First Couponing Trip!

My friend and I have been taking a couponing class the last couple of weeks. While I thought it was fun to get organized for this, I was a bit lost as to how couponers get such great deals. Well last night, it all clicked.

We arrived at class and we had missed something big: No more instruction. Tonight, we’re going shopping. The teacher said that the class had used the weekend to make their lists. We didn’t have lists. So we listened to the deals and went through our coupon binders, huge binder with 40 categories, everything from Frozen Foods to Pets, to Paper Products to even- Baby Care (Yes I know I don’t have any babies, but I might someday!)

My fellow couponers said there was a great deal at Walgreens for 12 pack toilet paper for 2.00 each (with one coupon, Walgreens Register Rewards and the monthly coupon book) . I was very excited about this! However, we’d been beaten when we got there- the classmates had already been there and purchased all of it, (their second trip for toilet paper) and Walgreens didn’t have any left. I was not happy about this at all.

So we trekked onto Wal-Mart, where I was out for blood. I was pissed that I hadn’t gotten any deals and I hit the aisles with a vengeance. First, I went to the make up aisle- I have an $8 off coupon for 2 CoverGirl products- ANY- which means if I got 2 eyeshadows  at 3.44 each- I would actually be MAKING 1. 12 on that transaction. However, the eyeshadows- all 5 rows of them- were gone. Extreme Couponers had hit.

When we were in the make up aisle, we ran into a lady with a stack of coupons. My friend April, never the shy one, approached her and asked her what was in her cart that was from a coupon. We noticed that she had a whole bunch of Tide single serve detergents. She said that the Tide coupons ($2.00/3 and $1.00/2) didn’t specify the size, so she got the travel size! We did, too.

There was another deal in our midst- Dollar General had a Gillette ProGlide razor for $5.99- at Wal-Mart it was $7.74. So we “price matched” to the lower price… well hot diggity, I had a $5 off coupon for that razor- making it only 97 cents.

Then we went on to the other side of the store. We had coupons for a free 2 liter of Dr. Pepper Ten, and Wal-Mart had been out of these because it was a hot coupon. We got there and there were only TWO left, so we snatched them.

I told April I needed to hit up the Glade Clearance Aisle because there’s always good stuff for rock bottom prices, and with coupons, we’d be nearly free. I scan the Glade and there weren’t any good ones, and then I see some seasonal Febreze on the shelf. They are usually 2.66 apiece and were marked down to $2.25. I had a $2 off/2 coupon, so I usually would have paid $3.32, but I paid only $2.50 for both, making them $1.25 each. (BUT I think the cashier only put it in as a $1 coupon).

I also went to the Pet aisle, where I had a Pupperoni coupon for $2 off of 2 packages. They were 2.48 each, making each one $1.48 apiece. I also had to get cat food (with a coupon!) these were not on my original list, just great bargains in the store!

Altogether I paid $14.36… 46% savings ! Not bad for my first real couponing trip. I had couponed before, but I was doing it all wrong. As the teacher in the class says… “You’re not buying for now. You’re buying for later, when you need it, and you don’t want to pay full price.”