At the same time I was “Targeting,” hubby ran (literally) to Walgreens with the twins in the BOB to get some other coupon items…..I just think he is amazing!  What is better than a husband who watches the kids, runs with them, uses coupons correctly, and loads it all back up to run home?  I am still trying to picture the whole thing.  Somehow he fit a pack of diapers, 2 things of toothpaste, 2 cans of oatmeal, 3 rolls of tin foil, and a rain cover in case the weather turned.

Here is what I got:

(Sorry for the iPhone pic)

Pack of Huggies diapers-$4.50

Big bag of Huggies wipes-$3.50

Shout-42 cents

Butterfinger candy bar-free

Ritz Crackerfulls-free

Kraft mac-free

Olive Oil mayo-free

Welche’s White Grape-$1.64 (kids don’t really drink much juice so I might make popsicles with it)

Deli meat-free

2 Activia yogurts-66 cents each

3 boxes of Fiber One cereal-about 75 cents each

2 Boxes of Fiber One bars- about a dollar each

4 pack of lightbulbs-50 cents

Wet Ones-$1.50

Strawberry Shortcake bandages- 87 cents

Armor All tire cleaner- 29 cents (reg $3.29)

Armor All leather cleaner-$1.80 (reg $5.29)

2 Toy Story Playtex sippies-$5.74

Total before coupons-$77.73

Total after coupons-$30.37

Minus $5 gift card from Fiber one deal-$25.37

Pretty sweet since the regular price of the diapers, wipes, and sippies alone is $23.47

Everything went smoothly on this trip.  Cashier did great.  Only one coupon beeped and she pushed it right through since it was a valid use.  I usually ask if they want the coupons with the items, or all at the end…she said at the end was good except the ones for free products. So I put all my items up first with their corresponding “freebie” coupon and it worked great.  That way she was not searching for the price of the item at the end when she needed to fill out the value. As always, I warned the lady behind me that I had a lot of coupons in case she wanted to change lanes.  She was not overly friendly with me until she got curious how I was getting the deals.  Only one hitch of the trip… as I was trying to watch my coupons go through, and give her a 20 second coupon run-down, her little son lifted up my shirt to see what in the world was under there (I am about 12 days from due date).  Must look pretty pregnant of small children are curious what is under my shirt.

Did you score any great deals this week?

Part of the view from our room

I have been fairly absent lately.  Sorry.  Absent for good reasons though!  After a wonderful weekend celebrating the 4th of July and a few days of preparations, my husband (of 5 years) took me to Seattle for our anniversary.  We stayed at the Westin on the 45th floor and had an amazing view.  We could see the Space Needle, the lake, and the down town area.  We had a great time exploring many parts of Seattle.

After a couple mini trips and one big trip road trip with our twinners to Disneyland I was SO excited about the simplicity of just packing for the two of us.  So easy, so simple, so fast.  The previous trips we literally packed EVERYTHING.  I tell myself that the best part about driving is that you can take almost everything the kiddos need. And we did! We took dish soap and a washing bin, hand towels, prepared meals and ingredients for other meals, utensils, a skillet, 2 coolers, toys, blankets, 2 portable high chairs, 2 pack ‘n plays, a folding table, in addition to all the normal stuff like luggage, diaper bag, etc.  We joked that we would never have to go home if we did not want to. It took days (okay, maybe weeks) to prepare and we did not forget a thing.

This trip was to be different.  My carefree attitude must have carried over to when we loaded the car.  Half way to Seattle a mental picture of my toiletry bag sitting next to my sink popped into my head.  “Hum,” I thought.  Did I possibly pack it perfectly only to leave it at home? After a call to my mom confirmed it, we had to figure what to do.  We made a call to a pharmacy near our hotel to replace one of my prescriptions and looked up the nearest upcoming Target.  I was thrilled to find that all my coupons were in my coupon bag I tossed in the van “just in case.”  This included the “Proctor and Gamble Saver,” which saved my buns and took the sting out of replacing some of the things I could not do without.  It felt so great to not have to pay full price even though I needed the stuff pretty badly (especially since not a single item I needed at Target was on sale.)

Lesson: Don’t ever get too cocky about your packing skills and ALWAYS carry your coupons.  You never know when you might need them.

I have been asked quite a few times where I get my coupons from. Having a good stash of coupons is half the battle when it comes to saving your family money. There are a few different types of coupons and many places to get them. I will outline the main ways I get my coupons and include links to some of my favorites.

Inserts- These are the little multi-page fliers that come in the Sunday paper with all sorts of coupons (and some really tacky ads) in them.

Some of the main ones are:

• Red Plum
• Smart Saver
• P&G Saver –Contains coupons for Procter and Gamble products only (Tide, Pampers, Pantene, Cover Girl, Herbal Essence, Charmin, Crest, etc.)

Internet Printables-These are the coupons that you can find and print out from the internet. This is the category of coupons that has been gaining the most popularity. Companies have seen the success and consumers love the convenience of printing out the coupons they know they can use from their own home.  Many stores accept printable coupons, but before you plan a big trip, be sure to call the store first.

Some of the main sources of coupons are sites like:

• Coupons.com and the websites for the SmartSource and RedPlum companies.

• You can also many times fine coupons on specific companies sites. These are usually temporary and I often find out about these by looking at blogs that notify their readers. When I find great coupons like these I will post about them like I did in THIS post.

Coupon Books sent out in the mail- Some companies send coupon books containing coupons for their brands (the coupons in these would be considered manufacturer coupons). Some stores also send out coupon books with coupons that can only be used at their store (the coupons in these would be considered store coupons). These are sometimes a little harder to get ahold of. Many times you have to sign up for the coupon books for the specific companies. Whenever I see an offer online to submit a request for a coupon book, I jump on it. Many times these have higher value coupons than the insert coupons for the same brands, and some booklets even have coupons for free products.

• Example of company coupon book-Home Made Simple <- SIGN-UP! CURRENTLY AVAILABLE!  (also for P&G brands)
• Example of store coupon book-*Target

*Target (they send out two types of booklets; a regular one and a baby one)- These coveted little coupon books have left people wondering why some people get them and some don’t. Some theories are that people get them from registries, ordering online, after talking to customer service on the phone, etc. After some research and reading many people’s experiences, I eventually came to the conclusion that they are mainly triggered by in-store purchases (possibly within certain categories) made on your credit card. This was somewhat confirmed after THIS trip to Target with a friend who tried using her credit card as her form of payment and got their next (and her first) coupon book soon after. (Remember to always pay off your credit cards every month and don’t use this form of payment if it tends to get you in trouble.)

Word of mouth programs- There are many programs available online and they are a GREAT source of coupons.

• One of my favorites-Vocalpoint

Freebies- Often when I receive samples in the mail that I signed up for, they come with a coupon for the same or similar product.  These are often fairly good coupons.  I always sign up for samples of products we regularly use hoping that I will also get a coupon bonus out of the deal.

Blinkies- Those little red boxes that you can sometimes find in the aisles that spit out coupons.

Catalinas- The coupons or vouchers for money off your future purchases (often based upon what you purchased on that trip) that print off with your receipt.

Peelies- The coupons that are stuck to the front of the packaging of some products.  Easy to use and fun to find!

Magazines- Don’t forget to look through your magazines for coupons! I am not sure I have ever paid for a subscription.  All of the current magazines I receive are through free subscriptions or free issue offers that I have signed up for online.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Full shot of the loot

Closer view

Closer view

Here is a rough breakdown of how much my stuff cost.

Cascade rinse agent-Coupon for free item

Cascade gel-$2.50 used store coupon(S.C) and manufacturer coupon(M.C)

Dawn foam-79 cents used M.C

Dawn hand renewal-$1.09  used M.C.

Kraft BBQ sauce-24 cents used M.C

(2) Morning star farms Spicy black bean burgers-$1.29 each after M.C and S.C

All Beef hot dogs-Coupon for free product

Dog teeth cleaning treats-$1.04 after M.C

Earths best-27 cents after S.C

Kotex 36ct-$3.54 after S.C. and M.C

Band aids- 27 cents and 77 cents after M.C and S.C.

Bryers on sale for $2.50 each and if you bought 5 you get a gift card for $5. so….like getting 5 for $7.50

Shredded Wheat-about $4.25 for the three boxes  (2)M.C. and S.C

Milk-Free when you bought 3 boxes of cereal!

Archer Farms organic tortilla chips-$1.33 each after S.C

Archer Farms organic mango peach salsa- Free when you bought 2 chips!

Total………..$33.26 minus the $5 gift card from the ice cream

=$28.26 WOO HOO

Total before savings $82.35!

We got lots of products we will use and a few to build up our stock pile.  Some are products we are pretty brand loyal to, and some are just things that I got for free or close to free I knew that we could use.  I love to have a small stash so we won’t have to pay full or even just sale price when we run out of something.

Stats:

Time preparing for trip–Sadly it took me a couple hours because I had not organized my coupons lately and spent quite a bit of time looking for and printing coupons online.  I had the time though because our trip to the beach with the youth group got rained out. I don’t normally spend this much time preparing for a trip.

Time spent in Target–couple hours. More than normal because we were talking about the deals as we went.

Checker–Male and great with coupons! (I would use him again)…as you coupon you learn that the checker is crucial. Some don’t know hot to ring things up properly, some don’t know their companies policies, and some are just mad that you are getting better deals than they do.

Location-Keizer Station

If I continue to post about some of my shopping trips I likely won’t go into so much detail.  I just know that I like to see exactly how people are getting their deals so I can refine my game.

Happy Sunday! Its a new week with new deals!

Let me know if you have any questions!