Scored!

If you know me.. you know I am coupon obsessed!  Part of the eating down the deep freezer and pantry is to use what I have and not allow it to go bad. but also frees up some funds from food shopping to other areas. The last few weeks there have been some fantastic coupons out there for non food items and my goal is to acquire as many coupons as I can and get as much stockpiled that I can.. so I don't have to worry about those items for as long as possible.  Items such as laundry soap, dishwasher detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, and personal care items.  These items will not go bad, will always been needed and are way too pricey to buy at full shelf pricing.. at least for me!  I also love the searching out the deal process and I have friends who do also.. and this makes it even more fun.  

For example.. I have a Bosch dishwasher and this high ticket item is a snob.  It only likes Finish dish washer detergent.  I assumed it was a total marketing ploy and when I got the machine I happened to have a supply of that brand so I never thought more about it.. When I was running lower on detergent I started to keep a better eye out for deals.  One day at Walmart I saw an great deal on gel packs.  They were Cascade brand and marked down to $2.00 a bag!  I bought 7.  

What a waste of money...... The fragrance was so strong it permeated every single plastic dish I washed.. some were a total loss.. some faded over time.  I ended up putting them aside and adding them to my donation pile for Holiday times.  I picked up boxes of Finish over the past few months as I saw them on sale.. but I hardly ever found good coupons.. Until 2 weeks ago....There was a coupon out for $2.15 off a box.. WOW!  This is unheard of.. It was so worthy I ran out and bought a few more papers that day. Just the savings from THAT single coupon was more then the cost of the paper itself.. so every other coupon I scored was bonus.  That week I also found  Purex laundry detergent coupons that were $1.00 off a jug.

I went through the Walgreens and Rite aid ads that Sunday to see what the specials were.  The Giant Eagle Ad comes in the mail on Tuesday  so I had to wait.  That week Rite Aid was running a B1G1free special on Finish... seriously.. could it get any better?  Walgreen's was running a deal on Purex!  My deals went like this. 

 At Rite Aid each box was 7.99 for 32 pellets.  

Rung up 47.94 before tax

after I scanned my card the total came down to 23.97.  

I used 3 coupons taking me down to $19.02 including tax.  Because I am anal.. I figured it out by the wash load.. I purchased 192 washes for $.09 a wash... That to me is a deal.  

I then drove over to Walgreens and grabbed 3 bottles of Purex that were  on sale for $3.99 a bottle.  My coupons brought it down to 2.99 each and out the door with tax I got 96 loads of detergent for .10 a load... I will be honest in that I have never properly measured out my detergent.. but I assume I get more then the bottle says b/c I use such small amounts of soap.  

Last night at my Moms of Multiples Meeting I managed to get to the coupon pile and see if there was anything that appealed to me.. Lo and behold there were 4 Finish coupons! I did the happy dance.. my friends thought I was crazy but I doubt they have a snob of a dishwasher... I have just gotten a bag of coupons cut from the in laws on Sunday and  added these 3 to the 1 I cut then... 

So today while out running errands I stopped at Target.. Their 20ct boxes of Finish were $3.99.. Using my coupons I got each bag for 1.84 before tax..That also comes down to $.09 a wash! 

Yes, if you are counting I have 10 boxes of Dishwasher detergent in my basement...That is 272 runs of the dishwasher...for the insanely low price of $26.84... This week Giant Eagle is selling an 80ct box for $10.99. 

To buy the same number of washes at GE I would spend $37.26.  

Also today I hit Walgreens and used the Ad coupons for boxes of tissues at .99/box.  I stacked with with my .50 off 3 boxes coupon and got 3 boxes for $.82/box.  While I was there I bought a bottle of iced tea for a dollar and it gave me an instant rebate coupon for a dollar. I will go back to Walgreens before Sat and use the ad coupon again, another manufacture coupon and this 1.00 coupon and get 3 more boxes for $.49/each.  *KNOCKING WOOD*.. we have been rather healthy.. but yes, I am preparing for doomsday buy stocking up in tissues...

The last store I hit on my circle around town was the Dollar Tree.. You either love it or hate it there.. I love it!  They now take coupons.. and granted you will not find many items that you can correlate with a coupon.. but when you do.. it makes things either free.. or pennies... I had 7 -.75 coupons.. 3 were for any type of Colgate toothpaste.. size 4oz or larger.. the other 4 were for any Colgate adult or kids toothbrushes.. I grabbed these nifty travel brushes that will be the perfect size for the kids. for less then $2.00 I added to my supply shelf.  You can never have enough toothpaste or toothbrushes..When kids have been ill I toss old brushes and give them new to lessen the chance of relapse. The toothpaste is a great item to send in when school groups ask for donations for the local pantry.  This is an item that cannot be purchased with food stamps.. and I can send in tons! 

I know that people will say that all the driving around voids the savings I have with coupons.. I disagree and I make my trips work for me.  I hit Walgreens on the way to the dentist, the Dollar Tree was on the way to the highway to go to Target.  I have lots of coupons to use so I saved money all the way around going to places I needed to go anyway!  I won't make a special trip to the Dollar Tree for a single toothbrush/paste.. but when I can get a stack.. it is worth the 10 minutes of my day!

Tonight I took the kids to the library to return books and while they searched out more I went straight to the table where people deposit their unwanted coupons.  I managed to grab almost a dozen of a specific item coupon a friend is in need of, and I managed to get more laundry detergent coupons and another Finish one in addition to a bunch of coupons for items that will go on sale at my Giant Eagle starting Thursday.