Just got done posting this as a note on FaceBook, decided it would make a good blog entry as well. Not terribly exciting read I am guessing, but it is part of our lives here. Trying to get what we need for less with as little inconvenience as possible... (meaning, some deals take more time, I have been known to decide they are not worth the effort the amount saved)
I know I need to post the links to the 'bargain blogs' I currently follow. The plan is to put them into a note so they are in one place for future use. Along with that I am hoping to jot down some of the hints/tips I have come up with over the years. Life is just crazy, as usually so it has not yet happened. (Hopefully later today) I did think I would post about my shopping yesterday to maybe give a realistic idea of how a 'coupon' shopping day might go. :)
Tuesday - started with the task of catching up/balancing checkbooks. Most went well but a mathematical error was found leaving the main account a bit leaner then it was before. Yikes! But life happens, and on we march. When the checkbook is quite so lean, bargain shopping has to be closely assessed as no matter how good the bargain (unless a $0 out of pocket deal of course!) if there is not the money for it, it is NOT a bargain.
I needed to be in town around 1:00, was running late but did grab a few coupons I was hoping to use before running out the door. Mostly I was wanting to get $15 in Rite-Aid Up-Rewards used this week as I am thinking I will not get to any Rite-Aid shopping next week. I left with 2 BOGO Special K coupons, 2 Crest coupons, 4 Gas-X coupons and 2 Wet Ones coupons to match up with deals at Rite-Aid as well as 6 Soft Soap coupons to use at Albertson's.
First trip through Rite-Aid, got my 4 boxes of Special K, could not find the crest that was supposedly on sale (I was going off the blogs), Gas-X was out and in the process of looking for the Wet-Ones I lost one of my coupons. (I just tell myself that someone that needed it more than I found it and used it, I can not consider it being swept up and thrown out!) The cereal was $4.79 a box, I got $4.49 off twice (the max 'free' value), and the Wet-Ones were $1.99, my coupon was for $1 off. I used my $10 Up-Reward, and paid $1.17 out of pocket and in turn received a total of $9 in new Up-Rewards ($1 each for the cereals, $4 for a combo cereal thing - I think, and $1 for the Wet-Ones) and I still had my $5 Up-Reward that is close to expiring. *sigh* what to do, what to do... I remembered that the had the boxes of Huggies on sale, not a bargain deal, but very competitive. Oh! and I had received a 10% off one item coupon on my first receipt. So I went ahead and went back in, grabbed a box of Huggies on Sale for 19.99, used the 10% bringing it down to $17.99, used the $15 in Up-Rewards and left paying $2.99 for the box along with a new $2 off Up-Reward. Yay!
A word of caution here - do be careful to not 'double-dip' your $ off next purchase rewards (Up-Rewards at Rite-Aid, Catalina at Albertson's or Safeway...) Generally you count them towards the item you received them for.... I am using them as an example here of what I choose to do with little cash on hand, but rewards about to expire.(I hope that makes sense)
Another exciting thing about shopping yesterday is they have an offer currently running http://www5.riteaid.com/resolution-rewards where as a good portion of my purchases are counting toward a $20 Up-Reward. The 1st transaction gave me $39.16 credit, and the Huggies gave me $17.98 (I already had $20 credit, so I only need to 'spend' another $22.86 to receive $20 in store credit!) Sometimes, when being careful, it feels like Rite-Aid is paying me to shop!)
Later in the day as I was heading home I did manage to swing by Albertson's in anticipation of a great Soft Soap deal. The blogs were saying... Soft Soap on sale for .99, use your .35 cent coupons making it .64 cents a bottle - I have done better, but as I have two little boys we often seem in need of more liquid soap so off I went to get it. Disappointment hit when I realized that the coupon for was 8 oz. and up, and the bottles on sale were 7.5 oz. and below. Ugh! I was glad to see a huge refill bottle of Albertson's brand liquid soap on Sale/clearance. Probably ended up paying about the same per unit, but was too tired to check at that point. (ok, had to check, If I had bought my 6 bottles I would have paid $3.84 for 45 oz, in stead I paid $3 for 40 oz. - so as long as I have containers to pour into, I did do better - had there been the expected doubles... I would have been more sad!)
Anyway, a very long post I realize. But I wanted to show that 'things happen', it is best to expect it. Bloggers can be wrong, stores change things, and rarely you can lose a coupon. :p But to end the day with aprox. 2 weeks worth of Huggies, 4 boxes of cereal, a container of Wet Ones to toss in the car and the liquid soap we needed for $7.16 out of pocket on that particular day. It is worth it. :)
Oh! I just remembered! Since I was in Newberg anyway I was also able to get 2 - 2# blocks of cheddar for 3.99 each. :) (at Freddies)
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