Are they really worth the time & hassle? For me, the answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. The reason my answer changes is that we tend not to stock a large pantry because simply, we don't have the space to do so. In addition, we don't tend to eat a lot of the prepackaged, very processed foods that you find for most coupons nor do we use a lot of chemicals and cleaners in our house. We tend to lean more towards the fresh foods and more environmental cleaning methods of steam floor cleaning and plain old soap & water.
However, I have been more interested in knowing whether or not I could shave off some more of our spending if I were to pay closer attention to coupons. So for the last few months, I have been subscribed to a few different coupon saving blogs (favorite being: Money Saving Mom) and watching the reports of good deals. I have used the odd coupon here and there but not a lot on any one shopping trip to really feel like a big savings... until today.
It began with me seeing a few deals which looked like items we use or have been wondering about using. So I went to the sites, printed off some coupons and got them all organized to make a trip out to Target. There was also one for an online medical supplies store which I decided I would check out being it was a coupon for $10 off any order.
So I began my couponing day by going to Medco Health Store and finding that they do carry Breath Right nose strips. Mike finds they help him a lot with breathing at night and work much better than any of the generics so we have been splurging on the brand name ones for him. They definitely aren't cheap but he does find them so useful so it is worth it for him to get good night's sleep... and snore less for me ;) Their prices seem close to what we pay elsewhere for them and they offer 99cent shipping which keeps the pricing reasonable. Add in a $10 coupon and yippee! A 38 count box shipped for $5.98. That is a price I much prefer to what we have been paying.
Then I was off to Target, where I picked up the following items with coupons...
The bread and deli meats were a package deal savings. Target had the deli meats on special that if you bought 2, you got a loaf of their Market Fresh sliced bread free. Since I was already going to be picking up a loaf of bread and some deli meat, I decided it worked out cheaper if I bought the extra container of deli meat and got the bread for free. The deli meat was cheaper than the loaf of bread and also each container had a coupon for an additional 55cents off each deli meat container. Total price for this combo: $9.47 before coupons for all, $6.48 before coupons just for 1 meat & loaf of bread as I intended to buy and $4.88 after coupons for all.
The bottle of Shout stain remover I unfortunately wasn't able to get one of the manufacturer's 75cents off coupons online because they were all out. However, the bottle did have a manufacturer's coupon on it for 55cents off. Combined with Target's $1 off coupon, it made for a very affordable bottle of Shout. $1.97 before coupons, $0.42 after coupons.
The Scrubbing Bubbles Daily Shower power spray is something that Mike & I have been looking at but never tried before. Seeing the deal on Money Saving Mom, I knew today was my day to get it and give it a try. This was an experience in making coupons work for you! Target had a $3 off coupon for the starter spray bottle and I was able to get an online coupon from the manufacturer for $5 off the starter spray bottle. Being that one was a store coupon and one was a manufacturer coupon, they could be stacked - yippee! I also was able to print off a manufacturer coupon online for buy the starter spray bottle and get a free refill, up to $3.99. This stacking mostly worked, however, I did have to go to Target's customer service to get the buy the starter spray bottle & get a free refill redeemed as it didn't automatically accept it at the cash register. A couple minutes of my time was well worth the $3.94 savings for the refill. The final price for the starter spray bottle & a refill was $12.63 before coupons or an amazing $0.69 after coupons! How could I not pick it up & give it a try for that price??
Scrubbing Bubbles also had manufacturer coupons for buy a box of their Toilet Cleaning Gel and get a free Fresh Brush 2in1 starter box or refills up to $7. Since we already have the Fresh Brush wands, I opted to pick up a box of the Fresh Brush Max refills as my supply of them was running low. We have used their Toilet Cleaning Gel before and we are kind of here or there on it. However, when I can buy it for the same price as the Fresh Brush Max refills I would already be buying and get the refills free, why not get it. It is nice to have, we just wouldn't necessarily always buy them. Total price for the pair was $7.88 before coupons, $3.94 after coupons. I did also have to have this deal done at the Customer Service desk because it didn't accept the coupon for some reason. I am wondering if it didn't accept it right away because they were expecting the 2in1 starter kit or the regular refills used with the coupon and not the max refills. Either way, Customer Service fixed it up quickly for me as they also said I had what the coupon says and it should have gone through.
The Viva paper towels are a brand Mike and I have found we quite like because of their cloth like properties and strength. Target had a $1 off a multipack of Viva paper towels. The nice thing is that "multipack" means anything more than a single roll so I picked up a double pack and was able to use the coupon on it. We don't go through a lot of paper towels quickly so prefer to buy smaller packages and not have a lot of extra to store for years. $3.99 before coupon, $2.99 after coupon.
A few moments of time printing off a few coupons today and I saved over $20! That is my kind of shopping!!
I also picked up a couple other things we were needing at Target while I was at it. Combine those items with these and how often can you pick up a few things at Target and actually make it out the door for under $20? What normally would have cost me almost $44, cost me about $18.50. I call that a successful trip and has re-energized my eyes to seek out coupon deals.
Have you found any great coupon deals lately? Have favorite coupon sites or blogs?
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