It’s been a couple of months since I did any serious couponing as I gave myself permission to take some time off from chasing deals while we adjusted to life with a new baby. But this was a good stockup week at Kroger, and I was excited to get back into it and start the new month off fresh with my newly-filled cash envelopes. It feels kind of funny to show off my groceries, but survey results showed you want to see more couponing inspiration. So here you go! 

Best deals: (prices AFTER sale matched with coupon)

• Canned Tomatoes: $0.29/can
• Whole Wheat Pasta: $0.50/box
• Pasta Sauce: $0.74/jar
• Turkey Meatballs: $0.99/bag
• Taco Shells: $0.37/box
• Protein Bars: $0.16/each (planning to add these to our 72 hour kits)
• Cereal: $0.99/box
• Formula: $0.99/can
• Blistex: $0.19/each

Yes, I’m a breastfeeding mama, but after a manager special markdown and a coupon, the normally-priced $16 cans of Enfamil were $0.99!! They’ll be nice to have on hand for the occassional night out.

Total Before Coupons: $181.35

Total After: $67.42

Money Saving Tip: When the deals are hot–stockpile.

When the deals are hot, don’t buy one can, buy six (or whatever number you choose). Items typically reach their rock-bottom price every six to twelve weeks, and keeping a “stock” gets you through the next sale and helps you avoid having to pay full price later on. If the weekly budget allows, I typically buy enough of an item to last my family three to six months (although my current goal is to work up to a year’s supply).

How is your money saving journey going?

It’s another week of grocery shopping around here!

I wanted to point out that the trips I show here are REAL and realistic extreme couponing, not like you will see in that show. I worry about the damage the ”extreme couponing” show has done to the couponing reputation. These trips I show ACTUALLY feed my family of five, whereas the “extreme” deals just show a sensationalized, edited-for TV version of “reality TV.” And I hope we all know how “realistic” reality TV actually is.  

So now that we’ve gotten THAT out of the way, onto the deals.

Houchens: $15.36

Although there are a few grocery stores in my small town, I’m pretty loyal to the high-end grocer, Kroger. However, I heard that a local chain of IGA accepts coupons and had a few some good deals so I decided to check them out. My favorite deal was on the Gain–after the sale and coupon it came out to $1.24 each. My family goes through about one bottle (32 loads) a month, so this will last me a few months.

Kroger: $42.82

Best Deals: (prices after sale and coupon savings)

• Gogurt: $1.12/box  (freeze for lunchbox treats, afterschool snacks, desserts, etc. )
• Prego: $0.99/bottle
• Easy Mac: $0.49/each (I’m getting lazy late into this pregnancy and these make quick kid lunches.)
• Tollhouse cookie dough: $1.34/each (freeze for at-home date nights, quick desserts, etc.)

I realize that by looking at this week’s Kroger trip it looks like we eat a lot of processed junk, but it’s definitely not all we’re eating this week!! Our freezer and pantry are well-stocked. Check out this week’s meal plan.

REALISTIC tip: Remember, when you shop, you’re looking at the sale cycles. And it’s amazing when a coupon aligns with that sale for an even better price, but you can still save A LOT of money even without coupons. When a product is at it’s “rock-bottom price” that’s when you stock-up. Not crazy, extreme hoarder stock-up (seriously, what the heck are you going to do with 100 tubes of toothpaste?), but enough to last your family until the next sale cycle (which typically comes every 6-8 weeks). That way you never (or at least that’s the goal!) have to pay full price for something you need, you just “shop” the pantry or freezer.

My realistic total for the week: $58.18

I’ve been getting a lot of requests to keep sharing couponing deals, so here are details on how I shopped this week:

CVS: $3.27 and earned $11 in ECB

The key to keeping the out-of-pocket cost low when shopping at CVS (as well as other drugstores like Rite Aid and Walgreens) is to purchase weekly deals that offer Extra Care Bucks (UP+ at Rite Aid and Register Rewards at Walgreens).  Then on your next shopping trip, use the ECBs like cash and “roll” them into another product that is also producing Extra Care Bucks. 

So here’s what I did this week: Huggies were on sale for $9 a package. I used three Huggies manufacter’s coupons, a CVS $4 off a $20 purchase coupon, and the ECBs I received from last week’s purchase. It brought my total way down, and then printed off a $10 ECB I can use on my next purchase.

The chocolate bars deal was similar…They were on sale for $0.99, I used a BOGO coupon, and it printed off a $1 ECB, so FREE chocolate! Yes, please.

Kroger: $40.42

We didn’t need much at Kroger so most of my total went to fresh produce, meat, milk and eggs. But thanks to couponing, I can do that! 

Best Deals:

• Yoplait Delights: $0.49/each
• Bagged salad and spinach: $0.99/bag
• Bacon: $1.99 (bought 4 pkgs.)
• Kraft Salad Dressing: $0.99/bottle
• Pepperage Farm cookies: $1.29/bag (after-kids-go-to-bed treat!)

Weekly Total: $43.69

I shopped at the beginning of the week and I’m thinking I’ll probably need to run back for another gallon of milk, some bread, and more fresh fruit to get us through the weekend, but I have a little bit of wiggle room to work with.

If you’re new to couponing, don’t get discouraged. I can only keep our total this low because I’ve been doing it for a while and can rely on my stockpiled pantry and freezer items. It does take a few months before you start seeing a drastic change in your budget. When you first start couponing you might not spend less at first, but you will start buying MORE food/supplies for that same amount. Then the next time you need ranch dressing (or whatever) you just go shopping in your pantry instead of having to pay full-price at the store.

Well, I overspent again this week, but justified it with scoring a great stock-up deal on ground beef which I cooked up, packaged, and froze. The freezer now has enough hamburger for at least 10 meals, so it was worth going over the weekly budget a bit. I also spent a lot more at CVS than usual, but got some things we were running low on.

CVS: $22.61

Best Deals:

• Tampons: FREE plus overage
• Ritz Crackers: FREE
• Body Wash: FREE

Kroger: $49.55

Best Deals:

• Pillsbury Biscuits: $0.17/can
• Tucks: FREE plus overage
• Cheerios: $0.99/box
• BBQ Sauce: $0.60/bottle
• Juice boxes: $1.29 (for school lunchboxes)
• Manager’s Special 80/20 Ground Beef: $1.37/lb (stockup!!)
• Reynolds Wrap (50 ft rolls): $1.14/box (I use this a lot with freezer cooking)

We’re still munching on lots of apples and applesauce from our trip to the farm, have plenty of other meats and veggies in the freezer, lots of tomatoes in our garden, and a stocked pantry so we’re eating well.

Total for the week: $72.16

With all this talk about couponing, meal planning, and freezer cooking some asked to see an actual grocery shopping trip. This was a pretty “normal” week for me–shopping at CVS and Kroger with a few good coupon deals to stockpile, but mostly just stuff we needed.

Out of the ordinary was that I shopped at a local farm for produce this week and spent $21, which took me over the weekly budget. BUT, I bought a bushel of apples, lots of fresh corn on the cob, and peaches to freeze. I’ll plan to spend less on groceries next week to “balance” it out.

CVS Total: $1.43 The Carefree and the Milky Way were FREE after coupons. The Soft Scrub was $1 after coupon, and the ice cream was BOGO. I used ECB (extra care bucks) that I had earned last week to bring my out of pocket cost to $1.43.

Kroger Total: $48.52 Best Deals:

• Powerade: FREE
• Taco Seasoning: FREE
• Dial Handsoap: $0.18 each
• Gillette Shaving cream $0.26 each (donated to Ryan’s classroom for shaving cream spelling)
• Gillette Fusion Shave Gel: $0.58 each
• Pillsbury Biscuits $0.13 each
• Toaster Strudels (total splurge): $1 each (and earned 25 Box Tops to donate to school)
• Apples (farmer’s market) $0.30/lb (bought 40 pounds to make applesauce)
• Corn (farmer’s market): $0.20 an ear
• Watermelon (farmer’s market): $1
• Tomatoes: FREE (from our garden)

Yesterday I explained my method of couponing and promised to share how I organize my coupons. Until recently I was leaving my coupon inserts whole until I knew I needed a specific coupon, but I’m now clipping them all. The reason for the switch is that I kept going to store with only a small stack of planned-to-use coupons, and then would {disappointedly} end up finding amazing manager specials or unadvertised deals that would match up coupons I knew I had at home. It’s kind of a pain to drag the whole binder to the store now, but when I have it with me I don’t kick myself for missing out on the deals quite as often.

Deciding to clip all the coupons meant I needed better organization though, so I created this coupon binder. I’m using a 1.5″ I already had at home, but I’m pretty sure a 3″ binder is best and I’ll eventually need to upgrade. I’m probably a weirdo, but if I have to lug this thing around, I wanted it to be cute and so I made myself a printable binder cover.

I have my coupons separated into different categories: Baby, Baking, Beauty, Beverages, Bread, Breakfast, Cereal, Cleaner, Condiments, Dairy, Frozen, Fruit, Hair Care, Hygiene, Ice Cream, Laundry, Meat, Medicine and First Aid, Office Supplies, Oral Care, Paper and Plastic, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Pets, Produce, Sides (rice, pasta, boxed potatoes, etc.), Snacks, Soup, and Veggies

Each category divider slips into an 8.5×11 sheet protector. I’m also using sheet protectors to organize the coupons. Baseball-card size are recommended, but I couldn’t find any locally so I ended up purchasing the smaller business-card size. They’re not perfect though, so if you can find baseball card protectors, definitely go with those. **UPDATE** I found some and the baseball card size work much better!! If the coupon is too big to fit in the business card slot, I fold it to fit, leaving the expiration date visible. I also purchased a couple packs of 4×6 photo sheet protectors to hold the larger coupons.

I keep an empty sheet protector in the front of my binder. When I’m preparing for my shopping trip I place the coupons I know I’m going to need in there. Then when I’m at the store and find other deals that match with coupons, I transfer those to the sheet protector as well. It helps keep things organized so I can easily hand them over to the cashier.

It’s still a bit early for me to tell if I’m going to LOVE this new coupon binder, but it does feel good to be better organized and it is MUCH easier to find coupons and prepare for my shopping trips now that I have them categorized. Overall, I’m happy with my decision to switch to a binder.

Are you interested in making your own coupon binder? Download and print the FREE binder cover and category printables from your home computer! These inserts come as 8.5×11 PDF files. My favorite paper for printing color projects is Epson Matte Presentation Paper. It’s thick and sturdy like cardstock, but unlike cardstock which tends to absorb and mute the color ink, the matte paper presents vibrant colors that are true to what you see on the computer screen.

UPDATE: These coupon binder printables are free (and will remain so!!) but you can now purchase a professionally printed version in my Etsy store!

So, I’ve been a couponer for about two-and-a-half years. I haven’t been one of these “extreme couponers” or shelf-clearers though. Sure, I get my deals and I have a nice stockpile, but have been fairly lazy and unorganized about my couponing “method.” That’s been fine though because couponing hasn’t really been common in my small town–until recently!

It’s AWESOME that the word is spreading and more people are getting into saving money. I love sharing a passion with others and it’s fun to pick out my fellow couponing friends with their gigantic binders taking the place of a baby in the front of their cart. But it’s also lit a fire under my bum because now I feel like I have some competition to go get those deals! I used to wait until Friday or Saturday to look through the ad or my favorite coupon blog, gather coupons and then go. But lately if I don’t prepare ahead of time and get to the store Monday morning, the deal is GONE. And there is nothing more disappointing to a couponer than empty shelves.

With this recent change, I’ve been evaluating my couponing method a bit. I’ve also had several friends wanting to know more about exactly how I coupon and how I feed my family of five on $250 a month. So this one is for them. . . .(and anyone else!)

First, I get the Sunday paper.

The best coupons can be found in the Sunday paper and I have four delivered to me every week. For a while (the lazy coupon days) I wasn’t buying any papers. I have a couple of friends that save their inserts for me and I was using printables from the internet. It all seemed to be working fine but getting a hold of those inserts wasn’t very consistent or organized and I was starting to miss a lot of deals so I decided to subscribe when the local newspaper called and offered a good deal. I pay about a dollar a week for each paper. My best advice for getting a good deal on the paper is to call and ask if they are offering any specials.

Next, I clip my coupons. . .

. . .all of them. This is a recent change for me. In the lazy days I left the inserts whole and only cut when I needed a coupon. But now I’m cutting them all and organizing them in a binder. I decided to make this change because there have been way too many times I’ve gone to store with my small stack of planned-to-use coupons only to find manager specials or unadvertised deals that would match up amazingly with coupons–if only I had them with me.  (Tomorrow I’ll give some tips on quick coupon clipping and show you my binder.)

Third, I prepare for the store. . . .

I do this by looking at match-ups on my favorite couponing blogs, making a list, and gathering the necessary coupons.

I only buy with coupons if it’s actually a great deal. This means waiting for the item to be on sale, and then matching it up with a coupon. For example, say Crest toothpaste is normally $2.29 a tube. I can use my $1 off coupon and it will be $1.29, but I’d rather wait until it goes on sale for $1 a tube (and it does), and THEN use my coupon, making the toothpaste free.

And last, I go shopping!

Most weeks I shop at CVS and Kroger. Since I usually have kiddos with me I limit the shopping to one to two trips a week–preferably in the morning while Ryan is at school.

{total for this mini-trip was $4.70 thanks to coupons}

I stockpile when I can.

When canned tomatoes are $0.12 a can after the sale and coupon, I buy 20 cans instead of two. This way I have plenty of “stock” to get me through to the next sale. I don’t go insane on stockpiling 60 bottles of mustard or anything though. Remembering that food items expire and that I want to be a good steward over what we have, I only buy what we’ll be able to use before it expires. If we end up not being able to use it, we donate it. If the weekly budget allows, I typically buy enough to last my family at least 6 months (although my current goal is to work up to a year’s supply).

I plan our meals around the sales, seasonal items, and our stockpile.

Meat and produce take the biggest chunk of our grocery budget so I watch the sales and shop for seasonal produce. When boneless chicken breast is on sale for $1.88/lb but beef is $4.29/lb, we eat chicken that week. When apples are $0.99/lb but grapes are $2.88/lb, apples win. I “stockup” on meat and produce when possible by utilizing the freezer.

Each week I create a meal plan based on what meat and pantry staples we already have or that are on sale that week. We’re not always perfect about sticking to it, but it’s a good guideline, helps keep the grocery budget WAY down, and reins in the temptation to grab a pizza on a busy night.

{Unstuffed Pepper Bake}

We’re able to keep our food/toiletries budget to $60 a week thanks to couponing (and many weeks it’s much less!). I use cash envelopes to help limit my weekly spending. Using the cash envelopes has been a REALLY hard habit for me to get into and I’m not claiming to be great at it. But setting that boundary does help keep me in check and keeps me from overspending. And yes, our family of almost six eats well on $60 a week. I get a lot of gawking looks when I say this, but believe me, because of couponing, it can be done.

So that’s how I do it. It’s simple though I know it can be a bit overwhelming and seem like a lot of work at first. Once you’re hooked to the coupon-high though, if you’re like me, you’ll want to keep scoring deals and saving your money and wonder you’ll why you never shopped like this before.

Back tomorrow to show off my coupon binder. . . . Feel free to ask specific questions in the comments section if I missed something.

Creativity Captured is a regular feature in which I spend some time introducing artists, crafters, and bloggers I look up to, am inspired by, and feel have “captured” creativity.”

Two years ago I drastically changed the way we shop and became one of “those” people–a couponer–you know, the ones you dread being stuck behind in the grocery line. At first it was out of necessity but now it’s become a habit, and I’m not sure I would ever go back to my previous shopping habits, even if our income was significantly higher. For me, couponing and savvy shopping just makes sense, is a way I feel I can help support my family and be a good steward over what we have been given, and gives us more money to do other things! And who wouldn’t want that?

Last week I scored this for 49 cents (plus tax):

That’s four tubes of toothpaste, four bottles of body wash, two sippy cups, two floss, pantyliners, and razor refills!

For this week’s “creativity captured” I wanted to feature my online friend and fellow couponer, Kelleigh Ratzlaff. Kelleigh and I “met” when we were selling our digital scrapbooking designs at the same store, but have continued to connect through our frugal adventures. She is much more dedicated than me, and is someone I look to for inspiration when I’m feeling couponed out. She’s also extremely creative, makes amazing papercrafting templates, and has been very successful selling budget-friendly “cash envelopes” in her Etsy store. In fact, she’s celebrating her 150th Etsy sale on her adorable cash envelopes!

Here’s a little bit more about Kelleigh:

Tell a bit about yourself.

I’ve been married to the love of my life for 13 years, and we have two amazing little boys, ages 7 and 4.  I love reading, strategic couponing, creating 3-dimensional papercraft templates, digital scrapbooking, garage sales, and crafty pursuits.  I love trying out new things, so this past year I have become a runner, read through the entire Bible (in 88 days), started making my own yogurt, perfect artisan breadmaking (which is actually super easy!), and opened up an Etsy shop!

{Check out Kelleigh’s Extreme Couponing series}

What inspires you?

Oh, the answer to this question varies quite a bit!!  First, my Heavenly Father inspires me to love the way he first loved me.  I’m working on it, but it’s not as easy as it sounds!  My husband inspires me to keep pursuing new and unexplored areas of growth in my life.  My children inspire me to sit down and give it a rest and appreciate the snuggle.  Plus, they are so stinkin’ handsome that I just HAVE to take pictures and record memories, so they certainly inspire me to do that!!

{Easy, Inexpensive, and Classy Photo Gift Tutorial}

As for creative stuff, I love looking at a 3-dimensional shape and trying to break it down in my head and transfer the design to a piece of paper.  It’s weird, I know.  It’s a challenge that helps me hold on to my brain cells, I suppose!  I wonder if I will be keeping this up when I’m in my 80s?!

Also, I’m inspired by fabric (ooh-la-la!), pretty crafts, home decor and so much more!  I love pretty things, but I’m terribly cheap, so I’m usually a window shopper.  Hello TJ Maxx!

What’s in your purse?

I suppose I should go clean it out first, huh?  {sigh}  Okay, a couple of grocery store and drug store ads and a pile of random coupons (did I mention that I’m a couponer?), empty gum wrappers, 3 handmade clutch/purses (because I just HAD to show them off to friends), hand sanitizer, a ceramic airplane shaped piggy bank, 3 cars, lipstick (never leave home without it!), 2 pairs of sunglasses (because the preschooler always wants to wear mine when I put them on), socks (don’t ask), my wallet containing my cash envelopes, a notebook, my B90 Bible, a baggie filled with pens and pencils (my attempt at organization), a baggie filled with a little first aid kit we put together at MOPS and lotion.  I’m totally just sparing you, because there is actually more than that in there, but we could go on for days.

{Kelleigh’s super cute cash envelope system keeps her on budget.}

If you could be invisible for a day, where would you go, or what would you do?

Oooh!  I never thought about that!  I suppose I would love to see what my older son is up to at school.  Who is he spending the most time with, are they good friends, does he pay attention in class, is he kind to others, etc.  I know what other people tell me, but I’d like to see for myself!  He’s such a great kid, but he is 7 years old!  Yikes!

What was the last thing you purchased?

A zipper.  I discovered a new sewing pattern (which is why I have 3 clutches in my purse), and I want to make another one.  Oh, and Little Noses Saline Solution . . . because it was free at Rite Aid.  (Couponer!  Shameless.)

Find more of Kelleigh on her blog, Facebook, or in her Etsy store!

When it comes to money, I’m the “free spirit,” while Jared is the “nerd.” He’s really excited about crunching numbers and getting into “beans and rice,” but it’s tough for me to keep momentum in my enthusiasm. But then there are moments when pinching pennies totally makes sense to me and I remember that we are doing this for a reason and that we have a common goal in mind.

Yesterday I went to the grocery store. I bought milk and produce over the weekend, and the freezer is stuffed with meat and freezer meals, so we didn’t need much, but I wanted to take advantage of a few coupon deals and scope out the dairy markdowns.

My total after coupons was $0.06. (For those wondering exactly HOW I paid only a nickel and a penny for all those groceries, the yogurt and creamer were free and the detergent was $.99 after coupons. The eggs, ham, and soda were all on sale prices, but I “paid” for them with gift cards I earned last week from the General Mills mega sale–buy 4 products, earn a $5 gift card. I stocked up on lots of cereal and granola bars for less than $1 a box after the sale and coupons, and then earned multiple gift cards to pay for this week’s groceries.)

And I left on HUGE high that made me want to stay focused on our financial goals.

It’s been a while since I’ve shared my grocery scores, but to be honest, I’ve been a bit lazy in the couponing department, so there hasn’t been much to show. 

I have lots of meat in the freezer and plenty of eggs and milk left from last week, so this week’s shopping was mostly stocking up on manager’s specials and lunch box snacks. My kids love frozen yogurt, so I scooped up a bunch of markdowns (and used a coupon to save more, of course!). I broke my “rule” of spending less than $1 a box on cereal to indulge my three-year old and spent about $57, a bit over my $50/week goal.

For those of you who shop at a Kroger, it’s the second week of the Kroger Cart Buster Event. I took advantage of some good deals last week and am happy to be stocked back up on toilet paper. Yes, it’s the little things that make me happy.   

To help Kroger celebrate their Cart Buster Event I have a $25 Kroger Gift Card to share with one of you! (This card can also be used at Kroger affiliates.) All you need to do leave a comment! Do you coupon? What’s your favorite grocery shopping secret?

Giveaway ends Tuesday, March 8th.

**Special thanks to the good people of Kroger, General Mills/Nestle/Proctor & Gamble and MyBlogSpark for sponsoring this giveaway!

I’ve heard quite a few times, “But I just don’t use/buy the things there are coupons for, so couponing wouldn’t really save me any money.”

If you buy pasta, rice, potatoes, canned soups, chili, vegetables, fruit, beans, milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, packaged meat (lunchmeat, hot dogs, sausage, tuna, etc.), bread, cereal, oatmeal, flour, sugar, spices, baking mixes, cookies, crackers, candy, granola bars, medicine, diapers, feminine hygiene products, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, soap, makeup, batteries, ETC., couponing will save you money.

Before I started couponing I thought I was a frugal shopper. I would pour through my favorite cookbooks to plan out the meals I wanted to make that week, make a grocery list, and then go shopping. I was pretty good at sticking to my list and buying “cheaper” generic brands. When I came home I had bags of groceries full of the ingredients for my weekly meals and snacks, and usually a few treat splurges as well.

My grocery total was almost always $80-100 a week for our family of (then) four. When I started couponing my weekly bill dropped to $35-50 a week because I started using coupons, but also because I drastically changed the way I planned my meals for the week.

1. Now instead of planning my meals I plan my shopping trip first. I look through the grocery ad to determine sales.
2. I find the coupons I need to match those sales.
3. I plan my weekly meals based on the ingredients on sale that week (or from my pantry/freezer stockpile). 
4. THEN I go shopping.

(And can I let you in on a little secret? Cooking with the couponed ingredients is working much better and my meals are often healthier and cheaper than they were when I was doing the beans and rice challenge!)

How about a recipe? This one uses ingredients that are on sale this week and will get you in the mood for Thanksgiving!

Chicken Stuffing Casserole

The ingredients:

• 1 pouch stuffing mix ($0.25 after coupon)
• 1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup (free after coupon)
• 1/3 cup sour cream or milk ($0.17)
• 1 lb. chicken breasts (on sale for $1.99/lb)

Mix stuffing mix with 1 2/3 cups hot water; set aside. Cube chicken and place in a casserole dish. Mix soup and sour cream (or milk) and pour over chicken. Spoon stuffing over top. Bake uncovered at 375F for 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Serves 4.

Variation: Substitute 2 cups cooked chicken or turkey (Thanksgiving leftovers!!) and bake until the casserole is hot and crispy on top (approx. 20 min.)

It’s a very filling all-in-one kind of meal. I served it with a can of green beans (on sale this week for $0.50). Total for meal: $2.91!

Want to learn more about cooking based on what’s on sale? Good! Every Thursday we’ll be doing just that . I’m teaming up with {superstar} Erin Chase, author of The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook to bring you a weekly Bargain Meal based on what’s going on at Kroger. (But don’t pout if you don’t shop at Kroger, these meals will will definitely apply to you too!)

Linked to Life as Mom

Recently I watched a documentary about the new sport of “aisling.” Never heard of it? Yeah, neither had I. 

Apparently it’s a sport that turns grocery shopping into a form of self-expression. The idea is that since grocery shopping  is a necessity and we spend so much time in our lives doing it, why not make it fun, shop with style, create your own art, and make shopping a form self-expression? People can do this by decorating their carts, dancing while they shop, etc.

Interesting. . .

Really the documentary was hilariously entertaining. But I think to make my shopping trips “fun” I’ll go ahead and stick to my “sport” of choice: couponing.

Yesterday’s shopping trip:

Total BEFORE coupons: $341.23

Total AFTER coupons: $78.76

Saved: 76%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Number of items bought: 206 (average of $0.38 per item)

FREE: bottled beverages, toothbrushes, cough drops, pasta, canned soup, cream of chicken soup, hot cocoa mix, milk 

CHEAP: toothpaste ($0.25/tube), stuffing mix ($0.25/box), canned tomatoes ($0.29/can), canned chili ($0.29/can), large boxes Jello pudding mix ($0.29), 2 liter sodas ($0.30/bottle), evaporated milk ($0.19/can), potato flakes ($0.20/pkg), cookie dough ($0.99), spaghetti-os ($0.50/can)

And like $10 of that total was a huge pack of Charmin toilet paper and and a huge pack of Bounty paper towels (just cause we needed them ).

Yay for stocking up on the food storage! Now to find places for it all. . . .

(Linked to Living Well, Spending Less)

Kelleigh has a fun series on her blog explaining how you DON’T have to be a genius to be an extreme couponer. She shows you how she cut her budget for her family of 4 from $400 to $200 a month (and still has leftover grocery money to buy gifts, toiletries, and even coffee runs!). She points you toward some of the best resources to get started in couponing and she’s introduced you to coupon blogs.

Maybe now you are at the point where you really want to go for this couponing thing and you’ve even started to look for coupon blogs that match up stores in your area but are not sure what to do next. Believe me, I’ve been there, and will be the first to admit it CAN get overwhelming. Let me share with you how I keep things organized as I prepare for my shopping trips.

First off, you all use a blog reader right? If you don’t, YOU SHOULD!!  It’s your lifesaver and will make scanning coupon blogs a breeze.

I personally use Google Reader. Basically you subscribe to a blog and then the blog reader organizes all your favorites into one application so you can read them all in one place instead of having to surf from blog to blog to see who has updated. Genius, right? It’s a MAJOR time saver.   

But it gets even better! If you are like me and subscribe to LOTS of different blogs with LOTS of different subjects, you can further organize your favorite blogs by categorizing them. Some categories I keep in my Google Reader are: scrapbooking, friends, couponing, decorating, homeschooling, parenting, and cooking.

To get started, first subscribe to your favorite blogs (And of course  keepinglifecreative.com and kelleighratzlaff.com are on your list, right?? ). At the top left of the screen, click “Add a Subscription” and then enter the URL of the blog.

Then organize your favorite blogs into categories.

Now go to your coupon category in your blog reader. All the recent matchups are right there, easy for you to see. You can easily scroll down and to see all the entries and then click on the ones that interest you.

OR, if you are looking for something specific, say diaper deals, type in “diapers” in the search bar, choose the couponing category, and then search for the best diaper deals on your favorite coupon blogs.

Now I’m ready to plan my shopping trip and know I’m needing groceries so I scan my Google Reader, find the matchups for Kroger (my fav grocery store in my area), and see what’s going on.

As I check out the deals I want to take advantage of, I copy and paste the scenario in a Word document, and then print my list and gather the coupons I need for each of the scenarios. That way I’m not flustered in the store as I try to remember the details and fumble through my coupon box in the middle of a busy aisle. Preparation equals pulling off a flawless coupon shopping trip. And I rely on that because I live for the coupon highs! Yes, the coupon high is my drug of choice. Besides chocolate and Diet Dr. Pepper.

My favorite thing about using Google Reader to look at coupon blogs is that I can quickly scan the titles of the posts so I don’t miss anything, yet I can easily skip the matchups that don’t apply to me. (For example, there is not a Walgreens close to me, so I don’t need to spend my time reading those posts).

So that’s it! Super easy to prepare for a shopping trip thanks to Google Reader and passionate coupon-clipping money-saving blogging moms who do all the match up work for me. The money I save is DEFINITELY worth the few minutes it takes me to prepare.

Psstt. . .Since we’re on the couponing subject I just loaded this cutie digital kit into my store. . .And ’cause I love the high that comes from saving money and want to pass that high onto you , use coupon code: EXTREMECOUPONER to take 30% off until 10-15.

When the going gets tough, I say, go shopping!

Ok, no, I don’t really say that, especially because we are on Dave Ramsey‘s [get-out-of-this-stupid-student-loan-debt] plan, but, yesterday was a rather awful day for me, and I DID go shopping. And felt much better afterwards thankyouverymuch. But it was a coupon-high, no-guilt trip full of necessities. And I can’t wait to show you what I bought at Rite Aid for…

$1.77. Yep. And can I tell you, it was really just tax that I paid. (Oh! And a box of microwave popcorn too–not pictured.) But, after paying less than two bucks for THREE packages of Huggies diapers and some pantry goods, I came home with $11 in UP rewards PLUS I earned a $10 Rite Aid giftcard. So, I’d say it was a pretty successful trip–yeah?

Oh, and can we just pause for a moment to celebrate the fact that Emmy is now only in a nighttime diaper! I guess it’s true that they’ll do it when they are ready because last year when I tried potty training it was an awful experience, but several months later she practically did it on her own. Anyway, you want the details… The Krazy Coupon Lady has a scenario. (Have you read the book yet? Go.get.it.now. So worth it.)

I typically only make the 15 minute drive to Rite Aid when they have diaper deals and Rite Aid has had some HOT diaper deals lately. Last week I bought 2 BOXES of Pampers (and earned $20 in UP Rewards). This week I took those UP rewards (basically a coupon for a $ amount that you can use on just about anything on your next purchase) and a stack of Huggies coupons and bought more diapers. But then while I was there I saw some good deals on food items so I scooped those up too.

Don’t have a kid in diapers? That’s okay, please do a young mom a favor and help her out! It’s the best baby shower gift you can give. Promise.

Here’s a peek:

What a cool idea…to take such and ordinary event and turn it into a fab layout. Someday it will be fun to look back and re-read the layout and remember what her daily life was like and what they ate. Or maybe I’m just slightly obsessed with that at the moment because of our recent history studies. Go give Kelleanne some love! And if you want to create a similar layout, the Hodge Podge blog has a shopping list challenge going on right now. So fun.

It all inspired me to create this little memo pad…

…which I had printed FOR FREE (!!) at Artscow. 

(Want a notepad like mine? Download image for FREE here. Then go here to Artscow, click the CREATE button, and choose the “create your own option.” Upload the JPEG file, then lower the opacity–right side–to 35-45ish. Save, add to cart, add the coupon code and it should be completely FREE! No shipping costs even! Offer is one per household and is available to residents of the USA, Canada, Australia and Europe.)

I can’t wait to get it back to make lists for my future shopping trips in which I buy things (and save a ton of money!) like this…

Since I only spent $10.41 last week, I needed quite a few things this week. But notice, I was still well under my $50/week budget. I didn’t find any meat deals I was excited about so I’ll be digging into the freezer stash, but I got some other great scores.

FREE: Ronzoni pasta, Right Guard deodorant, Danimals yogurt tubes (we love freezing these!), Annie’s organic salad dressing, Ball Park hot dogs, Old El Paso taco seasoning, (plus watermelon and tomatoes from our friend’s garden)

CHEAP: marked-down and loss-leader produce (always makes me happy!), Quaker oatmeal ($0.98/box), Tylenol Cold Medicine ($1.19)

Ugh, I can’t tell you how depressing it was to pay FULL PRICE for ketchup. Generic, but still. I’m worried that I missed all the stock-up sales this summer. Maybe Labor Day will give me one more chance?

What’s on your shopping list?

(a recent shopping trip)

We moved to the midwest exactly a year ago and one thing I’ve had to learn to get used to is the bugs. Sooo many bugs. I’m not really afraid of them, I just think they’re gross and I don’t appreciate sharing my house with them. Since we knew we would be gone several weeks we tried to prepare the house for the absence. I cleaned inside really well while Jared sprayed for bugs. (By the way, he is my hero for having sold door-to-door pest control in blazing hot southern California one summer to earn enough to pay cash for his Master’s program. Hardest summer of our lives but so worth it now that we look back.)

When we came home we were pleasantly surprised to find only a handful of dead bugs (lining the parameter of the house) and no roachfest. YAY.

But THEN. I was unpacking and I SCREAMED when I opened the pantry and discovered a furry little mouse friend had found it’s way in and made it’s home IN my stockpile.

Ok, there are a few things to say about this.

First, obviously, GROSS. Period. Food and mice, uh uh. (shaking head)

Second, I am TERRIFIED of mice. There aren’t many things that bother me. I even tend to be the spider-killer in our house (but don’t tell Jared I told you that). Rodents though–particularly mice are different for me. Ever since I was little they have given me the fast-heart beating creaps. My parents’ house is in the middle of a gorgeous piece of 5-acre land surrounded by thickly-wooded evergreen trees. One of the downsides is that there are plenty of critters that like to find a warm place to live in the winter. I remember times when I would lie in bed at night and hear the mice scurry behind the walls. It seemed my parents always had traps set to catch them. The problem that came for me is when I didn’t know where the traps were placed and I have way too many freaky childhood memories of opening a closet and finding a set-off trap or smelling a rancid stench and later figuring out it was a decaying mouse carcass somewhere behind the furniture. Yeah…nightmares from those experiences. Probably blown up bigger in my mind now, but anyway that’s how I remember it. It was a happy day when my family finally got a cat and I no longer had surprise rodent discoveries.

Just sayin’.

The house we live in now is next to a huge field and we’ve noticed that when the field is occassionally mowed there are a lot of bugs, toads, and furry friends that tend to relocate in our yard. Somehow one of the dang things made it’s way into the house, into the pantry and had made it’s nest right in my dark chocolate stash. Now if you know me I need my daily dose of chocolate, so it meant war. AND, also, get this–it chewed a hole in ALL my bags of dried beans and rice. Pretty ironic, right?

I was so terrified and disgusted by the whole situation that I made Jared do all the dirty work. He trapped the mouse (luckily it seems there was only one) and then started cleaning out and sanitizing.

I was quite emotional at this point because we’re talking about my pantry here, and I’ve been working pretty hard over the last year of couponing to build a decent stockpile. I have this slight panic in the back of my head that we need to have a good supply–a year’s worth even–of staples so that if we ever had an emergency we would be self-sufficiant in that area. It goes back to a few years ago when we lost a job and HAD to live on our storage for a while until we had another income. We continued to live comfortably on what was in the pantry and freezer for about a month and I was thankful we had what we had at the time. But now that I have discovered how financially POSSIBLE and EASY stockpiling is with coupons, I’ve been trying to build our supply to last (hopefully) a year. Just in case.

Anyway, I was pretty emotional about the loss of my stockpile as Jared was filling huge garbage bags of food the mouse had destroyed. Then as I was thinking about it I realized,

1. Because I’ve been couponing we literally paid pennies and nickles for most of the ruined items (and lots I even got free), so although it was depressing to throw away so much food, it wasn’t as if I was throwing away thousands of dollars I had spent (although it was probably worth that at regular retail price!) 
2. A quote from my mother-in-law ran through my mind: “It’s nice to have a plan. Know that the plan won’t always work and it really doesn’t matter.” It’s almost become a family joke because the statement is so true and helps bring perspective to so many situations.

So, I pulled it together, waited to be sure the mouse was gone, got out the Clorox wipes (which I got for free with coupons of course) and went to work.

Maybe the mouse invasion was actually a mixed blessing though because as we were cleaning out, throwing away, and reorginizing I realized a couple of things such as, Pam, just because you CAN buy mustard for $0.19 a bottle, doesn’t mean you REALLY need to buy 10 bottles! I mean really, what am I going to do with so much mustard?

Another thing I realized was that I’ve stockpiled a lot of things we haven’t used because I’ve been so obsessed with my 365 days of beans and rice challenge. When I originally gave myself the challenge the MAIN idea was to help me drop our food budget to $200 a month. I’ve successfully done that to a point that it’s now actually EASY for me to go to the grocery store and spend $30-40 for the week, and still buy PLENTY of food, if not more than I used to. I used to spend at least $85-100/week before I started couponing. So, with the loss of all my bags of beans and rice (which I will need to start replacing) and realizing that I had conquered my goal of dropping our grocery budget I decided to let the beans and rice challenge go. It was a tough decision for me since I hate to feel like a quitter and I know I could easily keep going with the challenge. At the same time I’ve been feeling a constant push over the past few months to cut out and simplify my life and so letting this challenge go is one of those things that needs to happen. I hope no one is terribly disappointed. I know I am, but I also know that I’m going to continue to cook on my $200/month budget, and that beans and rice will still play a big role in our menus, so it makes it okay to step down in my mind.

The THIRD thing I realized, kind of connected to the first two points is that I think I’ve become a bit of a food hoarder! I love to see my stockpile grow and hate to use things up because then *gasp* it would be gone! And having full pantry shelves definitely spells security for me. Luckily I can see (now that I’ve been faithfully couponing for a solid year) that coupons and sales go in cycles and that I don’t need to go overboard when I find a great mustard deal. I still need to be a good steward over what I have, otherwise I will end up throwing cereal crackers food away because I’ve had it on the shelf so long it’s terribly stale and expired.

So that’s that. Who knew a mouse in the house would be such an emotional thought-provoking experience for me? And this post makes me want to make a cute felt cat and mouse kit. . . .

I’m always on the lookout for a good “sneaky” snack.

Smoothies are definitely one of my favorite ways to “sneak” healthy ingredients into our diets. They are also a great way to use soon-to-expire yogurt which I frequently get for FREE or for pennies when I use my coupons. (Just yesterday I bought a four-pack of yogurt cups for 9 cents!) Smoothies are also a great way to use up ripe bananas or other fruit that will soon spoil. I haven’t gotten TOO crazy with combinations, but we have been doing a bit of  and smoothies are one of my kids favorite breakfast drinks or snacks.

Here is one we tried the other day that was a hit.

“Orange” Julius Smoothie

• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2-1 cup vanilla yogurt (depending on how thick you want it)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 TBSP sugar (optional)
• 2 TBSP carrot puree (will probably try adding more next time)
• 6-8 ice cubes

Blend in blender until ice is crushed, then serve.

So I’ve talked quite a bit about the Krazy Coupon Lady’s book, Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey. I recently finished reading it, and while I thought I was doing fairly well at couponing, there were a lot of new things I learned in this book that I’m excited to apply. It taught me that ANYONE can become a successful couponer, you just need to learn a few skills. The book is a quick read, funny, provides lots of great examples, and is well organized.

And if anything reading the book gave me a new boost of energy to get my coupons better organized and to build my stockpile!

Want to learn more about how YOU can save 50-80% on your grocery budget? The Krazy Coupon Ladies sent me a book to GIVE AWAY to my blog readers! Heck, if I get enough comments maybe I’ll even use some Amazon giftcards I just got from cashing in my Swagbucks and get a couple more books to giveaway!

Here’s what you need to do to enter (please leave a separate comment for each entry):

1. Leave me a comment about anything! It’s fun to see who’s lurking.
2. Subscribe to my blog’s RSS feed
3. Follow me on Twitter@pameladonnis
4. Tweet about the giveaway and link back to my blog
5. Follow me on Facebook(pameladonnis)
6. Subscribe to my newsletter (or let me know you already do)

Giveaway will end on Thursday, May 13th and winner(s) will be announced on Friday, May 14th.

$6.40. That’s all.

I needed to refill a prescription and thought, well, since I’m out I’ll do a little shopping while I wait. But I must remember next time to avoid Wednesdays in the future. It was a madhouse–senior citizen day. I think they get an extra 10% off on Wednesdays. A nice bonus, I guess.

Unless you want to save 77% any day of the week!

Hahaha. Yes, I do love my coupons.

Oh! And I wanted to tell you about something that happened while I was in the cereal aisle. Kellogg’s cereal was on sale for $1.97 a box (normally $3.79). I had a scenario worked out with my coupons and a catalina so I could pay $0.72 for each box of cereal. (My sister-in-law in Las Vegas was able to pull off this deal and get them for $0.25 each!! Oh, how I long for a bigger town with more store choices…)

Anyway, so I’m in the cereal aisle picking up my two boxes of Kellogg’s Raisin Bran when a lady comes up next to me and picks up two boxes of generic brand Raisin Bran. I know she didn’t even look at the price, because her generic brand cereal cost MORE than the Kellogg’s with the sale price. And that’s not even taking into consideration a catalina was printing for the Kellogg’s and the hot little coupons I was holding in my hand. 

See, generic isn’t ALWAYS better.

I give a hand to the geniuses who thought of yogurt in a tube. Seriously, the fun packaging sells it for my kids and they’ll gobble them up–much faster than a boring looking scoop of the same yogurt in their bowl. Plus, they are portable and don’t require dirting extra dishes–major bonuses for me.

In my pre-couponing life I RARELY bought yogurt in a tube because I couldn’t justify the price. But then I discovered coupons. And guess what? There are almost always coupons available for these kid-friendly snacks. Add the coupon to a sale, and possibly a marked-down “manager’s special,” and you’ve just found one happy mom who doesn’t mind saying “YES” to a normally expensive  treat. And, my kids suddenly think I’m a super-hero. (Not that this is the goal of parenting, but it is fun once in a while!)

Thanks to timing, coupons, sales and some luck, I regularly get super-cheap or even FREE brand-name yogurt at my high-end grocer. My personal “target price” is a dollar or less for a box of yogurt in a tube. When I find it for that cheap I like to STOCK UP! I pay attention to the sell-by date since it is dairy as I’ve found sometimes it’s marked down or on sale because the date is getting close. When that happens we eat what we can in a couple of days and then freeze the rest.

Sorry, I’m a bit coupon-obsessed. Here’s where the “sneaky snack” comes in. Frozen tubes of yogurt make AWESOME “popsicles.” Cut off the top with some kitchen scissors or a knife, peel down the paper and bit, and the kids are good to go.

I consider frozen yogurt “popsicles” a sneaky snack because to me they are healthier than the empty-calorie freezie pops. At least the main ingredient in frozen yogurt tubes is milk, while frozen juice sticks are basically water, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavor and colors. And my kids think they are getting a delicious frozen treat when I let them eat a frozen yogurt with lunch or as a snack!

I use Saxon for math because I think it’s fun as well as practical. In the early grades the lessons use a lot of manipulatives. In fact my kids think it’s so fun that every day my son asks to do ”play math.” Not sure he realizes he’s actually learning something!

 Today our kindergarten math lesson introduced pennies and how to write the cents symbol. After the introduction the book suggested an activity where the kids could play store and “pay” for items with pennies. So I took a handful of pennies out of my coin jar and helped the kids set up shop. I showed them how to price items and gave them some stickers to write on. Then I needed to go put the baby down for a nap so I told them to finish pricing while I was in the other room for a minute. When I came back I noticed Ryan had written in his four-year-old handwriting “F R E” on some of the stickers. I casually asked him about it and he said, “Well, when you go shopping you get things for free.” I had to bite my lip. True, I do…sort of.

So then I gave the kids a handful of pennies and told them to choose what they wanted to buy and then to come “check out” with me. (Emery thought it was more fun to put her pennies in a long line.)

Ryan chose his items for “purchase” and brought them to me. As he started “checking out” he handed me a “F R E” item. Wanting to see if he really understood what “free” meant I said, “Okay, this one says free, so what do you need to give me?”

“A coupon,” he quickly replied.

Ahhhhh. (Nods head) Looks like my shopping trips are paying off and I am teaching him something!

Anyway, I loaded all the kiddos up and went grocery shopping this morning. Amazingly it was a drama-free trip so they earned their cookie from the bakery at the end (THANK YOU blessed cookie lady!).

And, another fabulous surprise, I think I may have won over the grumpy cashier-lady!! She was extra friendly and helpful today. Truthfully, I think I’ve impressed her with my SKILLS. Or maybe they’re just realizing that I’m a loyal customer and that I faithfully come in every week. Maybe I should hand out a business card when I check out next time so she can start couponing too! Hmmm, it’s an idea.

Anyway, sorry for my chatter. I guess I’m on a bit of a coupon-high! Here’s what I bought today:

Highlights:

• Gogurt: $0.73 each box (Marked for quick sale to $1, plus used $0.80/2 coupon)
• Chef Boyardee: $0.63 each (on sale for $1 each, used $1.50/4 coupon) Thanks, Mommy Snacks
• Pudding packs: FREE (tearpad by the Chef Boyardee pastas–get a free pudding pack when you buy 4 cans of pasta!!)
• Scotch-Brite sponges: $0.50 each (on sale for $1, used 4 $1/2 coupons from 3/7 SS insert)
• Green Giant boxed veggies: $0.38 each (on sale for $1, used 2 $0.50/2 coupons–doubled, plus a $0.50 Shortcuts e-coupon came off as well)
• Greek Yogurt: $0.10 each (on sale for $1, used 2 $0.45/1 coupons–doubled)
• Boneless/skinless chicken breasts for $1.99/lb (My stock-up price)
• Eggs on sale for $0.79 a dozen

Oh, and THEN on my way out I scored a free Redbox rental with a coupon code I found here!

Livin’ it up beans and rice style and keeping life creative!! Woohoo!

Ecoupons are coupons that can be loaded onto your frequent shopper/rewards card. I don’t know all the stores that participate in this, so you’ll have to check to see if yours does, but I know that Kroger, Safeway, Smiths, and many other affiliates do.

To load ecoupons onto your rewards card, register your card on the ecoupon site, then add the coupons you are interested in. Honestly, I usually just add them all because I never know if I will find that product on clearance or on a really good sale, and it’s nice to have the ecoupons already loaded on my card.

Here are the ecoupon sites I know of:

• Cellfire
• Shortcuts
• P&G esaver
• UPromise

How to use ecoupons:Registers are set up to take the ecoupon off your total when you use the card, so basically they advertise it as clip-free, print-free couponing. It makes it very convenient. But I like to sweeten the deal further by ALSO using my paper coupons.  Although NORMALLY you can’t stack two manufacturer’s coupons, registers WILL take off BOTH e-coupons and paper coupons. They will not double ecoupons though if your store doubles coupons, and the ecoupons will only come off one time, even if you purchase several of that item.

Here’s an example of a transaction I did a few weeks ago using ecoupons:

Nature Valley Nut Clusters were on sale for $2.29. I had loaded a $1.00 off ecoupon from Cellfire. I also used a $1.00 off coupon from a recent newspaper insert. The register took BOTH of the coupons off, so this made the nut clusters $0.29. THEN, to make it an even better deal (although it still would have been a great deal!) my store had a catalina deal where you got a $1 catalina when you bought two Nature Valley products. Sweet! Free nut clusters!

I’ve been thinking over the past few days about our budget and that I’m getting cocky confident enough in couponing that I think I can take the plunge next month and reduce our $50 a month diaper fund. I’ve decided I’m going to cut it to $20 first, and then hopefully in May eliminate it completely and just buy diapers from our $200 a month grocery/toiletries/household fund. 

Last night before I went to bed I read on a deal blog about an AWESOME diaper deal at K-Mart in which I could stock up on Huggies and Pampers for about $2 a package! I don’t usually shop at K-Mart, and the closest one is in the neighboring town an hour away, but I needed to do an errand there anyway, so I decided it was worth it to make the trip and jump-start my diaper stash before I cut the budget next month.

I packed up the kids, our “trip snacks” (granola bars, juice boxes, fruit snacks), the portable DVD player and a new Netflix movie and set out. We got our errand done and then headed to K-Mart. When we got there I was a little frustrated to see the prices at the store were significantly different from the ones I had read in the scenario on the blog. I can figure out my own scenarios, it’s just a little more difficult when I have the kids with me. I was hoping to be in-and-out since I had taken the time to prepare my coupons at home.

Anyway, I reworked some things without too much trouble from the kiddos and loaded my cart up with four packages of Huggies and Pampers diapers, 36 rolls of toilet paper, 8 rolls of paper towels and some candy fillers. After my coupons and the catalinas I would earn I was expecting to pay about $11. Good, right?

Then we went to pay and I handed over my coupons. The $10 off $20 purchase coupon was the secret weapon–stacking that with catalina deals and manufacturer coupons. But the cashier wouldn’t take the coupon. I asked her why and she said the manager had let them know the coupon was circulating and that they couldn’t accept it. “But I printed it from the K-Mart website“, I argued. She was very appologetic and said all she knew was what her manager had told her, and that apparently the coupon was only meant for certain states, and Kentucky wasn’t one of them. 

So, I walked away from the whole cart. I felt bad, but I’ve gotten spoiled since couponing and have a hard time paying full price for things now. I had promised the kids an Icee though, so we went over to the snack bar and I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was Free Icee Friday!

Total for this trip: Just the cost of a 1/4 tank of gas

Where do I get coupons?A few different places. The best place is in the Sunday newspaper. Most Sunday newspapers come with one or several coupon inserts. If you are going to get serious about couponing and saving money I’d recommend you get ahold of several copies of these inserts each week. The most obvious way to get the inserts is to buy the newspaper (subscribe or buy at gas station, dollar store, etc.). You should be able to get the Sunday newspaper for about $1 an issue (dollar store, discounted subscription, etc.) I live in a small town that doesn’t have these options though, so I have found other ways to get my inserts to help me save money. Here are a few ideas: 

• Ask friends/neighbors/older ladies at church etc. to save the coupon inserts for you (I usually collect 5 or more inserts a week this way.)
• Check the FREE box at the library for inserts (I find them here a lot.)
• Clipping Services–one of my favorite options. If I know there’s going to be a great deal on an item I want to stockpile on I’ll purchase multiple copies of a coupon. For example, a few months back there was a hot $2 off Snuggle coupon. Walmart sells the 40 sheet boxes for $1.87, so this meant FREE plus overage on Snuggle dryer sheets! I purchased 20 coupons for about $0.10 each and stocked up on free dryer sheets. The nice thing about using a clipping service is that the clipping work is done for you. I have used The Coupon Clippers and Collectable Coupons without any trouble.
• “Dumpster Dive” (but only if this is an allowed option for you!) I’ve gone through newspaper recycling boxes before and pulled out several inserts. My husband thought this was quite embarrassing and not too classy though, so I haven’t done it too much. LOL

Another way to get coupons is by printing them. Here are a few sites. Sometimes you can also find printable coupons directly on a company’s website too.

• Coupons.com
• Smart Source
• Red Plum
• Cool Savings

Most of the time you can print two of each coupon per computer. Just hit your browser’s back button and it should print a second time. If there’s a really hot printable coupon, it’s usually a good idea to go ahead and print it and then save for a sale because companies only release a certain number of printables and when they are gone, they’re gone. I was bummed to miss out on a great Oscar Meyer bacon coupon the other day because I didn’t print right away.

When you are printing coupons, feel free to use cheap paper and set your printer to black fast draft printing. As long as the bar code scans, stores don’t care if it’s in color or black and white.

How much time do I spend clipping and searching for coupons?Shoot, this is a hard one for me. I think couponing is very addicting, so I spend too much time on it. LOL.

Kelleigh wrote a really informative article called Couponing 101 Without the Junk (Food). She explains the envelope system and discusses several couponing myths (it’s cheaper to buy the generic brand, coupons are only for junk food, it’s not worth the time, etc.). Here is what she said about the time it takes:

“Myth: Figuring out the deals takes too much time. Fact: YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT!

 There are many, many “frugal” bloggers who love gathering the deals and post them on their blogs! (Oh, how I appreciate these ladies!) They will scour the grocery store ads, find the best deals, find the coupons to match up with those deals listed in the ads (called a match-up), link you up to printable coupons so you can just click and print, and even do the math for you! They come up with “scenarios” to help you get the things you need at rock bottom prices.”

So my answer about how long it takes is kind of vague. . . . It may take a bit of time at first to get organized. Now that I’ve been doing this a few months and am more confident in what I’m doing, it probably takes me 30 minutes a week to look at my store’s weekly ad, gather my coupons, and plan the week’s meals. But because it’s a bit addictive for me I spend another couple of hours a week reading couponing blogs. 

Hope that helps, Becky! Send more questions if you have them!

I’ll admit, I usually scan over the cashiers and try to choose carefully before checking out–something you learn to do as a couponer. When I was first starting to get into coupon clipping I read on The Krazy Coupon Lady that she has the best luck with young male cashiers. This has been my experience as well.

I think I have the best luck with younger cashiers (males at the top of the list) because they don’t take the time to read the coupons, they just scan them quickly and if the register takes it, then they are good with that and they trust the technology.

Not to be rude, but middle-aged women seem to be the most difficult to deal with when it comes to coupons. They are the ones that seem to read each detail of each coupon, and then want to compare with the product to make sure the deal will work before they scan it. They are also the grumpiest when I get my total WAY down. And then they look at me suspiciously as if I did something wrong, or worse, as if they did something wrong because my cart is full and I’m paying so little. (Sometimes I wonder if they are just jealous because they can’t shop that way. LOL.) And they are the ones that always call over managers and delay the checkout process because they don’t trust the coupon–even if the register takes it. I’m just sayin’. ‘Cause it’s happened to me quite a few times.

I live in a small town with limited shopping places, so it’s not like I can shake it up too much. Sometimes I’m forced to go to the grumpy middle-aged ladies.

Today was one of those times. It was supposed to be a quick trip. The kids and I are planning a little Valentine’s Day party so we went to Walmart to pick up a few supplies. I thought, while I’m there I’ll get a few extra games–the $0.24 games. (Did you print your coupons yet?).  We’re going to host a game night in a few weeks, and I thought they would be fun (and cheap!) “thanks for coming” gifts.

Anway, so I have all my printable coupons and I load up with Monopoly, Pictureka, and Scrabble card games along with our other stuff. We go to check out and the shortest line by far is a middle-aged lady. I was faced with a decision. Go through quickly with her (I had my three kids with me, so going though checkout quickly is always best.), or wait in line with another cashier. Since it was almost dinnertime and I had the three kids with me, I opted to go with the middle-aged lady.

Everything was going fine. She rang everything up and I had my bags in the cart ready to go. The kids were behaving and weren’t even begging for candy or the zillion other goodies they put next to checkout. Then she starts ringing through my coupons. The grocery coupons went through fine and she didn’t really look over them too closely, but then she got to the game coupons. I’m watching the register screen to make sure my total is coming down as expected. Monopoly game coupon #1 took $4 off my total. Monopoly game coupon #2 took $4 off my total. And then she paused.

“You didn’t get any Monopoly games.”

“Oh, yep, they’re right here.” And I went digging in the bags to find the Monopoly card games. She inspected the coupon.

“It says Monopoly game. These are cards.”

Me: “The coupon doesn’t specify that it has to be the board game. It just says ‘any Monopoly game’ and these cards are a Monopoly game. I was in here a few days ago and the coupon worked just fine.”

She adjusted her glasses and looked closer as if trying to find fine print that would prove me wrong. “Hmm…Well, I’ll have to ask about it.” (As my kids are starting to get restless and are noticing the packs of gum and candy bars, I’m thinking ‘the dang computer already took it off! Why do you care?’) And then she called for a manager. It took a good three or four minutes for one to actually come. Meanwhile a line is forming behind me and I’m starting to get a lot of impatient looks.

The manager came over and looked over the coupon. She explained everything to him and he agreed that I needed to buy the board game, not the card game. I argued that the coupon doesn’t specify that, and he argued that the coupon would state “Monopoly Card Game” if it was meant to be used on the cards. I let him know I had done a similar deal just a few days ago and it worked just fine. But he wouldn’t budge, so I (remember the long line forming behind me and my restless kids?) asked them to take all of the games off my order and give me the coupons back. They were irritated that they had to go back through and reverse part of the transaction, but there was no way I was paying full price for the games when I KNEW I could use the coupon on them. ‘Cause I’d done it the other day.

So I’ll probably go back in a few days and use the self-checkout so I won’t have to deal with anyone. I don’t mean to be gripey, I was just frustrated with the whole situation, and my coupon-high confidence was scarred a bit.

Give me some feedback here. Was that dishonest for me to try to use the coupon on the card games? It doesn’t seem like it to me for these reasons:

• #1 The register took the discount without a problem. It usually beeps if the coupon is product specific and you don’t have the right item–like the other day I accidentally grabbed French’s honey mustard, and the coupon SPECIFIED French’s yellow mustard.
• #2 I tried the transaction the other day, and it worked just fine. Of course I only bought one game that day, and not several. Maybe that was my mistake.
• #3 Walmart gets their money when they send the coupons in, so why cause such a fuss?

This week, the last week of the month I had $6 left. Yeah. See why I need to make Kelleigh’s envelopes? Really we didn’t need much though, so I went to the store with just my $6 and a Ziploc of coins. LOL. So I probably had $10ish. And I was doing fine. Got the things on my list and was about ready to go. Then I passed by the meat section. I wasn’t planning to get meat as we still have some in the freezer. But that familiar reduced sticker my grocer slaps on nearly expired products caught my eye. And then I looked closer and saw that it was on ground beef. Extra-lean 92% organic ground beef. For $1.20 a pound. Now I don’t know about where you live, but where I live extra-lean ground beef is $4-5 a pound. This particular brand was normally priced at $4.99/lb. Even if it wasn’t extra-lean, $1.20 is a great price even if it’s “use or freeze by” date is the next day. So I broke my promise to use only cash and only $200 this month I filled the front of my cart with 28 rolls of hamburger and then used the debit card at checkout. Jared was a little upset when I got home with so many groceries because he knew I’d gone over. But once I explained everything he was fine with it ). And to even it out, I am going to subtract my overage from next month. And I don’t think that will be a problem since I now have a freezer full of extra-lean ground beef!

Here’s my shopping trip for this week:

The highlights:

• It was the last day of the sale so I decided to stock up on frozen veggies since I had Birdseye coupons still. $0.30 for a bag of vegetables is hard to beat.
• I definitely chose the day to go because the chocolate chips were also marked down to $0.60 each. They are “limited edition” dark chocolate and mint so I guess they were left over from Christmas. But we love brownies or double chocolate chip cookies with mint, so they will be great for that. I was wishing I still had some Nestle coupons (printable) to make them an EVEN better deal, LOL, but I used them at Christmastime when I was doing a lot of baking.
• The Clean and Clear was also in the clearance bin. The bottle had leaked a little so it was really sticky. I guess rather than cleaning it off they just marked it down. I had a $2 off coupon, so this made the facewash more than free! $.80 overage actually, to apply to the ground beef!
• I used Rice-a-Roni coupons to get the rice for $0.66 each. I’m not sure if that’s a great price for Rice-a-Roni just to eat, but I like the long grain and wild rice blend to use in recipes, and $0.66 is a great price for that since wild rice is usually pretty expensive.  
• I found another coupon in an insert a friend gave me, so I picked up another free ramen.
• The coffee creamer (which we LOVE in hot chocolate) was free (got the coupon in the mail).
• The Hostess 100 calorie packs are a little treat for me since I’m still trying to lose that baby weight! Printable coupon here made them $1.25 a box.
• The Gorton’s grilled fish was $2.15 after the coupon (has 2 fish fillets). Not sure if that’s a great deal, as seafood is pretty expensive here in the midwest. But we’ve been craving fish tacos, so I splurged.