Another day of couponing and my did it go well. Roughly we saved about $200 between price matching and coupons! We spent out of pocket $232 ( I know that sounds like a lot and you must be thinking "I should learn elsewhere".....keep reading ) Here are some of the items that were included in our purchase:
1 pair of jeans
1 trapper keeper (my 1/2 inch planner began to puff and barely zip up.....must be what its like for my hubby on Thanksgiving...hehe)
1 10lb. ham
1 pair of men's memory foam bedroom slippers
26 Kashi bars
7 boxes of Panko bread crumbs
2 bottles of Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 bottles of Soy Almond Milk
2 family packs of boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 6 breasts each package)
2 bottles of Nature's Made vitamins (1 vitamin C & 1 multi)
-*There's much more but these were some of the high priced items
Total items sold 163
Now I should have said this in the beginning but I am not one of those extreme couponers (the ones you see on TLC) I mean, I have hopes of getting there one day but that does take some time. As I said before my 1st shopping trip was super disappointing. I thought we would have saved so much more than we did but we didn't. Its all a learning experience. I can tell you this, every shopping trip after that first one only got better! You learn what to do and what not to do and in doing so you pick up your own technique.
I think that sometimes people may get overwhelmed because they want to be that "extreme couponer" (which is great, and i'll be honest, I will watch a few episodes just to get some extra motivation) but you have to do what works for you.
Currently, majority of my coupons are online. I live in a small town that has a local paper and unfortunately I only get one Smart Source insert and that's it. But so far its worked out well that way.
Here are some tips:
2 shopping carts, 1 for the items you need (with or without coupons) 1 for the price matches
(If your doing lighter shopping, I would recommend a just a single cart and a basket to keep things separate)
As soon I an item gets placed in the cart that has a coupon I place it in a folder (this way when you get to the register you just grab whatever is in there and give it to the cashier). For the price matches I use the printable lists that are on the stores website (usually there local online ad will let you create a shopping list) and check off the items as I go so I know what item is price matched and how much it is.
When I get to the register I start with the price match cart. I let the cashier know what I have and the order I'm doing it in. All the items that are BOGO go first and then the items that Walmart has to price match goes next (i.e. Dial soap at CVS is $1.99 Dial soap at Walmart 3.99, Walmart will price match this). So after all the price matched items go, I begin with the 2nd cart. And of course at last the coupons!
Today has been the 3rd day I've done this technique and it works great for me and the cashiers as well. You don't want to overwhelm the cashier so its a good idea to give her a heads up and be organized. This way, its less stressful and things move a lot quicker.
Hope this helps you on your next couponing endeavor :)
BTW, I will be posting new and noteworthy (overage coupons) coupons as soon as I find them.
Sincerely,
Cindy
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