My husband and I do not buy a lot of name-brand products at the grocery store.  We’re pretty easy people; our grocery list usually consists of chicken, eggs, almond milk, produce and the occasional pint of ice cream.  We buy whatever laundry detergent is on sale for $1.99 that week and we aren’t brand loyal to trash bags.  Our breakfasts consist of protein shakes, eggs and oatmeal, so we’ve never been much for cereal or other morning convenience items.  It’s because of those reasons that I’ve never been much of a couponer.

That is… until I had a baby.

Diaper couponing (and now, baby food couponing) has not only become a habit… I’ve made it into sort of a hobby.  So, I’ll share with you how I got over $100 in free diapers this month alone!

A good friend introduced me to baby couponing while I was pregnant.  She advised me of a few things:

1. Couponing takes time.  I spend about an hour a week looking through deals online.  This is usually early on Sunday morning before my family wakes up, or late at night after everyone has gone to bed.
2. Couponing takes patience.  You might not find the “big deals” right away.  It may take a little practice (I walked out of stores spending way more than I anticipated when I started out) but you can eventually get the hang of it.
3. Couponing forces you to use math.  Hopefully you’re better at it than I am… Thank goodness for coupons.
4. Couponing can be fun!  Did I ever think that I would enjoy clipping coupons and shopping for disposable poop catchers?  Not really.  But hey- if I already need the item and it saves me money, why not?

This week, Willow weighed in at 22.5 pounds.  She’s a week shy of being five months old (crazy, right?!).  So, it was time to replenish the diaper stock with some larger sizes.

STEP 1

First, I use a combination of websites to find the best coupons out there.

• Coupons.com is a great resource for those of us who don’t get the Sunday paper (or forget).  Also, it’s great if you want a duplicate of the coupons in the paper (but don’t want to dumpster dive for inserts like a crazy person).  The majority of my coupons come from here.  You need a printer… And that’s about it.  I recommend setting your printer to black and white, and using recycled paper (i.e., printing coupons on the back of stuff you don’t need).  The printouts tend to be quite large.
• Coupon Sherpa is just like coupons.com but it allows you to print more of the same coupons.  Most websites will only allow you to print one set of each… If there’s a good deal, you’ll want to print multiple copies.  Note that photocopied coupons do not work– each coupon has a different barcode that needs to be scanned.
• The Krazy Coupon Lady is another favorite.  This website literally matches up the best deals at every supermarket.

STEP 2

Next, I check out what is available online.  Lately, I’ve been using Shop Rite’s Shop From Home service.

For the month of April, Shop Rite is offering $25 off a $100 purchase that includes $60 of qualifying baby items.  In simpler terms: You need to spend at least $100.  Of that, $60 must be qualifying baby items.  You then get $25 off your entire grocery bill.

Basically, you sign in, shop, then enter the code BABYSAVE25 when you’re checking out.  Make sure that you choose the “pay at store” option so you can use your coupons!

STEP 3

Gather your coupons!  I like to open two browsers side-by-side to compare which coupons I’m getting for each product available.  This is where you have to do some maneuvering.

Stackable coupons are the best to use.  Say you have a coupon for $4.00 off two boxes of Huggies diapers, and you have a coupon for $1.00 off one box of Huggies diapers.  Using both of those coupons stacks your offer– and you now have $5.00 off two boxes of Huggies.  Make sense?  It’s really that simple!

OTHER METHODS

Shop Rite is presently doubling all manufacturer coupons under $1.00 (as long as they are not marked do not double on the actual coupon).  So, if you have a $0.50 coupon for Pampers, it will double to $1.00.  I like to use baby wipe coupons for this purpose… Say a container of 56 ct. Huggies wipes are on sale for $1.97.  If I have a $0.75 coupon (and it doubles), I only end up paying $0.47 for the container of wipes!

Catalina coupons are also fantastic.  Because I spent $25.00 in qualifying Huggies products, I earned a $5.00 Catalina coupon on my next shopping trip!  What could I potentially do with this?  Well, I could go back to the aisle and pick up a bag of Pampers diapers that are on sale for $8.99.  Then, I could use my $1.55 off coupon, making the cost $7.44.  Finally, I could use my $5.00 Catalina, making the final cost of the bag $2.44.  If I had some double coupons or a stackable offer thrown somewhere in the mix, those diapers would be free!

HOW ABOUT EVEN MORE MONEY OFF?

Some companies offer rebates for products.  For an extra few seconds (plus a stamp and envelope), you can save more money!  For example, Kimberly Clark is offering $5.00 or $10.00 back on qualifying purchases if you send them the original cash register receipt (and a filled out form).  This turns your hypothetical Huggies-Catalina shopping trip into a money maker!

You can get additional rebates through the website Ibotta.  Luvs diaper boxes are on sale right now at Shop Rite for $18.99.  There’s a $2.00 off coupon available on the internet, bringing it down to $16.99.  If you scan your register receipt and the product with Ibotta, you get a $5.00 rebate.

Want $10.00 right off the bat from Ibotta?  Use the referral code enpcdhb and get $10.00 just for signing up!  This is NOT a scam– and it’s totally worth it!  This makes the final cost of the diapers $1.99!!!!!!

Last (but not least)– don’t throw out your diaper packaging until you get the codes!  You’ll notice little stickers pressed into the inside of Pampers, Huggies, etc.  Go online, sign up for the respective company’s rewards program and you can save even MORE money!  Do you want 50 points from Huggies to start your earnings?  Send an email to bumplifeblog@gmail.com and I’ll get you hooked up!