Bargains*updated

Here is a fun and not really related to PAing post.

I just returned from a shopping trip to Walgreens. Here is a picture of $50 of merchandise that I purchased.

Shown above are: 2 bottles Glade Air Freshener, 3 packages of AA batteries, 2 boxes of muffin mix, 2 packages of cough drops, 4 cans of Progresso Soup, 4 cans of tuna, 3 bottles of dish soap, 2 packages of Jello, and 4 packages of pudding.

Now, those of you who know me must be saying to yourself  "She doesn't have a lot of money, why would she go out and spend $50 on stuff she pretty much doesn't need?"

Well, let's just say that I didn't exactly pay $50. I used a bunch of coupons, and the total was....

....

....

$1.60! Yes, I wrote that correctly. I am going to be straight up honest and admit after leaving the store, I was beaming inside.

Yes, because of my living situation I don't really need any of this stuff, but with the holidays right around the corner, I am positive there is a women's shelter or food pantry that does. It just works out perfectly for me, in terms of finding some way to give back to my community. I don't have a lot of money, and although I have some time, my schedule is random and doesn't allow me to make a commitment. It took about two hours to clip, organize, and figure out deals with the coupons, but it was well worth it.

This whole experience kind of ties into an epiphany I had the other day. I was thinking about various problems in rural med, and how it really truly is expensive to eat healthy. Think about how much it costs alone just to get your weekly requirements of fruits and veggies. It is hard to recommend to poor patients they need to lose weight and make smarter food choices, when the most inexpensive foods are the ones that are usually the worst for you. Therefore I was thinking "Well, what if when you're practicing, you write a blog telling patients where all the sales and deals are on healthy food, and how to use those in healthy recipes?" I think it could be a great idea. However, I do feel deep down that probably it wouldn't work out, because some nutritionist would pipe up and say "Sure there's a sale for tuna 4/$1, but tuna's not healthy! Nor is soup!" or some other issue and would keep it from really happening. Who knows though...it is something to think about.

Moral of this post, summed up by my brother-in-law's words: "At first I thought that couponing was only for moms and grandmas, but once I started seeing how much [my sister] is saving, I was into it!" It can seem silly and time consuming, but think about acting upon a few deals this holiday season and making a donation to a local charity :)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I should have told you guys how I got all these things so cheap! With Walgreens, they produce an insert in the Sunday paper that shows all their sales PLUS gives you coupons. Well, you take the Walgreens coupons and "stack" them with the general coupon inserts that you have seen floating around (they're called Red Plum and Simple Source, or something like that). So take the Glade sprays for example, Walgreens has them on sale for 99 cents. I had a manufacturer's coupon for a buy one get one free. Total cost of each spray? 50 cents! There's also a website called coupons.com where you can print out coupons. I haven't tried that yet. ALSO Walgreens also puts out a monthly savings coupon booklet, which supposedly is at the front of the store (I haven't tried to find it yet). That means if you combine a savings booklet coupon + Walgreens coupon + manufacturer's coupon, you're gonna get things for wicked cheap!!

Also with Walgreens, they have this thing called "Register Rewards," which I think CVS has a version of (extra care bucks?). You will buy something, and if it has lets say 3 Register Rewards, the receipt machine will print off a $3 coupon off your next purchase for anything. The very first time I couponed I did something like that. Almay foundation was $9.99 and produced a $10 register reward. Their mascara was 4.99 and produced a $5 register reward (The manufacturers gave those deals). HOWEVER, Walgreens had also posted a buy one get one free with all Almay makeup, so this is how things went down. I got the foundation for $10, got the mascara for free with BOGOF, and after I paid for the makeup, the receipt machine spat out the $10 and $5 register rewards. That means I MADE $5 off of that purchase (since I got $15 in register rewards and only paid $10). I don't wear makeup, but the fact that I made $5 allowed me to put it towards today's purchase and sweeten the deal.

Check this website which will show you how to combine coupons to get some FREE items this week at Walgreens!

http://hip2save.blogspot.com/2009/11/walgreens-possibly-free-noxzema-razors.html

Phew, does that all make sense? I'm thinking about putting everything in a box and keeping it in my trunk and running a little dollar store. Everything I "make" will be put towards charity as well, and it helps my friends out by letting them get stuff for cheap without doing the work to find the deals. We'll see how that goes however.