Couponing: Ready To Shop

*** I meant to have this out on Saturday, but life happened.  Just a little delayed.  Enjoy!:)

Well?  Have you started gathering coupons and looking at websites yet?  Are you ready for some great savings on things like food, toiletries and even toys?

Look at what some of my friends and family have been able to do when using coupons.

Heather G. was able to purchase all of the above for only $107.56.  All of this would have cost her over $664 had she not used coupons.  What a savings!

My SIL, Sara, bought all of the above for about $105.  (Not including my adorable nephew.  He's priceless!)  Plus, she is getting $77 back in rebates.  Go over to her blog, Striving To Be a Good Stewart, and get the goods on how she did it.

I posted a picture on Thursday's post showing my purchase from Walgreens the previous week.  My purchase there totaled $74.65.  Below is the receipt.  I didn't have any Register Rewards (RR) to use, but I did receive $24 in RR for my next purchase.  (Walgreens Register Rewards are Catalina coupons which print up separately from your register receipt after you purchase qualifying items. The Register Rewards can be used like cash on your next purchase.)*

In the Saint Louis area, there isn't much choice which drugstore you shop.  CVS recently came to the area, but Walgreens is the most prevalent. So, that is where I go.  :)

Now.  Here is how I get ready to shop.

First thing to do is look through the fliers.  See what's on sale.  Is it a good price?  Will you use it?  I mean, really, unless the thing is free, there's no point in spending money on something you won't use.

Next, I get on Savings Angel.  This is my favorite site for helping me with my shopping list.  It's just personal opinion.  SA allows me to move the items around on my list, delete items I've changed my mind on and even change the number of items I want to get.  Then I can print off a list that is nicely ordered and ready to go.  I can even search for what coupons might be out there for a certain item.

Get a list.  What items do you need?  Are there things on sale that would be good to go ahead and stockpile so you don't run out later?

After you compile your list, start gathering your coupons.  I buy either 3 or 4 papers each weekend.  This allows me to buy multiples of a sale item at a good price.  Example?  Ever buy Hamburger Helper at 25 cents a box?  Truly worth the price of a couple of extra papers.

Each store has different a different coupon policy.  Make sure you know the policy before going in to shop.  Walgreens will only allow as many coupons as items.  CVS will allow more, but you have to be careful the order the cashier rings them up.  Most sites, like CouponMom and SA, have all this information listed out for users and put together much better than I can do.

I thought I would go through my shopping trip to give you an idea of what I did and what I saved.

Purchased:
Fusion ProGlide Razor - $9.89 (sale)
3 Bayer Asprin - $2.99 each
Pampers Wipes - $2.50 (sale)
2 Tampax Pearl - $5.29 each
MidNite - $7.99 (sale)
2 Gillette Body Wash - $4.99 each
6 Old Spice Deodorant - $2.99 each
2 4-pack AA Energizer Batteries - $2.99 each (sale)
2 Nature Made Fish Oil - $10.99 each
3 John Frieda Shampoo/Conditioner - $5.00 each (sale)
Pantene Shampoo - $4.00 (sale)
Pantene Mousse - $4.00 (sale)

Total Before Coupons = $134.01

Coupons Used:
$4 ProGlide
Walgreens coupon for Bayer Asprin reducing price to $.99 each (limit 3)
3 - $1 Bayer Asprin
$ 2 Pampers
Tampax sale Buy One get One 1/2 off
$ 2 Tampax
$ 1 Tampax
$ 1 Midnite
BOGO Gillette Body Wash ($4.99 saved)
$ 2 Energizer
$ 2 Energizer
BOGO Nature Made sale ($10.99 saved)
$ 2.50 Nature Made
$ 2.50 Nature Made
$ 2 John Frieda
$ 2 John Frieda
$ 2 John Frieda
$ 1 Pantene Shampoo/Conditioner
$ 1 Pantene Style Product

Total Out of Pocket after Coupons: $69.17 + tax

Register Rewards (RR) received: $24 to use on next purchase
$2 for Midnite (buy 1)
$10 for Gillette ($25 purchase)
$5 for ProGlide (buy 1)
$2 for Pantene (buy 2)
$5 for John Frieda (buy 3)

Quite a savings!  Another way to save is to break your list up into multiple transactions.  This would allow you to use the RR from one transaction immediately on the next transaction.  Do be careful as a P&G RR cannot be used to purchase other P&G products with RR.

Okay.  Now.  Go out and do some major shopping!  I would love to hear about any of your shopping successes, too.  Either comment here or got to the Facebook page and leave a comment there.  Have fun!


*http://couponing.about.com/od/beautyandhealth/a/walgreens.htm