HOW I GOT $85 WORTH OF GROCERIES FREE!!!

A coworker, who doesn't have a car, asked me to take them shopping today so they could stock up on food and household supplies.  Since taxis are so expensive, they offered to pay me $50 to take them shopping.  I had made up my shopping list yesterday when the grocery store ads came out, so I agreed to take them and did my own shopping at the same time.

I matched up my coupons with sale items and picked up a few extras that I didn't have coupons for, but were on sale.  Our first stop was Walmart, where I took advantage of all my buy one get one free coupons to add to my stockpile of body wash and deodorant.  Since everything I bought was buy one get one free I got $22 worth of products for $11.  Next up was a stop at Super D's for 4 bottles of Trend laundry detergent, which was on sale 2 for $3 and I added those to my detergent stockpile.  From there we stopped a block over at Schnuck's where I purchased enough tortilla stuffing mix and tortillas for 4 meals.  With coupons and sale pricing I paid $5.12 total.  The final stop was Gerbes Supermarket where I stocked up on frozen vegetables, ketchup, yogurt, pierogies, fried chicken, stir fry vegetables, candy bars and Parkay margarine.  With my frequent shoppers card, manufacturers coupons and doubling I got everything for $20.  So I spent just under $50 and got a total of $85 in groceries and personal care items.  Since I shopped with my coworker and they paid me $50 for taking them shopping, I spent $0 of my own money.  While it might seem like I ran all over town to save money, I drive a Honda Civic, so I doubt I used even a gallon of gas since all the stores were close together and I don't live far from my coworkers house. 

The whole point of all this is, when you begin to look for ways to save money, opportunities present themselves that you would never have thought possible.  The way I look at it, for a couple hours of doing something I like to do, shopping for bargains, I made $85.