The 63% Juice

Do you coupon?

I sometimes do. Sometimes not.

One of the first arguments Kevin and I ever had centered around couponing.

Within weeks of moving in with each other, I was laid off from my job as a Document Control Coordinator (yes, as boring as it sounds). I determined that while looking for a new job, I'd try to save us as much money as I could.

This included couponing.

Kevin joined me on one of my couponing outings and as I reached for a container of juice (free with a great coupon), he said he wanted a different kind. I told him this one was free, so he should just suck it up and drink it. I really don't remember what else was said, but I remember standing in the middle of the juice aisle ... crying.

This time around with coupons, I'm trying to have more fun with it. I have a group of friends that get together about once a month to swap coupons (mostly it's an excuse to have an evening out). We meet at a coffee shop and spend two hours clipping coupons and talking about good deals that are out there.

I spend about 30 minutes every Sunday morning going through the ads and blogs, and clipping coupons out of the papers (I get three Sunday papers to be able to take full advantage of the coupons). This morning, as I reviewed the grocery ads and coupons, I discovered I had a great combination of coupons to redeem. I do most of my couponing alone, but Kevin wanted to come this morning.

This trip to the store reminded me a bit of the "juice trip" ... but, it also didn't.

Before leaving, I pulled out all the coupons I knew I would use and reviewed the ad one last time. We entered the store and Kevin followed my lead. I was able to get everything on my list and more. Kevin noticed a few deals in the store that weren't in the ad ... go, him!

So, here's the breakdown: (Q = coupon)

Oh, I have some friends who will be completely unimpressed (like Kris) ... and I have some friends taking notes (like Jen). Click on the names to see some of the good deals they've been able to pull off.

3 Red Baron pizza ... sale 3/$10 and I had 3 $1 Qs
3 12pack Coke ... sale 3 12packs/$11 ... in store deal for 3 FREE PowerAdes and I had a FREE 2 pack of 50 oz. bottles Q

For the rest of the products, for every $10 you spent, you automatically got $3 off

6 Cheezits ... sale 4/$10 ... and 3 x $1.50/2 Qs
6 Duncan Hines ... sale 10/$10 ... and 3 x $.55/2 Qs
5 Welch's ... sale 4/$10 ... and 5 x $.75 Qs
3 Pepperidge Farm toast... sale 4/$10 ... and 3 x .50 Qs
3 Nestle cookies ... sale 4/$10 ... and 3 x $1 Qs
2 Barber chicken ... sale 2/$10 ... and 2 x $1 Qs

So, there was an instant $12 savings for the $40+ worth of product I bought.

Then, I had a $3 off $30 purchase Q for Jewel and a $2 savings Q for taking a survey (look at the bottom of your receipts, ya'll)!!!

Transaction began at $122.21
- Preferred Card savings - $48.85
- Manufacturers Qs - $22.59
- Jewel Qs - $5.00

Total $45.77 (a 63% savings)

One more thing ... the pizza deal included 3 FREE RedBox rental codes (a $3 value) ... Wow! And I got a Q that printed out to save $3 on 4 Welchs ... so, tomorrow, I can go back and get 4 more for $4! (I hope Kevin doesn't get sick of all this juice ;) And, one more bonus ... I don't have to go junk food shopping for a long, long, time!

Couponing Rocks ... GO, ME!!!!