Carolina Coupon Crazy

2011-03-23T09:15:00.001-04:00

SUPER DOUBLES at HARRIS TEETER! Now thru March 29th

2011-03-20T22:34:00.001-04:00

TLC has made Extreme Couponing a series! Watch on Wednesday, April 6 at 9pm EST. So exciting!!!

2011-03-18T19:14:00.001-04:00

I had fantastic trips to CVS and Walgreens. I bought 14 sticks of deoderant for Frank for the price of 5.

Sunday's Suggestion: Dollar Stores

2011-03-13T18:19:00.000-04:00

I'm lucky to live in a place where the dollar stores are actually nice and full of great and useful items. Today I spent five minutes creating an Easter decoration. I spent $3 and used super glue I already had. Viola! I have an egg tree!

Saturday's Saving Score

2011-03-12T15:49:00.000-05:00

I went through my coupons this morning and planned out a trip to pick up some deals that end today. I ended up not buying a few things on my list because they were out of stock, but I did stumble across some even better deals. Check out what I got!

First stop Harris Teeter:

Out of Pocket (OOP) = $7.20 with tax

Total Savings = $18.74

I bought:
(6) Maxwell House Coffee Refills $4.29 x 6 = $25.74
There was a sale- Buy 5 for $10, but I bought 6 so it was $12I got a special HT Kraft deal of buy 5 products for $8 bringing the price to 6 for $10.
I used (3) $1/2 mfr coupon any Maxwell House product bringing the price to 6 for $7.20 w/ tax.

It turns out there is no limit on the Kraft deal (5 for $8) because I also bought 5 refills yesterday. I should have waited to buy because I had coupons coming in the mail, but I still saved a lot, so I'm not too upset. I have 8 coupons left, so it looks like I'll be headed back to HT before the sale ends on Wednesday. By then I think I'll have enough coffee to get me through the whole year . . . WOW!

Next stop Food Lion:

Out of Pocket (OOP) = $8.58 with tax

Total Savings = $24.10

I bought:
(10) Hefty plastic storage bags of varying sizes and prices.

There was a sale- Buy 10 for $10, but I bought 10.

I used (1) $1/2 mfr coupon bringing the price to 10 for $9.

I searched all the boxes and found 8 with $.15 peelies bring the price to 10 for $8.58 w/ tax.

You'll notice there are 12 boxes in the picture. The other two boxes came from Walgreens which had the 18ct. Freezer quart size on clearance for $1.39 each and they had the $.15 peelies on them. I paid $2.70, savings $4.10 which is still a good deal but not as good as above.

Sunday's Suggestion: Make a return

2011-03-06T20:46:00.001-05:00

So how did my CVS trip turn out this week? It was a true money maker. I went into the store armed with coupons and a specific list of items and walked out with $8.45. How did I do it? I'll tell you. I bought over $62 worth of items most of which were on sale and then used coupons and my Extra Bucks to pay for it all. I also returned two items and ended up getting a refund for $2.45 more than I paid, plus I earned $6 in Extra Bucks.

What did I buy????

2 All Small & Mighty laundry detergents for $10, earned $2 in EBs.

4 Glade candles for $12, minus $2 in coupons, earned $4 in EBs.

2 Cadbury Eggs on sale for $1.

1 Multi-pack of headbands on clearance sale for $1.37

2 L'oreal under eye concealers for $14.98 after BIG150%, used two $3 coupons to bring the price to $8.98.

1 Gatorade for $1.98.

I used my 25% off coupon, $4 off a $20 purchase, $5 beauty rewards EBs, $6.58 EBs and $7 EBs to bring my total out of pocket cost to $12.53. I later went back to CVS and returned the L'oreal items and received a refund for the original sale price. In the end I was paid $2.45 by CVS and I earned another $6 in EBs, plus I scanned my CVS card at the coupon center and got another $4 off $20 purchase coupon and a $3 off Physician 's Formula makeup coupon.

This has definitely been my most successful couponing adventure to date. I can't wait to see what I can do next week . . . . .look out CVS here I come!

CVS email with 25% off coupon

2011-03-03T16:26:00.000-05:00

WOW! I just got an email from CVS with a 25% off printable coupon valid through Sunday. I also have $15 worth of Extra Bucks and 2 coupons for $4 off a $20 purchase. They can all be stacked on one purchase!!! I can't wait to plan my trip weekend CVS shopping trip now : )

Free Food!

2011-02-26T09:16:00.001-05:00

I subscribe to some great coupon blogs. One of my favorites is Deal Seeking Mom and yesterday she posted about Chipotle's B1G1 deal. All you have to do is follow this link, watch a video and print out your coupon. I let the video play on one screen and checked my email on another until it was done.

Sunday Suggestion

2011-02-20T20:16:00.000-05:00

Today as I went through the weekly ads I was thinking about what to write- something simple that I have learned during my couponing. This is what I came up with . . . always have a stash of coupons for the most used products you buy. This week is super doubles at HT, meaning that they'll double a coupon up to $1.98. This means my $1 coupons for coffee turn into $2 and coffee refills were on sale bring the price per package to $1.50. I thought to myself how sad I don't have 20 or 30 coupons so I can buy a year's supply of coffee. Although I had a few coupons I was so busy last week I didn't plan my shopping trip well enough to fully maximize my coupon usage.

So, if coffee is something you can't live without always have a stack of coupons ready for the big sale. Feel free to substitute the coffee for the thing you can't live without.

2011-02-19T15:26:00.001-05:00

Heading home from my Harris Teeter trip . . . I saved over 50%!!! Best past is all the fresh fruit I bought was free thanks to my Kashi coupons.

2011-02-17T21:16:00.001-05:00

Super Doubles at Harris Teeter this week!!! I am so excited to plan my shopping trip!

A week in review

2011-02-10T09:34:00.000-05:00

So, wow! I haven't posted since last Friday- I guess this is what can happen when one gets a job. I am mostly happy to report that my 5 months of self-elected unemployment will come to a complete end. My first official day is Monday.

More importantly how has my quest to save money been going? GREAT! I'm shocked that I have not needed to get a single grocery item for a week AND that I'm still eating from what I have in the fridge and cabinets. I have tried 4 new dinner recipes all from Cooking Light, Eating Clean or Real Simple. These are my favorite magazines!

We went out on Friday night, so no cooking. On Saturday I made Salmon Kabobs in the oven. It was surprisingly simple and very delicious. To round out the meal I made mushroom, zucchini and onions kabobs and brown rice. On Sunday we went to the coast to watch the Steelers get whooped by the GREEN BAY PACKERS, so also no cooking. Monday, I made the most delicious Italian Beef Stew from Cooking Light. Tuesday night was a spicy Shrimp pasta dish and last night was a Chicken with white beans and tomatoes, both from Cooking Light. Everything was so good and so easy to make- I impressed myself.

So, I'm still stretching that $65 dollars and I think I can make it until next Wednesday before I have to shop. I think I may be able to spend less than $200 this month on food, which I must say is totally awesome : )

Meal planning? Does it work and can I do it, but most importantly will it save money

2011-02-04T13:40:00.000-05:00

So, it's well known that I like binders and love to organize things. It brings me peace. I have many binders filled with all sorts of pieces of paper on all sorts of topics. My two favorite binders are (of course) my coupon binder and my recipe binder.

I use to buy cook books until I realized I never use them. The only cook book I do use on a regular basis and almost never makes it back to the shelf is the Joy of Cooking. It was given to me by my extraordinary grandmother, Bebe and I will cherish it forever. (Turn the tears off) Anyway, I thought that this week I would plan my dinners and then shop for them hoping to stick to a budget, cook new things and not waste food.

I pulled 6 recipes (we eat out at least once a week with coupons, of course) I have not tried, scanned my shelves and fridge and then made a list of what I needed. I spent $65 at the store. The more I think about it now the more I realize I didn't need to pull 6 recipes for one week. I think the 6 will last 10 days because of a variety of factors, so let's see if $65 will make 10 dinners- that's $3.25/person. I'll report back.

What I've learned (so far) about selling coupons

2011-02-02T12:53:00.000-05:00

I spent the whole day in bed yesterday. I felt like I was getting a cold the night before so I decided to do something I never do which is try to prevent getting more sick. I normally think I can take some pills and keep moving, but yesterday I slept for almost the entire day. And guess what? It worked- today I slept in and now I feel almost 100%. I think I managed to beat whatever illness was trying to develop. Something I thought about yesterday during my brief moments of alertness was my selling strategy for coupons, so I thought i would write about it today.

I have had moderate success selling coupons on ebay. Some coupons seem to sell quickly while others barely get a glance. It appears that the hot ticket items are pet food and natural/organic foods. Surprisingly makeup products are not as popular as I would have thought. I think that baby products such as diapers would be a big seller, too, however there haven't been many coupons for diapers for me to sell and the ones I have collected I sent to a friend (she better be using them, I even included instructions for her).

I've decided that I'm going to only sell the coupons that have been hot sellers and that I will add a Buy It Now feature so that I can sell them quickly. the Buy It now feature will also allow me to get paid. I am learning that not everyone reads and follows the rules I have. I have had to open three non-payment cases and will probably have to open more today. I just don't understand why people bid and then don't pay especially when the amount is so low.

I'm hoping that my new selling strategy works and I'll be sure to report how things went at the end of February.

January in Review

2011-01-31T14:04:00.000-05:00

I have spent the month of January stockpiling lots of things. In terms of food I now have enough juice, coffee, tea, pasta, rice, tomatoes, cereal, frozen veggies and canned corn to last at least 4-6 months. In the pharmacy and toiletries department I have stockpiled toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razors, tampons, toilet paper, paper towel, cold and flu remedies to last 6-18 months. I also have enough aluminum foil to last about 12 months.

My vow: I will not buy any of these items until the next time there is a major sale and I am buying them for pennies- extreme couponing style.

2011-01-31T12:03:00.001-05:00

FINALLY! I just saved over 50% at HT.

Back from a short break

2011-01-30T13:19:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted for a few days and I feel bad for not keeping up with a daily post. I have been distracted with some fantastic happenings in my life. The most exciting is I received a job offer. I say "job offer" because not all the details have been worked out and therefore I don't consider myself fully employed. I'm hoping that by mid-week I can announce new job, here's to hoping.

So back to coupons . . . I have been working hard at my savings and have been rather successful in my shopping purchases. I even started a small stockpile in my storage closet to house the incredible deals I scored like Hunt's canned, diced tomatoes (100% natural, of course) for $.19 a can. Pretty AWESOME!

I have spent the morning planing out my next weeks purchases over a few cups of coffee. It looks like the big deals will be at the pharmacies; Rite aid, CVS and Walgreens. I've been reading blogs and mapping out my transactions to maximize my savings. I'll be sure to post about my purchases when I return from the stores.

My biggest couponing dilemma is Harris Teeter. I love Harris Teeter and I have manged to stick to my rule of only buying items if they are on sale, I have a coupon or both. The problem is that I can't seem to break the 30% savings rate. At every other store I'm saving at least 50%, if not 60 or 80%. I need to plan my trips better and look for more ways to save on high priced items, such as beer. Attention beer makers, please send me coupons. Although I appreciate your sales, it's not saving me enough money.

Superfoods . . . .yum

2011-01-26T13:38:00.000-05:00

I just opened my daily Real Simple email and look through the article about 30 Superfoods. I was pleased to discover that I eat most of them and over half are currently in my kitchen. I then thought to myself, "Are there coupons for these foods?" Hmmmm . . . I think I need to do some more research but it seems to me that it will be harder to find coupons for these foods than for junk like soda and sodium-filled instant noodles packaged in styrofoam.

What are my favorite of the 30 foods?

Mushrooms- I LOVE MUSHROOMS! I was raised to love them, thanks Mom! I currently have three varieties in my fridge- portabellos, creminis and shitakes. I buy most of my mushrooms from Papa Spud's. They are a home food delivery service of mostly organic products. I don't buy

Quinoa- I have regular quinoa bought from the same place as the barley. I also found a brown rice and quinoa product made by Seeds of Change. I can buy it in a 4-pk at Costco or single packs at Krogers. I recently got two coupons from their website.

Eggs- I love eggs. Recently, I've been trying to buy cage-free to make myself feel better. I've also been trying to reduce the amount of yolks, so I generally substitute two whites for one yolk to be healthier. And of course, I have $1 coupons to bring the price of my cage-free organic eggs down to a reasonable price.

Other superfoods I eat: Barley, Walnuts, Whole grain pasta, Natural Peanut and Almond butter, Oatmeal,
Almonds, Lentils, Bulgur, Spinach, Kiwi, Wild Salmon, EVOO, Chicken breasts, Kale, Avocados, Kidney Beans, Sweet potatoes, Chard, Edamame, Pumpkin, Oranges, Non-fat Greek yogurt, Broccoli, Black beans

That's 27 out of 30!

It turns out that most of the superfoods I eat I either purchase at Trader Joes, online through bulk food stores or through Papa Spuds ( home-delivery of fresh produce).

And the ones I DON'T eat:

Skim milk- I can't do it. I grew up on 2%, switched to 1% in college, but I haven't been able drink skim.

Blueberries- The only berry I don't like and I'm not sure why. I eat lots of blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, cherries and strawberries and of course, I only buy when they're on sale.

Sardines- Not going happen.

HOW MANY OF THE SUPERFOODS DO YOU EAT?

Free and almost free

2011-01-25T19:32:00.000-05:00

I scored a completely free Tilex Mildew Remover at CVS last night. It was on sale for $2 a bottle. I used a $1 coupon and a $1 CVS ExtraCare Buck coupon. 2-1-1= FREE! If I was an extreme couponer I guess I would have collected 20 coupons and stockpiled enough Tilex for a lifetime, but I'm pretty sure by the time I need another bottle I'll be able to get it on sale or perhaps free again.

As for almost free, Restaurants.com is having an 80% sale with the coupon code MEAL. As you know I already stocked up on coupons, however I couldn't resist buying a few more. I spent $12 and bought $175 worth of coupons. AMAZING!!!! The best part is the coupon can be used for alcoholic beverages, which many restaurants don't allow but my favorite Thai place does. And even better Restaurant.com coupons DON'T EXPIRE. And speaking of expiring coupons I need to check my Groupon and Living Social accounts.

Healthy Savings and a New Rule

2011-01-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

I have discovered that there are a million couponing websites and blogs. It seems like everyone has something to say about couponing! There are many that I like, but I particularly enjoy A Full Cup because it's huge and there is a message board for every question I have.

On A Full Cup people will post about their shopping trips and even include pictures of what they bought. I love these posts, however, I cringe when I see a pile of processed foods. I think to myself it would be great to save 90% at the grocery store but not at the cost of being unhealthy. So here's another rule that I need to declare:

5. Use coupons to be healthy
I already try to buy/eat unprocessed, real foods. I need to intensify my hunt for coupons for real food.

Couponers are everywhere

2011-01-22T10:56:00.000-05:00

I just stumbled across this article on Forbes.com about the most frugal cities in the US. Turns out the city I live in is ranked #10. Go Raleigh! Did your city make the list?

My Restaurant.com Deal

2011-01-21T14:39:00.000-05:00

I get the BradsDeals.com email every afternoon. Yesterday, I look at them and see that Restaurants.com is having a sale up to 70% off with the code ENJOY. I immediately go to see what restaurants are participating and I find one of my favs. After the discount I get a $10 off coupon for $3. I buy two and I buy another $25 off coupon for a fancy restaurant I want to try. I buy that for $5.25. Grand total is $8.25 and I use a gift card left over from Christmas that has some money left on it, so I end up spending NOTHING = $0.

At the end of ordering it says that I will be receiving a $10 coupon via email for a future purchase. It comes and I immediately buy another $10 coupon for my favorite place for $0. (You can't use the discount coupon like I did before, bummer). I also see after my first purchase that I can get a $25 coupon if I participate in an offer. I click on that page and find the Lumosity.com offer which is FREE and has no stipulations like other offers. I sign up, get my coupon code emailed to me, buy another $25 coupon for the fancy restaurant for $0. I then go to Lumosity.com and cancel my subscription.

That is $80 dollars worth of coupons for $8.25, but for me $0 because I used a VISA gift card.

No Time for Couponing???

2011-01-21T11:59:00.001-05:00

Twice this week I have heard, "I don't have time to clip coupons."

Really? You don't have time to save money? Time is money, remember?!?

Everyone has time to coupon. You can go through coupons while watching TV. You can search for coupons online for five minutes and print them. We all have time to save money. Who doesn't want to save money?

Time is not what is standing in your way. Your excuses are. If I told you I'd give you $10 to be in the internet for 5 minutes, would you do it? Of course!

Last night in 10 minutes I scored $80 worth of coupons on Restaurants.com for $0. That's right zero. I would have paid $8.25, but I could have paid only $3, instead I paid $0 because I had some left on a VISA gift card left over from Christmas. Ten minutes = $80, definitely have the time to do that.

This is Why I love Living Social

2011-01-20T15:39:00.000-05:00

Who can pass up exercise class for $2? I purchased today's Living Social Deal.

Be Frugal, Be Happy, Save a Bundle!: $1/3 Hunt's E-coupon and chance for BOGO FREE Hunt...

2011-01-20T15:23:00.000-05:00

Be Frugal, Be Happy, Save a Bundle!: $1/3 Hunt's E-coupon and chance for BOGO FREE Hunt...: "Load a $1/3 Hunt's tomatoes e-coupon to your Kroger card here. You will be able to load a Buy One, Get One Free Hunts Tomatoes coupon..."