My 2011 Savings and Spending Log

This blog was created for the purpose of tracking my savings and out of pocket spending this year and determining how much I actually save by searching for the best deals and using coupons. To anyone interested in following along, go for it! I'm extremely curious what my total savings and actual spending will end up being.



Monday, January 31, 2011

Fry's Mega Sale!









Above are 4 different shopping trips I made at Fry's last week during there Mega "buy 10 save $5" sale. I'm not sure of you see a pattern with my shopping trips but I normally buy a lot of the same items each week... that's because when they end up being free or super cheap by using coupons, I stock up (so I don't have to pay full price - by the time I use them up, they will be on sale again and I will be able to get them for free/cheap!) So each week it looks like I just buy the same stuff over and over, but that's how I shop- I buy what's usually free each week.


I want to play a GAME! I did one of these on facebook back in the summer. If you can guess how much I spent (or profited) then I'll send you a $10 gift card to Target or Walmart!! :)


Just leave your guess as a comment and I'll post the amount on ... Friday!!! Happy Guessing!


**PS: any money you see in the pictures was PAID to me**

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Woo hooo!!!!

8 packs of Dixie Plates
1 box of Glad Forceflex trash bags
7 boxes of Finish dishwasher detergent tablets
4 bars of Olay soap
2 bottles of Dove body wash
2 pks of batteries
3 Hallmark cards and 1 bear
2 dog toys
2 dog treats
2 bags of Purina Cat food
1 plastic accordion coupon holder
4 bottles of Kraft Italian dressing
3 bags of Chex mix
6 bags of pasta
1 pkg of shredded parmesan cheese
4 cans of Campbell's tomato soup
1 box of gum balls
4 packs of Extra gum
4 bags of Pita chips
1 pkg of cube steaks

Total before coupons: $170.12!!!
Total out of pocket: $11.98 ANDDDD got back $15!

I MADE a profit of $3.02!!!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Walgreens/Safeway Run

I paid $1.62 ($1.06 was on tax) for
6 pks of Dixie plates
3 Chex mix and
1 Hershey's (filler item)
Total savings of $32.59!
I paid $6.86 on all this and
got back $5 to use on my next order! :)
Total savings of $46.88!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Free lotion at Bath and Body Works

I got a free lotion from Bath and Body Works on Saturday! The coupon expired today but here's another good one for a Free Anti-bacterial hand soap (up to a $5 value) with any $10 purchase, expires Feb. 6th. AND here's another coupon for a Free travel size item (up to a $5 value) with any purchase! (they sell pocketbac holder's for $.50- pictured below)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Successful shoppin' day!

My Frys Trip:
I did 2 separate transactions
1st) Paid $1.33 for 2 Glade fabric sprays and got back $2 catalina to use on my next order
2nd) Paid $.15 (used my $2 catalina from the 1st transaction) for 4 protein bars, 1/2 doz eggs, 2 Kikkoman teriyaki marinades AND got back $1.50 catalina
= total profit of $2.02!

I paid .13 at Bashas for all that! I had to buy the M&M's because my total was negative... I do love me some peanut mmmmms!

Those trash bags retail for $8.99 at Safeway!!! I got all this and romaine lettuce that I forgot to put in the pic lol... for only $6.88!

Alright... I did this transaction TWICE today at Walgreens... The first time I did this transaction the cashier accidentally input one of my $1 coupons at $10.00!! I paid around $4 and got back $13 in RR's, making it a $9 profit. After I realized I called and later returned with the items. They voided my order, re-rang the items and I ended up paying $5.44 (I used a few RR's that I had from previous transactions to bring down my total and another coupon I forgot to use the first time) AND I got back another $13 in RR's!!! I was surprised it generated another $13, thus making my total profit $16.56.... oh no wait, actually it's $20.56!!!! (I just remembered they voided my first order) How awesome?!?!

Monday, January 17, 2011

CVS Run


Total spent $1.14 on

2 Tom's toothpaste
1 Crest pro-health
1 Green bagtag

Got back $8! = $6.86 profit!

Total savings of $15.96!

Walgreens Run

Total spent $3.89 on

4 Vicks Sinex
1 Tom's toothpaste
2 caramel candies (filler items)

Got back $13! = $9.11 Profit

Total savings of $36.96!

Target Run


Total spent $.96 on

3 jars of pasta sauce
1 Hershey's (needed a filler)
bread
4 Olay bars
1 Garnier towelettes

Total savings of $17.54!



Wednesday, January 12, 2011

$3.73 Profit!

I had $20 worth of "RR's" or Register Rewards to use up at Walgreens before they expired. RR's are like store cash to use at Walgreens. Each week Walgreens has certain items for sale that, if you buy it, you'll receive a RR back...



For instance... Buy 1 bottle of Pantene at $3 and get a $3 RR

That means you'll have to pay $3 out of pocket but you'll get back $3 to use on your next order. The more RR's you have, the less out of pocket you will be able to spend! Anddd lets say you had a $2 off 1 Pantene coupon--- well then you would pay $1 out of pocket and still get back $3, making it a profit of $2! :)

I printed a few coupons from the match ups on hip2save.com and centsableshopping.com

I bought 8 packs of Orbit gum, one bottle of shaving cream (with a free razor attached to it!!), 2 Chloraseptic sprays, and 2 Rembrandt 2-hr whitening kits (*retail value of $25.99!!). My subtotal before tax was .47 and my total with tax came to $3.27 AND I got back $7 in RR's!!! That's $3.73 profit with a total savings of $73.60!! Normally I wouldn't buy the Rembrandt whitening kits, but for free and a profit....I'll take it!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

$.04 for 26 items

My total savings today was $40.84!
4 plastic tubs
4 Olay bars
4 (4)pks of batteries
1 dove chocolate bar (made .50 on it!)
2 cans of refried beans (for taco night!)
1 makeup concealer
4 boxes of fruit snacks (finally used up all my coupons)
and 6 Gatorades
I spent $2.93 out of pocket and got back $2.89... so that's $.04 for all of this! :)

Free Reach Floss

I posted on Facebook about *free* floss at Target...
I went yesterday and got 4 for free! Yay!! Don't have facebook? Well, here are the links to the coupons:
Buy 1 Reach Floss @ .97 and use (1) $1/1 Reach = Free
*print 2 of each coupon per computer
I have quite a bit of floss stocked up so I'm going to donate them.

Friday, January 7, 2011

$5.29 profit today




I made 2 different trips today... here's what I got

CVS: Paid $2.20 and got back $10 ECB's = $7.80 profit
2 Lifesaver gummies
1 Cascade
7 Reach floss
and 1 caramel (already ate it!)

Target: Paid $1.51
7 Olay soap
3 small plastic tubs
2 Scott bath tissue
4 (4)pks of AA batteries
3 pk of Stride gum

Fry's: Paid $.09
8 Vitamin waters

Walmart: Paid $.91
12 Gatorade Recover

Total out of pocket: $4.71
Total profit: $5.29
Total savings of $82.98

Thursday, January 6, 2011

.44 for 5 GE Energy Smart light bulbs

One nice thing about Walmart is that they price match!

This week Ace Hardware store is having a 5 for $5 GE Energy Smart light bulb sale. I took their ad to Walmart and they honored the price. I also had (5) $1 off 1 GE light bulb coupons! So after tax my total came to just .44 for all 5! (they retail for $2.50 a piece at Walmart)

Go here for the coupon, you can print 2 per computer!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

I'm drowning in fruit snacks...

So I went to Safeway again today and got more fruit snacks... 16 boxes to be exact. Jordan and I love them and hey, you can't beat free right?!

Today I made a few trips to different stores and here's what I got:

Safeway: Paid $ .13 Saved $62.33 Got back $2 = $1.87 profit
16 boxes of fruit snacks
7 vitamin waters

Fry's: Paid $ .05 Saved $6.36
4 vitamin waters

Target: Paid $ .40 Saved $15.99
7 Wonka chocolate bars (on clearance for .98)
5 pks of AA batteries
1 ream of paper *a necessity for us couponers ;)
orbit gum (had to get it because my total was negative!)

Bashas: Paid $ .06 Saved $17.48
10 cans of Kidney beans (I used these to make homemade chili- my Dad's recipe!!)
2 cans of Black beans
2 boxes of Cheerios

Total out of pocket = $.64 and made a profit of $1.23!
Total savings = $102.16!!

Starbucks $5 card for ONLY $1


I'm not a coffee drinker, but I'm sure glad Starbucks offers some non-coffee products! If you haven't tried their Caramel Apple Spice, oh man... you're missing out! Go here to get a $5 Starbucks card for $1.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Another great shoppin' day

My shopping trips today went superdeeduper!

Here's what I got:

Bath and Body Works
-body wash
-pocketbac holder

Safeway
-16 boxes of fruit snacks
-4 Nivea chap sticks

Fry's
-3 Franks Redhot hot sauces (my fav!!)
-12 Old Spice body washes
-12 Old Spice deodorants
-2 bags of Dole salad
-1 Wholly guacamole dip

Walmart
-15 Gatorades

Total spent $4.04 out of pocket (and got back $4.47)
I actually made a profit of $.43 today!! Yay!
Total savings today of $198.47

*I even found about $15 worth of coupons (including a coupon for free Breath Right strips -up to $7.49 value) in the trash next to the self checkouts!!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Sshhhhwing! What a great shopping day.


I did very well today...

Here's what I got:

4 Old Spice deodorants
4 Old Spice body washes
4 Nivea chap sticks
13 32oz Gatorades
6 boxes of gushers
4 boxes of fruit roll ups
6 boxes of fruit by the foot

and my previous CVS and Walgreens trips of

4 boxes of Excedrin
nail clippers
emery boards
2 Pantene hairsprays
1 John Frieda hairspray

Total out of pocket : $6.35
and I got back $17 in ECB's, $2 from Safeway and $ .11 from Frys
= Profit of $12.76!!
Total Savings of $150.83!!

$12.69 Profit at CVS


My CVS run:
I bought 4 Excedrin, 1 Revlon nail clipper, and a 2pk of Revlon emery boards.
I had an email coupon for $4 off $20 order, so I used that... along with (2) Free excedrin coupons, 1 $3.50/1 exdn. coupon and 1 $2.50 off 1 exdn. coupon.
My total out of pocket was $4.31 AND I got back $7 ECBs for the Revlon and $10 ECBs for a profit of $12.69!!!!

Free Hairspray?!


Today I went to Walgreens to find a few things for this week's sale... I ended up not finding what I originally came in for but scored a sweet deal on hairspray!
I bought 2 Pantene for 1.29 each (used $3/2 coupon)
and
1 John Frieda for 1.79 (used $2/1 coupon)
total out of pocket = .41
AND I got back a $2 RR = $1.59 profit!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Gatorade Prime = 10 for .15!

I ran out around 10:30 tonight for my 2nd purchase of 2011... to grab some Gatorade Prime! I picked up a friend and we headed to the Fry's closest to my house to find a few coupons and ended up snagging quite a few from a tear pad! We then were off to a different Fry's just a few miles away to buy the Gatorade... (being my hubby's favorite sports drink, I couldn't pass up this amazing deal)

I bought 10 @ $1.49 (on sale for $1)
Used (10) $1 coupons and paid only .15 (tax)!
Total savings: $14.75

My first purchase in 2011!

Today I purchased my first "deal" in 2011! I bought (5) Xbox live 12 month subscriptions at Best Buy for $34.99 a piece (no tax). These puppies are selling for $45-$50 on Ebay and I've already listed them in hopes to make a profit. I'll be posting my expenses (cost of the cards, Ebay fees..) and my total savings later. Wish me luck!