I'm not cheap, I promise....

My NEW favorite thing to do is coupon...I LOVE getting the sunday paper, and LOVE sitting down on Tuesday afternoons to plan out my Wed morning shopping trip.

This past week, I did the best I have done yet for what I got! Since I've been doing this a few weeks now, my stockpile has gotten pretty big! This week, I didn't buy any meat or produce because we still have a good amount of meat in the freezer and we had some carrots and kiwi left over from last week. 

A little about my planning....

I have a binder where I keep all of my coupons..I have a clear insert for each week. When I get Red Plum, Smart Source, and P & G inserts out of the Sunday paper, I immediately put them in the week they belong. 

On Tuesdays, I go to a couple places including coupons.com and Target to look at all the printable coupons. Once I print those out, I place them in the envelopes they would go in.

I follow Southern Savers...On Tuesday afternoons Jenny list the deals for Publix. I go through, look at what I need or will use, see what coupons I have, and write those items down on a piece of paper with the price. Once I finish going through her list, I create a printable grocery list from her site so that I know when I go into Publix, I can see exactly the products I need to get instead of looking through all of my coupons. By writing down the prices, I'm able to see how much I will end up spending with the coupons.

SO this week, was a GREAT week! Kaz usually takes soup, sandwiches, sometimes left overs[BUT he likes to eat those for breakfast so he doesn't have any left for lunch], etc for lunch. This week was great as far as soups!

Here's what I got:

Stuff Bought

[2] 84 pack BOXES of Pampers Diapers[FOR 2 BOXES OF THESE AT WAL-MART It's $50. I got 2 boxes + 2 pampers wipes(for free) for $28.98]

[5] packs of Huggies & Pampers Wipes

[20] Cans of Progessive Soup

[4] Containers of Progressive Chicken Broth

[4] boxes of Betty Crocker Brownie Mix

[4] containers of Bertolli Alfredo Sauce

[1] Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup

[2] Reese Cups

[1] Dawn Dish Liquid

[4] Ball Park Franks

[4] Packs of Sargento Cheese[I got these for .50 each!]

Total Bill at Publix: $167.29

Total Spent  at Publix: $68.63

Total Savings Today at Publix: $$98.66

I went to Wal-Mart and checked all the prices AND IF I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN ALL OF THIS AT WAL-MART THE TOTAL WOULD HAVE BEEN: $147.32

If Kaz took 1 soup a day to work, that would be enough for a whole month ALTHOUGH that won't happen, so I expect those soups will last about 2 months. I shouldn't have to buy chicken brothe and brownie mix for a good couple of months! I understand the stockpile now:)

So, I also tried out CVS this week...I've been skeptical and overwhelmed but I tried it! Worked out great!

Here's what I got:

[2] Colgate sensitive toothpaste[the only kind I can use] for $2.79 each and got back $7.58 in Extra Care Bucks.

[1] Lady Speed Stick Deo for $2 and I got $2 in Extra Care Bucks

Total Spent $7.40, ECB $9.78

I've already planned out next weeks trip to CVS...Here's what it looks like.

[2] Cologate Total toothpaste[Kaz's uses this kind]. $2 each with coupon, and I get $4 ECB. So my ECB will go down to $5.78 + the $4 I get from this trip so I will walk away spending $ZERO and still have $9.78 in ECB!

I NOW LOVE CVS!

AND LASTLY....Kaz and I had dinner with our good friends The Schuermann's last night over in Mount Pleasant, so before we left I decided to check out Harris Teeter's deals[since we don't have one close to us].

Here's what I got:

[2] Chi Chi's salsa[$.49 for both]

[1] Kraft single cheese[FREE]

[2] Green Giant frozen veggies[FREE]

[2] Heft Storage bags[$2.99]

Total Bill $20

Spent $4

SAVED $16

Can't beat that...ALTHOUGH, I personally like Publix better than Harris Teeter. The one that I went to was very tricky on what was on sale and what wasn't. For instance, they advertised Nestle Tollhouse Ultimate Cookie Dough for $1.99[No specification on what kind]. BUT in the store it was only the white macadamia nut. All the others were $3.98! Tricky...

SO I do love couponing now, and wish I would have started a long time ago. My goal now is to stay under $50 a week for groceries and CVS. I think I can do it:)

If you have any favorite couponing sites, tips, etc. I would love to see them!

coupons and saving money....

I've recently started couponing...This is my 3rd week. I kept saying all last year that I was going to start, but let's face it, I had NO extra time to coupon with working at Seacoast and photography full time! Kaz and I have been HUGE Wal-Mart shoppers since we moved back to Charleston 3 years ago. Honestly, because we live RIGHT BEHIND Wal-Mart. It's so easy to go there at any time during the day because it's so close! Our weekly budget has pretty consistently been $75 a week. I thought that was pretty good, BUT after talking to friends who have children and spend less than $50 a week I SOON realized we needed to make some changes! 

I talked to my friends Liz and Blythe about couponing because they both use Southern Savers and know more about coupons than I do! After talking to them, and spending about 6 hours on it the last 3 weeks I'm happy to say that I'm officially beginning to coupon AND I LOVE it! 

Ideally, I would like to get out budget down to around $40-$50 a week. There are some things we are not willing to sacrifice on, which are carrots[for juicing-about 10 pounds a week], other fruits, and at least 1 meat a week for Kaz. I'm not a big frozen foods person such a chicken tenders, nuggets, pizza rolls, etc so stuff like that doesn't interest me. BUT in the last 2 weeks I've been able to get SOME REALLY good stuff and have spent a total of $106 on groceries in the last 2 weeks. Thats a savings of $44 from our normal budget. Right now, I'm in the stocking up stage. I ONLY BUY what I know we will use...I don't buy just because it's a good deal. I'm sure it will take a couple more weeks of stocking up before I can get the $ to where I want it in a week, but that's ok. 

I'm doing all of my shopping at Publix! I had no idea how great of a store they were! Our Publix takes other store coupons and doubles coupons up to $.50. Each week I have gone to the same register...The cashier is a young guy and the bagger is an older man. I love that they know me now...This morning the older guy said, "Do you think you will do as well as you did last week?". I thought it was special that he remembered me AND HOW GOOD I did:)

DON'T WORRY....I'm not going to post EVERY week my grocery buys, BUT I will show you my last 2 weeks!

This week[Total bill $112, spent $59, SAVINGS of $53]...Angel Soft toilet paper, Palmolive dish soap, saltine crackers, Windex, 2 Lysol wipes, 4 cans rotel, 2 packs toll house cookie dough, Lipton soup, 2 packs Kraft shredded cheese, 3 packs of pasta, 2 packs hot dogs, 2 packs hotdog/hamburger buns, 2 boxes Ritz crackers, 2 boxes Tricuits, and 1 pack of Huggies diapers[for $5] :) OH AND 4lbs of Ribs...

The household stuff was what I was most excited about! 

 Last weeks bill[Bill $103, spent $47, SAVINGS of $56] 10lbs carrots, 2 packs of paper plates, 1 roll of Scott paper towels, 8 cans of tuna, 1 cantaloupe, 2 bags chex mix, 2 bags Doritos, 1 can Newman salsa, 2 bottles A1 sauce, 4 bottles Kraft bbq sauce, 6 cans Cambells Chunky soups, 2 containers of deli meat, 2 packs of Publix hummus, 2 lbs london broil, and 2 Reese cups. 

SO COUPONING is what I'm doing every tuesday afternoon, and going to Publix every Wed morning:) That's my new routine! Kaz and I buy the sunday paper to get Red Plum and Smart Source Coupons and then I go to the following websites to print other coupons:

Coupons.com

Target

Do you have any couponing tips?