Occasionally Extreme

A serious haul for under $25.  This would’ve been under $20 if it weren’t for that damn Meow Mix.  Cat’s gotta eat, y’all!

Sometimes my friends, family, coworkers, etc. give me a hard time because I get a little excited about coupons.  Let me be crystal clear – I’m an occasional couponer, and I’m not that extreme, and I only buy things that are useful or healthy for us.  Here’s the rundown:

-I don’t waste time clipping coupons.  I buy them for pennies at The Coupon Clippers so that I can search through their stock to find coupons that are relevant to me, and not a bunch of stuff they’re trying to market to people who don’t understand that $1.00 off four frozen pizzas still frigging costs too much money.

-I don’t mind not using coupons that are expiring, unless they’re something we really love.  LIKE BEANS.  These Goya coupons were expiring and I still have four more to use before the 20th. Yikes.  It literally costs 5 cents for a coupon to expire, I’m not gonna upset my life just to get to Shaw’s so that I can get some weird new energy drink for $1.50 off.

-Shaw’s doubles coupons.  Therefore, coupons that are $.50 or greater ($.75 cent ones are common, and equal $1.50 off!) are ideal.  $1.00 coupons are only awesome when Shaw’s has a dollar doubler promotion, which you can find at their Facebook page.  You can ‘double’ $1.00 coupons ($2.00 off!) up to four times on orders of $15 or more.  That’s technically $15 worth of groceries for $7 if you do it right.

-Double up deals.  Shaw’s routinely marks down items, and sometimes you have coupons for them.  I generally don’t use a coupon unless I can get the item for 50% off or more.

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Here’s the info on today’s haul, from left to right:

-Meow Mix ‘tender centers.’  The cats have been ravenous lately and they’re seriously addicted to Cat Mcdonald’s like this crap.  I’m a bad mother.  Still:  $5.49 reg. w/$1.00 off coupon, plus $1 doubler coupon.  Sale:  $3.49

-Dole Real Fruit Bites (yummy dried mangos to keep me from eating chips at work):  $0 (looks like this didn’t even appear on my receipt – what the heck?!  moral dilemma.)

-YoCrunch Greek Parfaits (breakfast at work):  $1.39 each w/$.55 off 2 cups.  Double to $1.10 = $1.68 for to, or $.84 each.

-12 Freaking Cans of Low Sodium Goya Beans goodness!:  $1.29 each x 12 = 15.48.  I had 3 $1.00/4 cans coupons, plus 3 $1 doublers, for $6.00 to equal $9.48.  That’s $.79 a can.  It’s like it’s 1994 again!

-2 Dole Pineapple Chunks cans (good for cooking with meats, on salads, or as a snack and full of potassium and vitamin C) are $.99 each.  I had a $.35 off 2 coupon, doubled to $.70.  $1.98 – $.70 = $1.28 or $.64 a can.

-2 Welch’s Juice Jugs.  Damn, these are gonna make good tequila mixer!  Mango Pineapple – totally bad for you, but mixed drinks are my only vice.  At least the only one I’ll share here!  There were on sale for 2/$4.00 ($2.00 each).  I had a coupon for each one that was $.55 off (doubled to $1.10) so these bad boys were only $.90 each when they are regularly $2.50 when not on sale.

-Vlasic Sandwich stackers!  We use these at work to wrap in lunch meats and dip in honey mustard.  Thea and I named them ‘tickles’ because she usually does turkey and pickles.  I personally prefer salami tickles.  In any case, they are normally $2.89 but they were on sale 2/$4 plus I had 2 $.55 ($1.10) off coupons – so each of these ended up being $.90, too!  That’s almost $2 off regular delicious pickle prices.  Suckers!

-Dole pineaple juice – 6 cans in a package.  These are also good for mixing with alcohol, and because they’re individually packaged it’s not like you gotta drink a bunch of piña coladas in one night – you can pace yourself.  These are $2.79 each regularly, on sale for $2.69.  I think my coupon for this was $.55 ($1.10) so $1.59 after all that – not the best savings, but still so refreshing when I want a girl drink.

So basically, the total check was going to be $39 and some change and I paid $23.62 after tax, deposits and coupons were calculated for a savings of 41%.  What’s more, all of this is stuff we like and is good for us (minus my disgustingly indulgent cats, and those sugary juices) and those beans will last FOREVER.  Plus I’m going out again to use the rest of the bean coupons since Goya is basically our favorite.

This all looks way more complicated than it really is, but I get it – I look totally crazy.  But when you don’t qualify for EBT and you’ve chosen the career path of ‘starving artist’ it certainly helps to be dollar savvy!