-
Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
We've just started doing coupons and bargain hunting in my house with groceries, and I wanted to start a "brag" thread. Hopefully it will encourage us all to become better bargain-hunters. After all, why pay full price for anything?
So, I'm inviting everyone to contribute their GREATEST bargain-hunting coup. A woman in Tennessee got $380 worth of groceries for TWO CENTS! How can you do?
My best so far was a Walgreen's grocery run last night. I used the store specials, store coupons, and manufacturer's coupons. I paid $24.71 and I "saved" $24.35, which means that I actually saved 49.63%!
And I'm going to add a ticker at the bottom of my siggie with the amount I've saved on my expenses.
Who wants to join me?
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
I got my renewal for my health insurance. It's an HSA, me plus 3 dependents with a $3,850 deductible. It's really a good plan backed by United. Anyhow the premiums were raised to $471. That seemed high so I looked online and found that their rate for a new member was $348. I was like wth? I called and they said thats only for new members and since I've been on the plan for three years I had to pay more. Huh? I haven't had many claims at all. Simple routine stuff. So then I go to Blue Cross and price them out. An HSA with a $3,000 deductible is only $265!!! I quickly signed up. I figure to save about $2,400. Yea me!! :)
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
Does this count non-essentials as well? My greatest bargain to date is the pair of black Michael Kors strappy heels I scored @ DSW for 16.99 ($125 original price). I still get a thrill when I slip them on, a year later!
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Morgan_TX
... A woman in Tennessee got $380 worth of groceries for TWO CENTS! ...
No.Way. Is that a true story?!
I have fallen absolutely in love with eBay. I just got my very first purchase today in the mail, and I was so excited! And I just keep bidding and bidding. I have a feeling some of the stuff is like, stolen goods or something. But I can't say no to the prices!
And as far as coupons, I need to find some damn good ones, cuz the last time I tried using coupons, I got like $.47 off my purchase. Boo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cutey5032
.... CL is awesome for bargain hunting and doesn't rape you with "shipping and handling fees" like Ebay
Crap.
Internet shopping is like crack. It's worse than real-life shopping!!
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Laylas
Does this count non-essentials as well? My greatest bargain to date is the pair of black Michael Kors strappy heels I scored @ DSW for 16.99 ($125 original price). I still get a thrill when I slip them on, a year later!
Yep. Non-essentials count!
I've been a bargain hunter for years, but I generally did it by buying a bunch of crap. Now that I've discovered how much I can save with coupons and sales, I can actually buy higher-quality, name-brand stuff and spend about the same (or even a bit less) than I did on generic, store-brand crap!
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
i bought like 300 square feet of marble tile for $70 , SCORE!
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
PrettyCurlieQ
No.Way. Is that a true story?!
And as far as coupons, I need to find some damn good ones, cuz the last time I tried using coupons, I got like $.47 off my purchase. Boo.
PCQ, here's the story: http://www.11alive.com/news/article_...storyid=115698
And my advice for coupons is to combine coupons with the sale items. Walgreen's is GREAT for this. Also, sign up for CVS Extra Bucks program. Combine the sale items with coupons FOR the sale items.
For example, this week at Walgreen's (this is in OUR town, PCQ), all Almay products are BOGO (buy one get one free). There's a ton of other brands on BOGO or BOGO1/2 (buy one get the second half price).
This week, Walgreen's had a coupon in their weekly circular (store coupon) for Tums 2/$7. Since they're normally $4.49 each, that's already a savings of $1.98. I looked on-line and found a coupon for $1.25 off of ONE bottle of Tum's (manu. coupon). I can use three coupons for these two bottles: one store coupon (since the offer is a twofer) and two manu. coupons (one for each bottle), which means that I saved an extra $2.50 with manu. coupons. That means that I saved a total of $4.48. Basically, I got the second bottle of Tums for FREE.
At Albertson's this week, I found turkey franks (hot dogs) on sale at 2/$5 (normally $4.49 ea). I also had two coupons from the manufacturer for $1 off, so I paid $4 for $8.98 worth of hot dogs. I bought Kleenex Cotonelle toilet paper, normally $8.59, for only $5.99. Then I had a coupon for $0.75 off, so I paid only $5.24 for $8.59 of toilet paper.
Does that make sense? I'm still waiting on my CVS Extra Bucks card so that I can start using all CVS's programs.
Oh, a word of caution--use a spam-catcher e-mail if you plan to do online couponing. You will get a lot of spam.
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
Here's a list of a few of my favorite sites for bargain-hunting:
www.coolsavings.com - You have to sign up and you WILL get a lot of spam.
www.eversave.com - No sign-up necessary and good grocery deals.
www.smartsource.com - Not a lot of good stuff, but a few gems.
www.bettycrocker.com - Sign up and get lots of cool coupons and special offers.
www.kraft.com - Ditto the above.
www.smokersignup.com - For promo materials from Phillip-Morris brands.
Almost any chain supermarket or discount department store will have their current circulars on-line. Just go to their website (google them if you have to) and look for "Special Deals" or "Current Ads" or something similar. What they do NOT have is their coupon policy. For that, you have to call the store. What I understand is as follows (but check with the store):
Wal-Mart: Price-matching of competitor's ads (bring in the ad). No double coupons. Will accept Internet coupons as long as there's a scannable barcode.
Target: No double coupons. Will accept Internet coupons as long as there's a scannable barcode.
Walgreen's: No double coupons. Will accept Internet coupons as long as there's a scannable barcode.
CVS: No double coupons. Will accept Internet coupons as long as there's a scannable barcode.
United: No double coupons. Will accept Internet coupons as long as there's a scannable barcode.
Albertson's: Will double coupons up to $1. Will accept Internet coupons as long as there's a scannable barcode. Be CAREFUL in Albertson's--they have a bad habit of making very misleading ads (advertising a certain size of a product that they don't have in stock, advertising "selected varieties" and then not having any varieties marked, etc. I blew $30 at Albertson's this week because I wasn't paying attention.)
In all cases, know what you're paying for and how much you're paying for it.
Caveat emptor!
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
loveandluxury
Awesome thread idea :)
Thank you. Sometimes in Dollar Den, I feel pretty out of my league. I'm still trying to pay off debt, and until I get that done, I can't invest or do any of these other things that some of you ladies do so much. That said, I want to be more fiscally responsible.
I feel like bargain-hunting is something that ANYONE can do, regardless of their current financial footing, that will help them to focus on their finances and make things better.
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
Does double coupons mean using multiple coupons on one item?
And I was always under the impression that when something is on sale, nothing else counts. You know, no returns, no other offers... I need to do some learning!
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
Krogers doubles coupons up to 50 cents.
Also, you don't have to buy 2 items to get the "buy one get one free", they simply give you 1/2 price on the one item. This is awesome because you can combine a BOGO with a coupon to get a wicked deal .
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
^^^PCQ, "double" coupons mean that you present, say, a $0.50 coupon, and the store takes $1.00 off your total.
And in most cases, coupons and returns and whatnot count even when things are on clearance. UNLESS it says, "Not void with any other offers". The reason is simple: When a store discounts a product, the store takes the loss on that. When a manufacturer gives a coupon, the mfg. takes the loss. The mfg. refunds the store for all their coupons.
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Laylas
Krogers doubles coupons up to 50 cents.
Also, you don't have to buy 2 items to get the "buy one get one free", they simply give you 1/2 price on the one item. This is awesome because you can combine a BOGO with a coupon to get a wicked deal .
It depends on the store and how it's configured. Albertson's does NOT make you buy the whole lot, like when they do "10/$10", it's just $1, no matter how many items you buy. Walgreen's, OTOH, will not give you the discount UNLESS you buy the number of items specified.
And if you're using a coupon that specifies "2 for $1" or "$1 off two" or something similar, you HAVE to buy that number of items.
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
^^^ ^^^Yup, to clarify, I was still talking about Krogers :) They also do not make you buy all 10 for the "$10/10" deal, it is just suggestive advertising to try and move more product.
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
Here's a great example: If you go to CVS this week and buy a CoverGirl TruBlend powder, blush, concealer, or bronzer (about $6.79) with the card, you get a second one of any of those products for FREE. Now I just so happen to have two CoverGirl coupons for $1.50 off of ANY CG product. So here's how it would break down:
Powder: $ 8.00
Concealer: $ 7.00
==================
Total Purchase $ 15.00
Second Free -- 7.00
Coupons (2) -- 3.00
==================
Total Paid $ 5.00
Now, let's say that while I'm there, I pick up a compact of Almay's Intense I-Color ($6.99). That carries a $5 Extra Bucks Register Reward on it. So I go through checkout and tell them that my first transaction is the Almay Intense I-Color. I pay them my $6.99 and they hand me a receipt. At the bottom of the receipt is a Register Reward for $5. I have them scan the CG stuff (above) and give them my Register Reward for $5, and I've just gotten ALL of that make-up for $6.99.
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
CVS is fuckin awesome with the coupons, buy one get one free and extra bucks. Check out this thread for the whoel scoop:
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
I saved $160 on some bustiers from Bebe .I bought 2 of them and got them for $5 dollars each. They were originally priced like $89.00 .They are super cute I love them and love that I only paid $10 bucks for them!
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
There is also these sites for savings
There is also others im sure im missing but when I find them I will post them.
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
I managed to order my Rion greenhouse direct from Israel for $4000 (shipping included), instead of paying $4,700 through any US distributor.
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
Before trading my car in, I looked up it's blue book trade-in value. When I went to trade it in, the dealer offered me $1,500 below that value. When I refused to take anything lower, he eventually offered my the extra $1,500 above his original offer.
-
Re: Bargain Hunting Brag Thread
I bargain-hunted my engagement ring, knowing that K would just go to a jeweler and pay something ridiculous. We got a $2500 ring for less than $750, brand new and custom made. And it came with two 10% off coupons that we can apply to the wedding bands.