A Spectacular Few Weeks

Sorry for the delay in posting to The Coupon Whisperer but I've been incredibly busy for the past few weeks due to a flood of SPECTACULAR deals. During this time I have been able to restock my supply of Ken's Marinade with about 4 dozen bottles. Also I now have enough coffee to last me until well into autumn. Other items which I now have in plentiful supply include olive oil, vegetable oil, dish soap, A/C filters, and TONS of both body wash and Air Wick starter kits including the new odor detectors. Meanwhile, my refrigerator is bursting at the seams with all the stuff I bought including lots of OJ, steaks, hams, beers from Spain, Australia, and Japan as well as wine, and a plethora of other items. Best of all the price was right...namely FREE or better than FREE which means MMs.

So what is the current great deal? Well, until tomorrow, you can get Nivea body wash for either men or women for FREE at Walmart using the $3 coupons found in last Sunday's SmartSource. Since they are on sale at Walmart for $3 that means they are FREE after coupons.

On Sunday I plan to take a break from couponing and then jump right back in next week since the Bic razors are on sale at Publix BOGO which, combined with the $3 coupons makes them FREE with a small MM.

As to the latest episode of "Extreme Couponing," did you see when Missy Eby stated that she collects 5000 coupon inserts per week? As to how she gets so many, she claims she gets them from "God." Well, either from God or from a friend at the local newspaper who gives her the unused inserts.

Right now battling a bit of a cold which I am fighting with my FREE Dayquils/Nyquils. They sure come in handy when you need them. I keep them right next to my stockpile of Advils (FREE at Publix this past week plus a $1.01 MM).

Remember, anybody who is even a half decent couponer should NEVER have to pay for body wash.

Some of The Coupon Whisperer's Favorite Couponing Sites

If you want to be a successful couponer it is absolutely essential that you check out and research the many couponing websites on a regular basis, both as a way to find out the recent deals as well as to broaden your education and understanding of couponing in general. Here is a list of some of The Coupon Whisperer's favorite websites:

LiveFabuLESS

This is the website run by Jodi just up the road in Palm Beach County. Back in the Summer of 2009 this was the website (then known as NeverPayRetailAgain) which got me into couponing. I saw a deal there which had a link to coupons for Nathans hot dogs and which also informed me that I could use the coupons on each pack of Nathans even though it was on sale BOGO. I never knew that before. I always assumed that because something was on sale BOGO you couldn't use coupons on it. Not only that I was astonished to learn that you could not only use a coupon on the item you pay for but also for the free item as well. I immediately printed out the coupons and made a beeline for Publix even though it was after 10 PM. I was very happy to find out that I got each pack of Nathans for, instead of a about $5.00 for just about a buck or a buck and a half each. At that moment, it was like a switch went off in my head and from that point on I made every effort to learn everything I could about coupons...mainly by studying the many couponing websites. ...Oh, and a few weeks after I scored those cheap Nathans hot dogs, I scored FREE containers of Starbucks ice cream. My freezer filled up with those and since checking out Jodi's site, my refrigerator has always been packed solid with free/cheap food.

iheartpublix

Just a little while ago, I performed my Monday morning ritual. Checking this website for the upcoming Publix sales scheduled to commence later in the week. What is really great is that the sales are matched up with the coupons you will need to get yourself a great deal. Okay, many of you live outside the Publix area so you can still do the same by looking up the major supermarkets in your area. Most of them have websites dedicated to providing you with similar information about your local supermarkets.

Slickdeals

The best thing about Slickdeals is the forums. Check them out to find discussions of the latest deals. BTW, did you know that today only you can score yourself a FREE BlockBuster rental? You want that deal? Well, check out the Slickdeals forums and find out the details for yourself.

Southern Savers

This site provides info on great deals on a regular basis so I check it out daily...often several times a day. Check it out RIGHT NOW to find out how to score a FREE pound of Handmade Rotisserie Chicken Salad. If you're too late to take advantage of that deal, not to worry. There will be plenty of other deals cited there so keep checking back.

WeUseCoupons.Com

A wealth of coupon information here. Reading this site is like attending a Coupon University. In particular check out their Couponing 101 forum with their virtual Coupon Classes to get up to speed on the subject of coupons.

The Crazy Coupon Lady

You saw her grabbing coupon inserts in a dumpster on the original "Extreme Couponing" show last December and you can read her website which is highly informative as to the latest deals. Check it out NOW to find out about some great CVS Coupon Machine printouts this week.

i heart wags

There are several Walgreens websites out there and this is one of my favorites. The latest WAGS deals are matched up with the coupons. I also check it out to get a heads up on WAGS deals coming several weeks in the future so I can plan a long time in advance.

How to Shop for Free

The title is self-explanatory as to what you will find in this website by Kathy Spencer. Check it out RIGHT NOW to find out how to score FREE Colgate and/or Air Wick starter kits at CVS. Keep checking back to find out loads of other FREE deals.

And finally...the Mother Ship of all coupon sites...

Hot Coupon World

No serious couponer can do without bookmarking this site. It is the grand composite of all store deals as found in their Store Deals Forums. I not only check it out daily, I almost always check it out several times a day. You are almost sure to find your store deals at this site. Since so many couponers gravitate to Hot Coupon World, you are almost sure to find out the latest in vital coupon information here. Even if you fail to check out the other couponing sites, you MUST check out Hot Coupon World.

This is but a partial list of coupon sites bookmarked by The Coupon Whisperer. There are many more that I also check out. Oh, and be sure to check out the forum posts. Sometimes it is just a stray comment in one of those forums that can change your couponing strategy for the week. That has happened to me several times.

"Extreme Couponing"---Episodes 1 & 2

The first two episodes of "Extreme Couponing" aired this evening on TLC. Many similarities with the original show which aired in December although I noticed some new bits of interesting information. Specifically "money maker" deals or "making money" was alluded to. For those of you new to couponing that means when you have a coupon so good that it is worth more than the product you are buying. The amount of "overage" aka "moneymaker" aka "mm" is applied toward your other products. That is why you saw the people on today's show able to buy meat, milk, etc. and end up owing hardly anything.

One criticism I do have of the show is that for dramatic purposes the people bought HUGE amounts of items on each shopping trip. The Coupon Whisperer prefers not to do that for two reasons:

One is that it makes me uncomfortable to piss off the people behind me on line who have to wait a loooooong time for me to do my couponing deals. The other reason is that if there is an error, it can be a real nightmare if you have a lot of items. Like how would you like to have over a hundred of items rung up only to have the cashier and/or store manager tell you that you can't do that deal. Even if they are in the wrong, the bottom line is that you WASTED your time being rung up only to have that effort go to naught. I much prefer to make several trips with relatively few items (compared to a hundred or more) being rung up.

For example, today The Coupon Whisperer had over $300 worth of items rung up (while spending only around 20 bucks total) but it was done in half a dozen different trips. No deal was nixed by the store today but that is exactly what happened yesterday. A store manager refused to allow my deal to go through. Both her and the cashier were surprised how calmly I took it. Why? Because I knew other stores would have no problem with the deal plus a HUMONGOUS rainstorm had just struck and it was a great excuse not to have my stuff get soaked on the way out to the parking lot.

BTW, that was one thing I liked about this episode of "Extreme Couponing." It showed how stores can complicate deals with new rules or their interpretation of the rules. Did you see where that couple had to call their friends to help them out to divide up their transactions? I hope future episodes of "Extreme Couponing" shows problems caused by store managers. Specifically I am thinking of a WAGS manager who claimed that we couldn't get Register Rewards on any items for which we use coupons. WHAT? If that is the case then his Walgreens is the only one to have such a ridiculous rule. The Coupon Whisperer would love to have the "Extreme Couponing" camera focused on the manager explaining that absurdity while your humble correspondent right there speed dials WAGS HQ to have a nice "chat" about this with the store manager.

Looking forward to future episodes of "Extreme Couponing." It will be interesting to see if they go into more detail on such conflicts. Of course, any show down here would be like "Extreme Couponing" as written by Elmore Leonard. In South Florida we sort of have a more relaxed (and eccentric) lifestyle than most of the outside world.

Well, that was the view of tonight's show by The Coupon Whisperer. What was YOUR impression?

FREE Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kits

If you live in the Southeast, you're in luck for the next couple of weeks. Why? Because you can score FREE Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kits at Publix. How? Simple. The Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kits are all on sale for just $5.99 until April 15. Simply combine a $3 Publix store coupon for any Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kit found in their "One Stop. One Store" booklet with the $4 off any Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kit manufacturer's coupon and you will score your Air Wicks for FREE plus a $1.01 MM. And if you are wondering what "MM" is then Google that info because it doesn't stand for M&Ms in this case.

What is great about this deal is that it includes both the compact and the larger Ultra Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kits. I picked up several of the motion detector (batteries included) Air Wick Ultra Freshmatic Starter Kits for FREE (plus a $1.01 MM for each).

If you merely need a refill, you might as well pick up one of these starter kits since with this deal they are cheaper than refills. Also they make great gift items.

Don't forget to set your DVRs for Wednesday night to record "Extreme Couponing" on TLC. The actual show begins at 9 PM EDT but there is also some sort of preshow at 8 PM EDT so set your recorders for both hours. The preshow might be a repeat of their December show but I won't be taking chances so I will be recording both. And, of course, this show will be discussed here at The Coupon Whisperer.

Meanwhile enjoy your great smelling homes thanx to the FREE Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kits.