Coupons, Coupons, Coupons!

I had a major shopping day today! I left work and headed straight for Walgreens, coupon binder in hand. I was a woman on a mission...
*Hint - click on the pics to enlarge and see my savings!

I planned on going to three different Walgreens stores (the first two were only a few blocks apart in Idaho Falls). Gillette Fusion razors for .99 cents was SO worth it! Especially since Jade has to shave his entire globe every day now (BYU rules). Sure, I ended up with a lot of candy, but its great to sit down with the kids, the hubby, a bowl of popcorn, theater candy, and a good movie :)

After the first two Walgreens, I stopped at Smith's. I spent about half an hour in the car just organizing my coupons, which I now know I should have done at home the night before. I'll be better prepared next time! Another glitch came when I was checking out: the Grocery Smarts list stated that you would get $3 off when you spent $10 on selected items. I had it all figured out: $30 worth of said items=$9 in savings. However, the sale was actually $3 off when you purchase 10 items. So I actually only saved $6 on those. Bummer! But, again, I'll be better prepared next time. Plus, I just noticed that I only got 7 cans of soup instead of 8, so I wasted a coupon!

Next up was Fred Meyer. This is where the drama really starts...(you know I have to have a little drama!)

Hi, my name is Dorothy and I am a shopaholic.

I knew exactly what I was going into Fred Meyer for: Towels and cough drops. Easy peasy.
But when I walked through the doors I was bombarded by my worst possible enemy: The 70% off clearance sign!
(I'm getting heart palpitations just thinking about it)
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a SUCKER for a clearance sign. I'm drawn to those rounders of underpriced, past season, and slightly mismated steals. Its more than a hobby. It sucks me in.

Hi, my name is Dorothy and I am a shopaholic.

I valiantly walked past the deals that screamed at me as they overflowed into the aisles. The bright colors were nothing against my resolve to SAVE instead of SPEND. "You can do this," I told the woman that mocked me from the endcap mirrors as I rushed past the shoes and misses career wear. And then my phone rang and as I stopped to chat with my BFF, I absently began browsing the toddler girls' clearance rounder. Oh, the torture! So cute, so precious, so PINK! I even found myself justifying purchases for other people because ITS SUCH A GREAT DEAL!

And then, by some miracle, the spell was broken and I quickly vacated the department which enticed me with its horrible red signs, with nothing more than $2 pair of shorts for my own child.

Next, I found my towels and my cough drops and headed for the cashier. SUCCESS!



I hit one more Walgreens when I got into Rexburg, then Albertsons, and finally I was home! It only took me four hours...

Just to clarify for those of you who are thinking of couponing:
It took me a while to clip my coupons and organize them in my binder the first week (over an hour), but the next week, putting the current coupons away was a breeze. The only reason this trip took four hours was because
A- I wasn't prepared ahead of time (it's only my second trip)
B- I started at 4:30 in the afternoon. TRAFFFIC!
C- It involved a 45 minute commute back to Rexburg
D- Stupid clearance event!