Learning to Coupon

My current career transition (from part-time teacher to full-time domestic engineer) has made me start thinking about ways to save more money and stretch our budget further. I decided that part of what I would do was learn to coupon... serious couponing where you get stuff super cheap or free. So, a few weeks ago I signed up for 3 copies of the Sunday paper and started reading lots of couponing blogs.

I've learned lots. Mostly I've learned that the way to get a ridiculous deal is to combine a good sale price with a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon. Also, when things are a good price, use all the coupons you have and stock up.

So, today, I made a Target run... they issue new store coupons (just a handful) every 2 weeks, which only makes me love them more! Anyway, here's what I bought and how I did:

*Please ignore the two lightblubs and the two bottles of Shout... those got returned. The lightblubs are the wrong ones (I have a raincheck for a specific type) and I didn't notice until I was out of the store and my one of my coupons for Shout was expired, which doesn't make it a good enough price, since I have adequate stock of it in the house right now.*

• 2 Desitin
• 2 Head-to-Toe Baby Wash
• 2 Johnsons Bubble Baths
• 1 Evenflo Nursing Pads
• 1 Johnson's Nursing Pads
• 2 Pledge Furnitue Wipes
• 6 boxes Market Pantry fruit snacks
• 2 Betty Crocker Warm Delights Minis
• 6 Suave Naturals Shampoo & Conditioner
• 2 Suave Professionals Shampoo & Conditioner
• 1 trial size baby lotion (for my purse... no coupon)
• 1 trial size "Hello Kitty" band-aid (Allison's $0.97 splurge, no coupon)
• 1 four-pack of travel size kleenex (for the diaper bag, no coupon)

My out of pocket total: $38.82. Amount saved with coupons: $26.70... thats a 40% savings... all this stuff SHOULD have cost me over $65! I had at least one coupon for every single thing I bought... with the three exceptions noted.

I think my best deal today was a toss up between the shampoo/conditioner and the fruit snacks. The fruit snacks were just $0.52 a box using a printable Target store coupon... you can find it here. The shampoo (the "Naturals" kind) I paid just $0.39 a bottle for... I had two manufacturer coupons for $1.75 off of any 3 Suave products. A steal, right?

I love a good deal. =) I think I'm going to track what I buy this month with our regualr budget money to see how much more I can get with the same amount of money... see if my $12 newspaper subscription is worth. it.