Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Printable Coupons

Here are some printables that I have found this morning. If the links should happen to not work, please let me know. Thanks. I will be adding as I find them. One thing I will add... When printing a "bricks coupon" you can use your history back drop-down box, and select print coupon, again. It will print one more time for you. Most bricks coupons you can print {2} of.


Lean Cuisine (expires 4/29)
Oscar Mayer (fb) coupon
Cheez It (baby swiss)
Cheez It Baked Snack Crackers
Playtex Gentle Glide Tampons
Velveta Spicy Buffalo loaf
Dole Fruit Bowls, Gels, or Parfaits (4)
Dole Fruit Bowls, Gels or Parfaits (6)
Snapple Tea 6 pak
Lysol $1 off (sign up may be required)
Glad Force Flex Trash Bags (bricks coupon)
Glad Force Flex (clorox.kewlbox.com)
Athenos Hummus (like FB page, print coupon)
Clorox toilet bowl cleaner (print two and use at walgreens)
Clorax 2 stain remover (bricks coupons, so make sure you get 2!)
Desitin
Friskie's dry cat food
True Lemon or Lime
Cottonelle Bathroom Tissue

Is there something you are needing a coupon for that I might help you find? Claritin, Allegra, Diapers, baby items, flowers for your honey? Just let me know.
be blessed

t


Super Double Days

Everything I had read yesterday about the Super Double Days at Harris Teeter compared the morning shopping to morning shopping on Black Friday. It just wasn't that way at our HT store.

I don't know if I feel let down or elated that our shelves were fully stocked. Clearly I wasn't the ONLY one in the store shopping this morning at 530 am, but there wasn't a MOB like I assume there will be in Nashville or in the Carolinas.

Anyway, this is what I picked up for $13.78 this morning.


{2} Wheat Thins Sticks Chipotle Pepper ($1 each)
{2} JnJ Shampoo ($1 each)
{4} Lysol toilet bowl cleaner {a must for having boys!} (.50 each)
{4} Lysol cleaning wipes (.50 each)
{2} Seventh Generation dish soap (Free)
{1} Homestyle MacnCheese (.50)
{1} Smart Balance fatfree milk (.50)
{2} Ritz Munchables, sour cream n onion & chipotle. ($1 each)
{3} Balance bars (.30 each)

I saved $25.03 for using my VIC card, but more importantly I saved $28.98 with coupons. That's a $54.01 savings!!  That is nearly 80% savings!!

I do need to reiterate one thing. Just because we are SAVING this money on purchases, doesn't mean we HAD the money to spend on everything in the first place. I am trying to maximize the funds we DO have to spend. I still am not working yet. The economy is tough. Fuel prices have skyrocketed the last 30+ days. We don't have a choice. This is what I need to do for our family. And, it really is fun to save and get such great deals.

be blessed, truly in the heart of Jesus

t

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Couponing 101


For the last few weeks I am sure you have been inundated with the amount of facebook postings that have been occuring as I link up. I won't apologize. I am super excited about saving money, and I hope I am encouraging you to do the same.

I used to think that coupons were hard to keep track of, too time consuming, and I wasn’t saving enough for the trouble. Am I wasting my time cutting them on Sundays, and printing, and looking for that special item in the store?

Product manufacturers spend billions of dollars every year to supply us all with coupons and more than half the time they don’t get used. I will tell you straight up that three weeks ago I started to do couponing again, and I found a stack of expired coupons in the desk drawer that I had left that expired in December! {Horrified I was for giving up all that money!}(BTW... if you don't use your coupons, I would be happy to send a SASE to you so you could mail them back to me in return.)

I guess I have been lucky that I haven't had a cashier give me a hard time. I've read many things scenarios where customers hand over 25-50-100 coupons and the cashiers sigh, and others tap their feet all in a hurry. I have to wonder if they, too, know that time is money.

The boys have their video games. Couponing is becoming mine. All the while I save money for our family.
You start off slow and as you do it more, you become knowledgeable of all of the In’s and Outs and before you know it YOU ARE SAVING MONEY LIKE CRAZY!

WHERE DO I GET THE BEST COUPONS?

The best places to get coupons are of course the Sunday paper, but there are many websites and magazines that provide excellent coupons.

SUNDAY PAPER: Last week was the first of our Sunday paper being resumed. NO COUPONS were in the paper though, and I knew that was going to happen. However, I am totally stoked about all the coupons that will be in the May 1st paper. You can find a list of what to expect here at the sunday coupon preview. I also learned yesterday that my Dollar Tree has papers for... YES, a DOLLAR. I will be there on Sunday bright and early.
PRINTABLE COUPONS: You can always check out on the Coupons.com and see if there are any coupons that appeal to you. Print what you want, but in most cases there a limits set as 2 per printer and there are national limits so I will print these (the ones that I know I will use) and save them until a sale comes up. Check out the Coupon Network which has catalina offers that I have talked about before. You can go to Redplum and Smart SourceThekrazycouponlady has provided a list of printable coupons. You may have to sign up for the product info or register for the product site, but totally worth it for saving money. It is always an option to use your computer savvy talents and search for printable coupons.

MAGAZINES: I pick up the ALL YOU magazine which features coupons on almost every page, but also gives a lot of recipes and advice like most womens magazines. You can subscribe to it and save around $.50 per issue. Woman's Day also has coupons. (I'm sure there are more)
OTHER PLACES TO FIND COUPONS: When you are walking around the store, keep on the look out for peelies (coupons that are peelable off a product), blinkies (coupons that are in blinking machines near a product) and hangtags (coupons either hanging on or around a product). Another of my favorite places to get coupons for items I could possibly need is Couponsthingsbydede.  For a small fee you can get the coupons you need, when you need them. It can be a lot less expensive to do it this way than to buy additional papers, and they are already clipped! (So there really is no reason you should NOT be couponing) ;o)

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT COUPONS TO KEEP?

First and foremost…you CAN NOT be brand loyal and save a lot of money. You have to be flexible. When going though coupons and deciding which ones to clip and keep, think to yourself…If I might use the item in the coupon and I can get it for really cheap, or better... FREE, then I clip and keep it. It’s that simple…I DON’T have to buy it, but if a sale comes up and I want to try it out and I can get it cheap to free, why not keep the coupon.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO STORE/KEEP MY COUPONS?

It really depends on your personal organization habits. I started with a three small $1 photo albums from Walmart. They have the see through pages, and I could easily turn to whatever I needed by being able to view the coupons. In two weeks I had graduated to a notebook that has baseball trading card dividers and I keep separate coupons in each trading card slot. I haven't got dividers in them, YET. But I am working on it.
Another method is keeping the coupon inserts in a notebook and marking them with insert name and date. This is another method I know some use so when you see a posting on my blog or afullcups blog or thekrazycouponlady's blog, you know exactly where to get them. For example 4/17 SS would be April 17 Smart Source insert. You would pull it and find the coupon, instead of cutting them all out at once.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A STORE COUPON and A MANUFACTURER COUPON?

A store coupon is a coupon that can only be used at that particular store. For instance, if it has the target logo on it, it might say at the top Target Coupon, same with Walgreens in ad coupons. The nice thing about these coupons, is that you can stack them with a manufacturer coupon. A manufacturer coupon will state that on the coupon and can be redeemed at any store that accepts coupons.

Now that you have your coupons, then it is time to match them with sale ads. The absolute best scenario is SALE+STORE COUPON+MANUFACTURER COUPON. That is when you save the most.

So you have got your coupon stockpile going.  Now it is time to work on your product stockpile. When items are on sale, and you can get them for dirt cheap or our favorite word... FREE, then you should stock up. Any paper products you use, personal hygiene products (Walgreens is really good about having razors on sale), cereal... etc... You know what you need better than I. Right now I've been on a yogurt kick because I've been getting it so cheap!

Keep your eye out for the sales, the same stuff seems to go on sale every 3-4 months. So if you miss a sale, don’t worry, chances are it will come back around.

Please remember to be considerate when shopping. When I shop at Walgreens for instance, I will shop either early in the morning or later in the night.  Also, be organized with your coupons, have them ready to go at check out. Usually when I am shopping, I pick out the item and put it in my cart, I will double check the coupon make sure I am getting the right thing and quantity and check the expiration date. If it is all good, I throw it in the bottom of may cart. When I go to check out, I unload all my items and all the coupons I will be using are right there and ready to go.

One more important thing. The overseas military bases can use expired coupons up to 6 months AFTER they have expired. I will be sending a package once a month to Japan. If you would like to include your expired coupons or any you would not use, please send them to me. OR if you would rather, find a base that you can send them to. They appreciate it, and it's just another way to show your support for the people who are keeping you free.
If you have ANY questions, please drop me a note here or send me an email.

I can't wait to hear how things are going for you, so leave a little note if you don't mind just so I know who I am writing to. (HI mom!! You are always so good about leaving a note! Thank you for believing in me!!)

be blessed

t

New Walgreens Coupon Booklets out May 1st.

The first of every month means there are new savings at Walgreens. Sometimes I find that the coupon booklet from Walgreens has many of the coupons that come in the Sunday paper, which means they are STACKABLE.

What does that mean? It means that you can use Walgreens in-store coupon with the manufacturer coupon to create the most savings.

Here is a preview of what you might expect to find in the MAY 2011 Walgreens coupon booklet. It is located in the front of the store right when you walk in.

What are you saving on today?

be blessed

t

Monday, April 25, 2011

Walgreens

A reward card is not needed, but they are pushing for one for better savings. (pilot program I was told). And even if they offer you one, you don't need it to get the sale prices. BUT it will give you extra rewards for your loyalty to their store, and not their main competitor, CVS.

Walgreens is a good choice for us. It's super close to our house. Since starting couponing two weeks ago, we have saved $115.38 just by shopping for things we need and things we will use. OOP was $28.72. This doesn't include the very first time we went because we really didn't know what we were doing. HOWEVER, you get the math, right??

I do not get paid from Walgreens to tell you that they have awesome deals going on there, EVERY WEEK!!

I guess it just comes down to one four letter word. WILL. Do you have the will within yourself to WANT to save money for your family?

Here are this week’s Walgreens deals. Pricing is valid 4/24 – 4/30.  (Thank you tKCL for providing this)

The first week, when I had just started, I used theKrazyCouponLady everyday. Now, I know how to look for the deals on my own. YES, it took alot of time. YES, my husband always wondered if I was coming to bed before midnight for that week. YES... It is all worth the time I put in. BUT... this resource is out there if you want to use it. I highly recommend checking it out.



REMEMBER.... you can't expect to go get the deals today, when you haven't started clipping. You can order coupons through clipping services or ebay if you just really don't have the time to clip.

What are you saving on today? Have you started to think about how much you will be able to save in May by clipping this Sunday's coupons? It's gunna be a big stack, and if you don't want yours, I will gladly take them. (I'll even send a SASE!!)

Tell me what you need from me so I can help you keep your hard earned dollars in your pocket.

be blessed

t






What you can expect

In the month of May, there will be a lot of savings on BBQ items. The month doesn't start until next week, but why wait to get organized? Below is a compiled list of months and predictable sales that you could expect.

 January:

National Oatmeal Month: Quaker

Diet Foods including: Healthy Choice, South Beach, Lean Cuisine, Special K, Kashi, Smart Start, 100 Calorie Packs

Super Bowl Sunday: Pepsi, Coke, Chips, Dips, Cheese, sandwich items, crackers, snacks, wings

Seasonal Produce: Oranges, Pears,Grapefruit, Tangerines, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Kale, Kiwi, Avocado, Cabbage, Spinach

Clearance: Christmas Decorations, Toys, Wrapping Papers,

Winter Health: Cold Medicines and Vitamins

February:

National Canned Food Month: Canned Fruit, Vegetables, meats: Tuna, chicken, salmon, pie fillings

National Hot Breakfast Month: Malt O Meal, Oatmeal, Eggo Waffles, Syrup

Valentines: Chocolate, Hershey’s, KY Lubricant, etc

Chinese New Year: Soy Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce, Noodles

Seasonal Produce: Artichoke, Asparagus, Raspberries, Potatoes, Strawberries, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Kale, Kiwi, Avocado, Spinach

March:

Frozen Food Month: Frozen Meals, TGI Fridays, Contessa, Foster Farms Chicken, Eggo, Sara Lee, Healthy Choice, DiGiorno, Freschetta, Breyers, Dreyers, Marie Callendars

Seasonal Produce: Artichoke, Asparagus, Avocado, Haas, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Fennel, Kale, Leek, Lemon, Lime, Mushrooms, Onions, Spring, Orange, Peas, Radish, Rhubarb, Spinach, Strawberries, Tangerine

April:

Easter: Ham, Eggs, Some Baking Supplies: sugar, spices, baking mixes, chocolate chips

Earth Day: Organic foods, Energy saver

Seasonal Produce: Artichokes, Asparagus, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbages, Carrots, Grapefruit, Hass Avocado, Mushrooms, Onions, Peas, Rhubarb

Clearance: After Easter sales are the time to stock up on decorating, baskets, etc for the next year.

May:

Memorial Day: BBQ Sauce, Ketchup, condiments, charcoal, salad dressing, potato chips, dips

Paper Products: plates, utensils, insect repellant, sunscreen

Cinco De Mayo: Salsa, tortillas

Seasonal Produce: Artichokes, Asparagus, Avocado, Beans, Green, Beets, Blackberries, Carrots, Onions, Sweet Vidalia, Peas, Edible Pods, Peas, English/Shelling, Potatoes, New, Raspberries, Strawberries

June:

National Dairy Month: Eggs, Milk (Free Milk Catalina, wyb cereal), Ice Cream, Cheese, Butter,Yogurt, cool whip, In-store dairy coupons or booklets.

End of June is Fourth or July Sales: Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, BBQ Sauce, Ketchup, condiments, charcoal, salad dressing, potato chips, dips

Seasonal Produce: Apricots, Blackberries, Blueberries, Boysenberries, Cherries, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Grapes, Honeydew, Nectarines, Peaches, Potatoes, Raspberries, Red Onions, Squash, Summer, Strawberries, Sweet Vidalia Onions, Tomatoes, Watermelon

July:

National Ice Cream Month

More 4th of July BBQ Sales: Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, BBQ Sauce, Ketchup, condiments, charcoal, salad dressing, potato chips, dips

End of July: Back to School Sales begin: crayons, pencils, folders, binders

Seasonal Produce: Asian Pears, Bartlett Pears, Beans, Green, *Blueberries, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Figs, Garlic, Grapes, Nectarines, Onions, Red, Oranges, Valencia, Peaches, Peppers, Sweet/Bell, Plums, Potatoes, Squash, Summer, Tomatoes, Watermelon

August:

Back to School: Pudding cups, Lunch meat,

Staples and Office Depot Penny items

Disinfectant: Clorox, Purell

Clearance: Insect Repellant, Sunscreen, charcoal

Seasonal Produce: Apple, Gravenstein, Avocado, Hass, Beans, Beans, Green, Berries, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Figs, Grapes, Melons, Onion, Peaches, Pears, Bartlett, Pepper, Bell, Plums, Raspberries, Squash, Summer, Tomatillo, Tomato

September:

Back to School Sales through labor day: crayons, pencils, folders, binders

Diabetes: Bayer Glucose Meters, Glucerna Cereal

Seasonal Produce: Apples, Artichokes, Beans, Bell Peppers, Chile Peppers, Cucumber, Eggplant, Grapes, Onion, Orange, Valencia, Pears, Asian, Pears, Bartlett, Pomegranate, Squash, Tomatillo, Tomatoes, Winter Squash

October:

Halloween: Candy

Beginning of the baking sales: Canned pumpkin, evap milk, baking chips

National Seafood Month

Adopt a Shelter-Dog Month: Pedigree, Purina

Seasonal Produce: Almonds, Apples, Artichokes, Arugula, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbages, Chard, Chestnuts, Cranberries, Lemons, Parsnip, Pears, Pomegranate, Potatoes, Potatoes, Sweet, Pumpkin, Spinach, Squash, Winter, Turnips, Yams

November:

Baking Sales in full swing: nuts, chocolate chips, evap milk, sweetened condensed milk, coconut, cake mixes

Canned foods – soup, broth, condensed milk, vegetables, fruits, spaghetti sauce

Turkey, canned pumpkin, stovetop stuffing, betty crocker boxed potatoes, gravy mixes, rhodes rolls, frozen pies, cranberry sauce, jello, marshmallows

Seasonal Produce: Anjou Pears, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbages, Carrots, Celery, Comice pears, cranberries, kiwi, lemons, orange, potato, squash, yams

Clearance: After Halloween sales are the time to stock up on things for the next year. I like to buy the Halloween candy-alternatives like halloween crayons, erasers, watches, spinning tops, etc. I mix this in with my next year’s candy bowl and it stretches my loot for all the neighbor kids!

December:

Holiday Dinner: Egg Nog, Deli Platters, Instant Potatoes, gravy mixes, rhodes rolls, frozen pies, cranberry sauce, jello, marshmallows

Baking: Flour, Sugar, Butter, Cream, Cake mix, Brownie mix, Muffin mix, Breads, Pie Crust, Marshmallow, Whipped cream

Canned foods – soup, broth, condensed milk, vegetables, fruits, spaghetti sauce

Clearance: Buy all your Thanksgiving Decorations, extra table settings and turkey carving products now once they’re at least 50% off.

Ben the Turkey from the field trip last week
 Planning ahead and creating a stock pile will definitely help cut down your grocery bill. Try buying items at rock bottom prices instead of off sale and without a coupon. What do you think you will save? Did you see my facebook post about couponing? If not, you can read the article here.

be blessed!

t



the Best Part of Waking Up

Is Folgers in your cup!! Actually the best part is getting it for free. That's what I did! All you see here. Free. Free. Free.


I wonder if this is how MLKjr felt when he gave his "I have a dream" speech. {I'm kidding of course.}

Here's the scoop:

{3} $3 off coupons for Splenda (last week's paper)
{3} $1 off coupons from Folgers (paper and printer from internet)
{1} $.50 off 2 coupon for skittles (I needed fillers on this one)
{1} $4 off next purchase from Wags Register Rewards from Taster's Choice

Splenda is on sale this week for $2.99. Folgers is on sale for $2.79/J took to work. Skittles were supposed to be $1.00(which I will go and have adjusted) but I paid $1.29. (Had I not got the Skittes and just got a $.25 meat stick, It would have saved more. BUT the boys got coupons for movies for Easter, so I figured it could be Movie Night Snacks)

In advertised savings I saved $12.60. In coupons savings I saved $16.49. {because the coupon was $3 and the item was only $2.99, they had to adjust the price. who cares... it was FREE!} Total OOP I paid was $3.93.

You might be saying to yourself " UHM, T that doesn't make it FREE!! DUH!" Well, when you factor the SURPRISE, UNADVERTISED $4 Splenda register reward in, it does!!

Have you tried using Walgreens for ANY part of your shopping?  Are you confused about how it works?

Still think you don't have the time to clip coupons? My stunning cousin Andrew made a comment to me the other day about how time =s money. Well Andy... Time = Money SAVED.

be blessed,

t