Free is good! - latest shopping trip

New year, trying to get back into the swing of couponing every shopping trip. 

What motivates me most to get back on the bandwagon?.. Free stuff! (That and watching a whole bunch of extreme couponing shows)

So today.. I put together a good little bundle of stuff that was totally free and actually "paid" me to leave the store with it!

I utilized three different coupons, one price matching deal, and some novice cashiers to get all this for free. I printed as many of the coupons as I could, which ended up being 4 toothpaste ones, 2 cat food ones and 5 VH ones. Luckily two were through SmartSource, which is a coupon printing portal that also shows up on other couponing blogs as a sorta sub-portal (allowing you to print the same coupons again). I made sure all of my coupons had different "PIN numbers" and codes and then scoped out where the deals were on my Flipp app. 

VH coupons were any one packet for $1 and Real Canadian Superatore had them on for $1. I went to Freshco where they priced matched for a penny lower, and then confused the heck out of the cashier as I was holding $5 for a purchase of $4.95. We added a plastic bag and she rang it all through with a penny owing. 

I checked here for the other two deals but they didn't have the same items for the other deals. 

Perfect portions cat food were a totally free. I ended up going to Zehrs for the toothpaste deal and they had the cat food too. Totally free + a novice cashier meant she rang in the deals and removed the tax too. 

The toothpaste is a deal we can usually always get - it's one of those never pay for items! The coupon is buy 2 Crest products and save $2, and Zehrs had them on for $1 a piece. Again, the newbie cashier rang through the items and removed the tax too. I had to split this deal into 2 so that I could get around the "max 6" rule they had. This coupon usually comes with an exclusion line of "cavity protection" ones, but these coupons didn't.. Yay! 

Proud of my accomplishment, I brought everything home and took the top most picture. Then on top of everything, I always check the cash-back apps. Another Yay! The perfect portions cat food was on TWO of the apps! I ended up making $3.19 back through these apps. Checkout 51 for $2 and Save.ca for $1.19. 

It's no extreme couponing but it's a start to get me back in the game!

Stuff you should never buy without a coupon!

Free or nearly free sounds good right?

I've had experience with all of the below items, and it's a popular topic on coupon blogs - stuff you should NEVER pay retail for. 

If you're new to couponing, start here. 

At the Grocery Store:

--toothpaste, toothbrushes (and floss) - everyone knows a dentist visit will give you some free sample to use, but full size products are always going on sale too. Sales for these items typically go down to .99, and this is easily combined with 2 for $2 and $1 off coupons. These are items that should always be FREE for you!

--Deodorant - secret and old spice always have $1-$2 coupons, which are quickly combined with store sales for those amounts. Again, something that should always be FREE

--Candles - wait for the clearance sales and combine with the glad candle coupons that are always around for free or nearly free candles. 

--Air fresheners - Glade and Febreeze usually have coupons around, and I usually get these brands for free when I wait for a good sale to double up on a deal. 

--Dish soap - Palmolive and dawn have coupons, and a couple times a year, there are great sales that make high volume liquids for very cheap. On top of this, many dishwasher companies will have "full value" mail in rebates zoo try their products. I don't even have a dishwasher, and I have a few dishwasher cleaning products (would last me a few months when undo get a dishwasher haha)

--Paper products - no brainer if you've ever walked that aisle! Toilet paper, Kleenex and paper towel are always on sale! Combine great sales with coupons for that brand which are always around and never pay more than a toonie for 24 rolls! I even got expensive hot pink toilet paper for $1 because there was an in store sale and a promo coupon from the brand. 

-- food items: Soup, cheese, bread, Pasta (for the most part), bottled water. - these are items there are always coupons for and/or on sale. We've never paid more than $1 for a case of water. Cheese is expensive, so wait for the half off sales and combine with a coupon then. Same with pasta and sauce, it went on sale last week for $1 for a huge bag or one can. 

--Laundry soap and softener - same deal as above. Our favourite has been the arm and hammer massive jugs that go on sale for $12, combined with $3 off coupons. It's 5 months and were still on one jug!

--Cleaning supplies - windex and green works have been my best scores so far, as free on buy 2 get $4 deals when it went on sale for $1.99 each. 

The key for all of these is hanging onto your "high value" coupons until a good sale comes along for them. In some cases though, check those app rebates which may add onto a current sale + coupon to make the item completely free - I would use my coupon in these instances too. 

Not in the grocery store:

--Interest on credit cards - why? If you can't afford to pay for it, don't put it on the credit card! My favourite line on my credit card bill is the line about how long it would take to pay off my bill if I only made the minimum payment. Never! Credit cards have crazy interest rates, and this is how they make money. 

--Atm fees - plan ahead or shop at a place that gives cash back. Even buying a pack of gum and getting cash back at Walmart can be cheaper than using their $2 ATM fee across from the registers. 

--Calendars - if you need one, these are easily printed or requested like the Milk calendar.

--Return address labels - this is probably a tasteless one, but many charities will send out packages with your name and mailing address on them in the hopes that you will make a donation. War Amps, SPCA and others. 

--Grocery bags - buy some ikea ones once and always leave them in your car. 5 cents a bag adds up quick, plus you're helping the environment not contributing. Some places like NoFrills will have boxes at the front for you to put groceries in lieu of bags. If you absolutely need plastic bags, try shopping at Walmart where they are still free. 

--Stuff you won't use - this seems simple but if there's an incredible sale on mustard but no one eats it in your house, the money spent would be a waste UNLESS you donate the item. I've done this with diapers and wipes when the deal was too amazing to pass up, but I don't have a baby.