My Crazy Coupon Savings of the Week

My friends and I had a girls night out and it felt so good to get out.  My husband is just so awesome about letting me get out with my friends and going kid free.  I think all moms should be able to get out once a week to wherever gives them a breather.  I love either going to a quiet bookstore, the mall.... no, just kidding on that one, or just hanging out at a friend's house while I cut coupons or something.  I can't just sit and do nothing if I'm at my friend's house.  I have to have my hands busy with something. Couponing is actually a hobby so it's not so much work.  

Speaking of couponing....

Last night I bought 12 boxes of cereal, 20 toothpastes (free), 20 toothbrushes (free), 2 whole chickens, 1 Purex detergent, 10 Right Guard deodorants (free), and 1 Angel Soft toilet paper (free).  

This SHOULD have cost me $204 but I only paid $37.  That is a savings of 82%!  Yeehaw!  I saved $167. 

I use coupons for every single thing I buy pretty much so that cereal was just dirt cheap.  Our kids go through at least 1 to 1 1/2 cereal boxes a day if they just eat a bowl in the morning.  This is only about 10 days worth of cereal. My husband was running low on our previous mens deodorant stash so it was time to refill it.  With 8 people in the family toothbrushes go fast.  Toothpaste not so fast.  It lasts quite awhile.  I probably have a 5 or 6 years stash.  Toilet paper?  Well, no need to explain why I needed that freebie.  I don't like to buy detergent since I make it myself for only $3 every 8 months but if I get a crazy deal on it somewhere, I'll buy it just as a back up.  I hate spending money on laundry detergent when it's easier to make than macaroni and cheese.  We were able to get a raincheck since all the Ivory body wash was sold out. We didn't have any coupons for it but if something is a dollar on sale and they are out, we'll get the rain check for future use when we finally do get some coupons. That's what I did with the deodorant so all 10 were free.  

Anyway, that's my fun and crazy deal of the week that I wanted to share.  Michele and I went couponing real late at night and it took about 45 minutes just to check us out.  They had only the self checkout lanes open.  We asked them if they wanted to just open a regular lane but they said no.  They regretted that decision since the machines kept freezing up and there were so many coupons.  The manager told us next time they'll open a lane up just for us.  :D