Hi ya'll. I know you don't believe me but we do other things besides grocery shop with coupons. There's still cleaning litter boxes, making upgrades to the interior of the house, taking care of the lawn (yes, I am still mowing dry grass), and working part time at a real job. Becky works full time, has a blog (Becky Cooks Lightly), is working on her thesis for her Master's Degree and still has time to shop with coupons. (Yes! Yes! Oh yeah! I am one proud mama).
Speaking of coupons (and who isn't talking about this?) Becky had a dental appointment in Muskogee so she planned a couponing trip to Walgreens. Now she has this Walgreens thing down pat (must have more items than coupons and coupons do not double). I think Beck views using coupons (our other legal currency) as a challenge and a wonderful puzzle. And she is really good at it. She loves adding to our stockpile and it really helps. Here are the fruits of her labor:
The saving man becomes the free man.
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| Spent $13.52 but saved $36.01. She's good at this ain't she? |
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| Her $13.52 bought: 6 rolls Scott paper towels, 3 bottles Dawn dishwashing liquid (.49 each), 3 different kinds of BenGay for .99 each with 3-$5 coupons in the Sunday paper (for my knee and back) , 2 bags of Chex Mix, 1 Ricola throat drops and 1 Arizona tea on sale for .50 (used as a filler because the "no more coupons than items rule"). |
Beck said the cashier looked at her like she was cheating the store but he couldn't figure out how she did it. When we use manufacturer's coupons the store is fully reimbursed plus they recieve .06 to .08 handling fee on each one.
They do not lose money on these coupons.
I really enjoy grocery shopping at the Homeland on York Street in Muskogee. They are very, very friendly and helpful and do not care that I am lugging around a 3" Coupon Binder (unlike an experience I had at Homeland on Chandler Road. You should never be rude and hateful to anyone much less someone who has a blog and will write about you and your store. They can still kiss my grits!). Anyway, back to York Street. I was greeted warmly when I walked in the door with my binder. A sweet young clerk helped me find the Keebler Granola Bars that were on sale and then helped me up when I squatted down to get a closer look at the granola bars and couldn't get up (the knee, you know). A lovely young lady named Haley (not sure of the correct spelling but I will remember her kindness) checked me out and was very interested in my coupon strategy. It was a very pleasant experience.
Here are a few links to my favorite sites that have coupons and/or how to use them effectively:
Earthbound Farms Organic Produce- Take a 12 question survey (answers are on MoneySavingQueen.com if you want to cheat) and recieve a $1 off one item of their produce (high demand coupon on produce). If you use it at Homeland, it will double to a $2 coupon. Don't forget that you can print twice and get two coupons but don't use them in the same transaction or the second one won't double.
Another great link at MoneySavingQueen.com is located under features and then menu planning. Mommyhatescooking.com brings you a weekly menu plan using the grocery items matched up that week with sales and coupons. She has multiple links to printable coupons. Great idea. They do all the work for us. All we have to do is buy it and cook it.
The KrazyCouponlady.com is also one that I visit every day. That's where I found this great link to $1.50 off one 4 oz. or larger Carmex Coupon. Yes, you do have to give them your name, e-mail address, and zip code. If you see a coupon and think "I don't use that" then think Christmas Stocking Stuffer or Christmas Gift Basket for family, friend or co-worker or even a friend expecting a new baby.
OH! OH! Just found this one! $7.00 off any Zyrtec product 24 count or larger. Beck and I both suffer from allergies so this is a great savings.
Stacey, this one's for you. Save just 10 upc codes from Kellogg's cereal and send in for a $10 gas rebate card. Each household is allowed five (that's $50 ya'll) of these rebates so recruit your friends to save their codes for you and get some free fuel. You can download and print the rebate form from the above link. Hurry before December 31st.
There are very few coupons that I cannot find at one of these sites (after clipping the coupons from my Sunday Papers) but alas, there are a few. For these I purchase them at coupondede. They are so cheap that I can save a ton of money using them on high dollar grocery items. Ever try to find a coupon for Laughing Cow Cheese? These coupons arrive in a few days so you still have time to use them on the current sales. And for those of you who "facebook", there are great coupons available there too.
As I am writing this, I am also cooking our dinner. We love brown (pinto) beans and they are cheap even without a coupon. We also love tomatoes in any form. So dinner tonight is a pot of beans to which I have added 2 cans of diced tomatoes (on sale last week 2 for .99 and we had coupons for .75 off two cans so we got them for free) low sodium V-8 juice (on sale last week for 2 for $5 but you don't have to buy two. bought one for $2.50 and had coupon for $1 which doubles at Homeland unless it says DND. So paid .50 for 46 oz. bottle of V-8. used half of it in stew this week too) and Farmland cubed ham (on sale last week for $2.99. had coupon for .55 off 1 so my final cost was $1.89 for 1 pound). My huge pot of beans (with real meat) will cost me about $3.50. Make a little cornbread from scratch, and dinner is served!
O.K. kids, I've given you some tools to use. Now get out there and save yourself some money and become debt free in an uncertain economy. You can do it! We're all on your side. Simple Living is a lifestyle and so is shopping with coupons. Come on and get on the money train and stop planning just for today.
- Chinese proverb
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