Couponing Chronicles Part 4

Ah...  Yet another grocery shopping adventure with coupons!  I had a whole bunch that needed used up before March 31 so I loaded up my hubby and my baby and off we went to the local grocery store.  I was VERY excited because this was my first trip actually stacking coupons and I couldn't wait to try it out to see what the savings would be!

My favorite coupon deal was going to be the store coupon for $3.50 off Gillette Men's Deodorant (Retail is $3.99) and buy one Gillette Men's Deodorant and get a Gillette Men's Body Wash FREE.  So instead of spending $8 on a body wash and deodorant, I ONLY SPENT $.49!  WOOO!!!  I also had a $1 off Old Spice deodorant and a buy one deodorant and get a body wash free.  So instead of paying $6.88 for a deodorant and body wash I ONLY SPENT $2.69!  Lets us say that hubby has enough deodorant and body wash to last him a while! :)

My other favorite coupons were for the Gerber 1st Foods.  I had $.55 off one and $1 off when you buy 4.  Well they're only $.95 to begin with so instead of spending $3.80 I ONLY SPENT $1.80 (Our store doubles coupons up to $1)!

I signed up to get information on Happy Baby products and in turn they sent me a coupon to get one item FREE up to $3.99!  So I bought the most expensive thing allowed which was organic oatmeal.  Instead of spending $3.99 I ONLY SPENT $0!!!  Its really worth signing up for coupons with manufacturers.  They usually have great coupons right from the source!

So at the end of the day:

TOTAL BEFORE SAVINGS: $74.43
BONUSCARD SAVINGS: $4.70
COUPON SAVINGS: $25.13

GRAND TOTAL (After tax): $46.64!!!

THAT WAS A TOTAL SAVINGS OF $29.83!!!!!!



Do you see how much we've saved JUST THIS YEAR for using our store's Bonuscard?  Amazing!!!

How do I find such great coupons?  Well my mom has so kindly donated her weekly Sunday newspaper which is by far the greatest place to find the most coupons to clip.  Ask neighbors, friends, family to save their coupon ads for you and you can use one coupon per item (Although some places let you use one coupon for multiple items.  Check with your local store for their coupon policies!).

My favorite deal-seeking websites:

http://www.coupons.com - This has a lot of the Sunday coupons but also has a great compilation of internet-only coupons in one place.  All you do is check mark the box next to the coupon you want and it will print them all at once when you're done coupon "shopping"!

http://www.budgetsavvydiva.com - This woman is absolutely amazing!  She updates her site/Facebook page every hour on the hour with amazing deals that she finds across the internet and circulars.  I highly recommend "liking" her on Facebook since she updates whenever she finds a great deal.  I've found a lot of my free trial coupons through her!

http://www.weusecoupons.com  - This is a forum of avid and newbie couponers who share their shopping trips and the best coupons they can find.  "Like" them on Facebook and they update your page with new and hot entries by fellow couponers to know when the latest deal is going down.  I LOVE this site because they actually have a lot of local grocery store shoppers on there so I can find the latest deals and steals at my local grocery store :)