Let Me Explain Myself When I Say "I Coupon..."

First of all, I am sorry to not have posted for a while...I guess with all the busyness of my photography website and placing ads and such, I forgot! But here we are, with a post that's sure to please.

So I have been couponing for our family of 2 since the summer. At first it was just a little, now it's a lot more. Once you start, it is just as they say and it is difficult to compell yourself to buy something at full price, even when you actually need it! Most of me just wants to go print an online coupon or wait until there's a sale, but oh well.

I considered starting a coupon blog, but am not sure I will yet - should I?! There aren't many male couponers out there as you probably thought - I am reminded by the female cashiers EVERY TIME I check out! For now I will show one of them success stories from Tuesday. So first here's the list of what I got and I'll explain WHY and HOW MUCH I PAID below!

9 Boxes of the largest size of Honey Nut Cheerios (21.6 oz) - $5.93/each retail
4 Bengay Pain Relieving Cream (2 oz) - $5.49/each retail
4 small bags of cat treats - $1.49/each retail
1 Publix Premium Honey Wheat Bread - $1.89 retail
1 Safety Matches (10 count, 32 per box) - $1.15 retail
1 Cantaloupe - $2.99 retail
1 Mission Fajita (Package of 20) - $2.69 retail
1 Family Size Box of Kleenex Tissues - $2.49 retail
1 "Body Puff" aka Loufa for my lovely wife - $1.69 retail

Ok so all of that and I was actually charge twice for the matches, but it wasn't worth going back for the $1.15 and here's why:

Total cost of all items at retail:
$53.37
$21.96
$5.96
$1.89
$1.15
$2.00
$2.69
$2.49
$1.69
TOTAL = $93.20

So...what did I pay?!? Well You'll be glad to know that with the sale prices of a few of the items and over $55 worth of coupons I paid $11.62. Now the items I need to explain...

Cat Treats - they were completely free. The coupon was for one free Crave Cat Treats (I had 4 of them) and I take Christina on cat walks - not the dangerous kind, just the ones around our neighborhood to search for strays for her to love on since I am allergic and would die in an apartment with an animal I'm allergic to!

Bengay - I had a $5 manufacturer coupon and a $2 Publix coupon - so yes, I actually made money off of "buying" them. $1.49 each. You didn't know you could?! Check your store's coupon policy. I have "bought" only packs of gum and walked out with more money than I walked in with. Worth it.

HUGE HONEY NUT CHEERIOS! Well this is my fun one. I had a rain check from a week or two before when the item was actually on sale for $2.99. Silly Publix had a $2 off only that size that expired 9/30, so of course most bought it for $0.99 - great deal. However I had coupons giving me an additional $0.33 of each, making them $0.67! But they were out of stock every time I went. So I got a rain check - another thing you should do! Then this past weekend I found new Cheerio's coupons which would give me $0.50 off each box up to 8 boxes. So I ended up getting 6 boxes for $0.49 and the other 3 for $0.67. Wow! Since Christina and I PLOW through cereal like it's our job, we will have no trouble finishing them.

So there you have it. Now, whether "couponing is cool again" is true or not, I'm still siding with it's not so "cool," but it is definitely WORTH IT! Start couponing. You won't regret it. Where do you get coupons? I buy 4 Sunday newspapers at $1.25 each so that factors in $5 a week on getting coupons. I also print from online sources like Target (an accepted competitor at my Publix), Coupons.com, Red Plum, and Smartsource. Follow some blogs of local coupon fanatics in your area and it will be super helpful. Sometimes it's hard to find someone close, for instance some of the blogs I check out are in Georgia and that means I often go to the store and the item is not on sale or not the same price. I have another great shopping trip coming up for cereal, I might be getting it for free...if they don't run out!

Since you're reading all my my math and couponing story, take a minute to head over to my wife's blog, it's not about couponing and doesn't have math and it's awesome and she will be a famous blogger.

Happy Thursday!