Sunday, February 14, 2010
MIA
I know I've been MIA lately. So this is what we'll do. If you want to know more about deals or have help finding them, leave me a comment. I'll try to send out deals I've done or seen through my regular email address. Also if you have any questions, I can answer them through there also. It will be much easier for me that way. I'll also hopefully get this site back up and running on a regular basis but I'm not holding my breath for anytime soon.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Stockpiling
Stockpiling may seem a little odd to people. Maybe even to you. However, there are a lot of good reasons to stockpile. It takes a while to get to the stockpile that you want to have. I haven't made it to my ideal place and I've been couponing pretty faithfully for the last 10 months. Here are a few reasons why stockpiling is such a great idea.
1. It can lower your grocery budget. Stocking through coupons allows your budget to not be so strained.
2. Stockpiling saves you money. You buy when its cheap.
3. Makes it easy to prepare meals on the fly. You won't have to run out to the store before every meal.
4. Helps if you run into a financial harship. You'll have enough to get you through a rough patch.
5. Cuts down on unexpected store runs. When you run out of something, just grab it from your stockpile.
I'm sure there are many more benefits to stockpiling. I know I have seen a lot through our own life. Before I started using coupons and stockpiling, we would use $400+ for groceries, kitchen/laundry supplies, H&B and paper products. After using coupons and stockpiling, I've lowered my budget to $200 and usually don't even use that per month.
We also don't cut corners on food. We still eat a lot of meat, fresh fruit, fresh veggies and coffee. We don't look for only off brand name products, we buy name brand. We still get our nice shampoo and other health and beauty products. We don't limit ourselves to the cheaper stuff.
As you can see in my stockpile pictures, we do great! This is for the beginning of 2010. It will be interesting to see what happens later this year as a lot of my stockpile from last year has depleted. The prices listed are my target price. That doesn't mean I always get there but if I can, I stock up like crazy to try and avoid paying a higher price later on.
Above is under my kitchen sink. Numerous bottles of wipes, cleaners, finish, and bottles of dish soap for roughly $0.50 each or less.
Cabinet of random pastas and a few snacks. Very depleted over the year since the last great deal. Pay less than a dollar per item in this cabinet.
Coffee related supplies, sugar substitute and teas. Coffee usually pay $2.50 or less. Tea's $1 or less and sugar substitute that is in there right now, all for free. But usually have to pay oop for that also.
Pantry filled with goodies, noodles, self-made 100 calorie packs, cooking supplies and breakfast goods.
V8's for $0.50, other snacks for $0.50 a pack or less and baking supplies.
Plastic cups and a dwindling supply of Paper Towels (usually like to get them $0.25 a roll or less but thats proving to be rought lately)
Ziploc baggies ($0.25 or less), Detergent ($2 or less depending on the brand), Fabric Softener sheets (free), aluminum foil ($0.50 or less), Tissue (free)
Cans of soup ($0.50 or less depending on type), Pasta sauce ($1.00 a can), canned veggies (switched to frozen mainly so don't have a target price), BBQ sauce and marinade ($0.25 or less), Salad dressing ($0.25 or less), Jelly ($0.50 or less), random odds and ends
Cereal ($0.50 or less), Pork and Beans (reg price), Chili (cheap), broth (free), canned fruit ($0.50 or less), coffee ($2.50 or less), chinese noodles and french's fried onions (no real target price, paired w/ coupon)
Air fresheners in green box (as close to free as possible, less than $1 each), Toilet paper (ran out of my stockpile. Had it all for free, this time had to pay so no real target price)
And random odds and ends for bathroom. Only target price, soap and toilet bowl cleaner. Free.
Deodorant ($0.25 or less), Toothpaste and toothbrushes (FREE), Shaving cream ($0.25 or less), Soap (FREE), Razors ($2.00 or less), Shampoo, conditioner and body wash ($0.50 or less)
Feminine supplies (FREE to $4.50 a box), Bandaids (FREE), Rolaids (FREE), Chapstick (FREE), Airfresheners ($1 or less), Medicine (as cheap as possible)
1. It can lower your grocery budget. Stocking through coupons allows your budget to not be so strained.
2. Stockpiling saves you money. You buy when its cheap.
3. Makes it easy to prepare meals on the fly. You won't have to run out to the store before every meal.
4. Helps if you run into a financial harship. You'll have enough to get you through a rough patch.
5. Cuts down on unexpected store runs. When you run out of something, just grab it from your stockpile.
I'm sure there are many more benefits to stockpiling. I know I have seen a lot through our own life. Before I started using coupons and stockpiling, we would use $400+ for groceries, kitchen/laundry supplies, H&B and paper products. After using coupons and stockpiling, I've lowered my budget to $200 and usually don't even use that per month.
We also don't cut corners on food. We still eat a lot of meat, fresh fruit, fresh veggies and coffee. We don't look for only off brand name products, we buy name brand. We still get our nice shampoo and other health and beauty products. We don't limit ourselves to the cheaper stuff.
As you can see in my stockpile pictures, we do great! This is for the beginning of 2010. It will be interesting to see what happens later this year as a lot of my stockpile from last year has depleted. The prices listed are my target price. That doesn't mean I always get there but if I can, I stock up like crazy to try and avoid paying a higher price later on.
Above is under my kitchen sink. Numerous bottles of wipes, cleaners, finish, and bottles of dish soap for roughly $0.50 each or less.
Cabinet of random pastas and a few snacks. Very depleted over the year since the last great deal. Pay less than a dollar per item in this cabinet.
Coffee related supplies, sugar substitute and teas. Coffee usually pay $2.50 or less. Tea's $1 or less and sugar substitute that is in there right now, all for free. But usually have to pay oop for that also.
Pantry filled with goodies, noodles, self-made 100 calorie packs, cooking supplies and breakfast goods.
V8's for $0.50, other snacks for $0.50 a pack or less and baking supplies.
Plastic cups and a dwindling supply of Paper Towels (usually like to get them $0.25 a roll or less but thats proving to be rought lately)Ziploc baggies ($0.25 or less), Detergent ($2 or less depending on the brand), Fabric Softener sheets (free), aluminum foil ($0.50 or less), Tissue (free)
Cans of soup ($0.50 or less depending on type), Pasta sauce ($1.00 a can), canned veggies (switched to frozen mainly so don't have a target price), BBQ sauce and marinade ($0.25 or less), Salad dressing ($0.25 or less), Jelly ($0.50 or less), random odds and ends
Cereal ($0.50 or less), Pork and Beans (reg price), Chili (cheap), broth (free), canned fruit ($0.50 or less), coffee ($2.50 or less), chinese noodles and french's fried onions (no real target price, paired w/ coupon)
Air fresheners in green box (as close to free as possible, less than $1 each), Toilet paper (ran out of my stockpile. Had it all for free, this time had to pay so no real target price)
And random odds and ends for bathroom. Only target price, soap and toilet bowl cleaner. Free.Deodorant ($0.25 or less), Toothpaste and toothbrushes (FREE), Shaving cream ($0.25 or less), Soap (FREE), Razors ($2.00 or less), Shampoo, conditioner and body wash ($0.50 or less)
Feminine supplies (FREE to $4.50 a box), Bandaids (FREE), Rolaids (FREE), Chapstick (FREE), Airfresheners ($1 or less), Medicine (as cheap as possible)My Freebie World!
I am, absolutely, beyond a doubt, in love with freebies. Here's 5 reasons why I LOVE freebies!1. They offer you to try a new product.
2. They usually come w/ a coupon, so even if you use the product all the time, you just got a new coupon!
3. They're free!
4. You get coupons for free products or money off
5. They're just too fun!
Here are 2 websites I go to often to find out what is out there. If you sign up for freebies, do yourself a favor and open up another email address specifically as a junk email.
Free Snatcher
Free Sample Freak
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Challenge 1/10/10
I haven't been on here since school started! And school starts again next week. My challenge to myself is to get one helpful post on my blog each week. Lets see if I can do that.
However, this week, I would like to issue a challenge to you. How much can you save this week? Sunday through next Saturday...or you can start with today.
Challenge yourself and see how much you can save by using coupons, holding off on a spur of the moment purchase, sign up for freebies (they usually come with coupons) or whatever else might strike your fancy.
Next, leave me a comment and tell me how you're doing. It can be daily, or it can be at the end of the week. I would LOVE to hear about it.
However, this week, I would like to issue a challenge to you. How much can you save this week? Sunday through next Saturday...or you can start with today.
Challenge yourself and see how much you can save by using coupons, holding off on a spur of the moment purchase, sign up for freebies (they usually come with coupons) or whatever else might strike your fancy.
Next, leave me a comment and tell me how you're doing. It can be daily, or it can be at the end of the week. I would LOVE to hear about it.
Super Savings Saturday 1/9
It seems like I have been MIA for quite a while from posting. Looking at the previous date, I have! 2009 took me by surprise. Life picked up drastically in September with the start of a fully loaded semester of college. I have dropped my load for this next semester that starts in just over a week. And frankly, the deals just haven't been what I've wanted to see.
This week, things looked up. I made some great purchases and really built my stockpile back up. I didn't take any pictures, never quite thought about it.
CVS ran a pretty decent deal and I was able to add to my stockpile. I ended up leaving with a double 20 pk of cottonelle and 2 oust surface and air. After coupons and paying with $11 ECB's, I ended up paying oop $1.33. I saved $23.60 and left with another $10 ECB's for next time.
My only other store I hit up was Harris Teeter. I made 4 transactions at this store, 20 coupons per transaction over a period of 3 days. They are running Super Doubles so its been great! Debating on seeing if I can scrounge up some more coupons to go one last time before it ends.
My detailed list of what I got is down below if you feel like reading. I ended up paying $35.58 for $275.58 worth of stuff.
1 Keebler Right Bites
2 Dawn Foam
4 Special K Cereal
4 Lipton Tea Boxes
1 Nabisco Munch Pak
6 V8 Fusion
1 Electrasol
5 Lance 100 Calorie Packs
5 8pk. Lance Crackers
6 Wet Ones Wipes
4 Ideal Sweetener
1 Gillette Fusion Shaving Cream
2 Stayfree Maxi Pad
1 Herbal Essense Cond.
4 CoffeeMate Creamer
4 Blistex
2 Gatorade
2 Spot Shot
1 Kotex Liners
2 Sun Crystals Sweetener
2 Wholly Guacamole
12 Dannon Yogurt
2 NM Folic Acid
1 20oz. Dt. Pepsi
4 Lipton Soup Mix
2 Yakisoba
2 Lachoy Noodles
2 Dickinson Fruit Spread
3 McCormick Cinnamon
1 McCormick Paprika
2 Oikos Yogurt
2 Bandaid
6 Pasta Roni
2 Lysol Wipes
1 Cookies
1 Ivory Soap 3pk.
4 Special K Cereal Bars
1 Toblerone Chocolate
Thats 108 items! Averages out (after tax) to be .33 cents an item!
This week, things looked up. I made some great purchases and really built my stockpile back up. I didn't take any pictures, never quite thought about it.
CVS ran a pretty decent deal and I was able to add to my stockpile. I ended up leaving with a double 20 pk of cottonelle and 2 oust surface and air. After coupons and paying with $11 ECB's, I ended up paying oop $1.33. I saved $23.60 and left with another $10 ECB's for next time.
My only other store I hit up was Harris Teeter. I made 4 transactions at this store, 20 coupons per transaction over a period of 3 days. They are running Super Doubles so its been great! Debating on seeing if I can scrounge up some more coupons to go one last time before it ends.
My detailed list of what I got is down below if you feel like reading. I ended up paying $35.58 for $275.58 worth of stuff.
1 Keebler Right Bites
2 Dawn Foam
4 Special K Cereal
4 Lipton Tea Boxes
1 Nabisco Munch Pak
6 V8 Fusion
1 Electrasol
5 Lance 100 Calorie Packs
5 8pk. Lance Crackers
6 Wet Ones Wipes
4 Ideal Sweetener
1 Gillette Fusion Shaving Cream
2 Stayfree Maxi Pad
1 Herbal Essense Cond.
4 CoffeeMate Creamer
4 Blistex
2 Gatorade
2 Spot Shot
1 Kotex Liners
2 Sun Crystals Sweetener
2 Wholly Guacamole
12 Dannon Yogurt
2 NM Folic Acid
1 20oz. Dt. Pepsi
4 Lipton Soup Mix
2 Yakisoba
2 Lachoy Noodles
2 Dickinson Fruit Spread
3 McCormick Cinnamon
1 McCormick Paprika
2 Oikos Yogurt
2 Bandaid
6 Pasta Roni
2 Lysol Wipes
1 Cookies
1 Ivory Soap 3pk.
4 Special K Cereal Bars
1 Toblerone Chocolate
Thats 108 items! Averages out (after tax) to be .33 cents an item!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Weekly Finals
My weekly finals ended today and I get to start fresh tomorrow! I came under budget by $8.21 but bought a lot that I didn't need at the moment and stocked up on with good deals.
My oop was $41.79
Before Savings and Q's: $191.58
I saved 78% this week!
My oop was $41.79
Before Savings and Q's: $191.58
I saved 78% this week!
My Excitement of the Day!
I had a very exciting trip today, or trips, to the store. I decided, because I did so great this week with money, today's trip would go on last weeks budget.
I headed on over to SuperFresh. They had a few great deals going on. One was the noodles. We use a lot of them and if you bought ten, you'd get them for $.59each.
10 San Giorgio Noodles
3 Zone Bars
1 Kelly Butter Quarters
4 Campbell's Soup
3 Green Giant Valley Steamers
Total: $43.59
Total OOP (after Savings and Q's): $10.46
Next, I headed back to HT so try my hand at triples again. Many things were out of stock that I wanted so I only used 18 out of my alloted 20 per day.
I also ended up having $5 taken off my bill for a promotion. I wasn't aware that would happen! I thought it had to be all done in one transaction but apparently it pulled from my Wednesday's bill too!
2 Fiber One Bars
3 Chex Mix Bars
1 32oz. Rice
1 8pk. Reeces
1 Dawn
1 Ortega Taco Seasoning
1 Ortega Refried Beans
4 Campbell's Condensed Soup
1 Campbell's Soup in Hand
1 Spray N Wash
1 Starkist Albacore
1 Bumble Bee Albacore
1 Kotex Pads
1 Degree Deo
1 Wonder Bread
2 GG Frozen Vege's.
Total: $51.32
Total OOP (after Savings and Q's): $4.04
I headed on over to SuperFresh. They had a few great deals going on. One was the noodles. We use a lot of them and if you bought ten, you'd get them for $.59each.
10 San Giorgio Noodles
3 Zone Bars
1 Kelly Butter Quarters
4 Campbell's Soup
3 Green Giant Valley Steamers
Total: $43.59
Total OOP (after Savings and Q's): $10.46
Next, I headed back to HT so try my hand at triples again. Many things were out of stock that I wanted so I only used 18 out of my alloted 20 per day.
I also ended up having $5 taken off my bill for a promotion. I wasn't aware that would happen! I thought it had to be all done in one transaction but apparently it pulled from my Wednesday's bill too!
2 Fiber One Bars
3 Chex Mix Bars
1 32oz. Rice
1 8pk. Reeces
1 Dawn
1 Ortega Taco Seasoning
1 Ortega Refried Beans
4 Campbell's Condensed Soup
1 Campbell's Soup in Hand
1 Spray N Wash
1 Starkist Albacore
1 Bumble Bee Albacore
1 Kotex Pads
1 Degree Deo
1 Wonder Bread
2 GG Frozen Vege's.
Total: $51.32
Total OOP (after Savings and Q's): $4.04
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
My weekly trip
Well I made a few trips out this week. Its been another one of those weeks where I feel like I'm so disoriented because of everything that has been going on!
Above is today's trip to HT that I made. They are having triples!
I spent $9.39oop (got overcharged .90cents)
Before savings: $56.55
This was Sunday's Trip to CVS. I made 2 transactions, used 8 ECB's and recieved 6 more.
I spent $2.59
Before Savings: $17.35
Also Sunday's trip at Food Lion.
I spent $9.18
Before Savings: $12.79
I also made 2 trips to Safeway for fruit. I spent $3.20 and $1.78 but saved roughly $4-5.
And one to the commissary for milk totaling $1.35 (price went up :-(
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Deals and Ad's I love!
I don't have time to take all of the ads and post the great deals that are going on. So I'd like to send you in the right direction for them!
Southern Savers has deals this week for Walgreens, the Commissary, CVS
Albertson's have a coupon doubler going on. You can find out more about it here @ Frugal Living NW
Be Cents Able has Walmart Deals.
Head on over to Bargain Briana and find Rite Aid and KMart.
Unfortunately, I can't find a Target deal page for the life of me and don't feel up to making one up myself. I'm sorry!
By far, my favorite thing to tell you is tomorrow's paper reportedly has 5 inserts. I get the early Sunday Edition here and they had them. I picked up an extra paper, figuring 3 may be a little much for us at the moment!
Southern Savers has deals this week for Walgreens, the Commissary, CVS
Albertson's have a coupon doubler going on. You can find out more about it here @ Frugal Living NW
Be Cents Able has Walmart Deals.
Head on over to Bargain Briana and find Rite Aid and KMart.
Unfortunately, I can't find a Target deal page for the life of me and don't feel up to making one up myself. I'm sorry!
By far, my favorite thing to tell you is tomorrow's paper reportedly has 5 inserts. I get the early Sunday Edition here and they had them. I picked up an extra paper, figuring 3 may be a little much for us at the moment!
Target is now putting their coupon policy online. Have any questions, just look at it! Better yet, print it off and take it with you when you make your trips to Target in case you have any problems. You can find it Here. I love this because they allow you to use a Target coupon and a Manufacturer coupon on one item! That can create some really good deals!
The policy states:
Target Stores Coupon Policy:
Coupons are a great way to save even more when shopping with us, and it's easy to use them at our stores.
• Target accepts one manufacturer coupon and one Target coupon for the same item (unless prohibited)
• Super Target coupons can be used in any Target store if the store carries the item
• We gladly accept valid internet coupons
Because of the variety of coupons available to our guests, we do have some guidelines for how coupons can be redeemed at Target.
When accepting coupons, we use the following guidelines:
• We accept two kinds of coupons: Target-issued coupons and manufacturer-issued.
• We'll accept one Target coupon and one manufacturer coupon for the same item, unless either coupon prohibits it.
• Coupon amount may be reduced if it exceeds the value of the item after other discounts or coupons are applied.
• We can't give cash back if the face value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item.
• We can't accept coupons from other retailers, or coupons for products not carried in our stores.
• All valid coupons should be presented to the cashier while you're checking out.
The policy states:
Target Stores Coupon Policy:
Coupons are a great way to save even more when shopping with us, and it's easy to use them at our stores.
• Target accepts one manufacturer coupon and one Target coupon for the same item (unless prohibited)
• Super Target coupons can be used in any Target store if the store carries the item
• We gladly accept valid internet coupons
Because of the variety of coupons available to our guests, we do have some guidelines for how coupons can be redeemed at Target.
When accepting coupons, we use the following guidelines:
• We accept two kinds of coupons: Target-issued coupons and manufacturer-issued.
• We'll accept one Target coupon and one manufacturer coupon for the same item, unless either coupon prohibits it.
• Coupon amount may be reduced if it exceeds the value of the item after other discounts or coupons are applied.
• We can't give cash back if the face value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item.
• We can't accept coupons from other retailers, or coupons for products not carried in our stores.
• All valid coupons should be presented to the cashier while you're checking out.
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