Frugal Finds

There seems to be some that swear by couponing, and some that couldn't be bothered by it.  I have found lately, as I did when we first had to pay a mortgage, that using coupons and being smart about purchases can really save you a lot.

While on Maternity leave, I signed up to follow a few blogs related to living well, but frugally, and it really became a game for me.  I did things like signing up for the Target card, to automatically save 5%.  I bought things in bulk, directly from Amazon.com and got free shipping (like toilet paper, and diapers).  I even started searching for and using coupons.  It's really quite amazing how much you can save doing these things.

I wanted to share my finds from this week.  I was able to save myself more than I spent, and everything I purchased, I needed.  Yes, I had saved my coupons for a while, and yes, I had watched for sales on most of the items (a few I got lucky on) but when you start paying attention, it can become second nature.

Here's what I got, all for $44, Retail was around $100:

I went to three stores.  Target, BedBath&Beyond, and Kohls.

TARGET:

• Olay Face Wash (2)                 $4.49 & $2.49        (Retail $4.99/ea)
• (On sale for $4.49/ea plus a $2 off coupon for one)
• Olay Body Wash (2)                FREE                     (Retail $5.84/ea)                        
• (I had 2 buy 1 get 1 free coupons for Olay- I bought the face wash, and got two large body wash bottles FREE)
• Tide HE Detergent                  $10                         (Retail $12.79)                            
• (On sale for $11, had a $1 off coupon)
• Tide Stain Release                   FREE                    (Retail 4.49)                        
• (I had a buy 1 get 1 free coupon for this item, when you purchase detergent)
• Dawn dish soap w/Olay           $3                          (Retail $4.79)    
• (On sale for $4, had a $1 off coupon)

TOTAL @ TARGET: $19.95 ($21, less 5% discount was $19.95, Retail was $43.73, a 55% discount)

KHOLS:

• 3-pack Carters bibs (2)            $5                           (Retail $17/ea)
• (I had a $10 off a $20 purchase coupon, plus the bibs were on sale for $9.99
•  Christmas Snowglobe            $0.41                       (Retail $4.99)
• Because my coupon was $10 off $20, and the two bib sets were $9.99/ea, they rang up slightly lower than $20 (by $0.02) so I found a Christmas ornament for $0.49, and they discounted that 15%, so it was $0.41.  Lucky me, it actually was personalized already with baby boy's name!)

TOTAL @ KOHLS: ~$10 (Retail was $38.99, a 75% discount)

BedBath&Beyond:

• Kitchen Dish brush set            $2.40                     (Retail $2.99)
• Luna Bars (10)                        $7.90                     (Retail $0.99/ea or $9.99)
• Johnson's baby wash               $4.39                     (Retail $5.49)

TOTAL @ BedBath&Beyond: $14.69 (Retail was $18.47, a 20% discount)

 

So, I saved $55, and spent just under $45.  The retail value of these items, even at discounted prices was $100.  

I bought a new shelf for our garage to organize my extras, and so that I can quickly see what we're out of.

What's your feeling on sales?  Do you stock up on items?  What's been your best bargain to date?