Double Coupons Rule! My Kmart Adventure in Doubling my Savings fun.

I enjoy couponing...I am not going to lie to you. Something about getting items at a largely reduced rate or for free is just so appealing to me. I overheard one checker talking to a fellow checker about my bargain buying ways and was of the mindset that if she did not need the item right at that moment in time there was no reason to "buy" it, even if it was free. Clearly, I disagree. I was thinking about how rare stores offering FREE items is and if that comes at the cost of stockpiling, that is worth it to me...but then again I am a stay at home mom with little money and lots of free time. To me it is odd that so many people seem to dislike couponers...both employees and shoppers alike. It seems like we are looked down upon for wanting to spend less on items that are necessary to run our homes effectively. This I do not understand. In my opinion, prices are WAY TOO HIGH for household items, food included. Anyone who is willing to pay $8+ for store bought shampoo is throwing their money away! $8 is I dare say an outrageous price for generic hair cleaning products and that is just one example. If society wishes for us to keep our hygiene at an acceptable rate they should probably lower the prices of the products that allow us to do so. I will tell you from personal experience that when it comes to washing my hair or feeding my family, I choose food...I can smell to high heaven and not feel one ounce of remorse. I hate to sound repetitive, but if prices were fair for products we would not need coupons in the first place; just something to think about...and I digress to the title topic at hand; DOUBLE COUPONS!

So I am still learning the best deals for double coupons and the value of stockpiling good coupons, but this week's Kmart trip was fairly successful if I do say so myself. My first trip went smoothly with only one major hiccup. I was able to score...2 Scotch 6x9 padded shipping envelopes for FREE! I used two of the $0.50/1 Scotch packaging supplies coupon and the envelopes themselves were only $0.97. I was not able to profit from this, but free works just fine for me! Another bargain was the 12oz box of Rice Krispies I scored for only $0.25! I used the $1/1 coupon from the promotional Kellogg's coupons found in select Kellogg's products. The cereal itself was $2.25 before the coupon. I also snagged some family favorites one Starbucks Double Shot 15oz can on sale for $2. I used a $0.50/1 coupon I found on a tearpad at my local store making the drink a mere $1. I also grabbed two Starbucks double shot 4-packs. I coupled these with the two $2/1 coupons I had bringing the price down to $5.49 each. Not a great deal, but not too shabby either. The only hiccup was when my second $2/1 Starbucks 4-pack did not double. So instead of saving $8 on the two 4 packs of Double Shots, I only saved $6. This sucks because as all you couponers know, I would not have purchased the product without the coupon. So I wound up paying an extra $2 from what I originally planned, but it still turned out to be a good trip. Everything pictured below was $10.68. Pretty good considering one 4 pack of Starbucks goes for $7.49! The coupon gods did smile on me because later in the day on my CVS run the checker messed up and credited me an extra $1.79...fairly close to $2...coincidence? I think not!

My second trip to Kmart was a success and had a bonus surpirse for me! I picked up three A.1. sauces for under a $1 each. They were $4.99 for each 10 oz bottle and I used three of the $2/1 coupons saving $4 on each bottle. The Del Monte Fruit Chillers were 3 for $8 and I used the $1/2 coupons making both packages only $3.33. As a bonus I received a $3 off $20 on my next food purchase at Kmart which makes me want to head back before the double coupon sale ends. All in all, not a bad double coupon trip. As I said before I still learning when it comes to double coupons, so any input you might have would be great! I would love to know which coupons you specifically use for which items...I know I can do better than this! so please leave me comments and help a double coupon novice out!