Coupon Doublers....

I went on a little binge shopping spree last night at the local Albertsons'. I bought into the Proctor and Gamble deal where you buy $30 of the selected items and get $10 towards your next purchase. I ordered my coupons early and they were in the mail on Friday. By Saturday they were burning a hole in my pocket. I just knew that if I went shopping on Saturday, there would be doublers in the Sunday ad. Guess what? I'm kicking myself today!! I should have waited till Monday, like I always do...but I put the cart before the horse and it cost me some $aving$! Oh well. I'm here to share so that you can save your cash and stockpile your pantry--so even this experience was a reminder that we are playing a game of wits and mystery. Patience is sometimes our friend.


I know...I got a great deal even without the doublers and I'm still beating myself up. I bought 4 cases of paper towels (regularly $9.99 each), 9 bottles of Herbal Essence hair gels ($3.69-$4.29 each), 1 Cover Girl Mascara ($5.19) for the new teen in our family, 12 packages of the superior Glide dental floss ($3.99 each), and 20 bottles of Pringles (regularly $1.99 each) for $54. But if I had extended a little self-control or had a magical crystal ball--I could have save more than half of what I spent; taking the savings from a 65% savings to 75-80% savings. So here's the plan. I still have more coupons...much to my delight. The Pringles will be free. The Herbal Essence goods will be free. And I am going to go through my stack of coupons and make a buying strategy that will make most people weep. Heehee. It's that time of the year...Hunting Season--and I love a good hunt...if you know what I mean.


Doublers are free money. They take the face value of a coupon, up to $1 each, and double it. You are allowed the three in the ad flyer per transaction. These babies are worth bucks and bring out the dumpster diver in me. When you combine them with a pretty stellar deal already on ad in the store, like the Proctor and Gamble save $10--the savings can constitute a pretty hefty chunk of change. The trick is to use the coupons on the cheapest items, making them as close to free and then letting the $10 coupon cover the more expensive items and using the coupons on them that are not doubled, as well. Just remember, you can use ONE coupon PER item, but only 3 of the coupons can be doubled PER transaction. If you buy into the P&G deal, make sure that you are not going over the $30 transaction requirements. Keep the totals to the requirements and just do multiple transactions instead. You save TONS more money in the long-run.


So here are three words to inspire your grocery savings: PLAN, PLAN, PLAN.