Coupons are Awesome and I Love Them So Much
I’m absolutely about to explode with all the things I’m excited about at the moment. Truly, if you told me when I was eighteen that my life would be reduced to being giddy over CVS Extra Bucks or Friday nights at home in front of the television I would have thrown myself headlong off the nearest bridge.
Thankfully, that girl grew up a little and is now learning to direct her energies toward something more constructive than teasing her spiral perm to new heights and making sure her Chevrolet Beretta is spotless for cruising Brainerd Road.
Man, I loved that car. But that’s a story for another day.
So I’ve been on a coupon kick. As I look at that sentence I realize it’s really an understatement. I’ve become obsessed with getting one over on The Man. In this case, The Man could be defined as the retail establishment which grossly overcharges on family necessities such as Diet Coke and toilet paper. My friend Michaelle has been teaching me the beauty of combing coupons with sale items and DUDE – I got some deals this week:
At CVS I bought $20 of Duracell batteries and got $15 Extra Bucks back. That’s like getting 32 batteries for $5! The other things I bought with my Bucks were free and also had Bucks with them so basically I’m rolling in free stuff from CVS right now. Oh I just love working the system. Michaelle, you’ve created a monster.
I also went to Walmart where they have Land o Lakes REAL butter 2/$4. I had 55 cent off coupons so I got my butter for 1.45! All the Chex cereals have been on sale for $1.68. I had coupons for $1.00 off of two boxes so I got my Chex Mix for $1.18. But that isn’t even the best thing. I had a $1.00 coupon for Kellogg cereal. Rice Krispies that I needed for a recipe were on sale for $2.36. The cereal box had a peely coupon for a dollar off any marshmallows. Marshmallows were on sale for a dollar. Sooo…I got my cereal for 1.36 and a free bag of marshmallows. You know what’s crazy? NO ONE IN MY FAMILY EVEN LIKES MARSHMALLOWS. But they were FREE so who cares??
Bwahahahahahahaaa…
So tell me, am I the only newbie coupon freak out here? Do you pros know of any great deals/tricks you want to share with the rest of us? Lay it on us. We can handle the truth. By the way, my friend Deb turned me on to a great little blog that gives all kinds of money saving tips. What’s cool is that this girl lives in my dad’s town. Go check out The Centsible Sawyer. Your wallet will thank you.
The Man will not.
Happy, happy Monday!
p.s. My yard sale went great even though it was devastatingly cold. Thanks for your well wishes and offers of hot chocolate and coffee. The warmth of your thoughts got me through the day.
Okay, not really. I was still cold but I do sincerely appreciate your cheering me on.
I remember that spiral perm……not so much the beretta…..
You all should come to uncle Richard’s on Friday evening.
Would love to see you!
Darn — no CVS in our area. Alas, no Bucks for me! :)
I was bragging about my coupon deals last night! I had a dollar off cascade and a dollar off deodorant!! I was so excited I bought a 2 liter coke with the money I saved (I don’t ever buy cokes!!) LOL!!!
Lord, woman how have you been feeding four kids without coupons. Clip and use competitors ads then off to Wal-Mart. Coupons for everywhere…..
http://www.flamingoworld.com/retail
You crack me up!! I love a good sale and when you have coupons…look out! The marshmallow thing slayed me. LOL Something I would do…free is free!! You go girl!!!
Love you,
Patty
I’ve been into the whole coupon thing recently too! It’s my new hobby. No CVS for me though…huge bummer!
I am so with you on the coupon thing..not using those is like just burning money… And now with the economy like it is, it is such a big deal.
Your marshmellow comment made me think of a book I read by Ellie Kay years ago (Shop, Save And Share)..she talks about couponing and how it help her build her pantry…not only for her family but to have stocks of things that could be used to bless others that needed it to.
ALSO, if you haven’t…check out http://www.thegrocerygame.com…you can try it out for $1..it has saved me lots of time by match great deals with current coupons and my local stores.
Hugs,
Debbie
I don’t think we have a CVS but back in the day…when we were first married…I couponed everything…If I didn’t have a coupon for it – forget it we bought generic! But now that I am older and more “sophisticated” I don’t use coupons. WHY? I ask – like if I shop at Kroger and they give me that great little discount just because I have their special little card – I can save up to like $30. Well thats enought to go get a manicure. So come on girls lets learn to save some more!!! -Laurie
I love http://www.moneysavingmom.com She highlights great deals not only at CVS, but also at Walgreens, Walmart, and grocery stores!
You know I do!!! I don’t have a CVS but I do have a Walgreens and that is one wonderful store too!!!
Make Rice Krispie treats with those the cereal and marshmallows. I got the same deal ($1 coupon and peely on box) and my kids were in heaven when I made them dessert!!
You go girl!!!
I heart the Beretta. Mine was an ’88 white with navy interior. Best car I ever owned. Wish I still had it. :)
I’m a total coupon newbie AND totally obsessed as well!!! My husband tells his co-workers about my deals and they want me to teach them!
If you don’t have CVS(which I don’t) Walgreens is just as awesome! I’ve been MAKING money there! How cool is that?! I don’t like sugary cereal for my kids, but when the budgets tight and I hit a Safeway sale where Kellogg cereals are $1.88 and I have a $1 off coupon for each box, PLUS safeway has the double coupon up to $.50 that made 10 boxes of cereal .38 cents each!!! whoo hoo! The Centsible Sawyer is good.
http://www.stretchingabuckblog.com/
http://southernsavers.com/
http://www.thethriftymama.com/
Here’s a few good frugal deal finding blogs that almost do the work for you and there’s a ton more out there. Most of them have posts about walgreens 101 and cvs 101, etc. etc.
ok…I’ll be done now:)
I have not jumped into the whole coupon thing yet. I am into being frugal but for some reason have never used them a whole lot. We do not have a CVC or CVS or whatever it’s called.
I have yet to shop at Walgreens but I keep meaning to. I know when I do I will drive my hubby mad with all my yakking about the money I saved. Oh well, to bad!
Girl! How in the world have you survived without coupons??? If you shop in the town across the state line and down the mountain they have DOUBLE COUPONS…AND a CVS. Double score!
You go girl…work that system! Make Dave Ramsey proud!
Hi Lisa, I’m a firm believer in coupons and last month I turned in $120 in coupons at WalMart and WalGreens. I have a 3 ring binder with photo clear plastic pages in it divided by beverages, breakfast, baking, etc. All my coupons go in it and on Sunday afternoon or Monday I file all of the ones from Sunday’s paper. That’s also when Walgreens ad comes out so I check it for coupons and sales. http://www.moneysavingmom.com is my favorite blog for posting the deals from Walgreens, WalMart, Kroger, etc. I don’t have a CVS but I get great deals at other places. When it’s a really good deal I buy extras and put in my “charity” basket. We have a place here that serves lunch to the homeless so I send stuff there – not just food, but also shampoo, soap, etc. Often the really good deals are for brands I don’t use but I buy them anyway for my basket – if you have no shampoo at all any brand will be welcome. blessings, marlene
Ok, first off…my first ever car was a Beretta, and I thought I was the coolest thing ever. Loved it.
They are building a CVS about a block from my house, and I can’t wait to start getting all these great deals y’all keep talking about!
Hi Lisa,
I am not a newbie with coupons… My children think I am a coupon freak actually. But, I just had to comment.
I am a huge “grocery gamer”. I love a bargin. As a matter of fact… this past week my trip to Harris Teeter was enough to make the cashier comment… I bought $248 worth of stuff for ONLY $108. Now that is better than drugs… And I am with you… if they are going to give it to me for FREE… I’ll take it.
Check it out… it is addictive.
Lynn
I’m so impressed with all your savings… mostly the free marshmallows. I just love marshmallows and believe they need their own food group — along with chocolate.
I’m not much of a coupon queen, but I’m off to check out some of your links….
I can sooooo relate with you on the coupons! Coming from a house with two toddlers, we live for coupons! I pricematch @ walmart everyweek..even if i’m not exactly needing something, if it’s less than half the price, i stock up!! :) I get everyone’s sale papers from the sunday paper and so on, then i make out my grocery list, find where its the cheapest and take that sale paper with me to walmart and they ALWAYS match the price!! Oh yeah and then you can use your coupons after you pricematch to get additional mulah off…! I’m loving free shampoo, conditioners, candles, air freshners, etc., etc., etc…right now! I try to get everyone I know to pricematch! I save lots and lots of money! :)
I am a fan of coupons too! That Land O Lakes butter, I bought 7 lbs. It freezes!
I love CVS. I won’t need to purchase shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, makeup, lotion, shower gel, etc. for a long time…unless, of course, I have a coupon for it! I have $50 ECB saved for the Black Friday deals!!
I love saving money with coupons, too, especially now in these uncertain times with the economy.
Did you know that if you shop at Kroger, you can go to http://www.kroger.com and download coupons to use to your little Kroger card? And you can still use the same paper coupon. . .I get triple coupons that way because Kroger doubles everything $.50 and under.
Check out these great blogs if you haven’t already:
http://www.dealseekingmom.com
cvsstealsandotherdeals.blogspot.com
Happy Couponing!
It’s sad that I have went this long without blogging but hey, better late than never!
Apparently you didn’t read my blog on my coupon obsessing days….
Walgreens ROCKS!!!!
Whats really rocks is when they have buy one get one free on certain items and you have two of the same coupon. Well you still get one free AND you get to use both coupons which ends up knocking off double on the one item you are paying for!!!!
I got Madeline a Schick razor that is regular 8.99 for 1.99 by using the Walgreens coupon and the Sunday paper coupon together!!!! CHA-CHING BABY hahahahaha