Mostly because I grew up in a house with a red, stuffed coupon book. I always felt a sense of accomplishment when saving money shopping, but never did I think I could walk away paying nothing, or making money! I mean what woman wouldn't want to get paid to shop? Even if it is at CVS? This girl would be stoked for that job.
So I ventured over to the krazy coupon lady's website. She makes it super easy to get into couponing, and even has a beginner's tab. Keeping to her advice (to start with just one store), I chose to start with Rite- Aid. Not only does it give cash back (money to be used on future trips to the store) it also has a suuuuper easy way to read the weekly circulars and build lists online that state the sales and specials. As a new couponer I was sold.
Until I made some rookie mistakes.
Mistake 1) Thinking I would save money I printed some e-coupons--- this was the smart thing. Thinking I would save time I stacked my 3 coupons per printed page and started cutting... and cut through about 9 bar codes. Uuuugggghhh. Start the printing process over. Repeat a little bit smarter...
--did I mention it was around 11 pm when this happened... yes you can definitely lose track of time couponing!
Mistake 2) I had actually never been to Rite-Aid. So my first move was to get a Rite Aid card. All well and good. So I wandered the store with my basket and found my great deals. Then I checked out. I thought the girl at the counter had scanned my Rite-Aid card, but when I got to my car I realized it had not scanned. So I went back and got it fixed. It took about 45 minutes to fix it, but I left paying something muuuuch more worth my time, so it was worth it.
Here's my loot -
My purchase would have been $131 before coupons and in store deals. I paid $62 and earned $13 dollars toward my next trip. And I can take an online survey and earn another $9 off (I had to make three different purchases after the little issue we had). And I'm proud to announce that I will actually use all of the above products. So while I am starting our 'stock pile' it will be things we actually use and like :)
While I like Rite-Aid's sweet deals, they didn't give me anything but amazing savings!
Woah! You did really well! We just went shopping at Target and saved 60%! I thought you'd be proud. I got self-tanner for $2 and John Frieda shampoo & condit for $3. Tommy didn't understand how much of a steal that was, haha. I usually buy the cheapest stuff to save money but with a couple coupons, I have been able to try some of the nicer bath stuff. Keep updating about your trips! :)
ReplyDeleteYou had quite the haul!!! I need to be better about using coupons. :s Thanks for the visit. :)
ReplyDeleteAhhhh Beef Jerky!
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