Couponing for Charity: Super Score!

Something new I'm going to show off from time to time.

I like to try and spend some money each month (or pool it) on things I can donate to charity.  It fulfills my desire to hunt for good deals and my desire to just buy stuff (you know, sometimes you just want to buy something!) but it keeps me focused and I have an outlet for what I buy.

I have a futon in my workout room that I store it all on and when the futon gets full I make a donation.  Usually that takes a while since I really only focus on a few categories.

I like to buy more non-grocery items like school supplies, laundry soap, paper products, and HBA products.  (I also buy some toys and hats/socks/gloves).  Oh, and I buy pet food, too, but I don't store that on the futon (that is stored in my kitchen).  I have outlets for all of these categories so I'll never run into a hoarding situation.

SO. . .true confession time. . .my favorite deals to find are on feminine hygiene products.  That shit is so crazy expensive and when I can get it for pennies on the dollar it gives me JOY.  (another true confession, I had a hysterectomy years ago, so I don't even use the damn things anymore so it's ALL for charity).

I hit the MOTHER LOAD of fem hygiene last weekend.

That there is SIX boxes (three tampon, two pad, one liner).

How much did I pay (out of pocket)?

$3.64

YES, you read that right.  I only had to produce $3.64 to take that all from Target.

How did I accomplish such a marvelous act?

First, I had really good coupons.  $2 off of EACH of the U by Kotex items.  $3 off of EACH of the Playtex items.  THEN, I had Cartwheel which took 20% off each of the black box U by Kotex.

So in discounts I saved $17.80.

(the Playtex items were $3.99 each, the white box was $5.49, and the black boxes were $6.99. . .none were on sale at all, those are full retail prices.  Full retail cost would have been:  $31.44)

$31.44 - 17.80 = 13.64

THEN, I paid using $10 in gift cards I received about a month ago.  I got the gift cards for buying cat food and cat litter, both of which were the brands my cats use (so I count those kinds of gift cards as truly "found" money).

SO, I only had to come up with $3.64 cash to pay for my fem hygiene.  That's only 60 cents per box!

AND. . .AND. . . Target was doing one of their "buy three, get a $5 gift card" on the U by Kotex branded items so I have a $5 gift card to use some other time.

I love the Target gift card racket.  I get them all the time from pet items and then I use them to buy charity stuff.

And in that same trip I gathered up some clearance kids hats (2 pack for $3.50) and women's stretch gloves ($1.75 each).  I hope those all get marked down again so I can grab up some more for even less.