Shopaholic and Couponing... What A Combo!

I have always loved shopping. It has gotten me into trouble sometimes, spending more than I should... but now with the addition of coupons, WOW!

I have been couponing since the end of April and I have already stockpiled more items in the food and personal categories than I ever could have imagined. I spend a significant amount of time doing it, since I am still relatively new at it, I won't lie ~ it can take a few hours reading blogs for tips or full lists of deals at grocery stores then matching the coupons before even going out the door... but WOW! The deals are seemingly endless!

In the last 2 days..
...I read about using a $1.50 off Dawn essentials Q at Target where it is on sale for $2.09 for 24 oz... this makes is $.59 OR 2.5 cents per oz. To purchase the same amount at BJ's which is where I used to shop... the 90 oz bottle would have to cost $2.25... NO WAY, not even with a coupon!! So, now I have 5 bottles of Dawn essentials and it cost me about 30 mins of my time.

...Then I read about the CVS moneymaker deal for buying the Style Science lens cleaning wipes for $.99 x 2 giving back a $10 ecb... well, did that this morning, took about 10 mins, made $8.02.

...I found the Publix "Family is It's Own Reward" coupon booklet with $25 in Unilever coupons including one for $1.50 off Breyers Ice Cream...combine that with the Target: buy 5 Breyers @ $2.50 get back a $5 gc.... FREE ice cream! Then I read about the Pace salsa being on sale at Target also, that when combined with the $2 off Q from a few weeks ago... FREE salsa!

Funny thing, I had my husband pick up some newspapers last week since I hadn't been able to.. he went to a box and when he grabbed the last two papers, he saw a coupon insert laying on the bottom... it was old and dried out...turns out it was from the week that had that $2 Pace Q!

Seems like I am destined to pwn couponing!

See is Believing

Since I have been couponing for about 5 weeks, my husband has heard me talk about all the savings and has been impressed. BUT... it seemed like he didn't quite get it when I wanted to do a quick run to Winn Dixie to use a $3.00 catalina I got for buying the Kraft BBQ sauce.

It was about 8:00 pm last night and I realized the Q was going to expire and I remembered they had some good deals, so I wanted to do a quick run through WD and then do a regular run at Publix. I wanted him to come along because the items from Winn Dixie would need to be refrigerated, so the grand plan was for him to drop me off at Publix, take the cold stuff home and come back to Publix. Well, he was tired and didn't want to go and he even said he would give me $3 to stay home, when I said no, he offered me $5!! LOL

He went along with it, cause I was set on going and sometimes shopping is a mini date for parents of two teens : ] We got everything on my list at Publix plus anything else he wanted, which was two giant watermelons and a couple of packages of the $1.99 lb pork ribs. Most stuff was bogo w/ coupon match ups, but not everything. The cart was full and we only paid ~$104.00, saved $145.00

He loved it : ]] about 100 bucks for a cart full of groceries which filled his car trunk... so now he really sees how I pwn couponing!

Procrastination Pays Off... sort of!

I usually try to get to CVS or Walgreens early on Sunday mornings since I live beachside in Central FL and those stores are at the main cross roads for visitors coming for a fun beach day.

I was not organized enough to get there early, so decided to wait. Then, I saw a post on southernsavers.com about the CVS buy 2 Neutrogena suncare products gb $10 ecb and how 1 oz size containers @ $1.99 ea were triggering the $10 ecb!!

Even though it was about 7 pm, I decided to get organized fast and see if I could find them at my store. I already had a $3 off/$15 from my email and a $5 off/$30 from the scanner, so I was preparing to make different deals depending on what I found.

NO LUCK at my store : [ I ended up buying 2 Neutrogena reg size, which my husband likes anyway, at the sale price and using my $3 off/ $15 and paying with some ecb... oop ~ $6.
I then used the $5 off/$30 to buy playtex w/q; nail polish w/q; sobe x4 w/bogo q's; soft scrub x4 w/bogo q's; St Ives scrub trial size x2 w/q's; J+J First Aid Kit travel size w/q; 3 bags CVS cotton balls... paying with the $10 ecb... my balance was -$1.89 and I had to buy some candy to bring it to oop $0.30!!!

Even though I did not get lucky with the moneymaker Neutrogena, I still cannot complain about getting all those products for about ~$6.00... BUT, that is not the end of the story...

Before I went on my trip, I was telling my friend Michele, a newbie, about the possible deal. She had been planning on going the next day. After my trip I texted her about our store not having the 1 oz size Neutrogena, so she decided to go to a different store today about 5 miles away and... they had the 1 oz size : ] ... so my procrastination paid off, for Michele!!

I didn't get the best deal but I still think... I pwn couponing!

Where to Start?

This question can apply to this blog and to the world of couponing!

One day back in April I clicked a link on a website that took me to this blog:
http://jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com/

As they say, the rest is history. I clicked around on her site and then found other sites and so it rolls... just like with coupons!!

I decided to give it a try and now 4 weeks later, I am having a blast...

• I have too many coupons to possibly use, soon to start sharing with others who want to have as much fun as me
  

• My pantry and utility closet are overflowing with food and household items, in a great way

• I get a thrill every time a deal works the way I planned it, and frustrated when it doesn't

• My thrill/frustration ration is > 75% now... way up from the first week of couponing
  

• One coworker was so excited (finally, I'd been bragging for weeks already) about my savings and info on how to do it, she wanted me to give her a seminar!

• I am currently stockpiling... so, I am getting more for my money while I can
  

• My bookmarked sites are up to about 25 right now; when I can, I will link you on my sidebar
  

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This week I'll be definitely by hitting

• Walgreens, but not for much : [
• CVS, they have great deals for Sun/Mon only : ]
• Publix, once again they have awesome BOGO deals and when matched w/coupons...who can pass it up?? : ]]

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I don't think I can get my budget down to $800 a year like Jane, but I already feel like I pwn couponing!