Giving

For about a year or so, I have been dabbling in coupons.  By no means am I an expert or an "extreme couponer", nor do I really want to be.  I don't dumpster dive for coupon inserts or bother the whole neighborhood for their, I just use what I get from the papers I receive (one at work and one at home) and occasionally I get a nice surprise when friends send coupons my way.  I am a fair weather couponer.  If I have time, I use them.  I will admit, when I don't have a coupon handy and I know I have it at home but still need the item, I cringe some at the few cents I'd save.  I do my best.  I enjoy it sometimes.  I think I've actually helped save my family money on groceries, but I don't keep track of the exact amounts.  For me, I mostly shop at Wal-Mart.  I know, I know....I am not a huge Wal-Mart fan.  It's terribly annoying to go there, they rarely have the specific item you went for, and I'd much rather spend my money locally....that being said, when times are tough, you gotta do what you gotta do.  One cool thing about Wal-Mart is that though they don't double coupons like some stores do, they do price match any other store's ad prices.  So throughout the week, when each stores' ads come out, I go through and circle what I need or might like to buy, check to see if I have correlating coupons and write it all out so I am prepared to shop (and don't take four hours shopping with a crabby three year old).  If I was just a tad bit more organized, I should write down the original price at Wal-Mart for the items I am price matching, but somehow that step always gets forgotten between looking for the correct item and a screaming child.  If I did that, it would certainly give me a better idea of how much I save.  I just know, on a really good shopping trip, I've left with a cart FULL of groceries for $36!

Anyway, I completely digress....  This week one of the local stores is having an amazing deal on Kraft products.  Most shredded cheeses, sliced cheese, chunk cheeses, and salad dressings are $0.99 each if you buy them in sets of 5.  There is also a Catalina from Kraft (coupon that prints at the register) that will print $10.00 savings on your next purchase.  So basically, you spend around $10 and can get 20 items.  I actually bought 56 items (Miracle Whip and Kraft Mayo is on sale for $1.99 and I got four of those, so I ended up short 4 items in my six transactions) for $20.62!!! 

Here is a list of what I bought:
25 x salad dressings
17 x bags of shredded cheese
10 x packs of American cheese slices
4 x Mayo/ Miracle Whip

OK, I know you're probably asking what the freak am I going to do with all this food?!?!  I am going to donate most of it to Salvation Army.  I actually went into this deal with the idea of getting a bunch of items to donate.  I rarely have the financial means to donate a lot of anything and that stinks.  I love the feeling of doing something good.  This deal has given me a great opportunity to do just that!  I am really excited.  I am going to take L down to the Salvation Army this afternoon so he can see that giving to people in need is a wonderful feeling.