I've been meaning to write about my latest love: couponing! I continue to be amazed about paying less (or nothing!) for an item just because I handed the clerk a piece of paper.
This love has been growing for quite some time. After researching and playing around a bit, I am almost at the point where I refuse to pay for certain items. Like deodorant. I currently have a stash of seven roll-ons and four sticks, each of which cost me less than 10 cents!! What a rush! And I'll never pay more than $1 for a box of cereal again. There's just no need with the sales and coupons available. I have approximately 20 boxes in my son's closet (because they won't all fit in my pantry!), and the most I've paid is 89 cents. Half of them were free!
The whole idea of using coupons has always intrigued me, but I've only recently learned how to use them effectively. Thanks to a bunch of great blogs, I now find out what's on sale, which coupons to use, where to get them, and then I go and save A BUNDLE!
It means that my shopping cart looks a little odd, though.
Take my recent trip to Walgreens, for example. I purchased 11 packages of diapers, four toothbrushes (something else I'll never pay for again!), three rolls of paper towels, four boxes of cereal, and two cans of nuts. With the sales and coupons and "Register Rewards" (money back), the receipt says I saved $49.78. I paid just $3o.83!! If divided evenly, that's just $1.27 per item! $1.27 for a pkg of diapers. Yeah, I'm good.
So, I thought I'd share some of the sites on which I have come to rely, because though I am bragging a bit here, I couldn't do any of it without the help provided by these great sites!
Money Saving Mom is by far my favorite. She alerts you to various deals, and outlines how to shop at CVS, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid. She often lists the best deals at Target and Wal-Mart and other national chains.
BeCentsAble has a feature called Grocery Gathering that I rely on heavily. It lists which blogs outline the best deals for local stores. (i.e., there are two blogs listed that tell me what to buy at Bloom, two for Giant, about ten for Safeway, etc.) I click on the blogs, scroll through the listing of the best deals and which coupons to use, print off my list, and off I go!
Ebates pays as you shop online. It takes just an extra click or two to find out if the site I need is associated with ebates. Very simple! I had a $10 off coupon code for JCPenney (it's actually still valid, if you're interested: GR8DAD), so I went to Ebates, searched for JCPenney, and then I was in. Easy as pie. I got $10 off at JCPenney, $5 for signing up with Ebates, and 40 cents for doing the shopping through Ebates. They pay you a percentage of your purchase.
What has been especially fun is that ED and AM, my 10 and 9 year olds, are getting into it. They are great helpers in the store! I give them the coupon, and they find the item. They are excited about it, too. "Wow, Mom! You mean just by giving them this coupon, you can get stuff for free?" AM helped me find a bunch of deals at Target the other day. With the sales, manufacture coupons, and Target coupons, we were almost paid to take items off their shelves! She came bounding in the door, shouting to D to come see our haul. I've never seen a nine year old be so exuberant about mayonaisse and salad dressing!
