Grocery Trip 75% Savings

Today's grocery purchase at Safeway:

4 Duncan Hines Brownie Mixes: Reg $2.99, Sale $.99 + MC $0.50/1 (doubled) = FREE
4 Dole Fruit Cups: Reg $3:09, Sale $1.59 + MC $0.50/1 (doubled) = $0.59 each
Precious String Cheese: Reg $5.99, Sale $5.49 + MC $1/1 = $4.49
3 Barilla Spaghetti Pasta: Reg $1.99, Sale $0.89 each
Grapes: Reg $2.49/lb $5.45, Sale $0.77/lb $1.69
Strawberries 1lb: Reg $3.99, Sale $0.77

Total Regular Price: $49.71
Club Card Savings: $21.68
Coupon Savings: $15.40
Final Price Paid: $12.63 (75% Savings!)

Note: I would have purchased a less expensive string cheese, but Leah is picky about her string cheese and my coupon for Precious was going to expire tomorrow.

HUGE Diaper Deal!!

I have been on the look out for diaper deals to stock up for the new baby. Currently, we get Leah's diapers through Amazon Mom Subscribe & Save (thanks, Tiffany!) and pay around $0.13 a diaper. We are also in the middle (or beginning, I'm not too sure) of potty training.

Babies R Us was having a huge sale on jumbo packs of diapers only yesterday and today for $5 (that's right, $5 for about 40 diapers depending on size). With no coupons, that would make your price per diaper around $0.11 or so. Of course, all BRUs in town (and probably across the country) were out of the Huggies jumbo packs. However, I remembered that Walmart ad matches. I haven't ad matched in a long time and the experience is either really good or really bad depending on the cashier you get. So, we hit walmart after work. Come to found out they don't carry the Huggies naturals (which was in the ad) so I just got the regular Huggies Snug & Dry jumbo pack (which actually has more diapers per package haha). I had $1.50/1 coupons so that made each package $3.50. The cashier didn't even ask to see the ad or anything. Walking out I thought to myself "wow, that was way too easy."

Since we got such a good deal, after dinner we went back and got 6 more packages. I was hesitant since I already used all my coupons, but when I went back I found some packages with $1/1 coupons on them! Can this really be happening? The second cashier asked to see the ad, which I had handy, and I of course had to explain why I was getting Snug & Dry when the ad shows the Naturals. He didn't seem to understand or care, and he accepted them AND my $1/1 coupons (which, by the way, were expired. Not sure how I got past that one!)

So in total, we bought 10 packages (7 of size 1, 3 of size 2) of Huggies diapers for $38 (476 diapers = $0.07 a diaper!) If I could convince my husband, I would totally go back and get more since the sale ends tonight.

Realistic Extreme Couponing

I am sure most of America has now seen or heard about TLC’s new show Extreme Couponing. It seems to have brought an entire new understanding to the world of couponing, good and bad. With more and more people using coupons, the stores seem to have caught on and are making much stricter coupon policies. There are now numerous coupon blogs that show the latest coupons and match-ups on which coupons to use for the current sales ad. For some, it’s a full time job researching the latest coupons and getting the best deals.

I have to admit, I have been sucked up into this coupon world. I would say my Mom introduced me into the world of saving and couponing, but my urge and desire to save as much money as possible is definitely much stronger now than it has ever been. I would have to contribute the sudden urge to the economy (as Brad and I have both experienced in the past 2 years what it is like to be laid off), having a family, and the overall accessibility to coupons now. I can still remember the days when my Mom used to cut coupons from the monthly Safeway coupon book (back before every store had a savings card). She would categorize the coupons by isle of the store. At the time, I thought that was strange, but I now completely understand as shopping with children is a completely different experience than shopping on your own (especially with coupons).

So, the point of this post is to express my unsolicited rants/vents about extreme couponing.

1. Not everything is for free.

On the majority of the Extreme Couponing episodes, they show people getting $1,500 worth of groceries for pennies. Fantastic for them, I say. But honestly, who needs 100 bottles of hot sauce and 300 packets of croutons? Which leads to my next point…

2. Abusive couponing leads to hoarding.

Just because it’s free or super cheap DOES NOT MEAN you need to buy the store out! And honestly, can you really use 200 tubes of toothpaste before expire? Unless you are donating these items to a worthy cause (which some actually do), I would consider this under the category of unrealistic. I completely agree with having a stock pile. But I believe there is a fine line between stock pile and hoarding. There is another show for Hoarders on TLC.

3. Coupon Policies are set for a reason.

Although I do not completely agree with or like the coupon policies in place, I know why they are enforced. This kinda ties into purchasing 100 of the same item and using 100 coupons. Let’s all just abide by the policies, and no one gets hurt!

4. Couponing, part-time.

I usually spend about 1-2 hours a week “couponing”, which includes looking at the weekly sales ads, reading blogs, researching for coupons and making my list. I really don’t know or understand how you can spend 40+ hours a week doing that. At that point, it may become a bit boring! Since I already work full-time and I highly value my family time, I usually don’t scour for coupons or make my list until Leah is already in bed.

Although my husband might disagree, I definitely only purchase items I know we will use. I will not buy something that we do not use just because it is a great deal and I have a coupon, because then how are you really saving money?

Disclaimer – I am no where near a professional couponer (if there is such a thing??), just a Mom trying to save some money!

Shopping Trip Success

Warning: This post will only be interesting to those who are couponers. It may be a bit boring for anyone else :)

This week was my best shopping trip yet, and it actually was not all due to coupons. Frys Food was having a huge sale ("Mega Event" actually) where when you purchase 10 qualifying items, you receive $5 off your total purchase. A lot of these items were on a great sale already, and I had coupons for most of them to make some items FREE!

My coupon organizer that Brad bought me a couple of years ago. I love it because it keeps everything in their own category and it fits in my purse!

The main item we wanted to stock up on was Vitamin Water. We drink it all the time, and Leah thinks it's her special water. Typically, we purchase it at Costco for around $0.78 a bottle, which is less expensive than the normal grocery store price of $1.00. They were apart of the Frys Mega Event for $0.49, and I had a competitor coupon for $0.50 off each bottle, which would make each for FREE. Here is the tricky part - I actually didn't even get to use all of my coupons because you are only allowed to use one per purchase (aka transaction to some cashiers). I was allowed to use one WF coupon for $0.50, and one Target coupon B2G1F. So, for ten bottles, usually priced $10, I spent $3.91 (we bought 30).

Here is a list of some other great deals we got:

Colgate toothpaste: Sale $1.49, Mega Event $0.99, $1/1 Target coupon (or $0.50/1 MF Coupon - I had two of each) = FREE
Classico Sauce: Sale $2.29, Mega Event $1.79, MF Coupon $1/2 = $1.29 Each (got 6 of these)
Aunt Jemima Pancakes: Sale $1.99, Mega Event $1.49, MF Coupon $1/1 = $0.49
Kraft Salad Dressing: Sale $1.99, Mega Event $1.49, MF Coupon $1/2 AND Target Coupon $1/2 = $0.49 each (got 4 of these)
Kleenex: Sale $1.49, Mega Event $0.99, MF Coupon $1/3 AND Target Coupon $1/3 = $0.32 each

One large purchase was a new office chair:

Regular Price $149.99, Sale $99.99, Frys Digital Coupon 30% any home item ($30), plus another 10% off Furniture item (not sure how I got this but it's on my receipt!) $7 = $62.99 (Saved $87!)

We also purchased the normal weekly grocery items (milk, produce, etc.) that were on sale, but no coupons.

Totals (from three transactions):
Regular Price: $411.87
Frys VIP Savings: $223.74
Coupons (MF and Competitor): $28.51
Total Paid: $159.62
Total Saved: $252.25 (61.2%)

San Diego 2011

We took our first official family summer vacation this summer. It was also mine and Leah's first time to San Diego (and Leah's first time to the beach!). We met Brad's brother, Bryan, his wife, Katrina, their son, Joey, and Katrina's parents. We spent 7 days there and had many things on our agenda, including Sea World, a cruise around the harbor, and Knotts Berry Farm splash park.

We packed the car early Sunday morning in preparation for the 6+ hour car ride. I'll admit, I was a bit nervous how Leah would handle the car ride. We made a couple of stops to stretch and eat, and we also had her favorite movies on hand. Here is Leah in the car ready to go.

Our first adventure was a cruise around the north and south harbor.

Then hit the beach for the first time. Water was cold (well, more like freezing!), so the kids were content playing in the sand.

Next stop: Sea World!

They had a blast at the splash park at Sea World. Leah was a little hesitant at first, but quickly was running through the water like a champ. She was soaked.

We all had a blast. Ate amazing food and had tons of fun. And of course, the weather was perfect. Pretty depressing to come back to our 110 degree desert living.

Quiet Toddler

While we were packing for our trip to San Diego last week, Leah was playing quietly in her room. Usually, we hear her talking to herself (or her toys), slamming her play kitchen doors trying to stuff everything imaginable in them, or dumping her large box of blocks over and over again.This time, however, it was quiet, and then the smell hit us...

I did the not-so-parent thing and started laughing when I caught her. It brought back memories of when my mom caught me and my neighbor friend having a baby powder fight and my entire room was covered. Leah started crying as soon as she was caught cause she knew she made a mess, but I could not help but laugh.

Another example of why a quiet toddler is not always a good thing...