Saving Money

A friend of mine presented a seminar on how to use coupons and sales to find GREAT deals!

I've only just begun, but have had some great successes!

I've learned so much from her and still have a ways to go!

The idea is to match a store sale on a product with a coupon. I learned also that grocery stores with club cards have online coupons that are uploaded to your card or cell phone (cellfire.com). So... if something is on sale PLUS you have a coupon (doubled at some stores) PLUS you have the coupon on your card = getting stuff you need for cheap, or sometimes FREE! You can also stack all of that with a printed coupon from the store! Sometimes, the store has owed me money on products! (they won't give money back, so I had to purchase other things!)

I used to shop only at Wal-Mart because I thought I was getting the best deals with their generic brand. Not anymore...I RARELY go there now!

Here are some examples:

Barillo pasta at Safeway:

Normally $1.25/box

On sale for $0.88

I had 4 coupons for $0.50 off each box (doubled to $1.00)

=4 boxes of pasta FREE with $0.88 to spend on something else.

Toothpaste at Safeway:

Colgate normally $2.35/tube

On sale for $1.75/tube, but if you bought 3+, they were $1 each

I had 3 coupons for $0.75 off each tube (doubled to $1.00)

= All 3 tubes were FREE!

Yogurt at King Soopers (Kroger)

Yoplait Trix yogurt normally $2.50/6 pack

On sale for $2

Online coupon for $0.40 off

Printed coupon for $0.40 off doubled to $0.80

= 6 yogurt cups for $.80!

Old Spice Deodorant and Body Wash

3 sticks of deodorant and 1 body wash normally $ 11.00 (about)

Deodorant on sale for $1.88/stick

Coupon for $0.50 off (doubled to $1.00)

Coupon for buy one deodorant get one free

Coupon for buy one deodorant get a body wash free

= $1.76 for 3 sticks of deodorant and 1 body wash

OH... and if you use a Buy One Get One Free coupon on something that is on sale for Buy One Get One Free ... YOU GET BOTH FOR FREE!! I recently got 2 rolls of sausage for free!

I don't need 4 boxes of pasta or 3 tubes of toothpaste or 3 deodorants right now, but when I need it, I won't spend $1-$2.50 for each!

I've also been watching when meat goes on sale and stocking up on that!

I have learned I have to change my way of thinking when I go through the coupons. I can't be brand picky! I had never bought Barillo pasta before because I always bought the generic stuff, but you can't beat cheaper than FREE!

Bill and I started getting the paper delivered Thursday-Sunday so I can clip coupons and see the ads for drug stores and grocery stores. I've also registered with a lot of online sites to print coupons and load them to my shopper club cards (create an email address just for this, you'll get a lot of junk!)

I'll keep you posted on more great deals!

If you are in the Denver area, check out Savvy Shopper (on the right) for more deals. I learned from her and she's been doing it for over a year now!