HEB- over $30 UNEXPECTED SAVE

I have an envelope- where I save the coupons for each store- TARGET - CVS- HEB etc. However- yesterday we went to the store before I had a chance to grab my envelope from home. I thought - OH NO- no coupons- I have to pay full price for stuff?? (I know- just a few short weeks and already I am a coupon snob- if I don't have a coupon I don't wanna buy it!) I did however have a few manufacturer coupons left over from my target and cvs trips- and I pulled the IN STORE HEB yellow coupons- over near produce section " in between" the two entry doors. We bought the things we needed- Milk- fresh fruits/ veggies etc. and a few things "just because" (my 5 yr old BEGGED me for PRINGLES- she just discovered them last week and is IN LOVE)... she did ask nicely "may I..please..?" so.. I gave in... I bought the "single" serving shortie can for 59¢- which I will turn into 2 or 3 lunch size portions.

But the point is- we didn't stray wildly from the things on our usual "list"- might have tried some different brands of things- like borden cheese instead of HEB brand- (had a coupon) - but we didn't buy a dozen of body wash just because it was .25¢. While I do plan to keep one or two things on hand for when we "run out"- I will not be one of those people who gets 20 boxes of cereal... unless it's free.... then I can donate to the food pantry!? :-)

We bought healthy things- not just junk foods- and there were plenty of junk coupons available- but we simply chose not to purchase things we won't really use-we don't eat a lot of sugars and cookies/ candies etc.- I refuse to buy things we won't use "just cause" they are on sale... ;-)

I'm posting my receipt bottom to show the savings by going with HEB brands and in store deals AND adding about 10 manufacturer coupons- we saved about $30!

One of the blog's I have been keeping up with said to "budget" what to spend on items you DON'T need now.. like $10-15. For instance- I have hot dogs in my fridge now- turkey dogs actually. We don't eat them every day BUT we WILL eat them EVENTUALLY! So the ones that came free with the COMBO LOCO sausage deal will simply go in the freezer and get pulled out in a month or so. So I saved a ton of money on them by buying them when I didn't need them- but I did not spend time and money on stockpiling dozens of things for future-- make sense? The thing that I learned early from all those blogs you see posted on the right side... was everything has a sale cycle of 6-12 weeks- it rotates- if it was on sale this week- chances are it will be on sale again- in a few months- so I can pick it up next time.

*New habit - I am also pulling the fantastic deal coupons that I see like a full $1 or more off of items we DON'T use (but others might) and leaving them for others to use. If you see the $1.50 coupon taped to the peter pan jar of peanut butter (Bryn is allergic) that could been me! so hopefully I am blessing YOU too!

*****
Most importantly Brett was with me for the first time- so he saw first hand the subtraction as each coupon was scanned- that was important for me to have.... he as a LOT skeptical at first. NOW HE IS 100% ON BOARD!

Keep in mind I am spreading out some of these grocery purchases by getting things at TARGET and CVS and WAL MART etc.-- when they are at their LOWEST sale prices and adding coupons.  That is why I only got 53 items.

BTW I asked Dave Ramsey - well OK - BLAKE the producer really- about the TARGET RED card- DEBIT CARD- and how they feel about the use of a store card that deducts just like a check from your checking acct. ?? (They give you 5% back when it is used)  I don't know if they will answer on air or not- keep listening and let me know if you hear anything this week!?

All of APRIL kid's eat FREE at IHOP after 4pm- we clipped a B1G1 entree from the paper coupons- so some night soon we are all four going out to have breakfast for dinner- for the price of 1 adult entree... keep ya posted!? I will wait for Bryndall to have a great behavior we can "reward" spontaneously with FUN dinner out... she will LOVE IT!

;-)

BLESS YOU! BLESS ME!

Deal of the Day! $.27 Stove Top Mix

At CVS - they had soups and Stove Top on sale for .77c each- I combined my purchase with a manufacturer coupon for .50 off- viola - .27 cents!! WOO HOO.
I am learning!

 

First Coupon trip- CVS 3/27/2011- $88.50 SAVED !!! BIG SAVINGS!!

First lemme say this- I made a few mistakes - but I am learning as I go here- so I think my 2 errors (causing a return trip to the store) can be chalked up to the learning curve and NOW I KNOW! Mostly it was my own inattention to detail that caused my "oops" - I will know better next time! Also I was totally unfamiliar with the layout in the store- causing me to be rattled a bit cause I constantly had to look up and get my bearings to hunt down the next thing on my list.

I am posting a picture of my real "steals"- several of my finds weren't shown- paper towels and laundry detergent buy 1 get ones took too much room for my picture! 2 packs of 8 paper towel rolls- you get the idea anyway. I am posting the receipt section with a ECB too.

OK- My mistake #1 was not buying "enough" of a product to get a dissent... I had to buy $10 dollars in
Johnson and Johnson BAND AID brand product to get the ECB (Extra Care Bucks are credit I can use on next trip to CVS- think of it like a CVS gift card with $5 on it.)  OOPPS- I was $2.51 shy of making that $10 limit - but the nice receipt told me exactly what I shoulda spent to save more- so upon returning to the store- the nice employee fixed it so that I got both of my $5 ECB that were coming to me (once I spent a few more bucks.)

Mistake #2 - I bought the wrong brand- I accidentally bought Neutrogena brand wrinkle cream instead of the CVS brand of the same stuff- spending $19.99 on Neutrogena... OOOPPPS. Again- upon my return to the store- she helped me trade in my retail for a sale CVS cream - that meant I spent $15 and got back a $5 ECB- in essence making my CVS cream only $10 - whereas the famous brand was $19? Make sense? Which I never would have paid $20 for- but at $10- I will try it...?

SO- Learn from my mistakes and DON'T DO what I did- course it was only a few miles for me to turn around and go back anyway!? HTH!

Also let me give credit where credit is due- I used a few sites really to give me guidance on exactly HOW to go about this whole coupon thing...
www.cleverlysimple.com and
www.Southernsavers.com and
www.moneysavingmom.com

For the record I am using the accordion style storage for newspaper insert coupons and envelope style coupon holder for the "trip" each time that I go. I am storing each store specific coupons in an envelope in the very front of the large accordion folder - so I know where to find target's coupon for Wheat Thins when I go to Target next. The whole idea is to "Stack" coupons- waiting till the item is ON SALE - meaning already 20-40% off regular price- everyone has sales going all the time... THEN check for STORE COUPONS- they all have their own store coupon for print- like target online etc. THEN STACK a manufacturer coupon on top of that! ( From your newspaper weekly inserts ) and don't go buy a newspaper just for coupons- ask a friend or neighbor to save them - or go by the local coffee shop at noon on Sunday and see how MANY papers are laying around with all the coupons still in them!?

Also keep in mind that this is only at CVS and in the next weeks I will also plan to go to TARGET for specials and in a few weeks I am headed to Super S store (a few miles down the road near Canyon Lake) for their DOUBLE COUPONS- they only double .50c coupons - so I save the "little ones" for a trip to Super S- so when I get my Green Giant frozen vegetables - the same ones that are at HEB BTW.. I get them for $1 less - PER BAG!!!

I'm learning- but so far I am really enjoying the joy of the "hunt" and the rewarding feeling that I am
saving my family money and OH YEAH- if something happens to be FREE and I don't need it- like a deal on toothpaste - I have like 6 tubes in my linen closet (thanks to COSTCO) I can snag it while I am there and DONATE IT to the FOOD PANTRY - which also happened to be less than 1 mile from my house!? ( Thanks God! I see that COOL WHIP!) HMM.. Bless my family... Bless others.... what could be better!?  Well- getting paid back I suppose - but hey - I will take FREE any ole day!

Hope you too can be blessed by using the systems that are already in place thru store buying programs and COUPONS!

BLESS ME! BLESS YOU!

K