Free fabric softener and cupcakes!!!

Last night I made a trip to Walmart to do some Christmas shopping and picked up a few other needed items. I had coupons for $2.00 any Snuggle brand product, and there were boxes of softener sheets on the shelf for $1.87 each. I had 2 coupons, making them both free plus overage. Also, a while back I entered a contest and won a box of Little Debbie chocolate cupcakes, and I have been waiting to redeem my free coupon. As the ILs are taking us to Disney (minus gas to get there, food and any souveneirs), these will make a nice treat. I have been stocking up on cheap snacks to take with us, to help save a little bit of money.

So far in my box I have:
Little Debbie cupcakes
3 single serve bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios
cheese crackers
Chex Mix (4 bags)
Peanut Butter
Granola Bars (2 types)
Quaker True Delight bars
Chex Mix bars
Goldfish (2 bags)
Applesauce
Club crackers
Cheez-its (2 small boxes)
dried cranberries
dried fruit bits
raisins

Everything was pretty much either free or under $1, by using coupons.

Saturday's savings

Walgreen's this morning added $2.00 in coupon savings to my piggy bank's total. I used $1.00 off coupon on Lindsay olives and 2 (.50 off) Progresso soup coupons.

another $1.00 up

saved $1.00 on Hillshire farms lil' smokies at the store last night. I'll be wrapping them in crescent roll dough and eating them for lunch today!

Piggy has eaten $33.73 in coupons so far this month!

Quick catch-up

Haven't done much shopping lately as it's been so cold that I haven't wanted to go outside! However I did run to Walgreens this week and got a few items, mainly their free after RR deals. I did however purchase some Chinet paper plates that were on sale for 2.99 B1G1. I had a $1.00 off coupon that I used, which brought that total down to $1.99 for 2 packs. Perhaps not the best deal, but they are good quality and I will be taking them with us when we go out of town over Christmas. We are planning on driving down to Florida to visit my BIL and SIL and we'll be taking along stuff to eat on the way there. As a side note, I always try to keep paper plates, plasticware, paper towels, snacks, drinks (bottled water usually) in the car at all times. This is especially great during the summer for impromptu picnics.

I do, however need to go to the grocery store today as the cupboards are incredibly bare. I was hoping to hold off till DH got paid again on Tuesday but there is no way that is going to happen with what we do have left!

Wednesday night at Schnucks

Had to make a quick run to Schnucks last night for a few things. Picked up some lightbulbs, 5 bags of Chex Mix that were on sale, a bag of pretzels, some juice drinks...and I think that is it. Anyways, I used $1.50 in coupons for the Chex Mix, which makes Piggy grow to $31.73 in savings!

Quick grocery run

I needed to get a few things from the grocery store, mainly Ziplocs to re-package the tons of meat I bought on Sunday at SAMS Club.

My coupon savings totaled to a whole whopping $1.00, but because I bought 3 boxes of ziplocs, I can turn around and submit for this $5.00 rebate through SCJohnson. This adds $6.00 to my piggy bank, bringing my total to $30.23!

Mega Walgreens Run

Today was another big shopping day at Walgreens. Since it was the start of a new week, that meant a new ad, and with it brought some great deals. I have 4 (yes, *4*) Walgreens within a short distance of me, and I took full advantage of them today! Normally I do not go to all 4 of them, but because the ones closest to me will not do separate transactions, and the deals were so good (AND I was in the area ;oD), I couldn't pass up these opportunities to save some big money. Just how much did I save? You'll see at the bottom of the page!

Today's transactions were:

Transaction #1

(4) Zooth/Oral B Stages toothbrushes $10.00

6 Russel Stover candies $1.74

Total: $12.27

Coupons & RR Used:

$2.00 manu. coupons

$4.00 store coupons

$3.50 RR

I ended paying $2.77 and earned $5 in Register Reward that I then turned around and used for Transaction #2.

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Transaction #2

Align 28.99

Russel Stover candy .29

Total: $29.66

Coupons Used:

$5.00 Manuf. coupon

$5.00 RR

I paid: $19.66 and received $9 in RR.

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At the next Walgreens I went to I made the following purchases:

Transaction #3

(2) boxes of Character band-aids $3.00

Dawn dish soap $0.99

(2) Oral B floss $5.00

(2) Nivea lip moisturizers $1.98

(2) boxes of dried fruit $2.00

(2) cheese and pretzel dipper snack packs $2.00

Total: $15.63

Coupons & RR Used:

$3.23 manuf. coupons

$3.00 store coupons

$9.00 RR

In the end I paid a total of $1.29 and earned another $4.00 in Register Rewards. And last but not least, I decided to stop at one more Walgreens on the way home.

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Transaction #4

(4) Oral-B Stages/Zooth toothbrushes $10.00

(2) boxes Chracter band-aids $3.00

Total: $13.41

Coupons & RR Used:

$1 manuf. coupon

$5.00 store coupons

Here is where I goofed...somehow in the midst of all my shopping and errands this morning, I forgot I had those RR from my last purchase, so I wound up paying more for this than I could have. My final price was $5.41, and I earned another $6.00 in RR that I will just add on to the rest for a future purchase.

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So, what this boils down to is that I paid $29.13 for items that would have cost me $70.97 if I had not used coupons and Register Rewards. I have $10.00 in Register Rewards for another trip (making my OOP expenses only $19.13). And the best part? Every single thing that I purchased today is something that we will use, but I don't have to pay full price for because I have stocked up in advance!!!

Now, how much did I add to my piggy bank today? According to my notes, my piggy has grown by $23.23. Which brings my total to $24.23!

Practice

Partly out of excitement over my new experiment, I have decided to track December's coupon savings. Hopefully this will get me into the habit of blogging regularly and I will have all the kinks worked out by January!

My DH got paid early..instead of on the last day of the month, his check showed up this morning at the bank, so I am including my purchases that I made today, even though it's not officially Dec. 1st.

Today I took advantage of several great deals at Walgreens and here is how they broke down:

Items Purchased

1 Dove Ultimate Clear deoderant - $3.99

1 Right Guard deoderant - $2.49

1 Crayola 64 ct. crayons - $1.99

4 Tuf brand paper towels - $1.96

TOTAL (w/tax) = $11.20

Coupons Used

-$1.00 any Dove anti-perspirant

After using $5.00 in Register Rewards I had earned on previous purchases, I paid $5.20, and in return I earned $3.50 Register Rewards ($2.50 from Dove, $1 from Crayola).

Therefore, my total OOP for all these items is $1.70.

Coupon Total for today: $1.00

The Plan

As an avid couponer for the last couple of years, I have often wondered how much money I have saved by cutting and clipping coupons from magazines, newspaper inserts and the internet. So, for the year 2010, I have decided to create this blog and track my savings through the year.

The Rules:

*Updates will happen on a regular, though not scheduled, basis. My goal is to update my purchases within 24 hours of the transaction.

*Only actual manufacturer's and store coupons (for specific items) will be counted, not rewards earned through my purchases (such as Register Rewards or Extra Care bucks). While it's interesting to see how they factor into my out of pocket spending, I want to see how much I can sock away just from manufacturer coupons alone.

*Cash rebates will be counted towards the savings total. Why rebates and not the RR or ExtraCare bucks? Because those 2 can ONLY be used at those respective stores, though they can be used on any items purchased. This also carries over from the fact that I normally stick any rebates into savings/checking.