I admit it, I’m addicted to coupons

Paying full price for something makes me nauseous. If it’s not FREE or at least half off, I usually won’t buy it unless I have to. I’m a sucker for a deal and I’m not kidding, we have saved hundreds this year with our coupons.

So here is my latest shopping spree. This afternoon I stopped by Albertsons with Liam and coupons in hand. We spent $8.90 and saved $102.90. Here is what we walked out with and how much we spent:

• 3 boxes of Barilla Pasta $1 each = $3 (the bulk of my spending today!)
• 2 cans of olives $1 each = $2
• 9 packets of koolaid 20 cents each = $1.80
• 6 2-packs of toothbrushes $1 each = $6 – six 75 cents off coupons = $1.50 for 12 toothbrushes!

Plus tax for these items I paid $8.90, not bad for what I got. . .but the best part was the free stuff.

NOW FOR THE FREE STUFF

• 3 packages of Kraft Singles Cheese $3.99 each – 3 FREE coupons (when you buy koolaid) = FREE
• 1 Powerade 65 cents – $1 coupon = FREE
• 10 Dannon Yogurts .50 cents each = $5.00 – five coupons for $1.00/2 yogurts = FREE
• 20 salad dressings $2 each = $40 – twenty $2 coupons = FREE
• 2 loaves of Sara Lee Bread $3.49 each – 2 FREE coupons (from weekend paper) = FREE
  (I would have gotten more FREE bread but they were out of whole wheat, so I’ll get it later)

All my coupons were from the coupon inserts in the Sunday papers, which I usually buy at the dollar store, for $1 (instead of $1.50 at other stores!) I also have generous friends and family members who give me their coupon inserts (hint, hint!) And, this week I slumped to a whole new level and went to the recycling center looking for discarded coupon inserts in the newspaper bins (Jeremy and Liam waited in the car while I dumpster dove). Don’t worry, it’s not dirty – it’s just newspaper and besides there was a coupon for a free loaf of bread in there – that’s like finding $4 for every FREE bread coupon you find!

You’re probably wondering what I’ll do with all that salad dressing. If it’s free, I’ll get it just to donate it to the church food bank and/or friends and family. It’s the hunt that is the most fun.

The great thing is we are always stockpiled, which means I never have to pay full price for something and we always have some kind of food around the house (which reduces eating out). It’s become a hobby, for better or worse. The savings have really helped out a lot since I quit my job at the state and now only work part-time from home.

In addition to coupons there are a lot of great rebate opportunities. In fact, I started a bank account just to put my rebate checks in and I’m up to nearly $500 – in just money back, making items free after REBATE! It’s a great way to have a little extra savings and checking the mail is always fun!

In addition to these deals pictured above, I’ve gotten tons of other memorable deals

• 60 bottles of SoBe Energy drinks for FREE
  Target had them on sale for 10/$10. When you buy 10 you get a $5 gift card back, so you then only spent $5 on 10 drinks. Well I had buy one, get one free coupons – which essentially took off another $5. So between the $5 in coupons and the $5 gift card it was 10 drinks for FREE. I did this deal 6 times.
• At least 50 CFL bulbs FREE
• At least 50 free bottles of shampoo, conditioner
• 30 single servings of string cheese FREE
• Free razors, bar soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant
• Free Polly Pockets (made great Christmas presents last December)
• Tabasco sauce for 25 cents a bottle
• Peanut butter 35 cents a jar
• Cheerios 10 boxes for $1
• This list goes on and on. . .

You’re probably thinking that couponing takes a lot of time, but it’s really very easy to do. I find out about a lot of the good deals through a coupon Web site that I subscribe to, called Refund Cents. It cost me $25 for the year and I’m not kidding, I saved this the first time I went to the grocery store. That fee includes Web access and a print publication that comes out 10 times a year. On the web site people post the deals they are finding, you can trade coupons with others (for example, I don’t need all the pet coupons, but others do and I can trade for coupons I’ll use!) It saves you so much time because all the deals are laid out for you so you don’t have to do a bunch of leg work figuring out which coupon goes which what sale.

If you want to sign up for Refund Cents, I think I get a discount or something if I refer you, so use this link if you decide to sign up. I promise you – it is so worth it.

http://refundcents.com/subscriptions.htm?REFID=FC7W

You too could spend $8.90 and save $102.90! Yeah!