Books

If you know me, then you probably know I like to read.  Over the years my collection of books has grown some, but late last year I had a major revelation.  Why am I buying these books brand new when I could go to a library and take it out for FREE?  I did break down and purchase Janet Evanovich's "One for the Money" recently.  However instead of buying all eighteen books in the series I plan on taking out of the library the other seventeen I do not own.  If you calculate the cost of a book every week, lets say an average cost of 9.99 per book times fifty-six weeks in  year it would amount to $559.44.  Just think if you did not buy a book every week and instead you frequented the library...Next time you go to purchase a new book think about what you could be saving.  Yeah you might need to wait for a new release to get to the library, but in the meantime explore other authors.

Yesterday's Mail

I loved getting the mail from our mailbox yesterday.  Most of the mail was actually for me, between coupons and samples it felt like I struck a gold mine.  Coupons from Victoria Secret, one of the coupons I can redeem for a free pair of underwear.  Next thing I looked at...Free Schick razor came and attached to it was coupons that don't expire for a year.  Lastly, six packets of instant coffee samples.  It's always a great feeling getting your mail and finding all the free goodies.

Rain checks

Rain checks are a great way to lock in the sale price when a store is out of an item.  Sometimes pairing that rain check with coupons could make your items free.  Know your stores rain check policy.  Does their rain checks expire?  Keep a close eye on the coupons you intend to use with the rain checks.  If your coupon expires in a few days of issuing the rain check your store might not have time to restock the emptied shelf.  Rain checks only take a minute of your time to get.  Think of how much you might be saving dollar wise, that one minute will be well worth the wait.

Life

Life has had me a bit busy this past week and I did not get to post as much as I wanted to.  Also, I am running out of ideas.  What do you all want to hear more about?  Any questions you have about couponing you want to ask?  Any stories you want to share about an experience you have had?

Read The Coupons

Recently I was reading various deals in my e-mails and was reading various peoples comments on a certain deal.  I have to admit I don't like going to a store and having the shelf cleared.  However, the comments I was reading the people were buying 10, 15, 30 of one item, but clearly said they didn't clear the shelf.  I was very surprised though when some people said you only needed one coupon to buy or get all of the items for free.  This piqued my interest because I can't see how that is possible.  The coupon was actually a store coupon, so I headed to that store.  I read the coupon for myself and it said limit one.  Hmm..It didn't say limit 30.  Since I don't want to cause any uneasiness with the stores I do use coupons at I didn't even try to get more than one free per coupon.  Instead I had my son with me.  He did one transaction and I did another.

What one store does in another state or town does not mean that all stores will be so kind.  Read your coupons carefully for yourself.  Don't take anyone else word for it, inform yourself.  

Meats

Have you ever been in a grocery store and noticed the $1.00 off peelie on the meat, chicken, pork, etc?  Normally those packages need to be moved so the stop will mark them down for a quicker sale.  

A way to save on your meats is to find out what time of day your store marks down the meats that are approaching their sell by dates.  Not every store attaches a coupon peelie to their meat.  Some will add a sticker over the original price tag that says a certain percent off that package of meat.  If you look at the sell by date it is probably that day or the next.  I have purchased some good steaks and chop meat for what I consider a good deal.  Unless I plan on making it that night it goes from the store to my freezer.  Great way to stock up on meats especially for those times that the meat might not be on sale for as cheap as you might want it.  

Saturday's Deals

I decided at the last minute to run out and get some things.  First stop Walgreens where I was going to get chap-stick for free.  Oh, man see what happens when I wait until 5:00 on a Saturday to go out....They were out at that Walgreens.  I was in need of gas, so I ventured across the street where I saved by paying cash.  For some reason Sunoco joined many other gas stations that you pay one price for cash and .10 cents more per gallon by using a credit or debit card.  Hey I want to save my .10 cents per gallon so I now make sure I have cash on me.  

Enough about that..hmm where did my journeys take me next.  The mall.  I had a coupon for Bath and Body Works that I get a travel item up to $5 for free.  Scored me some free lotion.  Having a huge display in front of me it was a hard decision which one to choose, especially since the sprays where not part of it. 

My next stop after the mall happened because I was going thru the papers that were ending yesterday I noticed that Shop Rite had Italian Village Ravioli's on sale for .77 a bag.  Good price.  Since Ravioli's has become one of my son's favorite dinners I bought four bags.  

For some reason when I head to a grocery store I check out their meat and see what's on sale.  I noticed some packages of ground beef marked down for quick sale.  Picked myself up two packages of ground beef as well as some grapes which were also on sale.  

On my way home  I decided to check out another Walgreen's.  This one normally has things in stock that mine does not.  They had a whole display of Chap-Stick.  However, I decided only to get two for free.  

So let's recap...Free items = Lotion and 2 chap-sticks

                Items I saved on= Gas, Ravioli's, Grapes, Chop meat. 

You don't always have to use coupons to save. 

                

Bulk vs. Not

For a long time I was under the impression that most things are cheaper when you buy them in bulk, but that is not always the case.  In fact most of the time buying a smaller box or bag of something will come out cheaper than buying in bulk.  The way to figure out which would be cheaper with your coupon is by figuring out the price per ounce.  You might find that in this case bigger is not always better.

I did it again

On Monday I had a $3 register reward expiring for Walgreen's.  For some reason I didn't make it to Walgreen's last week, so I went on Monday when the thing is going to expire.  Yeah, do you really think what I went for was in stock.  NOPE!  Normally I would then head to another Walgreen's, but on Monday I just didn't have the time to mess around.
Besides fighting my way through the aisle of people trying to buy Valentine's Day gifts for people, I couldn't find anything to use it on that would then produce another Register Reward.  So I picked up a few things for my son and applied it to my order.
However, now I need to start over with Register Rewards.  I wasn't able to get something that produced a reward, but it's my own fault for waiting until the last day to use it.  If you can help it don't wait until the last day most of the time "hot" items might be cleared from the shelves and you find yourself scrambling to get something different or heading to more stores to find that certain item.

E-mails

What does e-mails have to do with couponing?  Quite a bit actually.  Since you can subscribe to various websites, sign up for various things, get coupons e-mailed to you, your e-mail might be flooded with possible ways to save.  However, mixed in between all the savings e-mails and newsletters might be your actual person e-mails.  Something that is time sensitive could get passed over since you quickly skim who your e-mails are from.  If you see things like Coupon Cabin, Groupon, Frugal Girls, Credit Card Statement, Coupons.com, Couponmom and Hip2Save as all new e-mails when you log in more than likely that credit card statement is going to get overlooked for a bit.  However, if you separate it out and have the credit card statement go to one e-mail address and all others I listed go to a different e-mail address you might just be making life much simpler for yourself.  I have to admit I have yet to start a "savings" e-mail for myself, but every so often I think about it.  Maybe today is the day that I do it!

Clearance

One thing I check out a lot when I shop is the stores clearance section.  This past week I was in two different Targets.  Both I frequent quite a bit.  I checked out the same items and found that they were on clearance for two different amounts.  The first Target I went to had a double pack of razors for a dollar less then the Target closer to my home.
If you frequent other stores of the same name, it might be wise to do a price comparison between the two stores before purchasing.  However, stock at stores is forever changing.  Something you see one day may not be there the next.  Only you know if the deal is worth passing up or not.

Time

Time is the biggest factor for me.  The time it takes to cut and file the many inserts or printed coupons.  I tried the non-clipping route, with just having a small pile of inserts, but I got tried of constantly flipping through just to see if I had a certain coupon.  Only to find either I didn't have the said coupon or that I needed more for other items, let the flipping begin all over again.
For me the coupon clipping and filing into my binder works best.  However, time doesn't.  I sometimes try to recruit my family to help. They do say they will help, but then I tell them it's okay.  If you can make it a family thing, it does save you on time.  An added bonus  is you get to spend family time together so couponing won't take away from that.  Also you are teaching your children about saving.  Teaching a child how to save at a young age could be beneficial to them as a teenager or even an adult.
Even if you only have five minutes a day to cut and file coupons do it.  See how much savings you can rake in with those five minutes.  Adjust it some until you get a routine down that works for you.

Lessons Learned

Looking at the stats of my blog this week, I thought of throwing in the towel and no longer blogging.  I mentioned this to my son yesterday, and he had some great wisdom to share.  It doesn't matter how many people read or don't read my blog.  I am still getting out there what I want to.  If I typed my blog every day just to remind myself of why I coupon then I will do that.  Okay so my son did not say all of that, but it's a mix of what he said and what I have come to think.
Anyways, another lesson learned this week was to always bring my binder with me. Now I should have already learned this lesson, but with me being behind on cutting coupons I only was taking  the coupons I needed with me this week when shopping.   I had to go to both Kohl's and Target in the same day.  I had my coupons I needed for both in my back pockets.  All set with my list.  Kohl's I was doing my father a favor and picking up some men's socks and paying with Kohl's cash.  Target, I needed to get a box of my allergy medicine and had my 3.00 off coupon for that.  What I wasn't expecting to run into was the clearance at Target on some things I use.  I passed up buying it when I went since I wanted to see if I have coupons for the items.  Plus, sometimes just because an item is on clearance doesn't always mean it is a good deal.  I had to take a step back and figure out which deals are worth buying and which I should pass up on.  Hey if I wait some they might mark their clearance down even farther.

Behind

This week I seem to be behind on everything.  Behind on cutting, filing, reading my e-mails to find deals.  No matter how much we try to give things our all, life happens.  Doesn't mean we aren't good at what we do, just means we need to adjust our schedule some.  Maybe cut coupons every other day.  Maybe go to one less store this week.  Maybe just cut and file this week, but don't go shopping for deals.  It's okay to take a week off.

Samples

I get an e-mail from allyou.com pretty much daily.  Sometimes in those e-mails it will give me a link to today's freebie, which most of the time is requesting a free sample of something.   Besides in e-mails look at the manufacturers web site to see if they offer samples of items.  I know Procter and Gamble does and Kashi do.  The free sample is great, besides the fact that it is free, you get to test a sample to see if you really like it.  99% of the time with the free sample I have also received a coupon for the item.  

If you watch closely some of the samples cycle.  One that I have noticed that cycles is the shout color catcher.  If you are patient enough you might be able to score a few free samples over the year of a favorite item.  Depending on how frequently you use the time you could be set until the next sample offer rolls around.

    

Stockpile Rotate

Yesterday I mentioned stockpiles, but forgot to mention one key piece to it.  If you have multiples of an item, rotate your  stock.  Make sure that the item that is expiring the soonest is first and not last.  It's great if you have multiple items and might even feel good when you can just go in your cabinet to get such-and-such instead of heading to the store.  The feeling will not last long if you keep on putting new items in the front and when you finally get to the back you see that it is way past it's sell by date.

Stockpiles....

Between cutting coupons, filing them, getting ready for the superbowl I never blogged yesterday.  Sorry if you came here expecting a new post and did not get one.
If you have ever watched "Extreme Couponing" you have probably seen peoples stockpiles.  That is couponing on a real extreme level  in my opinion.  So do I have a stockpile?  Of certain things, yes.  Certain things that we use quite a bit of and I am able to get really cheap I will get a few of.
Some examples of things from my stockpile are paper towels, pens, razors, dental floss, toothpaste, toothbrushes, canned tomatoes, toilet paper, feminine care items, deodorant, laundry detergent.  Most of these things on the list I got for free.  By having more than one on hand of an item I can pretty much guarantee that I am not paying full price to replenish what I just finished.
Will I ever turn my garage into a storage space for my stockpile?  No.  Do I plan on having a huge stockpile?  No.  Do I help others from my stockpile?  Yes, just this past weekend a roll of paper towels was given to a family friend who needed them.

Twice in One Week?

Do I ever visit a store twice in one week to do some shopping with coupons?  Yes.  Sometimes I find out about good sales or clearance items that we use after we have already gone there.
At times I split my list.  I am not a shelf clearer.  Well not on purpose at least.  I don't go with 20 of one coupon and buy all that the store had.  So, since most of the stores I frequent are within my usual travels I will sometimes split the list and get a few one day, and get more the next shopping trip.

Do I Shop Every Day???

There was a time that I was hitting the stores everyday.  Whether it was that we didn't have everything we needed for dinner, we needed milk, out of cheese, whatever.  However, when I would frequent the stores that much, I wasn't actually saving as much as I am now.  I find myself going to the store often for bread, milk, cheese, orange juice, and fresh fruits and veggies.  For the most part these are things I have yet to get free or can find a coupon for.
By hitting the store more days a week than not there is more of a chance to impulse buy.  Or even buy something that you already have two of at home.  Try and plan your shopping accordingly.  If you cut out frequent trips to the store you might see the savings start to roll in.

Sharing my Savings

This is what over $12 in free merchandise looks like.  The Cat Food has a $3.00 coupon inside.  The coupon can be used to score more free cat food.  What makes this picture so great besides the huge savings.  Not all of it was intended for my family when I set out to get it.  We don't have a cat so the cat food will be going to family who has two cats.
It makes me happy to be able to pick up things for others while I'm out.  You never know others situations.  By picking up cat food, shaving cream, pens, aspirin, etc. might be an even bigger blessing to them than you will ever know.  

Clean Out

I think I need to take a short break from shopping.  Clean out my coupon binder and somehow try and catch up on my pile of coupons waiting to be cut and filed.  I am really starting to think that couponing could be a full time job in itself.