I only spent $6.89!!

My sister, Katie, and I have become quite the little bargain shoppers. It all started with my quiting my work at home job (I know - sounds stupid...but I would not have been able to have my two kids home all day with me - and still work - plus the job was stressful!) so...I started couponing and looking at ways to cut back. I got really into it - and then Katie soon followed. Let me tell you...I created a monster! If Katie and I are together on the weekends we get together at some point and go through the paper looking at what is on sale and what we can combine with coupons to get the best deal! A lot of the time I walk out of a store with a few free items!

Katie is especially good at figuring out how to work CVS. CVS can be your best friend. You just have to know how to work it! I want to give you an example that Katie helped me get! Ok, CVS had their Coke products 4/13 That is an ok deal right now...but the key was you get $3 in extra care bucks when you buy 4 of them (an extra care buck is dollars you earn using your extra care card - which is the first thing you need to do is sign up for one at CVS.com) Ok...back to the deal. Katie had a Coke coupon that got me $2 off of 4 packs. Well, I was buying 4 packs (We use A LOT of coke products) to get the $3 buck deal...so...I paid $11 for 4 packs of Coke products plus I have my $3 bucks to use next visit. Then, later Katie and I went back...and I had some GREAT Huggies coupons (get them at Couponsusie.com you can print two copies by clicking the back button and refreshing the page). These coupons are for $5.00 off a jumbo pack or bigger. It says you have to get Gentle Care type but I bought the regular old Snug and Drys. I also needed M&M's to put in Ellie's plastic eggs for Easter. I also had a coupon from the Sunday paper a few weeks ago. The candy was on sale for 2/$5. I also get a $5 off of $25 CVS coupon everytime I go into CVS...they have a machine when you walk in and you scan your CVS card and it prints out coupons. So...I bought 2 jumbo packs of Huggies ($19.76), 2 bags of M&Ms ($5.00), but I needed .24 to meet my $25 to get $5 off. Katie looked through her coupons and she had mentos coupons for a dollar off of 1 pack of gum. The gum was $1.29...so my total before any coupons with all 5 products was $26.05 (this was after the sale of the diapers and M&M's though). Then I had $20 worth of coupons (including my $3 from buying the cokes, 2 -$5 mannies for Huggies, $1 off candy, $1 off gum, and $5 off a $25 purchase!). So, my sub-total was 6.05 and with tax I paid $6.89. So, I walked out of the store spending $6.89 for full-price no coupon total of $33.66!!! THAT is a deal! You can get coke coupons by signing up for my coke rewards at mycokerewards.com. Each 12-pack is worth 10 points and when you get 35 points you get a $1 off coupon. The KEY is to match your coupons with sales and in store loyalty programs. Also, being flexible on brands...buy what you have a coupon for...when it is on sale!

I have to give a shout out to Katie on her yearly savings. She shops for formula, diapers, cokes, prescritpions (which Luke has had a lot of this year)...and a lot of other stuff. This year she has spent like $215.00 there but has saved like $291.00. Plus, every quarter you get 2% back on what you spent in extra care bucks, so...right now Katie would get back $10.15 b/c they take the amount BEFORE discounts...that is 1 1/2 free packs of diapers!! LOVE IT!