I love your site. I live in Milwaukee area though, do you know if
there is something like this here?
Because I get this kind of question a LOT, I thought I’d make sure everyone here is aware of my very favorite sites for locating deals & deal bloggers in your neck of the woods! I have FOUR ideas for you. Ready?
::The Grocery Gathering
Bloggers in all 50 states come together to share their store deals here! And guess what? Yours truly is a proud participant! Simply scroll down until you find your state. For the Milwaukee reader that emailed me: Wisconsin stores covered include Coops, Cub Foods, Pick & Save, Piggly Wiggly, and Rainbow Foods.
::The Frugal Map
Conceptualized by Bargain Briana, the Frugal Map serves as an interactive map matching deal hunters to regional deal bloggers. Again, yours truly is proud to represent Washington State! All you need to do is click on your state – and you’re off. For Wisconsin, you’d find Common Sense with Money and My Milwaukee Mommy.
::Money Saving Mom’s Store Deals
Did you know Money Saving Mom has an EXTENSIVE collection of store deals on her blog? Go here to find your store’s name and see the excerpt of what’s on sale that week. These deals are compiled by frugal bloggers (guess what – including yours truly!) and they are credited in the deal post. Click onto their site for the full deals and more deals in your local area.
::Hot Coupon World Forums One of the biggest helps to me as a coupon newbie was the forums over at Hot Coupon World! Get your coupon questions answered, and discuss your local weekly grocery store ad with other couponers. I really learned so much about how to coupon effectively by learning from the pros over there! The best way to find couponers in your area is to locate your grocery store in the forums and see what people are talking about. This won’t necessarily help you find local bloggers, but it WILL help you “feel out” the coupon scene for your area!
If you’ve had to move regions/states, what did you find most helpful in adjusting to your new “coupon scene?” Any other thoughts or advice for this reader?
I got a pretty interesting reader question a few days ago. After some consideration, I thought it would be a great question to address as a post.
Lauren writes:
I recently got a total of 6 coupons for Pampers Cruisers. 4 of them are regular manufactures coupons, 1 is for Right Aid, and one is $3/1 diaper and 1 wipe. What would be your recommendations on how I can maximize these coupons? 2 of them expire by the end of July, the other ones end in either August or September.
It can be tempting when you have high value coupons to want to “force them” to work. So my first advice, Lauren, would be to resist this urge. Ask yourself…do the diapers HAVE to be Pampers? And do they HAVE to be purchased from Rite Aid?
If the answer is “no,” my favorite place to find diaper deals of the moment is Baby Cheapskate. Every week she has a feature called “Top Diaper and Formula Deals of the Week.” So if you are ever in need of diapers or formula, check there and you can see a quick run down of the best current deals.
Going back to Rite Aid…
1. Visit iheartriteaid. Given that you have coupons that expire the end of July, your goal should be to use them on the best sale that occurs in July. You can easily determine this by visitng iheartriteaid.com. There you’ll find weekly ad previews for the remaining weeks in July! Scan ahead to see if Pampers will be on sale in any of those weeks. At the moment, there is no preview for the last week of July up. I didn’t see any sales on Pampers for the remainder of the month. Since Pampers is a P&G brand and the P&G inserts are released first of the month, we may well have missed the boat on any Pampers sales for July already. But this would be your logical first step.
2. If there are no sales on Pampers, try to find a week that has a number of free-after-rebate items. Hang with me here…so I noticed the ad for July 18th has a number of free-after-rebate items. Check it out:
Colonaid $22.99…submit for $22.99 rebate…FREE
Dulcolax $9.99…submit for $9.99 rebate…FREE
CryoStat $8.99…submit for $8.99 rebate…FREE
Smooth Move $3.69…submit for $3.69 rebate…FREE
Then, use the following coupons
Your $1/1 Rite Aid Pampers
Your $3/1 Pampers Cruisers Manufacturer’s coupon
$2/1 wipes coupon from 7/4 P&G
$4/1 Dulcolax Balance coupon from 5/16 SmartSource
$5-off-$25 printable coupon
Pay at the register: $11.18
Then, submit for the following rebates:
$9.99 Dulcolax Balance
$3.69 Smooth Move
Bottom line: profit of $2.50!! (not including any sales tax, of course!)
Amazingly, you will actually get a BETTER deal by buying additional items so you can use that $5-off-$25 printable coupon! Don’t believe me?
I recently heard about House Party for the first time. I was intrigued and thought I’d share with you what I’ve learned. Of course, if you’ve ever thrown a House Party, I hope you’ll weigh in in the comments.
Here’s the basics.House Party provides an opportunity for people to experience brands for free in a fun, laid-back environment: a party! For instance, right now you can apply for parties sponsored by Verizon, Splenda, Kleenex, and/or Playstation 3. By applying, you’re agreeing to host a party to represent that brand. From all applicants, they will select 1,000 party hosts. If you are one of the luck ones, they will send you with a bunch of goodies to give out along with instructions and ideas.
Abby from Steals and Deals was recently selected for the Shrek/McDonald’s House Party. Here’s what she got:
And Christy from Thrifty and Thriving and Sarah from The Life of a Couponaholic were recently selected for the Febreze House Party. Look at all the stuff Christy received to throw her fabulous party! They sent this all to her for free in exchange for throwing a party themed around the products! The best part, you are NOT having to sell anything.
For more on how this works or to start applying for parties, go here. I’ve had several readers mention now that they’ve had to apply for several parties before getting selected. So don’t give up or get discouraged if you’re not selected right away.
Any other tips or advice about throwing a House Party?
(thanks to Christy and Abby for permission to use their photos!)
I had a reader email me yesterday…let’s call her Mary.
Here’s what she’s been doing since starting to save money on her family’s groceries:
I’ve been taking the money that I’ve been saving at the grocery store… and putting it into my credit card debt. Since I’ve started I’ve been able to pay off 3 credit cards (the insanely high interest ones… woo hoo). Grant it, I had been working hard at paying these ones off for a while, but the balance quickly went to 0 after pouring all the extra money into them. That is 3 less payments that I’m making each month and it feels really stinking good.
This is awesome to me! Those coupons and sales really CAN add up to save your family big bucks!
I probed a bit more (nosy gal that I am) and learned that Mary has actually slashed her grocery bill in half and about $200 per month is now going to help reduce her credit card balances. She also shared how for her, the advantage of couponing is exactly this – to get out of debt, not to get more stuff. Mary, I agree! I coupon to keep our family living within our means. The fact we end up with a decent amount of stuff, and GOOD stuff, is a side benefit in my opinion.
I was glad to hear her story and thought I’d ask…what have YOU been doing with your savings?
My dad once gave me an old wine jug with a bunch of pennies.
I kept it and kept it for years. I never really added to it, and I used to think it looked rather kitschy in my college dorm room. But one day, a couple years ago, I decided I’d rather have cash than a humongous paperweight. So I cashed in those suckers at the coin machine at my local QFC. I think I ended up with about $40. I decided from there on out the jug would better serve its purpose as a loose change collector.
So I moved it into the pantry where it was easily accessible. Whenever my husband I and receive change, in it goes. I periodically clean change that ends up on tables, the sofa area, and inside drawers. Plunk, plunk, plunk.
Well, as some of you know, I’m headed to New York City in August to attend BlogHer 2010. It will be my first time in the Big Apple and also my first blogging convention. I’m working hard to pay upfront for this trip in full, so I decided it was time to empty about a year’s worth of change from my wine jug.
Guess how much was in there? $87! I was pretty amazed. While $87 might not sound like an extraordinary amount of money, it sure seems like a nice little sum to have accumulated in the back of my pantry with virtually no effort!
Do you have a change jar? How about any other great little tips or tricks for saving money?Photo credit Julie Freeman-Woolpert
I sometimes get asked if it’s OK to stack a Video Values coupon with a manufacturer’s coupon at Rite Aid. While working on the Rite Aid matchups tonight, I came across this lovely illustration I thought I’d share with you.
Does that answer your question?
Walgreens has some similar illustrations in their ad this weekend. Clip these and store them in your coupon binder just in case you ever run into trouble at checkout. Then you can say, “but the ad told me to!”
Stuck in a rut with couponing? I truly believe couponing can – and should – be fun.
If couponing is starting to feel like a chore, I want to share a few of my favorite ideas for keeping the savings game exciting.
1. Shop somewhere new. Instead of hitting up the same old stores, pack up your coupon stash and head to a new store. See how well you can plumb the coupon deals! Where are the store coupons? Is there a mailing list you can be added to? A loyalty card you can sign up for? Or maybe instead of shopping at the Walgreens near your house, shop at the one 15 minutes away. You might just discover a better stocked, coupon friendlier store.
2. Play “hide and go seek” with coupons. I don’t know I’ve ever seen anyone advocate this, but I sometimes shop this way. I’ll go to Fred Meyer with NO coupons on hand and see what I can find by merely being observant. I might check out the weekly ad, hunt for rejected Catalina coupons in the coupon exchange, or see I can find any clearance items with peelies. I don’t recommend doing this all the time, but once in awhile, this might be the ticket to shake things up.
3. Try filing your coupons in a new way. If your organization system has become a drag, it may be time to switch it up. If you put your coupons in a binder, try filing them. Or vice versa. Or invent a new system and get it patent.
4. Teach someone to coupon. There’s nothing quite like watching someone’s eyes light up when they begin to “get” how to do this. And there’s no better way I can think than to get rejuvinated about couponing yourself!
5. Host a coupon party. Going along with #4, you might decide to host a coupon party. You can share shopping trips, share deals, trade coupons, or even trade stockpile items.
6. Take a break. We can really take this whole couponing thing too seriously at times, can’t we? We see someone else’s great deal and feel like we’re somehow “failing” in comparison. Or we realize we let a coupon – or worse – a Catalina expire and we get down on ourselves. Guess what? It’s time to let yourself off the hook. If you need to, take a break or two off of couponing (although I do recommend you at least collect your papers). Come back when you’re feeling ready to go again.
A phrase often used by couponers to describe methods of shopping whereby couponer works to avoid bringing attention to him or herself. The term may also be used to reflect a hope that others will not notice the enormous wad of coupons in your pocket on the way to checkout. (Angela Russell Dictionary of Couponese)
If you are a shy when it comes to couponing (as I sometimes can be), you might find the idea of “flying under the radar” attractive. After all, you don’t want to create a fuss at checkout, do you? Or have people gawk at your coupon binder and grocery cart full of toilet paper and tuna fish? Guess what. I’ve decided flying under the radar is NOT the way to go, and here’s why.
1. You shouldn’t have to act sneaky for something that isn’t. Shoplifting? Sneaky. (Not to mention, illegal.) Using coupons according to a store’s coupon policy? Savvy. I’ll admit, there have been times I thought I’d just get in and use the self scan to do a couple transactions back to back. While technically I wasn’t doing anything wrong, by trying to not draw attention to myself I ended up feeling sneaky. Folks, you shouldn’t have to feel guilty for using coupons!
2. You may miss out on deals. Believe it or not, did you know some cashiers enjoy seeing your good deals? And that some will even share with you how to find coupons and deals within their store? While this doesn’t happen all the time, it does happen. Start talking to hard-core couponers you know and they’ll tell you about the time some nice manager or cashier helped them save some money! I’ve personally had this happen before.
3. You’ll be able to better determine which stores are coupon friendly. I’ve really grown in my confidence at checkout. One of the biggest things that’s helped is just sharing with my cashiers about coupons. For instance, I might start off like this: “I have a bunch of coupons to use today.” They almost always thank me for the heads-up or say “OK.” If they seem friendly or give a rather enthusiastic response then I might continue with, “yeah, you have a great sale going on X right now that pairs with this X coupon…” Now I’m talking about their store and a deal that made me shop there today! On more than one occasion I’ve had a cashier ask about where I’ve gotten a coupon to do a particular deal. If I get to that point, I know I’ve found a coupon-friendly cashier, and probably, store. This is useful for me to know. If I have a store that is glad to see me with my coupons, I’ll be more confident in shopping there. In my mind, this is a serious advantage over flying under the radar! Have those conversations at checkout (where appropriate, of course).
4. Your experience with using coupons at stores is likely to be more positive. Take Laura, a friend and reader. She wrote to tell me about her experience at Rite Aid this week. Laura writes that she went to her “home” Rite Aid, “where everyone knows me because of my crazy coupons.” Lest you think this is a bad thing, I want you to follow what happens next. Laura had been looking for an advertised product for a deal she wanted to do. After not finding it, the manager ends up looking and going into the back until he finds the item for Laura! Her conclusion: “I think it was because the staff knows me that they were willing to go the extra mile to take a look.” Laura has obviously been nice and respectful to store staff and in the end, everyone benefits. (And incidentally, you can read more about her shopping trip.) Does this happen all the time? No. But if you fly under the radar? Good luck finding help like that when you need it.
5. If you’re saving big money, you shouldn’t care what others think. If you see another shopper checking out the odd smattering of items in your grocery cart, should you care? I personally don’t. Especially if I get those items for ridiculously cheap. Remember, you’re working to save money to feed your family. At the end of the day, that’s what matters.
I think you should feel comfortable using your coupons, proud even. You shouldn’t have to hide what you’re doing so long as you’re playing by the rules. Now do you need to disclose exactly how far you’ve taken this “couponing thing” to your friends, other shoppers, and cashiers? How you pour over couponing blogs and forums to find the best deals? How you lovingly collect your coupons from the Sunday inserts each week? How you keep a binder full of hundreds of coupons in the back of your car at all times? Well, my friend, that’s entirely up to you.
What about you? Do you “fly under the radar” or have thoughts about this couponing mentality?
When I started couponing, I found myself in the stores at a near daily basis. I HAD to score all these freebies & deals, right?
I soon found myself experiencing “couponer’s guilt” whenever I missed a deal, or didn’t do a deal as perfectly as could be done. Now that I’ve been at this a bit, my perspective is much different. Most important, I believe couponing should be fun and that it shouldn’t consume your life! I thought this morning I would share a few things I’ve done to improve my “shopping strategy.”
1. I try to shop on ONE day. As much as possible, I try to focus my shopping efforts on ONE day. Usually, it’s towards the beginning of the week. I may pick a drugstore and a grocery store, two grocery stores, or one grocery store. I do them back-to-back, on one trip. This saves time and it saves gas. The goal of a couponer should be to become a better, more efficient shopper.
2. I throw in my deals with my normal shopping. I’ve explained this before, but there are two kinds of shopping: “stockpile deals,” and the items you need to complete your meals for the week (I call the latter “need-based“). Each week, I’ll see if there’s a freebie or two I can throw in my mix. If there’s a Catalina promotion I’m doing, I may plan on doing two transactions. I’ll do the first transaction, get my Catalina, and then proceed to shop for the rest of my items.
3. I go in with a plan! I’m usually shopping with little ones, and that works to keep me even MORE on task. I don’t want to be in the store for a long period of time! I have my list, my coupons, we get and do our thing.
4. I’ve identified my “go to” stores. For instance, Winco is my “go to” store for cooking and baking basics (LOVE those bins!). Albertsons is my “go to” store when there’s a great promotion for stockpiling. Fred Meyer is my “go to” store for produce and meat. This helps me make my plan. If you have more than one store in your area, do some comparison shopping!
So what happens if an incredible deal pops up mid-week?
First, I have to do some soul-searching. Do I REALLY need more shampoo? Is it worth my time, effort, and gas? You could even do the math. Let’s say the shampoo is on sale at Walgreens and works out to a $1 profit after Register Reward and coupon.
Time in clipping coupon, gathering kids, and out the door: 15 minutes (if I’m fast!)
Time driving to my Walgreens and back: 10 minutes (we have one close by)
Sales tax (at nearly 10%): $0.30 Bottom line: profit of $0.70
If I don’t really need more shampoo, I think I’d value 25 minutes of my life more than $0.70.
What about you? What things do you do to save time and stay on task? How do you determine if the deal is worth doing?
I'm a wife, mother of two, and freelance writer. I've learned to cut my grocery bill in half by combining coupons and sales! Join me as I share my real life money-saving adventures with you. I'm blogging out of the greater Seattle/Tacoma area. Read more about me and this blog here.
Store Deals
I do weekly deals and coupon matchups for each of the stores below. Click on a logo - and check it out!
