KMart Double Coupons Shopping Trip

Well, the Kmart Doubles worked in St George. I called the store and asked the girl who answered the phone if they were doubling coupons. She said, “No, we do not do that.” I asked to speak with the manager. I explained I had a letter from corporate stating all KMarts were doubling coupons. He confirmed this saying they were indeed doubling coupons if the customer requested it. I asked if I should bring in my letter and he said the cashiers and mangers knew about the special. I thanked him and began my planning. Thursday after work I did a test run. I did not have any idea what coupons I would need for the sale so it was not as profitable as I had hoped, but I did get about $80 worth of products for $ 14.XX. I was not complaining, but I wasn’t getting much for FREE, just a good savings. Things like some of the toothpastes and toothbrushes, along with cleaning products were still cheaper on sale with regular coupons than at Kmart doing doubles. After coupons, I did get:
dog treats for $1 or less
8 packs of Scott paper towels for $3
carpet deodorizers for $.19
FREE shampoo
FREE soap
FREE Easy Mac meal cups

A few things rang up higher than I thought I remembered seeing, but after a day at work and wanting to get home, I decided not to dispute a couple dollars. Not that it is good not to follow up on receipt errors, but sometimes rest is more important than the battle. I do not condone this, but I needed to get home, rest up and plan for my trip today. I had months of coupon inserts to go through to get things ready. I am not one who cuts out all my coupons when I get them and end up throwing a lot of unused coupons away when they expire. I keep my coupons in the in weekly inserts intact so I will be able to find what I need when I need it, rather than waste time up front cutting. This is a good method for me, but I am sure you can see the downside as well. There are times when I see something on special or clearance and do not have the coupon. Personally or me, I feel the risk out ways the lost time from clipping and organizing, but that is just a personal preference. Back to the facts of last night, I stayed up LATE getting all the coupons I thought I might use picked out, cut out and into a semi organized state.

Today Lydia and I went to Kmart after a wonderful relaxing lunch with friends (hi, De and Raven!) We were ready to hit the deals. While my coupons were not well organized in my box, we managed to do some damage to Kmart’s bottom line  My total before coupons was $170 +, I paid $8.86 for tax which worked out as $3.41 before taxes for 60 items. It was awesome!

Clearasil items regularly $8.79 on clearance for $4 … FREE with $2 coupons
Clearasil items priced $4.79… $.79 with $2 coupons
Colgate toothpaste big 8.2 oz tubes on sale $2 … FREE with $1 coupons
Gillette Men’s Shampoo on sale for $4…. FREE with $2 coupons
Visine for $3.99….. FREE with $2 coupon
Sunsilk Shampoo, Conditioner and styling aids $3… FREE with $1.50 coupons
Reach Access Flossing system for $2.69 … FREE PLUS PROFIT with $2 coupon
Herbal Essence Styling products for $3.79… FREE PLUS PROFIT with $2 coupon
Pert Plus Shampoo/Conditioner for $2.99… FREE with $1.50 coupons
Whiskas cat food for $1.39… FREE plus profit with $1.50 coupons
Pounce cat treats for 1.29… FREE plus profit with $1.50 coupons
Resolve Rug Cleaner Spray on sale for $4.50… $.50 after $2 coupons
Endust for $3.29… FREE plus profit after $2 coupons
Glade Plug ins for $1.79… FREE after B1G1 coupons
Hormel Compleats $2.. $.50 after $.75 coupons
Clorox Toilet cleaner for $2.29… $.79 after $.75 coupon
Old El Paso taco shells for $1… FREE after $1/2 coupon
Old El Paso soft taco shells for $1… FREE after $1/2 coupon
Old El Paso Dinner Kits for $1.50… $.50 after $1/2 coupons
Albacore Tuna for $2… FORGOT to give the cashier the coupon… $2

Of course I bought multiples, usually 4 of each item to give me the best savings. We had a great time and saved a bunch. I just wish we could have double coupons ALL THE TIME! WOW…. Imagine if they did this at Albertson’s!!!

Happy shopping to all.

Things you should never pay for… at least not much: PART ONE

Toilet paper: This is my most recent purchase of TP… FORTY SIX 4 packs of Scott’s Extra Soft Toilet Paper. It was on sale for $1 PLUS I had coupons for $2/2 packs. Great deal, huh? Well, it got better when I found there was an unadvertised Kimberly Clark Catalina at Albertson’s. I happened to come across the deal when I bought the original 26 packages it spit out a $5 OYNO (on your next order) Catalina when you spent $20 on KC product. I later went back for another 20 packs. Not bad to make $10 and get 184 rolls of FREE toilet paper! Of course you can not always get paid to take items out of the store, but amazingly, it is more common than you would think.

Shampoo: I have not paid for shampoo in probably 8 years. When we moved from Salt Lake I brought a big box of what was left from my stash up north. Since moving down south I have only continued my deal making and now have enough shampoo and conditioner for a couple years if not longer. I have a ton of product which we use, give away to friends and family and donate. It seems I never get low because there is always another great deal to be found. I get good deals from watching the sales, using my coupons and looking for Catalina deals. I do not have to use store brands to get them free. I have Loreal, Dove, Herbal Essence, Pantene, Infusium and my latest haul was on John Frieda. As you all know, these products can be expensive. I usually get the regular size bottles, but last year was able to get the large family size bottles… over 30 bottles FREE. Again, FREE is good, but my John Frieda deal was a money maker.

John Frieda was $5.99 a bottle at Walgreen’s. This included shampoo, conditioner and hair care products. They had it on sale for B1G1 50% off. There were $3/2 coupons out for the deal.
2 John Frieda items @ $5.99 $11.98
50% off one -$3.00
$3 /2 coupon -$3.00
two products $5.98

Less than $6 for two bottles of John Frieda is not a bad deal, but I am much too cheap to pay that much for even really good shampoo. Lucky for me there was a Refund Reward (RR) for $9 OYNO which printed out each time I purchased two JF items. I gave them $6 and they gave me $9 and two bottles of John Frieda! I was paid $1.50 for each bottle I “bought.” After special ordering the products in advance, I came home with over 40 products and over $60 extra!

Soap or body wash: In March there was a great at Walgreens that ended on a Saturday and another great sale starting on Sunday so we had a Girls’ Weekend Out in Vegas. Olay soap was on sale for $2 for a 2 pack of soap. There were $2 off coupons, so FREE soap. But again there was a great RR available. Buy 2 packs of soap for $4 and get a $4 RR. So For every two packages of soap I got FREE I was “paid” $4! I think I came home with about 50 packages of soap, 28 bottles of shampoo, a bunch of other bargains and an extra $130!