Savings Trip 10/17/10

My haul from today is pictured above! I have strep throat, so I haven't done my research as thoroughly as I normally would have. I don't think I did half bad for being half conscious during my shopping trip.

Today, I stopped in to Walgreen's and purchased two Nivea Men's shower gels, two packs of cherry Ricola cough drops, three boxes of Puffs tissues, two bottles of Dawn dish soap, some little candy corn shaped marshmallow treats (not pictured), Blistex lip ointment and two pumpkin shaped Reese's peanut butter cups (random purchase at the register because I didn't calculate everything correctly with tax...grrr...sometimes I hate Register Rewards!). After using $8 in Register Rewards, my total was $1.24. I received $2.60 in Register Rewards, so I actually made a total of $1.36 (in Register Rewards).

TJ and I also made a trip to Menards, so he could buy some man-things. Poor guy, I bet he didn't know Menards has the best prices around for cleaning products! To be fair, I did have a rebate from some Physique shampoo from a while ago, which went toward my purchases. I bought a 32 oz. bottle of Fantastik, a bottle of Windex Multi-surface cleaner, Fantastik window cleaner, two cans of Pledge Multi-surface, a container of Damp-Rid, a 21 oz. canister of Bar Keeper's Friend, two cans of regular Scrubbin Bubbles, a can of Scrubbin Bubbles Mega Shower foamer, a bottle of 409, two boxes of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and an 85 watt Energy Star light bulb (not pictured). I won't have to buy much in the way of cleaning supplies for the next few months!

After coupons, rebates and Register Rewards, my grand total from both stores was $2.16. I used my P&G gift card (Meijer had a promotion a while back, spend $40 on P&G items, get a $10 prepaid MasterCard), so it didn't cost me a dime out-of-pocket.

My charity bin is slowly growing. I know it isn't much, but so far I have: a tube of Colgate toothpaste, three boxes of 18 ct. Playtex tampons, various lip balms, two bottles of shower gel, a stick of men's Right Guard deodorant, two bottles of Gain dish soap, and a Schick razor. The best part? I have gotten all of these items at no cost, only paying the sales tax. This will keep growing until Christmastime, when I'm hoping to have my storage bin full of personal care items to donate to the church pantry, although I am debating waiting until the end of January. It seems like everyone gives during the holidays, but the donations drop off sharply after.

I am only posting this, and will continue to do so, because I know there are a lot of people of there who feel can't afford to give. I am one of them. I can't donate money, I live within a budget and every just about extra dollar is a dollar that goes toward a bill or something completely un-fun, including saving up for a house. I do, however, have a few bucks a week where I can and am willing to use coupons and get items paying only the sales tax. Over the last month, I have purchased several items at very little cost to myself that will go a long way in my community. If there were twenty other church members who did this, the pantry would be stocked regularly. Helping isn't just throwing money at a problem...

Coupon Savings starting 10/10/10

I never thought I'd be one of those crazy coupon shoppers, with the five inch 3 ring binder, coupons organized in baseball card holders in order by aisle. Turns out, they're not crazy, they are really, really smart. And I want to be like them! My boyfriend, TJ, says that watching me clip coupons makes him feel more normal. Apparently, I get a crazy, afflicted look in my eyes with scissors in hand.



Today TJ and I made a quick trip to our local Kroger. The only reason I go is because they double coupons up to $1.00. My other option, Meijer, only doubles up to $.50. I'd rather be shopping at Meijer, but Kroger has better deals most of the time. I've always hated my Kroger store. Nothing seems to be in any intuitive order, it smells funny and the employees are generally rude and unhelpful. Last week, when I pulled out my coupons, the cashier actually rolled her eyes at me. Maybe it wasn't anything personal, maybe it was because my coupon 'organization' looks like a chaotic mess compared to the coupon veterans out there - I have an old Ziploc baggie, which I am sure I paid full price for somewhere along the line. I didn't buy a lot of items today, so I didn't have to deal with Ms. Attitude at the checkout. I LOVE the self-scan registers.

This week, Kroger has Hamburger Helper on sale 10 for $10, Playtex Gentle Glide tampons (18 ct.) for $2.50, Colgate toothpaste for $1.88 and jarred Heinz Gravy 4 for $5. All of the items like decent prices in their own right; 61 cents off a box of Hamburger Helper, $1.87 off tampons, $.61 off Colgate toothpaste (and 3 cents off the gravy, which is a negligible savings). I bought 9 boxes of Hamburger Helper, 2 boxes of 18 c. tampons, 1 tube of Colgate and 3 jars or Heinz Gravy.  Regular price was $19.48. Using coupons, my 15 items came to a grand total of $6.74. This isn't as good as getting $200 worth of groceries for 67 cents like a lot of people out there, but I will  take it. I may have done a little dance in the parking lot.

Last week's trip to Kroger was more amazing to me. I bought: three boxes of PopTarts, two packs of Kraft singles, two packs of Philadelphia cream cheese, three boxes of those new Pillsbury Savorings things (I made a box of the cheese & spinach last week. They are delish!),  four 1 pound boxes of Ritz crackers, 3 4-pack Yoplait yogurts, 3 Stouffers Corner Bistro meals, two 30 oz. jars of Kraft mayo, 1 box of Mueller whole grain pasta and 12 cans of Progresso soup. My pretax total was $71.21. I paid $22.15 after tax and coupons.

After I finished dancing in the parking lot and putting my cart back in the corral, we jumped in the car (I jumped in, TJ  begrudgingly dropped into his seat) and headed to Walgreens. I bought some Biore nose strips and a bottle of Biore facial cleanser, two 20 count packages of Halls cough drops, and 6 Renuzit air fresheners for a total $22.98. After my coupons, the total was $4.71. I received six dollars in Register Rewards, so depending on how you look it, I actually made $1.29 just for taking some of their merchandise home with me.

Last week at Walgreens, I bought Vick's DayQuil & NyQuil, three Nivea lip balms, a Venus embrace razor, two Schick 5 blade razors (TJ tells me 5 blades is very important), and a new pair of latex gloves for $27.36. I received 18 dollars in Register Rewards, for a total of $9.36. That's less than the cough syrup I needed to buy anyway!

I know I will not use some of the items I buy at super-cheap prices. For instance, in the last month, I have gotten two tubes of Colgate for free, using the sale price and coupon at Kroger. I am, however, very picky about my toothpaste and only use Crest. I have a Rubbermaid tote left from my college days which I am putting these items in. Whenever it's full or whenever I feel up to it, I will take these items to my parent's church for donations. It really gets me thinking, if everyone in town who doesn't use Colgate purchased a tube with a coupon and just donated it to some organization, I wonder how many more families would be able to brush their teeth...