Spending to Save...

So I'm not sure if I'm alone in this, but this week as I've continued with my bargain & coupon craze, my husband has issued a lot of "just don't go overboard on the buying" statements as he's seen me come in with bag after bag after bag (after bag after bag...) and figures I couldn't possibly have gotten THAT good of a deal on ALL of this stuff. I know ultimately he trusts me (after all, I am in charge of the household finances), but I have taken it upon myself to truly convince him of my wise spending by showing him how much I've saved & projecting the future & telling him how buying all of these items now, while they are dirt cheap will save us so much money in the long run because we won't run out & have to buy the item at full price. I think he's starting to appreciate my craziness. Here are two examples of my latest shopping trips.

First, "Christmas in July: Part 2". I made another trip to Kmart's amazing clearance on top of clearance toy sale. Once again, I combined the already low prices with additional $5 off $20 toy purchase coupons I printed from home. For about $50, I got everything pictured below. It's well over $400 worth of toys. To give you an idea, just the Baby Alive alone retailed for $59.99. I got my entire cart load for less than just that one toy retail.

Second, Albertsons. I was able to purchase everything pictured (including two gallons of milk) for $55.xx, plus received a free Redbox rental, $2 coupon off my next store purchase & purchased 10 qualifying products for the Kellogg's $10"Fuel for School" promotion featured here. Many people wonder how I am able to save 2x what I spend on groceries. My secret is using manufacturer coupons found in Sunday's paper (I only buy one...but imagine your savings if you picked up extra copies), mailbox mailers, in-store coupon machines & also printable coupons found online & combining them with store sales, store coupons & additional promos and rebates. If you are interested in some of my online coupon sources, leave me a comment & I'll do a future post about my online couponing sources.