Grocery Store Cycles

Until I started couponing, I did not know that stores had their sales in 12-week cycles.  For those of you who are new to couponing, or are thinking about couponing, your best deals occur when you can combine a great sales price with a coupon.  Let me give you an example.  Giant Eagle currently has Ken's Salad Dressing on sale for 3 for $5.00, which comes to $1.66/bottle.  Before January, I would have thought that was the best deal ever!  Well, it can get better!  I was able to get coupons that allowed me to deduct $1.00 off each bottle of salad dressing.  Yep!  At the register, I paid only $.66 a bottle (I also had to use my store loyalty card)!

In case you are wondering where I managed to score the coupons, I got them from Ebay.  All total, the coupons cost me about $.25 each.  Even with that cost factored in, I spent only $.91 on a bottle Ken's!  In my book, that is still awesome!

Okay, so what does this all mean?  It means record keeping!  Hiss!  Boo!  Yeah, I know.  I am not crazy about that either, but if it means that I can get my food for a great price, so be it. 

Start by figuring out what things you really want to save on, which means do an inventory of your buying and eating habits.  Also, don't be store loyal, and if possible, don't be brand loyal either.  Next, start a spreadsheet with each spreadsheet page devoted to one item or kind of item.  Make labels for the following columns (You can adapt these as needed, of course):

• Store
• date
• Brand name of item
• Size
• Sale price
• Quantity required for price
• Coupon value (if one used)
• Price (after coupon used)

Each week, enter the information for each item for a couple of different stores.  After a couple of store cycles, you should be able to figure out when a store will have a sale on the targeted item.  It may be different times at different stores.  If you are able to always use a coupon when something goes on sale, then you will know that a coupon may be available for the next sale.  Another thing that I have learned is a coupon tends to come out a couple of weeks before the associated item goes on sale.  That is why it is important to keep those coupon inserts.  Happy record keeping!

Extreme Couponing - The TV Show - Revisited

*** Gripe Session Alert! ***

When TLC started it's Extreme Couponing (EC) show, I was excited, and I hoped that I might learn a few things since I am still relatively new to couponing.  Wow, was I wrong! 

If my impression about couponers came only from the EC show, I would think that couponers were a greedy, sneaky bunch who, overall, are crazy!  One of the couponers said that her addicition to couponing was like an addiction to crack or crystal meth!  Oh my!  I wondered how a supposedly sane person could make a stupid comment like that!  Another couponer told her almost adult son that she was buying cereal that she knows he doesn't like but she is buying it because she has a coupon for it.  On top of that another one of TLC's ECers is being investigated for coupon faud.

In the real world, the majority of couponers are honest.  They take their couponing seriously, but  they care about people.  The honest couponers also do not clear the shelves, and they give a lot of their free items to those in need.

Because of the crap that some of the EC couponers are doing (like cleaning shelves and causing problems at the check-out) and getting so many things for free, stores have begun to change their coupon-related policies which are starting to hurt the honest couponers who have no intentions of buying $1000+ of food at one time, and spending just a few hundred dollars.

I am now boycotting that EC show.  Additionally, I have emailed TLC and told them that in my opinion, their situations are false.  Apparently, since stores get some publicity, the stores suspend their coupon policies for the extreme couponers appearing on the show.  Sorry, but that is not fair. 

Okay, sorry for ranting, but I am upset that TLC has made couponers look like wackos.  My next posting will be back to normal!  :-)

All You Magazine



Image of May issue.



In my last posting, I mentioned All You magazine.  If you have not seen this publication, it is a couponer's dream come true!  The magazine is available through limited sources.  The first is Wal-Mart, and the price is somewhere between $2.30 and $2.50 an issue.  Inside each issue are subscription cards (the irritating ones that fall out when you open the magazine) that allow a person to order the magazine for a year for $1.69 an issue (plus $ .30 for postage and handling).  However, if  you go to Amazon.com, you can get a two-year subscription to All You for $1.42 an issue. 



Index showing coupon product,
value, and location.



Each issue of All You is packed with coupons!  The May issue contains coupons valuing a total of $85.32!  What's more is that this magazine provides an index of the coupons which provides the product name, the value of the coupon, and the page of the magazine where the coupon is located!  How great is that?!?!?!?!



By the way, these coupons are good ones.  Some of the ones this month include $1.00 coupon for Advil or Thermacare, $1.00 coupon for Colgate MaxClean toothpaste, $1.00 coupon for Marie Callender's Bakes, and $1.00 coupon for White cloud Ultra Bathroom Tissue.

There are also coupons for clothing stores.  For example, the May issue contains a coupon for Catherines for $10 off on a purchase of $25 or more.  That's a 40% savings with just that coupon!!!!! 

Next time you go to Wal-Mart, take a look at the magazine.  You can easily find a copy on the racks close to the registers.  If you coupon, this magazine is a great tool!

Maximum Prices Paid for Products

After I started couponing this last January, I noticed that I mentally started developing price points that I would not exceed for certain products.  For example, I use Colgate toothpaste.  During my first coupon deal, I managed to get a tube of toothpaste for free!  I thought that was just one of the most amazing things that I had ever done!  Okay, so now you know that it does not take much to make me happy these days!  :-)  Anyway, little did I know at the time, that getting a free tube of toothpaste was something that I could do quite often.  Since January, I have "purchased" five tubes of toothpaste (none are travel size), and I have paid nothing for them. This week, I will get two more tubes (6 oz) for free.  In fact, I think I will actually be paid $1.00 for each tube to buy them.  Now that is amazing - being paid to buy something for free!  If you are wondering how I will manage this common feat, it is simple.  For example, this coming week (5/1/2011), CVS has Colgate toothpaste on sale (using one's Extra Care card) for $2.77 with a limit of two tubes per person.  For each tube, I will use a $1.00 coupon that I will clip from the May 2011 issue of All You magazine, which is told at Wal-Mart and Amazon.com (I'll do a posting about that magazine in a few days).  That coupon brings the price down to $1.77 per tube.  Since I will have the cashier scan my Extra Care card, I will end up getting back $2.77 in Extra Care Bucks (ECBs).  That brings the price down to $0, and gives me $1.00 of extra buying power at CVS.  When you coupon, you have to re-arrange your thinking when it comes to calculations for free things.  When I purchase these tubes of toothpaste this coming week, I will actually pay $1.77 per tube plus tax, but I will get back the ECB for $2.77, which I can use on a future purchase at CVS.  Of course, by using your Extra Care card without the $1.00 coupon, you can get the toothpaste for free; you just will not get the overage.

With that explanation out of the way, below are just a few products with the maximum prices that I will ultimately pay:

Toothpaste:  $0
Men's body wash: $0 (I donate this to a senior citizen's group)
Manual toothbrush: $0
Dental Floss: $0
Shampoo (full size): $ .50
Conditioner (full size): $ .50
Hair Color: $2.99
Sprite (2 litre bottle): $1.00
Blood glucose monitor: $0 (I donate this to a senior citizen's group)

As I said, these are just a few things.  Gas prices continue to rise, and that will impact the price of products.  Therefore, my maximum prices may have to be adjusted slightly, but not much.  :-)

Gang Cutting of Coupons

I just read an article about "gang cutting", which is a term that I had not heard before today.  Gang cutting occurs when many coupons are stacked and cut out at once.  Many times, people will purchase several copies of the Sunday paper in order to get multiple copies of the coupon inserts.  Some coupons gurus recommend the purchase of a Sunday paper for each member of the family.  Let's say there are five members in your family, so you have five papers that results in five copies of each coupon insert.  To save time in cutting out the coupons, people will separate the pages of the inserts and stack the like pages so that when one cuts out a particular coupon, the person is actually cutting out all copies of that coupon.  That process is considered to be gang cutting.


I have put the link to the article below, but the end result, according to the article, is that gang cutting of coupons that you then use at the store may result in the store not being reimbursed by the manufacturer for the cost of the coupons.  To still be able to use coupons and still have the store be reimbursed, coupons simply have to be cut individually.  Since reading that article, I have gone to some of the websites of coupon gurus.  Needless to say, there is a lot of debate as to whether or not the gang cutting issue is real.  I definitely do not have the answer

For most people, it will not be too much of a problem to cut coupons individually.  It will just take a little longer to get the coupons ready.  Please keep one thing in mind.  The stores where we use coupons are in our neighborhoods.  The people who work there may be our friends, neighbors, or relatives, and they work to make a living just like you and I do.  Thus, if cutting coupons individually instead of gang cutting them means that we are being supportive of the local stores, then do it.  Be generous.

Gang Cutting Article

Know the Comparison Prices!

Today I bought toilet paper.  For those individuals who know me, I know you are laughing right now!  Okay, so I like stockpiling toilet paper!  Hey, at least I have a lot of it, and I am a definite source of entertainment for my friends because of it!  LOL!!

I digress.  :-)  In the past, I would have just driven to Sam's Club and purchased the 36 roll packages of the stuff. That is not always the best way to go, especially if you have a coupon.  I buy Scott bath tissue because I have a septic tank, and that particular kind of toilet paper is septic tank friendly.  With that said, the 36 roll package of Scott bath tissue is currently $21.98 at Sam's, which is $ 0.61 a roll.  At Rite Aid, the price this week for a 12 roll package is $7.99, which amounts to $ 0.66 a roll.  Stopping there, it looks like Sam's has the better price.  By using a manufacturer's $1.00 coupon (which you can find on the Internet), the Rite Aid price drops to $6.99 for those 12 rolls, which makes it $0.58 a roll, a savings of $0.03 cents a roll.  However, by also using a $1.00 Rite Aid Video Value coupon for the Scott bath tissue, the price now goes down to $5.99 for the 12 rolls, making the price per roll about $0.50!  If you want to get down to square feet, the Sam's Club price for 3772.8 square feet is $0.0058/square foot, and the Rite Aid price after the two coupons have been deducted amounts to $0.0047/square foot!  To make the Rite Aid deal even sweeter, the $7.99 price counts toward this week's special of buy $30 dollars of specified products and get back $10 UP, which is the Rite Aid cash equivalent certificate that prints out on the register receipt.

For those who are wondering about the video value coupons, these are coupons that are available on Rite Aid's website.  You watch a video, and after it is over, you have a a very limited time span to key in the given code in order to claim the coupon associated with the video.  If you watch all of the videos in a given series, you get a bonus coupon.

This Week's Purchases (Week of April 10, 2011)

Today, I completed my shopping at CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens.  Below is the complete list of the things that I ended up with.  I thought about separating the items according to store, but decided against it since in the whole scheme of things, it only matters that I saved money.  In front of each item is the quantity that I purchased of that particular item.

1 - Gatorade G-Fit Series

4 - Finish Gelpacs (20 count box)

2 - Finish Jet Dry

2 - Lysol Neutra Air Sanitizing Spray

4 - Air Wick Freshmatic  Ultra Automatic Spray Refill

2 - Wet and Wild Lipstick

2 - Garnier Nutrisse Nourishing Color Creme Hair Color

2 - Garnier Fructis Style Body Boost Volumizing Gel

2 - Old Spice Body Wash

1 - L'oreal Vive Pro Shampoo

1 - L'oreal Vive Pro Conditioner

1 - Essence of Beauty Antibacterial Hand Sanitizer

1 - Visine Original (with bonus of 30% more)

3 - Betty Crocker Cornbread and Muffin Mix

6 - Nestle Butterfinger Eggs

1 - Russell Stover Caramel Egg

The total cost of these items were $94.65 (without sales tax), but I did not pay that much.  Based on rebates, coupons, store rewards cards, and cash-equivalent register certificates, I ended up paying only $28.95 (without sales tax).  That is a savings of 69%!  Granted, it is a far cry from the individuals on the Extreme Couponing show, but I am very happy with the savings that I managed to snag this week.  The one thing that I really need to emphasize is that the 69% savings is based on the sale prices of the items.  If I looked at the regular price, the savings would be so very much greater!

One of the other great things about this week's haul is that I am going to put the two containers of Old Spice Body Wash (which ended up being free) into the donate box that will soon go to the local organization that assists area senior citizens.  Always be generous!

Walgreens - Gotta Luv Free Stuff!

Walgreens was my favorite store this week!  That store had a blood glucose monitor that was $14.99 with a $14.99 mail in rebate in the box.  Added to that, I received a $5.00 register reward for purchasing it!  I was $5.01 ahead!  Colgate toothpaste was on sale for $2.99, and I ended up with a $3.00 register reward!  OK, so that makes $5.01 (less sales tax) that I made just for purchasing those two items!  I did not even need any coupons!   

Okay, so what am I going to do with the items?  The toothpaste is going into my stockpile, and the blood glucose monitor will probably go to a local organization that provides services to seniors citizens.  I am sure there is a senior in the county who needs a monitor.  :-)

As far as my stockpile in concerned, I have decided that I am going to determine the maximum quantity that I will stockpile for each item that I have obtained for free.  After that number is reached, I am going to donate the items.  I always create gift bags for at Christmas and give the bags to social workers to distribute to needy seniors, but the obtaining of free things will enable me to give things to seniors throughout the year.  Always be generous.

Extreme Couponing - The TV Show

Although there have been some Extreme Couponing episodes on recently, last night was the series premiere of TLC's Extreme Couponing.  Although I am definitely one for couponing, the individuals on this show take their couponing mission to - well - the extreme! 

These individuals save tens of thousands of dollars, but they have turned their houses into mini-warehouses.  Am I faulting that?  Absolutely not!  Do I believe in stockpiling?  Yes!  In fact, I tend to be teased by the important people in my life about my stockpiling.  In the case of stockpiling, I firmly believe that you have to go with your comfort level.  With this economy and the strange things that are happening at times, I am thinking that my stockpile is looking a little low, and I need to remedy that situation.  Will I ever become an extreme couponer?  Probably not, even though it gives me a real high to know that I can legally get things for free that I once paid for.

One of the things that I did like about the series is that it shows the power of couponing. I remember my first coupon deal that I did after reading Kathy Spencer's book (see earlier posting).  Colgate Total toothpaste was on sale at Rite Aid.  I also had a coupon from the paper for $1.00 off.  On top of that, I ended up with a $2.00 +UP (For those of you who do not know what that is, it is a printout on the register receipt that can be used in place of cash on your next transaction at Rite Aid.).  As a result of those things, the toothpaste ended up being free, and the $.01 extra ended up being applied to another item that I purchased at the same time.  Since then, I have "purchased" more tubes of Colgate toothpaste for my stockpile, and all of the tubes have ended up being free.  I will never buy another tube of toothpaste!  Since that time, I have managed to get light bulbs, printer paper, snacks, and various other things for free! 

Another thing that I liked about the Extreme Couponing episodes is that some of the individuals share their stash with the less fortunate.  In one of the episodes, a gentleman purchased over 1100 boxes of cereal for a little over $150.  He then gave the cereal to the food bank at his church.  If you can get something for free, and you don't need it, then give it away to a shelter, organization, or to someone you know who will use it.  Be generous.

Couponing - you can do it too!  Just save those coupons and realize that you may not be able to use the coupons immediately, and you have to plan in order to use them efficiently.  If you choose not to coupon, then give your coupons to a friend or relative who does.  Be generous.

Freecycle

There is a saying that one person's trash is another person's treasure.  But there is also that old saying that crap is crap!  Whatever way you look at someone else's stuff, you probably need to know about Freecycle.  According to Freecycle's main page, there are 4933 Freecycle groups with over 8 million people on the e-mailing lists. 

What is Freecycle?  Well, actually, it is a network of groups.  A person decides to start a Freecycle group for a particular geographical location; the groups that I have seen are typically ones that have been started using Yahoo Groups.  People then join that particular group.  A member who has something that he/she wants to give away (yes, give being the operative word) then posts a message to the Freecycle group.  The other members can then contact the giver to make arrangements to obtain the item.  For many things, there is stiff competition, so it is usually first-come-first serve.

The variety of things given away via a Freecycle group is amazing.  Wedding growns, toys, pet supplies, clothes, and musical instruments are just some of the things that I have seen posted.  One thing that you can be sure of is that there is a lot of stuff throughout the country that is not ending up in the trash because of this network, so not only is getting something for free great for the budget, it is great for the environment!

Til Debt Do Us Part

As a person who loves saving money, I love watching shows that focus on money management.  One of my favorite shows is Til Debt Do Us Part that airs on CNBC on Saturday nights at 10:00 and 10:30 pm.  There are two 30 minute episodes that are back-to-back, and the shows are set in Canada.

Til Debt Do Us Part has Gail Vaz-Oxlade helping married couples (mostly) to acknowledge and deal with their money issues.  During the 30 minute shows, Gail scares the hell out of them, makes them do certain challenges, and at the end, Gail may reward the couple with up to $5000 to help pay down their debt.

Why do I watch this show?  Well, for a couple of different reasons.  First, it makes me feel good that I am not in the position of the couples that Gail is helping because I know how much I owe, I know how much I save, and I know where my money goes.  Next, I am fascinated that there are people in such denial about what they are doing with their money.  Toward the beginning of the show after Gail informs the couple as to where their money goes and what their true debt is, she then will say something like, "if you keep spending like this, in five years, your consumer debt will be (whatever the amount is)."  When the figure ends up being something like $750,000, the look of disbelief is unbelievable! 

Although looking at Gail, one would think she is a cupcake of a person.  Wrong!  Gail is one major task master, but she will help set the couple on the right track!  The one thing that she does is to make the couple give up all of the credit and debit cards and live on cash that is put into little glass jars for various purposes; when money is taken from the jars, an entry has to be made in a spending journal.  That forces the couple to keep track of where the money goes and how much is spent. 

If you are having problems managing your money, watch this show!  It will give you things to think about.  The one thing that is key is that ignoring debt is only going to make matters worse.  Face it and deal with it! 

Love Ya, SmartyPig!

So where are you saving your money?  I have looked at the area brick-and-mortar banks, and the interest they are offering for their saving accounts in insulting!  Is there an alternative?  Yes!  There are many online banking institutions that offer rates many times higher than the local banks can or will offer.  When you start looking at these online saving institutions, keep one thing in mind - if you find a better rate or better perks at another institution then move your money!  Don't develop an allegiance to any online bank.  Always remember, it's your money, and you need to earn as much interest on that money as possible!  Since I started using online savings institutions, I have switched banks several times.  If I find a better deal, I am on it!  Another thing that you want to make sure to check is that the online savings institution is guaranteed by the FDIC.  No FDIC - look elsewhere!

The online savings website that currently has my favor is SmartyPig.  This is a great place for individuals who have $50,000.00 or less in their account.  The current rate is 1.35% APY on amounts of $50,000.00 or less.  Over $50,000.00, the rate is .50%.

SmartyPig has a feature that is hard to find at other savings institutions, and that feature is the ability to have separate goals.  In a traditional savings account, all of the money is lumped in together.  However, with SmartyPig, you can have separate savings goals, and when you add money to the account, you can either add the money to one of more savings goals that you have already created,or you can create a new savings goal. 

Let me give you an example.  After you have signed up for your SmartyPig account, let's say you want to save for a vacation and a new TV.  Well, for each, you would create a goal that gives the name of the goal (e.g., Vacation), the amount that you will need to satisfy that goal (e.g., $1500.00), and the date by which you want to meet that goal (e.g., December 15, 2011).  You would then fund that goal, so we will say that you start out with an initial deposit for that goal of $250.00.  SmartyPig will keep track of that information, and they will let you know how much you have saved, how much you still need to save in order to meet that goal, and they even give a visual of a pig as it fills up with savings (It's cute)!  Of course, you would do that for each goal.  The next time that you want to put money in your SmartyPig account, you simply log in, select the goal, click the Add Money button, and add the money to a goal. The money is then transferred from your regular bank account to your selected goal within your SmartyPig account.  Confused????  Watch the SmartyPig video as the video can explain the process much better than I can!

Even if you don't use SmartyPig, make sure your money is working for you!  Remember-the institution must be federally insured before you can even begin to trust it!

Couponing the Right Way!

I am one of those individuals who used to throw away coupons.  On the rare occasion that I decided to cut one out to use it, I typically left it on the kitchen counter when I went to the store.  I simply did not know how to use coupons the right way!  If you do not coupon, you are probably wondering what I am talking about.  Well, thanks to a wonderful book, I now know how to coupon effectively so that I am saving some real money!

The book that I have been telling everyone about is called How to Shop for Free by Kathy Spencer!  It is amazing!  While I was reading it, the light bulb in my brain went off, and I found myself thinking, "So that is how it is done!"  The techniques that are given in this book are so easy to do, which would lead to you saving big time on your shopping bills!  Read the book!  You will not regret it! The book is available at Amazon.com for $8.35!

Using a Smart Phone as a Shopping Tool!

Do you have a smart phone or know someone who does?  If you do, you have a handy shopping tool at your disposal!  All you need to do is search for an app that read a UPC from a product and then tells you which store has that product for the best price. 

After I bought my iPhone, I started to look for various apps.  One day, I heard about the apps that saved people money by reading a product's UPC and then told where to shop for the best price.  Well, I decided to give that type of app a try!  Being the money saver that I am, I opted for one of the free UPC reading apps.  The first UPC that I scanned with the iPhone's camera was the one for Smucker's Chunky Natural Peanut Butter.  The price (before coupons) that I normally paid was somewhere in the neighborhood of  $2.99 for a one pound jar.  The UPC reading app told me that I could get that same peanut butter at Wal-Mart for $2.28!  The actual price was a few cents more at $2.34.  That is a savings of $.65 without any coupons!  My kind of savings!

What do you need to do?  Get a hold of a smart phone and start scanning to see where you can find the best prices for the products you buy!  May the deal sweeter by using coupons!

Free HP paper at Staples!!!!!!!!

Yes, you read the title of this post correctly!  You can get paper at Staples that ends up being free!  Ok, so the free isn't immediate, but free is free!

The first thing you need to do is to go to coupons.com and print off two copies of the HP paper coupon.  The coupon is valued at $1.00.  Once you have those coupons in hand, go to Staples and buy two reams (the limit) of  HP's multipurpose paper.  Each ream is priced at 5.99, and with the coupons, you will end up paying out of pocket (OOP) $4.99 a ream.  Make sure the price is indeed $5.99 a ream.  You can then apply for the rebate for the paper, which is for $4.99 a ream.  That makes the two reams of paper free (except for sales taxes)!!!!!!  This offer is for a limited time so act quickly!

Saving on Laundry Soap and Fabric Softener

This posting is dedicated to an very old cocker spaniel named Cory, who was deaf and almost completely blind, and who passed to the Rainbow Bridge in February 2011 at age 17.   Cory was 15 when he came to live with me as my foster dog.  This sweet, old dog had bladder problems in that once he decided he needed to go out, I had less than a minute to get him outside before he would find his blanket and urinate on it.  Unfortunately, with my schedule, I did not always get to him in time.  As a result, I was changing his doggie blanket two to four times a day! 

Although I always have a large supply of doggie blankets on hand, I was having to do a lot of blanket washing in order to keep up with Cory's bladder!  For many months, I washed his blankets in Era and then used Snuggle Fabric Softener sheets in the dryer.  The cost was ridiculous!  I thought about making my own laundry soap, but I knew I would never get it made, so I looked for an alternative.  That's when I discovered a product at Sears called Ultra Plus.   I paid $28.74 for a 26.4 lb. box of the soap.   However, not only is it laundry soap, it has fabric softener in it!  One scoup of Ultra Plus replaced a capful of Era and a Snuggle sheet!  The first box that I bought lasted a day or so over six months, and that was with all of the loads (about 13-14 loads) of dog blankets that I did every week.

I will continue to use Era and Snuggle for my clothes and towels because I know those two products do not irritate my skin.  However, when it comes to other washable items, I am using the Ultra Plus!  The savings have been fantastic!

Welcome to Money Saver's Musings!

I am an American just like you - one who is affected by today's economy.  I have discovered  some simple ways to save money, and I scour the Internet looking for others.  Using those tips and techniques that I have found, I have managed to save some of my hard-earned dollars.

Join me as I share some of the information that I have learned or discovered.  Hopefully, you will find that you have some extra dollars in your wallet as a result of implementing some of the ideas that you find here.