I gather up my 4 store ads that I always look at: Meijer, Target, CVS and Walgreens. I compare my list to the ads and what coupons I have. When it comes to bathroom personal essentials I feel we can never have too many now too many to you may be different than too many to me so that is up for translation. I'm in no means a candidate for Extreme Couponing. As the week goes on and we run low/out of something then I add it to the list and come Sunday night I break my 1 list down to 4-5 lists with the store names on top and then what I'm getting from that store and cross the item off my master list of needs. The other thing we do is make out our menu for the week based on what we have in our freezer, what's on sale and what our palettes are craving. Now when I say a menu I don't say on Monday we are eating such and such and Tuesday such and such. Instead when I make out our dinner options I choose 3 that are kinda quick and easy and 3 that are a little more time consuming for the days I'm off work. And we pick that day which one we are going to have for dinner. I know some families have it planned down to the day and that is a bit too much structure for our family.
I primarily look to CVS and Walgreens for our bathroom personal essentials: razors, shampoo/conditioner, body wash, face wash, lotion, girly items, etc. With both of these stores they often have money back offers with different products for example a couple weeks ago Walgreens had the brand of tampons I buy for 6.99-$2 (in store rebate, to be used on a later purchased) then I had a $2 off coupon. I also had buy one get one of the same product and for each of those I got $2 so I really got buy 1 get 2 free with the coupon and in-store rebates. Another great buy I had was on Bic razors they were buy 1 get 1 50%off and I had a $2 off coupon which was applied to both packages of razors. I also used some in store rebates from the previous week to help pay for the items.
At all 4 stores you can combine manufacturers coupons with store coupons this is where my research comes into play. Since we don't buy pre-packaged meals I turn to stores websites for coupons off produce and deli. I also go to Aldi for produce and items that we aren't brand specific about such as certain cereals, baking items, milk, etc.
Meijer: you can sign up for mperks where you can "clip" coupons and when you go to check out you select the mperks logo and you enter your phone number into the kiosk and any coupons that correspond with what you purchased. Last week I decided before going to the store to print out a list of the coupons I "clipped" and I'm glad I did as I purchased items I had "clipped" coupons for but it wasn't taking them off so with my proof of clipped coupons an employee was able to make the proper price adjustment.
Target: there is no limit to how many times you can print the same coupon from their website unlike brand websites. They also take $0.05 off for each bag you bring in to bag your groceries with.
Brand Websites: If you are brand specific on certain items as we are in our house then go to the brands website they often will have coupons that you can print off. If we buy juice at our house then it's V8 Fusion juice so i will google V8 Fusion and find their website where they almost always have coupons for. And then if I have a store coupon I pair them together and wait, I wait for the store that I have the coupon too has the juice on sale and then I go in for "kill", haha.
Diapers: I have stopped buying diapers from big box stores and now they get them sent to our door on a monthly basis from Amazon if you sign up for their subscribe and save program you save 30% and you can cancel your subscription at anytime. So right now I get 192 Pampers size 4 for $31.49 that's $0.16 a diaper and free shipping. If I went to Sam's Club I would buy Sam's Club brand and would get about 147 diapers for $35.00...
Couponing is not hard once you get started and organized and have yourself a game plan. Happy clipping and if you have any questions feel free to email.
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