Not So "Extreme" Couponing

I bought the AZ Republic on Sunday to take advantage of the "savings" that the "coupons" offer. I also linked my Fry's VIP card to their "e-coupons" and excitedly planned my shopping around the coupons and the weekly ad.

Today was the day. I wandered through the store for a hour and a half (minus the time I debated over low dose aspirin and generic Robitussin with the only active ingredient being Guaifenesin) checked and and re-checked my list and made sure my name brand items were part of the "buy 5 save $5" promotion. I also had to resist telling random strangers about my "buy one, get one" e coupon I had for ice cream. Checking out I proudly handed over my VIP card and coupons (including the "spend $25 save $5" from Fresh and Easy...love it!)  and my total was $88.45. Whaaaat? Not the savings I was expecting :(

I did some mental math, ok so I did have to buy all new flour, sugar and salt to replace what was lost in the "Ant Attack of 2011" that you can read about here.  I also bought the aforemenioned asprin and Robitussin, dog food and a pound of Salmon (which in my defense was on sale for $4.99/lb).

Before I left the store I scanned the receipt and noticed that I was charged $12.14 for my $5 worth of salmon and the buy one, get one e coupon was not applied for the ice cream. Embarrassing as it was, I trudged over to the customer service desk where I was refunded $6 for the difference in the salmon and instructed to call the 800 number to redeem the BOGO coupon for the ice cream. This brings the total down to roughly $76. The coupons saved me a whopping $3 (minus the $2 I spent on the paper to obtain such coupons), my VIP card savings however, were $48.32. Can't complain there.

I can live with it, I did get some great deals due to in store sales and stocked up on snacks that a certain husband is capable of devouring within minutes (so I guess it's ok that I accidentally bought 3 boxes of Chicken n Biscuit instead of 2, whiskey tango...I know.). I'm particularly excited about the Nurti-Grain bars for $1.99, Minute Maid Lemonade for $1, and organic Fuji apples for $0.88/lb.

My main complaint about these extreme couponers is that a) they never buy fresh meat or produce and 2) they buy sh*% they don't need! I may not have saved 1,257%  but we will use/eat all of what I bought including the blueberries, grapes, cucumbers, mushrooms, italian sausages and zucchinni (I plan to bake muffins). Take that crazy couponers!