The ins and outs of Couponing. Part 2

Now let's talk about actually getting out and putting those coupons to work!

Before using a coupon read it carefully. Some coupons have limits on them, some require you to purchase another item in order to get the discount, etc. All P&G coupons have a limit of 4 coupons per transaction. Always go by the wording on the coupon.

Each week your stores will put out a sales paper. Use that ad to match up with your coupons for greater savings. Some stores also put out store coupons. You may find these in booklets in the store or on their website. It's important to check these out because some stores will actually let you "stack" their store coupons with your MQs. (manufacturer coupons) Check with your individual store before trying this as some stores do not allow it. Food Lion is one store that does NOT allow stacking. However Dollar General and Family Dollar do. Most of my examples in these couponing posts will be using the Food Lion policies and sales as a guideline since that's my main store. Most coupon rules are universal though.

Once you've looked through your ad you can begin clipping the coupons you need and preparing for your trip. You may also want to check out sites online for additional matchups for your store. www.WeUseCoupons.com have wonderful matchups done by great forum leaders each week so most of the work is done for you.

I know what you're all thinking! This is all well and good but let's get to the good stuff! Actually using your coupons.

This is why it's important to stack coupons with store sales. Kellogg's Cereal is on sale at Food Lion this week BOGO. The boxes are usually $3.50-$5 each. At Food Lion, BOGO items ring up half price. So you could only purchase 1 and still get the sale price. There are printable coupons (IPs) at Kellogg's website for $1/3 boxes. Without a sale 33c off a box of $5 cereal doesn't seem great. But if you take the BOGO sale which bring the cereal down to $2.50 and subtract the coupon it brings your final cost down to $2.17. You must buy 3 boxes in order to use the coupon. So if you purchase 3 boxes at $2 each (after the BOGO discount) that's $6-$1 IP=$5.00 or $1.67 each. Pretty good for Kellogg's right?

By now you're probably wondering how you can get free groceries I'm sure. It is possible. Maybe not cart fulls, but definitely some. Let's go back a few months. Bestlife margarine was on sale for $1 a tub. A couple weeks before the sale there was a $1 off any Bestlife margarine product coupon in the paper. See now why it's important to hang on to those MQs? Paired with the $1 sale and you've got yourself free margarine. Another week Propel water was on sale 2/$1 and there was a $1/2 coupon issued a few weeks before that. That means free flavored water!

Some important closing notes before I go.
If the store is having a 10/$10 sale, you do not have to purchase all 10 to get the items for $1 each. If you only buy 1 you'll still get it for $1. Always check the fine print under the item though because sometimes there are limits on how many you can purchase or other qualifications in order to get the discount.

Again, know your stores coupon policy. But never stand there and argue with the cashier. Chances are they are simply doing how they were trained. If they refuse to take your coupons for any reason, check out the coupon to make sure you did indeed meet the requirements of the coupon. Then politely ask for the manager. Most of the time they know the policy and will know if there was a problem with the register or something that the cashier missed. Try to never lose your cool. It's important to stay focused on the situation at hand rather than let your emotions get in the way. This is also when it's important to have a copy of the policy with you, in case the manager also wants to argue.

If you have any stores in your area such as Food Lion, Rite-Aid, CVS, Harris Teeter, etc go to the store or to their website and sign up for a loyalty card. These will give you additional discounts, points, etc.

OK Let's that for now. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section and I'll be back soon with more about the wonderful world of couponing!

The ins and outs of Couponing. Part 1

Since so many people have expressed an interest in learning how to coupon I thought I would make a post about just that. Couponing is something that takes time. If you don't want to invest the time and energy into researching the deals, clipping the coupons, etc then stop reading right here. LOL It's worth the time if you're willing to do the work.

Let's start with a couple of common misconceptions.
#1 is that you have to be surrounded by stores that double. This is not true. You can have only one store that accepts coupons and still get great deals. Will it take a little more work? Maybe, but you'll soon learn their sale cycles, the staff, etc and it will actually work in your favor.
#2 is that you can start out getting loads of stuff for free. This is more of a half truth than a complete myth. Depending on the sales that week and what coupons you have to start with you might get some items for free/almost free from the beginning. If you've watched the show Extreme Couponing I can tell you this show is not reality. The people on that show do not shop like that every week. In fact most will tell you that they've NEVER done a shop like that before the show and it was simply done for entertainment purposes.

Now on to some basic information. We all know what a coupon is and where they come from. Money off certain item "certificates" that come in the newspaper or are printed from the internet. Using them alone will save you a few cents on the dollar, which is OK any savings is good. However if you pair them with sales, store coupons, clearance, etc you'll save much much more.

The number one rule is to start small! Don't rush into this buying a ton of coupons online or a million newspapers your first week. Pick one store in your town and start there. First item of business, go online to their website and print their coupon policy. Read it, learn it, and most importantly keep it with you. You never know when you will get into the store only to have them argue with you over your coupons.

Now, you MUST get the newspaper every single week. (rule of thumb, unless it's a Holiday there will be at least one insert in the paper, you can find insert schedules online to make sure each week if you want to) The location of the papers will differ in each town. Generally you can find them in the newspaper box out front or inside at the register. Get the paper for the biggest city that is offered. Small local papers have less coupons, if any at all. Important note: if you get the paper from the newspaper box, DO NOT take out more than you pay for. You are not hurting the newspaper company, you are hurting the person delivering the papers because it will come out of their pocket. If you want 2 papers, get one then close the box and put more money in. When you get your papers, take them home and remove all the inserts. Write the date on the front of each insert. When you look up coupon matchups online they will say something like "5/1/11 RP". This means it's from the May 1st Red Plum. Now you can easily go and find the coupon you need. Some people prefer to clip all the coupons from the insert and put in their binder/envelopes or just clip the ones they need and get rid of the rest. Any of these methods will work.

Don't buy an item at full price simply because you have a coupon for it. If you get a coupon for 50c off toothpaste and you don't need the toothpaste right then, leave it. Chances are it will go on sale before the coupon expires.

Part 2 coming soon!

3.5.11

I rarely remember to post my shopping trips to my blog. But this week I actually remembered. LOL I didn't use many coupons this week since most of what I bought was Food Lion brand as part of their Private Brand Super Sale. But I'm pleased with what I got.

First I went into FL with my list. I had 2 detailed lists on items I wanted to get so I went early before they could get busy. I did trip #1, took those items to the car and then went back in to get the items from list #2.


Trans #1
20oz Mt Dew 1.69 (no sale LOL I was just thirsty)
FL hamburger buns 1.27
2x FL Pudding packs 1.98
2x Propel 1.00 (cost after Q- Free)
FL muffin mix .69
FL seasoning pack .89
FL gravy mix .89
FL bread 1.29
2x FL cereal 2.79 (bogo)
3x FL 2lt drinks 2.85
FL can pineapple chunks .79
FL can pineapple rings .79
2x FL Ketchup 2.00
6x FL yogurt 2.70
FL fries 2.00
Digiorno Pizza 5.00 (after Q- $3)
2x FL biscuits 1.38
2x FL biscuits 1.98
FL gallon milk 3.88
Home360 straws 1.29
Marcal paper towels 1.19 (after Q- $.19)
Home360 trash bags 2.19
Home360 travel baby wipes 1.69
Home360 plates 1.79
Home360 bleach 1.39
Pampers Easy-ups 7.99 (after Q- $5.99)

Qs used-
$1/2 Propel
$2 Pampers Easy Ups
$1 marcal
$2 digiorno FLIP

Got $8.25oyno
OOP- 49.56

Trans #2
FL cherry poptarts 1.79
FL strawberry poptarts 1.79
FL salt .47
FL 1lt Sparkling water .79
3 cans peas 1.80
FL mashed potatoes 1.69
Bananas .99
FL frozen corn 1.59
FL frozen broccoli 1.25
FL waffles 1.99
FL frozen okra 2.39
FL shredded "taco" cheese 1.67
3x FL shredded cheese 5.00
Pampers Easy Ups 7.99 (after Qs- $5.99)
2x Home360 tin foil 2.78
Marcal paper towels 1.19 (after Q- $.19)
2x Colgate Toothpaste 2.79 (on sale BOGO. after Qs- $.79 for both)

Qs used-
$2 pampers easy ups
2x $1/1 Colgate
$1 marcal
$8.25oyno Cat

Got $4.50oyno
OOP- 26.14


Then I ran into Dollar General. I needed some items that are generally a little cheaper there. Normal grocery stuff that I have to get. Coffee, juice boxes, etc.

Maxwell House coffee 4.25
Gain Fabric sheets 2.75 (after Qs- -$.25)
2x Pedigree Dentastix 4.00 (after Qs- Free)
Gillette body wash 2.75 (after Qs- $.75)
Sugar 2.25
Honey buns 1.50
Koolaid Jammers 2.00
2x 2lt mt dew 2.50

Qs used-
2x $2 Dentastix
$3 Gain fabric sheets
$2 Gillette bodywash

OOP- $14.25

Chocolate Delight for 1

One of my favorite desserts is a little baby called Chocolate Delight. It's basically chocolate pudding, cool whip (mixed with cream cheese I think) and graham cracker crumbs layered in a pan. Well recently I found pudding cups at Food Lion called Kozy Shack. Super yummy and healthy! That's a rare combo with prepackaged snacks.

I was inspired to try out a snack for 1 using the pudding after a friend created a Strawberry Pudding Pie for 1. And so, Chocolate Delight for 1 was born.



Ingredients:
1 Kozy Shack pudding 100 calories
2tsp graham cracker crumbs 16 calories
1TBS cool whip 13 calories
(total 129 calories)

Put the graham cracker crumbs in the bottom of a small dish. Pour one entire cup of pudding over the graham crackers. Sprinkle the top with some graham cracker crumbs and top with cool whip. Enjoy!

2.25.11

What? Another blog post only 2 days after the last one?

So snacks. We go through a lot of snacks around here. It's a big part of our budget, which I hate, and it encourages mindless snacking. I need to start keeping some healthier snacks around the house. I want to take the money I usually spend on snacks and put it toward fresh fruits, especially with the spring and summer coming up. But my husband does like something sweet to snack on after dinner. So I plan to start making cookies, brownies, etc and freeze them in individual portions to pull out for dessert. I can also do things like chocolate pudding and Jello for dessert with just enough leftover for a snack for CJ the next day.

One of my friends Angie posted a recipe for a Crustless Apple Pie snack. It would make a perfect quick dessert that can be easily tweeked for someone that isn't watching their weight by topping it with whipped cream or putting it on top of a graham cracker crust.

Recipe: Crustless Apple Pie Snack

2.23.11

I can never thing of a good title for my posts. So I've decided to start titling them with the date instead. LOL The weather has been up and down here. I don't think we've ever had as much snow in one winter in my whole life as we've had this winter. But finally we're starting to see some warm days. And so, we've been taking full advantage of it. Monday it was supposed to be in the mid-70s so I dressed CJ and we headed out to the park/zoo with my best friend and her little girl. It was a little chilly when we first got there but it warmed up quickly and best of all the kids had an absolute blast. We saw goats, sheep, llamas, geese, buffalo, turkeys, peacocks and more. The peacocks had their feathers opened and they looked so beautiful. We also spent a couple of hours playing on the swings, slides, merry go rounds and monkey bars. It was so wonderful to get out and enjoy some warm weather.


I've also been trying to come up with some ideas on foods to make with CJ to make lunch time a little easier, more fun and get him away from eating the same foods over and over. He loves to help in the kitchen so Tuesday we headed to the kitchen and made some corndog muffins. They don't taste exactly like corndogs, but they are much cheaper and we loved them




We mixed up a box of Jiffy cornbread mix and cut up a couple of hot dogs. CJ did all the mixing and dumping himself while I cut up the hot dogs. Then he helped dip the mix out into oiled muffin cups. Stick one of the pieces of hot dog in the middle of the cup and bake until they are done. So simple and yet so yummy!

Man I am a slacker

I am such a slacker blogger. LOL I have good intentions of blogging but then I just forget or I don't have time. But I would love to make a goal of blogging 3-4 times a week. So I'm going to set that goal and we'll see how it goes. LOL

So yesterday we celebrated Valentine's Day as a family. I put my burgundy and off white tablecloth on the table, the closest thing I had to V-Day related LOL, and put cut out hearts all over the table. Our meal consisted of NY Strips, baked potatoes, salad, toast and chocolate chip cookies. It was much better than trying to go out to eat and not to mention cheaper.

My little stockpile

I've been collecting a nice little stockpile of items through couponing. Most items I got for free or close to it. I didn't pay more than $2 for anything in my stockpile, including the laundry soap.


Guest bathroom sink- 5x Laundry soap and 4x toilet bowl cleaner


Kitchen Sink- 6x Lysol wipes, 4x Lysol spray cleaner, 2x Fantastik, 1 Window cleaner, various kitchen cleaners in the back


4x Glade candles, 3x Lysol Neutra Air, 1x Glade spray, 2x Febreze, 1x big bottle of Joy, 1x Dawn dish soap (and an empty bottle I put soap in for the hubby to use outside), 7x Gain dish soap


9x Axe body wash, 9x Olay body wash, 3x Colgate, 2x Olay soap, 4x Sauve shampoo/conditioner, various half empty bottles of shampoo and conditioner LOL


2x Sauve, 4x Skintimate, 2x Pantene, 20x deodorant

Wordless Wednesday

I love Wordless Wednesday :D



This is my cleaning bucket. I keep specific cleaners in the room where they belong, oven cleaner in the kitchen, toilet bowl cleaner in the bathrooms, etc. But I have this bucket with all my general cleaners in one basket so I can take it around with me when I'm cleaning. It has my all purpose cleaner, window cleaner, air freshener for a quick spritz when I get done cleaning each room, disinfecting wipes, furniture polish, Comet, gloves, trash bags, a duster, a Mr Clean magic eraser and paper towels. Everything I need to get a room all clean.

Menu Plan Monday

It's time for menu planning at Org Junkie!



Monday- BBQ Chicken Legs, Mashed Potatoes, Peas
Tuesday- Pot Roast
Wednesday- French Toast, Bacon, Eggs
Thursday- Chicken & Rice
Friday- night off. Will probably grab a chicken & sides from Food Lion since they have an awesome deal on Fridays
Saturday- Sloppy Joes, Mac & Cheese
Sunday- Chili, Cornbread

Update on Week 1

OK so the fridge didn't get done yet. I did however tackle a smaller project like my baking station. It looks so much better and I have my workspace back again.

Before:


And after:

52 Weeks of Organizing

Laura over at Org Junkie, same fabulous lady who does Menu Plan Monday, is doing a 52 week Organizing Challenge. You can read all about it here. I'm still working on my list of 52 places/items I want to organize but I have enough of a start to get me through the next few months while I think of more.

And today is Week #1. My first order of business is organizing my fridge. It needs to be cleaned out and organized.

Some other things I want to get done is all my kitchen cabinets and drawers, one at a time, our closet, our dresser drawers and both bathrooms.

Keep checking back to see how it goes and check out this post to watch other bloggers progress with the challenge as well.

Wordless Wednesday

These are actually from the snow we had the day after Christmas but I've been meaning to share them so what better day to do it?