Okay so it's show and tell time
As none of you know - I have a confession to make. *stands up on her chair so as to be heard* I, Carol Wright, am a coupon addict!
So - the American economy sucks right now. (I don't want to hear from you smelly Canadians - your dollar is FINALLY worth more than mine!!! ;) Just kidding -you know I have much love for the Canadians !!!)
As you may or may not know, I have no income at the moment because despite having a college degree, the town where I live is dying and if I were to get a job there, it would likely only pay minimum wage. If I am making minimum wage then every penny earned would be paid to the dayacare. A biology degree is useful only in certain places and small-town USA is not one of them.
There is not a thriving economy anywhere in America right now but especially in small-town USA things are really bad so I have had to be creative in managing the small amount of money that we do have. (I do want to thank my cousin Candy Lewis for reminding me how helpful coupons are and for turning me into the addict that I am!)
Please give couponing a try! If you don't want to but you get a Sunday paper and have those annoying coupon inserts please let me know! I'll be happy to pay for the shipping to grab those from you :)
Prior to becoming a savvy shopper I shopped exclusively at Wal-mart and spent roughly $75.00 on food each week in big shopping trips then a 25.00 shopping trip here and a 30.00 shopping trip there and before I knew it over 600.00 GONE for the month on food!!
If you read this and find it useful I am very pleased and I hope that it helps you. I also hope that God blesses your life!
Every month I feed four adults, a toddler and a wee-tiny baby. I was spending roughly $600.00 a month to feed us. Plus we were spending over $100.00 a month on incidentals and in fact to save money I started using the kids shampoo/body wash and had been using the same toothbrush for like a year.
Now, for the most part all of our incidentals/toiletries are free or extremely cheap. I am working on a nice stockpile of items that I have gotten for free.
This morning when I showered, I washed my hair with free shampoo(Pert Plus), I shaved my legs with 24-cent shaving cream (Skintimate) using a free razor. (Schick Intuition) I got out of the shower and brushed my teeth with free toothpaste (Crest Pro-Health) with $1.00 motorized toothbrush. (Oral-B cross action). Then I used my 24-cent deodorant (lady speed stick)and free (Vaseline Intensive Care) Lotion.
When I went to Kroger recently I saved $132 (68% of my final order!) and I walked out after only paying 60.00 (10.51 in non-food purchases and 50 something in food AND I bought diapers)
If you want to save money too then please read below. This may be brand new for some people so I'm going to break it down Kindergarten style...If it's old hat for you then AWESOME! Tell me some of YOUR Hints PLEASE!!:
COUPONS
There are 4 types of coupons. Store Coupons (Good at only the store that issued them), Manufacturer coupons (the kind that are cut out of the paper), Electronic Coupons (You can download these onto your shoppers card), and Internet Printable coupons.
Electronic Coupons:
If you have a Kroger (Dillons, King Sooper, Fry's etc) or other similar grocery store nearby you absolutely must sign up for a few free websites:
http://www.shortcuts.com
http://www.cellfire.com - you can dl coupons to your cellphone here but it's not required.
http://www.pgesaver.com - Save on Proctor & Gamble items!
http://www.bringhopetothetable.com - Help fight childhood hunger and save money too!
http://www.upromise.com -Send your child to college!
The first 4 of these websites allow you to download coupons onto your shopper’s card and their electronic coupons stack with paper coupons. This is especially helpful when it comes to diapers.
Pack of pullups - 8.99
8.99-2.00 (shortcuts) =6.99
6.99-2.00 (coupon) = 4.99 for a pack of pull-ups!
The last website allows you to start saving for college for your children right now! The participating manufacturers will donate a few pennies to the child’s account when you purchase certain items. Free money is free money!!
WHERE TO GET PAPER COUPONS:
*If you subscribe to your Sunday paper then clip your coupons! CLIP ALL of them! Trust me! You may also find it beneficial to subscribe to at least the Sunday paper just for the coupons. Check with your paper and see if they will offer you a discount when you subscribe to two Sunday papers (The Tennessean has a just Sunday subscription!!)
*If you don’t subscribe to the paper then your local Dollar Tree probably sells your local paper for $1.00 with the inserts in them. I always buy two Sunday papers and I ALWAYS check to be sure the coupon inserts are there.
*Find someone who has a paper route and has left over inserts after they put their Sunday papers together each week and ask for them. Usually these people throw the extra inserts away!
I used to know a lady who went dumpster diving for newspaper inserts but I do NOT recommend that!
*Check out craigslist.com and http://www.ebay.com as well, several people have clipping services and are willing to cut coupons from their inserts and mail them to you for cheap.
Internet Printables
*There are several websites where you can print coupons on your home printer.
http://www.coupons.com
http://www.smartsource.com
http://www.redplum.com
Deals & coupon matchup websites
You can also check the below sites - moneysavingmom.com always has a printable coupon roundup a few times a week on her blog. I'll talk more about these ladies further down:
http://www.moneysavingmom.com
http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com
http://www.simplemom.net
COUPON STORAGE AKA YOUR BINDER
Okay, now that you have your coupons, you need a way to store them! An accordion file for coupons works fine at first, but if you accidentally spill your coupons out of the coupon wallet a few times you will be ready for the binder or ready to be committed! I was. Lila grabbed it and dumped it MORE than once.
Things you need:
*A zippered Binder (I paid $3.00 at Wal-mart on clearance for mine - regular price $11.97!!) and it has plenty of little random pockets for scissors or uncut coupons etc. It needs to be zippered otherwise you risk spilling coupons all over the place out of your binder.
*Dividers ($.97 on clearance at Wal-mart - two packs for a grand total of $1.96 spent on Dividers)
*Sheet protectors - These are good for oversized coupons or the sale papers for whatever stores you shop at.
*Baseball card/collectible card protectors. I know this sounds weird but…trust me!!! I paid like $5.99 for mine full price AND I already had some so I have a bunch more than came in the package. These are the PERFECT size for most clipped coupons if you clip them neatly. If they don’t fit I fold them so that the UPC is not folded and slide them into the binder so that I can see the product.
Organization:
I have a section for each store where I shop. At first each section had 1 or 2 baseball card sheets, and 1 sheet protector. So I have Walgreens, Walmart and Kroger sections. I need to expand and add Target and Harris Teeter and Foood Lion but I'm saving that for when I have less other stuff to do :)
I have the following sections behind the store sections:
Baby Care (Diapers, wipes, diaper cream etc)
Grocery (Including candy - basically ANY food goes here initially)
Non-Food/Non-personal (Cleaning, laundry, air scents, dishes, paper goods, food storage etc)
Personal Care (medicine, supplements, shampoo, body wash, makeup, razors etc)
Each section has at least one sheet protector and several card protectors.
I do recommend that you have some sort of system for organizing the coupons inside of the protectors otherwise you will spend days looking for coupons you need.
Educate yourself:
If you have a store in your area that doubles or triples coupons you will want to pay attention to the amount of your coupons. Know your store rules!!
(In my area, Kroger doubles to .50 and Harris Teeter doubles to .99!!)
Harris Teeter also has a VERY cool application on their site called "The Express Lane." Which allows you to order your groceries and go pick them up. I don't recommend that but you CAN use it to match coupons to sale items right from the comfort of your very own home!
CLIP EVERY COUPON:
I can’t stress this enough. Cut out EVERY coupon, even ones that do not seem worth it! You may find a great deal or one of the websites may come through with a GREAT coupon or you may run into someone who needs that coupon.
PLAN YOUR SHOPPING:
Visit www.moneysavingmom.com every day to look for good deals. There is almost always a “Deals” post for target and kmart and walmart and the drugstores.
Speaking of your drugstores, learn to use them to get free stuff!!!
Moneysaving mom's guide to CVS
Moneysaving mom's guide to Walgreens
A note about the drugstores
When I first started using Walgreens I didn’t understand how to use it. I read those links and thought I understood but I still cost myself some money and didn’t really grasp the register rewards(RRs) as well as I could have. If you have items you need to purchase at walgreens anyway that you can buy with a rr then do your RR shopping FIRST and check out the needed item afterwards and pay with some RR’s to make it cheaper/free. Use the RR’s to get free items. Just remember with Walgreens that the number of coupons (RR’s count as coupons) CAN NOT exceed the number of items in the order so you may need to buy cheap fillers in order to save money etc)
You can also visit www.Hotcouponspot.com and browse the forums to find coupon matchups (match the ad to the coupon and sometimes you find free stuff!!)
Know the usual cost of frequently used items and who carries the item cheapest. 2.58 might SOUND like a great deal for that bottle of BBQ sauce but if Walmart always has it for 2.08 that's an extra .50 you could save!!!!
Learn how to read store sales tags. Almost all sale tags have a tiny date on them. This should be the day that sale price ends. If the sale has a while yet and you don’t have coupons with you then you have time to go home and look for printables or check ebay.
Decide where to spend your coupons. Treat them like cash! Make sure to spend your coupon at the store where you get the best deal. I am so cheap now that if I use a coupon at the wrong store and have to pay 9 cents but I could have gotten the item free elsewhere it makes me sick to my stomach.
Keep lists either in your head or on paper. Cheapest prices on your favorite items, a grocery list of things you need for items you need that week.
Try to shop when the store is the LEAST busy, especially if you have small children or little patience. (Both of those describe me)
If the store is 24 hours then maybe your spouse can watch the kids while they sleep and you can go shopping after midnight. If you are in my shoes then unless you live in a very safe area, are a black belt and have very sound sleepers for children then you will be shopping during the day with me!
You could make a deal with another mom and have her watch your kids one day and you watch her kids the next day so you don’t have to lug them along or you can just bring the kids with you! That’s what I do and my toddler is learning valuable life lessons. Every time I put an item in our cart now she points at the coupon binder.
Just MAKE SURE for your child’s safety and your peace of mind that you follow the rules on the buggy and fasten your child in. My daughter was sitting in the infant carrier at the end of the cart two weeks ago and her toddler ADD kicked in and though I told her to be still she rolled out of the carrier and into the floor (Four feet below her!!) Thank GOD she was okay but that was one ambulance ride and one ER visit ago(and yes, I know it was totally my fault and I still feel like a bad mommy :( .)
I used to carry my son in the sling and let Lila ride in the basket but now I usually put her on my back in the sling and carry her that way with him in the infant carrier. It is MUCH safer and lasts about 30 minutes then I need something else to entertain her.
I find it very helpful to have a shopping buddy. If you both have small children they can sometimes entertain each other and if you are equally savvy (or cheap if you prefer it that way!) then you can both spot deals
LOOK FOR BARGAINS:
Kroger near here has the coolest manager ever! I have been buying Danactive yogurt Dairy drink 8 packs for my daughter for $3.59 before coupons for the past few weeks. The regular price is like $5.79!!! I freeze them then can thaw them one at a time in the fridge. Plus some of the nearby multi-packs have peeloff coupons that save an additional dollar on the pack.
The clearance section and closeout tags are my best friends lately, I got about $60.00 worth of feminine hygiene products for $5.00 the other day.
I rummage in the clearance section in every store every time now. You never know what you can find for free (with coupon).
STOCK UP:
If you can afford to get 10 bottles of your husbands shampoo for $4.90 (49 cent a bottle) then do it if it is a huge discount. If not, then don't! Find an out of the way shelf and store your stash.
You may be wondering what to do with the stockpile you may accumulate for free. Here are some ideas:
What to do with your stash:
*Save it for your family. (Immediate or extended) The way the economy is, job stability is not a certainty today.
*Donate it to the homeless in your area (excellent idea to teach social responsibility to children -let them put together care packages for the homeless and take to a local homeless shelter)
*Donate to the less fortunate. Someone lost their job? Put together a care package for their family and send it over.
*Donate to a church mission trip.
*Let family and friends “Shop” in your stash for what they need.
*Donate care packages to a nursing home. Children can draw pictures or whatever and include that - Some folks in nursing homes do not have family nearby or at all and this can mean the world to someone.
It has become a game to me to see exactly how cheap I can make items and to see how much I can get for very little. You soon find out that shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste and some food items are typically free if you shop right.
Moneysavingmom.com is run by Crystal who has a 30.00 a week budget for food. She follows the buy ahead principle and it seems to work for her. It's working for me. So why don't you go ahead and try it and let me know how much you save!!! ALSO tell me some of YOUR money saving hints :)
So - the American economy sucks right now. (I don't want to hear from you smelly Canadians - your dollar is FINALLY worth more than mine!!! ;) Just kidding -you know I have much love for the Canadians !!!)
As you may or may not know, I have no income at the moment because despite having a college degree, the town where I live is dying and if I were to get a job there, it would likely only pay minimum wage. If I am making minimum wage then every penny earned would be paid to the dayacare. A biology degree is useful only in certain places and small-town USA is not one of them.
There is not a thriving economy anywhere in America right now but especially in small-town USA things are really bad so I have had to be creative in managing the small amount of money that we do have. (I do want to thank my cousin Candy Lewis for reminding me how helpful coupons are and for turning me into the addict that I am!)
Please give couponing a try! If you don't want to but you get a Sunday paper and have those annoying coupon inserts please let me know! I'll be happy to pay for the shipping to grab those from you :)
Prior to becoming a savvy shopper I shopped exclusively at Wal-mart and spent roughly $75.00 on food each week in big shopping trips then a 25.00 shopping trip here and a 30.00 shopping trip there and before I knew it over 600.00 GONE for the month on food!!
If you read this and find it useful I am very pleased and I hope that it helps you. I also hope that God blesses your life!
Every month I feed four adults, a toddler and a wee-tiny baby. I was spending roughly $600.00 a month to feed us. Plus we were spending over $100.00 a month on incidentals and in fact to save money I started using the kids shampoo/body wash and had been using the same toothbrush for like a year.
Now, for the most part all of our incidentals/toiletries are free or extremely cheap. I am working on a nice stockpile of items that I have gotten for free.
This morning when I showered, I washed my hair with free shampoo(Pert Plus), I shaved my legs with 24-cent shaving cream (Skintimate) using a free razor. (Schick Intuition) I got out of the shower and brushed my teeth with free toothpaste (Crest Pro-Health) with $1.00 motorized toothbrush. (Oral-B cross action). Then I used my 24-cent deodorant (lady speed stick)and free (Vaseline Intensive Care) Lotion.
When I went to Kroger recently I saved $132 (68% of my final order!) and I walked out after only paying 60.00 (10.51 in non-food purchases and 50 something in food AND I bought diapers)
If you want to save money too then please read below. This may be brand new for some people so I'm going to break it down Kindergarten style...If it's old hat for you then AWESOME! Tell me some of YOUR Hints PLEASE!!:
COUPONS
There are 4 types of coupons. Store Coupons (Good at only the store that issued them), Manufacturer coupons (the kind that are cut out of the paper), Electronic Coupons (You can download these onto your shoppers card), and Internet Printable coupons.
Electronic Coupons:
If you have a Kroger (Dillons, King Sooper, Fry's etc) or other similar grocery store nearby you absolutely must sign up for a few free websites:
http://www.shortcuts.com
http://www.cellfire.com - you can dl coupons to your cellphone here but it's not required.
http://www.pgesaver.com - Save on Proctor & Gamble items!
http://www.bringhopetothetable.com - Help fight childhood hunger and save money too!
http://www.upromise.com -Send your child to college!
The first 4 of these websites allow you to download coupons onto your shopper’s card and their electronic coupons stack with paper coupons. This is especially helpful when it comes to diapers.
Pack of pullups - 8.99
8.99-2.00 (shortcuts) =6.99
6.99-2.00 (coupon) = 4.99 for a pack of pull-ups!
The last website allows you to start saving for college for your children right now! The participating manufacturers will donate a few pennies to the child’s account when you purchase certain items. Free money is free money!!
WHERE TO GET PAPER COUPONS:
*If you subscribe to your Sunday paper then clip your coupons! CLIP ALL of them! Trust me! You may also find it beneficial to subscribe to at least the Sunday paper just for the coupons. Check with your paper and see if they will offer you a discount when you subscribe to two Sunday papers (The Tennessean has a just Sunday subscription!!)
*If you don’t subscribe to the paper then your local Dollar Tree probably sells your local paper for $1.00 with the inserts in them. I always buy two Sunday papers and I ALWAYS check to be sure the coupon inserts are there.
*Find someone who has a paper route and has left over inserts after they put their Sunday papers together each week and ask for them. Usually these people throw the extra inserts away!
I used to know a lady who went dumpster diving for newspaper inserts but I do NOT recommend that!
*Check out craigslist.com and http://www.ebay.com as well, several people have clipping services and are willing to cut coupons from their inserts and mail them to you for cheap.
Internet Printables
*There are several websites where you can print coupons on your home printer.
http://www.coupons.com
http://www.smartsource.com
http://www.redplum.com
Deals & coupon matchup websites
You can also check the below sites - moneysavingmom.com always has a printable coupon roundup a few times a week on her blog. I'll talk more about these ladies further down:
http://www.moneysavingmom.com
http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com
http://www.simplemom.net
COUPON STORAGE AKA YOUR BINDER
Okay, now that you have your coupons, you need a way to store them! An accordion file for coupons works fine at first, but if you accidentally spill your coupons out of the coupon wallet a few times you will be ready for the binder or ready to be committed! I was. Lila grabbed it and dumped it MORE than once.
Things you need:
*A zippered Binder (I paid $3.00 at Wal-mart on clearance for mine - regular price $11.97!!) and it has plenty of little random pockets for scissors or uncut coupons etc. It needs to be zippered otherwise you risk spilling coupons all over the place out of your binder.
*Dividers ($.97 on clearance at Wal-mart - two packs for a grand total of $1.96 spent on Dividers)
*Sheet protectors - These are good for oversized coupons or the sale papers for whatever stores you shop at.
*Baseball card/collectible card protectors. I know this sounds weird but…trust me!!! I paid like $5.99 for mine full price AND I already had some so I have a bunch more than came in the package. These are the PERFECT size for most clipped coupons if you clip them neatly. If they don’t fit I fold them so that the UPC is not folded and slide them into the binder so that I can see the product.
Organization:
I have a section for each store where I shop. At first each section had 1 or 2 baseball card sheets, and 1 sheet protector. So I have Walgreens, Walmart and Kroger sections. I need to expand and add Target and Harris Teeter and Foood Lion but I'm saving that for when I have less other stuff to do :)
I have the following sections behind the store sections:
Baby Care (Diapers, wipes, diaper cream etc)
Grocery (Including candy - basically ANY food goes here initially)
Non-Food/Non-personal (Cleaning, laundry, air scents, dishes, paper goods, food storage etc)
Personal Care (medicine, supplements, shampoo, body wash, makeup, razors etc)
Each section has at least one sheet protector and several card protectors.
I do recommend that you have some sort of system for organizing the coupons inside of the protectors otherwise you will spend days looking for coupons you need.
Educate yourself:
If you have a store in your area that doubles or triples coupons you will want to pay attention to the amount of your coupons. Know your store rules!!
(In my area, Kroger doubles to .50 and Harris Teeter doubles to .99!!)
Harris Teeter also has a VERY cool application on their site called "The Express Lane." Which allows you to order your groceries and go pick them up. I don't recommend that but you CAN use it to match coupons to sale items right from the comfort of your very own home!
CLIP EVERY COUPON:
I can’t stress this enough. Cut out EVERY coupon, even ones that do not seem worth it! You may find a great deal or one of the websites may come through with a GREAT coupon or you may run into someone who needs that coupon.
PLAN YOUR SHOPPING:
Visit www.moneysavingmom.com every day to look for good deals. There is almost always a “Deals” post for target and kmart and walmart and the drugstores.
Speaking of your drugstores, learn to use them to get free stuff!!!
Moneysaving mom's guide to CVS
Moneysaving mom's guide to Walgreens
A note about the drugstores
When I first started using Walgreens I didn’t understand how to use it. I read those links and thought I understood but I still cost myself some money and didn’t really grasp the register rewards(RRs) as well as I could have. If you have items you need to purchase at walgreens anyway that you can buy with a rr then do your RR shopping FIRST and check out the needed item afterwards and pay with some RR’s to make it cheaper/free. Use the RR’s to get free items. Just remember with Walgreens that the number of coupons (RR’s count as coupons) CAN NOT exceed the number of items in the order so you may need to buy cheap fillers in order to save money etc)
You can also visit www.Hotcouponspot.com and browse the forums to find coupon matchups (match the ad to the coupon and sometimes you find free stuff!!)
Know the usual cost of frequently used items and who carries the item cheapest. 2.58 might SOUND like a great deal for that bottle of BBQ sauce but if Walmart always has it for 2.08 that's an extra .50 you could save!!!!
Learn how to read store sales tags. Almost all sale tags have a tiny date on them. This should be the day that sale price ends. If the sale has a while yet and you don’t have coupons with you then you have time to go home and look for printables or check ebay.
Decide where to spend your coupons. Treat them like cash! Make sure to spend your coupon at the store where you get the best deal. I am so cheap now that if I use a coupon at the wrong store and have to pay 9 cents but I could have gotten the item free elsewhere it makes me sick to my stomach.
Keep lists either in your head or on paper. Cheapest prices on your favorite items, a grocery list of things you need for items you need that week.
Try to shop when the store is the LEAST busy, especially if you have small children or little patience. (Both of those describe me)
If the store is 24 hours then maybe your spouse can watch the kids while they sleep and you can go shopping after midnight. If you are in my shoes then unless you live in a very safe area, are a black belt and have very sound sleepers for children then you will be shopping during the day with me!
You could make a deal with another mom and have her watch your kids one day and you watch her kids the next day so you don’t have to lug them along or you can just bring the kids with you! That’s what I do and my toddler is learning valuable life lessons. Every time I put an item in our cart now she points at the coupon binder.
Just MAKE SURE for your child’s safety and your peace of mind that you follow the rules on the buggy and fasten your child in. My daughter was sitting in the infant carrier at the end of the cart two weeks ago and her toddler ADD kicked in and though I told her to be still she rolled out of the carrier and into the floor (Four feet below her!!) Thank GOD she was okay but that was one ambulance ride and one ER visit ago(and yes, I know it was totally my fault and I still feel like a bad mommy :( .)
I used to carry my son in the sling and let Lila ride in the basket but now I usually put her on my back in the sling and carry her that way with him in the infant carrier. It is MUCH safer and lasts about 30 minutes then I need something else to entertain her.
I find it very helpful to have a shopping buddy. If you both have small children they can sometimes entertain each other and if you are equally savvy (or cheap if you prefer it that way!) then you can both spot deals
LOOK FOR BARGAINS:
Kroger near here has the coolest manager ever! I have been buying Danactive yogurt Dairy drink 8 packs for my daughter for $3.59 before coupons for the past few weeks. The regular price is like $5.79!!! I freeze them then can thaw them one at a time in the fridge. Plus some of the nearby multi-packs have peeloff coupons that save an additional dollar on the pack.
The clearance section and closeout tags are my best friends lately, I got about $60.00 worth of feminine hygiene products for $5.00 the other day.
I rummage in the clearance section in every store every time now. You never know what you can find for free (with coupon).
STOCK UP:
If you can afford to get 10 bottles of your husbands shampoo for $4.90 (49 cent a bottle) then do it if it is a huge discount. If not, then don't! Find an out of the way shelf and store your stash.
You may be wondering what to do with the stockpile you may accumulate for free. Here are some ideas:
What to do with your stash:
*Save it for your family. (Immediate or extended) The way the economy is, job stability is not a certainty today.
*Donate it to the homeless in your area (excellent idea to teach social responsibility to children -let them put together care packages for the homeless and take to a local homeless shelter)
*Donate to the less fortunate. Someone lost their job? Put together a care package for their family and send it over.
*Donate to a church mission trip.
*Let family and friends “Shop” in your stash for what they need.
*Donate care packages to a nursing home. Children can draw pictures or whatever and include that - Some folks in nursing homes do not have family nearby or at all and this can mean the world to someone.
It has become a game to me to see exactly how cheap I can make items and to see how much I can get for very little. You soon find out that shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste and some food items are typically free if you shop right.
Moneysavingmom.com is run by Crystal who has a 30.00 a week budget for food. She follows the buy ahead principle and it seems to work for her. It's working for me. So why don't you go ahead and try it and let me know how much you save!!! ALSO tell me some of YOUR money saving hints :)