I NEVER buy anything I don't use, unless you are going to pay me A LOT of money to do so.

I collect every coupon I come across. Period. What about on items I know I will never use? I collect EVERY coupon I come across. And this is why...

Enter Rite Aid's RR deal on Fish Oil (which by the way, I have discovered is especially good for one's heart- after I managed to collect 8 bottles of the stuff.) Rite Aid ran a deal which gave a $16RR when buying certain “heart healthy items” when one spent $30 or more. And, they ran a deal which earned $10RR when you purchased $30 of Nature Made Fish Oil or Co Q 10 supplements, concurrently. Additionally, if you purchased $50 of “heart healthy items”, you would earn an additional $20RR. On top of all that, these counted towards the “Winter Rewards Program” where you spend $100 on certain items, and you earned $20RR back. Add all this together with several $3.00/1 and $5.00 /1 coupons and a nice little buy one, get one free sale and the final deal looked something like this:

Nature Made Fish Oil costs $10.99 each bottle.

Nature Made Co Q 10 costs $30.99 each bottle.

I spent an initial out of pocket expense of $30 buying one bottle of the CO Q 10. Then, over the rest of 2 weeks, I used my earned RRs combined with some coupons to purchase 8 bottles of Nature Made Fish Oil for FREE. I received back a total of $86.00 in RRs, which I then used to buy things I actually do use and need. In the end, the store paid me $56.00 to carry the bottles of supplements to my car. And, what did I do with the product? I gave several bottles to my grandmother, two bottles to one of my Christian brothers, two bottles to an elderly woman living in a retirement home, and I am sitting on two bottles for whoever else might come across my path and want/need them.

I never buy products that I don’t use or want or need… unless the store is willing to pay me A LOT of money to do so. And, I clip, save, collect EVERY coupon I come across.

One of that weeks purchasing trips:

Total Products:
22 Breyers Ice Cream $2.99- 2RR each= .99 cents + $5RR to buy $15 or more
24 Stayfree Maxi Pads B1G1 on a B1G1 sale= FREE
8 Dawn $ .97-.25/1= .72 cents
4 Hamburger Helper $ .99 cents
3 Fish Oil Vitamins $10.99 ea x3= $32.97- $11.00 coupons -$40 RR total
1 CO Q 10 Vitamin $30.99-$5.00 coupon-$16 RR-$10RR
2 Nueraprin Muscle Relaxer = Free Mail in Rebate $20 each
1 Orbit Gum .69 cents (filler for one transaction)
2 M&M pound bags 2/$5-$1/2 x2= $1.50 each
3 Bags Ginger Snaps .33 cents (clearance)

2 Bags Chex Mix 2/$3- .50/1 x2- 2RR= FREE
Total Product Cost $271.06

I ended up spending $12.23 out of pocket

I earned $34 in Rite Aid Rewards AND I have $40 rebate check coming= Profit $56.68

Additionally, at Walgreens I snagged:
4 Palmolive detergents
4 Dove Deodorants
4 Aussie Shampoo & Conditioners
2 Bags Combos
Total Cost: $37.92 with coupons and using RR's I paid $5.09

My First Trip into the Land of Couponing

My 1st Extreme Couponing Foray...

THE BREAK DOWN:
20 boxes Special K Cereals
8 boxes Cake Mix
4 boxes Cereal Bars
2 boxes Special K Bars
4 Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
2 Lemon Juice
2 boxes Ronzoni Penne
2 bags Macaroni
4 boxes Candy Canes
2 bags Werther's Originals
2 Reach Toothbrushes
2 Reach Floss
4 packs of Gum

$155 in groceries for $20 cash and I still had $13 in Rite Aid Rewards to spend. I considered this a successful trip and my interest was piqued.


I scanned the flyers in the mail and planned my next shopping trip. Sunday was the "big day". That trip was, admittedly, a little harder than the carefree trip I envisioned and I went to 5 different Rite Aid stores to achieve my goal, but since I did score the products that I was trying to, I was happy. 

THE BREAKDOWN:

I started with $17.00 in Rite Aide's Rewards (rr).

I ended with:
75- single roll toilet paper,

4- 4 pack toilet paper,
20 boxes facial tissues,

4- 8 packs strawberry snacks,

6- bags of muffin mix,

4 bags of Ricola cough drops,

1 bag Rite Aide cough drops,

1 package of ping pong balls... and my reward...

2 Big Cup Reese's candies (I shared with Sean)

Total Retail Value $125.41
Out of pocket cost $3.93
AND... I now had $24.00 in RR

No longer piqued, I was~ full on~ hooked.

Welcome, Friends!

My name is Sonja Twombly and about a month ago I started using coupons. (Why do I suddenly feel like I just joined a 12 step program?) If I am going to do this, I guess you might like to know a little about me and what this blog is going to be about. To that end...

I am a mother of 4 children and the wife of a husband I adore. As a christian wife, I have tried to be capable and to honestly assist my husband in managing our household funds. I have used coupons on and off for years, but never the right way- the way that saves my family 60-75% off our groceries, each trip, every week. When I stopped using coupons in the past, it was because I didn't see a return for the valuable time I spent searching for, clipping, and organizing my coupons. Also, I did not understand that I needed to change my philosophy about shopping. My opinion changed after seeing a program on TV about some extreme couponing. Now, I am not building storehouses or investing in a garage to house a stockpile of products, but I did think, "I can use some of those techniques to save my family some money." And, I have. After many prayers, some personal money saving successes, some "newbie" mistakes, and many friends encouragement to start a blog about my adventures, here I am.

My intention is to use this blog to give fellow Maine shoppers a "heads up" to local upcoming sales, discuss matching coupons with sales, and share my- hopefully many- shopping successes and -hopefully less frequently- mistakes with other savvy shoppers. I welcome your comments and encourage your participation in upcoming sales or coupon/sale match ups. I am looking forward to continuing this adventure and sharing it with you.