Get your coupons!

Get $30 in FREE coupons mailed to your house! I love the Home Made Simple coupon booklet, and I request one every time they are released. It's got great coupons from Cascade, Dawn, Febreze, Mr. Clean, and Swiffer. If you've not already requested yours, take the 30 seconds right now! It's well worth it.

All You Magazine Subscription Deals

I've mentioned before that All You magazine is a great source for coupons... and also a quality read! Amazon has a special deal going on right now where you can get a full year's subscription for $10 IF you order by May 31. It's regularly $15 through Amazon, but if you purchase in May, you get an instant discount of $5 applied at checkout. Not a bad deal at all! Of course, Marli at Womanly Excellence still has a two-year subscription for $18 through Southern Living at Home. That's obviously the better deal, and she's great to work with. However, if you're not sure you want to commit to two years, the Amazon deal is a great opportunity to get a year's subscription at a good price.

Get your paper(s) today!

Today is one of those ultra-good coupon days. The Sunday paper has TWO SmartSource inserts AND this month's Proctor & Gamble. If you're one of those lucky people who happen to live in the right area, your paper contains the Red Plum, too. I'm just limited to the one Red Plum I get on Tuesday in my mailbox.

So be sure to pick up at least one paper today. Personally, I'm getting five... well, I got one delivered, and my mom is buying me 2 double-packs of the AJC to give me when I visit next week! (That means I get 4 more Red Plums!!)

Click here to get a preview from Taylor Town. Remember, not all areas get exactly the same coupons, but at least the preview will give you an idea if extra papers might be worth buying this weekend.

Coupon Update!

Sunday is Mother's Day, and for a while it looked like SmartSource and RedPlum would be treating it as a major holiday by not putting coupons in the paper. I just found out that there will be coupons in Sunday's paper, including another $1.50/1 Kraft Salad Dressing! I'm much happier about eating salad when I know the dressing was FREE. So don't forget to get a paper (or four) this Sunday!

Click here to get a preview from TaylorTown. Remember, not all areas get exactly the same coupons, but at least the preview will give you an idea if extra papers might be worth buying this weekend.

Saving money while shopping online

May is an expensive month for my family. In addition to Mother's Day, we have my birthday, Little Brother's birthday, the birthdays of both my nephews, and my sister's anniversary. June is slightly less expensive with Father's Day, DH's birthday, and my MIL's birthday. With two sick kids for the past month, I've not been able to get out much, and I've ended up using the internet for my gift shopping. With Ebates, I've been able to get some really good deals.

Here's a non-gift example (don't want to give away any suprises!) DH's tennis shoes have fallen apart. He's picky about his shoes, and he knows exactly what he wants (brand, size, style, color) but now that we've moved away from our usual store, he didn't know where to get a new pair. Amazon had something similar for $90, but that was too much to pay for something that would "hopefully" work. Off to Ebates. I entered the shoe brand name, and it returned 7 stores. One of which, Famous Footwear, gets me 9% cash back when I use Ebates. To the right of the store names, some had a button stating, "See Coupons." By clicking that, I see that I can get 20% off my order when I use the coupon code listed. So, I click on the Famous Footwear link. I find his shoes (originally $85) on sale for $65. I use the coupon code from Ebates to bring the price to $52 +shipping. That's it. No forms or paper work to deal with. I just sit back and wait for my "big fat check" to arrive. Yes, a $4.68 rebate doesn't seem like much, but every bit helps. Plus, during those seasons where you end up spending more (Christmas, back-to-school, May/June madness) it can really add up!

To give you an idea of the variety of stores, here are just a few that currently offer rebates through Ebates:
Adagio Teas - 6% (there you go, dad!)
Apple iTunes - 3%
Barnes & Noble - 4%
The Container Store - 4%
DSW - 4%
ebay - 3%
Holiday Inn - 5%
Hotwire.com - 2%
JCPenny - 4%
Office Max - 4%
Overstock.com - 4%
PETCO - 6%
REI - 3%
Sephora - 8%
Shutterfly - 10%
Starbucks Store - 8%
Target - 4%
Walgreens - 4%
1-800-Petmeds - 8%

Best of all, it's a FREE service! Go to Ebates and sign up to save.

Sunday's Paper should be good!

If you do much (or even any) couponing, be sure to get at least one copy of this Sunday's paper. It looks like it's going to be a good one! Here are some of the ones I'm most excited about, and I REALLY hope they're in my local paper. Otherwise, I'll have to send my parents out again to get several copies of the AJC! I might have to do that anyway to get extra copies of the Red Plum now that they're mailed to us instead of put into the papers.

Smart Source (courtesy of Taylortown Preview)

Finish/Electrasol Quantum, Powerball Tabs or Gelpacs $2.50 (5/17/09)

Lots of Huggies coupons, including a Pull-ups coupon for $3! (5/16/09)
Starbucks Chocolate $1 (8/31/09)

Steamfresh Vegetable or Rice Varieties $1 on 2 (5/30/09)

V8 V-Fusion Juice, 46 oz+ $1 (6/30/09)

Yoplait Go-Gurt, Fizzix, Kids Cup, Kids Yogurt Drink, Yoplait Trix Multipack .35 (6/13/09)

Red Plum (courtesy of Taylortown Preview)

Angel Soft Toilet Paper, 4-regular rolls+ .50 (6/21/09) .10 each

Hefty Waste Bags, any $1 (5/31/09)

Herbal Essences Shampoo, Conditioners, Styling or Hair color $2/2 (5/31/09) .10 each

Ocean Spray Cranberry Pomegranate or Ruby Pomegranate, 64 oz. .55 (8/31/09)

Prosacea $1 (5/31/09)

Rimmel Face, Lip or Nail Product $1 (6/30/09)
Schick Quattro Titanium Razor/Trimmer or Refill $4 (6/14/09)

Sundown Naturals Vitamins and Supplements $1 (6/2/09)


ETA: I just looked at my Red Plum that came in the mail, and I don't see coupons for the Ocean Spray OR the Prosacea, and I was really looking forward to trying that out! So mom, dad, will you please pick me up 4 AJCs this Sunday? Thank you.

In-store Coupon Quest

Last week I talked about various sources to get Sunday paper coupons. However, you don't have to get the Sunday paper or get the coupons from the Sunday paper in order to save money. Head to the grocery store and look around. There are lots of coupons available right there for free!

Look on the shelves or on cardboard advertisements:

• Blinkies are the SmartSource coupons you get out of the little machines at major grocery stores (and occasionally at drugstores.) "Blinkie" refers to the little blinking light that's supposed to attract your attention to the little box hanging from the store shelf. These are manufactuer's coupons that are useable anywhere, anytime (before it expires). If you like the Kraft cheese, but don't like the current price, go ahead and take the blinkie anyway and use it at a different store that's having a sale or save it for a sale at your regular store.
• Tearpads, like blinkies, often hang from the product shelves. It's a stack of coupons, glued at the top like a pad of paper. You just take one from the top. Like blinkies, these are useable anywhere, anytime.
• Booklets which contain coupons for multiple products can often be found during holidays or special events. Look for displays next to popular products for that occasion. For example, a "Holiday Entertainment" booklet might be found in the baking aisle and feature recipes, decorating tips, and coupons for products frequently used during the holidays (cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie filling, etc.) A Super Bowl booklet might be found near the beer, and have coupons for various snack foods and drinks. You can also find booklets at the pharmacy counter, doctor's office, vet, etc. so keep your eyes open!

Look carefully at the products you plan to purchase:

• A hangtag or winetag is a coupon that hangs from the product (not taped to it), usually from the neck of a bottle. It can be for that product (I found some on bottles of Welch's Juice yesterday for $1.00 off) or a related product (free tortilla chips when you buy 2 jars of salsa.)
• Peelies are coupons that are stuck to the product and usually say something like, "save $1.00 now." From what I understand, these are generally supposed to be removed and scanned by the cashier at the time of purchase. However, cashiers often don't notice them, or you may have a better coupon with you and you'd prefer to use it, so you may end up with a peelie or two among your coupon stash.
• A package coupon is one that printed on the packaging or inside the package. To get it, you have to open the product or cut it off the package, so it's not something you would want to deal with in-store before buying the product, but it can save you money on your next purchase! You may even have some at your house right now, and you don't even know it. They can be sneaky. Look under can labels, inside cartons and boxes, and on instruction sheets. Manufacturers don't always make these obvious or add a label to inform you of a coupon waiting inside.

Pay attention when you check out:

• A catalina is a coupon that prints when you check out. There is often a seperate printer for this purpose. Some are just advertisements, some are coupons. At a drug store earlier this week I got one for 20% my next purchase at PayLess Shoes! I occasionally see stacks of catalinas left by the register that someone didn't think worth the time or effort to pick up. What a loss! Pay attention, people, and grab the free coupons! Sheesh.
• Register Rewards are given by Walgreens on certain items. It is a seperate slip of paper from your receipt. Do not lose these! They are like cash (except that cash doesn't expire) to spend on any products in the store. Keep them, spend them, and save!
• Extra Care Bucks are given by CVS when you buy certain items. Just like Register Rewards, these can be used on any products in the store. However, they are printed at the bottom of your receipt, not on a seperate piece of paper. Many people never bother to look at their receipts and just toss them. Money down the drain! Check your receipts. Cut off the ECBs and keep them with your CVS card.
  

Look around as you leave:

• Most grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc. have a rack near the front door that says, "Take one, FREE!" It is full of real estate magazines, city guides, and other area-specific resources. These will often have related coupons inside. If you have the time, take a moment to check them out!

Now, those of you who can't coupon because you can't or don't want to get the Sunday paper or pay for the coupons... can you handle this? No upfront costs, no extra trips to get a paper, and hardly any clipping. All it requires is paying attention when you're at the store and organizing the coupons you find. Now, go scour your store for savings!

Making the Most of the Sunday Paper

As I've mentioned before, I'm a couponer. Though I do print coupons from the internet, order them from eBay, load them onto my Kroger card, clip them from magazines, and pick them up when I'm out and about, my primary source is the Sunday paper. If you want to take full advantage of the really great grocery deals, you buy your products in quantity, and it helps if you have multiples of each coupon.

Finding the best newspaper.
Not all papers carry coupons. Some areas have only one newspaper available to them which carries coupons. Some areas have a few to choose from. And couponers from some regions have to try to get papers from large, neighboring cities in order to find any coupons at all. You can look on each coupon company's website to see which papers have coupons in your area. Proctor & Gamble has a coupon book that comes out only once a month. For this reason, many couponers will purchase several papers on P&G days since there will be no more P&G coupons for another month. (By the way, this Sunday is the day that P&G is putting out their book for April!) Red Plum/Valassis has started mailing their inserts in some regions (like mine, unfortunately,) but there are a lot of newspapers that are still carrying it. Check the list and see if there is one in your area. SmartSource is the most commonly found insert, and occasionally has a dual issue, where there are TWO (2!) different coupon booklets in the same newspaper, in addition to the P&G and RP that would usually be there. That's another Sunday that it's beneficial to get several newspapers. The next SS dual issue is scheduled for April 5.

Where to get your paper
Once you determine which newspaper(s) to get, you have several options on where to get that paper.

1. Subscribe for at-home delivery. Most newspapers have a lower rate for Sunday-only delivery. This saves gas and you can often find deals to make this cheaper than buying them individually at the store. I use my home-delivered paper to determine whether or not the coupons are good enough for me to go out and buy more copies.
2. Gas stations, grocery stores, and drug stores often carry the Sunday paper. Price-check these, though. In many cities you can find different prices on the same paper. I know in some areas you can get the Sunday paper at the Dollar Store for $1! However, these papers are not guaranteed to have coupons in them, so look through each paper BEFORE buying it to make sure they are there.
3. Sunday night can be a great time to go hunting for extra papers. Many stores or gas stations will sell you the papers/inserts for a reduced price, or even give them to you for free. Be sure to get them before pick-up on Monday morning, though.
4. Your family and friends may get the paper and not use the coupons. It never hurts to ask. It can be especially helpful if they live in a different region from you, because their coupons will probably be a little different than the ones from your paper, so you get more variety and a better chance to get some of those high-value coupons!
   
5. Recycling bins can be a great source for coupon inserts. There are so many people out there who just toss the inserts out with the paper because they think (as I did) that coupons are more trouble than they're worth. Though I think going through people's trash is too gross to even consider, the paper-only recycling bins can provide a clean source of free inserts.
6. Many public libraries have a coupon-trading bin located somewhere near the door or the newspaper shelf. Ask at your local library. It's a great chance to drop off some coupons you have but don't need (Rid-X Septic Cleaner?) and swap them for ones you do need (Huggies!)
7. Ebay is a great source if you're looking for one particular coupon. For example, a few months back there was a coupon out for $1/1 Juicy Juice. Even though I dilute the juice in our house to about 1/4 juice, 3/4 water, we still go through the juice! When I found out that coupon was available somewhere, I went on ebay, searched, found, and bought a set of 20 for $7. And yes, $7 was worth it when Kroger had a sale and I was able to buy 20 bottles of Juicy Juice for $0.99 each!
   
8. If you'd rather purchase 5 coupons (instead of ebay's 20-coupon set) try a coupon-clipping service. You can order however many coupons you want and the clipping fee is minimal. Check out Coupons & Things by Dede, The Coupon Master, The Coupon Clippers, CentsOff, or Coupon Clipping Crew.
9. Join a coupon train! Check out A Full Cup, Hot Coupon World, or Coupon Mom to sign up for a train. An envelope of coupons will be sent to you. You take out the ones you want, replace those with ones from your collection that you don't want, and send the envelope on to the next person.
10. Finally you can trade coupons with people from A Full Cup, Hot Coupon World, or Coupon Mom. It's like Christmas when you get an envelope in the mail full of coupons that you know you will use!
    

I hope this helps you open your eyes to different ways to get the newspaper coupons you want. Next Thursday we'll explore how to make the best use of in-store coupons.

Couponing Really IS Worth It!

In the spring of 2003, I purchased the Sunday paper for three weeks in a row, clipped the coupons, and organized them in a coupon file. I took the coupons with me to shop and found that I may have saved $3 a shopping trip by using coupons. It was NOT worth the hassle!

This past November, I happened upon Kroger's Mega Sale. Wow. All these items at the lowest price I'd seen in a l-o-n-g time, and if you purchased 10, they took an extra $5 off your order! So I stocked up. Along with small amounts of other items, I got five pounds of ground beef, six boxes of cereal, and ten boxes of Toaster Strudel! I went to a thrifty forum to post the good deals I found, only to find someone else talking about even better deals. They used coupons for the super cheap items, and the coupons doubled, and then they got the $5 off for every 10 items purchased! And they stocked up, getting 20 lbs of ground beef, 15 boxes of cereal, and 18 boxes of Toaster Strudel. Oh, so THAT'S how you use coupons!

I started clipping coupons that next Sunday. By December, I was getting a good collection of coupons, and discovering other sources of coupons. I was using the coupons and matching them to sales, but I wasn't really spending less money. I was using the money I saved to start a stockpile. Now with a stockpile, I don't need to pay full price for anything at the grocery store (except for milk, eggs, and fresh produce.) I use the food in my freezer and pantry for my meal-planning. When I see a good grocery deal, I go stock up on those items, but don't buy things that aren't great deals. I have enough health-and-beauty items that I'm now able to start donating the free ones I get to local charities. I send my expired coupons to military families overseas (since they can use them up to 6 months after the expiration.) Even so, I've lowered my grocery bill by 40%, and I anticipate that my spending will continue to drop as I learn more.

If you think couponing might work for you (and you can't wait until my next Thrifty Thursday post to find out more), I suggest you visit Thrifty Mama's Coupon Basics for Newbies, Hot Coupon World's Couponing 101, or download Coupon Mom's free eBook "Cut Your Grocery Bill In Half". Remember, the Sunday paper is not the only source of coupons. Check your mail for the Red Plum coupons. Get coupons from the blinkie machines at the grocery store. Print them from the internet. There are lots of coupons out there. Use them and be a good steward of the gifts God has so graciously bestowed upon you.

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" - Luke 16:10-11