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Archive for March, 2010
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
As I mentioned in my article about trading coupons, I did several coupon trades last week. I put the first batch of coupons to use over the weekend – and this was the motivation for my trades:
There were coupons in the 01/03/10 Smart Source newspaper insert for .50/1 off any Maruchan Yakisoba bowl. These are on sale for $1.00 at Safeway, which makes them free after coupons and doubles. What makes this even more interesting is the 10% discount that is loaded onto our club card. As I’ve mentioned previously, this deducts the 10% based on your pre-coupon total, which turns this Yakisoba scenario into a money-maker. Here’s the math breakdown:
1 Yakisoba bowl: $1.00
-.50 cent coupon
-.50 cent double
– 10 cents for 10% discount
Total: Negative 10 cents (AKA overage)
My first coupon trade last week was for 9 of these coupons. I paid a .05 cent handling fee per coupon, plus .44 cents postage, for a total of .89 cents spent through PayPal. This evens out to roughly 9.8 cents per coupon – and since the coupons resulted in free Yakisoba bowls plus .10 cents of overage each, the coupons essentially paid for themselves. So here’s what I got on my trips –
March 27th Safeway trip:
Spent nothing out of pocket, put $2.91 on my free gift card from MyBlogSpark, and came home with $31.34 worth of groceries. We’re also giving one of these gift cards away, so don’t forget to enter!
Transaction #1:
Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put $1.99 on my gift card from MyBlogSpark
Total before coupons: $6.39
View receipt
Got:
4 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00 each, used four .50/1 coupons, which doubled, and received an additional .10 cent deduction each because of the 10% club card discount; Final price: Free plus .40 cents overage.
1 gallon of milk – was almost out! Originally $2.39, the .40 cents overage from the Yakisoba brought the final price down to $1.99. (The 10% discount does not apply to milk, which is why it only deducted .40 cents and not .64 cents.)
Transaction #2:
Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put .92 cents on my gift card from MyBlogSpark
Total before coupons: $24.95
View receipt
Got:
1 Warm Delights cake – regularly $2.19, used one free product coupon sent to me by MyBlogSpark. The 10% discount deducted an additional .22 cents, making the final total: Free plus .22 cents overage.
4 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00 each, used four .50/1 coupons, which doubled, and received an additional .10 cent discount each because of the 10% club card promotion; Final price: Free plus .40 cents overage.
1 bottle of Holland Wine Cooking Sherry – regularly $4.79, used one free product coupon (see below) and received a 10% discount of .48 cents. Final price: Free plus .48 cents overage.
1 bottle of Nakano rice vinegar – remember last week when I got free coupons for rice vinegar and cooking wine in the mail, and was trying to figure out where they came from? Well, whatever it was, I apparently had Jai sign up for it as well, as a second envelope arrived for him with two more free coupons! This rice vinegar is regularly $3.39 – I used one free product coupon and received an additional .34 cent discount because of the 10% offer. Final price: Free plus .34 cents overage.
2 bottles of Vitaminwater – on sale for $1.25 each, plus a .10 cent bottle deposit; used two free product coupons that we got from the recent free coupon offer on Facebook. The coupons automatically deducted the full value $1.59 each, and I also received a .25 cent discount because of the 10% offer. Final price: Free plus .83 cents overage.
1 box of Popsicles – normally $3.99, used one free product coupon that I won during a Twitter contest. I also received a 10% discount of .40 cents. Final price: Free plus .40 cents overage.
1/2 gallon of half & half – I was all out! Normally $3.99, received a 10% discount of .40 cents, and the overage from the other coupons brought the final price down to .92 cents.
March 28th Safeway trip:
Total spent: Nothing out of pocket, put $2.15 on my gift card from MyBlogSpark.
Total before coupons: $3.50
View receipt
Got:
1 Maruchan Yakisoba bowl – on sale for $1.00, used one .50/1 coupon, which doubled, and received an additional .10 cent discount each because of the 10% club card promotion. Final price: Free plus .10 cents overage.
1 Sunday newspaper – regularly $2.50, received an additional .25 cent discount because of the 10% club card promotion; and the .10 cent overage from the Yakisoba brought the final price down to $2.15.
Posted in Safeway | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
There’s a new Olay rebate out – this time, you can click here to download a “Try-me-free” rebate form for Olay Quench body lotion. Offer valid 03/19/10 through 04/16/10, must be postmarked by 04/30. Thanks, Money Saving Mom!
Posted in Free After Rebate | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
Coupons I have received through trades this week
Today I’d like to talk about another way to build your coupon stash and increase your savings: By trading coupons. This could be as simple as swapping coupons with friends over coffee, or as advanced as exchanging envelopes of coupons with other coupon traders through the mail. If you’re new to using coupons, you’ll probably want to wait before diving head-first into trading – but if you’ve been using coupons for a while and feel ready to take it to the next level, then you may want to consider it. I’m going to explain how this works, what the benefits are, and how it’s helped me.
What is coupon trading and where does it take place?
Online coupon trading usually takes place on forums such as Hot Coupon World, which has a special forum just for this purpose. Members simply request to join the trading forum and can begin swapping coupons with other members – there is no fee to join or trade. Hot Coupon World’s trading forum includes an eBay-style trader rating system, so you can check feedback before trading coupons with others.
I know there are lots of other forums where you can trade coupons – this is just the only one I have personal experience with. (Feel free to share your favorites with me!)
How does it work?
Members post in the trading forum either with coupons they are searching for, or coupons that they have to trade. When you are interested in trading with another member, you send them a private message and work out the details of the trade.
For example, say Sally writes a post telling the trading forum that she has five coupons for .50/1 Brand X dish soap available. In return, she is looking for dog food coupons. Joan has dog food coupons and needs dish soap, so she send Sally a message telling her what she has and asking if she would like to trade. Sally agrees, so they swap addresses and mail coupons out to one another. After the trade is complete, they leave feedback for each other.
What people trade
You can trade “Coupon-for-coupon”, as in the example above; alternatively, some members prefer to charge a handling fee for their time clipping the coupons, or trade coupons for first-class stamps (Frequent coupon traders can go through a lot of postage!).
Can you really trust total strangers to come through with these trades?
Although Hot Coupon World has an excellent trader feedback system, you assume risk for all trades conducted. That being said, I have done well over 50 trades since joining Hot Coupon World, and I have never had a bad experience. Most of the people I have met through the online coupon community have been extremely nice, generous, and thoughtful. Most people I have traded with even included bonus “extra” coupons with my trade, just to be nice! Yes, there are some bad apples out there, but in my personal opinion the risk is not a big one. I’m willing to speculate the potential loss of a few coupons or stamps, since trading is a significant source of savings – and so far, that hasn’t happened.
What’s the point?
Coupon trading can be an excellent way to build up both your coupon stash and your stockpile. Let’s say that laundry detergent usually costs $5.00 at your store, and a $5/1 coupon comes out in the Sunday newspaper inserts. You spend a little time to trade for more $5 coupons, and snag a bunch of laundry detergent for the cost of stamps. Done right, trading can compliment your coupon usage and save you a lot of money. And this brings us to our next point:
Effective coupon trading
I traded a lot during 2008, when I was first learning the ropes of couponing. I stopped trading at the end of that summer, and didn’t start again until a week ago. The reason I stopped was because it was taking a lot of time and money, and after I discovered recycle bin diving, it seemed unnecessary. But as I went through my pantry last week, it occurred to me that many of the things in my stockpile were the result of trading – and had been a very worthwhile investment. Here is what I have learned:
Only trade for coupons you REALLY need. I got so caught up in trading in 2008 that I was trading for loads and loads of coupons. It wasn’t cost-effective, and I ended up swamped with coupons I didn’t need. Now, I am refining my focus to things that I definitely need – coupons that will get me something free or steeply discounted.
Trade stamps or a PayPal handling fee. When I was trading coupon-for-coupon, it took me ages to go through my coupon stash, figure out what others wanted, see what I could get rid of, clip, sort…it was not efficient at all, which is why I stopped. Now when I trade, I do stamps or PayPal only, unless I just happen to have a surplus of a coupon I don’t need that someone else can use – this makes trades quick and easy. Just factor the cost of the coupons in to your savings, and count it as part of your grocery budget. For example, if I trade a book of stamps for 30 free milk coupons, the milk is not “Free” – it cost me $8.80. But obviously, .29 cents for a gallon of milk would be a killer price, so this fictitious trade would be worthwhile. Just factor in your time and monetary investment, and make sure the result is worthwhile.
Allow for a learning curve! All that being said, using coupons is a learning process – and like all things, coupon trading has a learning curve. Don’t feel bad about the time it takes to learn the ropes; it will help you develop your savings strategy and save you money long-term.
If you’re ever on the Hot Coupon World forums, feel free to say hi – I’m “hardertobreathe” on there!
Readers, weigh in: Have you traded coupons before?
Posted in Articles | 11 Comments »
Monday, March 29th, 2010
 I do most of my shopping at Safeway, and I know this is true for a lot of you as well. Recently, I hosted a Safeway gift card giveaway courtesy of MyBlogSpark – well, it was such a success, they asked if I’d like to do another giveaway! This time, Betty Crocker, Safeway and MyBlogSpark are offering a fun baking prize pack to spread the word about a Betty Crocker cake mix sale at Safeway.
 Now through April 6th, Betty Crocker SuperMoist Cake and Traditional Brownie Mixes are on sale at Safeway for .69 cents. If you visit BakeSweetMemories.com and click on “Coupons”, you can load Betty Crocker coupons directly onto your club card – one of which is for .75 cents off Betty Crocker SuperMoist Cake Mix, which ought to make it free plus .06 cents overage. I’ve loaded this coupon onto my club card, and will try it later in the week! ETA: The .69 cent sale price is only valid when you purchase 4 mixes – so if you use the .75 cent/1 e-coupon, your final total will be $2.01 for 4 of them.
Safeway and Betty Crocker also provided me with a baking gift set, a coupon for a free Warm Delights bowl, and a $25 Safeway gift card through MyBlogSpark for my participation. I already got a few good deals with my gift card over the weekend, which I’ll be recapping for you shortly. But first, let’s give away the “Spring Treats” reader prize pack!
 One reader will win a silicon baking pan, a stainless steel mixing bowl, oven mitt, Betty Crocker mixing spoon, and a $25 Safeway gift card! Please note that cake mix is not included in the prize pack.
I’m pretty excited about this baking set – everyone who knows me will tell you how much I love new baking utensils! I’ve always wanted to try one of these silicone pans, so it’ll be fun to test it out. Want a chance to win this fun set and Safeway gift card? Here’s how to enter:
1. For your first entry, just leave a comment on this post and tell me what your favorite thing about Spring is!
Want extra entries? Do any of the following, and leave a separate comment for each one:
2. Link to this post on your blog, then come back here and leave me the link!
3. Write about this on Twitter, then come back and leave me the link to your tweet! One Twitter entry per person.
4. Post my button on your website – just copy and paste the following code, and let me know where you put it:
Rules, regulations, and other important stuff: Giveaway ends on April 12th at 11:59 PM, PST. Winner will be chosen via Random.org. Giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents. Gift card’s face value is in U.S. dollars; Canadian dollar equivalent varies according to the prevailing exchange rate at the time of purchase.
I received a baking gift set, a coupon for a free Warm Delights bowl, a $25 Safeway gift card, information and additional prize pack to give away from Betty Crocker and Safeway through MyBlogSpark.
Posted in Giveaways | 218 Comments »
Sunday, March 28th, 2010
Made a quick stop by Rite Aid on Friday:
 Total spent: $8.98, but will get $6.99 back in rebates
View receipt
Got:
1 box of envelopes – price: $1.99. I was all out!
1 bottle of Renpure conditioner – while I was walking through the store, I noticed that this had a “Try-me-free” rebate hangtag attached to it. I’m always looking to try new hair products, so it’s worth the cost of the stamp to me to mail the rebate in.
Posted in Rite Aid | No Comments »
Saturday, March 27th, 2010
On Monday, I went up to Tacoma with family for a fun day out. While we were there, we went shopping at Dollar Tree – I’ve always loved dollar stores, for obvious reasons, and Dollar Tree is one of my favorites. Here’s what I picked up:
Total spent: $21.40
View receipt #1
View receipt #2
View receipt #3
Got:
2 Sunday newspapers – price: $2.00! I was so excited to find papers there – what a steal at $1.00 each, considering a Sunday Oregonian is $2.50! I was extra happy, because I was so wrapped up in freezer cooking on Sunday that I had totally forgotten to buy one, and was kicking myself. Couldn’t believe that I found them on a Monday afternoon, and so cheap!
1 can of oven cleaner – I’d been meaning to buy some of this. Price: $1.00
1 bottle of drain opener – this is one of those things that you need every once in a while, and always seems to be expensive, so I thought I’d get some now to keep on hand. I don’t know if this brand is good or not, but I’m willing to try it and see. Price: $1.00
1 package of scouring pads – always need these! Price: $1.00
1 flashlight – we needed another one. Price: $1.00
1 lint roller – I’ve been meaning to pick one of these up as well. I like to use these while I’m cleaning the couch! Price: $1.00
Hair clips – needed more of these too. Price: $1.00
2 toys – fun little stocking stuffers for future holidays! Price: $2.00
1 package of foam cups, 1 package of paper plates , 1 package of plastic cutlery – good for parties! Price: $3.00
1 package of coffee filters – the last few times I’ve bought these, they’ve been around $2-3, so I thought I’d buy ahead to save money later. Price: $1.00
1 package of turkey – was supposed to be on special for .50 cents, but I didn’t check my receipt before leaving and I realized later that it rang up $1.00.
Two 8oz bags of cheese – can always use this. Price: $2.00
1 package of scrubber sponges – we go through a lot of these since we don’t have a dishwasher yet, so it pays to buy ahead! Price: $1.00
2-pack of tape – needed this too! Price: $1.00
1 hummingbird feeder – just for fun! I’ve been wanting a hummingbird feeder for a while, because we get a lot of them in the backyard. Price: $1.00
There was also an additional $1.40 fee for sales tax, since we were in Washington.
Posted in Dollar Tree | 1 Comment »
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
 Here’s my $14.99 hoodie and “Secret Rewards Card” from the last Victoria’s Secret promotion. This hoodie is exactly what I was looking for, so I’m very happy with it. I won’t know the value of my rewards card until I try shopping with it in April, so I’ll let you know what happens!
Did you order anything during this promo? If so, what did you get?
Posted in Online deals | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Sunday was the big freezer cooking day – here’s what I made and how it turned out!
The first thing on my list was freezer burritos, inspired by this great recipe at Cheri’s Fabulous Foods. First, I cooked up some black beans, pinto beans, and red beans:
 Then I put some of my free Mahatma rice in the cooker with chopped tomato, onion, cilantro, carrot, broccoli, and Chipotle seasoning salt for extra flavor:
 I cooked some chicken and carne asda meat that were in my freezer stockpile, and set up a burrito assembly line:
 I filled each burrito with rice, meat, 3 kinds of beans, and cheese. For a great video on assembling burritos, click here. The tip about heating the tortillas helped so much!
 I wrapped the burritos in foil and placed them inside gallon freezer bags.
 I had a lot of cooked chicken left over, as I had planned. This is great to have on hand to make quick meals – I packaged it in several bags so that I can thaw out small portions for sandwiches, quesadillas, salads, stir frys, etc. I also had a little carne asda meat left, along with a lot of cooked beans – did you know that you can freeze those too? All of these frozen ingredients will save me time later on.
So here’s what I ended up freezing:
 32 burritos, 1 small bag of carne asada meat, 4 bags of cooked chicken, 2 bags of pinto beans, 2 bags of black beans, and two bags of red beans.
I also marinated and cooked two steaks, and chopped some onion to put in the freezer:
 And there you have it – my most recent freezer cooking efforts!
Posted in Coupon Menu Corner | 10 Comments »
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
Here’s what I bought on Saturday in anticipation of my freezer cooking marathon. There is no photo for this trip – because I forgot to take one!! I set all the groceries out nicely on the kitchen table for a picture…but apparantly put them away before I actually took the photo. Oops!
Total before coupons: 90.65
Total spent: Put $1.14 on my Safeway gift card from MyBlogSpark, spent $58.75 out of pocket
View receipt #1
View receipt #2 (refund)
Got:
4 lbs of C&H sugar – on sale for $2.95, used a .55/1 coupon from the 3/14 Red Plum newspaper insert, which doubled; final price: $1.90
1 bag of red beans – price: $1.34
1 bag of pinto beans – price: $1.34
1 bag of black beans – price: $1.34
2 Maruchan Yakisoba bowls – on sale for $1.00 each, used a $1.00/2 coupon from the 3/14 Smart Source newspaper inserts, which doubled; final price: .50 cents for both
1 package of bouillon cubes – price: $1.50
3 packages of tortillas – price: $2.50 each; grand total: $7.50
1 bottle of Holland House cooking wine – regularly $4.79, used one free coupon that I received in the mail (see next item) – final price: Free
1 bottle of Nakano rice vinegar – regularly $3.39, used one free coupon that I received in the mail – final price: Free. These coupons were a surprise to me; I got a letter in the mail with them that said, “Welcome to the NAKANO Splash Recipe Club! Thank you for visiting our website, www.mizkan.com to register.” If you want to sign up for the “Splash Recipe Club”, click here. I can’t guarantee that you will receive coupons, since they don’t make any mention of it on the sign-up page, but it doesn’t hurt to register – who knows, maybe you’ll get a surprise too!
1 package of 30 gallon freezer bags – I was almost out of Ziplocs anyway, and these seemed like the best choice for freezer meals. Price: $2.99
1 package of 40 quart freezer bags – price: $2.99
1 bottle of bleach – out of this too! Price: $1.79
Two 32 ounce bags of cheese – price: $4.49 each – $8.98 total
1/2 gallon of half & half – price: $3.99
1 lb of butter – regularly $2.99, used a coupon from the Safeway sales flier to bring the price down to $1.99
1 box of Popsicles – regularly $3.99, used a free coupon that I won in a Twitter contest – final price: Free
1 gallon of milk – price: $2.39
50 square feet of recycled Reynolds Wrap foil -regularly $2.99, used a $1.00/1 coupon from a booklet that I found in Safeway a while ago, which doubled – final price: $1.49
2 packages of scrubber sponges – regularly $3.99 each; Safeway had a sale where if you bought 3 participating cleaning items, the price would come down to $1.99 each. We needed sponges, and this worked out to be the lowest price on them. Final cost: $3.98 for both
1 bottle of Mr. Clean – part of the “Buy 3” sale mentioned above, making it $1.99 – used one .75/1 coupon from the Home Made Simple coupon booklet, which doubled; final price: .74 cents. I chose this as my third item because I only wanted two packages of sponges, and since I had a coupon for this it lowered my total out of pocket cost.
1 bottle of Gillette shaving gel – I was out of this, too! Price: $2.29
2 packages of ground turkey – regularly $4.99 each, Safeway was running a 48-hour sale which made them $1.99 each. Final price: $3.98
2.57 lbs of oranges – price: $2.52
4.15 lbs of broccoli – on sale for .78 cents a pound, but it initially rang up at $1.79 per pound; so first I paid $7.43, then I received a refund of $4.55, making my final total spent $2.88.
2 avocados – price: .49 cents each, total cost: .98 cents
.57 lbs of Red Roma tomatoes – $1.99 per pound, final price: $1.13
1 head of cilantro – price: .99 cents
5 lb bag of onions – price: $2.99
10 lb bag of potatoes – price: $1.78
2 lb bag of carrots – price: $1.29
1 pineapple – regularly $3.99, used a rain check that I had to bring the final price down to $1.00.
I also received a 10% discount – you see, recently Jai got a flier in the mail from Safeway telling him he would receive a 10% discount on all purchases made with his club card this month. I don’t know why they selected him and not me, but I quickly confiscated his card – ha ha! The 10% discount took off $8.95 – the great thing is that it calculates the discount based on your pre-coupon total, although certain items like milk don’t qualify for it.
Now we have all the supplies for freezer cooking – tune in tomorrow to see what I made during the big cooking day!
Posted in Coupon Menu Corner, Safeway | 2 Comments »
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