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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

not quite extreme

Most people by now (at least those with a TV) have heard of the TLC show "Extreme Couponing" where each episode features some shoppers using coupons to leave stores with carts overflowing with product that they paid little or nothing for. I actually haven't seen a full episode of it, but some of the stuff people were coming home with just churned my stomach! Does anyone really need 150 Butterfingers even if they are free? Don't get me wrong, I love free stuff and would not pass up a free candy bar. But is it really in our families best interest to have so much junk stored up? Which brings me to that verse "do not store up your treasures where moths and rust destroy".... can those people really use all that stuff before it goes bad? Yes, I know some of them donate what they don't use, but still it seems a bit much to me.

Anyhoo, I'm getting away from my point of this post. I've been couponing out of necessity for probably as long as Josh and I have been married and about a year ago I started following the blog Thrifty NW Mom and she always posts these amazing deals that she and other readers are getting on items using coupons. Her blog is also where I learned about the TLC show. She gives examples of combining coupons with sales and other coupons to get the best deals on things you buy everyday. So, I decided to give it a try. Slowly but surely I was finding better and better deals. Then this week my sister sent me some of her Albertson's doublers (coupons that double the value of a manufacturers coupon up to $1) and I combined them with some other coupons and sales and this is what I came home with....

  • 2 boxes Honey Nut Chex on sale for $1.88 each ($3.76)- printable coupon $1 off 2 boxes combined with the Albertson's doubler= $.88 each!
  • 2 bottles of Sierra Mist on sale for $1.67 each ($3.34)- $.75 coupon off our Little Cesar's Pizza box combined with the doubler and a $.40 off peelie coupon (the ones stuck onto the products)= $.72 per bottle!
  • Tub of sour cream on sale for $2- $.40 off manufacturers coupon from the newspaper insert combined with a doubler = $1.20 <-not the best deal but I needed some.
  • Oral-B toothbrush on clearance for $1.49-$1.50 coupon from paper insert = -$.01 <- made $ off that one!
I am loving how much this is saving me! Being part of the coupon savy blogging community has really helped me get the best deals on the things I'm going to buy anyways (not 150 butterfingers LOL) and that helps me be able to do more with less for my family. Which in turn gives me more to bless others with. Which makes happy. It's stewardship people! (I'm not yelling just really excited)

Have you had any really good deals lately? Also, on a slightly different note... would you follow a local couponing/ deal finding blog? As far as I know there isn't one for Bellingham or any of Whatcom/Skagit counties and I've thought about starting up my own. Good idea? Bad idea? Let me know?

1 comment:

ruth said...

I was actually going to ask to get together with you to learn about couponing. It just dawned on me that this is something that would help my family. I mean toothpaste for free. I agree that not all coupons are meant for me, but some are. And boy did I feel bad when I came with sauce from the store and then found the coupon for it!!!