Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

I haven't been couponing lately.  At least not getting super great deals like I had been.  I have used a coupon here and there at the grocery store but it has been quite some time since I snagged a free tube of toothpaste.  The Extreme Couponing show on TLC has really effected the couponing world.  All of the stores are changing their policies and making it really hard for the average person to score a good deal.  The show is really disappointing, they show people doing ridiculous things, many of them fraudulent and then it makes it hard for the normal person to save a little money.  So that being said, I jumped back into the couponing world this week!
Here is what I got:

I paid $12.21 out of my pocket for two full size body washes, two children's cold medicine, two 8 ct. bottles of Excederin Migraine, a full size tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush.  And the stores gave me back $8.38 in rewards bucks to use next time so really I spent $3.83 on all of that!

I also got a huge tube of toothpaste, a 3 pack of Orbit gum and printed 20 pictures all for .91 cents at Target!

So I think I am off to a good start in diving back into couponing!

Deal of the Day

Finally made it to Rite Aid to use my Up+ Rewards that expire tomorrow. Ups+ are pretty much money that Rite Aid gives back to you for shopping, I just keep using and earning Ups+ and hardly ever pay cash.

So today I got Purex laundry soap, 8pk of Dial soap, both of which we needed, some gum and sunflower seeds that Jaren claims he needed and then 2 toothbrushes, 1 toothpaste and a pack of flosser picks that we probably won't need for a really long time.  The can of Arizona Arnold Palmer was to get me to $16 so I could use my Ups+.

So all of that cost me $1.74 out of my pocket, which was pretty much just tax.

It was $17.74 after coupons, I used my $16 in Ups+ and then they gave me $9 in Ups+ to use next time!  So I just keep using Rite Aid's money over and over again!

Have I Got a Deal For You

I am by no means a candidate for Extreme Couponing but I do get a good deal now and then.  I plan to share my deals with you because well.............because Husband is no longer impressed with my free toothbrushes and deoderant!  I won't be telling you how to get the deals, there are plenty of other blogs out there that do that, like here, and message boards like here or here that tell you all of the sales and match coupons up to them for you.  I use all of these sites and have been able to get A LOT of health and beauty aids for free, haven't been so successful with groceries but I try my best.  I started couponing in November 2010 and here is my "stockpile" as the extreme couponers like to call it:

Yes, the shelves are full from front to back with body wash, shampoo, pain relievers, toothbrushes/paste, face wash etc. This doesn't include a crap-load of mens deoderant that Husband has in his medicine cabinet or all of the baby wash I have under the sink. No, I don't have a baby but Nalani loves it and just in case I have a baby shower to go to I am set!   It also doesn't include any of the things I have used over the course of the last 7 months, because if I didn't use it I would be a prime candidate for this.