Week 5 of the coupon madness

It is Sunday night, and I have already hit up three of the four stores I am planning on shopping at this week. However, as soon as I got home, I realized I have to go back to 2 of the 3 stores tomorrow. And I already went back to the 3rd store today-I forgot my wallet the first time I headed out and was at the register before I realized it. So I am probably spending all my savings for the week on gas.

First I went to Walgreens. I don't think I am going to become a Walgreens shopper, because their rebate program kind of freaks me out. I much prefer Rite-Aids program, where you buy your stuff and then they mail you a check with the money you earned.

Next I went to Meijer. I spent $34.47 and saved $38.10. That was mostly because Meijer is having some great deals on my favorite food category--junk food. I have such a sweet tooth, that I can hardly resist when I see sweets offered at a bargain price. I got Snickers and M&M ice cream treats for $1.19 each! My Keebler Grasshoppers and Fudge Stripe cookies were $0.75 each and I bought three other packages of cookies for $1.75 each with no coupons. I also bought 2 bottles of John Frieda shampoo for $5.75. Now really, that didn't save me money, because I usually just buy Suave for around $1, but it is fun to pamper oneself every once in a while too. Here's a pic of everything that I bought at Meijer:

I do need to go back to Meijer again because I meant to pick up some snacky stuff for Darin for when we are in Minnesota next week. He doesn't have a huge sweet tooth, but he loves Buffalo Hot Wing flavored pretzels and I have coupons for those very same things that have to be used this week!

After Meijer, I ran into Target. I had to make it quick because my ice cream treats were melting. Once again I was reminded of why I try to avoid Target at all costs. They just have so much stinking cute stuff, and it seems inexpensive, but if I bought one "inexpensive" thing every time I went in the store, which would be super tempting, my children would go hungry. They also have such yummy looking snacky stuff. For example, I bought these Key Lime flavored cookies tonight because they were on sale for $2.50 and after being in Key West last year, I really love Key Lime flavored things. Did I need another package of cookies?? No! I had just bought 6 packages of cookies at Meijer AND 2 at Walgreens! It is a sickness people.

I need to go back to Target because I forgot to get my free 2 liter of Diet Coke that I was supposed to get for buying a DiGiorno Pizza (with a coupon, of course). If I didn't have to go back to Meijer to look for snacks, I would just forget about the Diet Coke because with the cost of gas right now, it wouldn't make sense. So tomorrow while Tyson is at VBS, Jori and I will be heading to Meijer, Target and Family Fare so I can get my 88 cent eggs to make cake for my Birthday BOY and Birthday GIRL!

Shopping Week 4

This morning we went to K-mart. I would normally not go to K-mart because it is out of the way, but they were having a double coupon offer, and I had read about some pretty good deals. Mistake #1: I had the kids with me. This is a BIG No-No, especially when it is getting close to lunch time. (Seriously, what was I thinking??) Mistake #2: I went to the Holland K-mart. Their customer service was not so great and once we got in line it took forever. They also overcharged me, so I had to go back into the store with my crazy children, and then when I got home I realized the bill was STILL wrong. I also lost my cell phone, and I am pretty sure some K-mart shopper has it. Just not a fun experience.

I did get a few good deals though. I spent just under $30 the first time I was in the store. I got a $3 off coupon when I checked out. Then, when I realized my bill was wrong, I went back into the store and decided to get something with my coupon. I found a $2 off coupon by the Banana Boat sunscreen (thanks to whoever left it there!) so with that doubled and the $3 off, I got a spray can of sunscreen for a dollar and some change! For the $30 I spent the first time I got another spray can of sunscreen, 2 fun hair products that I would not have normally purchased, mascara and eye liner (for Evan and Jordan's wedding!), 5 deodorants, some sunless tanning lotion, Dove soap with a free sample of sunless tanning face lotion included, some Ziploc containers, cereal, toothpaste, and shower gel. A lot of these things I wouldn't normally buy, but they were things I have wanted to get, so I feel like it was a successful shopping trip. I saved over $50!

Tonight I went shopping ALONE to Meijer. First I stopped at McDonald's and got a FREE Carmel Frappe. It was my second FREE Frappe of the day. Gotta love those McDonald's coupons! I paid $80 for all of this:

This week, Meijer is having there buy 10 get the 11th free deal. You can mix and match all sorts of different items. I bought 3 bags of pretzels, 6 cans of chicken, 2 kool-aid 6 packs, 2 pkgs plastic bowls and 1 pkg of plastic plates, 2 cake mixes and two frostings (for the birthdays next week!), 2 bags of mini marshmallows, 2 4 packs of Kings Hawaiian rolls (I actually paid $0.25 each with my coupons!), and a few other 10 for 10 items. I got 2 packs of razors for $2.50 each, 4 boxes of cereal for $5 total, and I am too tired to figure out the rest. I saved $72.67 with coupons, promotions and non-coupon savings. Not as good as last week, but I am still happy with all the stuff I was able to buy and all the money that I saved.

More coupon fun!

Welcome to week three of my coupon clipping madness. Week one was fun, week two was a bust, and week three has me pumped!! The following two pictures show (almost) all the goods I bought tonight. The only thing missing is 2 24 packs of bottled water, which I got for FREE!

This top picture is all stuff that our family will use. I am so glad I had my handy coupon binder with me. There were a couple things on sale that I didn't see in the ad, like the 100 calorie packs, that I got for $0.50 each! Go me. The Dibs were on sale, but I didn't have a coupon. If my sweet sister Laurie remembers to mail me the coupons she told me about over the phone (yes, I called her to tell her about my grocery fun) I will be going back for more!
This picture is of stuff that our family will not use, although I did decide to keep a couple Crystal Lights. The rest will be going to a local food pantry. I know how badly the pantries around here (and all over) are hurting for food, and this is a great way to help them out and still keep our family budget under control.
So, the grand total for my shopping fun before savings (sales, in store coupons/promotions, manufacturer coupons) was $177.06. I ended up spending $79.63!!! Almost $100 in savings! If you live in the Grand Rapids area and want to start saving, check out Sarah's Blog!!! It does take some time, but this week made a whole lot more sense to me than the other two, so I am learning!

First trip to Meijer with coupons

I think that using coupons could easily become an addiction. Here are the things that I bought today using coupons.


The regular cost for these purchases would have been $29.28. I saved $13.50 and spent just under $16 for all of these things. I am pretty pumped about it. I bought three bottles of dressing for $1, the 3 pack razors for $1.49, I think I got both hot dogs for $1, the 2 cheese slices for $1.18 (total, not each!). I am way bummed because I came home and realized I could have saved even more. I am going to re-read Sarah's blog and try to figure out all the ways I could have saved. I even told someone in the store about her blog : )

I only bought things that we use or that we can donate to Love INC's food pantry. Hopefully next time I'll do even better!

In other news, this is what Jori wore yesterday to Pizza Hut. Darin was a little embarrassed because we picked him up at Innotec, but I have decided clothing battles are not worth the fight. This is her ballerina outfit. She likes to do "baller-ine" in it. I guess she's never heard of ballet.