3 stores = Awesome deals!

1 x life paper towel 8 pack $1.99, reg price $3.??

1 x majestic TP 32 rolls $5.50, reg price $11.99

3 x Listerine 1L $2 each,  reg price $4.99

4 x Johnson baby 828ml $2 each,  reg price $9.97

2 x Old Spice Deodorant $1 each,  reg price $3.??

3 x Lady speed stick $.99 each,  reg price $3.??

4 x Children’s Tylenol $1 each,  reg price $7.50

Total Reg price approx $117

I paid only approx $30.50

Gifts and giving are going to be good this year all thanks to my couponing! Of course a lot of this stuff will stay with us as well we need to save all the money we can, babies are not cheap and neither is our lifestyles : )

More deals, more shopping.

Today was a good day in my little coupon world : ) First I sent out some trades I made and my Secrete Santa coupon trade. Which is an envelope with about $20 worth of coupons with a wishlist, everyone sends it in and around Christmas time we all get our envelopes back with all new coupons in it. Then I went to Walmart to get some great deals, I have been doing a lot of little shopping trips, as a newbie still I don’t want to get to over whelmed.

So I picked up 3 aerosol Febreze that were on sale for$3 each minus a $4 off wub3, 2 febreze Air fresheners also $3 minus $2 wub2. 2 Listerine Whitening $6.60 minus a 2 $5 off coupons, 4 Beneful wet dog food $1.90 each minus 2 b1g1 Free coupons, and 2 nature valley granola bars $2.50 each (I thought they were supposed to be cheaper..) But they had 2 FREE Oasis juice coupons in the box. My total bill came to $25. So all in all was a pretty good deal BUT I was supposed to get 6 more bottles of Tylenol aches and pain for FREE but unfortunately they were all out.  My totally savings we about $26 but when you convert the entire purchase to regular prices as well I saved even more.

Yesterday I went to Safeway and got 10 2L bottle of coke for $10, 2 boxes of frozen fish on sale for $3.99 minus 2 $1 off coupons, and some lunch from the deli.  I am hoping to get some more shampoo, lotions, or even baby stuff in my next shopping trips to come, I think I have enough Listerine to last a year.

Anxiety at the till…

The better the deal the worse the anxiety! Is it just me or is shopping simply a joy? Seriously the whole experience! Clicking coupons and preparing each stop at each store. Going down the aisle to see you didn’t make any mistakes, and everything adds up to exactly what you expected. BUT then the anxiety! I get so worried that I am going to have an issue with my coupons that maybe I read them wrong or I will get some nasty cashier who has it out for me. Because of this I find that if I have FREE items I won’t just go shopping for just that, I have to pick up other things to take all the attention off my freebies. SERIOUSLY am I the only one? I won’t go and buy things I don’t need but it’s like I’m trying to sneak in my good deals in between my regular shops. I feel like the better the deal the sneakier I have to be even though it’s their store policy to take and accept my coupons.

Is it just me?

So my “mini stockpile” was turning into a BIG achievement and wasn’t looking so “mini” but true to my word as hard as it was I am setting aside gift baskets for family. I can’t afford much this year so this way I can still spoil my family without feeling it in my wallet. My latest and most profitable trip was today. I bought: 2 Listerine Whiting (using 2 of the $5 off coupons) 6 Tylenol aches and pain (using 6 of the $4 off coupons, making it a .70 each money maker) I nearly FREE child’s toothpaste thanks to my money maker, 1 binder and inserts (since I’m getting good at this) and 1 full price mini photo book. All comes to $45.52 BUT with the coupons and my $7.33 in store credit I only paid $6.47!! This was done at Walmart.

Happy Couponing!

FREE Tylenol!!

I used 6 printed coupons for Tylenol aches and body pain, they were $4 off, and the product was only $3.29. So not only was the Product FREE but it was also a money maker, I ended up making enough to pay for some baby oral gel. That’s why it’s good to shop at Wal-Mart because if the coupon is more than the price it ends up in your pocket. Such a good deal I think I’ll go back for more : )

1 Month check in. Getting there…

First off I have to say, today I defiantly took advantage of the Halloween left over sales. I got 5 bags of chocolate bars for about $10. Then from SuperStore I bought 5 bottles of shampoo, 6 mini Dippity Do gel, 1 box of Nutrigrain bars, 1 men’s deodorant, and 1 mascara, all for approx. $12! From Shoppers I got 2 Oasis 1.89 L for $3. And from Safeway I got 2 bottle of Windex all-purpose cleaner, 3 boxes of Crest 3D toothpaste, 2 bottles of Listerine 1L, 2 large men’s body wash, some Strawberries and tofu for my daughter, all for $27.

All in all I did well plus lots of coupons came for me in the mail! This is a picture of my mini stock pile (it’s so cute!) Keep in mind we have used lots of stuff along the way and I have a couple bags somewhere I haven’t added yet. This is my 1 month marker and I am very proud of myself (pat on back). I feel good about all the savings I have done for my family, this new hobby is fun and pays off in the end!

Happy Couponing!!

Join the Train or maybe just trade!

Couponing Trains/Trade

It you aren’t too sure what new coupons you’re looking for but want to switch it up, join a train! That way you can feel free to take as many new coupons as you like just as long as you replace them with your old ones.

But if you know what you’re looking for check out other people’s trade and wish list. That way you can exchange information and get exactly what you want.

With this in mind I went and organized a group on Facebook called Couponing Trains/Trades. Already there has been quite a bit of action and 2 coupons trains are already to go. Very happy about all the savings everyone is doing and sharing their “secrets”. Feel free to join and be a part of the fun just follow the link above : )

Happy Couponing!

This week’s GREAT find:

So the match ups may not be going in my favour once again but I did score on one item, actually three of them. There was a sale online at Chapters/Indigo for three different Jamie Oliver cook books. Now these books normally go for anything up to $40 each, but they were on sale for only 3 hours at $10 each!! I was pretty excited about this plus Free Shipping over $25 dollars and a code for $5 off. So I got three books for $25 and I think $1.50 for tax which includes FREE delivery right to my house. Now of course the books were going fast so I ended up getting Jamie Oliver the Naked Chef for all three but they are gifts anyways so it didn’t matter. And I got to pay debit! That was the best bonus ever, my only regret I didn’t buy more : )

Happy Couponing

Weekly Match Ups!! Yay for Thursday

I have already got a couple emails for the weekly match ups so I am pretty excited. Just be sure to properly match the right coupons to the product, as I went to Shoppers I grabbed some tissue boxes that were on sale for .79 each and I had a coupon for $1 off wub2 but when I got to the cashier I noticed the coupon was for Kleenex and the tissue I had was Royal. So not cool, but on the other hand I saw a bunch more new tear pads for toothpaste so I grabbed some of those which made the trip not a total waste.

I am hoping to see some great match ups for the stockings I am trying to put together. Things like creams, deodorant, and makeup; I really need them to be great deals though. So far I have been doing pretty well on my savings but I haven’t come across a “wow” shopping trip. Usually it’s because I don’t have the coupons but I am starting to have quite the pile and plus my Coupon Train should sent off by tomorrow.

Happy Couponing

Couponing Train and Trade!

I had a lot of people interested in a train/trade, So I created this group so we can all share what we have : ) it makes it easier.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/292033740815264/?success=1

Basically the way a train works is one person forms a list a people who all want to participate, and adds a minimal amount of coupons plus some extras. They send it along with their wish list and a list of participating people, to the first person on the list. That person can take whatever coupon they want only by replacing them with new ones; they can set aside coupons for other people’s wish list, and also take out the ones that have expired. After the train makes it back to the first person they can contact everyone and see if they would like to participate again.

It pays to write in, and receive coupons!

So I wrote in to some companies whose products we use all the time. I figured what could it hurt, Christmas and my daughter’s birthday are right around the corner, and I could really stand to save some money. So I took an hour, typed a general letter, and I emailed probably 30 companies.
Well it has only been a week and I have already heard back from 4 companies. I got coupons from Purina, Johnson’s, Colgate-Palmolive, and Energizer Personal Care (which is a bunch of name brands like Playtex, Banana Boat ex.)
Just with these 4 companies I have 17, $1 off coupons, YAY! And I just know I will here back from at least a few more. You may not hear from every company that you write but it still pays to write in. So get out a pen and write down your most used products, ALL of them, and send a quick email. (sorry the picture is so dark)
Happy Couponing!

Happy to report some FREE items!!

Well as luck would have it my coupon collection is high and almost out of control, so I was very much looking forward to Friday when most of the flyers come out but mostly I get my weekly coupon to flyer match ups. Well unfortunately this particular week there wasn’t many deals at all, BOO! So I didn’t score big but I did score *some* free!
I had $2 off Dipity Due hair gel products and in the travel size area I found some for only $2 so I had 3 coupons and was able to get all 3 FREE. Now I think I will have to print off a couple more and go back because this is a GREAT stocking stuffer.
I also had some $2 off dove shower cream and the product was on sale for $2.90 I think so it wasn’t FREE but still. Those can go for up to $4 or $5!! So I was defiantly happy. I was also able to stack for hot sauce YUM and juice so that was a bonus!
Finally I had some free 7 day sample coupons from Lancôme which will also add to my stocking stuffer collection.
NOW THE BEST NEWS!! Today didn’t feel like a total score until I went to Shoppers Drug Mart and noticed they had put out a heap of new tare pad coupons!! You can expect to find: Dove’s men, Canes Oral, Degree men’s, Redoxon, Flintstone multivitamins, Vitalux, Nivea, Myoflex, Buckley’s, and probably more!
http://www.groceryalerts.ca/2-off-coupon-dippity-do-sport-pro-styling/
Happy Couponing!

It ALL adds up!

It has been about 3 weeks since I have started couponing and it is all making sense! My little stock pile is so cute, I say that because compared to the pro’s it’s so little. My fiancé likes to make fun of me and even gives me heck for the amount of time I spend on searching and printing coupons. But honestly it’s not that much! Sure at the end of the week, and Thursday/Friday are big days to get organized for the weekends, but really probably only a few hours. Now to some of you that is a waste of time, but for people who love deals it’s not that much. Besides I would rather coupon and save money than sit there and watch mindless television.
So far I have shopped for toiletries, paper products (TP, facial tissue, Paper towel), multivitamins and pain medicine, frozen food, feminine products, plus lots more... All costing roughly $290.00 but after my lovely coupons I only paid $120.00 Plus somehow we accidently got a free $100.00 car seat. Not sure how, it went through the check out, but my coupons must have been a distraction.
Now these numbers may not “wow” someone just yet but it’s only been a couple weeks and I have just begun. The part that sucks for a newbie is a lot of the weekly match ups they do, include most coupons they had got a while back. So if you’re just starting out be patient because I am finally catching up to the rest and now actually HAVE most of the coupons that they use on their match ups.
Happy Couponing

Ok let’s spill the goods:

So I mentioned there are websites you can go to, coupons you can have mailed to you, and coupons that you can print. WEEEELLLLLLL here are some of my favourite places to go… First I have to give a big thank you to mrsjanuary.ca, I somehow stumbled across her website and I am so glad I did. Anything you need to know about Canadian couponing, Canadian deals, Canadian FREEBIES, recipes, organization, you name it she is here to show you how to do it. She even offers coupon class.
From there you can sign up for her e-newsletter and she will send you basically all the coupons available and match them to all the best places to use them. This is super handy considering there are lots of printable coupons available daily as well as tons of flyers you would have to match up yourself.
Coupons you can have mailed to you are good and bad. Bad, only because you have to wait for them to come in the mail. But good because they are the ones you want. I find these are coupons that match up the best with the deals that grocery stores will put on sale. And you can get these from save.ca, p&g brandsaver, websaver.ca.
The coupons that you print I think are the best because first off you can print more than 1. Secondly a lot of them will say "manufacturing coupons” so stores have no problem taking them. And thirdly because they tend NOT to be so restricting, they won’t limit the savings to a specific amount or size. So for example, how I wrote in my last post that the cashier thought the coupon amount was per product, it was actually per transaction. That’s really important for getting product FREE.
(leave a post and spill yours too) If you have any tips or finds let me know, I am all about passing on good coupon love : )

My first time: bitter sweet

I wiped the dust off my printer and it was ready for action. I googled my way through many sites and used an old Hotmail account just for signing up to couponing sites. The amount and daily spam can be overwhelming so I highly recommend an email account just for that purpose. I decided at first to go the coupons you can have mailed to your house, but soon realized that was a far too long wait and needed action now.
So I started printing, printing, and MORE printing. Now they say only clip the coupons that you need but we are the type of family that waits for the cupboards to go bare before shopping, so I clipped everything I saw. I needed everything!
Here’s the part that gets ya! I had a coupon for $3 off Listerine and according to my e-newsletters I had seen that at Shoppers they had small bottle of Listerine 2 for $3.99 and that was it. So now completely overly excited I printed and clipped and was off to the store. Tip #1, don’t flaunt your magic! As we approached the check out my fiancé joked about my new coupon obsession and that raised red flags for the cashier. First I had the wrong flavour (like really?), then I was only supposed to used 1 coupon per transaction (good thing/ bad thing I had hubby) and finally “Well see here, this is $3 off and the product is technically on sale @ $1.99 so I couldn’t possible give you the deal!”. And that was it I was so angry and embarrassed I walked out, even though the coupon said per transaction not each item.
S I pulled up my heals and heading straight to another location. I gave her the product; I gave her the coupons, AND THEN gave her my optimum card which took off the additional savings. I walked out with 4 flask size bottles of mouth wash and had only paid with tax about .60 each. Now considering they are about $3 each I was over joyed!

It has begun!

So excited about my new blog Adventurously Couponing! I have recently entered the world of couponing and have had tons of questions from friends and facebookers so I thought maybe I could share my stories and also share where I get information related to coupons too. I have always considered myself a “coupon queen” just because while shopping I would search for the best deals and clip coupons out of the flyers and such. Well my eyes have been opened to a far better system and quite frankly the real deal on couponing! I am only maybe 3 weeks in and have already saved a fare amount considering I’m a newbie : )