Post by Katie:
Do you feel overwhelmed with all the couponing information out there? In this economy, everyone is looking for ways to cut back and save money and couponing is a great way to keep some cash in your pocket. But, we also live in a fast paced, busy world and clipping coupons, organizing, making lists, and shopping can be daunting. I was doing pretty good when I had just one child, then baby #2 came along 14 months ago and I am just now getting back into doing any couponing. But you know what? That is okay! You don’t have to do it all! Don’t feel like just because you can’t spend hours clipping and organizing that you shouldn’t do any couponing. You can still see big savings with part-time couponing!
We don’t have any of the big grocery stores nearby, so that’s not really an option for me when it comes to couponing, but we do have CVS and Walgreens. That means I DO NOT buy a paper each week for coupons, because I would probably end up spending more on the papers than I had coupons that I could use and really save big on. So, what do I do? I am always on the lookout for online coupons, sign up for emails for products that I prefer to use and “like” those product pages on Facebook. We are big on Proctor & Gamble products (Tide, Pampers, Pantene, Crest, etc) at our house, and they put out P&G Brand Saver inserts in the newspapers pretty regularly. I always buy a newspaper then and I’m able to get great deals and stay pretty well stocked on toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, detergent, dryer sheets, etc. just by shopping once or twice a month.
Here’s my small shopping trip from Walgreens today.
I divided these purchases into 2 transactions so I could use some of the Register Rewards (RR) on the 2nd transaction.
Transaction #1:
- Pantene Shampoo & Conditioner– 2/$7, get $2 RR; $3.00 off 2 coupon; Final price (including RR)=2/$2
- Crest pro-health toothpaste–2/$7, get $5 RR; two $1.00 coupons; Final price (including RR)= FREE!
- I paid $9.98 OOP and received $7 in RR to use for transaction #2.
Transaction #2
- Pampers Baby Dry, Cruisers, Swaddlers, or Easy Ups–2/$20, get $3 RR; $2 off 2 bags coupon; $2 off Walgreens coupon from Baby Care booklet (they applied this to BOTH packs, so it was $4 off both!!); Final Price (including RR)=$5.50/pack
- Tide–$5.99; $2 off coupon; Final Price=$3.99
- Hunts tomato sauce–3/$1 with in-ad coupon
- I paid $13.84 OOP, using previous $7 RR and received $3 RR for a later shopping trip
