Its a good thing the apocolypse didnt happen this weekend because I had serious couponing to attend to and how would I do that if the world came to an end...phew...dodged a bullet there! Couponing to me...is like heroin to a junkie. I am completely hooked. I will not go without it ever again. I think about it all the time and god help you if you are in my way! I cannot fathom paying retail for much, if anything, again. And the best part is...I feel like I am always shopping (which is great for the shopoholic in me) and I am amassing this huge pile of things that I have gotten for free or next to free and that is an amazing feeling. When the purse strings have to be incredibly tight its a great feeling to be able to provide things to my family that are needed and not have to wonder where I will come up with the money for them!
There is buy one get one free at Save-On Foods and Sobey's this week. This week was a different week though. I have finally learned the error in my ways and the how to fix them to save money. Bear in mind though, I am within 5 mins of ALL stores because of my ring road access. So its easy and not at all costly to go to any store I need....and I hit them all.
I also devised a very strategic plan for each store. I reviewed the flyers ahead of time, then pulled coupons and stacked them in my organizer, which has now grown into two organizers. One that contains coupon categories and the other contains some more categories but also is broken into store. No more searching for them. I could just hand the stack over at each place I went to. Fantastic!
At Sobey's I did the following:
Ziploc bags were $2.99, so I bought two more, then couponed on them (with the buy two save $4 coupon), then I furthered that by buying the 30 minute La Grille Marinades, which were $4.89 (but were also buy one get one free) and couponed on THAT with the buy two ziplocs save $3 on La Grille Marinades. That made each box of Ziploc bags $0.99 and each bottle of La Grille Marinade $0.95 each. HA! I am wondering if that could have been even furthered by using the buy two get two free coupon from Smart Source, then you would get 4 boxes out of that making each box about $0.50. I'm not really sure if that would be considered "double couponing"....and didnt want to have to push my luck!
Colgate Advanced Health was on sale for $1.99 but with my $1.50 off coupon it was $0.49 and Secret Deodorant was on sale for $2.49, but I had the coupon for buy 2 save $3 from Brandsaver and voila...$0.99 deodorant.
My total coupon savings was $12.50! And the shopping had just begun.
Save on Foods had their Sunlight Detergent buy one get one so I couponed on the purchased one bringing the price from $6.99 to $5.99...and I got one free so I essentially got them for $2.99 each.
Now...lets begin the biggies!
Walmart had the Quantumatic Starter Kit on for $6.00, and you can get a $6.00 off coupon from their website (see link below) which made it FREE! When I got to Walmart I was able to get the last one. I also discovered that those corporate jerks rolled up the roll back on the Ziploc bags and now they were $2.37 a box or something like that. No more making $1.04 off two boxes. Bummer. Walmart accused me of photocopying the coupons because I print in black and white (helloooo...if I have to coupon for stuff clearly I dont have money to waste on colour ink cartridges...duhhh!!!), but I was able to fight for it and was able to get my free quantumatic and my box of Fibre Plus Cereal which was on sale for $2.97 but with my $1.00 off coupon it was $1.97! YAY! Plus their Van Houtte Coffee was on for $7.97 and I had a $1.50 off coupon for that too.
Later I learned that Canadian Tire has the 20 packs of dryer sheets for Snuggle Fabric Softener on for $0.99 BUT there is a coupon for $1.00 on their website (see link below), so you can get those for free AND they also have the Quantumatic Starter Kit on for $6 (which you can get for free with your coupon as well then you dont have to go to Walmart unless you need to).
A friend later shared with me that if you have the $3.00 off when you purchase two Aveeno products coupon, that coupon is also on the wall at Superstore, so you can double it and save $6 off two Aveeno products!
You would think I was done...but I'm not. At Shoppers Drug Mart, Listerine Mouthwash is on sale for the big 1L bottles. $4.99 and theres a $3.00 off coupon on the mrs.january website (see link below), so you can get that for $1.99. AND I checked in their clearance and there was Herbal Essences Shampoo in there for $1.12 and I had a $0.50 off coupon so I got the shampoo for $0.62. Also in there I saw Clean and Clear Morning Burst cleanser marked down to $3.50 from $11.50...I have the $1.00 off coupon so I could have gotten that for $2.50...could have...if there was any there. :(
Safeway was an interesting one. I read on the forums that Safeway will accept a manufacturers coupon AND a computer printed coupon for the same item (obviously they have to have a different bar code) so I decided to test this theory as well.
Firstly, I picked up Giovanni Panzani (?? - gotta double check that one) pasta for $1.66 but with my $0.75 coupon it was $0.92. Then I got Dial Nutriskin Lotion which is regularly about $7 a bottle. It was on special for buy 2 for $7...and I had two coupons to save $1.50 each...and I also had the printable coupon for $1.00 off that I asked if they would accept and they did (not too sure if they should have...but they did...) so I was able to get the lotions for $1.50 each. Oh and Crest 3D White toothpaste was on special 3 for $5 which broke down to $1.67 per tube, but I had $1.00 off coupon so it was $0.67. I also got Hellmann's Olive Oil Mayo on sale for $3.99 and I had a $0.50 off coupon for that. I left there spending only $8.50 and saving nearly $17 with Safeway Club Savings and coupons.
It feels weird...I'm shopping lots...my cupboards are stacked...and I finally seem to be saving money. I cannot believe I didnt think of this sooner. Lets hope this continues to go well but all I can say is couponing is so much fun...it gets me out of the house and searching around...even my four year old was excited to learn I got Pringle Stix "buy one get one free!" ...another generation of smart shoppers. Love it!
Looking for more deals! Will let you know when I find them. PS - had to complain about lack of flyers again this week! Luckily my neighbour gave me hers!
LINKS:
Mrs. January printable coupons - http://www.mrsjanuary.com/free-canada-printable-coupons/
Finish Quantumatic - http://www.finishdishwashing.ca/en/finish-quantumatic.php (click trial offer)
Snuggle Fabric Softener - http://www.snuggle.ca/en/ (click on the link to get the coupon in the lower right corner).
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