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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Pennies In My Pocket

I've been seriously couponing for 2 months now and although it takes time to get organized and to go and shop I've found that I can come home with bags full of stuff and only pay with the change in my purse. It's true, I promise!

Example: Last week I bought 46 packages of diapers at Walgreens and I only paid tax on them! How? Well, there was another deal where I could buy a Diabetes monitor which was free after using a coupon, no tax in NY on Diabetes monitors, then the store had (still has) a promotion where if you buy that product (Bayer Breeze2 Blood Glucose Monitor) they will give you back $5 off your next purchase. I took all those $5 store credit coupons and used them to buy my diapers. So here's how it worked, I paid nothing for the monitor, got $5 back and used it to buy 2 packages of diapers that were $2.50 a pack. Yes, I've bought A LOT of monitors in the past month to be able to do this. All these coupons were available in the Sunday papers and I also bought extras from couponsthingsbydede.com. (there are other websites where you can purchase Sunday paper coupons too).

Another example: Today I bought several containers of Target hand soap that cost $.09+tax after a target coupon! You know I stocked up! I also picked up lots of FREE Kraft BBQ sauce and FREE McCormick marinades, FREE Kotex, FREE Lint Rollers, FREE Wet Ones, FREE hand sanitizer, FREE Axe Shower Gel and even FREE Hershey's Bliss candy bars. I only paid tax on all these items. Wouldn't you prefer to only pay tax on the things you use? I would and that's why when these deals come around I stock up.

It takes a month or two to build your stockpile and then be able to only buy health and beauty items and household items when they are either free or super cheap.

If you are just starting out I would HIGHLY recommend starting with either Walgreens or CVS. Every week they offer 1-4 items for free (after store credit - ECBs for CVS and Register Rewards for Walgreens). If you want to get started and don't know how, let me know and I can help you. Health and Beauty and also Household items have the highest dollar off coupons and if you can get them for free or cheap it will free up a lot of money for other things in your budget. Several weeks ago I was able to stock up on Nivea Bodywash from Walgreens - all FREE+tax. Now we don't need to buy body soap for months...or until another great deal comes around.

If you plan carefully and get organized you can grow your stockpile in no time and shop only once or twice a week.

Let me know if you have any questions or need some help! I'd love to take a companion with me on my outings :)

I'll post a picture of my 2 month old stock pile tomorrow.

2 comments:

Alaska said...

I bite. We'll have to come over and hang out so you can show me how. Tell me what to bring and I'll come try it out. The problem I have is we don't use a lot of the stuff they make coupons for (beauty supplies, meat stuff/seasonings) so I end up buying stuff I don't use and end up donating...so I'll take some help. Free handsoap, yes!

Rachel and Tyler said...

You should tell me your plan for the week sometime and Ill try it out or go with you. I am good at living on a budget but never been a coupon clipper- might as well learn sometime!

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