YES!  So, I’m thinking my large Extreme Couponing in Excellence trips are a little overwhelming for some of you?  I’ve decided to start breaking it down into small bites. Beginning with this posting I will continue a series of posts that show single transactions of small amounts of items.  Yes, extreme couponing works for large orders and small orders.

For example, one of my favorite snacks are nuts.  The problem is, they can be very expensive because I like to enjoy deluxe mixed nuts, cashews and almonds.  However, as an Extreme Couponer I know to look out for the great sales and only purchase at that time.  Once a year I find a really good sale on Emerald Nuts in the green canisters.  Well, I just found a great deal this week at Weis!  To make it even better, this past Sunday’s coupon inserts included a ‘$1 off one canister’ coupon.  But to make it even sweeter…I already had several ‘$1.50 off 2 canister’ coupons in my organized coupon binder!!  Let me show you the picture of the nuts, the current Weis ad and the coupons I used and then I’ll explain it for you.

So, here’s the breakdown:

Before savings:

• Emerald Nut Canisters sell for 6.99 each (four canisters $27.96)
• Pepsi two liters sell for $1.89 each (two sodas $3.78)
• Total of this transaction BEFORE savings: $31.74

Well, of course I didn’t pay $31.74!  Do you think I’m nuts?  (pun intended!)  This is how my mini transaction went:

• Emerald Nut Canisters were on a buy one/ get one free (BOGO) sale.  Right off the bat I’ve saved approximately half my money from the above regular price transaction!
• Pepsi two liters were on sale for $1 each which again, is approx 50% savings!
• This would make our subtotal $15.98 (not bad- a savings of 15.76 which is approximately 50% savings)

However, we aren’t finished yet…

I had 2 manufacturer coupons for $1.50 off two canisters (like the coupon in the picture).  I was able to use two of these coupons since I was purchasing four canisters.  These two coupons just saved me an additional $3!  (total savings so far of $18.76)

However, we still aren’t finished…there’s one more layer of savings!  See the Weis ad in the picture?  If you purchased a Sunday paper, your Weis ad had a special coupon of $3 off a $30 order.  Weis counts your total order price BEFORE coupons and sale prices!  That means I qualified for the $3 off coupon from Weis.  Which brings my grand total to….drum roll please…

$10.10 (which includes tax) for four nut canisters and two large bottles of soda!  A total savings of $21.76 which is 68%!!  

Now that’s a deal I can go nutty for!

The nuts have an expiration date of 2013 so I purchased this same transaction 3 times and am the proud owner of 12 canisters of nuts and 6 bottles of soda.  Ahhhh…I’ll make it to next year’s big sale!  It’s not too late for you to cash in on this deal if you have coupons from last Sunday’s paper.  Weis’ ad runs through Saturday night.

*the $3 coupon on the front of the Weis ad was only available in the ads found in the Sunday newspapers, not in the ads on the store stand.  Also, take note, although most publications had this coupon printed on the Weis ad, there were some regions that did not.  The Lancaster and Daily Local newspapers had the coupons.  You can use a coupon for every transaction that qualifies which is the beauty of purchasing multiple newspapers.

We still have openings for our March 17th Extreme Couponing in Excellence workshop at the Family Center of Gap.  REGISTER and begin your savings right away!