Just Over 50% Savings at Wal Mart

I know that 50% savings doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it was great...and fun too.
If we had bought only items with coupons we would have had about an 85% savings!

We bought these items without coupons:
All You Magazine (there were several coupons in my home issue that I knew I wanted more of)
dry cat food
canned cat food
fish food
lunch meat
shredded cheese
2 ltrs of soda
bread and
netting

Here are the deals:
Carnation Instant Breakfast--$4.96 - $1 coupon
9 Cascade Complete 3 pack trial packs at .97 each.  I used 6 $1 coupons for a total of .18 overage.  I also used 3-.50 coupons.   This made each one just under .14 each.
3 Degree travel size deoderants at .97 each--used 3-$1 coupons for .09 overage.
2 Head & Shoulders travel size at .97 each.  Used 2-$1 coupons for .06 overage
2 Schick disposable razor 12 packs at $2.97 each.  Used $6/2 coupon for .06 overage
3- Garnier Fructis shampoo and conditioners at .97 each.  Used 3-$1 coupons for .09 ovrage
Ben Gay Ultra Strength at $5.98--used $5 coupon making it .98  (I needed this for sore muscles!)
2-Oxy Clean Sprays at $2.77 each.  Used $3/2 coupon making them $1.27 each. 
Crave Cat treats at $1.47--used free coupon
Activia French at $1--used free coupon

In total we spent $30.73 and I used $32.97 in coupons.   $4.75 of what we paid was sales tax.

By my calculations if we had just bought the items with coupons we would have spent $11.74--however when I add up the items without coupons and their sales tax I come up with we would have only spent $9.59.  I know for some reason some of the sales tax comes off when you use coupons.  So I will be happy saying we would have spent $10 on just the items with coupons.

Happy Shopping!  I can't wait to get to go coupon shopping again.

Walgreen's and Wal Mart Coupon Shopping 8/20 and 8/22

I want to apologize as I didn't take photos of either of these shopping trips---I know the posts are quite as boring when you actually see what the person got for the said amount of money.

Let's start with my Walgreen's shopping today since I only bought 4 items.

I had a list in mind, but changed my mind on how much I wanted to spend once I got there.  I decided to use the majority of the $7 in RR's from last week to get us some much needed cat litter.
I ended up with:

Dial Nutriskin Body wash on sale for $3.99 with $3 back in RR's.
Sharpie pen .39 with Walgreen's coupon
Pencil Sharpener .39 with Walgreen's coupon
Scoopable cat litter $5.99
I used 3 RR's from last week totaling $7.  I paid $4.63 including .87 sales tax and came home with $3 in RR's.    Not the best trip, but less than the cat litter alone would have cost me and still $3 to spend towards next week's shopping.


Now on to Wal Mart where I bought what seemed like a ton of things!  Let's start with the items that I bought with coupons:

2 bags of Sour Patch candy, $1.97 each, used $1/2 coupon--not a real bargain at $1.47 a bag but treat for my teen.
3 packs of Trident gum at .96 each.  I used $2/3 coupon making them .28 and .29 each.
Tic Tacs at $1.04 using $1 coupon making them .04
3 regular size bags of m&m's at .74 each.  I used the $1.25/3 coupon making them .32  (couldn't help it, coupon was going to expire and I wanted a treat for myself.)
Carnation Instant Breakfast at $4.96, used $1 coupon making it $3.96
6 Travel size Garnier shampoos and conditioners at .97 each.  I used 6-$1 coupons leaving me with .18 overage.
Pert shampoo travel size for .97, used $1 coupon for .03 overage.
2 Degree travel size deoderants at .97 using 2-$1 coupons for .06 overage.
I then did also buy 2 more of the Degree using the .75 coupons making them .22 each (great stocking stuffers!)
Tide 1 load at .97, used $1 couopn for .03 overage.
3 Gain 40 ct fabric softner sheets at $1.77, used 3-$1 coupons making them .77 each.
Just for Men--used free coupon
Glade aerosol at .98 using $1 coupon for .02 overage.
2 Carefree pantyliners at .94 each, used 2-.50 coupons making them .44 each.
U by Kotex at $1.24, used $1 coupon making them .24
Bayer Advanced at $3.74 used $2 coupon making it $1.74.  Mailing in for $1.74 refund.
4 Whiskas wet cat food at .55 each, used 2- B1G1F coupons, making them .275 each.
Temptations cat treats at $1.74, used $1 coupon so .74.



Bought without coupons:
2 tee shirts on clearance for $1 each.
4 pack of Wal Mart canned cat food at $1.28
Wal Mart dry cat food at $1.50
Fabric at $1.25 for an order
Edwards 2 pack single serving pie slices at $2.38--I had a coupon for $1 off, not realizing it had expired.  I should have put these back but they sounded so good.
Deli sandwich at $2.50 (for Jasmine's lunch)
20 oz Mello Yellow at $1.48 (for Jasmine's lunch)

Here is the good news about this trip!  I spent $33.42 including sales tax but I saved $34.57 with coupons!!  That means that even with sales tax I saved over 50%.  I am very please with this!

Until next time, happy shopping and saving!

Some Small Coupon Shopping Trips

Armed with a little money I was able to do some coupon shopping this week.

First stop was Wal Mart.  I only bought 2 items, and used 2 coupons.  I used my free coupon for Jif on The Go and a $1 coupon off U by Kotex pantyliners (this made them .24).  I went with .52 change in my wallet and spent .51 of it.

Next I was off to Walgreen's.  I had $7 in RR's from a previous trip that I didn't post about to use before they expired.
I bought:
Revlon Nail polish for $3.99--rec'd back $3 in RR's
2-Sure deoderants, on sale for 2 for $3 with Walgreen's coupon and I used 2-$1 coupons making them .50 each.
Pert Plus 24.5 oz shampoo on sale for $3.99--used $1 coupon and got back $3 in RR's.
2-Brach's Mellowcreme candy on sale 2 for $3--I had one .50 coupon to use and got back $1 in RR's  making them $1.25 per bag
I used my 2 previous RR's since I didn't have a coupon for the 2nd bag of Brach's or the nail polish.
I paid $4.61 OOP with $1.13 of that being sales tax.  I walked out with $7 in RR's to spend later.  I saved a total of $12.50 with coupons and Walgreen's coupon.
Please note:  I do not count what I get back in RR's off the price since I use them as coupons on future purchases.




Next I was off to the grocery store (Dillon's) for a few items.
I bought:
3 boxes of Hamburger Helper on sale for $1 each.  I used .75/3 coupon (doubled to $1) making them 3 boxes for $2.
2- Suave deoderant at $1.06 each.  I used 2- .50 coupons (doubled) making them .06 each.
1-Idahoan boxed potatoes--used free coupon that had previously printed out at the register.
I spent $2.51 including .39 sales tax.  I saved $4 with coupons for a savings of 75% including sales.

I also want to mention a previous trip to Wal Mart as well.  I've sent my receipt off in a refund but want to talk about my good deals.


I used my free Pantene coupon for a full size conditioner.
I used 2-$2/2 any Pantane coupons to get 2 shampoo and 2 conditioner in the travel sizes.  This left me with .12 total in overage.
I bought my Carnation Instant Breakfast with a $1 coupon making it $3.96
I bought 3 canisters of Scotch Brite Botanical disenfecting wipes at $1.62 each.  I used 3-.50 coupons making them just $1.12 each.  I then sent for the buy 3 get 1 free refund check.  Taking away the .44 spent on the stamp I will net $1.18 (assuming they send the $1.62 price pre-coupon).  This makes each one of them just over .72 each!
Pull-Ups Flushable wipes using $1 coupon making them .64
This is where my memory fails me and I am kicking myself for not making notes before sending off the receipt.  I only wrote down that I saved $15.28 with coupons.  The above items total $11.28 in coupons so I'm not recalling $4 in coupons somewhere.
Anyway, I spent $25.22 and saved $15.28 in coupons so I was quite happy with my shopping.  I bought things like cat food without any coupons at all.


I plan on getting right in to my coupon shopping.  In fact, I got in 60 coupon binder pages with a bonus of 22 coupon inserts today that I bought from  http://www.momsaves.com   I'm currently going through the inserts --they are older and many of the coupons have already expired--but I'm excited to start putting my binder together.

Wal Mart Shopping--Spent $14.58, Saved $12.71

I'm getting more in to watching for the Wal Mart deals now that they are better about their coupon policy.  Still never fails that at least one of my coupons gives me (or the cashier I should say) trouble.

This trip I purchased:
*2-Nabisco cookie cups-$1 each, used $1/2 coupon making them .50 each  (great snack)
*1-Brach's bagged candy at $1.87, used .50 coupon making them $1.37 (splurge chocolate for myself)
*1 bag Wal Mart brand cat food at $1.50 (no coupon, we just needed it)
*4 can of Fancy Feast Gourmet cat food, .74 each.  I used 2 coupons each for 2 free cans(one that gave trouble as the register only took off .02!  Then the cashier tried to make up for it by putting in to take off another .72 but I had to point out they were for 2 free cans....which then got SCM called over)
*6 cans of Friskies Tasty Treasures canned cat food at .50 each.   Again, I had 2 coupons each for 2 free cans.  I also used a coupon for buy 1 get 1 free.
*Carnation Instant Breakfast at $4.96, used $1.25 coupon making it $3.71
*Vlasic Relish at .98, used .50 coupon making it .48
*1 lb ground beef roll for $2.68 (no coupon we need meat)
*1 lb ground turkey roll at $2.18 (same)
*UP2U gum at $1.28, used $1 making it .28 (I knew my daughter would love me for this)
*Pantene shampoo and conditioner travel sizes at .97 each, used $3 off 2 coupon ending up with $1.06 overage!

In total I spent $14.58 and saved $12.71 with coupons, so even with buying some items with no coupons, I still saved almost 50%.  I'm happy!

Walgreen's Shopping 6/20 (and store changes) and Wal Mart Shopping

First I want to talk about the store changes I seen at Walgreen's when I shopped yesterday.   There are now signs in front of the register rewards items that state "Limit one item per household per day"  The cashier told me this is to stop people from doing numerous transactions, allowing others to have a chance to get the products before the shelves are empty.
I know that lots of people do this.  Personally, I've only done it a few times for items we really needed and could use.  Normally in this case I make my daughter go through the line rather than myself doing more than one transaction.
Is this a nationwide change, or just my store?  I'm curious because one of the managers at my Walgreen's has been assuring me for week's that he was trying to figure out how to make it so that when I come to shop the items aren't gone.

Here is what I got:
1 Gillette Fusion razor on sale for $9.89, used $4 coupon, got back $5 in RR's
Lysol Wipes, on sale for $2.99, no coupon, got back $1 in RR's
Real Soft 4 double roll pack, $2.29, no coupon (I went to get the Charmin 6 double rolls on sale for $2.99 with Walgreen's coupon only to be told that item was discontinued)
5 boxes of Royal gelatin, on sale for .19 each.  I used $1/5 coupon that they took down to the .95 off.

In addition, I used $11 in RR's from my previous shopping.  I paid just $1.47 OOP ($1.30 of that was sales tax) and took home $6 in RR's.   I call this a sucessful trip!     I was able to get cleaning wipes that I wanted, toilet paper that we needed, a razor to put in my Christmas stash box, and free gelatin.

 Now, on to Wal Mart.  I didn't have many of the coupons in my box that were to match up for the bargains, but I did get a few things.  My breakfast drink went up from $4.58 to $4.96, but that is still $2 cheaper than at the grocery store.  I was glad to be able to print $1.25 coupons from their facebook page!


I purchased:
5 ct Zrtex, $5.27, used $5 coupon that I printed from the Walmart website
2- Carefree pantyliners, .94, used 2-.50 coupons
Carnation Instant Breakfast, $4.96, used $1.25 coupon


I paid $5.83 OOP of which .97 was sales tax.  Not bad.   I'm enjoying how much easier it is to use coupons at Wal Mart now and since that is where I buy my breakfast drink since it's so much cheaper, I am now watching for the posts on the deals there.

 Until next time,

Frugal Friday 6/10/11

Good Morning!
Friday came right up on me very quickly again. Being so busy this past week with a new grandbaby, I didn't get my shopping posts in so I will list them here.
We didn't do any shopping at the grocery store other than stopping in for milk a couple of times.
Well, that's not exactly true. I did take advantage of the sale on soda. The deal was if you bought 3-12 packs of Coke products for $10 you got 2 boxes of Ritz crackers free. We drink Dr. Pepper, which here is considered a Coke product. I bought the 3 12 packs and picked up the 2 boxes of Ritz free. I used a $1 coupon on the 2 boxes of Ritz so I got 3-12 packs of Dr. Pepper and 2 boxes of Ritz for just $9 plus sales tax.

Another quick trip to the grocery store was to use my free coupons from Kraft First Taste for the Oscar Mayer Sandwich Combo and the Combo lunch meat. I also picked up some All detergent on sale for $2.99 and I used a $1 coupon. The cashier cheated me out of .30 on one of the free OM coupons and I ended up paying $3.18 with sales tax for the 3 items.

At Wal Mart I picked up my box of Carnation Instant Breakfast for $3.58 after $1 coupon. I also picked up 3 more bottles of the Spic and Span spray cleaner. I used the $1/2 coupon so 2 of the bottles were .47 each. On the 3rd bottle I used a .55 coupon so that bottle was .42. I also picked up 3 skeins of cotton yarn on clearance for $1 each. I spent $8.58 total for all with sales tax. (I hope when I get back to Wal Mart this evening to buy more of the yarn!)

At Walgreen's I over spent on what a true frugal person would spend. I was shopping yesterday (Thursday) and figured they would be out of a lot, so a stack of coupons and no set plan on what to buy. Here is what I ended up with:

2-NatureLuxe Gloss Balms on sale for buy 1 get 1 50% off. I used $5/2 coupon making them $3.12 each.
Bic Soleil on sale for $5.99, used $3 coupon making them $2.99 and got back $2 in RR's
2-GLEE stationary on clearance for .25 (fillers to use my RR's)
2-Colgate 360 toothbrushes on sale 2 for $5, used $1 and .75 coupons making them $3.25 for 2, got back $2 in RR's.
2-Reach Toothbrush 2-packs on sale 2 for $5, used 2-$1 coupons making them $1.50 each, got back $3 in RR's....but, bonus RR's of $1 since I bought the 2-packs!
3-Cascade Action Pacs on sale for $3.99, used 2--.50 coupons and 1-.25 coupon making them $3.49 and $3.74, got back $3 in RR's. (I wanted one of the Tide Stain Release and the use the $3 coupon but of course they were sold out)
1-Travel Size Colgate toothpaste for .99 and I used a $1 coupon making it free.

I used 3 RR's totaling $5.50 from my previous shopping.
I paid $24.45 (told you it was too much!) of which $3.27 was sales tax. I saved $19.50 in coupons total. I rec'd back 5 RR's totaling $11.

Notes: I'm happy with my shopping, it's just that I didn't really have that kind of money to spend. However, it's a fair bet that everyone on my Christmas list this year will get a new toothbrush as part of their health and beauty package. I have gloss balm that I love to use. And, I don't have to worry about running out of dishwasher tabs for awhile. The razors are also stacking up in my gift tote to go with the packages as well.
Also, it was very strange, but I had the gloss balms in my hand and they hadn't gotten rung up, but the $5 coupon went through the register just fine. This I can't figure out. I know the whole family friendly coupon thing and I did have other P&G things in my cart, but I also had a coupon for each of the other items? It was when I ran out of products compared to coupons that I realized they were still in my hand and gave them to the cashier.

I'm going to stop for today. I do hope you will share your frugal type posts in my linky below! Keep us all inspired and in the know please.

Walgreen's and Wal Mart Shopping 5/16/11

At Walgreen's:

Sure deoderant--on sale with Walgreen's coupon for $1.50--used $1 coupon making it .50
Dove for Men Deoderant, on sale for $3.99--used $1 coupon  making it $2.99 and got $3 back in RR's making it a 1 cent money maker.
Finish Gel Tabs--on sale for $3.49, used .75 coupon making it $2.74 and got back $1.50 in RR's.

I spent $6.95 and saved $4.24 with coupons, plus have $4.50 in RR's for my next trip.

I had intended to make this a 2 transaction trip, however, I had planned Duncan Hines brownie mix on sale for $1 and to use a .50 coupon, and the Dole Fruit Crisps on sale for $1 and use a .75 coupon.  Oh, go figure, my Walgreen's doesn't carry either of those products.   I'm thinking it's time to write a letter to Walgreen's corporate.  I'm going to complain about this as well as complain about them always being out of the sale items that are the best deals!


I then had a thought!  Hey, I'm heading to Wal Mart, so I will take my 2 coupons and the Walgreen's ad and get Wal Mart to price match those 2 items.  Great plan until I realized as we were pulling in to Wal Mart that I left the ad at home!  GGRRRRR  go me....I'm so good at messing my shopping up.

Anyway, here is what I ended up with at Wal-Mart:

Carnation Instant Breakfast, $4.58, used $1 coupon making it $3.58
2-Wilkinson 4 pack razors for ..97 each.  I used 2-$1 coupons making them free.
2-Spic and Span spray cleaner for .97 each, used $1/2 coupon making them just .47 each.
3 pack of Ivory Soap for .97, used $1 coupon making it free.

I spent $5.19 and saved $5 with coupons.  I'm pretty impressed on this one.  I do like how as of yet, the cashier just checks the coupon when the register tells her too and even though the item was .97, still takes off the $1.  I'm enjoying looking for the good deals at Wal-Mart online now.
Not to mention....I printed 4 of the coupons from Inboxdollars so will get .10 each into my account.

Thanks for reading!