My first (well, kind of) reattempt at couponing.

First of all, thanks to my wonderful husband for keeping the baby today so I could get out of this house! That did wonders for my little soul with our precious sick baby. In addition to that, he took "night duty" last night and ordered me to sleep. That also did wonders for my weary spirit, too. I feel so refreshed, and Micah has had a much better day. Maybe we're on the other side of the hill? I decided to spend my free time attempting couponing again. Isn't that what you did for the Fourth? :)

I used to coupon pretty hard core a few years back, but I'm going to be honest.

It took way too much time. (Sorry, but it is true. Working full time it wasn't worth it to take an additional 5-10 hours to clip/shop on top of grading papers, PTA meetings, & parent conferences.) Now my Faux Stay At Home Mom status has given me some time to try at it again. Granted, I'm going back to work in five weeks. (SUPER SIGH.)

Today, I went to Target, and here's what I bought:

I spent $37.42 (taxes included). I'm not really sure how great of a deal this is, but I think it is right at half off. My receipts showed I saved $38.33 plus I got $10 in Target gift cards. So I saved more than I spent. I have room to grow in this, but here's what I did (in case you want to copy me this week.) We (read: my husband) are coffee snobs, and sometimes we can spend $10 a bag for his taste in high quality brew. So I would have spent $20 less if I didn't do the Starbucks deal. However, for us it is worth it.

All transaction ideas came from my facebook boards at Couponing Friends and Hip2Save.
I am NEW at this and only have limited coupons. Be nice to me. :)

Transaction One:
1. Starbucks Coffee (the bulk of the shopping trip, honestly, but hubs is an addict! Glad to get it soooo cheap!)

Buy 3 Starbucks Coffee 11 or 12 oz $8.49 = $5 Target gift card
Deal Scenario:
Buy 3 Starbucks Natural Fusion coffee $8.49
Subtotal = $25.47
Use 3 $1.50/1 coupons found here
Paid $20.97
Get back a $5 Target gift card
Final cost $5.32 per bag!

2. Pop Tarts
It was reported that these would be $1.99 a box. They were not, but here's what I did.
My Target had them for $2.14 per box. I bought 3 boxes for a total of $6.42
Then I used two coupons I found using Hip2Save that took an additional $3.oo off.
Paid $3.42 or $1.14 per box.
Still not sure that was the best deal, but I was there, my cashier was super nice, and I figured what the hey.

3. Ortega Taco Seasoning Packets
4 @ $0.69 each= $2.76
I had two dollars off in coupons.
Paid $0.76 (Probably the best deal b/c I've paid close to $0.75 for one packet of taco seasoning but got four today!)

4. Schick Quatro Women's Razors
Buy One Get One Free Coupon ($6.49)
Bought two razors for $12.98
You get a $5 Target gift card.
Paid $6.49

5. Freschetta by the Slice Pizza
I followed exactly what Hip2Save said to do, but I actually stacked coupons. It worked!
So it was 3 pizzas for $5. I had $1.75 in coupons.
Paid $3.24 or $1.09

Total (before taxes): $34.88 + $10.00 in Target Gift Cards
Now that I'm home, I know I could have done better on that Schick deal. I could have used a BYGO free coupon plus a $3 off coupon. I should have paid only $3 and some change. Oh, well.

Transaction #2

I took my $10 Target gift card from the previous purchase and bought:

1. Yoplait Yogurt
$6 for 10
I had coupons in the amount of a dollar off.
Paid $5.00

2. Pop Tarts
Same deal as above.
Paid $3.42

Total (before taxes): $8.42

Paid with $10 Target Gift Card so basically free!! :)

Then, I had to partake of the crazy deal at CVS this week where Coke products are only $0.69 per 2 liter. I bought ten. (No Hoarders comments, please! Haha!)


And where does one keep all of this?

Glad you asked. Thought I'd give you an "insiders' look" at our garage.
Just note: I live in a 1500 square foot tiny house. The builder here put in amazing storage for its size. Our garage has a step up (or lip) that runs the entire length of our garage, and it is about 4ish feet deep. So we have lined it with these cabinets that you can buy at Aldi's for as cheap as $20 when they go on sale. I have a cabinet for everything. Two for stockpiling household goods & non perishables, one for baby supplies, one for kitchen gadget overflow, and a free standing deep freeze for deals on meat & bread.

Here are two of my "pantries" side by side. They are directly outside my kitchen door, so everything is always getting rotated into the "main pantry" inside the house or the laundry closet in the kitchen when it gets low.

(Excuse the mess, we're reorganizing so stuff is everywhere.)
So I have four pantries and one deep freeze for storage.

Oh, and a crock pot that is in dire need of a trip to Goodwill (as is the fuzzy bear whose butt you also see). Haha!

What about you? How do you store what you buy?

I'm determined not to become a couponing nut (as in the TLC show). Today, I only bought things our family would eat. Tacos is always a main dish, frozen pizza is great for those nights you don't wanna cook, and PopTarts is a Casa Confident breakfast staple. (I'll be honest, Diet DP is also a staple for me like coffee for the hubs.)

Oh! One other frugal tip I'd like to share.
Always wondered what to do with those small bits of veggie leftovers? You know, the ones you hate to throw away but there isn't enough left for a single serving? A friend of mine told me about her "stew bag" in her freezer. She just dumps all the veggies in there as her family has leftovers. When the bag is full, time for stew! I thought that was a great idea!



Happy saving!