Thanks to the Southern CouponBelle blog, I won a $100 gift card to Vons, sponsored by the Ecoupon company, Cellfire.com. But I was given a challenge: How far can I make that gift card go, using store specials, paper coupons and Ecoupons?  Let me tell, I am off to a great start! I just walked out this evening with $50 in groceries for only $10! That’s 80 percent off!

I have become a great believer in Ecoupons. The reason is not only because of their simplicity (you just load then to your club card), but you may also combine with paper coupons. The best part is you can stockpile Ecoupons, where multiple ones are deducted! This doesn’t net you savings — this is when you are paid to buy items!

For instance:

You see how great Ecoupons combine to make incredible deals?!

By the way, I also got the Gold n Soft margarine and Land o Lakes spreadable butter for free, too! Just used store and/or manufacturer coupons for those.

Of course, I didn’t figure these deals out all by myself. I used the great Vons list provided each week at This Frugal Life. She is the best for Vons coupon matchups and makes it so easy each week. My savings in coupons, alone, was $24! That means if I had not used coupons, I would have paid $34 for what I ended up paying $10.

Thanks to Southern Couponbelle for teaching me the joys of Ecoupons, and now thanks to the gift card I won, I’ve begun to see how far I can stretch a C note. I think I am off to a good start — $50 in groceries and only used $10 of my gift card.

Let the tally begin!