Walgreen's Scenario for RRs

First Transaction-

Scunci No Damage Hair Elastics $2

Tone Body Wash $3.99

Pay 5.99, get 5.00 RR.

Second Transaction-

Gillette Fusion ProGlide Razor System $9.89

Pure Silk Shave Cream $1.99

Hunt's Tomato Sauce .34 (filler item)

Total is $12.22.

Use $4/1 from 5/1 PG

and 5.00 RR from 1st transaction.

Pay only 3.22, get 6.50 RR

Third Transaction-

Buy Complete Multi-Purpose Solution $7.99

Hunt's Tomato Sauce .34 (filler item)

Total is 8.33.

Use $1 from 5/22 RP

and 5.50 RR from 2nd transaction.

Pay only 1.83, get 8.99 RR

Total OOP for all 3 transactions is 10.36. Earn 8.99 in RR towards your next purchase. You got paid to buy the items in the 2nd and 3rd Transactions! It does take a little bit of money to get started, but it is easy once you figure it out! Walgreens does have rules about how you can use your RR, and I will post a copy of their coupon policy when I get a chance. The transactions above do work with their policy. Filler items are items you buy for very cheap to "attach" a coupon to for it to work. Part of Walgreens' policy is that you have to have equal number of items that you do coupons, especially if it is a Manufacturer coupon, and a Register Reward in the same transaction. What you need to do, is look through the ad each week and find something cheap, normally around .25 or so that you can use for this purchase. I happen to have needed tomato sauce this week, so this worked out well for me.

Abbreviations used in this post:

RR : Register Rewards ( think $ off your next purchase)

PG : Procter and Gamble inserts

5/1 : from Sunday May 1

OOP: Out of Pocket

Happy Saving!

Walgreens 5/22- 28/11

Here are some of the match-ups for Walgreens starting on Sunday. Keep in mind, coupons are regional, and you want to stretch your dollar as far as you can! I have highlighted my favorite deals with both Bolding and Italics.

Grocery

Combos $.99
-$1/2 from 5/22 RP
=2/$.98

Ocean Spray 2/$5
-$.55 from 5/15 RP – Blueberry only
=$1.95

Oscar Mayer Weiners BOGO ($2.99 each)
-$1/2 from 5/15 SS
=2/$1.99

Starbucks Coffee $6.99
-$1.50 from 4/17 SS
=$5.49

Kraft Mayo or Miracle Whip $2.99
-$.75 from 5/15 SS
=$2.24

Hershey Pieces 2/$5
-$2/2 from 5/1 SS
=2/$3
Plus Receive $7 off a movie ticket at checkout wyb $15 or more

M&M's 19.2 oz Bag $3.69
-$1.50/2 from 5/22 RP
=2/$5.88 ($2.94 each)

Raisinets 11 oz. 2/$4
-$1/2 from 2/20 RP
=2/$3

Select General Mills Cereal $1.99
-$1/3 from 5/22 SS
=3/$4.97

Household

Charmin Basic 6 Big Rolls $2.99 with in ad coupon
-$.25 from 5/1 PG
=$2.74

Energizer Batteries $2.99
-$1 from 5/22 SS
=$1.99

Glade Fabric & Air Odor Eliminator 2/$5
-$1 RR wyb 2
-$1 from 5/22 SS
=2/$2 after coupons & RR

Ajax Cleanser BOGO ($.99 each) with in ad coupon

Off Clip-On Starter $8.99
-$1 Walgreens Coupon
-$2 from 5/22 SS
=$5.99

Raid Insect Control $4.99
-$1 Walgreens Coupon
-BOGO from 5/22 SS – Earth Options only
=2/$3.99

Cheer or Gain Laundry Detergent $4.99 with in ad coupon
-$1 from 4/17 RP
=$3.99

Personal

Cantu Hair Care $4.99
-$4 RR
=$.99 after RR

RR Deal: Spend $25 on participating products, Get $10 RR
Banana Boat Sun Care $7.99
-$1 from May All you
=$6.99

Hawaiian Tropic Sun Care $7.99
-$1 from May All You
=$6.99
OR
-$2 from 4/10 SS
=$5.99

Coppertone Sun Care $9.99
-$3 RR
-$1 from 5/22 RP
=$5.99 after coupon & RR

Schick Disposable Razors $5.99
-$1 from 5/22 SS
=$4.99

Schick Intuition Razor $8.99
-$2 from 4/17 SS
=$6.99

Wet Ones $1.99
-$1/2 from 5/22 SS
=2/$2.98

Edge Shave Gel $1.99
-$.55 from 5/22 SS
=$1.44

Axe Deodorant 3/$12
-$3 RR wyb 3
-BOGO from 5/22 RP
=3/$5 after coupon & RR

Schick Hydro BOGO
-$1 from 5/22 SS
-$.75 from 4/17 SS – Shave Gel

Carefree Pantiliners 20 or 22 count $.99 with in ad coupon
-$1 from 5/8 SS
=FREE

Pure Silk Shave Cream $1.99
-$1.50 RR
=$.49 after RR

Gillette Fusion ProGlide Razor System $9.89
-$5 RR
-$4 from 5/1 PG
=$.89 after coupon & RR

Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion 4/$12
-$4 RR wyb 4
-$1 from 5/22 RP
=4/$4 after coupons & RR

Suave Lotion or Hair 4/$12
-$4 RR wyb 4
-$.50/2 from 5/22 RP – Hair
=4/$7 after coupons & RR
OR
-$1 from 5/22 RP – lotion
=4/$4 after coupons & RR

Caress Body Wash 4/$12
-$4 RR wyb 4
-$.75 from 5/22 RP
=4/$5 after coupons & RR

Select Neutrogena Acne or Cleansing Skin Care $5.99
-$1 RR
-$1 from 5/8 SS – Naturals
=$3.99

Q-tips $1.99 with in ad coupon
-$.30 from 5/22 RP
=$1.69

Infusium 23 Hair Care $5.99
-$2 RR
-$2 from 4/3 SS
=$1.99 after coupon & RR

Pantene Hair Care 2/$7
-$1 RR
-$3/2 from 5/1 PG
=2/$3 after coupon & RR

Scunci No Damage Hair Elastics $2
-$2 RR
=FREE after RR

Revlon Colorstay Cosmetics 40% off
-$2 from 5/8 SS

L'Oreal Cosmetics or Skin Care B1G1 40% off
-$2 from 4/17 or 5/22 RP

L'Oreal Excellence or Excellence-To-Go Hair Color 2/$12 with in ad coupon
-$2 from 5/22 RP
=$4 each

Tone Body Wash $3.99
-$3 RR
=$.99 after RR

Baby

Huggies Little Swimmers $6.99
-$2 Walgreens Coupon
-$2 from 5/15 SS
=$2.99

Walgreens Brand Premium Value Pack Diapers $15

Walgreens Brand Baby Wipes 64-78 pack $1.99

Enfamil (no price in ad)
-$2 from 4/17 SS
Get $7 RR at checkout wyb 1 Enfamil Tub & 1 Refill

Health

Thermacare $5.99
Advil Pain Relief $4.99
-$4/2 from 5/22 SS
Plus get $5 RR at checkout wyb 2 or more Advil or Thermacare products
=Both for $1.98 after coupon & RR

Aleve $4.99
-$1 from 5/1 SS
=$3.99

Allegra Allergy 45 count $23.99
-$4 RR
-$4 from 5/8 SS
=$15.99 after coupon & RR

Joint Flex B1G1 50% off
-$2 from 5/1 RP or March All You

Bengay B1G1 50% off
-$3 from 5/22 RP

Caltrate $6.99
-$2 from 5/15 RP
=$4.99

Complete Multi-Purpose Solution $7.99
-$7.99 RR
-$1 from 5/22 RP
=FREE plus $1 overage after coupon & RR

Happy Shopping! I will figure out the best scenarios and get them posted soon!

Coupon Homework for Beginners!

Go buy the Sunday Paper! Buy a 3-ring binder and baseball card holders. Clip those coupons and get them into your binder! I have done the accordion style folders, and they worked for a bit. However, if you can't see them, you might not remember you have them, and they expire. The accordion style folder does work well for sectioning out the coupons you want to use for each store each week. This way you are not lugging in your binder at every store every time. I divide my accordion style binder up into Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Target and any other stores I may want to go to.

So, go buy your binder, and dividers. It may even be worth it to get some tape, and a good pair of scissors.

Extreme Couponing

Thousands of people have seen the new show on TLC called Extreme Couponing. Here are my thoughts on the show:

I love watching the show, and seeing the deals they walk away with, but at the same time, thanks to this show, companies are paying attention. They are lowering the face value of their coupons, making it harder to get better deals. I have also noticed double the amount of ladies with binders in the stores. I am one of those binder toting ladies, but I do not clear the shelf just because it is free. Do I find the best deal? Most of the time. Do I have shelves put up just to contain my stockpile? NO. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment with my husband and son. We have no room to hold a huge stockpile. Instead, we get enough from one store during their doubles week. We keep one stockpile box for each of us for non-food items, and only buy enough to get us through to the next month's double coupon week. Even still we end up giving food and grocery items to friends/family who may need it. The show is a decent example of how to save money, but needs to find a balance. I realize this is about taking it to the extreme, but tone it back!

If I have the coupons for the items that are free after coupon, I make sure I leave some on the shelf. Then, I go back in a day or 2 to get a few more. I have been to the store too many times to get something, to find them completely out of everything I had a coupon for.

The show, Extreme Couponing, on TLC is interesting to watch, and I do enjoy trying to guess what they spent or made on some of the items they got. However, I have noticed more and more coupon values being lowered to the point I wonder if the coupon is even worth it! I have also noticed Walmart not seeming to carry as many items in their travel section because of this. More companies are also putting "excluding trial size" on their coupons.

Since I started couponing a year ago, I have been going to a store's Double Coupon Week to save even more money. Since the show started, and has been on for about 6 weeks, I have been to 2 Double Coupon Weeks. Last time it was a little bit more crowded. Yesterday, it was an absolute madhouse! Everyone and their neighbors were there wanting to use coupons and try and save money. The sad part (to me anyways) is that they were getting items just because they had coupons to use, whether it was a good deal after the double coupon or not. I was like this my first trip, but learned very quickly that some items are still cheaper elsewhere after a coupon is used at face value. That is a rookie mistake that most new couponers make, unless they have done their homework!

Speaking of homework... Are you ready to get started? Go read my next post, titled Homework!

Those are my thoughts on Extreme Couponing, plain and simple!

Where to Find Coupons and more!

There are several coupons that may be available at any given time. These all come from different inserts in the Sunday Paper, as well as online. For right now, I am not posting the online coupons. Generally these can be found by going to any search engine, and typing in the name of the product you are looking for, plus the word coupon. It might take some digging, but they are usually out there!

Here in the Tulsa area, there are normally 2 papers with coupons in them, available almost anywhere you would find newspapers to buy! My favorites are to head to QT and get 3 papers. 2 Tulsa Worlds, and 1 Oklahoman. What not everyone knows is that the Oklahoman runs out more quickly since they have different coupons, and along with the RedPlum inserts, which are not available in the Tulsa World. Something else that not everyone knows, is that at QT you can get 2 Tulsa Worlds for $3, instead of $2 each anywhere else. As far as I know, QT is the only place in the Tulsa area that you can get the Oklahoman.

Now for some abbreviations that will be helpful for when you start following matchups.

TW- Tulsa World

DO- Oklahoman, it used to be called the Daily Oklahoman

SS-Smart Source

PG- Procter and Gamble

RP- RedPlum

Hope these help. If there are ever any abbreviations besides these, I will update this list, and post it on the post containing the different abbreviation.

Coupon Types

The most common type of coupon is a Manufacturer Coupon. This will say Manufacturer Coupon right on the coupon, next to the expiration date. You can find these almost anywhere! I find mine in the Sunday paper, online at different websites, and even on the Manufacturer’s websites themselves sometimes. You can also type in what you are looking for plus the word coupon on search engines and it will pull up different options.

The coupon websites that I search for coupons on are: www.coupons.com ,www.replum.com, and www.smartsource.com . Just be careful. Not all internet coupons can be used everywhere. Some stores will not accept them!

Another type of coupon is the store coupon. These can be found in the stores themselves and will say “Store ABC coupon” in place of Manufacturer Coupon on them. These are meant to be used in the store themselves and in most cases can be used with a Manufacturer Coupon as well, for extra savings. Walmart has recently decided they will start taking coupons from competing stores. However, it must have an actual price on the coupon, not just an amount off. Example: you can use a coupon from Walgreens for Puffs Tissue for $2.99/ 3 pack, but not a Walgreens coupon that says .50 off 3. Target is another store that uses store coupons. Theirs are found mostly online, but they occasionally have them in the Sunday paper, or in coupon mailers. No one, not even Target HQ seems to know how to get on the mailing list. It has been rumored to be on the list if you have a Target credit card, or have created a registry with them of any kind, but no guarantees. You can use one Target coupon and one Manufacturer Coupon together on the same item.

Some other coupons that are found in stores are peelies and tear pads. These are also Manufacturer Coupons just with a different name. Peelies are attached to the products in the stores, and you have to peel them off to use them. Tear pads are located in different places throughout the stores, and can be torn off to use on the products they are for.

I hope this helps explain coupons a little bit. As you may know all of this already, keep in mind: this blog is for beginners as well.

Who am I?

You may be asking yourself: Who is this Shannon who thinks she can help me save money? Well, I am a first time Mommy, who start doing the "coupon thing" to get my shopping budget under control. I will admit, I still struggle, but am doing much better. Before I first started doing coupons, I would go $400 over my shopping budget, spending money we didn't have. The first month, that dropped by half, to $200 over budget. Now, I might go over by about $50, but am still learning. Some of the things that have caused me to go over are cleaning supplies, clothing, and impulse purchases.

As a couponer, a lot of time is spent searching the web for the best deals and steals. I use several different sites to help find the best deals, and spend about an hour a day looking at the different forums and blog posts on which deal is the best. My plan for this blog is to consolidate all these finds into one central location. I will post match ups for different stores, and tell you how to find the best deals on the products you use! I confess right now: I will be letting most of the sites I go to find the deals for me. However, there are some deals that will be strictly my finds. As a part time worker, and full time Mommy, I understand the need for one-stop shopping for how to find the best deals. I also understand and am fully aware of the lack of time to go searching on making the match-ups.

I know quite a few of the matchups will have printed coupons from online websites. I will not post these, due to lack of a printer myself. I will post the deals that can be found using the Sunday paper coupons. All coupons are regional, so coupon availability and values may vary.

Welcome to the world of couponing! I hope this will help you save money, and time by showing you the best deals and steals available!