It's all about the bottom line! What is your best price?

[luvscoming2usall]

This is very helpful to vets & newbies alike, thanks to all!!

I've been using coups full time since circa 2001 and I've always found for free:

Brillo and sponges (lifetime stash of both)
Electrasol (75/1 plus triples; happens at least once a year; stock up time)
Scrubbing Bubbles
Lysol products (sale, use 75/1; or B1G1)
Dish soap
body soap (dare I say Dove from a few years back LOL)
liquid body wash
liquid hand soap
aspirin (many brands)
vitamins
seasonal medicine cabinet products (stock up twice a year)
toothpaste
toothbrushes (various brands of both)
batteries
Single serve drinks (stock up for ex., at this time I'm buying all popular summer beverages using hot sales and coups)
cat treats (rather regularly with standard coup)
dog treats (sales & coupon)

Food (brands vary on sales)
Rice
Pasta
Cereal
Chips/pretzels/cookies
Candy
Tuna

I use coup overages on things like TP,PT and trash bags which are harder to find for free in my area.

Just like the song goes... everything has a season. Once you get into a groove you'll see what your local stores regularly offer. Plan to take advantage of it. Take it from a person who doesn't normally plan ahead, anyone can do it.

[goodncheap]

The only things I've gotten free so far are toothpaste & toothbrushes and some rebated items. I feel like I'll never pay for them again!

[CraazzyMom]

Nice lists! I, too, live in LOND and only have access to Walgreens (which will only accept 1 like coupon per transaction so it limits me greatly) and Walmart. We have an independent grocery store that is super expensive too... so no good deals there. I still manage to get plenty free thankfully!

Things I won't pay for:
toothbrushes
toothpaste
air fresheners
most OTC meds (I usually find it on clearance and match up coupons the end of the previous season)

I have other things I typically get free but will pay for if there is no deal at the time. I've only been at this about 8 months now and took a few months off because we had too big a stock pile.

[irishsheila]

I don't have doubles or triples, and I agree with all the lists people have posted. It just takes creativity.

[terrortoys]

Free's:
Cottonelle (I have about 65 4-pack rolls) $.99 and used $1.00 q's
Toothpaste
Chex Mix
Tostinos Pizza Rolls

Very cheap or close to free:
Shampoo / Conditioner
Body Wash
Deodorant
razors
pop 12 packs
cereal
candles
air freshners
feminie products
soap
laundry detergent
bleach

[Asasmommy]

Great lists! I have been couponing for almost 3 years and even now am just getting some good stockpiles going. It does take patience (and the right cpns).

Here's my list:

Laundry detergent (I have Tide that I bought last summer and will have enough to probably get me through at least the next 2 years...thank you CVS!!)
Dryer sheets (have been well stocked for over 2 years)
Feminine hygiene products (this was my first stockpile item...have donated tons and still have enough to see me through to menopause...j/k)
Dish soap
Dishwasher detergent (also have tons of Electrasol gelpacs/tabs)
Kitchen/Bathroom cleaning products
Toothpaste/Toothbrushes
OTC meds
Deoderant
S/C
Soap/Bodywash
Sunscreen (great to get at end of the season...just check exp date)

I stockpile food but we go through it so fast I feel like I'm always trying to keep ahead of it. I only have 3 boxes of cereal left (we eat TONS of cereal). I also stock up on Bird's Eye frozen veggies but my stockpile only lasts about a month or so. I need more cpns!!!!

[politjunkie]

For everyone interested in this... check this out, thanks little birdie

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums...est-price.html

[JoAnneTea]

This noob says, "How is this possible???" I don't live in an area that has double coupons. In fact the two times that I have gone to Albertsons the clerks were not that thrilled with my coupons and how I caught errors both times that resulted in a refund. Some were charges for items not recieved, some for a competitor's coupon that was not applied to every item, one for a coupon not applied, and one was for the register not being programmed to deduct a free with purchase on their advertised special! All said, my percentages at the grocery store are about 40% saved and I felt like I worked awfully hard for that!

[irishsheila]

Originally Posted by JoAnneTea This noob says, "How is this possible???" I don't live in an area that has double coupons. In fact the two times that I have gone to Albertsons the clerks were not that thrilled with my coupons and how I caught errors both times that resulted in a refund. Some were charges for items not recieved, some for a competitor's coupon that was not applied to every item, one for a coupon not applied, and one was for the register not being programmed to deduct a free with purchase on their advertised special! All said, my percentages at the grocery store are about 40% saved and I felt like I worked awfully hard for that!

A lot of the stuff listed, I get at Walgreens or RiteAid. They often have deals on toothpaste, shampoo, toothbrushes, deoderants, cleaning products, soaps and all kinds of stuff that are free or with coupons gift you a profit after rebate. They do this so often that I've stopped doing them unless I'm making money on them. In a given week, I usually get one or two toothpastes for free somewhere, most of which I give to our food bank or to friends. Last week I gave away 8 tubes that I accumulated just last month. Toilet paper I get at Albertson when they run the 10/$10 sale on Scott's TP every couple months (there is a $1/1 coupon for this from Scotts). So even without doubles, I do pretty well. Our coupons inserts suck pretty bad too and we don't get as many cents off as people in other areas nor the amount of inserts that other cities get. My dream is that at grocery store will do doubles in the future, but until then I just have to work a little harder to find the deals. Basically I cover a lot of stores in a week, usually after I drop the kids off at school. But the deals are there; you just have to look for them. I started a local Yahoo group and I have about 8 people on it. We share our deals with the rest of the group so that we can all take advantage of the ones in our area. Like I said, it's doable, it just takes some creativity.

[shelleyf]

[quote=gr8Idea;796299] After a product has been on the market a while, the coupon values decrease; for example, the Phenom razors had $4 coupons and $6 extra bucks when they first came out. Now the coupons are only $2, and no extra bucks. Oh, and they even put the online surveys in their package so you could earn a $10 gift card! I did two of them.

Yes I noticed that the value really got lowered a lot. I don't need any razors, though so that's good. I don't think the razors are worth the money they want you to pay for them. I didn't get any surveys in my packages though, so that was sad.