Money Monday: 2014 Coupon Savings

2014 is quickly coming to a close. As I began looking at my 2014 goals, the one that I was most interested in was my coupon savings for 2014. While I do track how much I save, I don't keep a running total throughout the year.

Total Coupon Savings for 2014: $1,704.39

My goal for 2014 was to save $2,000, and this year it looks like I missed my goal by $295.61.

But, there were some savings that I never calculate.

First, I am allowed to price match at my grocery store. I do this when I purchase produce, because its based on pounds purchased, or number of items. I don't have the time or desire to calculate those savings, so those are never included in my totals. (For example, if I have an add showing apples for .99C a pound, but my store is selling them for $1.25 a pound, I just show the cashier the add for the lower cost apples and they price match them to the lower price.)

Second, I don't calculate the rebates or incentives that I get when I purchase products. For example, at one store, I currently have $25.00 in rebates. I collect those rebates each week, and I am waiting until I earn $100.00 in credit before I cash them in. Again, I don't calculate that into my savings.

Finally, there are usually 2 or 3 mail in rebate offers that I participate in per month. These are the programs where you purchase a product, then mail in the upc code and receipt, and they send you the purchase price in the form of a check or gift card. Those are usually only a few dollars each, but they do add up. Again, I don't factor those monies into my savings totals.

In the end, when simply looking at the recorded numbers, it looks like I didn't meet my goal, but when I factored these other items into the total, I believe I ended up saving more than the $2,000 goal I set for myself.

In 12 months, we managed to save nearly $2,000 on things that we normally purchase. Those are real dollars, and real savings. For us, those savings allow us to stretch our dollars. According to the USDA, food prices in 2014 rose a little over 2% in 2014 over 2013. Using coupons and deals, we have been able to keep our food budget steady, and did not have to
increase it in 2014.

In addition, using coupons has allowed us to build an impressive stockpile of goods. Now, if we need razors, shampoo, cleaning products, or food, we have them here, in stock. That is a great feeling.

We have also been able to use coupons to purchase items for free or very cheap. If they are items that we don't need, or don't use, we give them to family or friends. We are also able to create bags to pass out to the homeless around our community.

If you are interested in coupons, and how to find deals, cut coupons, and organize them in less than an hour a week, please check out this post, or feel free to email me. I would love to help you out. Also, if you are interested, please feel free to check out my coupon savings page that I update throughout the year.

Tell Me: Did you do any couponing in 2014? How much did you save? 

**Disclaimer: I am not an extreme coupon user. I don't purchase coupons online nor do I dumpster dive for coupons. I spend $5.00 each week for a double issue of the newspaper to get those coupons, or I print them from sites on the internet. I have never purchased more than 6 items at a time, and have never used more than 1 cart while shopping. 

Top 13%

I received a pretty cool email earlier this week from my one of my favorite stores---CVS.

In 2013, I was in the top 13% of all savers in the nation who shopped at CVS.
Their calculations do not take into account all the manufacture coupons I used at the store as well.

The price of EVERYTHING is rising, and the only way I know how to stay under budget is by utilizing coupons when I shop.

For us, $755.22 is a lot of money, and we have managed to build an impressive stockpile by combining sales and specials with store and manufacture coupons.

Currently, our stockpile has at least 2 years worth of hair care, razors, cleaning products, laundry detergent, dental care, and make up.  We have about a 3 month supply of paper products on hand right now.

For most people, I think they have a misunderstanding of the couponing process, and those who coupon. There seem to be two different stereotypes: Extreme Couponing and Grandma Couponing.

Extreme Couponing: Thanks to the TLC show, Extreme Couponing, many people think that when utilizing coupons, you have to buy 90 packs of hot dog weiners at a time,100 bottles of Ragu, and must dumpster dive to get enough coupons.

False. Most people who coupon, do not go to this extreme. I have never, nor do I have any plans to dumpster dive for coupon flyer's or buy 100 bottles of mustard. That's just insane.

Grandma Couponing: The shopper is haggling with the cashier over .30C off a box of Wheat Things, and the process takes 10 minutes, the line backs up, and while everyone is waiting for a manager, people in line are starting to grumble.

Both of these are not how I coupon. On average, I can walk into Target, and buy a cart full of groceries, personal care items, clothes, electronics, and books, and manage to save around 35-45% and the process to scan my coupons takes about a minute and a half.

I have posted a guide to couponing in the past, and I would be happy to do a refresher if y'all want. The best part is, it really takes me less than an hour a week to plan, and then I shop during the week. It is easy, I promise!

(If you want to see how much I save throughout the year, click on the savings tab at the top.)

Are you a couponer?

Black Friday Shopping--Big Savings

Like many Americans, I was super excited for Black Friday. However, unlike most Americans, I was not going to set foot near a department store, mall, or Best Buy. I was excited because my favorite drug store, CVS offers KILLER deals during Thanksgiving week. Fundamentally, I hate Black Friday and the behavior that I see my fellow countrymen and women display. People forsaking time with family and friends to camp outside a store to shop, trampling one another, pulling guns on one another over a t.v., and the obsession with stuff, and junk. 

This week, I spent about $16.00, and got nearly $60.00 worth of goods, and over $25.00 in Extra Bucks! My loot below. 

This week, I shopped at CVS and Kroger to cash in on the deals. 

This was all from my first shop. If we wont eat it or use it, it went right into the donation box I keep in the closet. 

 This is a picture of my receipt that I got from my shopping at CVS. It was two times my height. It was filled with Extra Bucks for me to use on my next trip.

 This was probably my favorite deal. I bought these items at Kroger. The deodorant was on sale for 1.00 each and I had two 1.00 coupons. Next the eye shadow was 4.00 each, and when you buy four, 4.00 were automatically taken at the register. Then, I had 2 make up coupons. I went to the register with no cash in hand, just my Kroger card and coupons. The total came to -1.04. The store gave me 1.04!! I made money on this purchase! Wahoo!!!

 My last shop again at CVS. This was about 19.00, and I used all the Extra Bucks from my previous trip, and so I spent nothing out of pocket. And, I got 18.00 in Extra Bucks back.
                                   

So there you go! How did you do this week?

More Coupon Bragging

I was so excited about this shopping trip I had planned this week that I had a really hard time going to bed the other night because I kept thinking about it. Yes, I am a freak.
This week I went to CVS to shop their sales and redeem some coupons and Extra Bucks (their shopping rewards) that were about to expire.
Here is my loot:

The Breakdown:
4 Dial Nutriskin Lotion--7.29 each
Colgate-4.49 each
Scope Mouthwash--2.99 each

After coupons, sales and extra bucks, I paid 7.82! I saved 40.82 today!!!

Have you had any luck at the stores recently?

The Couponers Delima--Donations

Why is it that some things are not good enough for me, yet are good enough for the masses?

That is a question I have been thinking about the past few weeks. I am pretty discerning in the food that I eat. The majority of my food comes from whole ingredients, and about 50% of the time it is organic produce, and 100% of the time it is organic meats. That is good for me, good for the planet, and good for the animals. 

But....what about the food that I get for free or for cheap that I donate to the food pantry? Should that be a higher quality food too?

I think it comes down to a question of quality or quantity. When donating food to food banks, we tend to donate a cheaper, lower quality of food because its cheaper, and we can get more product for our money. Is this a problem?

For example, if I were able to buy a prepackaged meal that I would never consider feeding my family because it is fattening and has no nutritional value, should I donate that item to the food bank? Is it better that someone has something, anything to eat, even if it is not good for them? Will donating these types of items to the food pantry encourage diabetes and obesity? Or, is just having something to eat good enough?

This is a question that I don't have an answer to. What do you guys think? I would really like you to weight in and let me know your thoughts. 

One Resolution Reached

I have reached one of my new years resolutions early! Yahoo!

In January, one of my resolutions was to save $1,000 over the course of the year through using coupons. 

I realized that I reached my goal last weekend after a shopping trip to Target with P. We checked out and after coupons, I ended up saving almost 50.00 on that transaction and it put me over the top. 

To say I was excited was an understatement. I cannot believe that I saved so much money in just 9 months. 

I think that using coupons is something that is so simple that I don't understand why more people don't use them. I spend about an hour a week doing research and getting my stuff together for my shopping trip, and that is it. It does not take that much time or that much brain power. 

When I first started using coupons, I was guilty of buying things that we didn't need or even like just because they were cheap. After many discussions, P finally convinced me that just because I could get pickled hearing for 35 cents, I probably didn't need to buy it because its sick and we don't eat that kind of food. This year, I committed to him that the only way I would buy an item that we did not need or use would be if it were free and we could give it away. 

I have been really encouraged to find more and more organic and natural items coming out with coupons. Often, if they don't put the coupons in the paper, I email the company and often they send me some right to my door, which is awesome!

As I think back to some of my trips this year, some of the items that I have gotten this year were:

Make up

Dog Food

Dog Treats

Toothpaste

Clothes

Razors

Cleaning Supplies

Medicine 

There is probably more, but these are the ones that stick out. 

I have decided to amend my goal, and see if I can save another 500.00 by the end of the year. Its pretty lofty, but I want to try.

Do you use coupons? How much have you saved this year?

My Stockpile in Pictures

For a few weeks now I have been wanting to do a quick inventory of my stockpile. I didn't want to write a list but I wanted to do a quick overview of what I have on hand. We live in a small apartment so things are scattered all around the apartment and the garage. Everything in my stockpile has been either free or I have gotten for pennies on the dollar. I don't think I will ever stop couponing.

Do you coupon? What does your stockpile consist of?

The Motherload

Here she is ladies and gents, the mother load of my couponing experience. Yeeehawww.
This past weekend, I drove down to central Texas to hang out with my family while P was out of town on a business trip. Saturday morning after my run, my mom and I combined our coupons with the sales, and ended up shopping at Target and Walgreens.

We got a ton of stuff for our stockpiles. Here is a breakdown of what we purchased:

10 packs of laundry detergent
Pasta and sauce for the food bank
Toilet Paper
Trash bags
6 packs of razors
Light bulbs
3 packs of dog food
Soap
Tea
Coffee
Bottled Water (3 packs still in the car)
Foil

Drum roll please.......savings of almost 100.00, plus a gift card to Target, and a 10.00 rebate check coming to us!
The best deal we found was the detergent was buy one get one free at Walgreens. We had coupons for the detergent so we got 2 for 4.99!

T'was an awesome shopping trip!

The Simple Gal's Guide: Coupons

As you know, I am a couponer. I tend to brag about my deals, and I want everyone to know about what I got, because I think it is so much fun, and I want You to find the same deals or better! I don't think I will ever stop using coupons. Even if I had millions of dollars, I would probably still use coupons. There is something so exciting about getting something for free, or for pennies on the dollar. It is really rewarding!
Every time I post about my shopping trips, I always get comments from you lovely chicka's about how you can't find deals, or don't have the time, or the brain power to coupon. Ladies, all of that ends today! I am sending ya'llto school, couponing school. Here is the Simple Gal's Guide to: Couponing. It is simple, and trust me, if I can do it, you can do it.

Step 1: Getting and organizing your coupons.
A. Buy a paper and pull out the inserts. Every week I go through the inserts and clip the coupons for items that I would typically buy. (I.E.-Soap, detergent, pickles, bread, Soy Milk, Salad dressing, etc.) Then I take the insert and put it in a file folder with the date listed, and keep it in the box below.

Step 2: File your coupons

I file the coupons that I have clipped in my accordion file that I keep in my purse. This way I have the coupons with me at all times.

Step 3: Finding the Deals

A. I do not do any of the work myself! I find out about the deals by using couponing websites. There are HUNDREDS of them. Each site tells you the store to go to, and the coupon to use with the date that coupon came out. So, I either go my accordion file and pull the coupon, or if I have not cut it out yet, I go to my file box pull out the appropriate flyer and clip away. Or, I print the coupon off line, and most sites give you the link to find the coupon.

B.I use 2 couponing website, My Frugal Adventures and The Krazy Coupon Lady. I have them in my google reader and I scan each entry and decide if it is a deal that I want to go after.

C. Finally, I write down the deals on a sheet of paper and I put the coupons into an envelope with the name of the store written on it. When I have time in the week, I head to the store, whip out my envelope with my list and coupons in it, shop quickly.

Step 4: Brag about your purchases!

That's it ladies, that is how I do my couponing. It takes about 4 hours a week. I scan the websites a couple times a day, usually in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening when I surf the web.

Here are my final tips:

1. Pick the stores you want to shop at and get really really good at shopping there. I found for our situation and location I shop at CVS, Target, and Walmart. I miss out on a lot of deals because I don't want to run around shopping at 10 different stores each week, I just don't have the time for that.

2. Use green bags. CVS and Target give you a discount for using your own bags. Target takes .5 for every bag you use, and CVS gives you .25 cents off every time you bring in a bag.

3. Shop at Target. If you go to the Target website, you can print store coupons there. The great thing about Target is that they allow you to use a Target store coupon and a manufactures coupon on the same item. Not many stores do that. For example, if I printed a coupon from the Target website for Colgate toothpaste and I had a coupon from the paper for Colgate toothpaste, I could use them both on the same item and get double savings!

4. Read the fine print.

5. Don't stress out, it is really not that hard!

I hope that is clear. Please email me if you have any questions about couponing.

Super Saver

I don't know about you, but I really really like couponing. I know I have said before that it is like a high for me, but it really is. I ran to Target this morning to redeem some of my coupons and I was very excited to add these cleaning and house hold products to my stockpile. My total before coupons was about 25.00, but after all my coupons, I only paid 9.80! Yahoo for savings!!!

Have you had any successful couponing lately?

No Spend Month Update, and and some spending

P and I decided to participate in Carlas no spend challenge for the month of January. We have cut our entertainment budget for the month and are not eating out, no extras or treats, or even one off's at the store that we would put on our debit card. We decided that we would only buy the things that we need with our cash budget.
We have been doing pretty well. The only thing that we spent money on that was not budgeted, was on some food and treats for his sister and brother in law's birthday dinner.

Yahoo for savings!!!

However, yesterday during lunch I ran to Target to pick up a few things that I had coupons for.

The total came out to 27.06 before coupons. After my coupons, I ended up paying just .44 cents!!I purchased

3 first aid kits

2 dental flosses

2 Chobani Yougarts

2 Cascade packs

1 Glucose Monitor ( This is going to the food bank. I bought this because after my coupons it was free, and I never pass up on free items. I hope this will go to someone who really needs it!)

Bragging

I know the picture is hard to see, but I did two quick shopping trips today during lunch. I hit up CVS and Target and my total before coupons would have been about 48.00. I ended up paying just about 12.00 for all of it. Wahoo!

Here is what I got!

2 big packs of toilet paper

3 bottles of dish soap

2 tubes of toothpaste

2 electric toothbrushes

4 packages of mac and cheese. (P and I wont eat it, but was free, so that is 4 boxes going to the food bank)

Plus, I earned another $6.00 to use at CVS on my next trip.

Yea for couponing!