Saved over $145 !!!

Yep!  Not even kidding!   Do you (or someone in your house) use maxi pads?  How about dish soap?  Toothbrushes?  Do you floss?  Could you use birthday gifts?  Well I know in our home we use all of those things.  Would you like to get them for free?  I'm here to tell you that you CAN!  

The other day I took my friend to Walgreens because I had some coupons I wanted to use there.  Unfortunately right now my receipt is MIA but I can tell you that before my coupons my total was over $130 (I almost fainted!) and when all was said and done my total was right around $12*.  What bummed me out was that once I got home and thought about it I realized I could have actually saved $6 more dollars.  Oh well....I decided not to cry over my extra $6 out of pocket and just accept the fact that I still got a great bargain.  I think my friend was pretty impressed with my saving.....and I know my cashier was too!

Basically what I got was 10 large packages of Stayfree feminine pad, 4 Reach Total (the $4.79 ones) toothbrushes, 4 packages of Reach Total Care (normally $3.99) floss, 4 bottles of Palmolive dish soap, and thanks to a lot of upcoming February birthdays I decided to pick up 3 really cute character flashlights.

Here is a picture of my "score."

Now, I know you are thinking, I don't need that many!!!  Let me assure you that I don't need that many pads either (scary thought!) but I do have a friend that is having a baby soon and knew she would appreciate a few free packages and what I don't/ won't use can be donated to a local shelter or family in need.   Let me assure you that almost ALL of my transactions can be done on a smaller scale.,  Just remember when you are out shopping to get enough to last you until the next good sale....usually 6-12 weeks down the road.  

One of my goals by stepping into the coupon world is to be able to donate more.  Couponing is really giving me that opportunity.  Two of the flashlights I purchased will be given as gifts and one of them will be put in a box to donate to Toys for Tots next year.  I'm hoping I have quite a few things to donate next year!

After yesterday's deals I decided I'd like to buy a few more toothbrushes to put aside for my Operation Christmas Child boxes or to have on hand for guests.  So I went back and got a few more.  Here is a breakdown and photo of that transaction:

Total out of pocket: .34

What I bought:

(3) Reach Total Care  toothbrushes $3.99

(3) Reach Total Care toothbrushes $4.79

(2) Reach Total Care Floss $3.99

(1) Package Gummy Bears .99  (there were an impulse buy!)

TOTAL: 35.31

What I used:

(2) $2/1 (this means $2 off 1 product) Reach Total Care floss

(3) BOGO coupons for the Reach  Total Care Toothbrushes

because the coupons for the BOGO were coded in such a way that the coupon "attaches" to the free item it meant I could still use a coupon on the first of each pair of toothbrushes I purchases (this can be a complicated idea to explain so if any of you have any questions about this I'm happy to walk you through it) so I also used:

(3) $1/1  any Reach floss or toothbrush

This subtracted  $18.97 off of my total.

Then on top of this, Walgreens had a coupon in their weekly flyer for $2 off each of the Reach Total Care products.  This subtracted an additional $16 off my total.   This coupon is different than a manufacturer coupon, it is a store coupon, good only at Walgreens meaning I could "stack" it (or use at the same time) WITH a manufacturer coupon.  This is how I was able to get such a good deal.

After all my coupons were subtracted, my total for (6) nice toothbrushes and (2) containers of floss and one bag of gummy bears (with NO coupons) was .34* or about .04 per item purchased.  Not too shabby right!  Again, if you didn't want to purchase six toothbrushes you wouldn't have to.  In this scenario you would need to purchase at least two toothbrushes to use the BOGO coupon.  

So my total savings was over $145 and I paid about $13 out of my pocket for it all.

So that is just a quick first example of how I saved BIG money for my family in last few days.

I know you are thinking, but I want to save on my grocery bill, let me assure you that is very doable as well but the important thing to know is that by removing these kinds of items from your weekly grocery shopping trip IS going to lower your grocery bill dramatically.  Not to mention, it is going to keep you stocked up on item you NEED and USE on a regular basis meaning if you run out of an item you will never be forced to buy that product at full price again.  You will just look in your closet and pull one from your stockpile!

Good luck and look for more savings scenarios in the near future!

* This price is pre-tax.  Because tax rates are different for everyone coupon blogs typically post their OOP (out of pocket) as before tax.  But isn't it great when you basically only have to pay tax on all the items you need and love?!?