + I get out of the house a bit more- so i’m a huge fan of it for sure. I was SO happy that we got back into it last week- we were so “into it” we actually went twice!
I like to coupon sometimes by myself /when i’m out and about with David, but I just don’t acheive the same kind of level/amount of stuff it seems. I know that a couple of times I have done some pretty awesome deals- some of them involving Ibotta and coupons, and there have been a few pretty nice coupon only deals that I have done – I know one time it was allergy pills & dog treats at dollar general and one time it was some make up and candy at CVS.
I never really know what David makes of couponing as a whole- he has went with me on a few of the small trips of course, and he’s heard me talk about my mom and I did this and this and this -but he hasn’t ever got to go with her on one of those super awesome grocery store runs where you get the total super high and then watch as it all starts coming off- I think if he did he’d be a little bit more interested! I think that was what did it for me- that got me interested – I went to the store with her and didn’t really have but $50 to spend and we got it all for $30 and I was like wow that was neat , I get it now!
My favorite deals though are those deals where things are pretty much FREE or even what you call a money maker- I think that it is really cool that stores out there actually even have items that are TOTALLY free just for coming in -one of these stores is actually a store that I have shopped in before and really love- Kroger! I don’t know WHY we don’t have on in our area- I actually think that they are owned by a store that we do have in our area, so you never know what we might get in the future! You can always find out about what this week’s free item is and of course those all important policy details here (every now and then those change , and it is always a good idea to know these things in advance- that goes for anywhere you coupon!)
Last week we did a little grocery couponing at Harris Teeter but the majority of that was stuff for my mom + we got a few extra’s because they had t-bone/porterhouse steaks for BOGO + she got me my sliced boars head corned beef (since generally in lunch meat that you find already available is pork, which I don’t eat or turkey which I hate) I know we were up near $150 and if you take off the steaks & my meat we saved about $120! I am telling you we do really good with food and i’m always shocked at the people who think that when you coupon you can’t get “healthy food” and such. If you play your cards (ahum coupons) right you can sometimes get money back, great deals, ibotta offers and it can def. work in your favor to get not just what people consider junk but “real food” as well.. though I’m not super picky- we have gotten frozen veggies, canned veggies, salad mixes , and pretty much anything you can think of with a coupon before- I just know some peoples thoughts!
So back to the whole freebie and money maker thing- Last week our major trip was to CVS and I am not sure how many transactions my mom did but I did 4 the first day and 1 the 2nd day… 2 of my better transactions were:
(4) 4 packs of Boost Drinks
Regular Price $9.49
Sale Price (with card I believe) for $6.99
With Coupons they came up as $8.49
We got back $10 in Register Rewards so it was a Money Maker of almost $1.50
1 Olly Vitamin
Reg price $15.49
$3 off Coupon
-used my $10 RR
– used 40% off one item
$2.70
got back $3.25 on ibotta!
Also got back $5 in RR!
I actually had a snafu on this one, they should have rang my 40% first but it was saved to my card so it doesn’t come up until you pay /they hit total but it still worked out- I just wouldn’t have had to used my $10 RR I think if I would have had them ring it in this order..something i need to pay attention to in the future but still a good deal!
I am hopeful to bring you more details and information about my couponing adventures this year, even with pictures- we kind of got carried away and separated our stuff before we took pictures this go around- which happens when it hasn’t been a habit in a while – so keep your eyes out- we should be going out Tomorrow actually so.. 🙂
