Best Deals on Diapers 11/28/2011

Here's a little exercise on coupon stacking, and an actual deal you can work on Pampers at CVS this week.

Coupon Stacking is combining various deals to your best advantage. Generally couponers -- extreme or not -- want to stack coupons on top of a sale price on top of another store coupon, or promotion such as Earned bucks or gift cards (GCs). These in-store promos are hot right now; I suspect retailers are hoping people will hoard the GCs and roll them together on some big holiday gift, hopefully after they misplace a few. These promos are like cash and should be used immediately, across several transactions at the same visit/check-out. Be sure to tell the teller how many transactions you have planned when you arrive at the check-out.

Coupon
______
Sale Price
______
Store Promo

I have coupons for $2 off of 2 Jumbo packs (20 -23 per pack at size 6) of Pampers which expire 11/30, so I want to use them. Now. The best price I can find is at Diapers.com, where with coupons I can get them for 39 cents a diaper.*

At CVS, they are offering a free $10 GC for a $30 purchase of listed items, limit 5 GCs this week. They advertise Pampers at 2 for $19. They even generously advertise the MCP (manufacturer's coupon) offered by P&G in this week's paper ($1/2 jumbo packs Pampers). The effective advertised price is $18/2, or $9 ea. Which was their sale price two weeks ago before my coupons (45 cents a diaper at size 6).

BUT... I have -$2/2 packs coupons from a few weeks ago, bringing the effective price to $17/2. That's $8.50 a pack.

REMEMBER... They're also offering a GC if you buy $30 worth. Or two $10 GCs if you buy $60 worth after discounts and coupons.

AND you get a pack free if you buy at least 6 (B6GO).

What's a twins' mom to do? Math!

I have to buy in even numbers to use the coupons, and I want to use coupons on all the packs.I have $2/2 coupons from the 10/30 P&G coupon insert, which is double the savings of the coupon in the 11/28 P&G.

How to work the deal
Do two identical transactions:
Scan your Bonus Card
Scan 8 bags of diapers = $ 72 minus one free = $63 (over the $30 threshold twice)
Use Four ($2/2) in coupons = $55 paid

Repeat, using the first $20 on the second transaction

Total Effective Cost for 16 packs of diapers (factoring in the $40 in rewards) $110 -40 = $70
Price per diaper at size 6 = ($70/16 packs)/20 diapers per pack = 22 cents each.
Leave with two free packs and $20 in gift cards.

You can repeat this deal three times, get 23 packs of diapers (3 free; three transactions 8 packs/8 packs/7 packs), and max out the $50 limit in gift cards. You leave with one $10 GC.

Check your total before you pay; the register failed to give the free pack on the first transactions at two different CVS's.

Is it a good deal?
This is 16 cents cheaper than Diapers.com's regular price of 38 cents a diaper (my go-to best deal with a coupon and the Take Five off loyalty price).

Doesn't sound like much?

The Twoddlers use at least 16 diapers a day. A 16-cent savings per diaper is worth $935 a year. Also note that retail these diapers are usually around $11 a pack at CVS, or 55 cents a diaper. Compared to full price, we're saving $1927 a year at 22 cents a diaper. That's about the cheapest I've found the twins' current size.

What about the advertised deal?
Well, it's almost as good. It's 25 cents a diaper if you do it the way they illustrate, have at least four $1/2 coupons, and buy 8 at once. You'll need the coupons in multiples of 4, and diapers in multiples of 8. You leave with a free pack of diapers and a $20 GC to use later, but which you'll count as part of your "winnings" now. Try the math.

If you don't like math, just buy 8 diapers with 4 coupons, and take the $20GC and one pack free for 25 cents a diaper.

Even if you don't have any coupons, this deal will get you 27 cents a diaper if you buy 8 packs, take the $20GC and one pack free.

Don't forget to nab your free pack of diapers!

If only I had 2,920 more coupons, I could get a year's supply.... nah. They'll be another deal along shortly.

I do wonder why all the diaper deals lately; I can only figure retailers are helping people stock up on absolute necessities before the hoped-for holiday splurge. I'm sure they're also hoping I won't show up again tomorrow.

But I might.


* I exclusively use the size 6-- 20 diapers a jumbo pack-- to do the math here.
Smaller sizes will be cheaper by the diaper, because the packs are bigger. But the ratio of savings remains about the same, 15 or 16 cents each.

Savings Idea #2. Thrift Shopping

For many, shopping at thrift stores, consignment sales, and yard sales conjure images of the poor trying to get the basics of living, hoarders loading up their vans, or other people scoring hidden gems. Smart shoppers know that some great deals on fancy goods can be found at thrift stores. One of our friends frequently posts about her vintage finds at Goodwill stores, another scavenges broken jewelry for her jewelry design business, but you can save on everyday goods too. I used to hate the dank smell of a thrift store, but since they started Febreezing the clothes, I gotta say it gives me a little thrill. I used to be a little embarrassed, too, walking into a thrift store; we could buy retail; I felt like we were hedging in on other’s needs. But on getting pregnant, I realized spending $1000+ on a wardrobe for a few months was silly, so I put my squeamishness aside and braved the good bargain. Somehow it is more palatable to buy at thrift stores once you have two (or more) kids outgrowing a size every 6 weeks.

Google “thrift” or “consignment” and your ZIP code, and you’ll bring up several local hotspots. When I started, I researched thrift stores near wealthy neighborhoods; rich people’s giveaways include some very fine items. In Maryland, I like Value Village for their Monday 25% off sales; you can also get 25% off on Thursdays if you sign up for their VIP card. (VV claims to be a charity, but in reality they only donate 10% of profits to charity. I consider providing low-cost goods to the community another type of charity.) I’ve bought many items for the kids: Footed Pjs, onesies, jackets, shirts, pants ($1-$3 ea.), king pillowcases ($1.50 ea.) to use as covers for changing-table pads, and child-sized quilts ($5). I simply wash everything in hot water and Dreft before introducing it to the twins.

Once Upon a Child is a national chain of consignment stores which offer decent deals, but this store’s prices are at the top of post-retail shopping. I’ve seen some great deals, and I’ve seen prices so high I could buy a similar item new. They do however have a plethora of high-end goods year-round, and they tend to stock higher-end labels. I bought a pair of Polo boots (looked new) for $8 ($30 new), and Grandma bought two Redskins track suits for $7 each ($30 new).

Weekend consignment sales on baby and children’s goods are everywhere. In Maryland, www.totswap.net holds 8 or more weekend sales each year in various locations. Savings up to 90% off retail are not uncommon. Of course, it’s easy to go wild in these places, so I recommend going in with a plan, a topic I’ll discuss in a later post. I’ve bought large toys (plastic is easy to clean), books, entire kids wardrobes, a nearly-new changing table at half-price, shoes, baby bottles for cents on the dollar (steam sterilize and buy new nipples), a stroller for 75% off retail, and various items new with tags (NWT) for a few dollars each. On my first trip to Totswap, I spent over $200, but I got two exersaucers and two 13-gallon bags full of other goods for the price of the two exersaucers new.

There is a thriving Black Market in the U.S., which no one talks much about: yardsales are tax-free, rule-free and bargain-deep. I occasionally attend community-wide yardsales. It makes no sense to me to traipse all over the Metro area going to one-off sales, so I focus on area sales. But I’ve been burned more than once; a counterfeit $10 bill in change, a recalled item, a toy without all its parts, these are the dangers of hitting yardsales, but deals on books, plastic yard toys (like slides), and Pjs or pants for $1 apiece make it worthwhile.

Our next blog will break down an action plan for creating your list, strategizing, and getting the most out of your thrift shopping.