So it's been a while. I didn't actually do any coupon shopping until Friday so it's not like I've been totally slacking off. Friday I went to Dollar General for their $5 of $25 deal. I only bought some junk food (my boys are very happy). I got 25 items for $1 each. I used $14 worth of coupons and only paid $11.45 or about $0.46 ea.
Sunday afternoon, I finally tried a Walgreens run. I've always read about "rolling register rewards" but was always nervous to try it. I went to the Sikeston Walgreens and I think I'll try Poplar Bluff next time. I wanted to get about $100.00 worth of stuff for around $20 but they didn't have the right kind of cereal for the coupons I had, didn't have the washable crayola markers and were out of the Oral-B toothbrushes that were on sale. I still came out with 8 boxes of Frosted Mini-Wheat, 6 bottle of shampoo, 6 bottle of conditioner and 5 folders. All together I spent $22.17 for $67 worth of stuff and I still have $10 in Register Rewards for next week. That brings my grand total for coupon savings up to $114.40.
I also lost 1 pound this week (stinking Birthday Cake!), bringing my total weight loss to 3 pounds.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Couponing days 3 and 4
Well, surprise, surprise I went to Walmart yesterday and today. That makes 4 days in a row for those of you keeping track. Yesterday I got 2 bags of dog food, 2 dog chew toys and some food and saved $7.25. I think my favorite was the $1.25 coupon on Lean Pockets I didn't know I had. Today, I hit Walmart again. I'm still looking for the 10ct advil (that's at the register) and the $4.98 Bengay. I've got coupons that'll make those free, but Walmart's always out. I only used one $1 coupon today but it got me some more free trial size Cascade Complete. I also hit Dollar General today and got 10 boxes of cereal (Frosted Flakes and Raisin Bran), 6 packages of ink pens and 2 dry erase markers (Walmart was out and I needed them for back to school) all for only $11.99. I had $18 worth of coupons. So, for the last two days I've saved $26.25 bringing my total savings up to $53.45, only $4946. 55 to go. Also, I've lost 2.5 lbs. leaving me 87.5 lbs. to go.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Couponing days 1 and 2
Here's my first couponing post. If you ended up on this blog looking for coupon matchups, you're at the wrong place. There are tons of websites that are updated constantly with the newest and best deals. I'm not going to repeat their work here.
First of all, I live in a small town in Southeast Missouri. Most of my shopping is done at Walmart. When I can get to a bigger town, I try and hit Walgreens. We do have two grocery stores in town that double coupons; one up to $0.50 and one up to $0.54 (how generous). I'm also really bad about mixing my coupon purchases and my regular purchases into one transaction so my percent saved is never very impressive. Therefore, I'm only going to focus on the total money saved. Also, I do have a small (very, very small) stockpile, but I don't store up shelves and shelves full of food and supplies (I'll never be on TLC's Extreme Couponing). When Armageddon comes I'm going to be up a creek like everybody else.
Here we go:
Yesterday I saved $10.25 at Walmart. Most of that came from a $5 coupon on Bounty paper towels I got off Facebook. I also had coupons for milk, cheese and 3 musketeer candy bars (not good for the diet I know but my family loves them).
Today I went back to Walmart and this time I saved $16.95. Even better I got 14 items for free!!!! I got ten packages of Chiquita Bites and 4 packages for Cascade Complete Gel-Pac trial packs all for free. I also got 4 packages of pretzel M&M's for $.50 total (again with the candy).
That brings my grand total savings to $27.20. Only $4972.80 to go!
First of all, I live in a small town in Southeast Missouri. Most of my shopping is done at Walmart. When I can get to a bigger town, I try and hit Walgreens. We do have two grocery stores in town that double coupons; one up to $0.50 and one up to $0.54 (how generous). I'm also really bad about mixing my coupon purchases and my regular purchases into one transaction so my percent saved is never very impressive. Therefore, I'm only going to focus on the total money saved. Also, I do have a small (very, very small) stockpile, but I don't store up shelves and shelves full of food and supplies (I'll never be on TLC's Extreme Couponing). When Armageddon comes I'm going to be up a creek like everybody else.
Here we go:
Yesterday I saved $10.25 at Walmart. Most of that came from a $5 coupon on Bounty paper towels I got off Facebook. I also had coupons for milk, cheese and 3 musketeer candy bars (not good for the diet I know but my family loves them).
Today I went back to Walmart and this time I saved $16.95. Even better I got 14 items for free!!!! I got ten packages of Chiquita Bites and 4 packages for Cascade Complete Gel-Pac trial packs all for free. I also got 4 packages of pretzel M&M's for $.50 total (again with the candy).
That brings my grand total savings to $27.20. Only $4972.80 to go!
Here we go.....
Let's start with some background information. My family consists of my husband (a high school band director) and myself (a high school special education paraprofessional). We have 3 sons, ages 16, 11 and 7. We also have 2 dogs, a Dachshund/Beagle mix named Rascal and a Golden Retriever named Mollie. All three of my sons are active in scouting as am I. My oldest is a Life Scout (who promises he's finishing his Eagle Scout this school year), the middle son is a Tenderfoot (and wants to know what's the earliest he can earn his Eagle!), and my youngest is a Wolf Cub Scout. I've volunteered with Cub Scouts since the oldest was a Webelos. I am currently the Pack Committee Chair and am also a member of the Troop Committee. My Oldest son attended the 2010 Jamboree and came back fired up to serve on staff in 2013.
So here's the plan. In 2013 the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) are hosting the National Jamboree at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia. My plan is to save enough money (mostly through couponing) to send my oldest son and myself to work staff at the Jamboree while my middle son attends as a participant. As an added bonus, I also need to lose somewhere between 40 and 90 pounds in order to be allowed to attend the Jamboree (more on that later).
As of right now I'm estimating we'll need at least $5000 to attend Jamboree. That amount includes $2000-$2500 for my middle son's participation fee, $1275 for my oldest and I's fees (yes we have to pay to work at the Jamboree) and about $1200 for travel for my oldest and I and spending money for all three of us. I would like to have that amount saved up by December 2012. That works out to about $300 per month. I'm hoping to save a big chunk of that money through couponing (with some extra help from tax refunds and gifts).
On the weight side of things, BSA as mandated that to participate in the 2013 Jamboree you BMI must be 31.9 or lower. Persons with a BMI of 32 - 39.9 may participate with the permission of their doctor. Anyone with a BMI over 40 will not be allowed to participate. Tico Perez, BSA's National Commissioner explains this in better detail here. While I don't like to tell people my weight, I will say that as of today, my BMI is 45.9. (If you'd like to compute your BMI try this website.) Based on my December 2012 deadline, that means I also need to lose from 2 - 5 pounds each month. Suddenly that sounds alot easier than saving $5000.
That's all I've got for right now. My plan is to update this with my coupon savings whenever I shop (which around here feels like everyday), and update the weight loss about once a week (unless there's no good news to report). Thanks for reading!
So here's the plan. In 2013 the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) are hosting the National Jamboree at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia. My plan is to save enough money (mostly through couponing) to send my oldest son and myself to work staff at the Jamboree while my middle son attends as a participant. As an added bonus, I also need to lose somewhere between 40 and 90 pounds in order to be allowed to attend the Jamboree (more on that later).
As of right now I'm estimating we'll need at least $5000 to attend Jamboree. That amount includes $2000-$2500 for my middle son's participation fee, $1275 for my oldest and I's fees (yes we have to pay to work at the Jamboree) and about $1200 for travel for my oldest and I and spending money for all three of us. I would like to have that amount saved up by December 2012. That works out to about $300 per month. I'm hoping to save a big chunk of that money through couponing (with some extra help from tax refunds and gifts).
On the weight side of things, BSA as mandated that to participate in the 2013 Jamboree you BMI must be 31.9 or lower. Persons with a BMI of 32 - 39.9 may participate with the permission of their doctor. Anyone with a BMI over 40 will not be allowed to participate. Tico Perez, BSA's National Commissioner explains this in better detail here. While I don't like to tell people my weight, I will say that as of today, my BMI is 45.9. (If you'd like to compute your BMI try this website.) Based on my December 2012 deadline, that means I also need to lose from 2 - 5 pounds each month. Suddenly that sounds alot easier than saving $5000.
That's all I've got for right now. My plan is to update this with my coupon savings whenever I shop (which around here feels like everyday), and update the weight loss about once a week (unless there's no good news to report). Thanks for reading!
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