WFMW: Coupons and a Contest!

I am going to use this first Works for Me Wednesday of the New Year to really encourage you all to do something that has really been working for me – clipping, saving, and using coupons! As you all know, I am a bit obsessed with CVS, but coupons have also saved me a lot of money at Kroger, Target, Meijer, and Walgreens. I now spend about half what I used to spend at Kroger by using coupons and buying and planning my meals around what’s on sale. I get my coupons from the Sunday paper (I subscribe to the Thursday and Sunday edition bundle and pay $5.59 a month – I encourage you to subscribe only if you can get a deal this cheap or cheaper!) My grandma also saves her coupons from the paper for me, and I print coupons from Coupons.com and Smartsource.com. I also often search for them if I am interested in a particular product on the product’s website. I got all my coupon clipping and organizing ideas from Money Saving Mom, so I am NOT taking credit! Please check out what she has to say on the topic – I couldn’t say it any better! I also strognly encourage you to purchase her Supermarket Savings 101 course. It has helped me soo much and it will pay for itself your first week at the grocery! You can check it out and purcahse it here!

The next step in successful couponing is to scour the store sale fliers and use what coupons you have for items they have on sale. For example, a couple of weeks ago, Kroger’s had 15-count boxes of Totino’s pizza rolls on sale for $1. I had a 55-cent-off coupon that I had printed from Coupons.com (ok, I had four!) Since Kroger doubles coupons up to a dollar, I got those pizza rolls for FREE, or as I like to say “FREE.99”! (I stole that line from my friend John. It’s a good one!) At CVS, using coupons can really make you money! A few weeks ago CVS had Advil PM for $4.99 with $4 ECBs (extra care bucks – like CVS money) back if you purchase it. I had a coupon for $3 off Advil PM, so I paid $1.99 for it and still got the $4 ECBs. Cha-ching!

If I haven’t convinced you yet, maybe this will! I have decided to let my obsession thriftiness become your gain. Due to couponing and making CVS (and Walgreen’s – stay tuned to my Super Savings Saturday post for that!) pay me to shop there, I have more candles, dish soap, and OTC medications that I could ever possibly use! So I have put together two, count ’em TWO identical prize packs of household goodies that I am giving away! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post. I will close comments Sunday January 6th and announce the winner Monday the 7th. (I will only ship to the US as I do NOT want to fill out a customs form for this stuff. Sorry!) Here is what you can win!! I added up the retail price of these items and each prize pack is worth $33.44 retail! But of course I pretty much got it all for…wait for it….FREE.99! 🙂

prizepack.jpg

1 bottle of Nature’s Bounty Vitamin C
1 bottle of Palmolive original
1 Glade Wisp Flameless Candle in Apple Cinnamon
1 10-count vial of Extra Strength Tylenol
1 Glade Scented il Candle in Dewberry Dreams
1 20 count Dimetapp children’s grape chewables
1 Walgreen’s hand sanitizer in Lavender

Allright, now get commenting, and then get out your scissors and get coupon clipping! Oh, and for more great Works for Me Wednesday tips, check out Rocks in my Dryer!

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44 Replies to “WFMW: Coupons and a Contest!”

  1. Oooooo goodies! I could totally use that Wisp Apple Cinnamon. I gave all mine away for Christmas presents and left myself with 0!
    Love your site, I stumbled across it from M S M comments section.

  2. wHAT A LOT OF GOODIES!!!!! i NEED TO HIRE YOU…i USED TO DO ALL OF THIS TOO BUT STOPPED AS KIDS GOT TO BE SO MANY IN NUMBER…tIME TO GET BACK TO IT i GUESS…..:) hAPPY nEW YEAR!

  3. Ooh!!! Me likes 🙂 I don’t have a local CVS or else I’d be right there with ya. But I am a couponing fool at the grocery store. It’s a sad shopping trip if I don’t get something for free!!!!! So here’s my entry…hope I win…I’ve been wanting those candles!!!

  4. I LOVE CVS! And I have been saving lots lately myself with double coupons at Kroger and Meijer; however, my stores only double up to 50 cents. DARN! Count me in for the great giveaway! I love free stuff! 🙂

  5. I so admire your savings and of course I read Money Saving Mom. I have to admit thougth that I went to CVS to start all this “savings” stuff and got so confused and perterbed that I left with only my daughters prescription. I work a full-time job outside of the home and have yet to make couponing a priority. I just am too tired after work, and entertaining my daughter in the evenings, but I am hoping to break that habit and start….it is one of my new resolutions.

  6. Can I just say how jealous I am? I live in a town that has NONE of those stores! We will be getting a Walgreens sometime this year (hopefully).

  7. I really do need to start using coupons and just buying stuff to have on hand when they are on sale. I always forget but this post just reminded me. I’ll start tomorrow.

  8. Oh, I love freebies! I stumbled across your site and I quickly added it to my favorites. I gave the CVS shopping a try….my first transaction wasn’t that great but the next four after that (all done on the same day) really PAID off! Thanks for all the tips!

  9. If I didn’t have 3 kids (5 and under) and weren’t homeschooling, I might have time to obtain the same level of coupon-craziness as you. Seriously though, you are an inspiration to all moms and I am determined to use my coupons more faithfully. Thanks for all the tips!

  10. Wow! That vitamin C and Dimetapp sound pretty good right now. We’re head cold central here at our house. I think I’m on my third since Thanksgiving. Yuck. Pick me, pick me!!!!

  11. here’s another tip to getting coupons. If Sunday is an EXCEPTIONAL coupon day in the paper I go to a local store who sells DISCOUNTED Sunday papers for only $1 instead of the usual $.50. I also get the weekend-only subscription from our local paper… and raid my mother-in-law’s coupons when I go over on Sunday… and my husband gets them from work since they get the paper delievered there too. But, if three aren’t enough (especially when I can get FREE stuff thanks to our double coupons at the grocery store, or deeply discounted items otherwise.

    I live in NE Ohio. I get the Sunday paper from Marc’s and do my double couponing at Giant Eagle.

    Another idea for some money saving is to do comparison shopping at Wal-Mart. Walmart will price match items on sale at other stores within a 20 mile radius. Beware, they do not do buy one get one deals, or percentages off. But it works on groceries, health and beauty items, even electronics! Doing it may save you from going to MANY different stores, and insuring you are getting the best price possible. It pays to be organized when you attempt this. I used to color code my shopping list according to what store the item was on sale at… and ALWAYS bring your ads and circulars in case there is a dispute about the price. I used to do this very LATE at night after the kiddos went to bed. With my ads, coupons, and clipboard in hand I attacked the store, and it paid off handsomely.

    I acutally sent my husband to do it once and he nearly got into an argument with the lady behind him about taking so long. He looked at her items and said, “But I am getting MY frozen pizza for $3 less than you.” She shut up after that.

  12. About the Sunday paper. It’s usually $1.50… not $.50.

    That wouldn’t be a money saving idea AT ALL if I paid more for it!

    Next time I’ll proof-read.

  13. I just LOVE this site and check it everyday. You are a woman after my own heart as I love a good deal and I am learning new tricks and tips from you. I would love to be a winner of that gift basket full of goodies!!

  14. I love this idea!!! i just got my CVS card in Mondays mail and will be starting on my CVS “journey” soon!!! Can’t wait. You put a wonderful package together.

  15. Thank you for your generosity in allowing us a chance to win one of these prizes. I just love to read about the deals fellow couponers get. I wish we had a CVS in our town.

  16. Thanks Michelle. I have to give it away! I will NOT become a hoarder! Please will you all stage an inervention if I have to rent out a storage unit to house my glade candles?

  17. I love CVS! I’m only 28 but I take Osteo Bi-Flex regularly (for an old shoulder injury) and it’s really expensive. This week CVS has it buy one get one free (each bottle is worth $21.99) plus you get $3 ECBs. I found a $4 off of $20 and $2 off of $10 coupon, so I got $6 off on top of getting one free AND got the ECBs. I went back the next day and did it again (it’s addictive!)

    Does anyone know if any sites ever offer coupons for produce (i.e. Dole?) I have never checked but it’s worth a try I guess. That is probably 75% of my shopping list and there are never coupons for produce in the paper.

  18. You are making me laugh with your thrifty obsessions. Have you taken out a billboard for CVS yet? You should just change the name of your blog to “I LOVE COUPONS AND CVS!!!!”

  19. Ok I am really jealous now! I do use coupons, (well when I remember) and have NEVER saved that much money! EVER!

    I need to start more! Especially has my family grows, and my grocery bill does too!

  20. Awesome! Good for you. I’m an avid coupon clipper and have recently started taking advantage of the CVS deals. I want to be more disciplined about it though. Thanks for sharing!!

  21. You are way more thrifty than me but I definently will use some of your ideas…as a mom of 5 I always should be trying to save money! Thanks for the tips 🙂

  22. I came across your blog recently through my friend Jen, and I really enjoy it. A contest is a good time to start commenting! I love your thrifty ideas and WFMW. And I’m a fellow Buckeye and I think you guys live in my hometown. So hello! Love your blog.

  23. it looks like were are going to have to start a support group…. or get a bus and start field trips where we travel to different cvs, targets, and walgreens. we will need computers and printers on the bus too. to print coupons……
    i love you…. i am tring to get organized and get it together to be a better mom(and so i can prove to matt that i don’t have to go back to work)

  24. Please enter me! I LOVE free stuff too! Thanks for all the tips and great information! This is the firs time I’ve visited your site, but I’ll be back!

  25. Enter me …

    I have been reading your site, found through Money Saving Mom, who I am quite addicted to reading. : )

    I have been working CVS, too, but haven’t found my groove to rolling. I always have ECBs but not as much as Crystal, and that is the key, I think, to making more money.

    I haven’t attempted Walgreens … but wish I had because I need those candle refills. I had one left and went to burn it the other day and the darn wick will not work. So, I plan to call and complain and hopefully get a coupon.

    I have those coupons, too, so I might have to make a run to Walgreens and get those if they are still available. When I went to CVS late last Saturday, the deals on the cough drops were already out of the computer. Bummer. It pays to shop early Sunday morning.

    You are inspiring. Thanks! I am trying to so hard to cut my expenses and this is really the best way to do it. It’s awesome.

  26. Bethany – I’m up for othe field trip! Let me know when. Jenny totally needs to hire herself out as a shopping coach.

    This whole thing reminds me more and more of when I was growing up and my friend’s mom used to load up her van with kids and each give us a dollar. See, milk was on sale that week at the grocery store… a gallon for $.99! I think we went back SEVERAL times in a day. I think she knew when the new cashiers came on duty. And she always let us keep the penny that we got back. Just four more trips through the line and I could get a piece of Bazooka bubble gum! SCORE!

    I could never figure out why they needed so much milk, but as a family of 6 or 7 (I can’t remember) with a LARGE freezer she took advantage of the sale when she could.

    That’s a lesson we are all learning now as thrifty moms.

    And, yes, I have been known to give my oldest some money to go through a grocery line to purchase additional quantities of things on sale. I haven’t recruited other children yet… but in time.

    It’s late. Im going to bed now. sorry for babbling.

  27. Wow,apparently giving away stuff brings the commentors out in droves! Bribing your way to blogging immortality! Good Job!

  28. I found you on 937moms.com, and I am a dedicated reader! You have inspired me to start my own blog to detail my life as a hair designer who is going to school to become a Chemical Dependency Counselor while raising 5, yep count ’em, 5 kids! After reading all of your tips I have developed this super-sick obsession with Huggies baby wipes. I’m also fast becoming a CVS junkie. After I finish school, and these stores catch on to all these freebies and stop them, I may have to start a recovery program for all of us! Thanks for all the tips, and the laughs!

  29. I am obsessed with CVS shopping too! It’s really great the deals you can get with coupons and extra care bucks. Please enter me in your contest!!

  30. After I read the rebate tips on other blog sites, I decided to start with the drugstore I am most frequently shopping at: Rite Aid.
    My first $10 rebate went to purchase five boxes of Kelloggs cereal today … which I have already logged on line in order to turn that purchase into another $5 rebate.
    On the Sunday coupons … there was a motherload of them in my newspaper today. I don’t know how many of them are national vs. regional promotions.
    On the newspaper “discounts” … the suggestions listed above do vary per market. Yes, in my city and for two other newspapers I am aware of, it is possible to get a “weekender” newspaper subscription if you do not want a daily subscription. But I would first find out what the other options are. Maybe a discount is available for pay-in-advance subscription? Maybe seven-day subscription gives you perks that weekend subscribers don’t get?

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