All about Coupons!

Well,
After an alarming month of spending in August, Tom and I decided we had to do something. So, we set a budget. $100/ week on household items, including groceries. Then after going to the store yesterday, I added up how much the bare minimums cost us each week. If I only bought bread, milk, butter, cereal, eggs, lunch meat, diapers, paper-towels, and toilet paper each week, I spend $88. That only leaves me $12 for everything else. What do I do? Get creative. I am going to pass this blog onto you, that one of my friends recently wrote. She is the coupon Queen, and she has totally got it figured out. I am still at the beginning stages.





Here is her blog

Walgreens Tutorial

Okay, I've been asked quite often how I get my deals. It takes some time to get the hang of things and couponing--it was a whole new world when I started. It takes some reading and some work, but it has been worth it (though I may be taking a break here shortly). Anyway, I thought I'd help everyone get in on a good deal at Walgreens. So, if you have one nearby, here's the deal-- no newspaper coupons required and Saturday is the last day to do this:

First off I'm going to start with 4 deals: A, B, C, D. Each of these can be done separately at Walgreens. However, if you have a little money to "invest" and combine the deals, you'll come out pretty nicely and I'll show you how that works at the end.

DEAL A:
Purchase:
Crest Pro-Health mouthwash 500 ml. at $4.49
After you pay, you will get a print-out (technical term = catalina) for $4.49 off your next purchase. FREEBIE

Deal B:
Purchase:
1 Dimetapp at $3.99
1 Robitussin at $3.99
1 Dimetapp or Robitussin at $3.99
Total: $11.97
Now use these Internet printable (IP) coupons:
Dimetapp -$2
Robitussin -$1
and your new total is $8.97. After you pay, you will get a catalina for $10 off your next purchase. SLIGHT MONEYMAKER

Deal C:
Purchase:
2 Scrubbing bubbles Action scrubber @ 3.79
Total= 7.58
Now use two IP coupons (using your browsers back button you should be able to print a second one)
2 coupons (-$2.75 off 1) -5.50
and your new total is $2.08. You will get a catalina for $2 off your next purchase, making your total cost $.08.
(Now there are many other ways to do this deal. If you are needing some cleaners, look in the ad. There is an orange box that has other scrubbing bubbles items, shout, windex, fantastik, pledge, and draino in it. Look at it this way-- you buy 7 of those items you get $10 back. This means you are getting $1.42 off of each of those items. All of those $2.49 items are actually costing you just over $1. There are two other scrubbing bubbles items that cost $3.79 that have coupons on the above site-- otherwise, I'm afraid you're out of luck finding any other internet coupons. If you get the Sunday paper and have enough coupons, you can actually make money buying 7 cleaners. I'm assuming many of you don't get the Sunday paper, and even without coupons, it's still a decent deal.)

Deal D:
Is a lesser deal. I'm including it however, because I've been wanting to try these.
Purchase:
Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower cleaner kit @ 19.99
Get back a catalina for $10 off your next purchase.

Now a little FYI:
Some Walgreens will not take internet coupons. Some will, but it depends on your store and your manager. You can not do these deals more than once, for example: If you buy 2 bottles of Crest mouthwash, you will not get 2 coupons for $4.49 off your next purchase. You will only get one per transaction-(or time you pay.) You can, however, do the mouthwash and the scrubbing bubbles, and the medicine together. This is where things can get more complex. I don't want to scare everyone off, and for the sake of keeping things simple, I'll end right there. If you have more questions, I'll answer them. Otherwise, if you're really serious about taking up coupons, I'll direct you to one of my favorite websites, Hot Coupon World.

Now for the big deal. This is more of an investment. I say "investment" because you are going to have to spend more money out of your pocket. I prefer to pay less than $10 each time I go to the drugstore, (Usually more like $1), but this one will have to cost you over $30. If you're willing to foot the bill this time, though, you can use it over and over again for other deals.

1 Crest Pro-Health mouthwash 500 ml. $4.49
1 Dimetapp at $3.99
1 Robitussin at $3.99
1 Dimetapp or Robitussin at $3.99
2 Scrubbing bubbles Action scrubber @ 3.79
1 Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower cleaner kit @ 19.99
Your total there is: $44.03
Minus above coupons -8.50
New total = $35.53

Now you need to look for a little book near the ads when you walk in. It's light green and black with a big W in the middle. It's called the easy saver catalog. Now, if you open it up to page 33, they list all the items that are free after rebate (FAR). There are 9 items, but for the above scenario, I'm going to use the Nivea Body wash.

So, you add that to your order, and your total is $40.52.
You give them this coupon for $10 off and pay $30.52 + tax. Then, out rolls all of your catalinas-- $4.49 (Crest) + $10 (Dimetapp) + $2 (scrubbing bubbles action scrubbers) + $10 Shower cleaner. You have $26.49 to use on your next purchases. Also, you go home and submit the rebate for the Nivea and get back $4.99 there. (If you put it on a Walgreens gift card they'll add 10% to that and you'll be set to go next time and have to pay very little out of your pocket.) All of the above should be close to free. (Depends on your tax rate.) Isn't that beautiful!!!

Now, if you're wondering what you're going to spend your catalina's on, just open back up that easy saver catalog and buy the other items that are free after rebate. Next month you'll get your gift card, and go buy the next things that are free after rebate and just keep it rolling.

As for other info, (I hope I haven't scared everyone away yet), there are so many different ways to do this. Try to get your total after coupons as close to $40 as possible. If you have other stuff on your list, try taking out one of the items that I included, but leave the Deals in-tact. All of these deals are written out in the ad, most people just don't understand them, so make sure you get the correct sizes and items. If you're not interested in the scrubbing bubbles automatic shower cleaner, that's the first item to scratch off the list. That one is costing you money (well, to some degree.) If you don't really want it, you are much better off buying the 7 cleaners, or and/or more of the Free After Rebate stuff. See:

1 Crest Pro-Health mouthwash 500 ml. $4.49
1 Dimetapp at $3.99
1 Robitussin at $3.99
1 Dimetapp or Robitussin at $3.99
2 Scrubbing bubbles Action scrubber @ 3.79 ea = $7.58
5 other cleaners @ 2.49 ea = $12.45
1 Nivea body wash $4.99 FAR
1 Excedrin express gels $3.99 FAR
1 Crest Pro-health toothpaste $3.79 FAR
Minus above coupons -8.50
Minus $10 off coupon -10.00
Total = $30.76

Catalinas for off your next purchase= $4.49 (Crest) + $10 (Dimetapp) + $10 (Cleaners) = $24.49
Rebates = $4.99 (Nivea) + $3.99 (Excedrin) + $3.79 (Crest t.p.) = $12.77
You just made over $6!!

Okay, I could go on and on, but I'll stop. If you want to look at the ad before you get to the store, or the easy saver catalog, they are both online at Walgreens.com. Let me know how your shopping trip goes or if you have any questions!

So like I said, she is incredible. The other things I have found are freeflys.com and couponmom.com. Stephanie recommends a site in her post as well.

Good luck as we all learn together!