Saving Money

At the beginning of the year I began to use coupons. I mostly used coupons at grocery stores. My favorite store is Harris Teeter due to the fact it doubles all coupons under $1 and almost every month has four days that they triple all coupons under $1. Just an example—last week Ken’s Steakhouse Salad Dressing was Buy One Get One Free. The regular price was $3.20. In addition to the sale, I had a $1 off coupon so my final price per bottle was $.60. With such a great price I bought lots that will hopefully last this year.

The website that I started my couponing adventure with was http://savvydollar.org/ It’s a great site that is totally focused on my area. But this last week I discovered a new website about couponing - http://www.southernsavers.com/ I ended up just printing the list from the site for my local drugstores, downloaded or cut the coupons and went shopping. Below are the deals I got at Walgreens (RR are Register Rewards that act just like cash):

Walgreens Deals 3/2/09
(Three different checkouts so I could get and then use RRs)

6 Vita-Shampoo & Conditioner FREE-Rebate
Axel Hair Gel FREE-Rebate
Colgate Toothpaste $.49
2 small boxes of Ritz +$.01
3 boxes Fiber One Chewy bars $1.92
2 bags Jelly Beans $.99
Vaseline Lotion $.44 and $2 RR
Colgate Max $3.49 and $3.50 RR
3 Clorox Wipes $5 and $1 RR
Nivea Lip Gloss $.99
2 Esencia Shampoo & Conditioner Free-Rebate
Milk Gallon $2.79
2 Cottenelle Fresh Wipes $2.89
Splenda-100 count $1.94

Cost without coupons, rebates and sales: $129.92
Cost without RRs: $ 21.88
RRs (Earn on products with purchase) $ 6.50 RR
RRs (Earn on past purchases) $ 3.00 RR
Total I spent: $ 12.38

So I think my couponing is definitely saving me money. I have a goal to save $5000 this year and to give away at least 50 items. Though I think I should raise my goal as I just calculated my savings since January and it is $1824.93—Wahoo! Many times I get products free or for very little so it gives me an opportunity to help others.