Bargain shopping trip

Wow! Has it really been that long since I last blogged... time flies during the summer. Maybe I'll blog more now that its (single tear) almost over. Anyway, if you wonder how I spent alot of the time, I'll tell you...

I’ve never blogged about my shopping obsession but I’ve thought about doing it several times. I’m home sick today so I might as well. In case you don’t know, I’m obsessed… with bargains. It’s an addiction and I truly love it. It is obviously very telling about my lifestyle and the fact that I’ve never dealt with drugs or anything like that. To me, there is nothing like the high I feel after getting something for a fabulous deal. In fact, it’s really difficult for me to believe that people actually do pay retail for groceries. I have a hard time paying retail for anything! I frequent several different deal websites including grocerysmarts.com, freebies2deals.com, utahdealdiva.com, coupons4utah.com, and hip2save.com. I also receive daily deal emails from amazon.com, groupon.com and screamincoupons.com. Yes I do spend a good amount of time on my deal-seeking lifestyle and I understand it’s not for everyone, but it’s worth every minute to me because I enjoy it. Besides, its time better spent than watching TV or doing something else equally unproductive.

I must say that I do have my limits. I’ve realized that for me, the best deals are usually found at Rite Aid and Smith’s and so, each week I will usually visit these two stores. I am not one of those people who will spend a whole day running around to 5 different stores to just get the bargains at those stores. I can pass up a sweet deal when it’s just not “in the cards” for me because I’ve come to realize that another sweet deal is just around the corner.

So here’s where I get to brag about my most recent deals:
I shopped at Rite Aid today and here’s what I got:
1 20 ct. Tampax tampons $2.99
1 Pampers Cruisers size 3 jumbo pack $8.99
1 Pampers 72 ct. thickcare wipes $3.69
1 Tide HE Detergent 50 oz. $5.99
1 Men’s Nivea hair/body wash $3.00
1 Listerine Zero Mouthwash 500 mL $3.99 (side note: as a hygienist, I’m very excited about this new product from Listerine – it doesn’t contain Alcohol, which is a causative agent for oral cancer, but still contains the essential oils that make Listerine a great product to begin with.)
1 Boudreaux’s Buttpaste $3.99
2 Pepsi Max 20 oz. $1.49 each
1 Nivea lipcare $2.99
Subtotal: $38.61
Here are the coupons I used:
$5 off $25 purchase at RiteAid
$3 off Boudreaux’s buttpaste (Rite Aid coupon)
BOGO free Pepsi Max (I used one Rite Aid coupon and one Manufacturer’s coupon making them both free)
$1 Rite Aid coupon off Listerine
$2 coupon off Listerine Zero (both coupons make Listerine free)
$1 off Tampax
$1 off Nivea for Men
$2 off Boudreaux’s buttpaste (Manufacturer’s coupons, in addition to coupon above, I made $1 on this)
$3.50 off pamper’s wipes
$3 off Pamper’s diapers
$1 off Tide
Which brings the total out of pocket to : $13.13 (plus tax), a great deal but that’s not the end of it…
I received the following “up rewards”, which are coupons for a dollar amount that can be used on any non-Rx purchase. Essentially cash at Rite Aid.
$2 from Pampers
$1 from Listerine
$1 from Tide
$2 from Nivea Body
$1 from Nivea Lip
Brings our subtotal down to $6.13
I will receive the following Single Check Rebates from Rite Aid in the form of a check to be cashed at my bank at the end of the current Rebate period:
$1 from Tampax
$1.99 from Nivea Lip
Bringing my total for everything down to: $3.14! What the what?!
I will also mention that I didn’t really pay anything out of pocket because I just transferred a prescription there and received a $25 gift card for doing so. Wahoo!
Plus, I have a P & G (Proctor and Gamble) rebate for $110 in P&G coupons for $50 spent in P & G products. This transaction will add $21.66 towards that rebate. I actually only need $15 more to reach my $50 total and the rebate period goes from 8/20/2010 – 12/31/2010 so I’m thinking it won’t be a problem! I’m sure the $110 in coupons will go towards more free (or very close to it) stuff! Now can you see why I get so excited about this? And these kinds of deals aren't once in awhile. They can be found EVERY week!

P.S. If you've ever thought about couponing, right now, like immediately, is the time to get a newspaper subscription (Fri-Sun), you can get a whole year for $19.99 to either the Salt Lake Tribune or Deseret News. That kind of a deal is really unheard of. You can get up to 8 copies of either paper too! CRAZY! (I only get 2, and for our family that is plenty, altough there are times I think man, I wish I had another copy of that coupon but I really don't need it, ya know?) The regular rate is $64 for a year. But this offer is only around for like another week so jump on it if you're interested. I'm not being paid by anyone to post this by the way, I just wanted to share with my friends and anyone who might happen upon this blog. You can get this deal through utahdealdiva.com or freebies2deals.com. Just go to their links for newspaper subscription deals. I've dealt with Jessica from utahdealdiva.com and she's great!