Spontaneous shopping - or, is couponing really worth it?

Well - I try not to be spontaneous in my shopping, and I guess you can say this wasn't *completely* spontaneous, as I've been planning to shop at some point this weekend. But... I wasn't exactly organized or at stores I was planning to shop at. Anyways - I think I did pretty good.

First, I didn't have any way to lower my out of pocket cost at the Walmart oil change center (well, other than doing it myself - and realistically that's not happening.) *quick note - I was very surprised at how absolutely filthy the restrooms were! UGH!! It was like no one had mopped in weeks!*

So:

Oil change - 26.48 (they wanted to sell me 4 tires at 100.00 each... but I'm shopping around on that one!)

Since I had to wait for a long long long time (any time past 3 minutes with a sleepy 1 year old is long long long... lol, but it was seriously at least 1 1/2 hours!) I went shopping throughout the store. I got:

15.92 - 4x Zantac Cool Mint 150, 8 ct.
.54 - 1.08 lb (3) bananas
3.00 - 3 lb of gala apples
3.44 - WM brand skim milk
6.00 - clearanced nursing, um... thing
2.57 tax

- 22.00 4x 5.50 Zantac coupon

9.47 oop 1.18 per item (it's .95 per item counting each pound of apples individually!) History lesson: 2% milk was 1.59/gallon in 1987, and apples were .39 a pound in the 80's - jumped in the 90's to .99/lb

Then, I was mad cuz I missed the other Walgreens (which probably wasn't stocked anyways, but now I'll never know...lol)

However, I hit another one right before an on-ramp to the highway. So...

I was hoping for the Glade Wisp. UGH - no stock put up (3 ppl called off, the lady said. She gave me a rain check for 2.99 - not sure how that will work with the 5.00 coupon!)

But... eggs were on sale, and cheese too. So I did:

1.50 - 1 pkg of 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1.98 - 2 dozen eggs
3.00 - 2 hair stylers for David (the mud/paste stuff... dunno, I don't use it...)
9.98 - 4 Oxy products - on sale as bogo@4.99
13.96 - 4 Pert Plus shampoos
2.49 tax

- 8.00 4x 2.00 Pert Plus coupons
- 2.00 2x 1.00 loreal studio line coupons
- 4.50 3x 1.50 Oxy coupons
- 4.99 1x buy 2 get 1 free Oxy Coupons
- 10.00 ESQ for Pert -4x 2.50 (easy saver coupon in booklet)

3.69 out of pocket! .28 per item! (eggs were .25 a dozen in 1924! Noxema was .49 in 1935! Cheese was .50/lb in 1950!)

I stopped at one more on the way to pick up Bekka's friend. If we weren't keeping her for the night, I would've hit 2-3 more Wags. :( This one didn't have any Pert left, nor did it have any of the Wisp - though I'm almost wondering if they just didn't want to put certain stock on the floor. I *did* find the pharmacy coloring booklet. I was hoping it would ring up on clearance like a lot of people have reported, but it didn't for me. So - 1.08 and I got the coloring book with a sheet of Wags coupons. It's quite worth the investment!

So... aside from the oil change, I spent $14.24 oop. I got my milk and eggs for the week, cheese for a few days (gonna see if eggs and cheese are still available tomorrow and hopefuly stock up), got some apples and bananas, David's hair stuff, my needed undergarment, and a whole bunch of other stuff we'll eventually use, donate, or do sumpin' with...

Now, some of you will ask if I really had to get all that stuff. The answer is no. In reality, we only *needed* the food and the undergarment. If I had *only* bought the foodstuffs and the undergarment, I would have spent $18.36 out of pocket. So I would have actually spent $4.12 more to get only what we absolutely needed! (in reality, it probably would've been more because I would've been more likely to just buy it all in Walmart instead of shopping at 2 stores.) So I spent less, got what we needed, stuff we can donate, coupons to save more money later, and some extras we will use/donate/sell.

Crash course in Walgreens

Okay... you may need to read this a couple of times and even ask a question or two! Ask away - it's always better to know than to guess!

Walgreen's 101

I never shopped there before - other than for a few of their items in the weekly ad, I always assumed they were way to expensive. The thing is - I am right. They are very expensive - *if* you purchase items the way most normal folks purchase things. I used to hear a saying that normal = broke... well, I definitely don't want to be normal!

First, you should know that Walgreen's takes coupons - manufacturer's coupons from inserts, tearpads, blinkie machines, and internet printable coupons.

Second, you need to learn this list of abbreviations - for your sake and mine! Some of these will also apply to other stores, and the other stores may even have some of their own.

Wags - Walgreen's (hey - you type it 100 times in a post! lol)

q = coupon

7-day q = coupon from Walgreen's weekly ad

ESR = Easy Saver Rebate - This refers to the rebates listed in the Easy Saver Booklet that comes out once a month and is usually located on a display within the doorway or at the cash registers.

ESQ = coupon in the Easy Saver Booklet

MIR = mail in rebate from a manufacturer

RR - Register Reward - this is a coupon that prints at the register for a set dollar amount off of your next order and is also called a Catalina.

CAT - catalina - a coupon or register reward that prints during or after your transaction.

OYNO - on your next order

Double Dip - an event that occurs when the last 2 days of the ESR booklet for the current month overlaps with the booklet for the following month.

$/$$ - this stands for a money off of a certain amount purchase. Usually 5/20.00 or 10/40.00.

Now, per Walgreen's corporate coupon policy, you can combine the Manufacturer's coupons with the 7-day advertisement coupons AND the Easy Saver Coupon! Yes - that's 3 coupons on one item! On top of that, during double dips you can use any matching coupons from both monthly booklets - and if they have issued a $/$$ coupon, as long as you meet the requirements of that coupon you can use that too!!