Coupon shopping in the USA - August edition.

The Smith family made a day trip out of a coupon shop day this weekend, and we headed out with lists in hand, and coupons ready to go. We hit Rite-Aid, Safeway, Target, Walmart and Walgreens this time around.
First up was Rite Aid.

I bought:
- 1 tube Colgate

- 1 box Tylenol

- 4 Trident gum packs

- 1 Hotwheels boys' hat

- 2 energy shot drinks

(The last 2 were Mr. Smith's purchases).

I paid $13.32 and will receive back $4 in Single Check Rebates (SCR) from Rite-Aid, making this purchase $9.32. If we hadn't added the hat and drink (impulse buys) it would have been $2.84. Watch out for impulse buys!

What are SCRs? Well, they are rebates provided by Rite Aid - when you purchase an eligible item, you get $ back. The good news is that you can use coupons along with the rebates, sometimes getting the items for free, or making money off it (Money Maker) - so you are getting paid to take the items home! To learn more, go here. I am waiting for last month's SCR cheque - I will be getting about $10 back. Woohoo! Not bad for 1 trip per month!

Total out of pocket: $13.32

SCR's: $4

Total saved: $10.70

Next was Safeway:

Safeway is having a great deal on cereal - buy 5 participating items and get $5 off immediately. Good news - coupons can be used along with this offer! So I mixed and matched and worked out which coupon to use with which cereal - came came away with this haul:

- 10 cereal boxes (Kelloggs and Kashi brands)

- 2 boxes Kashi snack crackers

- 4 Wishbone dressings

- 5 Nature Nut Crunch / clusters

- 2 Ball Park franks packages

After coupons and specials, I paid $19.55, and saved $57.78!!!! According to Safeway's receipt, it was a 75% savings. Yay!

The cereal cost me $0.50 - $1 per box. I will not have to buy any more cereal for a few months, plus will have a few extras to giveaway (upcoming post).

The Wishbone dressing was on sale for .99 and I had coupons for .75 off each, so they ended up being .24cents each. I stocked up on Russian dressing as I can't find Russian dressing in my local grocery stores anymore! (I use it to make Russian chicken... yum).

I would have gotten more cereal except they were sold out of a lot of the Kashi ones I wanted - a scenario I worked out would have netted me 5 boxes of cereal for $1.25 - that's total, not each!

Total out of pocket: $19.55

Total saved: $57.78

After lunch, we headed to Target:

Here's the Target list:

- 7 boxes Johnson's Buddies Soap

- 2 containers Johnson's Body Wash

- 12 individual cups Cheerios/HoneyNut cheerios

- 2 packs Kids Boost drinks

- 4 10-ct packs Bics pens

- 1 pack Sharpies highlighters

- 2 travel sized Wet Wipes

- 1 Aveeno lotion

- 2 trial sized All Laundry detergent

- 2 Kelloggs Cinnabons

- 2 Pepperidge Farms Goldfish packs

- 1 Axe bodywash

- 2 Dove deodorant

- 2 Gerber baby bottles

- 2 Betty Crocker fruit snacks

- 2 Transformers toy vehicles (not pictured)

- Renuzit lens cleaner

- 2 "5" gum packs

I had a Jedi of a cashier - she rocked, putting through my coupons and exclaiming,"this is the way to shop!" She couldn't believe how much I was saving and didn't give me any of the scowls or sighs that some cashiers are wont to do. Again, total was higher because Mr.Smith found some gum that I didn't have coupons for (but were a good price) and an Axe wash that I only had a $1 coupon for.

Total spent: $25.80

Total saved: $78.50!

Next up was Walgreens, where I messed up by forgetting to bring in the proper Tylenol coupons so only ended up getting 3 toothbrushes.

Did you catch the deal here? The toothbrushes are $1.59 regular price. I bought 3, and had 3 $1 off coupons making them $0.59 each. Walgreens then had an instore coupon for .40 off each making them .19 each. I paid $0.87 including tax for all 3.

Total out of pocket: $0.87

Total savings: $4.20

And lastly, Walmart.

I went with trepidation, having heard/read about Nazi cashiers at Walmart, but holding with the day's good run with cashiers, I had an amazing one. She even thanked me for being so organized with my coupons! I had to do 2 transactions as I messed up with the hotdogs, but it was an easy fix.

The Walmart list:
- milk

- 2 packages Pillsbury Grand Biscuits

- 4 Bar-S hotdogs

- 8 SOBE drinks

- 2 Dentek floss packages

- 1 Welch's grape jelly

- 1 girls' nylons

I had a $1 off the Pillsbury one so I thought I'd try it, as with the Welch's grape jelly, as I had a .75 coupon off that. I had a $1 off 2 Bar S products, and they were $1 each, so each hotdog package was $0.50 each! I used my BOGO coupons for Sobe, which were already on sale for $1 each, so each drink was $.50 each. Lastly, I had 2 $1 off Dentek products, making the floss $0.12 each! Milk was $2.18 - I usually buy mine for $3.50 or more here!

Total spent: $12.78.

Total savings: $9.75

Here are the final numbers:

Total trip out of pocket: $72.32

Total savings: $160.93!

Total savings towards debt this post: $80.46

Total savings towards debt so far: $147.69

Bonus: The customs officer waved us through at the border.