Those of you with little ones might be interested in this free printable card that you can use for the Last Day of School photos.

I think this is adorable and a very cute way to jazz up your pictures.

My little girl is graduating preschool and moving on to Kindergarten next year so I have this little sign all printed and ready.   We did a little practice run this morning but you might want to take your photos at the bus stop or by the front door of school or even with a teacher.

You can print the sign in pink, purple, green, pink or blue courtesy of Chickabug blog.

I ordered mine from Staples super late Saturday and it was ready to pick up at 6am the next day!  The price was $.56 per page.

Here are a few other ideas:

Create a large Welcome to Summer Banner and put it on the front door for the kids to run through after school.  You could just use the backside of inexpensive wrapping paper to do this.

One last little idea is to create a page in a photobook with some details about your kiddo at this age.

You can also make really cute little cards to send out to friends and family members.

I designed this one really quickly and you can get these little 4×8 cards printed for $.47 each from See Here right now.

Just use coupon code: cards-48 at checkout and your shipping will be $1.49.

You can see some last minute Teacher Appreciation Gifts for the end of the school year here.

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(photo credit)

Ok some of you might see this and think oh goodness, someone has hijacked Charlene’s blog.

It is not something I would normally do myself- homemade air fresheners that is. But this idea stuck with me after I saw it several months ago on pinterest and I wanted to tell you why I think it is worth all the bother.

You can make these little homemade air fresheners really easily, I think mine took like 5 minutes to do. The original idea, from Smashed Peas and Carrots, is to make one for each room in the house and use it for an air freshener.

Something struck me as very charming about this idea and when I got my little hands on that exact size mason jar I decided today is the day to make homemade air freshener.

So anyway the process is very simple:

- You take baking soda and add a few drops of your favorite essential oil or you might even be able to use cooking vanilla if you don’t have any oils on hand.  I really like Peppermint or Lemon myself.

-Next is to get a piece of cardstock paper- scrapbook paper is usually about $1 per sheet at craft stores or Walmart.  Take the insert out of the lid on your small mason jar and use that to trace a circle on your scrapbook paper.  Cut the circle and insert it on top of the mouth of the jar, screw the outside of the lid back on and you are in business.

-You need a large needle of some sort to punch holes in the top- I used a safety pin at first and when I decided I needed larger holes I just used a sharp pencil to poke.  (That was my make it work moment and you can probably find something that might work a little better in your home.

I personally found the air freshener aspect of this jar doesn’t last very long for us. Maybe a day or two. I actually have mine in my car though so it might work better in a small bathroom.

Now I here is why you might consider this project and why I love this little jar:

• I actually don’t like the smell of normal air freshening products. I much prefer a cleaner scent and not a heavy scent so this has worked great for me.
• I use this as carpet deodorizer. I have children that tend to be walking messes and I need to vacuum constantly. This works great to sprinkle all over the carpet in the car or the house before vacuuming.
• Another thing I have started doing is sprinkling this on cleats and inside my girl’s little shoes that tend to get super stinky.
• You can also sprinkle a little baking soda in vases to keep flowers fresh longer.
• Baking soda helps to remove odor in stinky shirts too (baby spit up, sweat and other issues best left unsaid).
• Sprinkle it on a hairbrush if you skip a day of washing your hair or sprinkle it on the dog’s hairbrush to add a little excitement to their grooming.
• Dump about a cup into the toilet as a cleaner and to absorb any odors.
• Put a little at the bottom of the trash can to absorb odors.
• Sprinkle on car seats and jogging strollers and all those other things you might have for the kiddos.

So really the possibilities are endless and I have found this to be a little magic jar. I have been keeping this thing just rolling around in the backseat of the car. Then it is super handy to sprinkle on the carpets and on the car seats when it is time to clean the car. The great thing is that baking soda is so incredibly cheap- you can really be generous sprinkling this all over the place.

One other benefit is that we spend a lot of time outdoors and baking soda is a great thing to have in case of sunburn, bug bites or bee stings so having it right in the car is perfect.

You can get the specific details on how to make your own little magic jar from Smashed Peas and Carrots.

PS: You can get the scoop on what essential oil to pick for whatever it is you are after here.  Since I keep my magic jar in the car, maybe I should get the oils for anger management .

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With summer vacation right around the corner, I thought I’d post a reminder of this idea from last year.

You might consider sitting down with the kiddos and making a list of all the things you would like to do this summer.

The list can be whimsical, simple, complicated… whatever works for your family. The idea behind this is to make your summer a little more intentional because we all know the time just goes so fast when you have little ones.

I know I am a terrible procrastinator so things like this are helpful to me to live in the moment instead of putting things off until it is too late.

In our house, my oldest is starting Kindergarten in August so this summer is especially important to me.  This is the last chance we have to plan things at the spur of the moment and to really enjoy my girls before school starts.

So we sat down a few weeks ago and started thinking of all those things we wanted to do but hadn’t made the time for.  I included some bigger things- like a day trip to San Francisco and a lot of small things like making homemade fruit snacks and homemade playdoh.

I also tried to think of fun things from my childhood that my girls have not had a chance to do- like visiting an old-fashioned ice cream parlor.

I included trips to the water park, planting a little garden, going to the movies to see Brave, visiting 3 new parks…. just whatever came to mind that might be fun for the entire family.

I also put in some of those things I have been putting off- like finishing a redecoration in my little girl’s room, taking new family pictures and so on…  If you are stumped for ideas, consider being a tourist in your own city.  We put a train ride and horse carriage ride on our chart because those are things that can be done downtown.  I know I lived in Seattle for 8 years and went to the Space Needle a total of one time.  Those are the types of activities that you might want to think about.

I did this on poster board and taped it up at Kid Central in the garage.  Last year I posted the same concept with a chalkboard in the playroom.

You could also type up your list and keep it on the computer or print it out to put on the fridge.  Whatever works for your family- and believe it or not we have already done several of the things I have on the list!

PS: In case you might be wondering, my 4 year old mentioned going to Chuck E Cheese…. repeatedly… and my 2 year old wanted bubbles… lots of bubbles… so that was their contribution to the list .

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{Photo Credit}

I thought I might round up a few ideas for Brunch for those of you planning a little Mother’s Day celebration on Sunday.

We are having my Mother in Law over for brunch so hopefully a few of these recipes go over well.

{Spinach and Gruyere Strata}

I made this for Easter and it was really delicious. My husband is not a fan of either spinach or stinky cheeses and he really liked this dish.

{Customizable Bread Bowl Eggs} 

This might be better for smaller groups but let people choose the filling and then bake away!

{Baked Spinach Bread Bowls} 

I have made these a few times and they are really delicious!

{Spiced Bacon Twists} 

A little fancier way to serve bacon.

{Stuffed French Toast Cupcakes}

These are a little more complicated but just a simple cobbler could be served in these little reusable cupcake liners.  I am going to do something similar with just fresh fruit and a tiny bit of whip cream on top.

{Skillet Fruit Cake}

I made this not too long ago and it was simple and really delicious.  I don’t have a skillet so I just used a pie plate to bake it.

{Lightened up version of Monkey Bread}

And the adorable Best Mom printable pictured at the top can be downloaded in several color choices and printed for free from A Profittable Life.

{Cheese and Onion Salad with Creamy Dressing} 

{Photo Credit: Party Pinching.com}

And here is an idea for a simple table setting.  I love the tiny little vases with tulips.  You can actually get the Starbucks Frappucino bottles that are sold in a 4pk for about $4.00 and peel the label off and tuck flowers inside for a super simple presentation.

(If you decide to do that, the Archer Farms version of those drinks at Target has a label that is way easier to remove.)

{Photo Credit: Style Me Pretty}

I love Mason jars for flowers too and this would be a really sweet idea for Mother’s day.

And personally I like to serve prosecco, orange juice and coffee.

You could give the iced coffee recipe a try!

And you can head over here if you need a few last minute simple Mother’s Day gift ideas.

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If you are in need of some freezer organization, there is a free printable freezer label template available courtesy of Martha Stewart.

You can mark the date the item was frozen on to keep track of what needs to be eaten first.

There are a few colors available so you can color code meats, veggies, fruits etc…

Martha suggests using these 2×4 weatherproof labels that run $30 for 500 or you can get 100 of them for $11 and shipping is free on a $25 order.

I think if you want a slightly more frugal option, you could probably just order color copies from somewhere like Staples ($.56 per sheet) and just tape these labels to your bags.  Seems like it might serve the same purpose.

Download the Free Printable Freezer Labels here.

Source: Martha Stewart Living

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Since Mother’s Day is fast approaching I wanted to pass along a few ideas.  This will be the first of a few posts with ideas for you.  For those that are inclined toward crafty or homemade gifts, here are a few ideas I found that I thought were very cute.

Just click below to see several ideas!

{Mom’s Secret Stash}

::This is a little candy jar with a free downloadable label. You could really put anything that your Mom likes inside, not just candy. The labels can be adhered to the jar or just get a little ribbon and tie the label around the jar.

{Monogrammed Tote Bag} 

::Just use a little paint and a doily to make this custom bag.    If this is beyond your crafty abilities, you can get a really cute custom tote for about $5.    This might not make it in time for Sunday though.

{Free Printable}

::This would be cute in a frame as either a gift or use it as a centerpiece for your Mother’s Day gift.

{Children’s Mother’s Day Card Idea}

::This project could just as easily work for Grandma.

{Handprint on a Dish Towel}

::This could easily work for an apron or tote bag too.

{Free Printable}

::This could also be a nice gift if you print it on cardstock and get a picture frame.

{Free Printable All About Mom or All About Grandma cards}

::These are an adorable little insert to a greeting card.  This could be fun to have the kids do in advance if you are hosting brunch for Mom or for Dad to include on a special Breakfast in Bed tray for Mom!

{Several Free Printables}

::There are a few different printables here.  I actually just had the design above printed out and I bought a frame and put it in the corner near the kitchen sink.  I like this little reminder to myself to keep my priorities in check each day .

{Photo Gift idea}

::This can be customized in several ways.  You could use MOM or 2012 or LOVE or whatever word. Have the photos printed out and grab a frame from Hobby Lobby, Target etc… You can just as easily make one sign if you prefer one large photo.

(If you prefer to use this idea for a greeting card, you can see the cards I made recently here.  Just adapt it to suit your needs.)

{Homemade Tray- Perfect for Breakfast in Bed!}    

::This would be great for a Mom that likes to entertain.

{Kiddo craft}

::All the things I love about Mommy jar.  This is super simple, creative and very inexpensive.  And what Mom wouldn’t love this?

{Silly Mother’s Day Idea}

::There is a tutorial and free printable to make a whimsical Mother’s Day gift. I actually made a super simple version of this idea here.  Literally took about 15 minutes to do.

Remember for the free printables, you can order color copies from places like Costco or Staples.  I just had really nice copies on thick paper made from Staples for $.56 each.  I ordered online and went into the store to pick up. 

And here are a few other things that might come in handy:

• Hobby Lobby Coupon for 40% off
• Michael’s Coupon for 40% off
• Treat.com: Coupon code for a free greeting card.  This will arrive in time for Mother’s Day if you order TODAY (5/8).  If you want to make several cards,  skip the free greeting card and you can get unlimited cards for just $.99 each.  You can only do one or the other!

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I mentioned some cute Teacher Gift ideas awhile back and I finally finished all our gifts.  I thought I would break down for you how my gifts worked out and the prices.

Just a reminder that next week (May 7th) is the start of teacher appreciation week and it is a nice time to get a little something for the hard working teachers out there.

My first project was for my children’s regular preschool teachers- we have 4.  Since I have little ones, I wanted bright and cheerful and fun colors so here is what I did:

I bought (4) reusable water cups from Walmart $4.96 each
Took the premade tags template and ordered a copy from Staples $.56 (see below)
1 bag M&Ms for the bottom of the cups $2.00
(4) Jamba Juice gift cards $5.00 each
and I already had some ribbon on hand

So the grand total for all (4) cups was $42.40 or $10.60 each.

This was such a simple project to do and if you want to give a larger gift card, my Costco has (5) $10 Jamba Juice gift cards for $39.99.

I also bought a picture frame for $2.95 at Walmart.  I used a can of blue paint we already had and ordered the adorable free Subway Art template to be printed for just $.56 from Staples.

That will go to the set of teacher’s for my oldest and for  $3.51, I thought that was really a cute gift.

The idea and the free downloadable template for the water cups is courtesy of Tatertots and Jello.

The idea and the free downloadable template for the Subway art is courtesy of Eighteen25 blog.

I have found ordering color copies from places like Staples or Costco can be a lot cheaper and a lot nicer looking than I can get from my home computer.

The next set of gifts I wanted to give were to the day care providers at our church.  I wanted to just get something small for them and also I wanted to get something small and fun for the Mom’s in my MOPS group.

So I did the same thing for everyone- I bought a box of Mason jars and tied ribbon around the mouth.  I filled the jars with M&Ms and made little tags that said:

“Prescription: The contents of this jar are to be used strictly for the treatment of stress due to teaching. When symptoms arise, wait for recess, lock the door, hide under the nearest desk and consume immediately.”

I did a small variation for the Mom’s in my MOPS group in honor of Mother’s Day:

“Prescription: The contents of this jar are to be used strictly for the treatment of stress due to Motherhood. When symptoms arise, head for the closet, lock the door and consume immediately.”

So I thought these turned out really cute and again they were super simple to do.

12 pint size Mason jars $7.49 at Walmart
54oz bag of M&Ms from Costco $8.89
Small gift bag from Target $.56
3 more bags of M&Ms $2.00 each after coupon
Ribbon, tissue and little note tags I already had on hand

I just typed up the instructions in Word and printed on card stock at home.

This idea is a variation on the way cuter idea from Our Best Bites.  They have a little more complicated option as well as a free printable tag available.  Time was an issue for me so I just did this cheater way.

The final price was $1.87 per jar plus the $.56 for the little pink gift bags.

And the very last thing in my pile, is a note to the head of our school just letting her know how much my children enjoyed their teachers this year.  This idea was courtesy of reader Tanya.

If you were lucky enough to have a fantastic teacher you might consider sending a little note to the principal and/or superintendent of the school.  Everyone likes to be acknowledged for hard work so that is one thing that is completely free to do!

You can see more Teacher Appreciation gift ideas here.

PS: In case you care, the Costco M&Ms worked out to 56oz for $8.89 or .15 per oz.  The price of the M&Ms was $2.50 at CVS and I used a $1/2 coupon, so $2.00 for 14oz.  That is $.14 per oz.  Pretty comparable actually and I recommend buying A LOT more candy then you think you need!

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Now that it is officially May, here is your latest May Sales and Grocery Guide to download and print.

This has the in season fruit and veggies that you will likely see great prices on. I can’t wait for the corn sales myself- usually they go as low as $.10 each and I cook up a bunch and then just slice the kernels off to freeze for later.

There are lots of stock up sale deals available this month as well- you want to keep an eye out for outdoor living items, picnic items and BBQ stuff in particular.

This week there will be lots of sales for Cinco de Mayo items- keep an eye out for salsa deals, chips, cheese and lots more.

Finally, for those of you looking out for Grills and outdoor furniture- Target is typically my favorite spot for clearance deals in the summer.

Typically Target starts marking things down in mid-June.  Last year my store went to 30% off on June 23rd.

Now I have seen incredible deals- as low as 75% off at Target but last year I remember things hit 30% and pretty  much all sold out.  I am really hoping this year we see the big clearance sales again because Mama needs a new chaise lounge!

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Well guess what time it is? We are inching toward May 7th which is Teacher Appreciation Week!

I know many of us are super busy and might have several teachers that we want to get a little something for, so I thought I would get the ball rolling with several ideas for gift ideas.

Some of these are on the crafty side and some are just simple and easy ways to present things to make it look like you spent a lot of time and energy.

Just click below to see 20 different ideas for things you can do to remind those teachers how much we appreciate them!

::CRAFTY IDEAS.

{Personalized Hand Sanitizer or Soap Dispenser} 

*These would be great for bulk gifts for MOPS teachers in particular.  There is a free template available that you just print out on transparency film using a laser printer.

Instead of Goof-Off you might try these natural alternatives.

{Teacher appreciation cards}

*You can purchase the PDF file for $6.95 and print them out.

{Subway Art}

*Free download of adorable subway art.  Put it on a clipboard or just a simple frame.

{Flower Pick}

*Free downloadable tag for plants or flowers.  To make this even simpler just tie a ribbon around the plant and hole punch the little tag and skip the stick altogether.

{Teacher Survival Box}  

*Just get a tackle box and fill with goodies for the teacher.

{Crayon Monogram}

*DIY Crayon Monogram, perfect for teachers of toddlers in particular.  This would be a fun project to do for a playroom as well.

{Summer Survival Package} 

*Add a towel, magazine, candy and mini sunscreen.  The $2 flip flops from Old Navy would be cute too.  Plus grab a free printable label for your gift.

{Free Candy Stickers}

*I love these tied around crayons, white board markers, pens etc…

{Tutorial for cans of candy} 

*This is a little more work but these labels are really cute.  The free downloads are available for Teachers or Mother’s Day.

{Summer Survival Kit}

*Another very cute summer survival kit idea.

{Free Teacher Appreciation Printable}

*You could go in lots of directions with this not just the little homemade pens.  You could even just buy a potted plant and put this on as the tag.

{Free printable bookplates} 

*Free downloadable art for bookplates for teachers.  You would need labels so these are sticky.

::SIMPLE PRESENTATION.

{Fortune Cookie Boxes}

*Free download of the little tags, buy the boxes at a craft supply store and you can even buy the fortune cookies to go inside.

{Cupcake or Cake Box Tags}

*If you hit up a local cupcake store they usually sell single cupcakes in nice boxes. Just print out the free little labels and you have a great gift.

{Einstein Bagels Cookies}

*Einstein Bagels sells these little cookies inside plastic cups.  This site offers a free downloadable little tag.  You could also make a simple tag that says “Thanks to you, I am one smart cookie!” and just tie with ribbon.

{Creative Juices- Jamba Juice gift card in a water cup} 

*I love how practical this gift is with the water cup that anyone can use. Tuck in a Jamba Juice gift card and grab the free printable tag to attach.

{Presenting a Starbucks Gift Card}

*Simple tip to give a Starbucks card- use a clean cup and stuff with brown tissue paper and white tissue paper.  Sign the card- “Thanks a Latte!”

{Burt’s Bees Gift Pack}

*Free downloadable sticker to include along with Burt’s Bees products.

You can get great deals on Burt’s items from Abe’s Market (through 4/30 only) or Vitacost with $10 credit.

{Krispy Kreme Package}

*A box of Krispy Kreme donuts with a cute little card to attach.  Now I would probably eat half the box on the drive to school so I suggest putting this in the trunk.

{Teacher Appreciation Cards}

And sometimes just a really nice card can be enough or this can be attached to home baked products or of course a gift card.

These are the cards I made last year.  I just printed out signs that read “Thank You” and had the children hold them up in a photo.

They turned out extremely cute and here are a few greeting card deals available as of posting:

• Cardstore: Free card through 5/6 for the first 20,000 people per day
• Treat.com: Free Card or get as many cards as you want for $.99 each.  This is where I made my cards last year.
• Snapfish: Free card with $.99 shipping available through 5/8.

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So I needed to get a gunky label off a bottle yesterday for a little project I am doing and I needed goof off.

I don’t like to keep a lot of chemicals in the house so I didn’t have any on hand and I decided to research all natural alternatives to goof off.

I thought I’d post what worked for me in case any of you run into the same issue.  If you are not familiar with Goof Off, it is a product that removes sticky residue and stains.  It can work magic on things like price tags, tape or for those of us with little ones that put stickers on everything (including the car window).   There are tons of uses for this product however the chemicals are pretty strong and well.. it is just one more thing to have on the shelf.

So if there is an alternative option to get the same results with something I already have on hand, well I am all for it!

The three natural alternatives that I found include:

• Mayonnaise
• Baby Oil
• Equal parts coconut oil and baking soda

I decided to try all three on the bottle to see which would work the best.

I let these sit on the bottle for about an hour and came back.  I used a paper towel to wipe off the bottle and I can say the baby oil took the label off very well.

The mayo also worked really well.  The coconut oil was the least successful and I had to do a lot of scraping to get the label off.

I actually ran the bottle through the dishwasher and there is still quite a bit of residue left where I used the coconut oil combination so I will go back over that patch with baby oil  to take it off.

I found that the mayo and the baby oil worked equally well.  I thought the Baby Oil was a little more pleasant to work with and you can get travel size versions of Johnson’s for about $1.00 at many stores.

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This is a great deal if you have a Keurig machine and still available!  You can get (2) Ekobrew refillable filters plus a bag of Community Coffee for $17.00.

The ekobrew filters are just little filters that pop right into a Keurig machine. You can fill the filters with ground coffee which is much less expensive than buying k-cups.

Usually these are about $10 each on sale- so right now you can get 2 for $17 plus the free coffee.

If you click the subscribe and save on the right side the shipping is also free.

Once your order arrives, just cancel subscribe and save by going into your account and clicking cancel. You can keep it by doing nothing if you would like to receive more shipments.

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I finished the Easter baskets for my girls and thought I’d post a few last minute ideas for you.

You can see the best Easter candy prices this week here.

If you need inspiration in general, there is a long list of Easter Basket Ideas here.

::Target:

• Marley and Me Puppy years DVD $3.99
• Tooth Fairy 2 DVD $3.99
• Dora’s Easter Adventure DVD $3.99 (note: my store was sold out)
• Dora’s Enchanted Adventures DVD $2.52 after rebate
• Little Angels DVD $3.99
• Preschool Board games $2.00- Free after coupons
• Lipsmackers Lip Glosses $.97 after coupon
• Cabbage Patch Cuties $7.99- Use $2 Target coupon = $5.99
• Cars 2 Diecast vehicles $.99
• Playskool Heroes Vehicles $9.99- Use $3/1 Playsaver coupon= $6.99 (if you have the Target coupon from last week- even better!)
• Furreal Snuggimals $7.99- use $2/1 Furreal coupon= $5.99 (if you have the Target coupon from last week, even better!)
• Nexcare Kid’s Bandaids $1.87- use $.75 Target coupon and Use $.55/1 from 4/1 SS= $.57

::Walgreens:

• Glitter Putty Eggs $.33 with in ad coupon
• Pencils 7 for $1.00 with in ad coupon
• Mini Sticker books $.33 with in ad coupon
• Disney Bubbles $.99
• Crayola Art Supplies $2.99
• 15ct Sidewalk Chalk $1.00

The party supply area can also be a great area for little items like dress-up jewelry, bubbles, bouncey balls and more!

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I had never heard of this idea before but I decided to have some fun with my girls yesterday and start a new Easter tradition.

The idea is that you “plant” jelly beans in the garden/grass and check back awhile later and see what has bloomed.  A few hours or a day later you can stick little lollipops into the ground and say they bloomed from the magic jelly beans!  If the idea of dealing with the outdoors is not appealing to you, my friend Jen has an idea to put magic jelly beans on a cake.  The concept is the same.

So the idea is to talk to your kiddos about magic jelly beans.  Every family might have a different approach to this- rather than simply giving the kid’s candy it can be nice to try and incorporate a learning opportunity.

For our family, being kind and respectful to one another is a major topic these days.  All week, I kept mentioning to them that if they were kind to each other and respectful to Mommy and Daddy the Easter bunny would drop off some magic beans.

I told them we can plant the magic beans in the grass and if we are very, very good girls a magic surprise would grow!

Here are the steps that I did for this little activity.

Note I seriously did all this in like 10 minutes, so if you have more time available you can probably do a much better job than I did.

STEP 1: I asked my 4 year old to check for UPS packages when we got home and she opened the door to find a little plastic Easter egg.  I told them the Easter Bunny must have dropped it off.  Inside I had 5 jelly beans- you can certainly do more or less.

I explained to the girls that we needed to go out to the front yard and “plant” the jelly beans.

STEP 2:  So we just sprinkled the beans in the front yard.  I kept track of how many beans I used so that I could be sure to pick them all up once they bloomed.

This was very exciting for everyone, including the dog who came out to supervise.

STEP 3: During dinner, I slipped outside and tied ribbon to a skewer and stabbed some poor little Peeps to make marshmallow flowers.  I decided to use Peeps just because the kids love them and they are so bright and colorful.  My grocery store only had the chick ones but the bunny Peeps would be a lot cuter.  I believe people typically use lollipops but well… I didn’t want to buy a whole bag of lollipops .

Since we had 5 jelly beans I made 5 Peeps flowers.  If you do more the impact would be a lot prettier but with only 2 kiddos I thought 5 was more than plenty.

STEP 4: Come out to check the garden!

So after dinner, I told the girls they better go check the garden and see if anything bloomed.  They found the little Peeps flowers and they were both really excited.

My 2 year old was a little baffled by the entire thing but my 4 year old has watched Puss in Boots several times and so she was very interested in the entire process.

So overall this was really fun and like I said, it literally just took a few minutes to do.

Does anyone else plant magic beans?  We’d love to hear how you customize this activity for your family!

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Here is a free printable list of what is on sale at the grocery stores this month as well as the fresh produce in season right now.

As we all know, what is in season is usually going to taste the best and is usually going to be on sale. So by focusing on what is in season and basing your meals around that, you can easily save quite a bit at the grocery store.

There are also the other grocery items that we should see on sale right now as well as a little peek ahead at what May will bring.

You can download your free copy of the April Fresh seasonal produce and grocery sales cycle guide here.

You can find any coupons you might need to pair with the sales from the coupon database.

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I mentioned this a few weeks ago and I am finally getting it posted.  This has worked wonders for us and it has been a few weeks now and the system is still working great.

I was reading in a magazine about repurposing things and found a tip to use shoeboxes to organize and separate socks in drawers.

So something clicked for me and I headed straight off to Walmart to buy a cartload of sterilite plastic shoeboxes priced at $.96 each.

I marched home and started with my own dresser- I have a whole mess of tank tops that I wear daily.  A bunch of camisoles for layering, tank tops for the gym, dry fit running tops etc..

Before it was a little maddening to try and sift through the mess of tanks in the drawer trying to find the right one.  I just folded each one in squares and fit about 6-8 of them per shoebox.  I divided them by category- camisoles, basic tanks and gym tanks.  Each dresser drawer fits 4 shoeboxes perfectly.

Now this particular dresser drawer was overflowing before- a total mess.  I found I had so much space, I was even able to fit one bin for t-shirts and as you can see there is still room for a few more shirts.

So then I moved on to my little girls.  They both have a lot of clothes and again trying to find specifically what I wanted was such a pain.  We seem to have the same things over and over stuffed on top and that was basically what the kids would wear… which frustrates me because the drawers are overflowing yet they wear the same thing over and over!

Another thing we struggle with is learning to care for our clothing.  My 4 year old in particular thinks that if she ruins something… well the UPS man just brings a replacement. (WRONG) So I organized all the girl’s clothing the same way.

We have bins for t-shirts, tank tops, skirts, jeans, athletic pants etc.. etc…  You can see the pj drawer above- the 2 bins on the left have bottoms and the two bins on the right hold the tops.

The bins fit in the top drawers of the dresser too.  I didn’t want to show my girls’ underwear- but you can see the socks in one bin and in the back are swimming suits, sunglasses, swim shorts and water shoes.

They have bins for tights and Babylegs too.

My 2 year old tends to get grabby and I have to refold items here and there but my 4 year old has been really good.  I can find the items I want so much faster and the girls are learning that they need to take care of their things and not just wad up clothing and cram it into the dresser.

I did take the time to make little labels for each box but that was really to serve as a guide for my husband when he puts the clothing away.   I just put little labels on the back of the bins- above are pants, skirts and shorts.

So this did take a little time to set up but overall it has made things much easier and faster in the morning!

You can see the way I sorted and stored little shoes here.

Anyone else have tips for organizing children’s clothing?

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If you are starting to think about getting those Easter baskets together, here is a list of ideas for you. Many of these are inexpensive and do not involve candy!

{The Basket}

I am not a fan of wasting things- so little wicker baskets would probably end up in the goodwill bin at our house. I prefer to use something that we can actually use later and just repurpose it as an Easter Basket.

Some ideas include:

1. Reusable Tote or Beach Bags
2. Storage Buckets or Containers
3. Sand Buckets
4. Old Halloween Trick or Treat bags (depending on the theme- ours have Disney Princesses on them so they would be perfect)
5. Paper Gift Bags
6. Suitcases, backpacks or lunchsacks (Skip Hop makes adorable items or the Melissa and Doug Trunki suitcase might come in handy for summer travel!)

There is a wonderful tutorial to make little Superhero storage bins like the one pictured above yourself.    Or you can get a free download of little labels to use here.

I actually got my youngest a sand bucket for the beach this summer and my oldest a canvas storage container to use in her bedroom. I plan to use the labels above to tie their names with ribbon to the baskets.  If you have small children, adding some balloons as a path to find the Easter baskets or surrounding the baskets would add even more fun!

{Treats}

Just because it is Easter doesn’t mean the basket needs to be loaded with candy.  There are all sorts of fun snacks you can put inside a basket.

1. Annie’s Crackers, Grahams, Cookies or Fruit Snacks- these are organic and they come in little bunny shapes. Place these in plastic Easter eggs instead of a plastic bag.
2. Goldfish Cheddar Crackers- (or use Annie’s) and place in plastic piping bag, add a green bow to make a carrot shape.
3. Marshmallows- I found little clear treat bags from Hobby Lobby with bunnies.  I intend to put large marshmallows inside and then a simple tag that reads “Bunny Tails”.  You could also use powdered donut holes.
4. Dried Fruit- my kids love dried cherries especially
5. Cuties Clementines
6. Applesauce pouches
7. Target has adorable Star Wars candy dispensers if you do want to go the candy route.

Sources: Goldfish Carrots, Bunny Tails, Egg Containers.

{Activities}

1. Paints
2. Crayons/Markers
3. Coloring books
4. Character pens and pencils
5. Water balloons
6. Colored sidewalk chalk
7. Beach/sandbox toys
8. Jacks
9. Jump ropes
10. Pool toys
11. Bouncy balls
12. Bubbles
13. Books
14. DVDs
15. CDs (Little People, Veggie Tales, Disney Princess etc..)
16. Legos or Blocks
17. Playdoh
18. Bath Toys
19. Stamps and Stickers
20. Card Games, Flash Cards
21. Hot Wheels
22. Puzzles
23. Squirt Guns

{Other Ideas}

1. Character Bandaids
2. Fun toothbrushes and toothpaste
3. Character Underwear
4. Lipbalms/glosses
5. Nail Polish
6. Fun towels and wash clothes
7. Hair accessories
8. Stuffed Animals/ Action Figures or Barbies
9. Summertime items: flip flops, water shoes, sunglasses, bathing suits, character towels
10. Bracelets/Rings/Necklaces
11. Pencil pouches, coin purses
12. Fun water bottles, dishes etc…

(Image Credit)

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I mentioned a few weeks ago that Spring Cleaning is in full swing around here. I have been plugging away at all sorts of projects to organize, clean and purge and wanted to share a few of them with you.  I have two little girls and with little girls comes lots of clothes.

Lots and lots of clothes. So this weekend the bedrooms were my main focus. I am really excited about a new system I am using to organize their clothes which I be will posting later this week.

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We talked about this in the comments a few weeks ago and I promised that I would do a formal post about this topic and here it is!

As most of you know, Target offers coupons all the time. The trick is that some of those coupons are manufacturer coupons that can be used anywhere and some of them are Target coupons that can only be used inside Target stores.

There are several ways to determine if a coupon is actually a Target coupon or if it is a manufacturer coupon so that you don’t need to waste your ink printing them.

Here are the ways that I have found:

{METHOD #1}

Pay attention to the wording on the coupon. In the example below you can see the coupon says “With Purchase of Two Lean Cuisine”

Since it says “with purchase of...” that is the signal to me that it is a Target coupon. Another way they might display the coupon is like this:

With no extra verbage, just a $1 off Nivea Body Wash. Again that means most likely the coupon will be a Target coupon.

Now if the coupon is actually a manufacturer coupon, the wording will be as follows:

This coupon says “when you buy…” and that will almost always mean it is a manufacturer coupon. Note you are only paying attention to what the beginning words of the coupon- it doesn’t matter what the coupon is actually for.

So that is the easiest method- if the coupon says nothing or it says “with purchase of” those are clues that it is a Target coupon. If the coupon says “when you buy” that is a sign it is a manufacturer coupon.  If you forget which is which, no biggie.  Just hunt down a Target store coupon and see what the words say.  I can see a Market Pantry juice coupon that says “with purchase of” so that is my reminder that those coupons will be Target coupons.

{METHOD #2}

Another way to determine if it is a manufacturer coupon is to cross reference Coupon Network. That is where the coupons tend to overlap. Now this is not always the case but it is another tool to use. For example, at this moment I can see a coupon on Target.com for $1.40 off 8 Hot Pockets. The first clue that I have that it is a manufacturer coupon is that the wording says “when you buy.” The second clue is that I can hop over to Coupon Network and search under frozen foods and there is can see the exact same coupon listed.

That is another quick means to check- if the coupon is also on Coupon Network it is a manufacturer coupon.

{METHOD #3}

I am a visual person and this method is not terribly accurate but just something I notice. I notice when a coupon is a manufacturer coupon they often add the trademark logo. Now that is not always the case but it tends to stand out to me.

In the example above you can see the Hot Pockets has the little trademark icon and the Shout wipes do not.  That is another tip off that the Shout is most likely a store coupon and the Hot Pockets is a manufacturer.

I have noticed that sometimes Target will add the trademark notation to their own private brands but obviously with a Target brand item you would already know that is a Target coupon.

{METHOD 4}

Now this one is my least favorite and mostly because it requires a little more work.   Also, this will vary a little according to what browser you use.  I use Chrome on a PC so here is how it looks for me.

You want to hover over any coupon you are interested in and make sure you are on the actual item not the white space.  Right click.

When I right click a new drop down menu comes up and I can click on “inspect element”.

I went ahead and did that with the Lean Cuisine coupon above- now we haven’t printed it but based on the info above we are pretty sure it is a manufacturer coupon:

When I click inspect element, I see this mess that comes up at the bottom.  There is one line already highlighted for me and in that line is where the key to the coupon lies.  For the hot pockets coupon, it says  …blah..blah…///…blah “partners/hotpocke“… blah..”  Now that partners is my key to understanding the coupon is indeed a manufacturer because the partner is Hot Pockets.

Now I am clicking on the Shout wipes coupon, which once again based on what we learned above should be a Target coupon.  When I click inspect element once again I can see this line automatically highlighted and it says “blah..blah…. partners/target…blah”

Now that is the big difference.  For the Target coupon, Target is what follows the partners and for the manufacturer coupon the name of the manufacturer is what follows.

Some people have a print preview screen that will also give you the information.

Those are the methods that I use to determine if it is a Target coupon or a manufacturer coupon.  If you have other tips let us know!

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This was one of the things I wanted to start doing in 2012 and here it is March and I am finally getting one done!

I thought I would just put together a list of the fresh produce that is in season this month as well as the items that should be on sale in the stores.

As we all know, what is in season is usually going to taste the best and is usually going to be on sale. So by focusing on what is in season and basing your meals around that, you can easily save quite a bit at the grocery store.

There are also the other grocery items that we should see on sale right now as well as a little peek ahead at what April will bring.

You can download your free copy of the March Fresh seasonal produce and grocery sales cycle guide here.

You can find any coupons you might need to pair with the sales from the coupon database.

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{Photo Credit}

As I mentioned last week, it is mission organization around here!  The weather is starting to get nicer and with that I seem to get a serious boost of energy to get started on spring cleaning projects.

I took some inspiration from my favorite magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, and decided to wrestle the pantry into order.  I actually just organized our pantry not too long ago and in just a few weeks… well this was the sorry state of things:

Interesting, because I don’t recall seeing wild bears tear apart the kitchen.  So… clearly simply organizing things wasn’t going to work with this family.  I decided labels were in order. Lots and lots of labels.

We have a fairly modest pantry and I keep 99.9% off our stuff in there.  We do have a little closet that holds all the paper goods like towels, garbage bags, extra Ziplocs etc… almost everything else goes in these cupboards.

So here is how project no-more wild bears turned out:

The pantry is built right into our kitchen and is about 2 feet wide. The bottom portion is where the action is with most snack items, drinks, box foods (mac and cheese, rice, pasta etc..), breakfast foods and more.

So I started by taking everything out of the pantry and putting it all in categories on the counter (breakfast items, crackers, box dinners etc…)

Then I started putting things back.  From bottom to top- I found this nifty under cupboard bin from OXO at Target.  I believe it was about $9.00.

It has an automatic kick stand and pulls out very easily so I loaded that with drinks- hot tea, hot chocolate, juice, coconut milk etc…

Next I went with all our breakfast items.  I have a lot of cereal on hand because I tend to buy a lot when it goes on sale.  All those boxes were stacked in the back.  I also put a few boxes of oatmeal and steel cut oats on that shelf.

The open box of cereal went into an OXO container we already had.  Then I bought a bunch of jars at Ikea and Walmart for about $4 each.  The jars have oatmeal and granola.  I used existing Tupperware for other breakfast items.

The next shelf holds most of the snack type items.  I have two toddlers and we spend A LOT of time running from events to the park to play dates to preschool etc… so quick snacks are a must for me.

I put all the extra boxes of things like crackers in the back.  In the front is a plastic bin with quick toddler snacks.  I prepack little baggies of graham crackers, crackers, goldfish etc…  I also keep the little clementines in there.

I made a second tub with snacks that I can grab for myself on the go- trail mix, granola bars, almonds and dried fruit and I like granola and yogurt so there are little bags of granola with spoons so I can just grab a yogurt from the fridge on the way out the door.

I discovered that any super appealing items (like fruit snacks) really need to get tucked away in the back out of sight, so there is a jar of those behind the snack tubs.

The top shelf has all the box type foods in the back sorted by category- pasta, rice, macaroni etc…  I put some extra snack items in jars- Annie’s cookies, Pirate’s Booty puffs, crackers etc…  We also have a jar for spaghetti noodles and croutons.  (My kids will eat a ton of salad as long as there are croutons on top so I tend to have a lot of those.)

The last thing is a basket designated for bread.  I have tortillas, loaves of bread, muffins, naan and other things in that basket.

And the upper portion is all the items we don’t use as often.  The bottom shelf has canned items like tomatoes, vegetables, beans, soups and cartons of broth.

I prefer frozen veggies to canned veggies so we really don’t have a lot of those items.  The jars are back again and this time have pretzels, dog treats and the children’s vitamins.

The top shelf has the items I use the least often- mostly condiments.  There are extra oils/cooking sprays, maple syrup, pasta sauce, salad dressing etc..  Anything I had in multiples went on the back shelf and then a few stray items I corralled in a basket.  Soy sauce, ketchup, salsa, tzatziki sauce etc…

The last stop is all the random baking supplies that I have.  I use the cabinet above the fridge to hold all that stuff and I just started by putting all the extra bags of flour and sugar against the back wall.  Then I made storage containers to have open packages easily accessible.  I just used containers I already had on hand to sort flour, sugar, whole wheat flour, powered sugar, marshmallows, chocolate chips, cupcake liners, nuts etc… I also have a jar of stray candy hidden up there and I bought two plastic bins from Walmart for $.96 each.  One has all the box baking supplies like cake and brownie mixes and then other has pancake, waffle and muffin mixes.

Everything is labeled so there is no confusion about what needs to go where.

Oh and last but not least, I found these little containers at Ikea for $3.99.  I am not even sure what they are for exactly but I thought they would be a great spot for drinks.  We live in a very warm climate so while I typically take my own refillable jugs of water out and about, I do keep a few bottles of water in the car at all times just in case.  So my husband mounted these guys on the wall of the garage  and one holds any little juice pouches for the kids and the other holds the extra bottles of water.

So far this has worked out pretty nicely for us and now it just takes a glance to see what we have on hand.  Previously I found we always seemed to have a million bags open- cereal, chips, crackers etc… and it made me crazy.  Now we just eat what we have open in the jars and once that is gone move on the next thing.  Any extra portions that don’t fit into the jars, I put into little snack bags and those go into the snack tubs.

Does anyone else have tips and tricks for keeping the pantry organized?

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I wanted to mention this little project in case anyone else has the same maddening issue with kitchen clutter. I have this small area in our kitchen that just seems to accumulate all sorts of junk- mail, recipes, coupons, books, magazines and on and on.

It is one area that drives me nuts because no matter how often I sort through it all, the clutter seems to just come right back.

So I found an idea to try and tame the kitchen counter clutter that I wanted to share.

I bought a file pocket that adheres onto the wall (this one is the Martha Stewart collection from Staples). I added a few file folders with the most common types of items that wind up in our stacks- here are my categories:

Recipes
Paperwork to Return (i.e. school paperwork etc..)
Coupons
Mail
Artwork (all the stuff the girls bring home so I can sort through the keepers and the tossers)
Stickers/Coloring Sheets (when I pack lunches I usually tuck in stickers as a surprise and the coloring sheets keep them busy when I am making dinner.)

Anyway, that tends to be the junk we collect and I just went through the stack and sorted it all into file folders. When I am ready to do a shopping trip I can grab that file for coupons. When I am doing our menu planning, I can grab the recipes file to go through what I want to make during the week.

So far it has worked out pretty nicely and we have been free of clutter for a few days now.

I will say this specific sleeve is really tight and won’t fit really thick files. It has served it’s purpose for us so far but if you want something larger, another idea would be a larger size file box:

This is one I got at Target and it can just sit on the counter or it could be mounted to the wall as well.  This would have a lot more space if you wanted to manage all the bills, the family calendar, important papers etc…

For my kitchen file center, I decided to stick the weekly menu plan onto the front of mine.  I usually put it on the front of the fridge but the less stuff that gets put up there the cleaner I can fool people into thinking our house is.

So there you have it!  A simple idea to tame the kitchen clutter!

BEFORE

AFTER

Does anyone else have suggestions for taming kitchen clutter?

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Our family tries to eat as much organic as we can and I get asked all the time how to make it more affordable.  Here are a few tips that have worked for us:

1. Use coupons.  There are a lot more organic and natural coupons coming out these days.  It is great to print them and use them for many reasons- obviously to save money on your grocery bill but also the more these items are purchased and the more coupons that are redeemed, the more likely stores will increase selection and manufacturers will release coupons!

You can check the My Frugal Adventures’s coupon database to find coupons or you can check the Organic Coupons & Deals tab on the upper right corner of the blog. That is a new feature I am building to offer additional resources.  Keep checking back as it will change all the time.

2. Learn Your Prices.  I think creating a little price book or at least trying to get a pretty good handle on prices is a great idea.  A lot of organic produce items I buy are the same price or sometimes even cheaper than regular produce.  There are many organic items that are significantly more expensive though (like milk and eggs) so I pay close attention to what prices are at different stores.  I can often find the best deals in stores you normally wouldn’t think of for organic products.  Stores like the Grocery Outlet, $.99 Only and Target often have great deals on organic items.

3. Piggyback on other promotions.  One thing that is an annoyance to me is organic milk.  We go through a lot of organic milk and it is expensive and there are almost never coupons available.  I usually pay about $6/gallon and even if I can’t get a great deal on milk I can still try and piggyback on another promotion.  In my area, two of my grocery stores offer great coupons for discounted or even free items when you spend $10-20 at that store.  I can purchase my milk for regular price at those stores and I can at least get the added benefit of meeting the minimum to use that extra store coupon.

4. Shop in season.  Really we should all do this anyway, but I really focus on what is on sale and in season when it comes to organic produce in particular.  If organic celery is on sale that week- guess what the kids are having at snack time all week?  If organic berries are discounted, I buy big and freeze whatever we won’t be able to eat fresh.   I do try to stock up whenever there are great deals on frozen items too just to vary our diet a little when things are out of season.  My girls love corn for example, so when bags of organic frozen corn go on sale I tend to buy 10 bags or so and I freeze them.  Some items, like organic broccoli seem to be on sale more frequently in my area so I don’t buy nearly as much.

5. Prioritize purchases.  I usually try to make sure I am buying organic on certain fleshy produce or fiberous produce.  Examples are apricots, celery, berries, peaches etc… You can see the “Dirty Dozen” items list to see the produce that tends to have the highest levels of pesticide residue.  That is where I tend to focus my budget.  You can also see the “Clean 15″ which are the items with the lowest levels- those items you might not need to spend the extra money for organic.

6. Shop around. Lots of people will tell you the best deals on organics come from Co-Ops, Farmer’s Markets and local farms.  That might be a great option for some people.  I have not found that to be the situation for me personally, plus I don’t always have the time to make extra trips so convenience is a big issue.  I have personally found Target to have great prices on staples like pasta sauce and canned foods.  Another grocery chain in my area, Sprouts, has incredible prices on fresh organic produce.  Some people have found Costco to be a great resource for organic items. You might just open up the grocery ads in your area each week and skim them and start to determine where the best deals are.  If you like to shop at Walmart stores, you can always price match the other grocery store’s advertised prices and get one stop shopping.   If you have a Whole Foods store in your area, you might check and see if they offer a Facebook page or dedicated web site for your store.  My store runs a special unadvertised sale every Friday and you can often get great deals just by joining the community.

You can have a look for food co-ops in your area here.

Overall, I have found the biggest change for us has simply been flexibility.  I don’t stockpile nearly as much as I used to because so much of my budget goes to fresh foods.  I have simplified a lot of our menus so I need fewer ingredients each week.  When you are buying high quality and fresh products- fewer ingredients are better to showcase the flavors anyway.  One last thing that we have done is simply shifted portion sizes.   I often see recommendations that people try more vegetarian options if they are trying to stick to a budget.  Now I have been a vegetarian for about 20 years so that doesn’t bother me one bit but if I put a plate of beans in front of my husband instead of a steak… well my guess is he would volunteer to walk the dog and I would find McDonald’s wrappers in the trash.  So I don’t see any need to cut meat out of the diet, I just find that I serve smaller portions of better quality meats in particular.  Surprisingly, my husband has been really happy to have the higher quality foods and hasn’t minded extra servings of the side dishes or salads to compensate.

Does anyone else have tips for buying organic on a budget?

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One thing that tends to cause confusion on coupons is when it reads “one coupon per purchase”. I have had a few questions about this recently and wanted to clarify.

Per purchase refers to each item you are buying. You can buy 1 item or 20 of the same items and you may use one of the same coupon on each of those items.

This is most pronounced on the Proctor and Gamble coupons.  They will write in red letters “limit one coupon per purchase.”  That does not mean you can only use one like coupon per shopping trip, it means you may use one of those coupons on each like item you buy.

Now if the coupon reads “one coupon per person” or “one coupon per transaction” that does indeed mean you can just use one each time you shop.  It doesn’t matter how many of the same items you buy, you only get to use one of the exact same coupon.

The Proctor and Gamble coupons do not limit you to one per transaction but they do limit you to four coupons per shopping trip.

Now the example of the Iams coupon above is nice and easy because they say “one per purchase” and then right underneath “limit four per transaction” so to me that is pretty clear. You can use one of those Iams coupons per bag you buy and you can buy 4 bags in total per shopping trip and use (4) of the coupons.

It does get a little blurry with other coupons. Recently some Johnson & Johnson coupons have had a new clause “no more than 4 coupons (of any kind) for the same product in the same transaction.”

Now that is clear as mud really but the coupon also says “limit one coupon per person.”  So that is the starting place for me- you can buy one Cortaid at a time and use a total of one of the same coupons.

I believe that they are saying with the no more than four coupons is in very special and very rare circumstances when multiple coupons can be used on an item.  The best example I can think of is at Publix where they will sometimes accept a manufacturer coupon, a competitor coupon and a Publix store coupon on an item.  That would be 3 coupons for that item.

Another example is at Walgreens where they can occasionally have an in ad coupon, a coupon booklet coupon and a manufacturer coupon for the same item.  That would be a total of 3 coupons on the same item.  If for some reason there was another store coupon for that same product from a different source (like an activity book or a store flyer) well that would be 4 coupons on the exact same item.  That would be the limit and you could not use a 5th coupon.

So obviously those situations almost never come up but that is how I read the new clause on those coupons.

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Well some of you might have noticed new coupon bar codes when you print some coupons and perhaps on a few of the newspaper insert coupons as well.

You might notice there is now one barcode and not two as well are used to.  This has been in the works for a few years now and the point of these new bar codes is to increase efficiency at checkout for the customer and the retailer.

The main reason we will see a switch from the standard bar codes to the new single bar codes is to prevent fraud.  There are a lot of people that feel that if a coupon scans they can use it for whatever they want, regardless of what the coupon is actually intended for.

I hear this all the time when coupons are released for Disney movies for example.  The coupon will state is is valid for a BluRay combo pack and people will still use it on the regular DVD.  So this new barcode system was designed so that the coupon will only work on the specific item or items it is intended for.  In the case above, a Blu Ray coupon will beep if used on a DVD.

So this should also help retail stores because they can have more confidence when accepting coupons.  The registers are supposed to alert them to exactly what the problem is if the coupon beeps OR if it does scan they can be much more confident that the coupon is perfectly legitimate.

The goal is for the cash register to alert the cashier as to precisely what the problem is (expired coupon, not the correct item etc…) so all the guess work is gone and it should be a much faster process to check out at the grocery store.

Now these bar codes really started popping up at the first of the year, however retailers actually have up to 6 months to change their registers to start accepting these new coupons.

So the short term issue is that many of the new bar codes might not scan at your store.  I have heard about issues with Walgreens and I have personally experienced issues at Safeway and Walmart.  I had coupons refused because they wouldn’t scan and since the coupon policies do say a coupon can be refused if it doesn’t scan… well there isn’t a whole lot that can be done.

Now one issue that some of you might experience is with doubling coupons.  Currently if a coupon states “do not double” it may or may not double at your grocery store.With the new databar bar codes, the chances a Do Not Double coupon will actually double are slim.  Mostly likely they will not.  Unfortunately I don’t have any stores in my area that double coupons so I can’t test this personally.

So again, the bottom line is that these new barcodes might be a headache for the short term.  I wanted to be sure you were all aware of exactly what is going on so you feel empowered when you go to the store.  Hopefully most of these major retailers will have the software updated quickly and the new coupon barcodes should ultimately lead to a much more efficient experience for all of us.

You can read a little more about the new Coupon Barcodes here and the new Databar Bar codes here.

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Well I really need to get on the ball with the holiday shopping this year.  When my children were smaller I would be nearly finished by now, but as they get bigger and we get busier it seems to make “last minute” par for the course.

SO here is an article from last year that I posted and guess what?  Just 51 days till Christmas and about 3 weeks til Thanksgiving.

Here are some tips for getting your holiday shopping organized and on track!  I really encourage you to start thinking ahead to Christmas, especially if you tend to find yourself with a lot of credit card bills at the first of the year.  This is a great way to make a plan to shop within your budget.

Typically I have a calendar that I create at the beginning of the year and I update it with all the major events we have.  All family birthdays, anniversaries, any baby showers, weddings- all those events you purchase gifts for.  I have a separate list that I keep for Christmas shopping.

As the year progresses, I am constantly on the lookout for great deals.  I have found it is much easier on the budget to spend a little here and there than it is to spend a whole lot at once.  Not to mention once the holidays are in full swing, I find myself getting swept up with the shopping spirit and tend to spend more than I should.

So I am attaching two worksheets for you, if you want to get organized for the holidays.

The first worksheet is the one I use to keep track of what I need to buy throughout the year.  I typically keep track of things by month and check off each event as I purchase the gifts.  I also make notes about what it is I bought so I can easily find what I need.  (And because I tend to forget what I have bought for people.) I actually have all my gifts tucked into boxes at the top of the closet.  This gift list is tacked to the wall in the closet and I can easily update it as I pop items into the boxes.

For those of you with a lot of children’s parties throughout the year, you might especially consider getting started using the buy ahead idea.  I know you can’t always predict every party, but we will see wonderful deals on toys and things during the next few weeks and after the holidays.  It is a great time to buy a few extra items to put into your gift closet so you are prepared for those last minute party invitations next year.

The second sheet is just for organizing your holiday shopping list.   There is space to jot down names, what it is you purchased, your actual spent vs budgeted amount and a checkbox for when you have completed your shopping for that person.

Hopefully this is a little motivation to start really planning your wish list and to establish a budget ahead of time…51 days and counting!

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I went back through the candy deals from last Halloween to sort of give you an idea of what deals we can probably expect to see.

It looks like the fun size bags of candy- that are roughly 11oz- the best price we saw was about $1.00 for those.  It looks like those deals ran pretty close to Halloween.

That works out to about .09/oz for candy after coupons.  This week CVS has large Wonka bags for $5.50 for 4lbs- which is roughly $.08/oz.

So if you want to get your candy and just get it out of the way, that seems to be a good price.

My opinion on buying candy early vs. closer to the holiday is to only buy now if eating all the candy won’t be an issue for you.  If I went and bought the Wonka stuff my husband and kids would have the 4lbs gone before October 1st.

Now if I bought the snack size Snickers or something that is $1.25 this week- well they wouldn’t have a chance at it because Mommy would polish that bag off herself.

If you have more willpower than we do, I’d say to just get it and that is one less thing to worry about.  If you happen to have the same issue that I have, I would suggest printing the candy coupons as they come along and then sit tight for a few weeks and get your bags a little closer to Halloween.

**

I also wanted to mention that you don’t necessarily have to give out candy for Halloween.  Last year we saw crazy good deals on fruit snacks at some stores or some of you may have spotted great deals on Rice Krispie treats and those can be great alternatives to candy.

I am going to hold out myself and wait until October 1st to see what Amazon has in store for us.  Last year they ran promotions with Yummy Earth lollipops- which are organic.  The lowest price I remember is $10 for 5lbs of lollipops.  I bought those and they work great for trick or treaters plus it is something I feel a little less guilty about giving my kiddos if there are leftovers.   I am hoping Yummy Earth starts getting aggressive with prices in October and I will keep you posted!

(So now you know if you see me buying “Halloween candy” on a shopping trip just look the other way and pretend it really is for the children.)

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The next step in the Extreme Couponing course is to learn:

How to Stack Coupons

To “stack” a coupon means using one manufacturer coupon and one store coupon on the exact same item. That is not to be confused with “doubling” coupons which is something totally different.

Often times, stores will issue their own coupon- perhaps in a printable form on their website, via the weekly sales flyer, or in coupon booklets sent to your home or found in store.

Those types of coupons can often be stacked with a second manufacturer coupon for the same item to basically get double the savings.

And example of a store coupon is this one from Safeway:

So there are a few key points that you can note.

• The first is the top where it tells you “Safeway coupon.”
• The second is the bottom of the coupon- you can see the standard remittance information is not listed.  On a manufacturer coupon you will always see instructions to the store as to how they can send the coupon in for payment.
• Last, you can check the barcodes.  In this case I am not posting barcodes because that leads to other issues but one look at the barcode instantly told me that this doesn’t look like all the other manufacturer coupons I have and so something is different here.

Now this is also a Digiorno coupon but it is a manfacturer coupon.  If this was the same product (Tombstone), I would be able to stack this with the store coupon above and get each pizza for $1.99.

To determine if a store does allow you to stack coupons, you can go online to the store website (such as Target.com) and look for a coupon policy.  You can also check out the compilation of Coupon Policies I have listed or you can simply go to customer service and ask for a copy.

Here are the things that seem to cause the most confusion for people:

Q. The fine print on the coupon says “can not be combined with other offers” so that means I can’t stack the coupon.
That actually means you can not use more than one manufacturer coupon per item you purchase. It does not mean you can’t stack a manufacturer coupon with a store coupon.

Q. The coupon says “limit one coupon per offer or transaction” so I can’t stack it.
That means you may only use one like coupon per item you purchase. If you buy 1 box of Cheerios you can use a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon. You can’t use (2) store coupons on the same box or (2) manufacturer coupons on the same box of cereal.

Q. I think this is a store coupon but it says manufacturer at the top?
There are a few stores that throw us curveballs and I hate it as much as you do. Walgreens and Rite Aid or the worst offenders and this can create a lot of confusion with consumers as well as with store staff.

This is an example of the type of store coupon that can create confusion.  Now the best advice I have in this situation is to arm yourself with as much patience and information as you can.  The coupon above is a Rite Aid coupon from their weekly sales flyer.  Now the coupon says “manufacturer’s coupon” at the top but don’t be fooled.  This is actually a store coupon- you can see there are no redemption instructions for a retailer, it says “good only at Rite Aid” and the bar code is clearly for Rite Aid stores.

So I can tell you already many cashiers will refuse to allow you to stack coupons because they will tell you that is a manufacturer coupon.  What you can do is to go back to the Rite Aid coupon policy and look for this clause:

No more than one “48” Rite Aid Valuable coupon, one “49” Rite Aid Manufacturer coupon, and one “5” Manufacturer coupon can be used on a single item. Rite Aid may accept up to 4 identical coupons for the same number of qualifying items as long as there is sufficient stock to satisfy other customers within the store manager’s sole discretion

So you can see that they expressly allow for the stacking of a manufacturer coupon (that is the 5 coupon they mention- see the pizza coupon above the barcode starts with a 5, the Rite Aid coupon I have pictured says “RC49″ at the beginning. So as you can see the policy does allow you to stack these coupons.

Finally, just a quick note about when the stars align and you can really get the most bang for your buck.  Certain stores will frequently offer a total purchase coupon.  CVS is the store we see these from most often and what that means is when you get a coupon for say $3 off a $10 purchase or $10 off a $50 purchase.

More often than not, you can also stack that coupon along with others you might have!  The only trick you need to keep in mind is that the total purchase coupon should always be given first.  This is one of those times that the order you hand your coupons to the cashier is extremely important.  Take this example:

Huggies Diapers $10.00
Use $2 manufacturer coupon
Use $1 CVS coupon for Huggies diapers
Use $3 off a $10 purchase CVS coupon

If I hand over the manufacturer coupon first, well now my total bill is $8.00.   If I try to give the cashier the $3 off a $10 purchase coupon it will likely be refused because my purchase is actually $8 not $10.  So it is important to give that total purchase coupon first and then the other 2 coupons and now you pay just $4 for your diapers.

Here are guidelines for a few of the stores you might already shop at.

 {Walgreens}
You can stack a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon. They frequently show this as an example in the weekly circulars. My suggestion is to save one of those circulars if you find one with a good example because many stores can be very difficult about stacking coupons. Find the Walgreens coupon policy here. One other small note is that the coupon policy says “applicable Walgreens coupon(s)” which indicates to me that if there happens to be more than one Walgreens coupon for the same item, you should be able to use all of them on that product.  An example would be an in ad coupon and a coupon booklet coupon for the same item- you would just want to double check that the bar codes are different.

{Rite Aid}
Rite Aid allows up to three coupons on a single item- a manufacturer coupon, a store coupon starting in “48″ and a store coupon starting in “49″. The total combined coupon value can not exceed the purchase price of the item. Find the Rite Aid coupon policy here.

{CVS}
CVS does allow you to use a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon on one item. If you also have a total purchase coupon, you can use that as well. See the CVS coupon policy here.

{Target}
Target allows you to use one store coupon and one manufacturer coupon per item. The store coupons do say limit of 1 and it is up to the individual stores as to whether they allow you to use multiple like coupons. For example, if I have a Target store coupon for Oatmeal and a manufacturer coupon that is no problem. If I have (2) of the same sets of coupons and I want to buy 2 oatmeal, you would need to check with your store and see if they enforce the limit of 1 per transaction. The majority of stores will not enforce the limit.  See the Target coupon policy here.

You can find more Couponing 101 articles below:

1. Extreme Couponing: Where to Begin
2. Extreme Couponing: Understanding coupon matchups
3. Extreme Couponing: Ready for Action
4. Extreme Couponing: Determining a Realistic Savings Plan
5. Extreme Couponing: Understanding Buy One Get One Free Coupons
6. Extreme Couponing: Organizing Your Coupons
7. Extreme Couponing: Free Item Coupons
8. Extreme Couponing: Using the coupon database.

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Here is a little vlog I did on how you can do price matching at Walmart. The major advantages to price matching include:

1. One stop shopping (saving time and money)
2. Cherry Pick the best deals from a variety of stores.
3. Shop at your convenience without worrying about inventory issues and out of stocks.
4. Walmart’s policy is to give overage on all coupons, so you might be able to get overage on a coupon rather than having it adjusted down.

The major disadvantages to price matching at Walmart include:

1. Employees that are not trained properly on the policies.
2. Not finding identical items to what you want to match.

Hopefully this video helps to explain how the entire process works! If you have trouble viewing this video, you can find my You Tube Channel here.

You can find the actual Price Matching policy for Walmart here and find the Walmart Coupon Policy here.

You can also find more articles on How to Get Started Extreme Couponing here.

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We had a little conversation about this a few weeks ago on the My Frugal Adventures Facebook page.  There are lots of you that might not be aware of a fantastic resource that is available on My Frugal Adventures.

You can utilize the free coupon database at any time and find any coupons you might need in just a few seconds.

So let me start by telling you how to find it.  You can bookmark the coupon database or just look for the box pictured above on the right sidebar —–> and click.

To use the database is very simple.  You simply enter what it is you need and all the available coupons will pop up.  So if you are interested in Grey Poupon Mustard, you might type in “Grey Poupon” or “Grey Poupon Mustard.”  I tend to play with how specific I am.  If I am looking for a Colgate Total coupon I might try Colgate, Colgate Total, or Colgate Toothpaste and see what I get.

When I searched for Grey Poupon (by typing that in and clicking on Search), I can see only one result.  It shows me the description of the coupon (Grey Poupon mustard), the value of the coupon, the date it expires, and the source.  Sometimes you find printable coupons, you will see a link that you can click to go directly to where the coupon is located to print it out.  In this case the Grey Poupon coupon says source “SS 6/12/11″ and that simply means the coupon is inside the 6/12 SmartSource insert.

Now if I wanted to do more of a general search, I could type in “Mustard” instead.  Now that is going to give me lots more options:

If you find that you have a popular product with a lot of results, you do want to note how many pages are listed:

This is at the top of the results and again at the bottom.  If there are multiple pages of coupons you might want to be sure to check each page.

You do want to make sure to note if a store is listed- all the monthly coupons for Walgreens and Rite Aid as well as the Target coupons are often listed in the database.  Don’t waste your time looking at coupons that are specific to Walgreens if you are planning your Kroger shopping trip.

Once you are more comfortable using the database, you can also click on the Advanced Search link and start narrowing down precisely what you want.  If you are a new couponer, you might want to narrow down under “Type” and just look for printable coupons.  Maybe you just want a coupon for a specific value- you can click on “value” to see tons of options.  Maybe you want to find just store coupons.  Click on “Store” and you can search by Walgreens, Target, Publix etc.. etc…

So this really is a great tool to use when you are planning your shopping trips.  I use the coupon database numerous times a day.

A few notes that I do want to make about the database in general:

• If there was a Grey Poupon coupon released in a specific insert and Arizona got $.50/1, Chicago got $1/1 and Georgia got $1/3- well sometimes the database will have all three listed and sometimes just one of those coupons.  Because it is listed in the database as $1/1 doesn’t necessarily mean that is the exact coupon that your newspaper will have.  You will still have to double check your inserts and see.
• Some regional coupons are not listed in the database.  The one specifically that makes me nuts is Golden Grain pasta.  That is a very regional product and the coupons are never listed in the database- so keep in mind just because a coupon isn’t listed doesn’t mean it isn’t available.
• And finally, just remember this database was built and is maintained by human beings.  So there are sometimes errors in the database- like when a recent coupon was listed as “Fruity Pebbles” which you would assume was the cereal and the coupon was actually for Fruity Pebbles Treats which is very different.  Obviously that was a mistake that was made when entering the coupon.  There is usually a bit of a delay in how quickly the coupons are updated.  For example, when I did the grocery store ads on Tuesday, the coupons from the prior Sunday insert still had not been entered in.  And also printable coupons can change at any time.  So if you see a link to a coupon there is always the chance it has been removed, is out of prints etc…

Overall I think this is a great resource and I have found it very simple to use.

If anyone has questions about the database feel free to ask in the comments below!

Here are more articles available to help you learn to use coupons:

1. Extreme Couponing: Where to Begin
2. Extreme Couponing: Understanding coupon matchups
3. Extreme Couponing: Ready for Action
4. Extreme Couponing: Determining a Realistic Savings Plan
5. Extreme Couponing: Understanding Buy One Get One Free Coupons
6. Extreme Couponing: Organizing Your Coupons
7. Extreme Couponing: Free Item Coupons

And you can also check the Where to Begin section of the blog!

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Well here is another step in the road to learning how to effectively use coupons.  I wanted to discuss a bit about free item coupons and how to obtain and best use them.

WHAT:

So a free item coupon is exactly what it sounds like.  A coupon that is valid to try a product for free.  There are a few ways to get your hands on these types of coupons.

1. Via social media promotions. Most often these are on Facebook.  There are all sorts of these types of promotions, from Purina to organic yogurt to Coffeemate Creamer. It used to be that these promotions would last for a few hours but now there are a lot more people out there seeking these freebies and coupons, so often times they might be gone in a matter of minutes or even seconds.
2. Via word of mouth marketing programs. There are a ton of programs you can sign up for and they really do send coupons or products (full size) totally free.  Some examples are Vocalpoint or Kraft First Taste.  Another type of program would be rewards programs like Huggies and Pampers or Recyclebank where you get free product coupons once you enter enough codes to qualify.
3. Via coupon inserts. We used to see free item coupons frequently in the paper.  Especially when new products were launching.  These days they are pretty few and far between but they are occasionally in your Sunday paper.  Now the coupons can be regional (meaning only some cities will get them.  An example of this was about 2 months ago.  A very small demographic received coupons for a free Marzetti salad dressing (about $3-4 value).  That same week some people in another demographic received coupons for a free hot sauce (about $3-4 in value).  So depending on where you live your newspaper may have had a great coupon inside.
4. Via the manufacturers directly. One popular thing to do is to attempt to get free item coupons by contacting the manufacturers of various products and either ask directly for coupons or compliment them/offer feedback on specific products in the hopes that they will send you coupons.

One important thing to understand about free item coupons is if they are printable coupons or not.  There has been a wave of fraudulent printable coupons over the past year or so and as a result most stores will no longer accept these types of printable coupons. Occasionally manufacturers still release these coupons, in fact Lipton actually just offered a coupon for a free iced tea that was available to print at home.  These coupons can still be redeemed but it is important to understand that you may need to try a few stores before you find one that will actually accept the coupon.

A free item coupon that is not printed at home on your computer (such as one mailed to you or in the Sunday paper) is another matter entirely and the vast majority of stores will accept those with no problems.

HOW:

So now that you know where these coupons typically originate let’s move on to how the heck you can get your hands on them!  I try to pass along as many of the free item coupons as I hear about on the blog.  You really have to be in the right place at the right time though because these promotions can go incredibly fast.  Usually following me on Facebook is the best way to find out about them because we can all work together on the Facebook wall to learn when coupons are live etc..

You can register for the word of mouth programs like Vocalpoint, Kraft First Taste, House Party etc… and hopefully get coupons that way.

You can purchase free item coupons online.  An example would be the Sunday insert coupons I mentioned above.  If your area did not receive a coupon for a product or if you want extra coupons, you can purchase coupons from clipping services or from Ebay.  One thing to note is that you want to be VERY careful buying coupons from Ebay.  There are occasional sellers that never send the coupons, send out photocopies or otherwise altered coupons (that are fraudulent and should not be redeemed) and so on.  If a coupon seems too good to be true- say a $5 off Tide coupon, most likely it is too good to be true and it is best to not take any chances.  I have personally used Ebay a handful of times and I have not had problems but I have heard from lots and lots of people that were burned so again just use caution.

And the last way I wanted to mention was via manufacturers directly.  I used to do this a lot when I started couponing and then I had baby #2 and now there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.  You can select random manufacturers for products that you like and call them, email or even write a letter and compliment or offer constructive critisism on their products.

Sample Letters:

What I used to do was pay attention to the products I already had on hand and make a mental note to contact those companies.  For example, during bathtime am I using Burt’s Bees baby wash?  Well why not drop them a line.  In the morning as I am brewing my coffee- is it Coffeemate creamer I always have in the fridge?  Well why not contact them!  You can often just turn a package around and find contact information or a simple Google search will more often than not turn up contact information.

When contacting companies it is important to be honest with your feedback but still polite.  Telling Luvs that you hated the diapers and they gave your baby a rash is probably not going to get you very far.  Here are some examples of things that I have said to companies in the past:

I contacted Huggies when I had a pack of diapers that were defective.

“I have used Huggies diapers on my girls for the past 3 years and have always had great luck with your product.  I also appreciate the convenience of finding Huggies diapers in almost every store I shop.  I did want to let you know that I recently purchased a package of Huggies Overnights diapers in a Jumbo pack at Target (UPC #:) and the side tabs were missing from 3 diapers in the pack.  I have never had any quality issues before and I certainly intend to continue purchasing your product.  I just wanted to make you aware of the problem. “

Now that really did happen to me and I really did send them a note about it.  Huggies responded by sending me a coupon for a free pack of diapers and two $5 off coupons for any product.  So if you do run into any legitimate problems don’t be shy about letting these companies know!

Another example might be something your family enjoys like Newman’s Own Pasta Sauce.  You might send something like this:

“I just tried the new Newman’s Own Stockarooni pasta sauce tonight and wanted to let you know how much our family enjoyed your product!  Your pasta sauce is a staple in our house and my kids love it on homemade pizza or spaghetti and I love the convenience of just pouring something right from a jar and dinner is served!  I also love that your products are organic as that is such an important thing for our family.  We will continue to purchase your pasta sauce regularly and if you happen to have any coupons available for consumers, I would sincerely appreciate them!  My address is:  …..”

And even if you are not a huge fan of a product or you simply want to try something different, you might send a note.  Like I happen to be a Coffeemate girl.  So I might send something like this to International Delight:

“I tend to purchase Coffeemate creamers most frequently and I do use creamer in my coffee every morning.  I recently saw an ad for the new Breve creamer from International Delight and I am really interested in trying this product.  I love the packaging on the creamer and the flavors sound wonderful- especially the Caramel Macchiato.  If you have any coupons available for consumers, I would really appreciate them as I would love to try your product and see if I like it as much as what I currently use.   My address is…”

So emailing companies can sometimes get you incredible coupons and sometimes get you absolutely nothing.  I have received several free item coupons from manufacturers, I have received nothing at all in response to my emails and coupons that were very low in value (say $.35 coupons on a $5-6 product.)

If you want to give this a whirl, I would suggest getting started by just looking at the products you use regularly and contacting those companies when you can.  You can also see a long list of companies to get in touch with (and hopefully) you will get free coupons in return.

Remember to try to be specific and to be honest with what you say.  ”I love Huggies please send me coupons” is probably not as effective as the samples listed above.

WHERE:

Now that you know how to get these coupons, I wanted to mention where to use them.  Most people get a coupon for whatever product and they hit the closest store, get the product and leave.  That is great but I try to be a little more strategic with these coupons.

I actually tend to hoard my free item coupons.  Many of them will have long expiration dates and I like to wait for the best possible time to use them to really maximize savings.  So what would be an example of that?  Well I had a free coupon for a pack of Kraft cheese recently.  I waited until I found a Buy One Get One Free sale on Kraft cheese and plunked that coupon down to get 2 packages for free.  Another example would be to hold your coupon until you can possibly make a profit via drugstore rewards or rebates.  An example of that might be a coupon for a free pack of Huggies diapers.  Maybe you hold onto that coupon until CVS is offering a $3 ECB when you buy Huggies.  Use that free package coupon and you get a free product and still get the $3 ECB.  So not only did you get free diapers but you made a profit!

I also love to use these coupons as fillers for store coupons.  For example, my local grocery store offers store coupons for free products when you spend a certain amount (CVS and Rite Aid also offer these types of coupons with $5 off $20 purchase coupons or $3 off $15 purchase coupons.)  So for example I might need to spend $20 at that store and if I do, I get a free package of cereal.  Now I just have to hit $20 before coupons so if I had a coupon for a free pack of Huggies diapers- well that is likely going to get me almost halfway to the $20 mark.  So if I am smart and hold onto those free item coupons until I have a little stash of them, I can use them at the right time to get the best possible deal.

Hopefully this is clear and I would love to hear from you guys that actually do regularly contact companies.  What has your experience been and do you have any other suggestions?

You can read more articles about learning to coupon:

Extreme Couponing: Where to Begin

Extreme Couponing: Understanding coupon matchups

Extreme Couponing: Ready for Action

Extreme Couponing: Determining a Realistic Savings Plan

Extreme Couponing: Understanding Buy One Get One Free Coupons

Extreme Couponing: Organizing Your Coupons

and you can get even more information from the Where to Begin section of my blog!

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So here is the next step in learning to coupon for those that are following along.

You will want to create some sort of price book.  The point of this is to determine what YOUR best price is for products so you have a handle on when to buy a little extra product to get you through to the next sale.

Price books are very individual things because so much will depend on where you live, if you have double or triple coupons and the stores available to you. Here are a few examples to show why price books are such a personal thing- note these are just examples not deals that are currently available.

Recently Safeway stores ran a sale on ketchup.  If you live in Northern CA, the deal looks like this:

Heinz Ketchup $1.69
Use $.25 coupon (coupons do not double in my area)
Final Price: $1.44

Not a good deal really. But if you happen to live in MD:

Heinz Ketchup $1.69
Use $.50/1 coupon (exact same coupon insert but the value was higher on the East Coast and this coupon doubles)
Final Price: $.69

So again this is the same chain of stores and the exact same sales circular and the exact same coupon inserts but you can see by living in my city, I would have paid double the price for this product as someone on the East Coast.

Here is another example using Safeway stores once again:

Haribo Gummy Bears are $1.00/bag
There was a $.30/1 coupon available

If you lived in my city, the price would be $.70 after coupon
If you live in an area with doubles, the price is $.40 after coupon
If you live in TX, where they have triples, the price is $.10 after coupon

So hopefully this helps clarify why you really want to figure out the best prices in your area for grocery items in particular.    A stock up price for me might be $.70 on candy but for someone in Dallas it might be .10 and you can see why from the example above.

Now how to go about creating your price book...  I would encourage you to spend as little or as much time as you want on this project.  Really the main goal is to just become more conscience of prices at your stores on the stuff you buy most often.

You can just get a tiny notebook and start jotting down the prices on the products you buy most often.  After about 6 weeks you should finally start to see the lowest those products will hit.  Once you get a handle on that, just start to narrow down the items you buy from week to week.  Rather than buying product x once a week and paying whatever they charge, you wait for product x to hit the lowest it will go and buy extra to last you for 1 or maybe 2 months.

I have a “price book” that is located right upstairs in my head.  I just sort of remember what I like to pay for things and it is that simple.  For example, before I started using coupons, if I needed chicken, I would buy chicken.  I don’t think I ever paid attention to the price.  I needed chicken and that was that.  Now I know that the lowest price on a good quality fresh boneless, skinless chicken breast is about $1.88/lb or less.  So when chicken hits that price I buy a little extra to get me through a few weeks until it goes on sale again.  I just know all this stuff after shopping deals and using coupons for awhile- it really becomes second nature.

If you are new to this process or like to have things more buttoned down, I am attaching an excel spreadsheet with my current “buy” prices as a stepping stone.  I do not have double coupons or any of the incredible grocery stores like Kroger and Publix in my city so hopefully your prices are significantly lower.

I would encourage you to customize the list to what suits your household.  For example, you can get Bar-S hot dogs for probably .20 and that might be a stock up price for you on hot dogs.  Bar-S is not a product that our family uses, so my stock up price on hot dogs is probably $2.75 for something like Hebrew National.

I also said I would pay up to .50 for toothpaste.  Many people refuse to pay anything at all for certain products like toothpaste, but in my situation I tend to be willing to pay a little extra for convenience.  If I have to make an extra trip to Walgreens to get toothpaste for free and then spend $2 cash and roll rewards and such, well I would rather go to Target and just pay .50 for the same product and save myself some trouble.    So again, it is all about value to you!

You can see my Price Book here- note there is one tab for grocery and one for drugstore items.  You should be able to very easily update this with your own products and prices!

You can check out more articles on the Learning to Use Coupons series here.

You might also check out my vlog with more tips on understanding grocery store sales cycles.

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I wanted to continue with the series on learning how to effectively use coupons.  Many of you may have seen the new television series called Extreme Couponing and I just wanted to share a little about my perspective on what a not so extreme person might expect to save at the store each week and what kind of time investment is required to get those savings.

First I do want to let you know the shoppers on those shows are doing Extreme trips.  I personally don’t feel it is a realistic portrayal of what you can expect to save week after week.  For one thing, many of the stores on the show broke their own coupon policies for the sake of sensationalism.  A normal coupon shopper would most likely not be able to duplicate those transactions because most stores will not allow overage, many have limits on the number of items and coupons you can purchase and so on.

Many of us do not have double coupons in our areas so that also limits the amount of savings.  Finally, the reason some of those shoppers were able to get the transactions so low was by using free item coupons obtained from various sources, catalina coupons from prior trips, and in one case they even used a gift card to partially pay.  You also didn’t see the cost of the coupons added back into the final total and many of the shoppers did spend money to purchase coupons.

One last thing to consider is taxes vary by state as well.  I saw a show where one shopper had something like 70 liters of soda.  In California, the tax on the soda alone would have been $7.00 which can really cut into your savings.  Another episode showed a shopper purchasing $236 in headache medicine.  In my area, even if those items were free with coupons I would still be stuck paying $18.94 in sales tax on those products.  My weekly grocery budget is $50 so that would be a big chunk of my budget to purchase headache medication alone.

So while the savings are impressive, I just want to be sure people aren’t feeling defeated because they can’t save 93-98% week after week at the stores.

So I am going to walk you through what I personally feel is realistic.  You will of course want to adjust this to suit the needs of your family.

::Time Investment.

I don’t have a ton of time to dedicate to coupons.  I would rather trade off a deal here and there and spend more time with my family and friends.  Some of the couponers on that show spend 30-70 hours per week on couponing.  I can’t even imagine that sort of time investment myself.

I spend roughly 90 minutes a week.  Now that includes doing my menu plan and shopping list which takes the majority of the time.  I do not personally use a coupon binder because I don’t have the time to commit to maintaining it and I don’t want to carry it around with me.  I just have a small pouch that I keep some coupons in and then I cut the rest that I need when I am planning my shopping trips.  Yes, I do miss out on some deals by not having lots of coupons with me but I look at it as a trade off on missing the occasional deal versus saving myself a considerable amount of time.

So I suppose you might want to consider determining how much time you want to commit each week to using coupons.  If you have a razor thin budget or a very large family to shop for or you are interested in really going gangbusters with donations, you will probably need to invest a little more time.

::Storage Space.

Another thing to consider about stocking up on products is how much storage space you are willing to dedicate. I don’t like to have a lot of things myself so I just have a few small baskets under the sink in the bathroom that hold the toiletries. A small pantry in the kitchen that holds all our food and cupboards in the laundry room that hold cleaning products. I have found those small spaces allow me to keep enough products on hand for our family. But again if you live in an extreme climate or have a large family you might need to purchase storage shelving and dedicate space to your products. Remember it is still a time investment to manage all that stuff, to keep rotating products out, to find creative recipes to use the items etc…

The one thing I do have is a small freezer in the garage.  Mine was $100 at Home Depot and I feel it was a good investment because it allows me to purchase extra proteins in particular when they are on sale.

::Give Me the Bottom Line.

And now for the bottom line about what you can realistically save from week to week.  I try to save 50%-70% each week.  Obviously it is possible to save significantly more- take one of the Shop for Free lists to your store and you can save 100% on your bill!

What I have found is that many new couponers get very caught up in how much they save.  Many people want to come out of the gates saving 96% or more.  While that is possible, I think you might also consider the quality of what you are purchasing.  We do see coupons for produce, dairy items, meats etc… but not enough coupons to get those products for free week after week.  So if you want to purchase a lot of fresh items for your family each week, the savings are significantly lower.   To save 90%+ on quality meats and seafood, produce and dairy items is simply not realistic.

To be honest I really don’t even notice the percentage of savings on my bill each week.  I tend to focus more on what I purchased and how far I stretched our budget.  One of my favorite deals recently was Horizon Organic milk for $3.49 (regularly $6).  That is only a 42% savings but let me tell you I was more excited about that deal than coming home with 10 bags of free pouches of cookie mix.  (Although a cookie might have made that milk taste even better….)

So in general, I have found that a small time investment each week allows me to save a significant amount of money for our family.  I have found that you can absolutely save money regardless of your diet or your location.  While you might not walk out of the store week after week with a cart of groceries for pennies on the dollar, I do believe it is very realistic to save at least 50% on high quality items.

One argument I do hear frequently is that coupons are just for junk food.  I have to tell you that is a very valid argument.  I see a lot more coupons for cookies, processed foods, candy and other stuff that might not always be the best choice.  I can tell you that coupons for organic, gluten free, non toxic, and natural items are becoming more and more prevalent and the only way we will continue to see these types of coupons is by redeeming them!

***

Now I’d love to hear what you guys think.  What is your average savings each week?   How much time do you invest to get those savings?

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I get asked about transactions involving Buy One Get One Free sales and coupons all the time.  I wanted to take a minute to talk a little about how these sales work.

You can click below to get the full scoop!

There is something about BOGO sales/coupons that makes people uncomfortable. For some reason it just doesn’t feel right to have a zero balance- especially to a cashier. This is a perfectly legitimate transaction and is even provided for in some store coupon policies. You are doing nothing wrong by combining these offers but you do need to be prepared to occasionally run into issues on these types of offers.

Question: Can you use a BOGO coupon with a BOGO sale?

You sure can do this at lots of stores! Typically the way a transaction might work is like this:

Store x offers Crest Toothpaste- Buy One Get One Free ($3.99/2)
In this case the store is usually offering the free item they advertise.

If you have a Buy One Get One Free coupon for Crest Toothpaste, in many situations you can use that coupon and the deal looks like this:

Buy 2 Crest at $3.99/2- Buy One Get One Free
Use Buy One Get One Free Coupon (takes off $3.99)
Final Price: $0 + a few cents tax.

Now the store has offered the free item they advertised and you have elected to pay for your purchase using a manufacturer coupon. So the manufacturer is paying for one item and the store is paying for the other item. The store will be reimbursed for the coupon value.

The Rite Aid coupon policy and the Walgreens coupon policy specifically allow for this type of transaction.  Some stores, like CVS, do not have a written coupon policy so although it should be OK to do a transaction like this, there is always a chance your cashier will simply refuse.  Finally, some stores expressly prohibit this type of transaction- like Safeway stores.  The Safeway coupon policy does not allow for a coupon on a free item- so depending on how you look at it they can legitimately refuse to honor the transaction.  (In my opinion, the coupon is used on an item that is not free so it should be OK but again it will really depend on how the store interprets the policy.)

Question: Can you use a BOGO coupon and a another coupon together?

Here is an example of how something like that might work:

Honest Tea $1.00
Use Buy One Get One Free Honest Tea coupon (should take off $1.00)
and Use $1/1 coupon
Final Price: Both are free

Now with this type of transaction there are a few things to look for before you head out.  On the Buy One Get One Free coupon, you will want to check the barcode and see if it has a “14″ listed.  You can see the breakdown of a bar code below.  On the right side where it says “Value Code” is where you want to look.  If the coupon has a 14 listed that means the coupon will attach to both items.  If the coupon DOES have a “14″ that means you can not use it with another coupon.  (So the scenario above would not work.)

If you do NOT see the “14″ listed, that means the coupon will only attach to one item and you should be able to use another coupon in your transaction. So the transaction above should work.

What about adding store coupons to the mix?

This is where it gets a little trickier.  We can see this at Target pretty frequently.  The Target coupon policy does not specifically address this situation- but here is a sample of how this might look:

Buy 2 Ore Idea Potatoes at $3.49, Get One Free
Use Buy One Get One Free coupon (takes of $3.49)
and Use $1/1 manufacturer coupon
and Use $1/1 Target coupon
Final Price: $1.49 for 3 bags

Now to make this even more complicated, there are some stores that might allow you to use more than one Target coupon. Technically you can use a Target coupon and a store coupon on each item, so you can try something like this:

Buy 2 Ore Idea Potatoes at $3.49, Get One Free
Buy 3 potatoes at $3.49 (one is free)
Use Buy One Get One Free coupon (takes off $3.49)
and Use $1/1 manufacturer coupon
and Use (2) $1/1 Target coupon
Final Price: $.49 for 3 bags

Can you use (2) BOGO coupons together?

Well, in my option no you shouldn’t use (2) BOGO coupons together. A scenario might look like this:

Buy 2 Reach toothbrushes at $2.50
Use (2) BOGO coupons
Final Price: 2 for free!

I suppose this could possibly work but I don’t want to encourage anyone to try this. I don’t think this is how the manufacturer intends for you to use these coupons. Now this sample scenario would be an appropriate way to use more than one BOGO coupon:

Buy 4 Reach toothbrushes at $2.50
use (2) BOGO coupons
Use (2) $1/1 coupons
Final Price: $2.50 for all 4 items.

That scenario should be fine providing those Reach coupons don’t have a “14″ in the value code.

What about a BOGO 50% off sale?

This is a tricky one and Walgreens at Rite Aid in particular offer these sales all the time. So in this case you buy one item at full price and get the second at 50% off. If you also have a BOGO coupon, the value of the lowest priced item is the one that should be applied to the coupon. So here is a sample scenario:

Buy 1 Gillette body wash at $4.99
Get one 50% off at $2.49
Use BOGO coupon (should take off $2.49)
Final Price: $4.99

Of course there might be some situations where a cashier takes off the higher priced item, but in general these almost never work out to be a very good deal.

What’s the bottom line?

If you are shopping at a store like Walgreens or Rite Aid that expressly allow for this type of transaction in the coupon policy, you should be OK.  If you have a store that does not have a written coupon policy (like CVS), or a store that does not make reference to this (like Target)- your luck will vary.  It will really be up to the cashier if they allow the coupon through.  The way I typically view a transaction like this at a store without any guidelines is that I hope for the best and prepare for the worst.  I will trypically try and see- if I get shot down- well on to the next thing.  You can always try again another day.  If you feel very strongly about a specific deal, you can also try to speak to a manager or contact corporate offices for clarification.

I hope that clears up a little confusion!

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Now we discussed where you can get coupons and we discussed how to understand a coupon matchup.

So what now?  Well let’s go shopping of course!  If you are ready to get started here are a few very basic things to keep in mind:

1. The maximum you need to buy is a 10 week supply of any item. If you have a huge family that amount might be more than I need for my small family. There is no reason at all to feel like you need to go gangbusters and wipe out the entire supply of pickles for half the United States just because they are free or inexpensive. I just bet you anything pickles will be a great deal again before you know it. So a handful of anything is most likely more than enough to get you through until the next sale.  Remember none of that stuff is really “free.”  It costs you time and energy to plan your trips, do the transaction, store the products and then try to find 102 different recipes using pickles.

2. You will want to start testing the waters at your local stores. I can tell you from experience that there will be many occasions that you have a wonderful shopping trip and you get high fives from the cashiers and other customers on the way out the door. I just bet you will also have more than a few occasions where you are treated very rudely, where your coupons are denied (even though they are legitimate), where you mess up and where you might be ready to take your entire pile of coupons and toss them in the trash. That’s ok. We all have those days! I like to recommend that people start shopping around for stores- figure out which ones seem coupon friendly, which ones seem to carry enough inventory and on the flip side which ones you prefer not to shop at. I am lucky enough to have a lot of stores in my area- Walmart, CVS, Target, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Safeway- a lot of variety. I have found certain stores are a much more pleasant overall experience for me than others. So I tend to focus on the deals at those stores.  If you are lucky enough to have the superstar stores like Kroger or Publix- well you may not need to shop at several stores at all.  You can most likely stick with your superstar grocery store, one drugstore, maybe a supercenter on occasion to do the bulk of your shopping.

Now- I like to recommend getting your feet wet rather than diving off the deep end of the pool.  When I started using coupons, I started at one drugstore.  I found a few deals each week that were appealing and I put the coupons together.  I did very small transactions and that worked really well for me.  Once I got more comfortable and got a system together, I started branching out to more stores and doing larger transactions.

You can find the weekly coupon matchups for each of the three drugstores by clicking the drugstores tab at the top right of the blog.  Once you decide which store you want to start shopping at, I would strongly recommend reading about the programs they have available.  Just look for the “Drugstore 101″ tab at the top of the blog.

Personally, I find CVS to be the easiest store overall but I would check the deals for whichever you have available in your area and decide what works best for you.

You will also find a list of Grocery Stores and the weekly coupon matchups by clicking on stores in the upper right of the blog.  I am always looking to add more so if your favorite is not listed just leave me a comment below and let me know which one you would like to see.

If you have not noticed the printable list feature on MFA it is very easy!  Once you decide which store you want to shop at just look to the left side and you will see little boxes you can click.  Once you click the boxes for all the deals you want that week, just click the print this box at the bottom of the post.  Now you have a shopping list and you are ready to roll!

If you happen to need a product that is not listed on the coupon matchups, you can find coupons very easily by clicking on the coupon database tab on the right of the blog.  You can type in the name of the product you need (i.e. Vlasic Pickles) and click search and you should see a list of current coupons that are available for that product!

So for those of you that have just started to use coupons, I’d love to hear how things are coming along, what is still confusing to you, any little tips you might have to pass on to others etc….

Overall, you will find my philosophy on MFA is that I am in this for the long haul.  The tendency is for new couponers to try and chase every single deal, run to the store multiple times each week, purchase quantities much larger than they need and it is very easy to make yourself nuts doing that.  I really like to suggest that people start slow just like an exercise routine so that using coupons becomes a seamless part of your routine and not something that takes over your life.

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The next part of the extreme couponing series that I wanted to discuss is understanding coupon matchups.  We talked about how to start accumulating coupons yesterday and I think this is step #2.

I do matchups for several national chains every week like CVS, Target, Walmart and Walgreens.  I also do regional grocery store matchups for stores like Safeway and for stores that are not in my area (like Kroger, Publix, Giant Eagle, Meijer etc..) I will post some highlights and point you toward a person that does a good job with coupon matchups.

So what does coupon matchup mean exactly?  Well it means that I look at the weekly circular each store puts out and I match up the best prices with coupons that are available.  That is how you are going to find the very best deals on products- not by using those coupons the minute they come out but by holding onto them until you find a great sale to go along with it.

I do not matchup every single item in a weekly circular- most of the time the products featured in a sales flyer are at a good price but not always.  If my personal buy price for lunchmeat is $2.00 or less and Safeway features lunchmeat for $4.99 that week with no coupons- well it is wasting everyone’s time to point that deal out.

So if you are looking at matchups that I post you can feel comfortable that I think most of those items are a good price.

This is what a normal coupon matchup might l0ok like:

Jello Temptations $1.99
Use $0.60/1 Jell-O Refrigerated Snack, exp. 5-3-11 (SS 04/03/11)
or Use $1/1 Jell-O Temptations printable
Final price: as low as .99

So the example above first lists the item- in this case Jello- and the price the store has it on sale for.  The next thing listed is the coupons available for that item.  The first coupon is listed as the value of the coupon ($.60), the expiration date of the coupon and finally where you can find it.  In the example, the coupon location is listed as       (SS 04/03/11)- so that means you need to go find your pile of coupons and look for the SmartSource insert from the Sunday paper dated 4/3 to get the coupon.  It also tells you the expiration- so we have awhile before this particular coupon expires but imagine the date was 4/10 instead.  Well that tells you that you need to go and purchase this item on the 10th or before.  The majority of stores will not accept expired coupons so you may need to plan an early trip to the store.

The second coupon is listed as $1/1 Jello Temptations printable.  You should see the word printable as well as a link.  You can click that link and it should take you directly to the coupon to print it out.  So you have two sources for coupons to get a deal on this product- in this case the better coupon is the one that can be printed out so do that and the price you will pay for Jello is $.99.

So the next question is- well what is a SmartSource insert? Each week your paper will have coupon inserts from different companies.  Usually you will find a RedPlum and a SmartSource insert and occasionally Proctor and Gamble will offer inserts as well as General Mills.  We abbreviate these companies like this:

• SmartSource= SS
• RedPlum = RP
• General Mills= GM
• Proctor and Gamble= P&G

So the picture above is an example of what coupon inserts might look like.  You can see right at the top they have listed either SmartSource or RedPlum as the company that distributed the coupons.  You can also check the spine of the insert which will have the date and the name of the insert.

So what happens if you don’t have those inserts?  Maybe they were before you started couponing or maybe you didn’t get the paper that week.  You are kind of out of luck unless you decide to try and buy coupons.

You can either go to Clipping Services or Ebay and purchase coupons.  Typically you will pay about .10 per coupon and they have different costs for shipping as well as minimum purchase costs.  I would encourage you to be very careful when purchasing coupons.  For Ebay sellers it is very important to read the seller’s ratings so you aren’t buying fraudulent coupons.  For the clipping services make sure you understand the timeline they have to send you the coupons- you want to make sure you actually get them in time for the sale.

Two clipping services I can recommend are:

• Coupons be DeDe
• and The Coupon Clippers

Now, the drugstores work a little differently than grocery stores because you have loyalty programs in place.  Here is an example of what a CVS coupon matchup might look like:

Zantac 24 or 30 ct $8.99
Get $3.00 ECB (limit 1)
Use $5/1 Zantac coupon
Final Price: .99

So what does that all mean? Well we know the first line is what the store has advertised the product at. We can also see the link to a printable coupon for $5 off this product.  Then you see a note about a $3 ECB and the final price is listed at .99.  So does that mean you grab the $5 coupon and you will go to CVS and pay $.99?  No it does not.  What that means is that you will pay $8.99 for the item- give them your $5 coupon.  Now your total is $3.99- you pay that plus any tax in your area.  The cashier will give you back $3.00 in ECBs.

All three of the drugstores have loyalty programs- +Up Rewards at Rite Aid, ECBs at CVS and Register Rewards at Walgreens.  You can think of this basically as monopoly money.  This monopoly money can be used to purchase almost anything you want in the store. The idea is that you start off drugstore shopping by paying a small amount in cash for an item you might need- in the case about $4 for Zantac.  You now have $3 in CVS money (ECBs) that you can tuck away and use for more items that week or for something on sale the following week.  The idea is to keep using the monopoly money that you get on another item that generates money and then another item that generates money and so on.  That way you are getting things week after week after week for very little money.

Now with the drugstores you do want to be aware of limits.  In the example above I listed the limit as 1.  That means you may purchase a total of 1 and any other Zantac you purchase will not generate the ECB reward.  The limits are usually listed in the weekly sales ad, in my coupon matchups or on the sale tag in the store.

So that is the basics of understanding what these matchups mean.

A few notes:

You will want to pay attention to the dates the sales are available.  The vast majority of stores will run a one week sale- so for the national chains it is typically Sunday- Saturday.  Grocery stores are all over the place, in my city most stores have new ads that run from Wednesday-Tuesday- but every area will be different.  If I can’t make it to that store during the 7 days the ad is running you will most likely miss out on that deal.

One other note is that it is very important to look at the circular in your area before you shop.  Even in ads that run nationally, like Target ads, there can be a few small differences.  Another example is Rite Aid, the ad for residents of California can have a few differences from the ad for Iowa.  So you can go online to look at the circular for your city or you will likely get them in your newspaper just to double check.

You can read about the loyalty programs at all three of the drugstores here.

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I know there are lots of people excited about using coupons thanks in part to the new reality TV show called Extreme Couponing.  I know this little world can seem very overwhelming at first and I am getting lots of questions about where on Earth you can begin if you are new to using coupons.

I will have a series for you to learn the ins and outs of coupons from the very beginning.  I am hoping this is easy to digest information that will have you saving big before you know it.

I should tell you that the show features people that are… well Extreme.  I do not typically shop like the people showcased on the show nor do my children sleep in the bathtub so I can make more room to store my deodorant collection.  I personally have a very reasonable pantry and we have very little space actually dedicated to the products that I buy or get for free.

So there is absolutely a comfortable middle ground for those that still want to be able to park the cars in the garage and don’t have 30 hours a week to cut coupons.  I hope this series I am putting together will be beneficial to those of you that are interested in simply finding easy and fast ways to save a little money. There should be ideas and tips for those of you that really want to go big as well- I encourage you to find the place that makes you comfortable and works for your family.

Soooo.. are you ready?!  Let’s get started!

I personally look at using coupons as just one very easy way to put extra money in the bank.  I have three newspaper subscriptions that come to my home and I spend roughly 90 minutes a week total on coupons- organizing, printing, planning my shopping trips and our menu for the week etc.. I spend another 2 hours or so actually shopping each week.

I typically save at least 50% on my grocery bills- so I look at it is an extra 90 minutes per week and I probably save at least $300 or more per month.   If I had more spare time, I am sure I could save even more.

One important thing I want to mention, is that coupons are not just for people on tight budgets or with limited incomes.  The average coupon shopper has a household income of $70,000+.  Using coupons doesn’t mean you can not afford to pay for groceries, it is just a smart way to save a little on something you need so you can put the money back in the bank or splurge on something you want!

So if you are interested in getting started learning how to effectively use coupons, the very first thing we need to do is get our hands on some coupons!

I  like to suggest starting very small and working your way up.  I do not recommend running out and buying 20 copies of the newspaper- because let me tell you this can be incredibly time consuming.  I like to suggest people start small and get comfortable and then figure out what is going to be manageable to you.

So there are two primary ways to get coupons- the first is the Sunday paper.

The common perception of Sunday paper coupons is to flip through them and if something appeals to you, rip the coupon out and throw the rest away.  The next time you head to the store grab that coupon you tore out and use it and you just saved yourself .50!

WRONG!

What you want to do now is collecting those Sunday paper coupons.  I happen to get 3 subscriptions at my house (so 3 inserts each week) and I will leave it to you to decide how many you would like.  Once you get those babies you can flip through and see what looks appealing- I usually cut about 10% of them out.  Then I tuck them away in my little pouch and I wait for the right time to use it to get the biggest bang for my buck.  The rest of the coupons, I toss in a basket in my closet.  (And we can talk more about fabulous ways to organize all your coupons later.  For now I’d like to start with the simplest things you can do to get rolling.)

Now you want to hold onto those coupons because you never know when they will come in handy.  Some of them will expire in 30 days and some might not expire for an entire year.  So just hold onto them.

So that is your first order of business, you really want to start researching the newspapers in your area.  I would recommend checking out the papers in your city on both Saturday and Sunday- some areas have inserts available a day early and maybe you can get that paper a little cheaper.  I recommend flipping through the papers because one paper in the same city might have double the amount of coupons as another paper.  So it is important to really look and see what is available.  Once you get that sorted out, you will want to track down the best price you can get.  If you are paying $1.50-5.00 per paper each week, well that cuts into your savings.  I pay $20 per year for my subscription- so .38 per Sunday newspaper.  You might check Dollar Stores, call the subscription desk, ask friends- whatever you can do to track down the best price available on the newspaper in your area.  (You can also check Discounted Newspaper Subscriptions and see what they offer.)  You can absolutely get multiple copies of the newspaper sent to your home.  Before you get crazy though ordering tons of subscriptions, I really suggest using coupons for awhile so you can see what you will really need.  I know some sites will recommend getting 10 or more papers a week and I can tell you there is 0 chance I personally could manage that many coupons and I have been doing this for years.

Job # 2 will be to start collecting internet coupons. I post them all the time- the first time you print from most coupon sources like coupons.com, smart source or red plum, they will require that you download a coupon printer.  Each coupon will have a unique barcode so that is why you need the download.  If you install the software once you should not have to do it again.  I think as you start getting more experience you will recognize the coupons you want to print ASAP.  I will usually tell you if I think it is a hot coupon as well.  So this is homework #2.  Internet coupons are a great resource, so if you have a printer you will want to be ready to start printing away as coupons come up!  The really good ones can be gone very quickly- most coupons will have a certain limit on how many total can be printed and you don’t want to miss out.

Two important notes on printables:

1. You can usually get 2 copies of the coupon by using your back bar to go back and the coupon should spool a second time.  Don’t cheat yourself out of your second copy by forgetting to do that.

2. Sadly, you can usually only get those 2 coupons per computer that you have.  If you want extras, you either need access to more computers or you need to sweet talk a friend into printing coupons for you.  It is absolutely never, ever OK to photocopy coupons.  That is actually a crime and please don’t ever put yourself in a situation to get in trouble.

So those are the primary ways to score coupons, you might also start keeping an eye out at the grocery store because you will start to see coupons can be found everywhere!  Sometimes you see little machines that spit out coupons- if it is a product you can use grab one or two of the coupons and just tuck it away.  You might also be on the lookout for little booklets in your stores that have coupons.  Safeway, Publix and Kroger often have great coupon booklets available.  (And there is such a thing as coupon karma so again 2 or maybe 3 booklets is plenty- no reason to take the entire stack.)

The very last step, is you will want to start understanding the coupon policies for your stores.  Each person will have a slightly different experience and it is important you are aware of policies that might prevent you from getting great deals.  You can go to the web site of your store (such as www.Safeway.com) and look for the coupon policy or you can just ask at customer service in your store.  Remember those policies can change at any time so be sure you check back every few months for updates.

So that is part 1.  You are already on the way to starting to score great deals!  Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below.  There is really a lot to learn so again I am hoping to just take this one step at a time and hopefully it turns into a fun and easy way to start saving big at the grocery store!

… You can continue along with this series by clicking the articles below:

• Extreme Couponing: Understanding coupon matchups
• Extreme Couponing: Ready for Action
• Extreme Couponing: Determining a Realistic Savings Plan
• Extreme Couponing: Understanding Buy One Get One Free Coupons
• Extreme Couponing: Organizing Your Coupons
• Extreme Couponing: Free Item Coupons!
• Extreme Couponing: Creating a Pricebook
• Extreme Couponing: Using the Coupon Database

and you can get even more information from the Where to Begin section or if you prefer to watch videos, scroll down here to see topics like price matching and organizing coupon binders.

Finally, you can subscribe to my free newsletter to get daily updates on all sorts of freebies, online deals, coupon deals and more!

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I have been getting lots of requests for tips on how to organize coupons.  Here are a few methods you can check out and see what works for you.  If you are brand new to using coupons, I always recommend you do it for a few weeks before you invest a lot of time or money.  It is nice to really see how much time you have to dedicate to this first because this can become very time consuming!

OPTION #1: CHEAP AND EASY.

This is the method I use almost exactly.

I have a small makeup bag that I use- it has color coded envelopes inside that are labeled meat, produce, dairy, baby etc…  I only cut coupons on Sundays that I am pretty sure I will use- say diaper coupons or coupons for eggs or high value toothpaste coupons etc… I file those away when I can in each envelope and the makeup bag is usually in my purse. You can probably get a small expanding envelope like this and accomplish the same thing.

When the time comes to do my shopping, I make my list and then I actually go back and cut the coupons I need for the week.  In my opinion, this is the least time consuming method but you will miss out on deals from time to time by not cutting tons of coupons.  For me, I would rather miss a coupon here or there than spend hours each week managing a complicated system.

PROS: Very simple, easy to manage, inexpensive, less cumbersome, small time investment.
CONS: You will not have every coupon available to you at all times so you may miss out on random deals you find in store.

For the inserts, I have two storage bins that I put them in.  I put the most recent on the top and I toss them quarterly.  One box is for SS inserts and the other for RP and P&G.  There are times that the coupons have not yet expired and I miss out because I tossed them.  But again for me it is all about the least amount of maintenance possible.  So I’d rather miss a $1 coupon here and there than have to manage piles and piles of coupon inserts.

Some people will organize the inserts by date in a file box. That is even better than my method but it does take a few extra minutes to label the files and put the inserts away.  Also you will have the investment of buying the file box and folders etc..

You can watch a video to see exactly how this works here.

OPTION #2: MORE COUPONS.

The binder method is really popular for couponers. You can take a ton of coupons with you everywhere and this might be a good option for those of you that do massive trips, like to buy large quantities of products, get a lot of newspaper subscriptions etc…

You can purchase a zippered binder just about anywhere and most people use baseball trading card inserts inside.  Some people like to organize their coupons in categories- such as meats, produce, health and beauty supplies, cleaning supplies etc.. and some like to organize alphabetically.

I believe the majority of people that use coupon binders tend to cut a lot of coupons each week and file them in the binder.  If you decide this is the right method for you, keep in mind that you do need to stay on top of expired coupons.  So this method is going to be much more time consuming.

PROS: Lots more coupons readily available when you shop, coupons are easily accessible.
CONS: Considerably more time consuming and bulky to carry around.

You can see a video on exactly how to organize a coupon binder here.

What method do you use to organize your coupons?

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This is part 2 of the series to get ready for Christmas!  I know I personally slacked a bit this year.  Usually I have finished almost all of my shopping by now so I am playing a little catch up for sure.

Typically I have a calendar that I create at the beginning of the year and I update it with all the major events we have.  All family birthdays, anniversaries, any baby showers, weddings- all those events you purchase gifts for.  I have a separate list that I keep for Christmas shopping.

As the year progresses, I am constantly on the lookout for great deals.  I have found it is much easier on the budget to spend a little here and there than it is to spend a whole lot at once.  Not to mention once the holidays are in full swing, I find myself getting swept up with the shopping spirit and tend to spend more than I should.

So I am attaching two worksheets for you, if you want to get organized for the holidays.

The first worksheet is the one I use to keep track of what I need to buy throughout the year.  I typically keep track of things by month and check off each event as I purchase the gifts.  I also make notes about what it is I bought so I can easily find what I need.  (And because I tend to forget what I have bought for people.) I actually have all my gifts tucked into boxes at the top of the closet.  This gift list is tacked to the wall in the closet and I can easily update it as I pop items into the boxes.

For those of you with a lot of children’s parties throughout the year, you might especially consider getting started using the buy ahead idea.  I know you can’t always predict every party, but we will see wonderful deals on toys and things during the next few weeks and after the holidays.  It is a great time to buy a few extra items to put into your gift closet so you are prepared for those last minute party invitations next year.

The second sheet is just for organizing your holiday shopping list.   There is space to jot down names, what it is you purchased, your actual spent vs budgeted amount and a checkbox for when you have completed your shopping for that person.

Hopefully this is a little motivation to start really planning your wish list and to establish a budget ahead of time… 46 days and counting!

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It is that time- like it or not the holidays are in full swing! 47 days until Christmas!

I wanted to start giving some tips on getting ready for the holidays and ideas to stretch the budget this year!  So stay tuned this week for lots of ideas.

First of all, I would love if you would leave comments with any holidays items you are looking for this year.  I see so many deals each day and it is really helpful for me to get ideas of the popular items so I can prioritize my posting.

Second, the holidays seem to have started with a bang from my perspective.  I will be posting all sorts of deals on popular items and just random stuff I find.  Many items will go really quickly- some won’t even last a day.  You can always follow me on Twitter or Facebook- I usually post the best deals there as well as on the blog- or you might consider checking into the blog a bit more frequently.  I typically post 15-20 times a day and there will be lots of days that is doubled during the holiday season.  I try not to overwhelm people but I can’t pass up a hot deal so some days my fingers are on fire!

I have had a few questions recently about Swagbucks.  I know many of you have been saving them for holiday shopping this year so I thought I’d share a few tips with you.

Cash them in.  If you have been saving your bucks, I would strongly suggest cashing them in.  Swagbucks limits you to cashing in 2 like gift cards per day.  So if you want to cash in for several $5 Amazon cards, you are limited to requesting 2 per day.  You are also limited to (5) like cards per month.  So that means you can only request 5 total of those $5 gift cards each month.   They often take 2-3 weeks to credit to your account, so if you intend to use them for holiday shopping you want to get them cashed in now so they are available.

Redeeming Your Cards. You can redeem as many cards as you have.  So if you have $30 in Amazon gift cards and you want to purchase an item for $28- you can absolutely use all (6) of your $5 cards to pay 0 for your item.  If you have money left over as in the case above, the balance will remain available in your Amazon account until you order again.

Amazon had some amazing deals last year and many of them went really fast!  Amazon offers free shipping with a $25 purchase or they also have free shipping with Prime.  You might consider registering for Amazon Mom now so you can get Prime for the holidays.  It is totally free and you will get free shipping on any order you place (some exceptions apply with 3rd party shippers.)  I ordered tons of stuff last year- like $1 books and the awesome $5 Leapfrog toys- all sorts of stuff.  I had Prime last year so my shipping was always free and it almost always arrives in 2 days.

Stay tuned as I will be posting several more tips for the holiday shopping season throughout the week!

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Carrie over at Pocket Your Dollars was nice enough to send an email out yesterday letting us know she thoroughly researched the free can of Pringles that was posted on many blogs and she felt it was a scam.

When I read her email I agreed with her 100% and deleted the post from MFA and Facebook.

If you signed up on your Facebook account for this offer- I just wanted to alert you to please remove it from your Facebook page.  I also wanted to give you a few tips to protect yourself in the future.

I am not the most savvy person in the world (OK I am the least savvy person) and this just took me a second to do:

1. Log into your Facebook account and look at the top right hand side of the page where it says “My Account”.  You should see a drop down box like this.

2. Click on “application settings”- you can see it there as the 4th item down.

3. If you signed up for the offer, you will see Pringles under your application.  Look for the little x on the right side and click that.  It will remove the application from your account.

4. To be extra, super safe, I would suggest changing your password.

Now these types of scammy freebies happen all the time.  I try to be very conservative with what I post.  You might notice there are tons of freebies and coupons that I don’t put on MFA and that is for a very specific reason.  I would rather you miss out on one free piece of chocolate than have to deal with this sort of hassle.  I also try to take care with the coupons I post- some of them contain malware and all sorts of nastiness.  I changed the direction of MFA awhile back very deliberately.  I decided that instead of posting everything as quickly as I could, I would take the time and try to post only stuff that I really felt was legit and I try to focus on quality instead of just posting every single offer that comes along.

With that being said,  I do want to apologize for my error in judgement in posting Pringles.  I think it is a good lesson that we really do have to be very careful with what we are doing on the internet.  If you see something on MFA you think is not right than just skip it!  And even better let me know that I have blown it.  (I only take it personally if you call me names in the process.)  Half the time I am posting things I have Barney singing in my ear, the UPS man knocking at the door and am trying to get a wriggling baby into yet another clean outfit.  So I make mistakes more often than I care to admit.

Now here is what I personally do and you might consider these things as well:

1. I have a second (well third actually) Facebook account right now.  That account is where I do all of these sorts of things- any of the coupons , freebies and such offered on Facebook I use that account for.  I do not have any personal information at all in that account and it isn’t even under my name.  Hint:

2. I never, ever give out my home phone number.  I don’t even give it out when I place online orders.  I figure if I order something and there is an issue- they can email me or I will call them.  Nothing makes me angrier than a 3 o’clock phone call alerting me to some “prize” I have won (and waking up my girls from naps in the process.)  I have a phone number that is one digit off from my real one that I give out.  It is the same every time and I know it is not a working number.

3. I have a seperate email account.  I have a personal email, a MFA email and a junk email.  Certain places (ahem.. Vista Print..Kohls etc..) like to send out A LOT of emails.  I tend to fill in my junk email for those types of things and I check it a few times a week.  I do sign up for tons of stuff to my MFA account just so I can be alerted to new deals and promotions and to be honest there are many days I will have 200+ emails from various companies telling me about the lastest promotion.  I am guessing many of you would rather not sort through all that every day.  So you might consider a free acount with gmail, yahoo, hotmail etc.. and use that for a lot of the things you sign up for and even the online orders that you place.

4.  I have been a hot mess for a few days now because my poor laptop was infected with some sort of nasty, nasty virus.  My friend Andrea also just got a virus from a coupon printer she downloaded.  I do think that the companies I mention frequently: coupons.com, smart source and red plum are reputable but just keep that in mind when you are signing up and installing things from other sites.  It might be worth paying an extra few cents to not print a coupon than to put yourself at risk for any nastiness.  (Not to mention the bill I will be paying tonight to the computer repair center.)  I try to test every coupon that I post on my store match ups- so that you guys don’t jump through a million hoops registering for coupons only to find the offer is no longer available.  I am going to try to be much more careful about this from now on because I suspect that is where my virus came from.

So I know lots of you are much more savvy than I am at internet security and I’d love to hear your tips for protecting yourself online!

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There is nothing more frustrating than finding a great coupon and not being able to print it.  Most of the time with bricks coupons (the ones that look like THIS and say bricks in the URL) there are two things you can do:

1. If you keep circling back to “install coupon printer” you simply need to change your browser.  (Now this is assuming of course you have installed the coupon printer already.)  So what does that mean?  That means if you are using Internet Explorer just cut and paste the link in another browser- like Mozilla Firefox and it should work!

2. If you still can’t get it to work you can look for the little help link at the very bottom right corner of the screen:

Some manufacturers will mail the coupon to you!  If that is the case, when you click on HELP you will see a screen that asks for your mailing information!  Now I had some problems with the Stouffer’s coupon about a week ago and I requested to get it in the mail.

And ta da!  Here it is mailed right to me within just a few days!  Obviously this isn’t as good because I only got one copy not two- but better than no copies at all!

So you can try this if you ever run into this problem- remember not all offer this option.  Also, it is VERY easy to discard these coupons as they come in plain white envelopes.  You want to be on the lookout because they look like junk mail and usually have just a PO Box or plain address typed in the corner.

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I have talked about a few other survey sites in the past and wanted to add one more to the list that seems to be both credible and worthwhile.

There is a company called Toluna and they send you surveys and if you complete them they will award points which can be redeemed for cash.

This company seems to be good because I understand they send quite a few surveys- possibly 2 per day.  Each survey will take about 15-20 min to complete and you earn $1-5 each.  I think a $5 return on your time is a pretty good investment, especially if you can do these surveys while you are watching TV or during your lunch hour at work.

I used to do these types of things all the time and it is a very easy way to earn a little extra income.  Now that I spend so much time on the blog, I can’t do as many surveys as I used to do.  So I do appreciate any feedback you guys have on the companies that I recommend!

As always, I think it is a good idea to set up an email account that is exclusive to the survey sites.  I also think it is worthwhile to sign up for a few different ones to see which ones you like best and which seem to pay the most.

Thanks for your tips Koupon Karen!

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This is a question that I get asked quite frequently and I have a few tips that might help you to figure out what a good weekly budget is for your family.  I thought I would also share how our weekly budget works.

The short answer to this question is it depends.  I don’t like blanket budgets because every family is going to be different.  For example I do not have double coupons in my area so my prices are higher than others might pay.  I also have 2 in diapers- so that is an added expense for us each week.  Personally my philosophy is that you just want to live within or below your means. I could certainly spend less but I try to have a varied menu each week.  Also I don’t have any of the great grocery stores like Kroger, Publix and Food Lion that seem to have exceptional sales from week to week.

When we moved to California and I started learning to coupon we had an extremely tight budget.  I made $30 per week work for us including every single thing from diapers to groceries to cleaning supplies.  Let me tell you that was a struggle!  But we both moved here without jobs so we needed to save every penny to avoid dipping into our savings.  Once we were both employed, I increased the budget to $50.  That includes pretty much everything from dog food to toiletries.  The two items I do not include are diapers and formula.  This seems to be a very workable budget for us but I would encourage you to find the range that seems to work for your family.

Here are a few tips to get started:

1. Evaluate how much you currently spend each week. Aim to reduce that by 10% every week without sacrificing too much quality in your menus.  If you are new to couponing this is the easiest way to immediately see a difference in your weekly budget.

2. Pay attention to waste. Before I started my frugal adventure we would go through the fridge every week and toss a ton of food.  Produce that was past its prime, items that expired etc…  Now I aim to stop the waste entirely.  So I always think every week about what we will really eat.  It doesn’t mean I am stingy but I don’t buy 4 pounds of bananas if we can only eat 2 pounds.  I also try to freeze as much as I can.  So this week we had a bag of potatoes that needed to be used.  I went ahead and mashed them up and made a casserole that went into the freezer for a future meal.  If you are regularly throwing away items than you are essentially throwing out your money.  You might try scaling back a little on what you buy or try to come up with creative ideas to use those items up before they expire!

3.  Start menu planning! This alone should help to save quite a bit each week as you are planning ahead for what you might need rather than just buying whatever looks appealing when wandering the grocery aisles.

4. Get creative with recipes! I almost never follow a recipe exactly.  More often than not they require a long list of ingredients. I try to omit or substitute as many items as I can.  For example, if a recipe calls for Provolone cheese and you have Mozzarella on hand- can you substitute that ingredient?  On my menu this week I wanted to try a homemade pizza recipe with Butternut Squash and Pine Nuts.  Those two ingredients would have killed my budget so instead I found great deals on fresh mozzarella and Roma tomatoes.  Our family had a nice roasted tomato and mozzarella pizza instead.  Just as good for a fraction of the price.

5. Be honest with yourself. I would really encourage you to be honest about how much time you have and are willing to spend from week to week.  If you can spare one hour per week to prepare and organize coupons I would think you can really get your budget down.  You will likely need to spend a little extra time at the store as well if you are using coupons, but in the end you will save yourself from making extra runs to the store to grab those last minute ingredients anyway.  If you simply can’t spare that time, or you don’t want to invest the time, you can still reduce what you spend by buying low and stocking up.  See my vlog about this HERE.  You will likely wind up spending more than what a couponer might spend- but every little bit counts so even just a small difference in your budget can really add up over time.

And now for you!  What tips do you have for finding a workable budget?

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When I first started couponing I learned that you can actually call or email a variety of companies and request coupons from them!  More often than not, they will send you coupons.

I used to call a handful of companies a day and sometimes I would get $10 or so in free product coupons and sometimes just .25 off one item.  One of my favorites to call is Huggies- you can call them about every 6 months and they will usually send you $3 off coupons.  I once got a $5 off coupon from them.  I would just look for items we really liked that I already had on hand and I would call the phone number on the back.  You can also just look up companies online and send them emails.

See the list by clicking below- many of these are Organic and pretty expensive items.  If you decide to try emailing let us know how it goes!

Organic and Natural Food Companies That Mail Free Coupons in Response to E-Mail Requests:

Alexia www.alexiafoods.com

Amy’s www.amyskitchen.com

Apple & Eve www.appleandeve.com

Arrowhead Mills www.arrowheadmills.com

Born Free/Radlo Foods www.radlo.com

Clif www.clifbar.com

Coleman www.colemannatural.com

Country Choice www.countrychoicenaturals.com

Earth’s Best www.earthsbest.com

Earthbound Farm www.ebfarm.com

Eggland’s Best www.egglandsbest.com

Ians www.iansnaturalfoods.com

Kashi www.kashi.com

Lakewood www.lakewoodjuices.com

Lundberg www.lundberg.com

Mrs. Meyer’s www.mrsmeyers.com

Rachel’s www.rachelsdairy.com

R.W. Knudsen Family www.knudsenjuices.com

Rudi’s Organic Bakery www.rudisbakery.com

Santa Cruz Organics www.scojuice.com

Soy Dream www.tastethedream.com

Stonyfield Farm www.stonyfield.com

Sue Bee Honey www.suebee.com

Traditional Medicinals www.traditionalmedicinals.com

Vans International Foods www.vansfoods.com

Yogi www.yogiproducts.com

Amy’s Kitchen www.amyskitchen.com

Bar S www.bar-s.com

Barber Foods www.barberfoods.com

Bayer/Flintstones Vitamins www.flintstonesvitamins.com

Birds Eye Foods www.birdseyefoods.com

Carl Buddig & Company www.buddig.com

Chiquita/Fresh Express www.freshexpress.com

Citrus World/Florida’s Natural www.floridasnatural.com

Colgate-Palmolive www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/HomePage.cvsp

The Dannon Company www.dannon.com

Dean Foods/Garelick Farms www.garelickfarms.com

www.deanfoods.com/brands.aspx

Frito-Lay/Tostitos www.tostitos.com

General Mills/Yoplait http://yoplait.com

George Weston Bakeries (Bimbo and Boboli) www.boboli.com

Grand Brands/True Lemon www.truelemon.com

The Hain Celestial Group www.celestialseasonings.com

The Hain Celestial Group/Terra Chips www.terrachips.com

H.J. Heinz Company www.heinz.com

H.J. Heinz Company/Lea & Perrins www.leaperrins.com

Interstate Bakeries Corporation/Wonder www.wonderbread.com/#/home

Jasper Wyman & Son www.wymans.com

Johnson & Johnson www.jnj.com/connect

Johnson & Johnson/Viactiv www.viactiv.com/index.jhtml

Ken’s Foods/Sweet Baby Ray’s www.sweetbabyrays.com

Kimberly Clark/Kotex www.kotex.com/na/default.aspx

Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe www.martinspotatorolls.com/pages/about.asp

McCormick & Company www.mccormick.com

Mt. Olive Pickle Company www.mtolivepickles.com

Ocean Spray Cranberries http://oceanspray.com

Nestlé/Edy’s www.edys.com

Nestlé/Purina http://catchow.com

P&G http://pgpromotions.archway.com

P&G/Cheer www.cheer.com Click on Promotions link

P&G Febreze www.newfebreeze.com/coupon/MailRequest.php

Pepperidge Farm www.pepperidgefarm.com

Perdue www.perdue.com

Pillsbury/Smucker’s www.smuckers.com

Reckitt Benckiser/Electrasol http://electrasol.com

S.C. Johnson & Son/Glade www.glade.com

S.C. Johnson & Son/Pledge www.pledge.com

S.C. Johnson & Son/Saran www.saranbrands.com

Tetley www.tetleyusa.com Turkey Hill Dairy http://turkeyhill.com

Tyson Foods www.tyson.com

Unilever/Ragú www.ragu.com

Zatarain’s http://zatarains.com

Companies That Mail Coupons in Response to an E-mail Request Via Their Website

Amy’s Kitchen www.amyskitchen.com

Bar S www.bar-s.com

Barber Foods www.barberfoods.com

Bayer/Flintstones Vitamins www.flintstonesvitamins.com

Birds Eye Foods www.birdseyefoods.com

Carl Buddig & Company www.buddig.com

Chiquita/Fresh Express www.freshexpress.com

Citrus World/Florida’s Natural www.floridasnatural.com

Colgate-Palmolive www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/HomePage.cvsp

The Dannon Company www.dannon.com

Dean Foods/Garelick Farms www.garelickfarms.com and www.deanfoods.com/brands.aspx

Frito-Lay/Tostitos www.tostitos.com

General Mills/Yoplait http://yoplait.com

George Weston Bakeries (Bimbo and Boboli) www.boboli.com

Grand Brands/True Lemon www.truelemon.com

The Hain Celestial Group www.celestialseasonings.com

The Hain Celestial Group/Terra Chips www.terrachips.com

H.J. Heinz Company www.heinz.com

H.J. Heinz Company/Lea & Perrins www.leaperrins.com

Interstate Bakeries Corporation/Wonder www.wonderbread.com/#/home

Jasper Wyman & Son www.wymans.com

Johnson & Johnson www.jnj.com/connect

Johnson & Johnson/Viactiv www.viactiv.com/index.jhtml

Ken’s Foods/Sweet Baby Ray’s www.sweetbabyrays.com

Kimberly Clark/Kotex www.kotex.com/na/default.aspx

Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe www.martinspotatorolls.com/pages/about.asp

McCormick & Company www.mccormick.com

Mt. Olive Pickle Company www.mtolivepickles.com

Ocean Spray Cranberries http://oceanspray.com

Nestlé/Edy’s www.edys.com

Nestlé/Purina http://catchow.com

P&G http://pgpromotions.archway.com

P&G/Cheer www.cheer.com

Click on Promotions link P&G Febreze www.newfebreeze.com/coupon/MailRequest.php

Pepperidge Farm www.pepperidgefarm.com

Perdue www.perdue.com

Pillsbury/Smucker’s www.smuckers.com

Reckitt Benckiser/Electrasol http://electrasol.com

S.C. Johnson & Son/Glade www.glade.com

S.C. Johnson & Son/Pledge www.pledge.com

S.C. Johnson & Son/Saran www.saranbrands.com

Tetley www.tetleyusa.com

Turkey Hill Dairy http://turkeyhill.com

Tyson Foods www.tyson.com

Unilever/Ragú www.ragu.com

Zatarain’s http://zatarains.com

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forthockey

I know a lot of you are just getting started using coupons and I thought I would share a few things I have learned.  For those of you that have more experience please feel free to share your tips as well!

1.  Start slow. Just like with anything new there is a tendency to want to hit every store for every deal every week.  I would strongly recommend starting slow.  You might start off with one drugstore at first and do one or two very simple transactions.  Once you get comfortable with that store you can start doing more complicated transactions or branch off to other stores.  You will also want to get a feel for each of your local stores and their policies on coupons.  I have a wonderful Target and a wonderful CVS in my area, so I try to do as much of my shopping there as I can.  Likewise, I happen to have a Walgreens that is very anti-coupons so I almost never shop there as a result.

2. Read the fine print. Many drugstore deals in particular have limits on the quantity you can buy.  Typically the limit is 1- especially on deals that involve ECBs, rebates or Register Rewards.  You will want to be sure to check your local ad for any limits before you plan your trips.   Be sure you carefully read the beginners drugstore series for Rite Aid, Walgreens and CVS HERE before your first shopping trip.  I have been doing the drugstore game for a few years and I still make mistakes all the time.

3. All deals will come around again.  I promise the chances of seeing an incredible deal come back around are extremely high.  If you miss out on free Colgate this week- I just bet it will come back around next month!  I usually only go to the drugstores once every few weeks to roll my ECBs or Register Rewards.  Your time is an important factor to consider when couponing.  When I first started I made myself crazy running all over to get every deal every week.

4. Moderation is a good thing. This is just my personal opinion and your situation might be very different from mine.  If you live in a rural area and it is 45 minutes to the nearest store or you have a very large family than I would encourage you to find the balance that works for your situation.  It is easy to get a little carried away with coupons.  I see people that have 20 newspaper subscriptions or that purchase hundreds and hundreds of coupons for specific deals.  I would encourage you to really consider what you need.  For drugstore items, I usually keep 3-6 items on hand because most products we simply don’t go through that quickly.  I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this and that is ok!  Just keep in mind that you will have to manage everything you buy.  So if you buy 46 boxes of free cereal and you only go through 1 box a month, that is a ton of product that you have to store and manage.

5. Have fun!  Hopefully using coupons will become fun and fairly seamless.  Once you start to get the hang of it I hope that it gets easier and easier to do.  I have discussed my price book in the past and I have a certain price I try to pay for certain items.  I usually try to look at the big picture.  If an item hits my buy price one week and I simply don’t have time to get to the store, I will happily pay a little more the following week or I just make it work without that item until it goes on sale again.

I also have the same philosophy for stores.  If I know a store is going to give me a hard time I just don’t shop there.  My regular grocery store is a great example, I drive out of my way to a friendly Safeway store rather than go to the one right by my house.  I would rather spend a few extra minutes in the car than get treated badly and wind up angry, embarrassed and upset at a store that is not going to treat me well.  I would encourage you to do the same!  When I first started there were countless times I was near tears when leaving a store because I was treated so badly.  Now that I am a little more experienced I have no idea why I put myself through all that.

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There is a great article HERE on couponers if you have a moment to read it today!

This is exactly the way I look at couponing- I figure out how much I get paid per hour.  We used to spend $600/month on groceries (for just 2 people) and now we spend $200/month for groceries (for 4 people and a dog).  It takes me about 2-3 hours a week between cutting, planning and the actual shopping trip (this would be way less time if I had better grocery stores to choose from!  I usually go to a few stores every week to make my budget work.)

So I figure 10 hours or so per month to save $400 which is about $40 an hour.

According to the Wall Street Journal I actually got a a raise to $86 per hour.  Yeah me!

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This is part 3 of the price book series. As I mentioned before, I don’t usually like to discuss the prices I will pay for certain items because it really depends on where you live and where you shop. I live in a very high cost of living area and I do not have double coupons in any of my stores. So my prices are likely much higher than yours are! This is just to give you a very rough idea of what I consider a good price for certain staple items. I do not have a formal system of tracking prices- I just sort of remember them in my head. When a sale rolls around or coupons get me to the prices listed, I usually buy enough to last until the next sale. Typically I use 6 weeks as a rule of thumb for the next sale cycle, but again you will want to simply watch the ads in your area and see what works for you.

All prices reflect name brand products. I have found I get name brand items for much less than the generic version by using coupons and shopping the sales.

CHEESE: (Basic Cheddar or Mozzarella) $5.49 for 2 lbs (.17/oz)

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD: .99/loaf

EGGS: .99/dozen (usually I can get 18 for that price)

PASTA: .49 (I try to pay .25 or less)

BUTTER: $.99-1.50 (this is for quality butter like Challenge)

BANANAS: .39/lb

COFFEE: I usually pay $5.50-5.99 for a 29 oz tub. I like a specific brand or I could probably get a better deal.  I do splurge on Tassimo disks but that is not in our grocery budget.

5 LB FLOUR: $1.99 is the highest I will pay.  I try to get closer to $.99-1.49.

PASTA SAUCE: .49-.99 (again with double coupons you can likely get a much better deal!)

5 LB SUGAR: $1.49 or less

CRACKERS: .49 or less

CEREAL: I just reduced my buy price to .25 a box.  I will occasionally pay a little more for Organic products or something new I want to try.  Also I find Cheerios I have to pay a little more for.  I will spend  up to .70 per box.

OATMEAL: .49-.99 for instant oats

PEANUT BUTTER: .49-.99

JELLY: .99 (I will pay a little more to get a high quality product)

FROZEN PIZZA: $2.50 or less for a large pizza

CANNED VEGGIES: .25 is what I aim for but I will pay .50

CANNED SOUP: We don’t eat a lot of canned soup- I try to stock up on cooking soups for .50 or less a can

So those are just a few basics.  You can see my drugstore prices HERE and meat stock up prices HERE.  Just leave a comment below if there are other specific products that you are interested in!

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This is the 4th installment of Earn Money Online- with yet another survey company highlighted.

This time I wanted to tell you about Mindfield Internet Panel.  This is a company that will send out online surveys and will compensate you for your time in completely the survey.  The nice thing about Mindfield is that you can cash out your earnings as low as $5- so you don’t have to wait for ages for a check.  Plus they mail it out within a week of when you request it.

I just signed up for Mindfield and I received a survey within 2 days.  I did not qualify for the survey but it only took a second for me to find that out.  I didn’t have to fill out a long questionnaire to find out I didn’t qualify.

Also, even if you don’t qualify you are entered into a monthly sweepstakes just for filling out the qualification survey.

So all in all this seems like an easy company and I really like how quickly they pay out.  This is a great way to take a few minutes from your day and try to earn a little extra money.

Don’t forget you will want to set up a separate email account for these survey offers so you can keep everything straight.  Mindfield is totally and completely free to join.

Head up HERE to see the other companies I already talked about.

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Inbox Dollars is another company that you can earn a little extra income from.   You get paid for opening emails and you just need to open and check a box and you get paid .02-.10 each.  So the money isn’t massive but you get $5 just for signing up and if you are watching TV or talking on the phone why not make a little extra money at the same time by clicking on emails?!

You can also take surveys that pay from $.35-$4.00 so those can add up as well then you can cash out at $30.  You can earn points from other means as well- like playing games- so maybe this is one that you can get your husband to participate in!

I have heard that it takes awhile to earn money from Inbox Dollars but on the other hand it is extremely simple to do.  I would for sure send this to a separate email account as you can expect to see a few emails from them everyday.  They also send out the occasional product review request where you get to test a product and take a survey about what you thought of it.

Click HERE to get started.

Thanks Ashley!

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I get asked for this all the time and I am always reluctant to post.  Here is my disclaimer: your prices will really vary according to your situation.  For example, I prefer better quality hair care products so I will pay a little more.  If you have a large family, you might also need to pay a little more just to have an adequate quantity on hand.  Also I have access to CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens so I can choose from the best deals at each store every week. The prices indicated are for moderately priced drug store brands. I have found I can get better quality products for far less than I would pay for generic- so each of these prices is for a name brand item.

Toothpaste: Free-.25
Toothpaste is free after coupons at most drugstores with coupons almost every week. I prefer to pay 0 total for it and usually have 3 or 4 on hand, I have found that is plenty to get me through to the next sale.  I am a fan of Rembrandt and if I can get that for $1 or less I will buy it.

Floss: Free
These are also often free with coupons. I find floss a little harder to come by so I buy several when they are free.

Mouthwash: .99
I have found mouthwash free at the drugstores but I will pay up to .99 for a good brand.

Shampoo/Conditioner: Free- $3.00
You can also find deals for hair care products such as Herbal Essences, Garnier, Pantene and other drug store brands for free after coupons pretty regularly. I will pay up to $3 for a higher quality product like Nexxus but you should be able to get brands like John Freida for .99 or less.

Shaving Cream: .50 or less
These deals are also a little harder to come by, so I typically buy several when I can get cans for less than .50.

Razors: Free
I prefer to pay nothing for razors. Fusion razors in particular are free quite frequently at the drugstores- especially when the $4 coupons are out. I am particular about razors and prefer the better quality ones so I will spend $1 or so on higher quality disposables from time to time (like Bic Comfort 3).

Body Wash: Free- $1
I have a large supply of name brand body wash for free. I also like to try new products so I will spend up to .99 for products like Nivea.

Laundry Soap: $1.50/ 32 loads
This one I also find a little trickier to score but if you have double coupons at your grocery store it might be a little easier. I try to pay $1 for 32 loads of lower end laundry soap or $1.50 for better soaps such as All, Arm & Hammer, Gain etc.. That works out to basically .05 per load.

Toilet Paper: .25 per roll
This is a tough one to get. I try to pay only .25 per roll for a quality double roll of TP. I usually wind up trying to get the price of TP down by using store coupons (such as a $5/25 CVS coupon) since it is really difficult to get good deals.

Toothbrushes: Free- .99
Again I try to just get these free but I am pretty religious about changing our toothbrushes every 90 days so this one can be tricky too. I will pay up to .99 for a good quality toothbrush or a fun toothbrush that will make my toddler happier to brush her teeth.

Body Lotion: Free- $1
I also use a lot of body lotion and I will pay up to $1 for a better quality product (like Jergen’s or Vaseline).

Face Wash: Free- $1
This is also a harder deal to come across but fortunately these tend to last quite awhile. I have a large supply of products like Clean and Clear, St Ives etc.. that were all less than $1.

Moisturizer/ Sun Screen: Varies
I try to pay less than $2 for a good product and I tend to stock up when the price is great. For example, I bought 4 Aveeno sunscreen earlier this year for just a few dollars after rebate at Rite Aid. That will last for most of the year. I love to try good quality products so I will pay a few dollars for something really good.

Deodorant: Free
Again deodorant is often free at the drugstores so I pretty much pay nothing for it. It is another product that you don’t go through that quickly so I usually have 3-4 on hand for me and a few for my husband and that gets me through until a good sale.

Baby Products: Free-$1
These include detanglers, baby wash/shampoo, lotion etc.. I typically use Aveeno, Johnson and Johnson and Huggies and I frequently find deals with coupons making these products less than $1. For some reason these are the products that I have a ridiculous amount of because we go through this stuff like crazy.

Diapers: $4 Jumbo packs
If I can get a pack for less than $4 I will typically buy them. I usually only use Luvs, Pampers or Huggies and I don’t like to spend a lot to get that price. For example if Walgreens has Huggies for $10 and there is a $4 Register Reward and $2 coupon, I probably won’t go after the deal unless there are a lot of other items I want to buy that week. I don’t like spending a lot out of pocket and then dealing with a lot of register rewards etc.. I personally pay a little more for the convenience and I use diapers.com for the most part. I have 2 in diapers and I don’t like chasing deals every single week to keep enough on hand.

Baby wipes: .99/tub
For those that got in on the amazing Target deal you probably paid far less than this. But before that deal I used to always buy when the price was less than .02 per wipe. (So 72 ct wipes would be $1.44)

Dish Soap: Free-.49
For some reason I have quite a few dish soaps that I got for free so right now I only buy when it is free. I can usually get Dawn Hand Renewal free at CVS every few weeks. Otherwise for a small dish soap, I think .49 or so is a good price.

Cosmetics: Varies
I have a ton of makeup from brands like L’Oreal, Revlon and Cover Girl that was all free with coupons or rebates. The drugstores have clearance sales all the time that can make for virtually free products if you have coupons. I also LOVE high quality products so I will spend a few dollars to get the higher end brands like Prescriptives.

I don’t have a formal price book I just have these prices in my head.  I have already posted meat stock up prices HERE and will work on a Grocery Store price book for next week.  Please leave a comment if there are specific products you are curious about and I will try to cover all of them!

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