Can You Smell a Good Deal?

"Everything in this cart $1.00" I spotted the sign immediately when I entered our Walmart to pick up some medication. When I saw what was in the cart, I turned around and asked Katie to fetch my coupon binder from the car; Glade sprays and candles, and Febreeze products~all marked down to just one dollar. I knew I had more of the $2.00 off Glade Expressions coupons and several $5.00 off five Febreeze product coupons inside my binder. I nearly forgot about the medicine as I counted coupons against products I was putting inside my cart. I also knew I was going to have to add some more things to my cart as the $2 off Glade coupons would give me an additional $1 off my purchases. That's right, Walmart's official coupon policy states that coupons that exceed the price of the product can still be taken and the remaining amount above the product price can go towards the other purchases in your basket. The blue "eco bags" that normally retail for $4 at Walmart were also in the cart. These bags fold down to a manageable size and have very sturdy handles and a bottom insert that makes them perfect for book sales and/or grocery shopping, so I added four of those to my order, along with some yogurt (not pictured) and a bottle of iced tea. I also added four Ivory soap bar packs that retail for $1.24 a pack because I still have several of the $1 off any Ivory soap coupons to use before the end of July.

My first order included most of the Glade sprays in the cart and all of the Febreeze products, but I knew I had some Air-Wick coupons and more Glade coupons in my uncut inserts at home. So then I did what any red-blooded, self-respecting American couponer would do; I rushed home and sat on the couch, hurridly clipping through several stacks of coupons and went back to the store fifteen minutes later, nabbing the Air-Wick refills ($1.50 off the $1 refills) and the smaller Glade candles that I now had "Buy Two, Get One Free" coupons on. $2 for three of the candles wasn't a fantastic deal, but my additional $2 Glade Expressions coupons would pay for the other two candles.Two other ladies digging into the $1 cart were thrilled with my offerings of Glade coupons so that they, too, could make a good deal even better. I added another four packages of the Ivory soap to this second order. I ended up paying less than $12 for everything pictured.
Now, that makes for a sweet-smelling deal!

I Love it When I'm Right

A week ago my weekly coupon column in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald newspaper advised my readers to clip out the Glade $2 Expressions collection coupon as I was certain we would see some good sale prices in the coming weeks.  At recent couponing workshops I'd also mentioned the Glade $2 off one Expressions coupon because I predicted this product would either be steeply discounted or clearanced out soon. Why? Because I'd purchased a couple of cans the last time we saw a high-value coupon and I noticed two things: #1) it is a really pricey product at nearly $4 a can regular retail and, #2) the can's design is not user friendly. It is really difficult to squeeze the lid in order to get it to spray. I assumed that some stores would find it a slow seller and put it on clearance. I believe I actually said in one workshop, "I can guarantee you this will be a product we will see clearanced out and eventually, discontinued.  It remains to be seen if it will eventually be discontinued, but today I did, indeed, discover it on a clearance shelf, marked down to $2.50 a can.

After my $2 coupons, I paid 50-cents each for spray with an amazingly delicious scent. (It is almost worth the $4) I bought the remaining 12 on the shelf.

No Coupon Needed

Never go anywhere without your coupons. This is the #1 rule for couponers everywhere, and yet I was in Walmart this morning without my binder. I was there to pick up medication for my daughter Emily, who just had her wisdom teeth removed. While I waited, I wandered the nearby aisles, coming across five more boxes of marked down Kotex U pads, along with five $2 coupons. $1 a box after coupons is a great stockpile price, so of course I bought all five.  I almost didn't go in the clearance aisle because I knew there was a good chance there would be something marked down that I had coupons for~ at home~ and I didn't need the guilt at having forgotten my coupons and missing a good deal. I'm glad I ignored my initial hesitation because when I got to the clearance aisle I immediately spotted a cart of marked-down Scott toilet tissue. Now, Scott tissue has been my favorite brand of toilet paper for over 15 years, ever since we lived in the country with a septic system. And I was just thinking about how low we were getting on toilet paper.

(photo circa 2002)

I am always looking for a good deal on Scott tissue, so when I saw these single rolls marked down to 25-cents (regularly $1), I began throwing them into my cart.  Then I thought What am I doing? and I put the rolls back in the cart and added my other items to their cart full of toilet paper, instead. Then I pushed it up to the checkout, where I was met with the very wide pair of eyes of a young cashier. David would have loved this, I thought.  He was never embarrassed with my good deals, unlike my children, who would have been mortified. David would have started bragging on the good deal and called me his "Coupon Queen." (despite the fact that I didn't have coupons for the toilet paper) "She's the coupon queen who writes a column for the Telegraph Herald," he often told complete strangers in line behind us. Hey, he was proud of me, and after 32 years, used to my sometimes extreme couponing tactics.

I helped the cashier count the 89 rolls and handed her my coupons for the Kotex products. "Now you have something funny to talk about in the break room later," I told her, "You can tell everyone about the crazy lady buying toilet paper."

"Oh, I will," she smiled broadly. I think I made her day. I know this deal made mine.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat, in Coupon Lingo

In the coupon world, there will be some offers you will just want to do over and over.  Yesterday's Target offer was one of those. Last week's Target ad included Olay body wash on sale for $5. That is already a decent price on the big bottles, but still more than I like to pay for body wash. Body wash is a luxury, not a neccessity, but my entire family prefers a body puff and body wash to bar soap. I like to put body washes in my adult children's Christmas baskets, as well, so the fact that Target was offering a $5 gift card for each set of three Olay body washes purchased ignited my interest.  For the math impaired, $5 X 3 body washes=$15. Last week's Olay $2 coupon drops the price down to $9, not bad for three large bottles. The $5 gift card makes it a super deal. But to really get the most out of this sale, the trick is to turn around and do the deal all over again, this time using your initial gift card to help pay for the three Olay body washes. I've heard this strategy termed "Wash, Rinse, and Repeat" in coupon lingo.  I was near a Target yesterday afternoon and tried this deal, and it worked great.  First time through the checkout, I used three $2 coupons and paid $9 (plus tax) and got my $5 gift card. The second time through, I used three $2 coupons AND the $5 gift card to pay for my transaction, and paid only $4 (plus tax) for my order, netting me another $5 gift card. See where this is going? I could have done the deal as many times as I had coupons for, and as long as my husband would wait for me to go through the line. Most cashiers would allow me to do seperate orders, and this one had no problem. Unfortunately, I had to stop at 5 transactions because it was a Saturday, and the shelves weren't well stocked, but I am now have 15 body washes to add to my dwindling stockpile. This was definitely a deal worth repeating, and if I lived closer to a Target, I would have done it several times during the week.