Coupon crazy

I have to confess to a bit of a small obsession I am developing (no thanks to my friend Taryn!). Couponing. Yes, apparently it is a verb (at least in the "Q" world). A few weeks ago, I had great fun making the Harris Teeter Super Doubles event work for me (they doubled coupons up to $1.98).

The first trip I was content, but I knew I could have done better. I got all this for $12.10.


That is:
Jack Daniels BBQ sauce (free!)
French's spicy brown mustard (9 cents)
Lawry's herb & garlic marinade (39 cents)
Dannon Danactive (free!)
Two boxes of Earth's Best organic graham sticks ($2)
Berio EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) ($2.99)
Bertolli spaghetti sauce (89 cents)
Two bags of Synder's pretzels ($3)
Three boxes of Uncle Ben's rice ($2.77)
Kellogg's Frosted Miniwheats (14 cents)
Klondike krunch bars (got this because it was free! Couldn't resist!)

And I realized when I went to the Commissary a few days later that I could have done better on the pretzels and rice, but whatever. It was still good! I used $31.81 in coupons (and doubling) and $10.86 in VIC savings.

And then I went back a couple days later and got all of this for $6.80!


Reynolds wrap (75 feet) - 97 cents
Jack Daniels BBQ sauce (free)
Hefty tall kitchen trash bags, qty 45 ($3.15)
Two boxes of Hefty one-zip gallon size storage bags ($1 each)
Two Lawry's marinades (39 cents each)
Bounty paper towel roll (free)
Lipton family size tea bags (29 cents)
McCormick's ground cinnamon ( free!)
McCormick's dried oregano (55 cents)
McCormick's dried parsley (free)
Uncle Ben's jasmine ready rice (free)
J&J Reach dental floss (59 cents)
Borden Sensations pepperjack cheese (free)
Dannon Danactive (free)
Band-Aids (55 cents)

That was $38.03 in coupons (and $7.56 in VIC savings). :-) Trey was pretty impressed. I love saving money.

Without super coupon events, I still do okay. Like today, for example, I don't do nearly as well as my friend Taryn who pays $20 to get $90 of groceries...but I paid $20 to get over $60 in groceries. So not bad, right? I got this (oops just realized I forgot to include the cold stuff)...


(Items bought but not pictured are three cups of Stoneyfield organic yogurt (cost about 75 cents for the three) and a 16 oz bag of Kraft shredded cheddar cheese (for $1.99)

It's getting late so I'll skip the individual prices, but the highlights were that Publix paid me $1.43 to buy three boxes of Band-Aids, the three boxes of crayons (24 count) were $1, humongous mayonaise (which at the rate we use it will never get used, but oh well..) was 85 cents; 1.5 liter Listerine for $1.99 (retail price$5.19) and five Propel fitness waters for FREE!

I don't like to think I've ever learned much from reality TV, but I remember watching an episode of Jon & Kate plus 8 (before they were wealthy), where Kate said that her job as a stay-at-home-mom is to try to save money for her family. I've enjoyed this new challenge. And the boys enjoy all the free balloons when I drag them along!

The key is to be prepared and organized...and that's a good challenge for me, too. I'm thankful my friend Taryn got me on this kick and I hope I can continue to save money that can be much better spent (or saved!) elsewhere!