yay for triples!

warning: i'm about to bore you with couponing babble :)

guess how much that lovely collection of yummies cost me. go on, guess. it's a pretty good load of stuff, right? i mean....i didn't even compare to some of the ladies i saw with absolute mountains of stuff in their carts. i have no idea how they work that out - especially with the 20 coupon limit rule. but i was pretty pleased with my collection. there are only 3 things from my list i didn't get. two of them were out of stock, and the third - i'd already reached my 20 coupon limit. so, i'm going back friday morning to pick those things up. and perhaps a few other things, depending on what other deals i uncover & have coupons for.

this is my first hard core triples experience. i did participate in harris teeter's recently, but that was my very first week of couponing ever - and....well, i wasn't very good. i still saved 40% off my bill, but i'd acquired zero skill at that point so i'm counting this as my first real triples.

i broke it down for you in quite a bit of detail. the starting price of each item, minus bonus card savings, minus store coupons, minus manufacturer coupons tripled, equals total. but you know...it was a lot of numbers, and a lot of senseless abbreviations so, here's just the original starting price (as stated on my receipt), and the price i paid out of pocket.

(OOP = out of pocket)

Cottonelle 4 Pack Toilet Paper $4.15, $1.00 oop
Thomas' Plain Bagels $3.99, $1.34 oop
Windex Antibacterial $3.65, $0.74 oop
Country Crock $2.19, $1.44 oop
Betty Crocker Frosting $1.85, FREE
Betty Crocker Cake Mix $1.85, $1.00 oop
Betty Crocker Cookie Mix $1.99, FREE
Knorr Sides (2 of them) $2.15 x 2 = $4.30, $2.05 oop for both ($1.02ish ea)
Lipton Tea 24ct Tea Bags $3.69, $1.00 oop
Betty Crocker Flavored Potatoes (2 of them) $1.75ea, $0.60 oop for both ($.30ea)
Total Cinnamon Crunch Cereal $3.99, $1.74 oop
Lucky Charms Cereal $3.55, $0.35 oop
Dial Foaming Hand Wash $2.45, $0.60 oop
Cascade Gel Dishwasher Detergent $5.65, $3.24 oop
Renuzit Adjustables (3 of them) $1.49ea, $2.10 oop for all 3 ($.70ea)
Softsoap Antibacterial $1.95, FREE
Progresso Soup (2 of them) $2.69ea, $1.50 oop for both ($.75ea)
Ronzoni Pasta $1.89, $0.25 oop

Total after everything was scanned = $61.63
Total paid OOP after coupons = $18.63 (!!!!)

70% savings! i'm no pro just yet, but i'm so excited about this! one thing that messed with my numbers was the cascade. it was still a deal, but had i left it out it would have made my percentage better. however, we needed it. we only have like 2 loads of dishes left on our current bottle....so better to get it during triples than not.

also, husband came with me. this is good, and bad. it was good because he helped me juggle the coupons, and he kept tabs on the store coupons we collected as we walked in (matching them up with my coupon list, tearing them out and such). however - a few of the things he wanted (though reasonable) also messed with my numbers. but, i'm not complaining - i'm totally happy with this.

you should have seen his face as we were walking out. he had this HUGE smile that would not fade. he couldn't believe how much he saw the numbers drop. when we got home he kept saying "baby, i'm SO glad you got into this". so him coming along was worth it, just to see how happy it made him.

oooh this is addicting :)