I love it when I have a successful couponing day!

[Marionnette]

And today was one of them! :

Usually there's one or more coupons or scenarios that just don't don't work right and it makes me want to just turn around and head home. Today was actually a good day. I had 7 stops and not a single coupon problem at any of them.

The first stop was a local grocery store where I picked up 6 cans of beans (2 white, 2 black 2 garbanzo), 4 bottles of Dawn dish detergent, 4 pouches of Starkist tuna and a 1 lb. box of Domino brown sugar. Total OOP = $9.98 with $1.55 coming back in a rebate from SavingStar for the brown sugar.

Then it was on to Kohl's where I snagged a Simply Vera Wang shirt for $17.99 after applying my $10/$25 coupon. No Kohl's Cash for me because I didn't come anywhere near the $50 spending threshold, but I got a nice top for very little cash. Paid cash so that I don't have to deal with paying off a Kohl's charge later. Total OOP = $17.99.

Then it was time to get serious. Bed Bath & Beyond - got a value pack of Keurig cups (48 ct.) for $21+ and two medium cabinet shelf racks for $3.99 each. I had to add a candy bar for $1.50 so that my total exceeded $30. Why? Because American Express gave me $5 back for spending $30 at BB&B. Total OOP = $31.06 with a $5 AmEx statement credit to follow.

Then it was off to PetSmart where I spent a serious amount of cash. One 30# bag of premium dog food, 4 1# sacks of dog treats, and 3 bags of pill pockets for my pemphigus pooch. I had a $25/$100 Petperks coupon, plus some manufacturer's coupons. Total OOP=$86.51 with $5 coming back as a statement credit thanks to Coupons .com and another $5 register coupon good on my next purchase of $5 or more.

Target #1 was next and I picked up a trial pack of Windex Wipe & Go packets, 6 shelf-stable meals for my college boy, 2 Rev Wrap protein snacks and 4 boxes of rawhide chews for my canine children. Total OOP = $13.37 and I got a $5 Target GC back.

Onward to Target #2, where I bought 9 Chobani, 2 more Rev Wraps, 6 more shelf-stable meals, 4 more boxes of rawhide chews and a package of Post-it notes. Total OOP (after using the $5 GC from the previous Target) = $14.43. Plus I got another $5 Target GC and I'll be getting back $2.25 from iBotta for the Chobani.

The last stop was another grocery store where I picked up 8 bottles of salad dressing for the food kitchen, 5 packages of Keebler crackers (1 for me and the other 4 are also for the food kitchen), a loaf of bakery Italian bread and a bottle of Molly McButter. Total OOP = $2.90. The cashier was dumbfounded.

In all, I spent $186.50, which was below my personally set limit of $200. I got a $5 Target GC and 2 $5 statement credits plus shopping rebates from iBotta and SavingStar for almost $4.

So, does anybody else have a positive couponing trip that they want to share?

 

[North of Mouse]

And today was one of them! :

Usually there's one or more coupons or scenarios that just don't don't work right and it makes me want to just turn around and head home. Today was actually a good day. I had 7 stops and not a single coupon problem at any of them.

The first stop was a local grocery store where I picked up 6 cans of beans (2 white, 2 black 2 garbanzo), 4 bottles of Dawn dish detergent, 4 pouches of Starkist tuna and a 1 lb. box of Domino brown sugar. Total OOP = $9.98 with $1.55 coming back in a rebate from SavingStar for the brown sugar.

Then it was on to Kohl's where I snagged a Simply Vera Wang shirt for $17.99 after applying my $10/$25 coupon. No Kohl's Cash for me because I didn't come anywhere near the $50 spending threshold, but I got a nice top for very little cash. Paid cash so that I don't have to deal with paying off a Kohl's charge later. Total OOP = $17.99.

Then it was time to get serious. Bed Bath & Beyond - got a value pack of Keurig cups (48 ct.) for $21+ and two medium cabinet shelf racks for $3.99 each. I had to add a candy bar for $1.50 so that my total exceeded $30. Why? Because American Express gave me $5 back for spending $30 at BB&B. Total OOP = $31.06 with a $5 AmEx statement credit to follow.

Then it was off to PetSmart where I spent a serious amount of cash. One 30# bag of premium dog food, 4 1# sacks of dog treats, and 3 bags of pill pockets for my pemphigus pooch. I had a $25/$100 Petperks coupon, plus some manufacturer's coupons. Total OOP=$86.51 with $5 coming back as a statement credit thanks to Coupons .com and another $5 register coupon good on my next purchase of $5 or more.

Target #1 was next and I picked up a trial pack of Windex Wipe & Go packets, 6 shelf-stable meals for my college boy, 2 Rev Wrap protein snacks and 4 boxes of rawhide chews for my canine children. Total OOP = $13.37 and I got a $5 Target GC back.

Onward to Target #2, where I bought 9 Chobani, 2 more Rev Wraps, 6 more shelf-stable meals, 4 more boxes of rawhide chews and a package of Post-it notes. Total OOP (after using the $5 GC from the previous Target) = $14.43. Plus I got another $5 Target GC and I'll be getting back $2.25 from iBotta for the Chobani.

The last stop was another grocery store where I picked up 8 bottles of salad dressing for the food kitchen, 5 packages of Keebler crackers (1 for me and the other 4 are also for the food kitchen), a loaf of bakery Italian bread and a bottle of Molly McButter. Total OOP = $2.90. The cashier was dumbfounded.

In all, I spent $186.50, which was below my personally set limit of $200. I got a $5 Target GC and 2 $5 statement credits plus shopping rebates from iBotta and SavingStar for almost $4.

So, does anybody else have a positive couponing trip that they want to share?

Sounds like your shopping trips are a lot like mine!!

I don't have a shopping trip to list, but I regularly save 50 - 75% - and sometimes 100% + overage!! A grocery chain here regularly doubles up to .99 also, plus does super doubles sometimes to $2, and triples to .99, also has online coupons to stack with manufacture's coupons. That's when I do my best, and I'm 'not' an extreme shopper by no means!

I just enjoy the 'thrill' of shopping and saving - save lots of stuff for my sis in another state also. There are very 'few' things that I 'ever' pay full price for.

In fact, our situations sound similar, maybe we live in the same area!!

 

[DreamIsaWish]

Couponing was especially good this back-to-school season. When Target was running the $5 off $25 coupon, I walked out with $25 of stuff for $8. That included a zipper binder that alone was $10 originally and never would have been in the penny sales. Add to that all the Crayola for 2 years of school supplies. It was awesome! And, yes, a total rush to hand over that huge stack of coupons. Cheap thrills, I know.

 

[LovesTimone]

I did a bit of couponing yesterday. I went to my local grocery store, my favorite one. Here a few deals that I picked up.

Smithfield maple ham slices - they were 3.59 each and were on BOGO free plus I had a .75 off coupon so 2.54 for 2 slices. Which is a pretty good deal

I bought 2 bags of ore-ida frozen potatoes, 2.95 per bag, I had 2 --.50 off coupons so 1.00 per bag off, my store doubles up to .50 cent - Plus I had a coupon that when you buy 2 ore-ida you get a free heinz ketchup . 1.89 savings - so I got 2 bags and ketchup for 3.90

2 Kens salad dressing 3.45 each and they were on BOGO free - plus I had 2 - 50 coupons, so that double to 1.00 each - 2.00 - so 3.45 - 2.00 = 1.45 for 2 bottles and they were the 16 oz size -

3 boxes of pop-tarts - were 3 for 5.00 plus I had a 1.00 off coupon when you by 3 - So 4.00 for 3 boxes of pop-tarts

So I did pretty good and using up a few that were about to expire ..

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

I was very pleased with myself yesterday too - although I only did one transaction it was good. We have 2 BBQs this weekend and I have to bring a side to both of them. I went into Stop and Shop and saw that the corn was on sale 10/$2. I remembered I had a $2 off your purchase I got last week from them. Needed 12 ears of corn for 1 BBQ and 8 for the other one, so all in all I got 20 ears of corn for $2!! The cashier was quite impressed

 

[cruisers5]

We just returned from a weekend at the outlet shops in Lancaster, Pa. The Five Below store had a $5 off any purchase coupon that they emailed to me. I printed off 10 of them. They had tons of Disney's Frozen things (t-shirts, makeup, stickers, body wash, shampoo, etc.) from $1.00 to $5.00. I used what coupons I had and then the hotel printed off more for me. I ended up with $150 worth of Disney Frozen items for FREE! I did purchase two large Frozen tote bags and filled them. Both my granddaughters are getting bags of Frozen items for their birthdays in November. They will be 4 and 9 and will be thrilled!

 

[marmalade]

We just returned from a weekend at the outlet shops in Lancaster, Pa. The Five Below store had a $5 off any purchase coupon that they emailed to me. I printed off 10 of them. They had tons of Disney's Frozen things (t-shirts, makeup, stickers, body wash, shampoo, etc.) from $1.00 to $5.00. I used what coupons I had and then the hotel printed off more for me. I ended up with $150 worth of Disney Frozen items for FREE! I did purchase two large Frozen tote bags and filled them. Both my granddaughters are getting bags of Frozen items for their birthdays in November. They will be 4 and 9 and will be thrilled!

The store let you use that many coupons, and do that many transactions?

 

[mom2rose&john]

TOPS had Pantene on sale 3/$9.

I had 2 $5 off 3 shampoo, conditioner, or styler. 2 $4 off 2 shampoo/conditioner and 2 $2 off styler. $17.15 (inc tax) after coupons

They also had a $10 off any purch coupon if you purchased $30 certain p&g items

Bought 2 proglide razors, 1 embrace razor, and box of tampax. Total before coupons $34.21 after tax. OOP total was $24.21

Total for all of that $41.36 and I have $10 coupon to us for my next grocery purchase. And I have an extra 30 cents off per gallon of gas.

 

[North of Mouse]

We just returned from a weekend at the outlet shops in Lancaster, Pa. The Five Below store had a $5 off any purchase coupon that they emailed to me. I printed off 10 of them. They had tons of Disney's Frozen things (t-shirts, makeup, stickers, body wash, shampoo, etc.) from $1.00 to $5.00. I used what coupons I had and then the hotel printed off more for me. I ended up with $150 worth of Disney Frozen items for FREE! I did purchase two large Frozen tote bags and filled them. Both my granddaughters are getting bags of Frozen items for their birthdays in November. They will be 4 and 9 and will be thrilled!

That's what gives couponers a bad name!

Can't believe the store allowed that. Emailed coupons are usually meant for one print - must have been a glitch. I imagine a certain cashier will be in very hot water.

 

[pklein09]

We needed a new dishwasher. I have Amex Rewards which I can redeem for Home Depot gift cards, so it had to come from Home Depot. Pixie dust hit, and the Home Depot gift cards were on special for 10% off. I redeemed for $550, costing me 49,000 points. Normally, that would only get me $490, so I'm already $60 ahead of the game.

I settled on a Maytag unit, black exterior, stainless interior.

Original Price: $699
On Sale: $538.20, $575.87 with tax
Less Gift Cards of $550: $25.87 charged to my Amex card

I had to order online because the unit I wanted wasn't in the stores, so I went through Ebates. More Pixie dust because they were offering double % back over the weekend. I got $21.53 from Ebates!

Total out of pocket for a new Maytag dishwasher: $4.34

It's free delivery to my home and DH and I will do the install.

I must offer a HUGE thank you to the DisBoarders who mention Ebates on this board....I only recently signed up and I love it!!!

 

[Jedana]

Let's see at Publix Friday night:

2 bottles of All detergent. On sale 2/$7. $2 off 2 paper coupon + $2 off 2 e-coupon from store = 2 bottles for $3

Fruit2O On sale 3 six-packs for $4. I had 1 $1 off 1 six-pack e-coupon and 3 $1 off 1 six-pack paper coupons. Bought 6 six-packs for $4.

Pepsi On sale 4 twelve-packs for $10. Had 2 e-coupons, one for $1 off Pepsi twelve pack, and one for $1 off Mountain Dew twelve-pack. Got 4 for $8. (Bonus: it was all the real sugar soda!)

Had a coupon Publix sent that was spend $25, get $5 off.
Had another coupon from Publix for spending $15 on produce, get $3 off.

Ice Cream topping (Smuckers Simple Delights) was on clearance (this stuff just came out, so I don't know why the store was clearancing it) $3/2 jars. I had 4 $1 off 1 jar coupons. 4 jars of topping =$2 total *dark chocolate is meh, love the salted caramel*

Bubba Burgers were on sale $8.99 a box. Had 1 e-coupon for $1 off a box, plus paper coupon for $2 off a box. Bought 2 boxes for a total of $14.98 (4 meals for us).

Publix was running their "spend $50, get $10 off a $50 gas card" promotion. The Publix up by my house allows you to use however many coupons you want, as long as you spend the right amount. (the other 2 Publix in the area do not do this, with any kind of coupon; if it says 1 per customer, it's 1 per customer and no splitting orders to use 2.)

I "spent" $220--$120 + $100 on gas cards. Ending up paying $145--$80 for the gas cards + $65 on the groceries.

 

[Ruthie5671]

I've started my holiday shopping. I'm beginning with my mom and working my way thru the family!

Kohl's - Had an "in the mail" coupon for $10 off any $10. Bought two $5 candles - totally free.

Her bathroom is decorated in Minnie Mouse and the Dollar Tree has some cute character stuff. Two boxes of Minnie tissues - $2.

Shutterfly - $10 off any personalized notepad coupon. Ordered a notepad with three pictures on each page for $9.99. Just had to pay taxes and shipping - $3.17.

They are small gifts, but she likes lots of little things instead of one big gift. So far, so good!

 

[cruisers5]

Yes, the store let me do that many transactions. As a matter of fact, when I went to check out I pulled the coupon out of my pocket and the cashier saw I had a couple more coupons and told me it was okay to go and get more stuff, I didn't have to leave and come back in again. She would just have to ring each transaction separately. She said she was seeing Mom's making each of their kids line up with a coupon to check out - she would tell them just come up together and she'd ring the transactions separately.

That's what gives couponers a bad name! Can't believe the store allowed that. Emailed coupons are usually meant for one print - must have been a glitch. I imagine a certain cashier will be in very hot water.

I was emailed the coupon, but it was also posted on the Rockvale Outlets site for anyone to print off. The one cashier made a mistake and called the manager up and he saw I had 3 of the coupons and just put the sales through. He never said a word. The hotel where I was staying had a pile of the coupons on their front desk for anyone to pick up - so it wasn't one coupon per person. The only printing on the coupon was $5 off ANY purchase, good only at Rockvale Outlets and it expires on Sept. 1/14.

 

[BSmithington]

I did a bit of couponing yesterday. I went to my local grocery store, my favorite one. Here a few deals that I picked up.

Smithfield maple ham slices - they were 3.59 each and were on BOGO free plus I had a .75 off coupon so 2.54 for 2 slices. Which is a pretty good deal

I bought 2 bags of ore-ida frozen potatoes, 2.95 per bag, I had 2 --.50 off coupons so 1.00 per bag off, my store doubles up to .50 cent - Plus I had a coupon that when you buy 2 ore-ida you get a free heinz ketchup . 1.89 savings - so I got 2 bags and ketchup for 3.90

2 Kens salad dressing 3.45 each and they were on BOGO free - plus I had 2 - 50 coupons, so that double to 1.00 each - 2.00 - so 3.45 - 2.00 = 1.45 for 2 bottles and they were the 16 oz size -

3 boxes of pop-tarts - were 3 for 5.00 plus I had a 1.00 off coupon when you by 3 - So 4.00 for 3 boxes of pop-tarts

So I did pretty good and using up a few that were about to expire ..

Just a lot of processed food. I don't get coupons when you are essentially buying boxes of junk.

 

[Marionnette]

I just got back from shopping and had another successful trip! Two stores and $43 OOP for:
5# potatoes
2 quarts of strawberries
1# broccoli crowns
1.5# bananas
1 gal. fat-free milk
1 doz. Eggland's Best eggs
1 6-pk of applesauce cups
1 small box of Bisquick
4 variety packs of cookies (for my son to pack for lunch when he goes to work)
2 variety sacks of chips (for the same purpose)
4 Febreze Set & Refresh
4 Febreze Car Clips
1 small bottle of Clorox
1 trial package of Windex Wipe & Go cloths
1 bottle of conditioner
2 boxes of Toaster Strudel
3 boxes of Totinos pizza rolls
1 container of ice cream

No GCs this time but I did get a catalina for a free "OPRAH'S The Life You Want" journal by mail. Plus, I'll be getting cash back for the Febreze items, Totinos, Bisquick, toaster strudels, milk and the bananas. It should add up to about $7 give or take a few cents.

My bill would have been a lot lower if it hadn't been for those chips and cookies for my son. He just started working out of state and he was spending way too much money at the food truck each week. I'm trying to get him to pack lunch at least a couple of days a week so that he can save a little money. I figure that the easier it is to do, the more likely he will be to pack his lunch. Once he realizes how much money it saves him, he might actually do it more often.

 

[Marionnette]

I ran out again after I got my ice cream and frozen foods put away. Didn't get a lot. I just wanted to take advantage of a couple more deals before my week gets too busy for me to make any more trips.

At the first store, I got 5 packages of Keebler cookies and crackers and I paid 90¢ for all 5! Then I ran over to Staples to pick up a ream of copy paper. I paid $5.29 with tax and I'll get a $4.99 cash rebate.

 

[North of Mouse]

Just a lot of processed food. I don't get coupons when you are essentially buying boxes of junk.

What an encouraging response!

If you don't 'get it' then it's probably not for you. There's lots of savings to be had in couponing, and for the record, the poster you quoted was not buying junk - maybe the poptarts are questionable, but which ones of us doesn't enjoy a ready made answer to our 'sweet tooth', especially poptarts for children?

 

[Marionnette]

Just a lot of processed food. I don't get coupons when you are essentially buying boxes of junk.

Well, I knew that there would be at least one person who would make disparaging remarks about someone's post.

For the record, I had coupons for free milk and eggs. There were also coupons for strawberries and rebates on the bananas. I've also got a rebate for tomatoes and starting tomorrow avocados will be added to the list of fresh produce rebates. I have coupons for $3 off of a $15 purchase of produce at one store and $5 off any purchase at another store. I can use that coupon for anything, including chicken, vegetables or fruit. Not all coupons are for "processed foods" and "boxes of junk".

But even if someone uses coupons to buy a few processed foods for their family, so what? I admit that I will resort to using a package of flavored rice or a bag of frozen potatoes when I'm pressed for time and need to get something on the table quickly. It certainly makes it easier to have those things on hand when you pick them up on sale with a coupon.

 

[Marionnette]

Just a heads up for you Philly-area couponers. ACME has a digital coupon good for $5-off a $20 purchase of their Lancaster brand choice beef through their MyMixx program. It doesn't matter which cuts of beef you choose, you just have to spend at least $20, which doesn't take long unfortunately.

And if you wear your Eagles jersey on Sunday, you'll save another 5% off of your order (with some restrictions). I don't know if the 5% comes off before or after coupons.

 

[Marionnette]

Wow! I got a lot of free or nearly free things this week! How did everyone else do?

• Staples: free ream of copy paper with rebate
• Target: free GoPicnic Breakfast, 2 free greeting cards, a free package of Windex To Go wipes and 2 Chobani yogurts with oats for 66¢
• Rite Aid: 2 free packages of Dr. Schol's gel inserts
• Walgreen's: 2 packages of sugar-free Werther's
• CVS: free 5-ct pkg. of Mucinex, free Physician's Formula eye shadow, 6 bottles of Tide for $1.73 each after rebates
• ShopRite: 1¢ MM on Jif Hazelnut Spread, 88¢ 8-ct. pkg. Eveready AAA batteries, 88¢ 6-ct pkg raisin bran muffins
• Acme: 4 boxes of Special K cereal and a 12 oz. pkg. of Gevalia coffee, plus 2 pouches of Starkist tuna for $5 and 2 boxes of Ritz crackers for $1.
• Petsmart: 4-lb sack of Nutro dog food for $5 (normally costs $20!)