Back to couponing 101

Saved about $135 shopping yesterday between Giant Eagle and Walgereen’s. I was stopped 3 times in the Giant Eagle with questions about coupons and couponing. That TV show is really making people take notice of how to save when shopping. A couple of things to remember when starting out – those people on the TV are “EXTREME” just like the show’s name says. Also, more often than not they live in areas or will go out of their way for stores that really maximize discounts.

There are stores that will triple coupons like on the show, but I don’t know of any of those in Ohio. There are stores that will double coupons over the value of them item (i.e. the “cash back” couponing) but not in Ohio. There are stores that will double coupons over $1.00 but the only time I’ve seen that around here is when it is a special event and advertised as such (K-Mart has this event about 2 times a year and even then will only honor 5 coupons per shopping trip – so you could be going through the check outs a couple of times to get all of your deal). So be sure to know your stores coupon rules before you head out expecting to achieve the results on TV.

Remembering to stack coupons when possible is key at the drug stores and department stores like Target and K-Mart. Remember, if they have a store coupon in the paper (these will usually state "store name" Coupon) and a manufacture coupon for the same item you can likely use 2 coupons on one item. Charmin on sale with the Walgreen’s coupon & coupon from the Sunday paper means more savings!

Moving Forward

Looking to expand

Well the evolution of this blog continues and I’m now looking to add more variety and content to this site. Some of the things coming involve taking the format from a personal blog site to a more informational site with the occasional personal blog posting as a part of the overall site.

Keep watching for changes including:
Articles on local family friendly places and events.
Activities Lists and a “Things to Do Section” including a calendar
News and Reviews
Travel – Near and Far
and of course - Coupons

Keep watching for the exciting new changes. In the mean time keep stopping by, visiting the links and see what the advertisers have to say.

GO TRIBE !

Summer Plans?

Summer in Cleveland

It is the middle of May and as anyone with kids in school can tell you, summer is rapidly approaching. What do your kids do during the summer?

If your kids attend summer day camps, which ones do they go to and how much do you pay for camp?

I'm looking for cost saving opportunties for my kids and myself for the summer. All suggestions, reviews and ideas are greatly appreciated.

In the past, my oldest has attended our local community summer day camp while the younger girls were in day care, but the price for summer camp for 3 kids is making me cry, $100 for the 5 day per week program, but if I want before care and after care (prior to 9:00 a.m. and after 4:00 p.m.) there is an additional charge of $10 per day, per child taking cost up to $150.00 per child, per week. Then there is the cost of field trips (one each week) and cost of lunches and snacks etc.

Add in gas to get me to my glorious temp job and back each day and I figure my weekly take home "profit" will be about $15.00. And that is only if I work the full 40 hours and don't miss any time for things like sick kids, orthodontist appointments, swim meets etc.

So I’m asking – how do you do it? How can I do it?

Looking for input!

What would you like to see here? I’ve posted various couponing deals and ideas but I’m looking to expand and continue this Ellie’s Adventure.

Deals for families? Things to do around town? Reviews of activities and places? Books? Toy reviews? Bang for your Buck?

Lets get some comments in the section below and help me grow this thing!

Sorry so quiet here

Sorry I've been so quiet here and I'm honestly still working on those savings but due to a printer death I've been out of the game for a while here. Back on board and goign to check out the new "Extreme Couponing" show to see if its going to provide anything new.

Current great deal is for cat owners and is at K-Mart:

Purina One Beyond Dry Cat Food 16 oz (cpn is for 1 FREE up to $3.00 expiring 4/12)
Smart Source on 3/13 (gotta keep those kitties fed)

Happy savings!

Usborne Books - register to win $50 in FREE books!

Just a reminder that I'm your resource for Usborne children's books.

Stop by my website and browse - don't forget to register to win $50 in free books. Drawing happens monthly.

www.momsbooksite.com

New Giant Eagle Receipts

All the better to track your savings with...

Stopped at Giant Eagle on the way home today and noticed a new feature on the receipt. They are now tracking, and breaking down, your shopping savings. They've been listing the fuel perks savings for some time now but now they are really itemizing how your savings break down.

Now I've only been doing the "couponing thing" for about 6-1/2 months to date. Before that I "looked for sales" and did a bit of coupon shopping but really my majority of targeted coupon/sale shopping has only been in calendar year 2010.

Today my Giant Eagle receipt informed me that in the past 12 months my savings in their stores and at their gas stations has totaled $1,124.71 - not too shabby!

Here is the breakdown:

Fuelperks savings: $121.50
Weekly Specials: $632.45
Coupons: $370.76

again - not too shabby!

I can't wait to see what the total will be in January 2011 when I've been doing this style of shopping for a full year.

And remember - that is only at one store. I've also been saving BIG at Walgreen's, CVS, and a few others.

Now tell me again - is this a waste of time?

Excuses - Myth - "I don't have time"

Biggest complaint – It takes too much time to do the coupons… my answer… well, time is money, but in a good way with this.

I’ve been talking about this coupon saving and shopping way for about 6 months now and I’ve gotten a bit more organized than I was in January when I started this endeavor. “Back then” I would spend over an hour getting ready to shop at 3 different stores and then an hour at the grocery store and probably half an hour or more EACH at CVS and Walgreen’s.

Now, well I’ve probably carved off about 15 minutes of my prep time and I was going to spend the time in the grocery store any way so I’m not going to worry about time spent there. But I’m saving a lot of money with those coupons and spending that time prepping to shop.

My time is definitely worth the $50.00 an hour that I saved just this week at Giant Eagle. Other weeks its worth over $80.00 for that hour of prep time… even if its just “little shopping” and takes only half an hour to prep for a couple of things – my time is still worth the money I’m saving. I don’t know what you make “per hour” if you break it down but I found a job paying what I SAVE in that hour – I’d be bragging about my good paying new job.

Happy shopping – Last day for the cereal sale at Giant Eagle today – extra fuel perks too!

Know thy BOGO

Know your BOGO !

I’m learning while watching the ads and the websites that its becoming very important to watch the BOGO (buy one get one) ads fine print closely – especially at Giant Eagle.

Giant Eagle has had a lot of items recently listed in their advertisement as BOGO – but the fine print here is very important. Fresh meat seems to truly be “Buy One Get One Free” meaning that you will be paying full price for one item and getting the lower priced item free – you must buy two items – discount comes off at the end of the receipt.

BUT I’ve noticed that on a lot of their BOGO ads, when I get to the store the item is actually two for the price of one – meaning that each item will ring up for half price – you can buy only one item and still get a good discount price. This is very important to know because with a true BOGO Free you can use only one coupon (for the item you are paying for). For BOGO-Half you can use two coupons and for two for the price of one you can also use two coupons.

I wish I would have had 2 kielbasa coupons when I went to GE thinking BOGO Free and only brought 1 coupon a few weeks back – when in fact it ended up being two for the price of one… live and learn.

Happy shopping!

Turned a Profit Shopping Today!

Keep this in mind for your Giant Eagle shopping today or tomorrow!

Pillsbury is offering register coupons good on your next order based on how many of their items you purchase through February 21, 2010:
Buy 4 items - $2.00 coupon
Buy 5 items - $3.00 coupon
Buy 6 items - $4.00 coupon

Here is how I made a profit:

Purchase of 6 packages of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls (5 count) on sale for $1.00 each - cost of $6.00.

One .40 off on purchase of 2 items doubled - .80 cents off
One .40 off on purchase of 2 items doubled - .80 cents off
One 1.00 off on purchase of 2 items (not doubled)

Subtract $2.60 in coupon savings.

Paid $3.40 for my 6 packages.

Checkout prints coupon for $4.00 off on next shopping order (good until 2/9/10)

PROFIT of .60

(print your Pillsbury coupons at either coupons.com, redplum.com or smartsource.com)

Enjoy!

Check the local ads / don’t rely on the coupon match-up sites!

Check the local ads / don’t rely on the coupon match-up sites!

Remember to read the comments left by other folks – they are providing great info too!

Sorry I’ve been remiss in my regular updates. Its that full time job, wife, and mother of three that keeps getting in the way of my shopping deals. And since I did a little bit of stocking up recently I didn’t need to run to the store nearly every day (as I’ve been used to doing) – sure we’ve had to go for milk (which was NOT on sale this week) and a few things for recipes here and there but not too much over all which has been great.

But things I’ve learned since the last time.

Check the local ads / don’t rely on the coupon match-up sites. This is especially true of places like Wal Mart & Target. Sales are “national” but what is actually ON SALE boils down to “local”.

Lesson: I prepared for a relatively small shopping trip to Target based on what I had gathered from couponmom.com - I did not spend much time with my own Sunday paper so I did not verify what I had check marked at the website. I printed my list, printed my coupons, clipped my coupons (prepared to stack them Target and manufacturers – I was going to get Juicy Juice for nearly FREE – and the kids soooo like that apple juice from juicy juice, carnation instant breakfasts too!) and grabbed my Mom and my 10 year old and we were off to the store (we were also prepared for CVS and Giant Eagle as Mom needed to do some shopping and I prepped a coupon envelope and list for her as well).

We get to the store and I learn that even though my Mom has a list she is a serious impulse shopper – but more about that later.

I try to steer Mom and Becca to the part of the store where the items on our list are kept – coupons in hand, but when I get there, I find the instant breakfasts - but they are not on sale, I find the juicy juice (no apple flavor sadly) and it also is not on sale. The special K bars were on sale, the lean cuisines were on sale, the hand lotion was on sale but close to a third of the items on my list – printed from the sale/coupon match up site, were not on sale.

Sadness – I should have checked the local ad in the paper that morning. I guess I’m not as clever as I think I am. Later I realized that there may very well have been things on sale that I needed but didn’t know about because – alas – I didn’t read the local ad… Lesson Learned!

I also learned that when I am shopping with my Mom I need to keep her on the task of sticking to her list by store / she was ready to buy everything on her list at one place but I had planned our trip to pass CVS on the way home so she could get her tooth past for .74 cents and I could get my hair color for $3.99 – coupons and ads – and other things at Giant Eagle by keeping track of the sales.

She also impulse shops – which I am guilty of too, but I’m trying to work on getting away from that. I had left my coupon file / of about 500 or so coupons / behind. As I watched her put item after item in the cart I kept thinking “I have a coupon for that” – so if I’m going to go with an impulse shopper or impulse shop myself I should try to have my full binder of coupons along with me “just in case”. I know it will look crazy when I’m shopping but if I have to buy something not on sale and not on my list – I may as well get a little bit off if I have the coupon.

I also learned that my Mom is a sucker for Becca and gives in and buys her stuff I probably wouldn’t – but that IS a grandma’s job after all.

Snow time Shopping and Saving

I saved $80.59 at Giant Eagle yesterday!

My best “score” was the Dannon yogurt at.20 cents each final price.

Now for the journey to savings and what I learned on that trip.

I had checked out the Giant Eagle ad when it arrived in the mail on Tuesday and saw that there were a number of Buy One Get One (BOGO) Free items as well as other items that I’d like to have on hand going on sale – usually there are things going on sale that I’d like to have but I usually only buy what I need. But I want to start to stock up on things so I wanted to strategically shop for what I want at low prices. This week there are a lot of meat items BOGO – so I knew I’d still be spending a decent amount of money – because 6 pork chops still costs about $7 and a shoulder roast is going to cost me $14 or thereabouts even if I am getting the second ones free.

I went to couponmom.com and check marked the items that were on sale and that I thought were at a low enough price to consider buying – especially if I knew I had a coupon for the item. A flaw I see at couponmom is that I knew I had coupons for some items that were not showing as having a current unexpired coupon associated with them. The ones I had were either from the online sites or from the manufacturer (example – Dole Fruit Jars – sale of $2.00 / no coupon available but I had a .75 cent coupon from a 4 pack of fruit bowls – and since GE doubles coupons under $1.00 I was going to pay only .50 for that jar of peaches the kids love so much. So even though coupon mom has a lot of good information on the sales and coupons it is still very important to rely on your own knowledge of what coupons you have available to you – and still check the online coupon sites for more.

So I made my list and printed it out – I then hit my coupon stash, I marked the list with the number of each item I wanted to buy based on the coupons I had and marked the list with the coupons that I had available on the items - I also added items to the list that were not on sale but that we needed – especially if I had a coupon. The coupon stash will need to become better organized but as its still pretty small it was reasonably easy to go through and cut out the ones that I needed. I used a cheap envelope (left over from a bill that I pay online) and put all of my coupons into it and got ready to go – in the snow!

Another lesson learned shortly after walking into the store. I need to re-write my list and organize my coupons based on the layout of the store that I am going to. The list printed from couponmom is sorted by coupon date not by any other sort of easy to follow system. I spent more time reminding myself what I had and where the items were than I would have liked to. Next time I will re-write the list according to my knowledge of where items are in the store – and I will sort the coupons in that order too.

The shopping itself went well – there were some items I decided not to buy at the store but I really don’t think I had any “impulse purchases” as I was on a mission to get my list shopped for and save the money.

I bought lots of stuff – as a matter of a fact I bought 84 items according to my receipt. I had a full cart which I almost never do because I’m “usually watching how much I spend”. As I was setting out to buy a number of meat items as well as “stock up” items I “allotted” myself about $120 to spend at the store (after coupons). Like I said earlier – BOGO meat still means buying one of each at full price.

Before store sales, BOGO items, coupons, discounts and doubled coupons (when available) my grocery bill was $193.12 (still lower than the woman in front of me – who bought a bunch of BOGO stuff but had no coupons) – after all of those discounts my out of pocket cost was $112.53 – saving $80.59 (42%). I was hoping to save 50% but I did not – but I’m still very happy with my shopping experience and savings. I think I told everyone at work that I managed to save $80 at the grocery store last night.

So what all did I buy? Pork Chops, Beef, Bacon, hot dogs, apples, frozen vegetables, frozen side dishes, betty crocker items, milk, engligh muffins, sea food, pop tarts, cereal, grilled meats, yogurt, and lots lots more J

AND I could have done better if I had had more coupons – if my stash went back further and if I had more copies of various ads.

So for next time:
Organize better before going to the store – could have saved at least half an hour in the store if I had been more organized
There is no such thing as too many copies of a coupon insert. Take ‘em from the trash at the coffee shop on Sundays if you need to.

Stay tuned and see how I do at Target and Wal Mart next...

Coupons and Policies - Important Stuff

When we lived in Hawaii I thought I was completely cut off from “deals”. Sure the Safeway had some good sales and I sought them out and the Wal Mart and Longs (which is now CVS – which is awesome for coupons and deals) had sales too, but I was still paying $10 for 2 gallons of milk and over a buck for a small container of yogurt – and those were sale prices so I never really felt like I was saving anything.

I am learning (and hopefully sharing) things that “if I had known when I lived in Hawaii…” I would have been a much better shopper – and I hope my friends still living in Hawaii (and paying the “paradise tax”) and elsewhere can learn and save too.

The Plain Dealer is usually flush with coupons and ads – there were three in this past Sunday’s paper. The direct mail Red Plum ads during the week here have multiple deals in them. The Sunday Advertiser rarely had coupons at all and our weekly mailings had very limited coupons – sometimes only for a couple of items. I used to have my Mom send me inserts from the papers in Cleveland because, generally speaking, a manufacturer coupon is good nationwide – unless it specifically excludes your state.

I wish I had been a lot more savvy in the Internet Coupon world back then…but knowing when, where, and how to use internet coupons seems to be very important.

Knowing the stores coupon policy is becoming key in my efforts to save money. I am currently amassing the written coupon policies of the stores where I currently shop and intend to coupon. Many seem to be available online and I’m finding a lot of stores have their policy posted at their customer service desk.

Some of what I am learning: NO ONE seems to take internet coupons that say FREE – most out there are apparently not legit so they are not taking them. Some stores will only take coupons up to a certain value of the item such as K-Mart who will not take coupons that exceed 75% of the item cost, or Giant Eagle who will not take internet coupons over $3 in value. On the positive side some stores have paperless electronic coupons that you just "load" the value of onto your store rewards coupon and the register will automatically take the coupon value off your purchase (gotta love that). These are all good things to know ahead of time.

Here’s some help:

CVS does not have their coupons policy printed on their website but they will provide one to you on request. Longs is now CVS – this is good new s on the coupon front! Lots of good store coupons at their site though - and you can stack store coupons and manufacturer coupons at CVS!

Walgreens does not have a particular coupon policy that I can find other than to accept manufacturers coupons as stated on the coupon / and they will take “stacked” coupons.

Rite Aid’s policy is not on their website either but again you can get a copy at the store or write to their corporate offices for one.

K Mart seems to not have a well defined coupon policy and what I’ve learned from thekrazycouponlady.com on the subject tells me I’m better off at Wal Mart of Target unless I really need to go to K-Mart (which of course is the only store in walking distance of my house).

Kroger does not have their coupon policy at their website but they do offer ‘digital coupons’ there that you can ‘load’ onto your Kroger card that will be automatically deducted when you buy that item at the store. Nifty! http://www.softcoin.com/Sites/Kroger_ECoupons/Page/HomePage/Retailer/Kroger

Giant Eagle: http://www.gianteagle.com/saving/coupon-redemption-policy

Target: http://www.target.com/b/ref=br_bx_4/180-0311849-4571964?ie=UTF8&node=2223357011

WalMart: http://walmartstores.com/7655.aspx

Marc’s: http://www.marcs.com/coupon.cfm

Safeway: http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/Coupons-Policy

Acme Fresh Market: http://www.acmestores.com/internet-coupon-policy.html

More on “stacking” coupons to come – I’m going to do that today or tomorrow on a shopping trip!

If the snow lets up…

Happy New Year - 2010 here I come

January 2, 2010

Okay - this is my new way of keeping track of my resolution to become a better shopper. By that I mean get more and spend less. Learning to use the sales and the coupons out there (and the internet) to save money for my family.

And I'm going to log how it is going and what I learn and hopefully you'll follow along and save some money too.

The amount of money our family spends on groceries, paper products, cleaning supplies, kids supplies, and just general "stuff" is amazing to me. Sure it's a lot less that we were paying in Hawaii (and coupons themselves were rare in Hawaii - never fear HI friends - I have hope for you as well) but it's still more than we have to spend - the deals are out there, I just have to find them.

We have all seen the "coupons queens" in line at the store. You know the ones, they have a whole cart worth of stuff and end up paying $22 for it when all is said and done. We hate them - and not because they're saving the money - but because we're jealous that they are so organized and they know how to keep all of those coupons in line and follow the sales and they save all of that money. We either don't have the time, the patience or discipline to do the same thing. Heck - they're so organized they get through the line with all of their stuff and coupons faster than some people can get their ID out when writing a check.

______________

Off and on for years I have used coupons and tried to buy things on sale. I've saved a few bucks here and there and feel good about doing so but I keep finding myself in a place where I end up running out of something and needed to go buy it and I end up paying full price. I want to learn to stock up on things I use regularly and not pay full price on them!

I figured there was some sort of system for keeping an eye on the ads and keeping track of the coupons but the amount of work involved seemed daunting. I'd just clip about every coupon that I thought I might need and then when I was shopping and found something that I needed or was on my list (or something on sale that I would soon need) I'd flip through my coupons and if I had one I'd use it and save some money. It works but it's not all that efficient. Sometimes on one trip I'd be flipping through tons of coupons multiple times (pulling my cart off to the side etc.) NO MORE!

Thanks to Facebook and reconnecting with a friend from High School I've learned some tips to learn and to share. Every once in a while this friend would post about huge savings on grocery trips and I would think "I have got to ask her how she does that". I finally asked her this past week and the amount of knowledge I have gained is amazing! That's why I'm going to write is all down, track it, link to it and share it as best I can.

Even using just a few of the tips and websites out there the savings are easy! In the past few days I've already saved noticeable amounts on items I was going to buy this week regardless of their cost. But with a little bit of time online and with the coupons before I left the house I've saved money - over 50% off the regular price of what I was shopping for.

The first things I've learned and will share are:

1. Save all of the coupons ads - intact - and keep them in order (date the cover page) - only clip the coupons when you are getting ready to do the shopping.

2. Get multiple copies of the coupon ads since often you have to buy more than one item to get the sale price at a store - may as well have a coupon for each item.

3. Internet Coupons
www.redplum.com and more

4. Visit the websites and blogs:
www.couponmom.com
http://bargainbriana.com
http://thecouponhigh.blogspot.com/

5. Get organized! (more on that to come)

That seems to be enough for day one of this blog.

I hope you come back and check on my progress - I plan on updating my savings, information and what I learn on a regular basis.

Aloha - Ellie