Anti-Couponer at Walmart

Anti-Couponer at Walmart
9:10 am Monday, June 27, 2011

I was at Walmart this morning buying a few thing with coupons.  The checkout lady asked if I watched the show Extreme Couponing. I told her I'd heard of it but I haven't ever seen it.  This lady two people back in line started yelling, "those people on that show are hoarders!!! All coupon users are hoarders!!!  They keep boxes of cereal under their kid's beds and have 20 things of hot sauce just because it is a good deal!  Coupon users are hoarders!" 

I was a little embarrassed at first (more for the lady than for myself) because she was yelling this... everyone around was watching.  I calmly said, "yes, some couponers do hoard things but I do not.  See, I only have one bag of stuff". She didn't say anything else and I left.

I was so glad that I was able to stay calm in the situation. I am not used to people yelling at me for any reason so I was a little in shock.  I took the advice of my favorite coupon blogs, hip2save and krazycouponlady and was very kind to the woman. I hope my kindness will help change her perception of coupon users.  Yes, while some people take it to extremes, not all couponers are hoarders.

I did giggle a little bit when I left though because I do have about 6 things of hot sauce in my kitchen cabinet and I don't even use hot sauce. haha.

Walmart 6.27.11

Negative $.37 Cents for this!! (I did have to pay tax)

In response to my Aunt Lori's comment....

Yes, that is a lot of KY... but I made money on it.  Check out different uses for it on one of the blogs I follow

from http://hip2save.com/2011/02/lots-of-high-value-k-y-coupons-target-deal.html 

Oh and there are many alternate uses for K-Y jelly…
Remove Tight or Stuck-on Rings lip gloss
Lubricate Sticky Zippers
Loosen Stick Price Tags and Product Labels
Untangle Knotted Jewelry Chains
Shine your Patent Leather lubricate a Fishing Rod Reel
Skin-So-Soft lotion (great for people with eczema)
Bug repellent,
Brass brightener
Floor wax
Loosening of tight nuts (as in bolts) HAHA
Inserting keys into cold locks
Good for getting bubble gum out of your hair
Pre-shave treatment for supersmooth legs
Massage oil
Hair gel (LOL )
Makeup remover
Freeze it in a ziploc bag and use as an icepack or for puffy eyes

Free stuff from the web

Free stuff

6.24.11

I've received all of this free stuff in the mail in the past week. woot woot!

(1) wet dog food

(2) pairs of socks (retail at $5.00 each)

(3) coupon booklets

(3) 10 packs of tide in wash boost (retails at $3.50 each)

(3) tide detergent samples (retail at $.97 each)

(4) $2.00 off coupons for Tide

(2) mayo samples

(2) eye wrinkle remover samples (only 1 is pictured)

(1) pull ups wipes sample

(1) pull ups wipes coupon

(1) parent's choice wipes sample

Walmart 6-14-11

Walmart List 6-14-11
	Item	Original Cost	Coupon Value	Double amount or price match	Final Price
1	Carmex	0.98	0.35	0.35	0.28
2	Carmex	0.98	0.35	0.35	0.28
3	Carmex	0.98	0.35	0.35	0.28
4	Carmex	0.98	0.35	0.35	0.28
5	Carmex	0.98	0.35	0.35	0.28
6	Carmex	0.98	0.35	0.35	0.28
7	Carmex	0.98	0.35	0.35	0.28
8	Carmex	0.98	0.35	0.35	0.28
9	Carmex	0.98	0.35	0.35	0.28
10	Sponges	0.92	0.75	0.25	-0.08
11	Sponges	0.92	0.00	0.00	0.92
12	Tic Tac	1.04	1.00	0.00	0.04
13	Tic Tac	1.04	1.00	0.00	0.04
14	Tic Tac	1.04	1.00	0.00	0.04
15	Salsa	2.12	2.00	0.00	0.12
16	Salsa	2.12	2.00	0.00	0.12
17	Tuna	0.72	0.50	0.50	-0.28
18	Tuna	0.72	0.50	0.50	-0.28
19	Taco Shells	1.00	1.00	0.00	0.00
20	Taco Shells	1.00	1.00	0.00	0.00
21	Taco Seasoning	0.68	1.00	0.00	-0.32
22	Taco Seasoning	0.68	1.00	0.00	-0.32
23	Deo	0.98	0.50	0.50	-0.02
24	Deo	0.98	0.50	0.50	-0.02
25	Razors	0.97	1.00	0.00	-0.03
26	Razors	0.97	1.00	0.00	-0.03
27	Canned oranges	0.98	0.50	0.00	0.48
28	Canned oranges	0.98	0.50	0.00	0.48
29	Canned oranges	0.98	0.00	0.50	0.48
30	Canned oranges	0.98	0.00	0.50	0.48
31	Foil	0.98	0.75	0.25	-0.02
32	Foil	0.98	0.75	0.25	-0.02
33	Foil	0.98	0.75	0.25	-0.02
34	Foil	0.98	0.75	0.25	-0.02
35	Foil	0.98	0.75	0.25	-0.02
36	TP	2.68	1.00	0.00	1.68
37	Diet Coke	1.28	1.00	0.40	-0.12
38	Diet Coke	1.28	1.00	0.40	-0.12
39	Brown Rice	1.16	0.75	0.25	0.16
40	Gum	1.26	1.00	0.26	0.00
41	Gum	1.26	1.00	0.26	0.00
42	Gum	1.26	1.00	0.26	0.00
43	Crest Toothpaste	2.56	0.75	1.93	-0.12
44	Crest Toothpaste	2.56	0.75	1.93	-0.12
45	Crest Toothpaste	2.56	0.75	1.93	-0.12
46	All You Magazine	2.00	0.00	0.12	1.88
		55.40	32.65	15.39	7.36

Walmart 5.31.11

 

$3.90 for all of these items before tax!!! Woot woot!

Walgreens May 30, 2011

Mouthwash - completely free - no RR involved
Listerine strips - 1 free, 1 $.99
Jello - $.22 each - filler items for coupon to # of products ration
Ecotrin - Earned like $.40 on each (can't remember exact amount)
BC and Goody's powders free with RR
Icy Hot - Free with RR
Got2b - products $3.00 each
Foil - $.50 ea.
Paper towel - I can't remember... like $2?

Sharing

My cute sister and her cute family came over for dinner tonight.

I decided to share some of my growing stock pile with her.  Some razors and free body wash that smells very good.

 

Walgreens 5/17/11

I had more coupons for $.75 off Colgate Pro Clinical White toothpaste.

There is a deal at Walgreens right now

$6 for 2 of this toothpaste - a $4 RR (register reward/catalina that prints at register. Good on next purchase)

Making it $4 for 2.

Then I had two coupons for 75 cents off making the toothpaste 25 cents each. 

The RR does not take the discount off the purchase at the time so my OOP (out of pocket) expense was going to be $4.90.  I decided to throw a sucker in the mix 50 cents so that I could use a $5 RR from last week. That made my total OOP for this trip about $.50 including tax.

Walmart May 17, 2011

Here is my shopping list for the day:

 After my shopping trip I typed it all up so I could do the calculations more easily.

 Here's everything that I got. 

 Less than $30 and originally retailed for $60.  So just barley over 50% in savings. Not super great but it is stuff that I either needed (milk, foil, bananas, yogurt) or wanted Lysol wipes, coke for Shawn, lemonade for me.  Oh, the cheese isn't pictured up there. I wasn't sure if I was going to count it in this shopping trip or not but then I ended up putting it in my spreadsheet.

Target May 17, 2011

May 17th

Target has coupons for 50 cents of an Up and Up first aid item and the hydrogen peroxide is 62 cents. Its reported online that some Target stores have it for less.

Target also has coupons for $1 off an Up and Up pain reliever. The 24 count of Ibuprofen is $1.

There are coupons in a recent paper for $1 off Garnier Fructis shampoo and conditioner and it doesn't have a size restriction.  This stuff is 97 cents in the travel section at Target. (I would have made 3 cents on each one at Walmart... oh well).

Total for this stuff was something like 52 cents.

Free Body Wash

Free Body Wash

 

I had been trying to get these body washes for about two weeks and every store was sold out. Maybe because they were priced between $2.98 - $3.15 (at different stores) for the bottle and there was a SUPER high value coupon for $3.00 off one. That makes it free at some stores and just pennies at other stores. These are really big bottles and it smells SO yummy. I wish I'd had more coupons for it.

I paid something like $.42 cents in tax.

ProClinical Toothpaste

Toothpaste

These were regularly $3.47 at Walmart. They were in the clearance section marked down to $1.50.  I had a $.75 off coupon making it $.75    And since I bought it on Tuesday I got an additional $.25 off because it was "double coupon Tuesday" at Walmart.

Total price - $.50 cents each for really fancy toothpaste.

Smith's May 9th 2011

Free Free Free

Click HERE to see the spreadsheet and see how  this deal worked out on the pasta.

Quick Cook pasta is regularly $0.99 at Smith's.  When you bought 10 participating items you get $.50 off each item.  That made these $0.49 each. I had coupons for either fifty cents or fifty five cents off one.  If I'd done the deal at Walmart I would have made thirty cents on the deal... but unfortunately Smith's does not give overage.

I had a coupon for the Carefree pantiliners 20-22 ct.  $1.00 off 1 pack and they sell for $1.00

This coupon was found in SmartSource that was in the Sunday, May 8th paper.

Carefree Body Shape Pantiliners, 20-22 ct. $0.99
$1.00/1 Carefree Product from SS 5/8

 So today I got ten boxes of pasta and two packs of feminine products all for just 28 cents!

I Coupon Because...

I had the positive stuff first but I changed it because I wanted you to finish this post on a positive happy note. You can skip the "Not reasons I coupon" section if you want because really I'm just whining there.

 Not Reasons I Coupon

1. "Because everyone else is doing it" is NOT a reason I coupon. It is annoying that so many people are couponers now. Yes, I think everyone should  coupon but it doesn't mean I actually want everyone to do it. haha.  The more people that are into it means less of a chance I can get the deals.  Yes, that is selfish but this is a dog eat dog world! just kidding.   It is just extremely frustrating when I plan out a killer deal and I get to the store and the shelves are empty of everything and anything that I need or want.
2. "Watching Extreme Couponing on TLC inspired me" NOT.  I have never seen the show.  I have however, read a lot about the show and there is quite a bit of coupon fraud going on in some episodes. I do still have a life and don't spend 60 hours a week clipping coupons and planning my shopping trips.

 I Coupon Because...

1. It is fun. I'm not going to lie, I feel bad for the people stuck behind me in line at Walmart but I love it when they see how much stuff I buy and then my final total.  People have started asking me how I do it.
   
2. It saves LOTS of money. I have saved anywhere from 35-96% on my shopping trips. Since I'm getting better at it my average is now about 60-96%.
   
3. It gives me something to do. I don't have kids to take care of in the evenings and I needed something to do other than watch tv.  Why not have a hobby that helps our little family of 2?!?
   
4. I am now addicted to it.  When Shawn wants to buy a bag of chips and I don't have a coupon for it I cringe.  Its hard for me to pay full price for anything anymore. I can't believe I used to spend $70-$150 every time I went to Walmart.
   
5. It gives me a sense of pride to see how cheap I can get things for.  It takes a lot of work to get great deals and when I bring home an awesome 'haul' I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment.
6. We now have more food storage and definitely some storage of personal items (deo, razors, body wash, etc.)  Now we don't have to run to the store if we need a jar of pickles, I just pull one (a free one) out of the cupboard. Then when I find another awesome sale + coupons for pickles I'll get some more for cheap or even for free.
7. It helps me make new friends.  Yesterday when I was at Walmart several people stopped me to ask about my coupons. I love sharing what I know with other people and helping them get excited about it.  I also like to give my coupons to other people.  If I have tons of coupons for a product that I see someone else buying I'll give them one.  I also leave them on the shelves next to products if I don't think I can use them before they expire.  I'm getting to spend more time with my sister-in-law, Lydia, as we do coupons at Walgreens together.  It's fun to get to know her better and to have something else in common.
8. I just think it's really cool. This goes along with #1 and #5... but it is so awesome to get products for free or for a really good price.  Yes, it is a little embarrassing sometimes walking around the store with a big coupon binder but the better I'm getting at couponing the more confident I am. I'm proud of my binder now :)
   
9. Why not coupon?!?!  I've got time, I've now got the know how... why not save some money!?! It's logical.
   
10. My awesome husband actually encourages this couponing behavior I have now.  Yes he probably thinks I'm a little obsessive/addicted and that is true... but he likes how happy it makes me, he likes me having hobbies, he likes saving money, and he likes actually having food in the house.  I'm glad he's such a great support.

05.03.11 Walmart

05.03.11 Walmart

6 Free Fuze drinks
4 Fuze drinks at $.50 each
6 Kraft dressings at $.50 each.
2 Free season salts
2 packs of taco shells at $.37 each
1 pack mentos gum .58

Can you believe it, the most expensive thing I bought was the gum...

I must have gotten overage on some of the items because with the prices I listed above I should have paid $6.32 but with tax included I only paid $6.17!!!!!!!!! SWEET!

Smith's May 6, 2011

This was my shopping plan for May 6th...

 There was a sale on select items where you get $5 off when you buy ten items (50 cents off each item) and you must buy ten.  I grouped my stuff into four different sets on the spreadsheet above just to help me make sure I had sets of ten and because it made it easier for changing up the scenarios if they were out of a product.

They were in fact out of most of the stuff I wanted...

I didn't take a picture of the stuff I did get... But I got 6 bags of chips for free, some rice cakes for 51 cents each, Ragu spaghetti sauce for 49 cents each, Sunny D for 24 cents each, and toll house cookie dough for 1.24 each.

Walgreens 5/2/11

Walgreens 5/2/11

My sister-in-law Lydia was nice to do a Walgreens trip with me.  I was really nervous about trying to do couponing at a drug store because its pretty tricky.  Drug stores are where you're going to get the best deals though so I knew I needed to try it sometime.

I was able to score $60 worth of razors for just a few bucks.  There's something like 18-20 razors... I think that might be a lifetime supply for me :)  Free dental floss and free flossers. I'm not sure how much everything cost individually.

Overall I got $102.00 worth of product for only $15.00!  That is about 85% savings!!!  Lydia helped me calculate the numbers last night but I don't have the paper with me so these numbers are not 100% correct but they are only a couple of cents off.

Chris said...

Wow, way to go. That was great to be able to go with Lydia. Send me an email listing what you did...maybe I can go duplicate the deals?

May 4, 2011 5:57 AM

Jo said...

Since you went private, I haven't been getting the updates of your blog, so I've been crying myself to sleep wondering why oh why you haven't blogged in so long! I was pleasantly surprised to see you have indeed blogged, and enjoyed catching up:) The end of this novel.

May 4, 2011 11:35 AM

Free, just pay tax

I got two tubes of Crest toothpaste for free and 1 Reach toothbrush for free. I just had to pay tax on the items.

When I bought the toothbrush I had a $1/1 coupon so I got it free. The register printed out a Catalina coupon for $2/2.  If there were more toothbrushes I could have just done another transaction and gotten two more toothbrushes and another coupon. Looks like someone else figured out the same thing because there weren't any left at either Smith's near my house for me to snag a few doing that. I only wanted 6 :( 

Sometimes I wonder if couponing is really worth it because it can be extremely frustrating. I have gone to Smith's 4 times, Walmart twice, and Target once now looking for these toothbrushes and for the dental floss in my previous post but haven't had much luck.

Marie said...

I think the multiple trips and stores is where I hit my couponing limit. I'm lucky to find the time to go shopping at one store! April 29, 2011 9:33 PM

Chris said...

It does take a lot of time!

May 3, 2011 6:21 AM

Family Couponing

I've been looking for Reach dental floss for a week and a half now... Walmart and Target have been stripped clean of the $.88 - $1.00 Reach brand floss.  And here's why, there are coupons for $1.00 off any Reach floss.  I would be making money at wally world if they weren't out of stock. I stopped by Smith's grocery store this morning to see if they had any cheap Reach products.  There were only 3 flosses left. They were $1.05 each, but with my Smith's membership card they were only $1 each.  I got all three for free but I still had to pay tax.

Three dental flosses for only $.20 !  Not super impressive compared to the deals my family has been getting...

See below!

My brother Bently had called me the night before and told me about some of the awesome couponing adventures he and his wife Bonnie have had. Here's what they got the other night:

• 31 Reach toothbrushes (they'll be donating a lot of these)
• 3 pks of lady products
• 1 drink mix 11 oz.
• 5 bags of dog food
• 4 Soleil razors

 Total for all this, only $7.49!!!

My sister-in-law Lydia had an awesome haul at Walgreens the other day. All the stuff in the picture below for $6.21 !!! Holy smokes! I don't know how these people do it!

Walmart 4/26/11

Walmart 4/26/11

Got some free hot sauce, free vinegar, free tuna, free jam, free married ppl product haha, $.25 powerade with price-matching at buy one get one free coupons. Then some good deals on other stuff. I had coupons for everything I bought except the bananas but I price matched those.

Product review-  I LOVE the steamfresh corn.  I had to buy some more this trip because I've eaten all our other bags of it.  I had an entire bag of it for dinner a couple of times now. I know its probably not good to have that much starch and only eat that but its so good I can't stop eating it.

I also got a free avocado... no coupons, no price matching.

I found it in the parking lot on my way to the car. HA.

Walmart 4/19/11

Tuesdays are now officially my shop at Walmart day of the week.  Now that they double coupons up to a max. discounted price of $1.00 per item I got some stuff for free and Walmart actually paid me to take some other things out of the store!  So cool!!!

The chart below summarizes my savings from the trip. The items with a coupon of ex. $.50 that aren't doubled are because the coupon was actually for $1 off 2 of the product but I broke it down into two different line items to make the chart easier to read. (Same with the gum, it was $1.00 off two, and the medical supplies $1.50 off two, so they didn't double)

My bill would have looked a lot better if I didn't buy the cereal... that added a lot of expense.

That's right, they paid me to take the string cheese, tuna, and ketchup out of the store, and the mustard I got completely free. How sweet is that!?!?!

4 comments:

lydia said...

Wow, awesome haul Jordie! I fell asleep with Kate....didn't make it out. Lame, I know. Why didn't they double your gum coupons and all the .75 ones up to a dollar? Just curious. Also, I'm cracking up that you are taking a hobby that is SO time consuming and upping it by scanning your coupons and making fancy spreadsheets. Hmm, you must not have kids yet. ;) LOVE IT!

April 21, 2011 1:32 AM 

Marie said...

One thing I really like about your couponing is that it's not all shampoo, toothpaste, etc. I swear some people stock up on that stuff just to say that they saved money and then never actually use it.

April 21, 2011 1:37 AM 

the Villamor's said...

I agree w/ Marie....i have a friend who has hoards of drug store items(toothpaste and soap)...all for free but you can't eat body wash! This couponing takes a lot of thought and time and i want to have something I can eat at the end of the trip!!

April 21, 2011 2:42 AM 

leela said...

Good job. I wish I had read your post before I went to Walmart. I somehow misunderstood the doubling up to a dollar concept. I thought they doubled a coupon up to 1 dollar more in value, not that it was coupon + doubling does not exceed $1. So I ended up buying a bunch of stuff that I didn't need. Ha ha. I was a fool!!

April 21, 2011 7:32 AM