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.

Black Friday: When Everyday Shoppers and Saavy Shoppers Collide.

I did my first Black Friday shopping trip this morning. I hadn't ventured out on the weekend after Thanksgiving since an overwhelmingly bad experience in 1990. Seriously, I avoided shopping on this particular weekend for 20 years. Until today.

It was surprisingly fun, easier than I recall, and much calmer than I remember. Improvements in technology and people-moving are likely partly responsible for my improved shopping experience. People seemed cheerier, but I think delaying until the crowds thinned (just after the workday starts) saved me lots of hassles, bumps, and downright rudeness.

Perhaps part of it was the level of preparation I put into it. I reviewed ALL the sales papers, isolated five stores to hit today and Saturday, and made a careful list on a large index card. I logically grouped the stores, and got to sleep. Planning to hit the stores at 4 am proved to be ambitious, but I did make it by 7:30 am. Unfortunately, I hadn't looked up every store, and my memory of JC Penny's location proved faulty. I had to reassess right at the start, and head to Annapolis for Penny's and Toys R us before returning home to relieve Jon of Twins duty.

I've decided my readership can learn from my mistakes, so here is a primer on planning a big shopping trip to various stores, whether it's Black Friday or not.

1. Gather your papers, review them, isolate up to 5 stores you want to hit. Plan on an hour or so per store. Circle items you really want so you can flip to the correct page quickly when asking for help. (I ask for help constantly. Asking three clerks to help me find the Inflatable Bongo Ball finally got me someone willing to go into the back for two.)
2. Make a careful list on an index card, with the store name, wish list, prices, coupons (I use an "o" inside a "C" to note if I have a coupon for that item), and notations for any special deals (Ex: buy $100, get a $10 gift card). For Black Friday, I also put each store's "doorbuster" hours down.
2a. Don't focus only on gift items! Think about other needs. In addition to stocking stuffers and toys, I bought men's dress pants (buy 5, use coupons over 2 transactions to get one "free" at JCPenny's*), and simple, thermal drapery panels for our bald windows ($24 ea., JCP's).
3. Prioritize your top store, then group it with other stores on your list that are nearby.
Search online to locate your best stores. Always check the store's website to verify address; GPSs can often be wrong.
4. Prepare a shopping kit with your sales papers, any coupons you might use, a drink or two, some snacks, sunshades, eyeglasses, kleenex, other personal needs, and a shiv to protect yourself as you struggle to your car at 3 am.
5. Get Tip money for people who load your car. It's good karma.
6. Stick to the list. Of course, I did buy some items not on my list, but only as substitutions for items that were sold out, and for small items (Melissa & Doug puzzles) I have been eyeing for a while.

What to buy? Well, for the twins, whom I call "twoddlers," I bought Toys for 18 months (which they will be at Christmas) to 3 years. Yup, 3 YEARS and up, depending on the toy. Items with soft edges, which could be used for years, or which could be put into play with supervision (such as wooden blocks the size they've already played with, plastic furniture) topped my list.

I plan way ahead, and even at Christmas I keep in mind that they will be 2 years old in July, and plan to sock away certain goodies for then. I'm trying out a plan where I buy toys at the advertised "Lowest Prices of the year!" I'll hang onto the sales papers, and when their birthday comes around you better believe I'll be checking those prices! Generally I planned to save at least 50% off the MSRP. For things I really wanted to get (like the Melissa & Doug puzzles), I settled for a 25% savings, 10% more than the discount offered on the M&D website. I also found decent prices on items we regularly use (diaper pail refills at 25% off with coupons).

Note, too, that I buy toys of a type they already like (blocks) and which are multi-use. Blocks will last for years of creative play, and grow with them as their perspective and imagination grow.

Here's a sample TRU shopping list from today

Misc: Diaper Genie Refill 3-pack $16 -$1 coupon (norm. $20/3)

18mos & up:
Stacking cups: $3.99 (normally $12)
Neat Cottage Playhouse $99 (norm. $170)

2yo and up: (Their B-day is in 6 mos)
Imaginarium Building Blocks $20 (norm. $42)
Six plastic, mini yard tools $0.98 ea. on clearance, (norm. $7 - $23 for set of three)
Two Kid Galaxy Go-Go Soft, remote-controlled cars $15 ea. (norm. $28)
Melissa & Doug wooden letter puzzles $10 ea. (norm. $13)

3yo and up:
Castle building blocks $19 (norm. $38)
51-inch Inflatable Bongo Ball $25 (norm. $50)
Crayola Jumbo Banks $5 ea (norm. $8) for decor.

I think we did well, though I did have some sticker shock. It seems that I spend more per trip, but I make fewer shopping trips and hopefully, by saving a high percentage we'll lower our annual outlay for these types of goods.

Black Friday, Phase 2 tomorrow!


*The Dockers and Levi's were on sale for $38 a pair (norm. $55 - $70), and Jon needed several replacements for his fraying pants. And he's particular to Dockers. First transaction: $38*3=$114 minus $20 coupon allowed after 2 pm ($94). Second Transaction: $38*2=$76 minus $15 coupon ($61). Total cost for 5 pants = $155 + tx., or like getting one free ($35 off). It was actually cheaper to wait until the afternoon special to buy those pants, because they were not "doorbusters", but a weekend deal.