Hey all! If anyone out there still remembers my blog, or me, ha ha! I know, it has been what, two years since I managed to post anything here, maybe longer? Wow. Crazy.
One of my friends asked me if I was going to start blogging about how much money I save with coupons, and I said, "No." Though I also said that I don't blog anymore. So apparently either I'm a liar, or just changed my mind. I am not going to go into the whole run down of how I saved on every single item on my list though. The place where that belongs is on a how-to frugal blog. And I doubt that is why anyone comes here!
I started using coupons a little over a month ago, and quickly decided that they weren't a waste of time, at least not for me. I had tried this before, and was disappointed in the results. This time, with the help of Money Saving Mom and printable coupons, I have not been disappointed at all! I am still in the "stocking up" phase of this whole thing. Where you accumulate different items as they go on sale and come out with coupons. Right now I feel like I am still spending the same amount in the budget, but I am coming away with more food and household items than normal. I hope to eventually be stocked up enough with toothpaste, cleaners, etc. that I will then only buy them when they are extremely cheap, therefore saving more money and cutting the budget. (I have to admit that I have been going over the food budget every month, so to stay within it this month, is still a big difference!)
This month the running total is as follows: Money spent on food and household items out of pocket $300, even though $275 of that was on a gift card, so that wasn't out of pocket necessarily, but it was still money. Coupon savings: $88. So currently almost a 30% savings on needed items. Some of the items that I spent money on that I could not avoid and I had no special savings offers on where things like medicine for Joey, a nice $25 a month, things like that.
I went to Walgreens for the first time over the weekend. I spent a little and didn't do a terrific job on the deals, and had no coupons, but I did need the toilet paper that I got, and the cheap but nice Kleenex is going with Gabbie for her school supplies. So that was all good.
Today I went back, armed with EasySaver catalogs, Walgreens coupons, and regular coupons and a list, of course! I got a full basket of goodies, both food and other things. I spent $42 out of pocket. $20 of that was on gifts for me and for two friends. All of the gifts were on sale, normally it would have been $36 for the three gifts. So that was still good.
So the $22 out of pocket for the needed household items was then broken down into $3 of tax, then I received $4 in register rewards, and then I send off for a $5 rebate, lowering my total of non-redeemable/non-tax money down to a whopping $10 spent on the following.
2 Pert Plus shampoo/conditioners, 3 Preperation H boxed wipes (this can be used as facial toners, not just hemorrhoids!!), 4 boxes General Mills assorted cereals, 2 Dove Shampoo and Conditioner, 3 jars Skippy Peanut Butter, 4 Ragu Spaghetti Sauce, 2 Dixie Ultra Paper Plates, 1 Papermate pens, 1 papermate mechanical pencils.
Total Savings at Walgreens $71.50. $16 of which was from my little gifts. Take that away and I basically got $75 of groceries and other household items for $10. A savings of 85% is what I 'm talking about!!
One of my friends asked me if I was going to start blogging about how much money I save with coupons, and I said, "No." Though I also said that I don't blog anymore. So apparently either I'm a liar, or just changed my mind. I am not going to go into the whole run down of how I saved on every single item on my list though. The place where that belongs is on a how-to frugal blog. And I doubt that is why anyone comes here!
I started using coupons a little over a month ago, and quickly decided that they weren't a waste of time, at least not for me. I had tried this before, and was disappointed in the results. This time, with the help of Money Saving Mom and printable coupons, I have not been disappointed at all! I am still in the "stocking up" phase of this whole thing. Where you accumulate different items as they go on sale and come out with coupons. Right now I feel like I am still spending the same amount in the budget, but I am coming away with more food and household items than normal. I hope to eventually be stocked up enough with toothpaste, cleaners, etc. that I will then only buy them when they are extremely cheap, therefore saving more money and cutting the budget. (I have to admit that I have been going over the food budget every month, so to stay within it this month, is still a big difference!)
This month the running total is as follows: Money spent on food and household items out of pocket $300, even though $275 of that was on a gift card, so that wasn't out of pocket necessarily, but it was still money. Coupon savings: $88. So currently almost a 30% savings on needed items. Some of the items that I spent money on that I could not avoid and I had no special savings offers on where things like medicine for Joey, a nice $25 a month, things like that.
I went to Walgreens for the first time over the weekend. I spent a little and didn't do a terrific job on the deals, and had no coupons, but I did need the toilet paper that I got, and the cheap but nice Kleenex is going with Gabbie for her school supplies. So that was all good.
Today I went back, armed with EasySaver catalogs, Walgreens coupons, and regular coupons and a list, of course! I got a full basket of goodies, both food and other things. I spent $42 out of pocket. $20 of that was on gifts for me and for two friends. All of the gifts were on sale, normally it would have been $36 for the three gifts. So that was still good.
So the $22 out of pocket for the needed household items was then broken down into $3 of tax, then I received $4 in register rewards, and then I send off for a $5 rebate, lowering my total of non-redeemable/non-tax money down to a whopping $10 spent on the following.
2 Pert Plus shampoo/conditioners, 3 Preperation H boxed wipes (this can be used as facial toners, not just hemorrhoids!!), 4 boxes General Mills assorted cereals, 2 Dove Shampoo and Conditioner, 3 jars Skippy Peanut Butter, 4 Ragu Spaghetti Sauce, 2 Dixie Ultra Paper Plates, 1 Papermate pens, 1 papermate mechanical pencils.
Total Savings at Walgreens $71.50. $16 of which was from my little gifts. Take that away and I basically got $75 of groceries and other household items for $10. A savings of 85% is what I 'm talking about!!
**EDIT**
I also just discovered that I can also ask for a rebate on the Pert Plus in this group that got me the school supplies for free. So I will also get back $3.00 on the Pert Plus, making this total $7 OOP.
1 comment:
Funny girl. Welcome back to the world of blogging.
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