Savings Roundup

So, I have always thought of myself as a good bargain hunter. I rarely ever pay full price for anything. For several years, I have taken advantage of all the great rebate freebies through Rite Aid and Walgreens. I don't think I have paid for shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, or toothbrushes for probably three years! I get excited when something is on sale AND I have a coupon! Garage sale bargains get me jazzed and I love shopping at thrift stores. But, I have recently discovered that this is all child's play for some. There is a whole world of couponing that I never even knew about. How did this happen? :)

I admit that I have become a bit lazy in my bargain hunting over the last few months and our budget has been hemorrhaging a bit. So, with a tip from my friend Sally, I decided to venture more into this very serious world of couponing to get back on track and to revive my love for finding the best bargains! So, I spent this weekend getting all of my coupons organized because I have learned through my couponing research that you need to acquire a large stash of coupons in order to take advantage of the best deals. I then scoured over all of the ads and came up with my plan of attack. Check it out:

ALL of this together was FREE. In fact, I actually EARNED money. $1.52, to be exact! The toothpaste (both Aquafresh and children's orajel), razor, and contact solution was all free after rebate. I had two $2.00 coupons for each of the contact solutions, which meant I earned $4.00. The deodorant deal was buy 5 and receive a $10.00 from Rite Aid. Each deodorant was regularly priced $3.48. Well, right beside the deodorant were coupons for $1.00. So, I grabbed 5 of those coupons for an additional $5.00 in savings! All of this would have cost me $49.35 if I had paid full price. Woohoo! Everything came from Rite Aid, except for the Razor (CVS).
Here are my best deals in this picture:
Aunt Millie's bread $0.30
4 boxes of cereal at $0.75 each
2 boxes of cereal at $1.45 each
2 salad dressings at $0.50 each
2 boxes of playtex at $2.00 each
5lbs of ground turkey at $0.90/lb
2 bags of organic carrots at $0.90 each
Total for everything pictured: $25.97
CVS had an incredible deal on Pampers. They were on sale for $8.99 with an additional $5.00 in extra care bucks (basically a gift card for CVS). I also had three $1.00 off coupons, which made these $2.99 each. Unbelievable! I also purchased these lithium batteries for $10.00 after extra care bucks. The batteries regularly cost $8.99.
So, how did I do? Granted, I did purchase some other items at the grocery store, but I saved so much money overall! The key, I am learning, is to stock up on on these deals. I also never really paid much attention to the rebate program at CVS, but there is a system! They offer several products every week in which you can earn "extra care bucks." Once you earn a few, then you use those to make the extra care bucks purchases the next week, virtually paying nothing out of pocket. Stack the extra care bucks with coupons and you can find some serious deals!

I would love to hear how you all save money. Any other couponing junkies out there? What else should I know?