Saturday, November 26, 2011

Thanksgiving Day Sales - The New Black Friday

It seems like Thanksgiving is now 100% lost to shopping as stores are now officially opening on this day. This past Thursday my husband braved the crowds at Walmart and Target yet came up empty handed. It wasn't because there weren't deals to be had, but rather that the lines to check out freaked him out. We went back to Target the next day and most of the stuff that we wanted was still there with no lines.

The biggest success we had was with online shopping. We were one of the lucky few who got the Amazon.com lightening deal on the XBOX 360! Yay us! And games and many other stuff. I think I spent more with the amazon lightening deals because it became a sick sort of game. Like I beat the masses and save a whopping $2 bucks on a game. Go Katy! Next year I will definitely try to show more restraint, but it is hard especially with free shipping and no taxes.


Monday, November 21, 2011

Old Navy Pre-Black Friday Sale 11/19 - Saved $179.84

This past Saturday was my daughter's 3rd birthday and also happened to be one of Old Navy's Pre-Black Friday sales events. This sale was 75% (yes that is correct) off of adult's outerwear. So being the great coupon clipper that I am, or in this case sales watcher, I went thinking of getting some super fab Christmas gifts.

I walked out with four wool pea coats that retailed for $59.64 for $14.98 each. I spent a total of $61.92 with a savings of $179.84!!!!


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Target Post Halloween Sale 11/1/11

Like most little girls my daughter is in love with princesses. This includes all of the princess themed disney movie and extends to princess wear. For Halloween we had bought her a Belle costume for $40 at The Disney Store. She loved it and wanted to wear it to school today (the day after Halloween).

I had noticed in the toy section that they sell dress up disney princess dresses. I had thought about getting these but decided to take advantage of the after Halloween sale and to get some princess costumes 50%. I realize that a more bargain savy shopper would probably have held out until they were marked down to 75% or less. However, I still happy with what I got and think that these will make adorable dress up outfits.

 I got the following:
  • Snow White costume $10
  • Princess Tiana costume $10
  • Tinker Belle costume $15
  • Princess Dress in Pink $7
  • Princess Dress in Purple $7

Friday, October 28, 2011

CVS Trip 10/28/2011 - Saved Over 90%

Today was my best shopping trip yet in terms of deals! I went to CVS to try and find the CVS Reinventing Beauty magazine. I have yet to actually find one but have heard from many websites about all of the great coupons they have inside. I struck out with the magazine but hit it big with clearance deals. I only used one single CVS coupon on this whole transaction!


What I bought:

  • Glee 1" Metal Notebook clearance price $0.60 - original price $5.39
  • Pink Flexible Straws 100 ct clearance price$0.10 X 3 - original price $0.90
  • Emergen-C Immune Defense clearance price $2.00 - original price $13.29
  • NYQUIL/DAY QUIL Pack clearance price $1.30 - original price $11.99
  • Adora Dark Chocolate Calcium Chews clearance price $3.00 - original 5.99
I used a $5.00 Extra Bucks coupon which made my total a whoppping $2.22.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Target Trip 10/27 - Saved 40%

So today I went to target and tried to do my best job at stacking coupons with clearance items. The jury is still out if these are the best deals possible, but I'm pretty proud of what I came out with.


The items I bought and the coupons used are as follows:

  • Ozarka Sparkling Water $0.99 - Used $1/1 manufacturer coupon I received from liking them on FB.
  • Febreeze Noticeables Oil Warmer with Cover $3.99 - Used $2/1 coupon and filled out rebate for $3.50 back
  • Starbucks Via House Blend $3.39 (sale price) - used $2/1 coupon
  • Sauve Lotion 2-Pack X 2 $4.25 (clearance price) - used BOGO coupon so got 2 lotion free (yay!)
  • Old Spice Body Wash with Free Deoderant $2.80 - used $1/1 coupon
  • Sure Deoderant $1.97 - used $1/1 coupon
  • Listerine Mouthwash with Bonus Travel Size Mouth Wash $2.48 - used $1/1 coupon plus it has a peely coupon for $1 future purchase!!!
  • Aquafresh Infant Toothbrush $1.99 - used $1.50/1 coupon
  • Dove Shampoo (super large bottle) - used BOGO coupon

My total with taxes was $20.28 with an original price of $39.02. That is savings of around 41%! Definitely not in the all free category but hopefully a step in the right direction.

Learning How to Coupon

I'm pretty sure that almost everyone has seen or has at least heard of TLC's hit show Extreme Couponing where people are able to save like 90% off of their grocery bills. In some cases, the individuals walk away with free items or may even get money back if the coupon is valued at more than the item. Gasp!

Although these jaw dropping saving bonanza scenerios play out weekly on this show, I'm not sure if this type of insane savings is possible where I live. For one, I live in San Antonio, TX, which essentially has one major grocery store chain (HEB), Super Walmart, and Super Target. Neither of these stores double or triple coupons as they appear to do in the grocery stores that the extreme couponers are shopping in. In addition, our stores do not have loyalty cards (with the exception of CVS).

In my quest to attain super human savings I have started to read other couponers blogs in the hopes of learning the "tricks" of the trade. I plan on passing on what I learn here.

The first thing that I have done in starting couponing is to get my stash organized. I have learned from several different sources that one popular method is to get a notebook and to use basketball card organizing sheets. Obviously the notebook was easy to find. The basketball card sheets, not so much. What I ended up using were the sheet portectors for business cards.

                                                             My Coupon Notebook