Restaurant Coupons

Have you ever used a coupon at a restaurant? The most commonly seen coupons are the Ruby Tuesday coupons that they mail to you.. But have you ever looked through your Sunday paper.

On any given Sunday I get the following coupons: O'Charley's, Logan's and Olive Garden... among others.

Last Sunday I got a special BOGO Entree coupon for Logan's. I decided that Hunter and I would try it out one day and see how we could make the coupon work for us.

Hunter loves to make fun of my couponing.. but yet, he loves the money we save too! He even calls his mom to brag when I make a good buy. ;) Silly boy. So lately, we decide were we want to go eat, based on what coupons I have.

Sunday we both got a steak with two sides, and drank water. With our BOGO entree coupon our meal came up to a total of $14.00 after tax and tip was added. How great is that??! We smiled to ourselves and were very happy. Our food was good, and $7.00 for a steak and two sides is a deal that can only be rivaled to home cooking!

Yay coupons! Most restaurants have loyalty clubs that will mail you coupons. Sign up, yes.. it may be a little like spam, but saving on your meal is worth it!

CVS Trip - Oct 3

If you go to a couponing class or ask a couponer, they will tell you that you can get the most for your money on personal care items at CVS. The trick to grabbing the best buys at CVS are:

1. Enrolling in their ExtraCare card program. It is free, and they don't spam your email. With an ExtraCare card you can get what is called ExtraCare Bucks, or ECB's for short, on qualifying items.

2. Rolling your transactions.
ECB's vary in amount by the products that you buy. It is like gaining free cash. Last week, I bought a bottle of Dawn dish liquid for $0.97, and received $1 in ECB's. Those ECB's can be used at any CVS, just like real money or a coupon! So, you can say I either received my dish soap for free, or got another item for $1 off.

Here comes the essential part. You must 'roll' your ECB's. Say I am going to CVS, I need shampoo, body wash, dish soap and contact solution - the items I needed last week. I split my transactions. I bought shampoo and body wash and gained $6 ECB's, then I bought the dish liquid and contact solution. I was able to use my $6 ECB's along with my coupons for $7.25 off my total purchase.

How my trip measured up:



Price at Walmart $3.48 each

(2) Pantene shampoos @ 2 for 6.97, I had a $3 off two coupon so I paid  $3.97 for the pair, I also received $1 in ECB's for this purchase, so all told, I spent $2.97 for two full size bottles of shampoo - That is $1.48 cents EACH!

 (2) Softsoap body washes @ 2 for $6, I had a $1.00 off coupon and received $4 in ECB's for the pair. So, I paid $1.00 for the pair, that is $0.50 EACH! These sell for $2.98 at Walmart.

The total cost of my first transaction was $10.14, with $5 in ECB's received. :) I used a total $4 in coupons.

Then I bought (1) Dawn dish liquid for $0.97 and used a $1.00 off coupon, dish liquid=FREE! I always use my ECB's to make emergency purchases, and since I left my contact solution at home this past weekend I bought a twin pack of contact solution that was on sale. I used my $5 in ECB's and received $3 more ECB's with the purchase. The twin pack was $13.79

Sells for $13.98 at Walmart

$13.79-$8 in ECB's, That means I paid $5.79 for pair, practically getting one whole bottle of solution for free. :)

The total cost of trip number two was $11.13 (I had to purchase pencil lead for my emergency item with no coupons, the woes of graduate school) and received $3.00 in ECB's. I also used a total of $7.25 in coupons and ECB's.

This was my first time rolling transactions and using my ECB's to pay for the next transaction. It didn't take much more time that planning my regular list. I looked to see what was on sale, marked what ECB's I would get, and then split my transaction to maximize my savings. Overall, I would say it was a very successful trip!

 

Couponing

Ok, so I haven't been doing that great with my coupons. To be honest, I am just too busy. But I did make a commitment a few weeks ago to make sure to buy each Sunday's paper so that when I got started back I would have all the coupons I needed.

This week I needed a few personal care items that I had seen coupons for in the past two Sunday papers. So I went through my coupons, (thanks to my roomie for helping clip them!), and got out what I needed.

I go to SouthernSavers.com to help me organize my shopping trips and after price searching I decided CVS would be my best bet. So, with CVS store coupon ($2.00 off), Nivea coupon ($3.00 off) and a Softsoap coupon ($0.75) I was armed and ready to go.

My softsoap body wash was on sale at CVS and I ended up getting two Nivea chap sticks (love them) because my coupon was $3 off two. :)

I spent a total of $4.29 on my three items (each item easily costs that much on it own!) and saved a total of $7.64! I was so happy! I had a total of $5.75 in coupons and then saved more by buying items that were on sale! So, if you average it out, I paid $1.43 per item!

Now that is couponing at it's finest! I hope to continue to save money on every day items that I already use and hope to continue to have time to coupon! If you have never tried it, you should! Happy shopping!

Things that make me super happy

Here are details of a few things that have really made me happy lately, and the details of my second CVS trip!

Some of you may have heard of the 5 Love Languages study. It is an amazing study that helps you to better respond to others and helps you to grow the relationships, friendships and work relationships. When you know what someones love language is, or the way that makes them feel loved, you can then tailor your responses to them so that they can feel loved. The five love languages are: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. Take the quiz to find out what your love language is HERE. You can have multiple love languages but most people have a dominant one. Mine is words of affirmation... so... here goes. I did this study when I was about to be a freshman in college with my college career class at church back home... If my down home country church can do this.. so can you! :) It was very beneficial and I have learned so much!

• I got a text from one of my adopted little sisters in SAI.. and it said 'You are the sister I strive to be' WOW... my heart swelled with joy and my eyes filled with tears.. it means so much to be looked up to.
• Last week I was having a TERRIBLE week. God spoke to me through my boss Neal when he walked up to my desk high-fived me and said 'We've almost made it through another week!' Oh, how I needed that. God was saying, yes, it's been tough, but it's almost over; and you are not alone!
• Just yesterday I was copying some papers I knew Clint, my associate manager, always copied for the weekly meeting. Since time was getting close for the start of the meeting, I just went ahead and grabbed the papers off the printer and started making copies. When Clint came into the office he said 'Are you copying my papers for me?' When I responded yes, he then went on to say, 'You know, you and me, we make a great team.. I put things on your desk and stuff gets DONE!' That made me so happy... we continued to talk throughout the day and each conversation was filled with compliments. God knows exactly what you need!
• At work, we have a lot of guys trying to get a lot done. And on Tuesday I actually had someone wait in line to speak to me and get me to help them! It felt good that they were willing to wait in order to have my attention... I just love helping my guys.

Many things like this make my heart soar! These are just some recent examples of how God continues to bless each and every need, EVERY day! God knows exactly what we are going through and just what we need to make it through. How awestruck I am at His love for me. AMAZING!

My recent CVS trip was to buy band-aids and medicine. I had some coupons for band-aids and with your purchase of band-aids you got $5 extra care bucks (ECB). Also, I haven't slept since Sunday night... CVS had Advil PM on sale, and when I walked in the store there was a 'peelie', a coupon you peel off of the box to use, for $2.00!! I also used a $2.00 off coupon for my band-aids and $2.50 in ECBs that I had earned on my previous trip! It felt great saving money, and getting things I needed! I tried out the Advil PM last night... I am very leery of sleep aids.. So I only took half of the recommended dosage. I finally was able to sleep last night... and the glory all goes to God!! I am so thankful for the few hours of sleep I actually got, and so thankful that I don't have to spend day number four falling asleep in class or at my desk! Praise be to the Lord on high!

First Publix Trip

Today I made my first trip to Publix. I looked over the weekly sales add and searched for coupons online. It didn't take much time at all. Many things that I needed were on sale.. and I was able to find a coupon for them. This way, I saved more money. I am pretty excited about my first couponing trip. Some people I know are ashamed or embarrassed to use a coupon; however, I can say the savings is worth you getting over yourself! I was so excited. I didn't do any pre-calculation, so my total and total savings was a total surprise.. which made it fun too!

I was able to purchase produce (strawberries and grapes), cheese, trash bags, Clorox wipes, crackers and snacks for work, canned goods and dinner rolls. I got a total of 20 items... and paid only a little over a dollar, on average, for each item. Look at all that good stuff! I am so excited about getting started using coupons. I mean, think about it.. this purchase took very little planning and I didn't really know what I was doing... So, when I know what I am doing think of how GREAT it will be! 

Here is the coupon portion of my receipt... just look at what I saved: $27.77!!! I also was able to get coupons called 'peelies' you peel them off the items you are buying.. so I gained another $1.60 in coupons on my trip! In my first trip I spent only $5.22 shy of my savings. I can't wait to save just as much or more than I spend! And all this.. for groceries I already needed! Nothing in excess or that will go wasted or unused. Hooray couponing!

First try - Couponing

This weekend has been filled with lots of fun! Friday and Saturday I worked a little each day putting my coupon binder together and making a shopping list and then finding extra coupons. Yesterday I tried my hand a couponing for the first time ever. And I have to say, I am pretty proud of myself. I gathered my 'personal care' coupons after browsing through the CVS weekly add in my Sunday paper.

Tara spoke to us about finding the best deals around and gave us many tips on how she shops. So, I drove to my 24 hour CVS before I went to church last night. I had three coupons, and after a purchasing mishap, desperately needed shampoo. The shampoo was my emergency buy; so it was the only item I bought without a coupon. CVS does 'Extra Care Bucks' which are rewards card members get when buying... So, I enrolled in Extra Care, and with my first purchase started building ECBs.

Pledge products were on sale, two for $6, and I had two coupons for $1 off a pledge product. Also, skintimate shave gel was on sale and I had a $0.55 cent off coupon. :)

Pledge furniture polish -lemon scent (for my Mom) regularly $5.79 on sale for $3
<$1 coupon makes it $2.00>
Pledge fabric sweeper - pet hair (for Donna) regularly $6.89 on sale for $3
<$1 coupon makes it $2.00>
Skintimate 10oz $3.39
<$0.55 coupon makes it $2.84>
Shampoo 4.99

With tax I spent $13.12... and saved $9.23. Not too bad for my first buy. I also got $2.50 in ECBs.  So, granted, if I only had to buy the pledge products that makes my total $1.50!!I think $0.75 for two pledge products is pretty great!

This week, as I said, was my first time gathering coupons and trying to see what would happen at the store. I am sure the more I do this the better I will get at it and I am excited to continue to learn and work to save more money. As I went throughout the rest of the night I began thinking after church how I could have done my transaction differently to save more money... and there are ways, but hey.. you have to start somewhere. :)

Coupons

Last night at church around 80 women attended a class on 'Couponing'. I am so excited to start saving money!! Tara gave us many tips and how to's. She was just filmed shopping at Publix last week for a TV show. The Lord has blessed so many and I am excited about the work that he is doing in Tara's life and allowing her to share it with us! For a family or three she spends $20-$30 a week on groceries... that includes her 'stockpile' items and food for her family. Now, they aren't skimping to save this much. Tara and her family eat at home 5 nights a week!

I am excited to get started! As with anything new, it takes a little time and effort to get started... but the payoff is TREMENDOUS! You can connect with Tara at her blog Southern Savings and Deals!