Clean Up in Aisle Three!

Couponing is a huge part of my life; I've been using coupons for over 30 years. But it is NOT my life. When I took my husband to the ER on March 15th, getting a good deal was the last thing on my mind. Well, actually not the last thing: I did raid our savings on the way to the hospital, thinking David didn't have insurance and we might net a discount on an ER bill if we paid in cash. (always a bargainer) After the third nitroglycerin pill, a heparin shot and an order for an ambulance, a cash discount was a moot point~We were in way over the cash in my purse.  Thankfully, my husband's insurance was reinstated, he is doing well, and I can now....SHOP?  I hadn't intended doing any shopping sprees while my husband was in the hospital but I did stop at the local Walgreens for a pill-crusher the day before I brought him home and I stumbled across a good deal. The store had a shelf full of clearance Olay soap marked down to $2.29.  I still had some of those $2.00 Olay coupons burning a hole in my binder, so I dashed back out to the van, grabbed it, and ended up buying all they had remaining on the shelf. (to my credit, these coupons do expire in a week and most of the body wash on the shelf had already been purchased so someone else had benefited from the deal)  What I hadn't expected was that every other Olay soap was going to be on sale for an additional 50% off. I didn't notice it in my first transaction when I had other products I was purchasing, but the second transaction I did when the coupons suddenly stopped scanning, and the cashier and I realized the ones that had scanned had covered the entire purchase and the register wouldn't take more.  So now I have these delicious smelling soaps to add to Christmas and workshop baskets~ all for free.  And we know my favorite motto: cheap is nice, but free is better.