Coupons and more deals…

Around late April, I started using coupons again. And it has been an adventure, let me tell ya. There’s a couple of websites, www.grocerygame.com and www.couponmom.com that I check out every Sunday, and plan my shopping. They both tell you the best deals to be found at the local stores. Couponmom site has free listings for my local Kroger and Randall’s, plus CVS, Walgreens, Target, and Walmart. And Rite-Aid, but we don’t have them here. Grocery Game has Kroger, HEB, Brookshire Bros, etc, but it’s like $10 for 8 weeks for one store, each additional store is an extra $5. I like their layout better, but only get the Kroger listing. I should switch to one of the other stores, or add one, but I do most of my shopping at Kroger, and Kroger doubles/triples coupons while the other stores don’t. Ah well. If you’re interested in joining the Grocery Game, I get credit for referrals, so let me know. You get a 4 week trial for $1. And yes, like a friend of mine said, why pay someone to do something you can do yourself, but it’s only $1.25 a week, and they keep track of the sales cycles, and let you know when it’s a “rock bottom” price and time to stock up.

Which leads to this: I am SO stocked up on cleaning supplies, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, toothpaste, laundry soap… it’s addicting, using those coupons. What’s fun is being able to change my shampoo/bodywash at any time, and I’ve bought stuff I usually don’t buy due to the price. But now I have Herbal Essence, Aussie, L’Oreal, Garnier, and Pantene shampoos (and styling products, oh my!), Olay, Softsoap, and Ivory bodywash. And of course Suave, for practically free. I’m sure my boyfriend is just shaking his head. But this stuff doesn’t go bad, right? Right?!? :)

So to keep up with all the coupons, I bought a little baby accordion file holder at Office Depot. It’s been a lifesaver. There’s only 13 sections in it, so I had to add sections – I used some ancient envelopes that were sealed shut, and just wrote the different categories on it. Kinda sorted it in the 13 sections by aisles at the grocery store. It’s been working pretty good. When I plan my shopping expeditions, I have some envelopes at the front labeled with each store name, I just put the coupons for each store that I plan on going to in the appropriate envelope, and bring the couponholderthing with me just in case I see something else that’s a good deal.

Then there’s someone in Missouri who REALLY wants to get me in trouble. She showed me www.gottadeal.com and I think www.woot.com and maybe www.yugster.com which also lead to www.buy.com and www.geeks.com … I’ve been good, I only ordered one thing, but oh my, the temptations. It’s dangerous.

And then there’s My Points. That’s a referral thing too. If you do any shopping online, it might be worth your while to join. It’s totally free, when you go shopping you just start from their site and you’ll get points which you redeem for gift cards. I’ve received about 6 gift cards so far, total value about…$300 I think. If you decide to join, let me know, and I’ll email you an invitation. Then when you shop at JC Penney, Sears, Macys I think, Target, Overstock, Avon, Ebay, Barnes and Noble, Home Depot, and just tons of others… points! (I do most of my Christmas shopping online, so that’s a real boost.) Some examples of purchases online:
Office Depot: ink cartridges for printer free shipping with $50 purchase, if you make it to $100, you get 1000 points…
1800petmeds: I have 3 dogs and 2 cats, so I need Advantage cheap and supplements when I’m feeling nice. I’ll also go in with friends who have pets, and get $300 purchase plus $35 off and free shipping, and points.
JCPenney: I’m a slut for their sheets and blankets. Usually a coupon for free shipping on $49 purchase. Also pick up men’s shirts on sale. POINTS!
Overstock: stuff… they also have sheets and blankies that I love to look at, haven’t really bought that much from them. But mypoints give you 4-10 points per dollar spent, so if you like to shop there…
Oh, and QVC and HSN….did Drugstore.com for awhile but now use Vitacost, not as big a selection but what they've got is much cheaper.