My head is spinning from all this couponing

I went grocery shopping (Jewel) 3 times this week, but there were so many good Catalina deals going on lately that I couldn't resist. A Catalina is also known as a check-out coupon; for example, "Buy $30 in select Kraft products and get a $10 Catalina good on your next purchase." In this example, it would be a $10 coupon that prints out after you pay, which you can spend on whatever you want, on your next order/shopping trip.

So, I took the kids out yesterday morning bright and early (well, they do sometimes wake up at 5:30am! lol, we didn't get out of the house until 8:30am though). I did 2 transactions that were exactly the same. Five bottles of Wesson cooking oil, 2 Nesquik chocolate shakes, and 2 Lean Cuisine margherita pizzas (who knew microwave pizza could be so good?). My total before coupons was $20.35. Total after coupons $1.75 cash out of pocket. I left the store with 18 items, spent a little over $3, and still had over $30 in Catalinas in my pocket. I believe my savings were close to $100, but I would have to double-check on that one.

This is just one example of the types of purchases I make when I go to the grocery store, Walgreens, or Target. Of course, not every time am I able to make out this well, but I don't do too badly. You might be asking what I am going to do with 10 Wesson cooking oils, perhaps. If you're not familiar with couponing, it works best when you have accumulated a stockpile. Meaning, that you buy in bulk when the price is cheap/near free/free. Then, you never buy at full price. So, as another example, right now I have probably 20 different types of cereal in my stockpile. I continue to eat my free (or maybe it was a quarter or 50 cents per box) cereal, only buying more when it is on sale. Because I have a good supply in stock, I am able to keep this trend going, only buying when there is a good sale that I can pair with my coupons.

I've had a hot couple of weeks at the grocery store, but hopefully there will be a lull sometime soon so I can get to work eating through some of the stockpile. ;-)