Free Stuff: Is it worth it?
It seems that the FREE TP deal is DEAD!!! Kroger took the stuff off of the shelves this weekend. Alas, all great deals must come to an end eventually. But, as we couponers lament, we take solace in knowing that there are other deals to be had and we, gosh darn it, will find them.
Today we ate dinner for $1.20 TOTAL. I got a free coupon for a crock pot meal writing Banquet. Honestly, I'd never buy that stuff if it wasn't free. It just doesn't take much effort to do it yourself and fresh is best. BUT, I can't deny free and it's easy enough that Nick made this meal himself. In fact, I've had a weekend reprieve from meal making... that's right, ALL WEEKEND LONG. Nick did it all. Lovely!
We can look forward to the Banquet meal every three months (when I'm able to write the company again and request more coupons.) Add in the $.20 Pilsbury biscuits deal I got and $1 for romaine lettuce and you've got a meal for a family of four for $1.20 (with just two adults and one child not even really eating much there is a ton left over for several lunches this week... this could easy serve 5 adults). Not bad at all.
Which gets me to coupons and shopping fever. This meal was an exception. There are a lot of things I simply will not purchase, free or not. It's hard to resist shopping fever when I can get Betty Crocker Warm Delights and Resses Whips for nothing at all. But none of that kind of sugary crud belongs in the house. There's a reason some of the stuff is free.
But when you fine that gem of deal, of a product worthy of much more, it makes me quiver with delight. Take this deal for example, I got 16 bars of children's soap this weekend at several places for free. I was careful as to not draw attention to myself and do it in one place. The soap is great stuff. Check out this blog on how to do it:
http://www.dealseekingmom.com/free-johnson%E2%80%99s-buddies-soap-coupons-reset/
(NOTE: I did have a little trouble at Wal-mart when purchasing my first batch of soap. The cashier refused to take the IP's, but I called for the manager and told them this wasn't their corporate policy and that I'd be reporting them to corporate. They quickly apologized and took my coupons.)
On a separate note:, I'd also like to send a shout out to my step-dad Mike who printed out a bunch of extra Huggies coupons for us. Thank you!! As Nick said, he is helping to feed my habit. He's an enabler. Thanks to him, I won't be paying over 5 bucks for diapers for a very long time. If that wasn't enough I discovered how to get an additional .75 cents of rebate on every pack of diapers here on top of my already great deals! I'm getting nice quality diapers for less then generic. (For my Albuquerque readers, you can do this at Smith's. Even if you are a cloth diaper person, you can always use one or two sets for when you are in a pinch!)
Huggies on sale for 9.99x2=19.98
-(2) $5 IPs on gentle care
-$3 cellfire/2
-1.50/1 u-promise for college
-.75x2 caretakers rebate
=3.98 for 2 packs of diapers or 1.99 each.... that's right two bucks for diapers!!!
At this point, I'm considering getting free (or close to free) pantry staples, diapers, and other hygienic products I don't really need together for a food pantry and/or homeless shelter. It's so easy to give back that way, it's a shame not to. The money I'm not spending in toiletries, diapers, and the occasional processed food item I can now roll into our garden or farmer's market in summer. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner.
Today we ate dinner for $1.20 TOTAL. I got a free coupon for a crock pot meal writing Banquet. Honestly, I'd never buy that stuff if it wasn't free. It just doesn't take much effort to do it yourself and fresh is best. BUT, I can't deny free and it's easy enough that Nick made this meal himself. In fact, I've had a weekend reprieve from meal making... that's right, ALL WEEKEND LONG. Nick did it all. Lovely!
We can look forward to the Banquet meal every three months (when I'm able to write the company again and request more coupons.) Add in the $.20 Pilsbury biscuits deal I got and $1 for romaine lettuce and you've got a meal for a family of four for $1.20 (with just two adults and one child not even really eating much there is a ton left over for several lunches this week... this could easy serve 5 adults). Not bad at all.
Which gets me to coupons and shopping fever. This meal was an exception. There are a lot of things I simply will not purchase, free or not. It's hard to resist shopping fever when I can get Betty Crocker Warm Delights and Resses Whips for nothing at all. But none of that kind of sugary crud belongs in the house. There's a reason some of the stuff is free.
But when you fine that gem of deal, of a product worthy of much more, it makes me quiver with delight. Take this deal for example, I got 16 bars of children's soap this weekend at several places for free. I was careful as to not draw attention to myself and do it in one place. The soap is great stuff. Check out this blog on how to do it:
http://www.dealseekingmom.com/
(NOTE: I did have a little trouble at Wal-mart when purchasing my first batch of soap. The cashier refused to take the IP's, but I called for the manager and told them this wasn't their corporate policy and that I'd be reporting them to corporate. They quickly apologized and took my coupons.)
On a separate note:, I'd also like to send a shout out to my step-dad Mike who printed out a bunch of extra Huggies coupons for us. Thank you!! As Nick said, he is helping to feed my habit. He's an enabler. Thanks to him, I won't be paying over 5 bucks for diapers for a very long time. If that wasn't enough I discovered how to get an additional .75 cents of rebate on every pack of diapers here on top of my already great deals! I'm getting nice quality diapers for less then generic. (For my Albuquerque readers, you can do this at Smith's. Even if you are a cloth diaper person, you can always use one or two sets for when you are in a pinch!)
Huggies on sale for 9.99x2=19.98
-(2) $5 IPs on gentle care
-$3 cellfire/2
-1.50/1 u-promise for college
-.75x2 caretakers rebate
=3.98 for 2 packs of diapers or 1.99 each.... that's right two bucks for diapers!!!
At this point, I'm considering getting free (or close to free) pantry staples, diapers, and other hygienic products I don't really need together for a food pantry and/or homeless shelter. It's so easy to give back that way, it's a shame not to. The money I'm not spending in toiletries, diapers, and the occasional processed food item I can now roll into our garden or farmer's market in summer. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner.
Labels: coupons
posted by Out in Them Sticks at
March 15, 2009
2 Comments:
Awesome deals! I know what you mean about the junk food coupons. It seems like such a great deal but then when I look at what's in some of the stuff it makes my teeth hurt.
you should check out http://www.5dollardinners.com
it seems up your alley
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