Social Retargeting by Chango

April 2009

26
Apr
2009

A few extra highlights from this weekend’s inserts

04/26/2009

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I nearly missed the $1.50/1 Aveeno coupon in Parade (FYI Parade frequently has good coupons so ad that into the stack of stuff you actually read)

.75/1 Speedstick in the Smart Source- this is part of the $1 aisle promotion at Walmart

$1/3 any Pillsbury in Smart Source- this will make the catalina promo at Safeway a moneymaker for everyone! Details here.

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26
Apr
2009

Where Do I Begin: Resources for New Couponers

04/26/2009

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I hope to create a series for new couponers to help navigate this path, which I know can be very frustrating and confusing. In addition to discussing how to get started, I also want to focus on how to stretch your dollars without using coupons.

I would love feedback from you– what questions you have, advice from experienced couponers, if things are unclear or don’t make sense– anything and everything!

This is part 1- which offers the very basics for getting started.

**Sources for coupons. Most of us get them from the newspapers but the highest value coupons tend to come online. Typically you can only print 2 coupons per computer. Print one and then hit your back bar and a second will also print. Internet coupons are referred to as IPs and usually have a short expiration (say 30 days). IPs tend to come and go fast. It is best to print them as you find them- for example there are great Kashi coupons right now in my toolbar to the right. Once Kashi has reached a certain number of prints they will pull the coupon. It is better to print high value coupons or coupons for items you need or might want as you stumble upon them as they likely won’t be there later. I pointed out a coupon tonight for a free Right Guard deodorant- this coupon hit 10,000 prints within a few hours.- so it wasn’t even available for one day.
Technical note- if you have problems printing a coupon- like when it says install coupon printer (and you have installed it) or whatever- try cutting and pasting the link in another browser. Switch from Mozilla to IE etc.. and you misght have success.

Blinkies, peelies, tearpads. These are all coupons you can find while browsing the aisles at your local store. You probably pass them buy all the time and don’t even notice. Disregard the price of the item- just grab these as you see them (and please don’t take every single one. )

::Blinkies are the little machines located on the shelf next to the item that spit out coupons.

::Tearpads are usually located on displays or on end caps (the end of the aisle) or occasionally on the shelf. They are typically great coupons so start paying attention to displays in stores- even if it is an item you don’t typically buy.

::Peelies are a more controversial topic as they are little stickers stuck to the front of a product. Some people feel you should only take a peelie if you intend to buy the product then and there. I tend to be more liberal in my coupon ethics book. I will take a peelie if I regularly buy the product, intend to buy the product soon, or if it is a really good one. I usually take 1 or 2 at a time. Peelie stealers are a much hated group that will go through 20 items on a shelf and take every last peelie so no one else can get the deal. Don’t be a peelie stealer!

As you get started, you might consider making a list of items you love and regularly buy. Many products have clubs or newsletters that you can do a search for and join. I often tell you about these clubs too. One example is Morningstar Farms. I love vegetarian meat products and can never find coupons for them. I signed up for the Morningstar newsletter and get coupons about every quarter.

You will also want to find a source for newspaper inserts. Depending on where you live, you might be able to get an inexpensive subscription to the local Sunday paper. Reader and Supermom, Andrea recently scored a deal to get the Sacramento Bee for .38/week!! I subscribe to the Bee and get one set of inserts. If I had scored Andrea’s find, I might have considered getting multiple papers. You will want more than one copy of inserts. Erin at $5 Dinners recommends getting one paper for every family member here.
As you go along you will get a better feel for what works for your family, I would certainly look at frugal alternatives to shelling out $1.50 a week per person. Some areas get inserts with the Saturday paper, some newspapers will offer a discount if you request multiple copies (you better bet I am going to try and score that .38 deal to get a second copy of the paper!)
And don’t forget to ask family members and friends for their copies! SuperCouponGirl wrote here about how she scores tons of inserts for free. If you have a local coffee shop maybe they will set them aside for you? I have heard of couponers making deals with small stores to buy the extra papers Sunday evenings at a fraction of the price. If nothing else, you can check the local drug stores for the best deals. Walgreens and Longs and Dollar Stores all sell papers for $1.00 rather than $1.50.
Check my weekly coupon previews too and you will know when a paper has particularly good inserts and you might want to buy extra.
So now you have your assignments:
1. Start looking for coupons on your shopping trips and grab them up! I guarantee when they are out the item is likely at its highest price. Hold on to them for a few weeks and wait for a sale and you will start snagging some incredible deals too.
2. Look for deals in your area on inserts- if you happen upon a blogger in your area or know someone that is quite good at couponing- don’t hesistate to ask! Many bloggers are regularly featured on the news (like Erin in Texas, Marcy in Columbus, and recently Nicole right here in Sactown!) Why not email the experts and ask what their sources are? Stop someone that clearly knows what they are doing at the grocery store. I bet they not only have a ton of info for you but probably have some extra coupons for items in your cart!
The next part of this series will be ideas for what to do with all the coupons once you get them.
A few other articles you might want to read in the interim are:
My personal savings story and how coupons have worked for us, as featured on BeCentsable here.
What the heck is a catalina here (And if you are the one in front of me at UScan that leaves the free item coupons all the time- maybe don’t read this.)
And then click here to see an actual catalina I just got today.

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26
Apr
2009

Menu Plan Monday April 27

04/26/2009

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OK we are still working the hot weather and mommy is super pregnant edition of the Menu Plan, so quick and easy is the name of the game!

Click here if you are interested in a more detailed price breakdown of these items– we have a $35 grocery budget for 3+dog in the land of no doubles.

MONDAY: Homemade Macaroni and Cheese w/ salad (recipe in comments section)

TUESDAY: Tacos- vegetarian meat for me and meat lovers for hubby

WEDNESDAY: Strawberry and Mango Salad w/ Homemade Bread (DH can have chicken too)

THURSDAY: BBQ Burgers w/ Grilled Artichokes

FRIDAY: Calzones- homemade dough- I use cheese and veggie sausage, DH gets cheese and ground beef

SATURDAY: Organic Red Pepper Soup for me and Chicken & Rice for husband w/ cheesy crescent rolls (I shred cheese and bake it inside the crescent rolls. I usually make a dessert version w/ nutella spread inside for pain au chocolate)

SUNDAY: Sun Dried Tomato Alfredo spaghetti (w/ chicken for DH)

I would LOVE any yummy baked goods recipe suggestions too. I am too lazy to sort through my cookbooks for ideas these days :)

Do you have great blogs you visit for recipe inspiration? I’d love to know about them!!

Check out Menu Planning Monday at OrgJunkie for tons more ideas! Come back Wednesday to see what recipes I have for Bargain Meal of the Week at $5 Dinners– featuring Safeway specials.

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26
Apr
2009

ALREADY GONE: Free Right Guard (limited time only!)

04/26/2009

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Heather found a great coupon for a free Right Guard deodorant thanks to the Celebrity Apprentice. Click here to print the coupon- it goes to Smart Source which can take about 2 min to load. Once it prints hit your back button and you should get a second coupon. Print soon as only 10,000 are available!

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26
Apr
2009

Safeway- Quick Run .12 Net Spent

04/26/2009

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I wanted to make a trip to Safeway as 80% lean ground beef is on sale for $1.69/lb (ends today)- so here is what I did:

Lean Ground Beef: $5.93
Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls $1.29 x 3= $3.87

Used my last $2/1 store coupon for beef (sniff, sniff) from a store remodel
Used $.40/2 Pillsbury
Used .30/1 Pillsbury
Used $3/1 catalina from prior Pillsbury transaction
Got 10% off with club card -.98 (see post here for details)

Paid $3.12 and got a $3 catalina for my next purchase! I photographed the catalina so new couponers would know what to look for.

Also, I told you about this Pillsbury deal here. It works for the crescent rolls and cinnamon rolls- this is a HOT deal as I paid .17 for all 3 cans.

I will be back at Safeway tommorrow or Tuesday as the sale on beef ends today. They will likely have 30% clearance on the same packages of beef in the next few days. This is a great way to get the same discounts I got without having any coupons.

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26
Apr
2009

Walgreens Trip #2 $3.37 spent, $11 back

04/26/2009

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Trip #2! I couldn’t resist! I am likely going to make one more trip this week and then I will figure out a scenario to roll all the Register Rewards into the diaper deal this week. Stay Tuned!

Transaction #1:
Breeze Meter $14.99- used coupon $14.99
Paid $1.24 in tax- got $5 RR for next purchase

Transaction #2:
Nivea Body Wash $4.99
2pk Batteries .99 (these are a great filler and located in a little bowl at the photo dept)
Tissue .39
Used $1/1 Nivea
Used $5 RR from prior purchase
Total Spent .90- got $5 RR for next purchase

Transaction #3:
Sunsilk Shampoo $1.09 clearance
Sunsilk Conditioner $1.09 clearance
Rembrandt Mouth Wash $5.99
Caramel (already in my tummy) .39
Used $1/1 Rembrandt coupon (I got this from Johnson & Johnson- I will be writing a post next week about a great new mommy kit they offer that is free)
Used $2/2 Sunsilk from Kmart booklet
Used $5 RR from prior transaction
Total Spent $1.23- got $6 for next purchase

I hope this is not too confusing for new couponers. The Walgreens system is a bit of a headache and frankly I don’t take advantage of many offers there because I get a migraine trying to plan complicated scenarios.

For even an experienced Walgreens shopper you learn new things- for example on my 3rd transaction I only used 2 coupons and had 3 items. My subtotal was .19 so I should not have had to add the caramel but the register would not accept the Register Reward.

Also, when figuring the item to coupon ratio- Walgreens coupons used to not count. So many deals you see this week will suggest using the .39 tissue/gift wrap paper as a filler so you can use the Register Reward. Apparently that is not the case anymore- you need to buy something that you don’t use a coupon on at all (like the batteries in T#2 or the caramel in T#3).

Anyway, I still have $13.50 in Register Rewards to roll.

See my 1st Walgreens Trip here and see the entire list of deals for the week here.

Let me know how you did today! Any experience shoppers know why T#3 didn’t work for me?

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26
Apr
2009

Free Chicken on Monday

04/26/2009

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KFC is offering a free piece of Grilled Chicken on April 27th- no coupon neccessary and no purchase neccessary. All the details are here.
If you can’t make it in than check out Cooking During Stolen Moment’s recipe here for a Chicken Bowl a la KFC. If I weren’t a vegetarian I’d be all over this recipe!

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26
Apr
2009

Walgreens Run #1 $4.61 profit

04/26/2009

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I did not buy that little girl today- she is modeling my filler item which was .20 hair bands.
Here is my first round at Wags- I LOVE Rembrandt and I LOVE Nivea so this is an exciting week for me!
Transaction #1:
Bayer Meter $14.99- used $30/1 coupon adjusted down
Paid $1.24- got $5 Register Reward
Transaction #2:
Rembrandt $5.99
Gift Wrap (filler item) .39
used $1/1 Rembrandt (I have no idea where I got this)
used $5/1 Register Reward from prior transaction
Paid .91- got $6 Register Reward
Transaction #3:
Nivea Body Wash $4.99
Bayer Crystals $2.49**
gift wrap .39
2nd filler item hair bands .20
used $6/1 from prior transaction
I didn’t plan to buy the hair bands but my subtotal was -.13 after using $1/1 Nivea and $1/1 Bayer
Paid .74- got $5 Register Reward from Nivea and $2.50 from Bayer
So I paid a total of $2.89 and got $7.50 in Register Rewards for next time, for a net profit of $4.61.
A few notes:
**The Bayer had coupons right on the display for $1/1. I would have bought Ecotrin but I did not get the $1/1 coupon in 1/25 SS and I didn’t want the hassle of using the $2.25 coupon.
I almost forgot and used the Bayer Meter register reward on the Bayer crystals. You won’t get another Register Reward as they are the same manufacturer- so be careful!!
Check out all the Walgreens deals for this week here.
And check out my second run here.

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