Going green and saving money can go together! Choosing to be friendly to the environment and taking advantage of green products doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg, there are ways to buy green and stay within your budget at the same time.
Shop Second Hand or Borrow – Let’s face it, shopping is fun, but it can break the bank pretty quickly. By shopping second hand stores, yard sales, or Craigslist, you can save money, and it’s green because new products aren’t being created just for you. Shopping second hand isn’t limited to clothing and toys, Craigslist is well known for furniture and used cars. New companies are coming on the scene as well like Green Demolitions, which sells donated kitchens and baths at amazing prices when families remodel their homes. Sharing or borrowing pricier equipment like your neighbors chainsaw is another great way to cut costs and go green.
Reusable Coffee Filters – A lot of the newer coffee machines comes with reusable coffee filters that cut down on costs and waste. The costs are fairly minimal for a brand new machine when you compare the savings of not having to buy paper filters each month, and can pay for itself in less than a few months.
Razors – Nothing annoys me more than the price of disposable razors these days, and when you add in how much plastic they are wrapped in, well, there is a better way to do things. Buying safety razors that come in flat packs at reasonable prices will save you hundreds of dollars a year and eliminate 90% of the plastic that ends up in landfills due to disposable razors.
Water Filter – We all know how expensive bottled water is, so switching to a simple water faucet filter will save money, produce less plastic, and give you clean, healthy water.
Bathroom Faucet Aerators – Bathroom faucets produce water at the same flow rate as your shower, a bit much for brushing your teeth. Adding a simple faucet aerator that screws on just like a light bulb for $2-3 can reduce your water flow 50-70%, saving money and reducing water waste. Go a step further an install a grey water system so all the water you use for brushing teeth, showering, washing clothes and dishes can be used to flush the toilets and you’ll save even more water and cut reduce your water bill further.
Unplug – Even when your TV, cell phone, computer and other electronic products aren’t turned on, they are still using energy. Get into the habit of unplugging everything when it’s not in use.
Buy Local – Farmers markets, road side vegetable stands, and even building products that are manufactured locally all help cut down on carbon that is created by buying in stores where the products have been shipped. Organic produce is also usually cheaper when bought locally.
Make Your Own Cleaners – There are lots of green cleaners that are non-toxic, but it’s incredibly simple to create your own cleaning products for almost nothing. The key ingredient is baking soda, just mix it with water to make a paste and you can clean your kitchen and bathroom safely and economically.
CFL’s – Today’s CFL’s come in more sizes and shapes to fit almost any lighting fixture, so if you haven’t switched already, now is the time. CFL’s use less energy, helping your reduce your electric bill, and last longer than traditional light bulbs.
Today Joyce from Saving My Centsgives us the scoop on how to save at Target!
About Joyce:
As a SAHM to 2 little boys, two little cats and one big golden retriever saving my SENSE will never happen, but saving my CENTS has to happen. Anyone who knows me knows my favorite saying is “I’m not cheap, I’m thrifty” and I hope with my website you can be too!
Have you ever heard the term “perimeter perusing” at stores. This is when you walk around the “outside” inside of the store (the perimeter) and where you will find most of your clearance items. Clearance items are always shoved in the back of the store or along the outer shelves inside stores.
Target is a great store to head for with your coupon binder and your “perimeter perusing” shoes on! Target keeps their clearance merchandise clearly marked on end caps of many aisles, or will have an entire aisle dedicated to just clearance. Keep your eyes open down all the aisles for a small red sign sticking out that say clearance also, do not always assume it says sale. One thing I love about Target is that they are constantly marking down items, not just clothes, but food, toiletries, baby supplies and more. Most grocery stores will have a small shelf filled with a few clearance products, even my 2 local Walmarts have a small shelf filled with clearance on non clothing items, but Target always has plenty of food, toiletries and more than clothes on clearance prices.
To make it easier to plan your Target Perimeter Perusing trip, here is a breakdown of the schedule of markdowns at Target, keep in mind that one week nothing in a particular department may get marked down so if you head to the store you may see no clearance on soap, but the next week, same day you may get your pick of 5 brands of marked down soap.
I have three suggestions to keep in mind when perimeter perusing at Target and here they are:
1. This is a good suggestion for any clearance/stockpile shopping. Check expiration dates, products go on clearance for different reasons, maybe they do not sell well at one particular store or the manufacturer has discontinued the item, sometimes though they are on clearance because it is close to the expiration of a product. If you know you will use the product before the expiration, or it is something you feel comfortable using beyond the expiration then get yourself some awesome deals!
2. If Target clearance items have a 4 at the end of the bar code, that means it is the end of that item. Target will mark down their clearance items a few times, one week it may be marked down to $2, the next week $1 and the next week .50 cents, but if the bar code shows a 4 that means there will be no further markdowns and even if the product does not sell out, it comes off the shelves, so get it while you can if you see that 4.
3. Print Target coupons! Target has printable coupons available on their website, even if you think you do not need the coupons, if you have a printer, have the ink, print them off and hold on to them, the coupons change frequently so a good coupon you see this week may be gone next week. You can use Target coupons on clearance items, so if Target had Market Pantry Spaghetti Sauce marked down to $2.09 and you had a $1 Target printable, you got yourself the clearance item even cheaper! And Target coupons are combinable with a manufacturer coupons. I once bought a few canisters of Crystal Light for about .35 cents each. Target had them marked down to $2.35, I had a Target printable good off one can of Crystal Light any flavor (keep in mind to that it is usually certain flavors or styles of product that go on clearance, just because a box of size 2 diapers is clearanced does not mean size 6 will be to, which is why it is important to check weekly with their new clearance deals, they always change) and I had a manufacturer coupon good for $1 off any Crystal Light any flavor, so instead of using those on a $5 non clearanced canister, I found a flavor I liked on clearance and was able to get 4 boxes at .35 cents each!
Today we have an inspiring story from MoneySavinDiva. She makes some very important points about how coupons changed her whole outlook on spending!
About Jill: Jill, aka the MoneySavinDiva has been couponing for just under a year. She is currently finishing up her college degree in marketing and is looking for a job in the world of finance. Her true dream is to be a stay at home/work from home mom when that time comes. Until then, Jill enjoys spending time with her husband Mitch, her cat Frosty and with her family. And of course, hunting down deals!
I have been couponing for just under a year at this point. I remember the first trip to Walgreens that I ever took, I was so nervous! But what a rush I got when it all went smoothly and I walked home with some Ziplock baggies and TUF garbage bags…a supplies worth that I’m still living on…for almost nothing out of pocket. The first months were rough going, I spent a lot OOP to get things rolling. But now, a year later I am spending hardly anything out of pocket to stock my cupboards.
But there are more benefits to couponing than just filling my cupboards. I have learned so much financially in the past year, and without stumbling upon couponing, I would never be the person that I am today. When I started this venture a year ago, I didn’t even know the meaning of a budget. The word scared the daylights out of me. I hardly ever knew how much was in my checking account, and if I remember correctly the balance in my savings account was 24c…yes, twenty four CENTS. Things weren’t looking too promising if I kept on that financial road…
Thanks to finding couponing/frugal blogs and learning how to live a financially rewarding life, my life has done a complete 180. I now have a budget…and I love it. I don’t know how I ever went without! We have more food in our cupboards than anyone I know (except for you other bloggers…most of you have more than me!) and we have a savings account with enough money to make ourselves proud of our accomplishments.
And just this week, my husband and I bought our first house. We have money saved up already to make the changes we need to and to purchase our first deep freeze (more deals, yay!). It such a good feeling to know that we don’t have to take a loan out anymore just to buy a freezer.
Moral of the story, if I have learned anything from couponing, it hasn’t been the deals (although I learned a lot in that area too!) but it’s been how to manage my money. If it hadn’t been for paying rent with pennies (yes, I did it once, on the eve of my couponing journey and it wasn’t the whole amount…just a part) I wouldn’t be moving into my first house, I wouldn’t have enough food to last us through an emergency and I would be constantly worrying about getting bills paid on time…and probably only the minimum payment at that.
So, to all of you wonderful bloggers out there…thank you. Thank you for imparting your wisdom to help me move from a difficult time to a wonderful time of learning and savings. Without all of you, I wouldn’tbe where I am today. I hope that I can be inspiration to all of you, and I hope that you can find knowledge in my blog that will help you out too. Because we’ve all been there…
Us coupon clippers always have multiple copies of the Sunday newspaper hanging around. So what do you do with all that paper once you pull out the coupons? Joyce from Saving My Centsshares her ideas for putting that paper to use!
About Joyce:
As a SAHM to 2 little boys, two little cats and one big golden retriever saving my SENSE will never happen, but saving my CENTS has to happen. Anyone who knows me knows my favorite saying is “I’m not cheap, I’m thrifty” and I hope with my website you can be too!
I talk about making sure you get your Sunday newspaper every week, sometimes even extras if the coupon supplement has some great coupons, but what do you do with all that paper on Monday when you have finished reading it? Add it to the garbage to fill up a landfill? Here are a few ideas for re-using your newspaper and also some ideas for what to do with the plastic bag it gets delivered in (and not just your weekly newspaper, don’t forget about the flyer’s that are thrown on your driveway or put in your mailbox, they are recyclable and many times come in plastic bags too!)
1. Perfect for the pooch!! You can use the plastic bags to pick up any messes your dog may make or lay down some paper if you think he may have an accident in the house while you are out or sleeping.
2. Plastic bags are great for a rainy day! The bags the papers come in are the perfect size to keep your wet umbrella in. Ran out of your car and into a grocery store but do not want to leave your wet umbrella sitting in the cart, pull a bag out of your purse and store it in the bag! This idea also works great for wet clothes. Are you heading to the beach, the community pool, keep the bags to carry your wet items home in.
3. Perfect for diaper bags! The plastic bags are a great size to hold baby clothes in, keep a fresh outfit in the bag and it will not get dirty from anything else that may be in the bag, hold dirty diapers in it, store bottles in it, anything you want to store and not roll around in the diaper bag will go great in here or it can be used as a trash bag.
4. Cleaning! Newspaper works great in place of paper towels/rags when you are cleaning glass and mirrors, just spray and wipe like you would with ordinary rags and towels.
5. Soak up the wet! Did you just come in from the rain and your shoes are drenched? Try putting some balled up pieces of newspaper in them to soak up the wet. Spill something in the house, put some paper over it to soak up the spill.
6. Great for the kitty too! Short on cat litter, can’t find any good litter coupons? Try ripping paper into shreds and using in the cat litter box.
7. Wrapping paper! This one is pretty self explanatory, and I know lots of us remember our moms using the Sunday comic strips to wrap presents in, it is one of those things that will never get old!
8. Help to ripen your fruit! Wrapping unripened fruit in newspaper will speed up the ripening process. This winter I had a beautiful tomato plant (we live in Florida so can usually garden year round) well with the unusual cold I had to pick all my tomatoes before they were ripened and before the cold got to the plant, they were still very green and I did not want to see them go to waste so I wrapped them in newspaper and a few days later they started ripening and I was able to use them and they tasted great!
9. Use in the garden! Lay sheets of newspapers about 1/4″ inch thick before covering with mulch, dirt, or whatever you use in your garden, it will help prevent weed growth. Make sure to moisten the newspaper before covering so it stays in place. Here is a really cool way to make seed starting pots out of newspaper.
10. Have fun with the kids! Check out this awesome looking newspaper hut HERE and go ahead and have fun with the kids building and playing in it!
11. Great for keeping breakables safe! I think everyone knows this trick already, if you are packing things away wrap your breakables in newspaper to keep from chipping and breaking.
12. Find out if you can donate your newspapers! Many schools, churches and community groups use the newspaper for craft projects, call around and see if anyone is accepting donations.
13. Combine your newspaper with an old toilet paper roll, roll up the newspaper and stick in the toilet paper roll and you have a nice fire starter log and you recycle more than just newspaper!
14. Remove nasty odors! Crumple up some newspaper and stick it in stinky Tupperware, coolers, shoes, even luggage and it will absorb some of the bad odor!
Today Joyce from Saving My Centsshares her recipes for awesome at-home spa treatments! Who says pampering yourself has to break the bank?
About Joyce:
As a SAHM to 2 little boys, two little cats and one big golden retriever saving my SENSE will never happen, but saving my CENTS has to happen. Anyone who knows me knows my favorite saying is “I’m not cheap, I’m thrifty” and I hope with my website you can be too!
Since I am a mom to two very active boys who have suddenly went from being happy watching cartoons and playing board games to now wanting to play sports, spend time with friends (and they are only 4 and 6 right now, I refuse to even think of the teenage years) I need to find ways to relax and since my pockets are not deep enough to afford a spa and even if they could I would never find the time I have a few things I try at home that I will share.
Blemish Blaster: Handful of fresh mint leaves (even if you do not have a green thumb, herbs will grow on their own and can be used for everything, from food to health care, so I highly recommend starting an herb garden of your own) A cup of oats (I use plain Quaker oatmeal) moistened
Take the herbs and pulverize them, you can buy the fancy bowl that has a pestle with it (like a mini club!) but I just use a rounded end of one of my kitchen utensils. Add in the moistened oats until it makes a paste and apply to your face for about 20 minutes.
Body Scrub: 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup honey a drop or two of essential oil (optional)
Mix together and scrub on during bath/shower. I like to use a loofah sponge and concentrate on dry areas, like my elbows and knees. I also add a drop of lavender essential oil for scent, but it is just an extra and not necessary to make this recipe work.
Dry Skin Mask: Beaten egg yolk mashed avocado
Mix together and apply to your face for about 20 minutes.
Skin Toner: handful of fresh basil a cup or so of water
Boil the fresh basil leaves in the water (I never learned a specific length to boil so I usually do it for about 20 minutes or until the basil is practically dissolving). Strain the water into a jar, let it cool and then apply to your face as needed with a cotton ball.
Strawberry Exfoliator Fill a mixing bowl with some ripe or over-ripe strawberries (I use about 10 to 12 for this recipe, if you have more or less just experiment with how much of the other ingredients to use) Two tablespoons of olive oil One teaspoon coarse salt
Mash strawberries then combine oil and salt and rub on dry spots for exfoliation. Rinse off with warm water.
(I know some of these may seem odd but I have tried them all and they seem to work for me. I always rinse off with some luke warm water and do not use soap)
Today, Nicole from Nicole’s Nickels shares her creative way of snagging a Wii for $36! Now, I normally avoid trial offers like the plague, but I can see how Nicole’s cautious and organized approach garnered good results. Have you guys ever tried anything like this? How did it work for you?
About Nicole:
Nicole lives in south Florida and is a career woman by day, blogger by night. Her blog, Nicole’s Nickels, is a mix of money-makers and money-savers from surveys, mystery shopping and online offers to coupons and free samples.
You probably read the title to this post and don’t believe it. Well, it’s true. I did this by doing an online offer. Now, I’m not the expert on these offers, but Carrie over at Money Saving Methods has done them for a while and as of September of 2008 she had made over $15,000 doing these offers. I was skeptical but I trust Carrie, so on December 29, 2008 I completed the 8 offers required for the prize and site I selected. I ended up receiving the brand new Wii and Wii Fit on February 20, 2009 so the whole thing took less than 2 months and around 3 hours or so total. The next one I do will take less time though, now that I am familiar with these offers. You have probably seen these offers/banners before and said, “yeah right, that’s not legit.” Well, the ones I am highlighting here are legit. The parent company for these offers is I-deal though there are subcompanies such as Top Notch Media, Bullseye Media, etc. Once you do your first you’ll be hooked – but you can only earn $1,000 per sub-company in a 6 month period. You’ll need a credit card (ideally one capable of giving you a virtual card number – look on their website or call customer service), a calendar, pen, and some patience but you can do it! Block off at least 2 hours the first day to complete all the offers. You’ll want to get them done in one sitting. Choose the prize you want. Here are a bunch of options below. All the ones in this post are I-deal parent company site with different sub-companies. Please be advised that sometimes a component of completing an offer is to refer people to do the offer as well. Those can get complicated (not to mention ruin friendships) so all the ones included here are DIY (do-it-yourself) offers with no referrals needed at the time of posting (terms can change so please read the front page carefully to see how many offers are required and whether or not referrals are a part of that). Wii and Wii Fit – this is the offer I did
It appears as though the terms have just changed on this offer and you are now required to complete 12 offers and 2 referrals. I no longer recommend doing this offer as there are higher value offers posted here without referrals. Please remember to save the terms and conditions on the day you do your order.
$500 Visa Giftcard & T-shirt
Unlocked Blackberry Pearl Flip Phone
$500 giftcard to Kohls
$100 in Restaurant giftcards (Chilis or Fridays) $100 Visa Giftcard and Game Jersey There are more so please email me if you are looking for something different and I’ll look around. Ok, so now that you have found the prize that you want, look to see how many “offers” you will need to do to get the prize. Offers are divided up into 3 categories – silver, gold and platinum. Usually for a $500 value prize, you will do 2 silvers, 2 golds, and 4 platinums. It may be less offers if there is a referral or two involved. Again, I did not include any referral sites here at the time I posted but these offers can change so be sure to CAREFULLY read the fine print on the first page – you should also open the terms and conditions and copy them into a wordprocessing document that you will use to keep track of this offer. Set up a new free web-based email address for this – you will get spam from the offers you sign up with. Use this new email address for every offer you do. Fill out the registration on the first page. Then you will get page after page of questions. If there is a “skip” click it, if not make sure to select “no” for each and continue. You’ll finally to get the page that has silver offers on it. I keep going until I reach the platinum offers, then I work backwards. The platinum page will have the fewest and most expensive offers so if there’s nothing on this page for you, pick a new prize and start over! You should figure out which offers you are going to do before starting to do them. Make a plan. This is a good time to research the offers you are doing. You are only allowed to do one offer per parent company. The sites don’t tell you who their parent company is so you’ll need to do some research. For instance, if a site looks similar and/or especially if the checkout page looks similar then they are likely from the same parent company. Now you’re asking what an “offer” is – offers are trials for things like Netflix, skin and make-up products, book clubs, etc. Each offer will have its own terms. Make sure to copy and paste the terms of each offer (including price of offer, how long trial period is, price of trial, price after trial expires, number to cancel, etc.) on the same document you used to copy the general offer’s terms and conditions. Make sure to reference the first page to make sure you are doing the right number of offers under each category. Please make sure to read each offer’s terms VERY CAREFULLY. A helpful hint is to open an offer, wait a few minutes and then log back in under “check gift status” on the main page to make sure that the offer shows as “pending”. Many may show as pending, don’t worry. Each offer that you open should show as pending whether you complete it or not. If you have an offer open and it doesn’t show as pending, close it out, wait a few minutes and start over until it shows as pending.
Another hint is to use a virtual credit card number for these offers. My Discover and Citibank cards have that feature available on their websites. Using the feature I am able to disguise my true credit card number by getting a virtual credit card number. Check your credit card company to see if this number is good for one use only or for one vendor only. Each company has different terms.
Sign up for offers that interest you. These companies are subsidizing the fabulous prize you chose so try the product and give it a chance – maybe it would make a great gift for someone on your list?
After you have completed the requisite number of offers, you play the waiting game (on pins and needles). With my experience, all of my offers had approved within 2 weeks. 2 of my co-workers just did one and they were also approved within 2 weeks. It is also common to have an offer or 2 not approve. If this happens, you need to do a replacement offer. Replacement offers generally credit within a day or 2.
Once all offers are approved and you “check your gift status” from the main page it will say that you have completed all offers and link to a redemption certificate. You must fill in and print this certificate as well as a W-9 form (these earnings are taxable) and send them in. I send them priority mail with delivery confirmation. I then wait until I see confirmation on the postal service website and give the company 2 week to process my redemption certificate and paperwork. If, after 2 weeks, your status has not changed, you need to email them with your delivery confirmation number. My status changed exactly 2 weeks from the date they received it and it said that my prize would arrive within 6-8 weeks. It arrived earlier than that, on February 20, via FedEx.
Ideal gives you 60 days from the date you first register until the date that everything must be completed and all paperwork mailed to them. Do the offers on the day you register as your clock starts ticking then. Keep track of all dates, company names, terms and conditions, cancelling instructions, phone numbers, etc. I found it easy to create a table (or spreadsheet if you’re more Excel-literate than I am) with that information for each offer I did.
Whew, this has been a long post and I’m sure many of you will have more questions. Please leave a comment or send me an email at nicolesnickels@gmail.com and I’d be more than happy to help. Please remember that organization is key to successful completion of these online offers! Good luck!
Today we have a fun video post from Ally of The Mommy Diaries! I’m planning on buying a Couponizer once I return from England – my poor little coupon binder is falling apart at the seams, and is currently held together with tape!
About Ally:
Ally is a budding new v-logger, so click here to watch her introducing herself on camera! You can catch more fun videos over at her blog, The Mommy Diaries.
Today Michelle from Saving Some Green shares some great hints for cutting child-related expenses!
About Michelle:
Michelle Wall and her husband Nate live in Boise, Idaho with their two small children, Owen and Audrey. Michelle works part-time outside the home, full-time inside the home, and blogs about the triumphs and trials of their frugal lifestyle at Saving Some Green.
One phrase I hear a lot when it comes to kids is this one: “Kids are soooo expensive!” I agree. They are expensive – but there are a million ways (I will not share all of them here!) to cut expenses when it comes to having kids. Here are a few that have worked for me:
Clothes – I almost threw up when my sister told me that she spent $36 on a pair of Levi’s for her son. Buy your kid 3 pairs of new Levi’s and you could be in the hole for $100! Yikes! I have been blessed with hand me downs – my son was the 6th grandson on my side and the 3rd grandson on my husband’s side. My family has been generous with the hand me downs…but you may not be so lucky. I also shop yard sales, thrift stores, and consignment store and get awesome deals. I just purchased a pair of sandals, a pair of light up tennis shoes, a pair of black dress shoes, and a pair of sketchers for my daughter at Other Mothers – (a local Idaho consignment shop) for $12!
Entertainment – Your kid does not need every Disney DVD as soon as it comes out. I promise. Seriously, though. Kids want to spend time with you – they don’t care what you do! This type of quality time is FREE. But if you want to keep your kids busy so you can clean the kitchen…be creative. Build a fort out of four kitchen chairs and a fitted sheet. Paper and crayons provide hours of FREE entertainment. Give them a box to play in. Kids want to be creative, let them!
Toys and Books – My kids have a lot of toys and a lot of books. Not because I have spent a fortune, either. I pick them up for next to nothing at garage sales. If I was paying full price for my kids’ toys and books they would have much, much, much less.
Holidays – In my opinion, most people overdo the holidays where kids get gifts. My kids got two gifts from us at Christmas. They get a few eggs and a small toy in their Easter baskets. We make home-made Valentines. We buy a few fireworks for the 4th of July. Our Christmas morning this past year was wonderful. My kids opened their gifts and were so excited and spent all day playing with their toys. On the other hand, other children we knew received so many toys that they didn’t know where to start and ended up playing with boxes. Keep it simple!
I could go on and on about ways to save money with kids. Here is the reality…you don’t have to spend a lot of money for your kids to know that you love them and to have loads of fun!
Today Joyce from Saving My Cents shares her tips for saving money in the “Land Of No Doubles”!
About Joyce:
As a SAHM to 2 little boys, two little cats and one big golden retriever saving my SENSE will never happen, but saving my CENTS has to happen. Anyone who knows me knows my favorite saying is “I’m not cheap, I’m thrifty” and I hope with my website you can be too!
In the coupon world The Land of No Doubles is an area where no stores offer double coupon savings. You know, when you have a .25 cent face value coupon that gets rung up as .50 cents thanks to double savings! Many of us, especially here in Florida *gasp* do not have double coupons anywhere!!
So we have to come up with other ways to save beyond the face value of our coupons here in The land of No Doubles. The closest thing would be coupon stacking. For example, take a look at your local grocery store flyer, many stores will have their own coupons in those flyer’s. So you see a store coupon for $1 off 2 toothpastes, you happen to have a manufacturer coupon good for $1 off any of that same brand toothpaste, combine this to get $2 off 2 toothpastes instead of just the $1, if you have two of that $1 off toothpaste coupons (and since you are buying two) use both manufacturer coupons to get $3 off.
Walgreens has their own coupons in their flyer every Sunday and many times the products they list have matching manufacturer coupons. During buy one get one free sales you can really make out, some stores will only allow one coupon to be used, but some will also allow you to use 2 coupons, so say the toothpaste you have coupons for goes buy one get one free on sale, the toothpaste costs $3.49 regular, use the store coupon and the manufacturer coupons, you end up getting two tubes of toothpaste for .49 cents! Without coupons and sales you would have paid $7, with just the store coupon and the BOGO sale you would have paid $2.49, stack your coupons and pay next to nothing!
Another easy trick, and sometimes this works great without even stacking, is to read the coupon and see if it specifies a size. If it does not, then go ahead and buy the trial size, it may end up free. Using the toothpaste example, the store has trial size toothpaste at $1, use your $1 off 2, and your $1 off manufacturer coupon to get two completely free, or just use your $1 off manufacturer coupon to get it free! I know it sounds a bit confusing, but stacking or not, many times if a coupon does not specify size, you can walk away with trial size products totally free! Sure you could only pay .49 cents with stacking & coupons for 2 tubes of toothpaste instead of just getting a small trial size for free, but if you can get your hands on multiple coupons, whether buying them from a coupon service, asking friends and family to hold their coupons for you or trading for them, it would save you money to get 2 or 3 FREE trial sizes that would add up to the same amount in the tube you PAID for!
When looking for store coupons keep in mind that they are not always found in the store flyer’s. Check out the shelves, you may see store coupons hanging near a product, when you first walk into a store check out the area where they keep extra flyer’s, even ask at the customer service desk! If you can sign up for a store mailing list do that too, lots of stores will send out magazines and flyer’s that include store and manufacturer coupons. And do not forget about stores that accept competitor coupons, you may see a great price on that toothpaste at Store A, but the store coupon you have is for Store B, well find out if Store A will take the competitor coupon and if they will, go ahead and stack and enjoy your savings! And if you are lucky enough to have double coupons at your store, with stacking, I am jealous at the thought of how much you could save! This post originally appeared on Saving My Cents on April 9th.
Today’s guest post comes to us courtesy of Charlene of My Frugal Adventures! She shares her personal couponing journey, and it’s very inspiring to see how she’s cut her budget!
I started couponing last year after stumbling upon the frugal blog world via BabyCheapskate. Our family had just relocated to California and I knew the high cost of living was going to require cutting back in other areas of our budget. I started reading about store deals and how to use coupons to maximize savings at drugstores. I couldn’t’t believe some of the things these stores were apparently giving away for free! I had used coupons in the past to save a few dollars on a $100 grocery bill and figured coupons were basically a waste of time. Something little old ladies did to save pennies or bored housewives did to accumulate a bunch of junk no one else wanted. My husband and I rarely paid attention to prices- if we needed chicken, we bought chicken. Occasionally I would notice huge price jumps from week to week but we figured there was no rhyme or reason to the fluctuations and we just paid what the store wanted.
Serious couponing- with scenarios these bloggers were outlining- seemed too good to be true. Why wasn’t’t everyone using coupons? My first attempt at couponing was at Walgreens. I got a package of disposable razors and two Glade Flameless candles. I paid $2 and submitted a rebate to get $5 back. It was so easy, I kept thinking I was going to get in trouble. Was the security guard going to chase me out to my car demanding payment? No, it was a seamless transaction and the rebate came fairly quickly. I was hooked!
I have gotten better at couponing since those days and learned a lot of tricks of the trade. I have also built a reasonable stockpile and have been able to regularly donate large amounts of products to charities. Over the past year I have stumbled quite frequently but I would say on average I triple our dollars at the grocery store. Our prices in California are considerably higher than many other areas in the US and our stores do not offer doubles. If we lived in another market, I suspect I could easily quadruple our dollars. This time last year we regularly spent about $120/week plus a monthly Costco run to total another $100. In March I spent $30/week total. Not only have we taken control of our finances, but we are now living on one income. As a SAHM it is important to me to feel like I am contributing to my family and I know I make every dollar we have count. Learning to coupon has become such a blessing to our family not only in saving money, but also in teaching us to become more mindful of what we spend. We are able to prioritize our goals, which include becoming totally debt free, and yet we don’t have to sacrifice our standard of living to accomplish our goals.
It is amazing to me that more people don’t take advantage of what manufacturers and stores offer via coupons, promotions and sales. As a blogger, I spend a significant amount of time each week outlining deals by store, matching up coupons and showcasing the purchases I have made. But because of great blogs like SuperCouponGirl, the time investment for a reader is so minimal it amazes me that couponing still remains a bit of a secret society.
I confess, I still look over my shoulder from time to time when I leave stores, amazed at how much I have gotten and how little I have spent. I also occasionally struggle with passing great deals up- I could easily hit 5 stores a week to maximize every deal they offer. But I have slowly learned that every deal will cycle back again and now that I have the basics down even if I do have to pay full price for an item, I know how to utilize other resources to still get a great bargain. It is a powerful feeling to know I am in control, not the stores.
