Awesome Day at Stop-and-Shop

Thanks to The Wandering Peanut, I scored some great deals today at Stop-n-Shop!! I'm actually still basking in the glow of saving so much money :)

We didn't need much this week, since we're heading back to Seattle for 5 days. But, it happened to be a great time to stock up on some staples. What should have cost me $99, cost me $57 (it will be $53 once I get my Windex rebate). That's almost half-off!! And, it's either all natural and organic products, or great deals on canned food to donate.

My purchases for our home included:
2 bottles of salad dressing for $1
All natural frozen corn: FREE
12 organic chicken breasts for $10 (plus a $3 coupon off my next purchase)
5 big cans of organic tomatoes for $9
Bags of frozen organic potatoes, raspberries, blueberries, edamame, and corn for $10.
10 organic chicken drumsticks for $3

I have a confession...

... I love getting a bargain.  Anytime I can save money on something, I'm thrilled.  

But, I also have my staples on which I splurge: I'll literally show up to Marshall's wearing an outfit that could pay the rent just to save an extra 50% on an already reduced post-seasonal item.

My recent conquest to save money has been on groceries... learning how to effectively/efficiently comparison shop and use coupons- it's been a little stressful at times, but totally worth it!!  It's getting a little trickier now that we're moving towards organics.  But, I'm still doing well (and very thankful for store brand organics)... I spent $60 on our groceries today (it should last through the end of next week) when it should have cost around $80.

My favorite way to save money is at CVS.  I have been learning their customer loyalty program (aka: free card) for the past few months, thanks to some blogs that I now read daily (thank you, www.becentsable.net and www.moneysavingmom.com). Two weeks ago I got $9 worth of items for $0.09- seriously.  And this week, I got a big bottle of Head and Shoulders for $0.79 (it's about $6.75 regularly).

YES- I have boundaries for saving money:

1. It has to fit in the budget;

2. We have to have a place to put it; and

3. It has to be something that we can actually use (or donate to a local non-profit).

Expired Coupons??

One of my recent hobbies is coupon-ing (I can hear my brother laughing at me right now...). Slowly, but surely, I'm learning how to get good deals on the food we eat and the products we use (for example, $0.11 for a box of couscous, which Matt loves). Many of our local stores offer double and triple coupons, which adds up every week. I cut out every coupon I get, because I never know what's going to be on sale or what I'm going to need!

However, being just the two of us (and Hula), we don't exactly consume a lot of goods. What do we do with our left over coupons and coupons that we just don't need? I have four options that I'm learning to alternate between:

1. Stock-up on basics: Even if I don't need chicken broth, I'll use my soon-to-be-expired coupon and buy stock on sale. If I know that I'm actually going to use it soon, I'll stock up :)

2. Stock-up on items to donate: We like to give back to the community and participate in drives for those in need. When there is an amazing deal on products like soaps, toothpaste, canned food, diapers, etc, I purchase with my coupons and save the item(s) to donate. This way, we always have stock on hand and we can contribute to worthy causes while watching the budget :)

3. Send to friends: I have several friends with babies, and since we don't have kids yet, I send them my baby/kid related coupons. Even if they don't use them, I know that they have the potential to use them. I also send links to good online coupons to friends who I know will want to use them.

4. Send to military families overseas: The commissary stores on army bases accepts expired coupons up to 6 months past their expiration dates!! For families earning very little, coupons can make a big difference. Since I'm clipping anyway, it's an easy way for us to support our troops. If you would like to donate your coupons, go to http://www.ocpnet.org and follow their instructions for mailing coupons. This site sends coupons to a base of your choosing, and the coupons are put in a box at the front of the commissary for the shoppers. Military commissaries accept coupons 6 months past their expiration date as well as internet printed coupons. You can also send your coupons directly to military family/friends overseas!

If you have any creative ideas for old/irrelevant coupons, please let me know! Happy clipping :)