Friday, June 5, 2009

An example...

Before I get into the whole system, I thought I would post some examples of some of my shopping trips, to give you a true idea of the money that can be saved! 

This is a trip I took about a month after I started couponing. Within the first month I learned SOOO much and have, since, started making bigger trips and saving even more. This example is just to show you how much you can save and then you can decide for yourself if you want to give this a try.


Here is the photo and details of everything I bought in this trip...


2 - Planters Big Nut Bars (5ct box)
3 - Jell-o Gelatin (big boxes)
McCormick GrillMates seasoning
4 - Country Time Lemonade canisters
4 - Kraft Bagelfuls
5 - California Pizza Kitchen Flatbread Melts
5 - Oscar Meyer Lunchables
2 - 11.5oz Maxwell House Coffee canister
2 - Tazo Specialty Teas (20ct)
Kraft BBQ Sauce
4 - Kraft Pasta Salads
3 - Crystal Light canisters
2 - Quaker Life Cereal
3 - Cap n' Crunch Cereal
2 - Frigo String Cheese
2 - International Delight Coffee Creamer
2 - Pepperidge Farm Garlic Toast
Albertson's brand french bread loaf
5 - Bayer Quick Release Crystals
2 - 6 double roll Angel Soft
2 lbs red seedless grapes
Lil Sips drink (for Weston)
Mentos
(because my toddler decided to bite off the end of one of them so I had to buy it. Lol)

That's 59 BRAND NAME (aside from the french bread) items that I bought at Albertsons. The total for this trip would have cost me $243.29, however, I paid a whopping....

drumroll please...

$39.77! I saved $203.52 or 84%!

Here are a couple of trips to Walgreens:


This was my trip from yesterday. Here is a list of what I got:

4 - Oust air sanitizer
2 - Planter's Trail Mix
2 - Curel Lotions
1 - Thermacare neck/shoulder patch
4 - LifeSavers bagged candy
4 - Butterfinger candy bars
1 - Colgate MaxWhite toothpaste
2 - RoC Multi-Correction exfoliating scrub
6 - Aveeno Active Naturals lotion (2.5oz)
4 - Aveeno baby Soothing Relief Cream (plus they had bonus samples attached)
1 - Olay Definity Foaming UV Moisturizer
1 - Clean & Clear Foaming wash
1 - Clean & Clear Astringent

Total these items would have cost me on any regular given day...$158.69. I paid...$37.20, PLUS I was then able to submit for a $10 rebate! So I got $10 of that back! Pretty awesome, huh? That makes it like paying $27.20, so a savings of $131.49 or 83%!
My OOP would have been even lower had I remembered to bring a $5 Register Reward that I had from previous week (I left it in the bag at home).


 

Would you believe that on the above items I only paid $.52?? Well, I did! And on top of that, I received $26 back in Walgreens Register Rewards to use same-as-cash on a future Walgreens purchase! 

The total this SHOULD have cost me? $52.60! I saved $52.08, or 99%! :)
(For more on shopping at one of my FAVORITE stores, Walgreens, click HERE)
 I did this by simply combining the coupons I had from the newspaper, online, and other various sources with the deals the store was having on this particular week. Are you simply amazed? I know I was when I started realizing this is the kind of money I could be saving my family! Alright, so that was your little dose of "WOW" to get you excited. Now we'll start delving into the process and hopefully you'll join me for the ride! :) Click HERE to go to my Coupons 101 page to learn more about how to use coupons to save you tons of money on groceries, or click HERE to jump to the Coupon Vocabulary page with useful info on some of the terms used on this site (and others like it) to help you understand better.

I know you may be looking at those photos and thinking..."THAT'S what she feeds her family!?" Well, yes and no. Even though I bought 3 boxes of "sugary" cereal, that doesn't mean that's what I'm feeding my children every morning. I simply stock up when items are at their lowest prices and now that amount will last me months, sometimes a whole year or MORE! By stocking up on items that I can with coupons and getting them for super cheap or FREE, I am able to then spend the rest of my weekly budget on produce and fresh fruit and veggies. I just don't usually post about all of the extra produce and perishables I'm purchasing because this site is focused on the coupon deals and money-saving coupons. I just don't want you to think that I just feed my children junk! In fact, I post a Weekly Menu Plan (which has helped me save even MORE money for my family) you can see just what I AM feeding my family. You can check out more about how and why I plan my family's meals HERE.

You can also check out my weekly "Price Check" series to see price comparisons between items we get for free or cheap using coupons vs. what you pay for Walmart's Great Value brand (which those who don't coupon think can't be beat). 

9 comments:

  1. you should break it down, and show how much you paid for each item.. thats what i like. =) it mind boggles me!.. but good job on your blog.. can't wait to read more!!.. and see more shoppin trips.. its the best part.

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  2. Wow this is awesome! I looked over this weeks and the deals needed a lot of the past coupons, which of course I don't have.

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  3. Actually, you'd be surprised to know that I only used newspaper coupons for a couple of items. Almost everything I bought with coupons I used internet printables from coupons.com! I didn't have a lot of the newspaper coupons called for either, as I've only been doing this for a couple of weeks...

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  4. I would like to see how much you paid for each item too. I did my first shopping trip and noticed that I didn't get the angel soft paper for what grocerysmarts said I would get it for, does this happen to you? but over all I brought 29.63 for 11.27 so did I do okay?

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  5. I will start doing posts where I break each trip down, tell which coupons I used for what and how much I paid for each item, but am still trying to get the blog up and running with the basics. This trip was just posted to show people how much money can be saved.

    Seirra...as far as the Angel Soft, how much did you wind up paying for it? Did you use the $.50 off 1 coupon PLUS group it together as part of the Kraft promo to get $3 off your purchase of $10 or more? That is how grocery smarts determines the final price when an item is part of a promo. It calculates what you will pay if you do the promo PLUS use the coupon...if you did both of those things, then I'm not sure what could have happened. Did you scan your preferred card?

    With how much you paid, you had a savings of about 62% so I would say you definitely did ok, especially for your first trip. You will see the savings increase over time as your stockpile of food, as well as your experience, increases...hang in there!

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  6. I am still amazed by your purchases. So far in my last few trips, I mess up on a few things, like not getting the correct brand of something and end up paying a little bit more for certain items...but I am still either saving about 50% on each shopping trip or saving more money than I spent...Which is fantastic!

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  7. Its happened to me too.. i have accidentally grabbed the wrong size or one that wasn't part of the promo.. and lost out on that instant amount that comes off.. make sure you read your coupons WELL.. on sizes and specifics.. Im still learning as well.. but that is one of the most important things i've learned recently... =) thought i would throw that out there for your readers Ali. im lovin this blog.. keep updating.. im waiting..lol.

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  8. You guys, DO NOT be afraid to question things at checkout! The cashiers are usually really helpful trying to help you straighten things out. If it's an error on your part as far as getting the wrong items or something along those lines, pull aside after you ring up, figure out exactly what went wrong and go to customer service! They are GREAT about helping you figure it out and correcting the problem. I have made so many mistakes it's not even funny..pretty much at least one a trip, and I've gone to customer service and they've helped me out. One time I was trying to do a promo and grouped one of the items with the wrong group of $10 and so missed out on two separate $4 instant offs, and I went to customer service afterward, explained what I did wrong, and she helped me out and refunded me the $8! So...please don't be afraid to try to get the problem corrected...it's how you learn what to do (or what not to do) next time! Hope that helps!

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  9. Super-Duper site! I am loving it!! Will come back again - taking you feeds also, Thanks.

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