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Holiday coupons saved big bucks

By Naomi Mannino · Bankrate.com
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Posted: 3 pm ET

I never pay full price for anything, so I collected store coupons and tracked prices and deals for weeks to save money on my holiday shopping.  Here are all the different ways I found savings and what my shopping list looked like.

Holiday coupons and deals
Item Coupon/savings Source
Slippers $10 off $20 purchase Old Navy Groupon
Sneakers/wallet 20 percent off, free shipping Tilly's catalog coupon/free-shipping day
Nike socks $5 off any purchase Sports Authority coach's coupon
Nikon L120 camera Tracked price from $279.99 to $199.99 Decide.com price tracking
Viva La Juicy perfume $15 off $50 purchase Sephora Beauty Insider email coupon
Docking station 20 percent off any single item Bed, Bath & Beyond mail coupon
Minnetonka boots 5 percent off, free shipping Online coupon
Video gaming chair $5 off gaming chair Target in-store coupon
iCurl hair curler $6 register rewards Walgreens
Candy $16 rewards bucks and coupons CVS and manufacturer coupons
Food $27 coupons Manufacturer and Publix coupons

 

In addition, I bought name-brand clothing such as Levi's 511 skinny jeans and a Betsey Johnson shoulder/tote bag and a jewelry tree at retailers such as Marshall's, Ross and Big Lots. I bought Modern Warfare 3 for a PlayStation 3 without a coupon, but my son gave me his $25 birthday gift card for the purchase.

The newest way I saved big on electronics was Decide.com, a free price-tracking website. I saved $80 on the camera purchase just by waiting one more week and then purchasing when the site sent me an alert predicting prices would drop no further.

I will say organizing the list and using the coupons was a little stressful, and we did go to many different stores. But they were all located in one outdoor shopping center or within a five-minute drive of our house. Overall I saved $186 just by tracking prices and using coupons, so I feel it was worth it. Why pay $186 more if I don't have to?

What was your best coupon or savings deal, and how did you save on holiday shopping? Was it worth the trouble?

Related posts:

  1. Printing coupons can waste money
  2. Save money on baking supplies
  3. What’s your shopping style?
  4. What’s your best couponing haul?
  5. Coupons tied to credit card purchases?
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1 Comment
Fred
December 28, 2011 at 2:50 pm

I spent $29 on a $125 gift card to Amedeo Exclusive (custom clothing store) I got the gift card from nooreracks.com

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