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.

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