Adventures in Mildly EXTREME Couponing

I watch Extreme Couponing.

It's a guilty pleasure of mine.

The other day on TLC, they were having a marathon leading up to either the season finale or a new season premiere. I can't remember which.

I laid on the couch, a veritable vegetable at this point, and watched for hours as these insane women (and men) triumphed over the greedy corporate grocery stores and saved upwards of 90% on their ridiculously large totals.

I pleaded with the boyfriend and somehow convinced him to buy two Sunday papers.

Thus began my adventures in couponing.

I spent the majority of Sunday camped out at the dining room table, clipping coupons.

I clipped until my fingers ached from using the scissors for too long.

This was going to be an arduous process.

Then I looked up the deals to see where my coupons would be most effective.

I outlined my plan of attack and decided on Target and Walgreen's as my victims.

Target:

The boyfriend wanted no part of this, so he dropped me off at Target while he went to The Home Depot to look at decidedly more manly things.

I set off with my cart, Ziploc baggie of coupons to be used at Target, and my list.

First, I had to buy makeup. 

I had two coupons for $8/2 Covergirl Face products. If the products I bought were under $4 then I would make money off of the coupons.

I ended up buying two blushes and two bronzers - $3.74 each.

With two coupons, that left me with $1.04 overage. Free makeup and making money!

Next, I got Dove deodorant and body spray. It was supposed to be $0.75 off, but when the coupons rang up, I ended up getting the deodorant and body spray for FREE. A savings of $7.48.

Onwards, to floss. I had $1.50 off of two Oral-B flosses or flossing picks. I bought their cheapest floss - $1.02 each. The floss ended up being $0.27 each - naturally, I used both coupons and bought four.

I also got four bags of cat treats for $0.61 each, two 3-packs of Ivory soap for $0.92 each, and had coupons for shampoo and feminine products - though they weren't super savers.

Total savings - $33.98!

On a $54.15 subtotal (without coupons), I only paid $23.38 (with tax). Pretty good, in my opinion.

Walgreen's:

Walgreen's has advertised savings, which usually aren't displayed in stores. You only know about them if you read the circular. They also have store coupons, which can be stacked with regular manufacturer's coupons.

I was off to get the big stuff at Walgreen's.

First was hair dye.  Loreal Preference is normally $9.79 at my Walgreen's, but they had a store coupon for 2/$16. I also had two manufacturer's coupons for $2 off any box of Loreal Preference. Instead of $9.79 per box, I ended up paying $6 per box. A savings of $10.58.

Second was whitening strips. Crest Advanced Whitestrips are a whopping $47.99 at my Walgreen's, but they had a store coupon for $10 off. I also had a manufacturer's coupon for $7 off. Leaving me paying $30.99 instead of $47.99. Still fucking expensive, but not as fucking expensive.

Next was Nivea Moisturizing Lip Balm. The store price is $2.99/tube, which is ridiculous. However, they had advertised savings of 2/$4, bringing the price down to $2/tube. I had two coupons for $3/2. I ended up getting four tubes of lip balm for $2, or $0.50 each.

Finally, I got Dr. Scholl's Pain Relief Orthotics. I already had one pair, but I have multiple pairs of tennis shoes, so I decided to get another pair because of the good deal. There were advertised savings of 25% off all Dr. Scholl's insoles. I ended up getting them for $11.24 with the savings, and then got an additional $4 off with a manufacturer's coupon - leaving me paying $7.24.

Total savings of $47.29.

On a subtotal of $89.81 (without coupons) I ended up paying $55.29 (with tax).

That's including rubbing alcohol that the boyfriend threw in the cart.

I would say that couponing counts as a craft. ;)

Keep crafting,

Gabriella