Category Archives: couponing

Back Into Couponing!

While I was super sick in the fall and early winter, I decided not to coupon. I just didn’t have time or energy. That’s what is nice about having a stockpile of necessities – we only had to buy one or two necessities during those months without coupons!

Now I’m back in action, rebuilding our stockpile before Baby Deuce arrives. I know I won’t have time for couponing during her first few months! I’ve just been back in action for a week, and I’ve already snagged a couple fantastic deals.

After accounting for my $5 gift card to use for a future purchase, Target actually paid me a few cents for these toothbrushes this week!

free toothbrushes

We also stocked up on Hubster’s deodorant and snagged four Old Spice brand deodorants for $1.75 each.

And…it’s always worth checking the baby clearance section, because I found these three pairs of Cherokee jeans for Baby Deuce to grow into for just $3 each! That’s cheaper than I can buy them on consignment. Woohoo!

target clearance jeans

7 Tips to Save Your Family More Than $4,000/Year

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7 Tips to Save More Than 4000 Year.jpg

We all like to save money. What started out as a necessity in our household has become somewhat of a game for me. How much money can I save during this shopping trip? How can we save an extra $20 this month? Can we get by on $25 worth of groceries this week (without going hungry)? It’s my own personal challenge.

Here are 7 money-saving tips that save our family more than $4,000 each year.

I cut my spouse’s hair. Hubster needs a haircut every 4-5 weeks, and he’d spend at least $20 each time. We purchased a haircut/trim kit for $40 and now we save $200-250/year.
We eat at home. Unless we have a gift card, we dine in almost every night. Instead of spending $20 on a weekly pizza or $40 at a restaurant once/week, we save $1,000-2,000/year.
I grocery shop based on weekly sales. Except for the staple items (in our household: bread, milk, yogurt), I plan our weekly menu based on what’s on sale that week. We now typically spend $50/week or less on groceries instead of around $75+. That’s a savings of at least $1,300/year.
We purchase C’s clothes second-hand. Unless I find an amazing deal (like the Old Navy toddler slippers I just bought for $3.33!), I purchase C’s clothes at a store for used children’s clothing. I find name-brand clothes that look new for around $3-5 per shirt (retail: $8-20) and $3-6 for pants (retail: $7-25). I’ve even found shoes for him and they have never cost more than $8/pair. It’s a great deal! We save about $300-1,000/year this way, depending on the size of C’s wardrobe and how many sizes he grows out of each year.
We own one car. Luckily, we’re in a situation in which Hubster can walk to work. We’ve decided to share a car, thereby halving our insurance and maintenance costs. This saves us at least $1,200/year.
I coupon for diapers. If you want to learn how to coupon, see Couponing 101 and 201. The bottom line: I never purchase diapers unless I can buy them for less than 18 cents/diaper (they retail at 25+ cents/diaper). This adds up to an average savings of at least $150/year.
I stock up on essentials during sales. This includes cleaning supplies, toothpaste, deodorant, diapers, etc. I only purchase toilet paper 3-4 times each year. I love stocking up on things at Target, because they often run gift card promotions. Last week, I purchased two 24-packs of our toilet paper of choice. I found printable manufacturer coupons online and also received a $5 Target gift card for future use. Combining the sale, manufacturer coupons and gift card, I saved $8 and we won’t need to purchase TP until summer! Stocking up on essentials during sales saves us hundreds of dollars/year.

Online Couponing with the Coupon Chief

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Since embarking on motherhood, the amount of online shopping I do has increased exponentially. It’s so much easier for me to click around online in between entertaining C than it is to go out shopping in between naps, meals and tantrums (his, not mine!).

As you know, I never pay full price for anything. My inbox is flooded every day with store newsletters and emails from daily deals sites. It can be a little obnoxious at times, but it also guarantees that I never miss a good sale on something I need.

The awesome thing about shopping online is that you can pair store sales with coupon codes to save even more money! I enjoy using Coupon Chief, because they have an extensive catalog of more than 100,000 coupon codes for over 30,000 stores. You can search for your favorite store in their alphabetical listing.

My favorite place to shop online? Old Navy. Almost all of my maternity clothes are from Old Navy, and a lot of C’s and Hubster’s clothes are from there as well. I also recently took advantage of a big sale that The Children’s Place was having and bought C some clothes for the summer. I was able to find extra savings via coupon codes on Coupon Chief. I love to save some money!

If you like to support a good cause while you shop, check out Coupon Chief’s Coupons-4-Causes program. When you use their coupons for online shopping, they will donate 20 percent of the purchase to your favorite charity, school or church. I enjoy when a company helps consumers give back to their communities.

They also offer a Pays-2-Share program that compensates you for submitting your own coupon codes. To participate in this program, sign up to be a member of Pays-2-Share, upload your coupon codes and track how many people use your codes on your “my account” page. Every time someone uses your coupon code, you’ll earn 2 percent of the sales via check or PayPal. How cool is that?

If you’re on Google+, be sure to +1 CouponChief.com!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by CouponChief.com. The opinions above are 100% my own.

Another Day, Another Dollar

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It’s the beginning of a new week, which means that I have my coupons clipped, scouted the best deals, and sorted lists and coupons by store!

Ready, Set, Save!

I’m so glad that I’m able to contribute to our finances with couponing. Standing at the checkout and watching my total come down with the scanning of each coupon is an awesome high. It’s like a game to see what I can get for $1 or less each week.

Since Hubster will be without a paycheck between grad school and his professional position (wherever that may be, and when he might start is still TBD), I’m stocking up on all the goods that we will need. My hope is that groceries will be our only expense during that period of time. I only need a few more things to complete our list!

Do you coupon?

Score FREE Desitin Diaper Cream at Target!

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I am *so* excited to share this deal with you! Right now, there is an unadvertised deal at Target on Desitin Diaper Cream…and an unadvertised sale.

The unadvertised deal is that you will get a $5 Target gift card when you purchase three Desitin Diaper Cream products, through 2/4. The unadvertised sale is that the purple box of Desitin that says “20% more” is ringing up as $2.48. You can score three boxes for free when you print three of these coupons and combine them with the sales: $1.00/1 – Desitin Diaper Rash product, Any (excludes 1 oz.) – (smartsource.com) . You may need to use two computers in order to print three of these, but I was able to do it with one computer.

At Target, you will need to find the purple boxes of Desitin that say “20% more.” I found them on an endcap in the baby department with the Johnson’s Baby products that were on sale. Grab three boxes and find a price check scanner to make sure that they ring up as $2.48 each. You’ll end up paying $4.44 and you’ll receive that $5 Target gift card for future use, resulting in three boxes of FREE Desitin!!!

Enjoy!

Couponing 201: Strategy and Cost Standards

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Here is lesson two in my couponing series! You can find the first one, Couponing 101, here. Today we’ll go more in-depth about couponing strategy.

I’ve found that it’s best to purchase two newspapers each week. Be sure to check to see if the coupon inserts are inside before buying your papers! There are people that steal coupon inserts or sometimes a paper gets missed in the stuffing process, but you don’t want to get home and discover that they’re missing. You can also find great coupons online via Answers.com coupons.*

I tend to cut out every coupon, with the exception of products that I will never find use for (i.e. pet food, because I don’t have pets). Once in a while, there may be an item on sale that you can turn into a moneymaker when you coupon. Matching your coupons from multiple inserts together will save time when it comes to shopping preparations. Next, I sort the coupons into categories and put them into envelopes for each category. For example, a few of my envelopes are: Baby, Makeup/Lotion, and Toothpaste/Toothbrushes/Mouthwash.

Each Saturday, I visit The Krazy Coupon Lady to view each store’s upcoming sales that will go into effect on Sunday. I have a couponing notebook, in which I write down exactly what I’m going to purchase, how much it is on sale for, the coupons I will use and the final price. I pull the coupons I need from my envelopes, then put them in separate envelopes corresponding with each store where I will shop. I like to shop on Sunday or Monday to ensure that the items I want are in stock.
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Now…let’s talk dollars and cents.

I’ve learned a lot in my past four months of couponing. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, too! After watching sales cycles for this long, I know what price point items need to reach before I decide to stock up. If you need certain items, you may not be able to wait for these price points; but once you have a small stockpile then you can be picky. I have about 4 tubes of toothpaste, and several deodorants and hair products on hand. That’s about as large as my “stockpile” will get.

Shampoo/Conditioner/Styling Products: $1 or less
My favorite brands are Dove and Aussie. I also use Pantene’s line of products for curly hair. The most I’ve paid for Dove and Pantene is 65 cents per product, and you can routinely find Aussie for $1 at CVS or Walgreens. There are many other brands that go on sale – I just haven’t purchased others yet, so I can’t recall the pricing of them! If you’re looking for a medicated shampoo, you’ll occasionally be able to find Head and Shoulders for $1.99.

Deodorant: 75 cents or less
In the past few months, we’ve stocked up on Old Spice, Irish Spring and Dove Men+Care for Hubster. I admit that I paid $1.50 when I started, but now I know better! Hubster has enough on hand right now that I can be picky and wait until it’s 75 cents or less. For me, I’ve held out for sales on Dove deodorant. I’ve seen many sales for Secret and Arrid, though.

Toothpaste: 50 cents or less
I used to purchase the cheap 74-cent toothpaste at Walmart, but now I realize that I can get Crest or Colgate for even cheaper. Match coupons with sales and store offers (Target gift cards, ExtraBucks at CVS or Register Rewards at Walgreens) and you can get name-brand toothpaste for less than 50 cents – and sometimes FREE! When a new toothpaste comes on the market, it’s basically a guarantee that you can find it for free somewhere.

Mouthwash: $1.50 or less
Hubster is currently using pink Barbie Listerine Smart Rinse for kids because I got it for free! He may not want to show off his Barbie mouthwash, but it was free and it does the job. :) Listerine Zero is a relatively new product, so you can expect to find some great deals on it right now. The best deals are typically on the 500 mL bottles, but once in a while you can get a large bottle for very cheap (especially in a different brand, such as Crest).

Toilet Paper: varies by brand
The best toilet paper deals are on Cottonelle. One week, I scored Cottonelle for about 12 cents/roll at Walgreens; but we hated it. I’ve decided to only purchase Scott Extra Soft. I wait until I can match a coupon with a store sale. Sometimes you’re just willing to pay more for certain items!

Feminine Products: $4.50 or less
Even with couponing, tampons and pads are still rather expensive. However, you can get some awesome deals at drug stores. I’ve been able to get an 8-pack of Walgreens brand tampons for free, as well as a 20-pk of Carefree liners at CVS. Keep in mind that these are with Register Rewards and ExtraBucks offers. You can also get good deals on name-brand products when you combine coupons with store sales and offers. Target often offers a gift card deal when you purchase a certain dollar amount in Playtex products. Walgreens and CVS also offer store rewards that you can combine with coupons and sales for a deep discount.

Dish Soap: 74 cents or less for a small bottle
Since I started couponing, I only purchase my dish soap at CVS. They regularly put name-brand dish soap on sale for 99 cents and there are often 25-50 cent coupons in the newspaper inserts. I have enough in my stockpile now that I will only purchase it when I have a 50 cent coupon to combine with the store sale.

Diapers: 16 cents/diaper or less
Target is hands-down the best place to find deals on diapers. I *love* Target. Target often runs a sale where you can get a $5 or $10 gift card for purchasing two or three packs of diapers (the $10 gift card is offered when the huge boxes are on sale). Sometimes they also have store coupons for diaper purchases. That means that you can combine a manufacturer coupon with a store coupon AND the sale – resulting in a huge savings. The best deal that I ever got was 8 cents/diaper on Luvs at Target; but other than that one occasion, I typically purchase Pampers or Huggies. I’ve found that couponing makes diapers cheaper than what I could get through shopping clubs or programs like Amazon Mom.

Baby Wipes: 0.0069 cents/wipe
My cost standard for wipes are the Up&Up brand from Target. The refills come in 240-count bags and cost $4.99 for a 3-pack. It is extremely rare to find a deal on name-brand wipes for less than that. My best wipes deal was using a coupon for $1 off a $3 or higher Up&Up item (found on Target.com). The 9-pack of wipes was on sale and I got that for $11-something after the coupon. AMAZING DEAL!

If you would like to hear cost standards for any items that I didn’t mention, please leave your request in the comments! I’ll be happy to help!

*Diclosure: I have been compensated by Answers.com coupons to include their link in this post. The opinions and information in this post are entirely my own.

Couponing 101

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By popular demand, I bring to you some basic couponing tips! A coworker of Hubster’s taught me how to coupon nearly five months ago and it has become a hobby of mine. The following are tips that she taught me as well as things that I have learned since I started couponing. Happy savings!

The most common coupon inserts are SmartSource and Red Plum. These come out weekly. P&G has coupon inserts every once in a while and they are packed full of savings.
Not every newspaper offers both inserts. It’s okay to check for the inserts before you buy; however, taking inserts is considered stealing.
Depending how committed you are to couponing, you may choose to purchase more than one paper each week. You’ll end up getting better deals when you buy more than one item. I purchase two papers and have only missed out on maybe two or three big deals in the past five months by not having more than two coupons for an item.
Clip every coupon. You may not think you will use that brand or item, but it may end up being a moneymaker one week. You can always give that item to someone else! (There are exceptions. For example, I don’t clip coupons for pet food, because we don’t have pets.)
If you’re committed to getting things for free or dirt cheap, you need to be open to trying different brands.
That being said, it is possible to get decent deals on brands you are loyal to, but the deals might only come along every few months.
Forget about monthly shopping trips. When you coupon, you shop weekly and probably at a few different stores.
Manufacturers love consumers who clip out a coupon and run to the store right away to purchase that item. Instead of saving only 25 cents, hold onto your coupons to match them with store sales. You’ll get deep savings this way!
Clearing a store shelf is not good couponing etiquette. This is a common complaint among the couponing community because it makes couponers look bad!
Most couponers are NOT like the ones on TV. You don’t need to build shelving in your home to store 8,000 boxes of cereal, and you won’t save 99% all the time. But you can easily save 50% or more.
Your grocery bill probably will not change much, unless you coupon for cereals or snacks. You don’t really find coupons for produce or meat.
The best times of the day to coupon are when it’s not too busy – early in the morning or at night. You’ll avoid hurried cashiers and customers.
Name brand items are often significantly cheaper than store brands when you coupon.

Here are some specific things I’ve found out through experience. Thought I’d save you some time and money as you learn to bargain-hunt!

If you’re paying more than 75 cents for toothpaste, you’re paying too much!
You can easily get toothbrushes for free. I have about 4 in our cabinet right now that I got for free.
I’m often able to stock up on feminine products for super cheap. If you get into shopping at Walgreens or CVS, you will be able to get free items at least once per month.
I never pay more than $1 for shampoo, conditioner or deodorant. (Exceptions: medicated shampoos like Head & Shoulders)
I never pay more than 15 cents/diaper. The best diaper deals can be found at Target. You can pair manufacturer coupons and Target coupons with a diaper sale and save BIG. I end up buying 2-3 jumbo bags or boxes at a time. My best deal was 8 cents/diaper at Target!

The Krazy Coupon Lady is the site that I use to find the best deals. You are able to use their site to search weekly deals at your favorite store. I subscribe to the site in my Google Reader and am able to quickly scan all new posts for things that I can use. Couponing has helped me to save a significant amount of money and contribute to our budget. It’s the equivalent of a part-time job and, as a SAHM, I love being able to contribute in that way.

Be sure to check out Couponing 201 for further couponing tips!

Free and Super-Cheap Items – Week of 7/24

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Here are some of the awesome deals I found around town this week. For more information on how to coupon at Walgreens (it’s the trickiest drugstore to shop in, but has fantastic savings!) or CVS, The Krazy Coupon Lady site has the best information!

Walgreens

Scunci Hair Elastics, 18 ct., $1.50
Buy 2, receive $3 Register Reward
FREE

Dentek Flosser, $2.99
$1/1 coupon from smartsource.com
$2 Register Reward
FREE

Irish Spring Antiperspirant, $3
Use 2 $1/1 coupons from Smart Source 7/24
$4 Register Reward when purchase 2
FREE with 2

Huggies Baby Wipes, 64-72 ct, $2.49
$1/1 coupon from Walgreens July Coupon Booklet
50 cents/1 coupon from Smart Source 7/17
99 cents

W Perfection Tampons, 8 ct, $1.50
$1.50 Register Reward
FREE

CVS

Palmolive, 99 cents
25 cents off coupon from 7/24 paper (can’t recall if it was Smart Source or Red Plum!)
74 cents

U by Kotex liners, 40-60 ct, $3.49
$1 off coupon from Smart Source 7/24
$2 ExtraBucks
49 cents

Aussie shampoo, conditioner, styler, $2.49 each
Purchase one shampoo or conditioner and one styler
$3 off coupon from Proctor Gamble 7/3 (coupon adjusted to $2.49, so you get one item free)
$2.49

This Week’s Deals Around Town

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I’ve recently gotten into couponing and here are the deals that I found around town this week:

Target
Buy 10 SmartWater (20 oz) or VitaminWater for $10, get a 6-pk of 20 oz SmartWater free
There are B2G1 coupons on Target.com for VitaminWater. I chose to get SmartWater, so ended up getting 16 bottles for about 62.5 cents each. The savings will be greater if you use 2 of those coupons and get VitaminWater.

Pampers Swaddlers, on sale for $19.79
Used a Target coupon for a free $5 gift card when you purchase 2 boxes of 70-ct or higher Pampers
Used 2 coupons for $1.50 off any Pampers diapers
Final Price: $15.79 each

Sharpies, pack of 2, on sale for $1
Used Target.com coupon for $1 off any Sharpie item
FREE Sharpies

Scotch Magic Tape, on sale for $1
Used Target.com coupon for 50 cents off Scotch Tape
Final Price: 50 cents

CVS
Pantene Pro-V Shampoo, Conditioner or Styling Product
2/$6.97
Use $3 off two coupon from the SmartSource ad a few weeks ago, or the typical coupon in most weeks’ is $1.50 or $2 off of 2
Earn $2 ExtraBucks
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Final Price: $1.97 for 2
Final Out-of-Pocket Price: $3.97 for 2

Crest Toothpaste
$1.99
Use 75 cents off coupon from this week’s SmartSource
Earn $1 ExtraBuck
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Final Price: 24 cents
Final out of pocket price: $1.24

2 Oral B Indicator Toothbrushes
$1.99 each ($3.98 total)
Use $2 off 2 coupon from this week’s SmartSource
Earn $1 ExtraBuck on each ($2 EB total)
—
Final Price: 2 cent MONEYMAKER!
Final out of pocket price: $1.98 for 2

Walmart
Duncan Hines snack size brownies, 94 cents
Used a SmartSource online coupon for 50 cents off any Duncan Hines brownies
Final Price: 44 cents

Did you find any fabulous deals this week?

I got $40-worth of stuff for $0.66 at CVS!

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This was my first week of 98% savings and I am SO excited!

The original price of the merchandise was $40.03, minus the sale prices from my CVS card, a few manufacturer coupons, and some ExtraBucks that I had earned last week…and I only paid $0.66 out of pocket and even walked out with $8.79 in ExtraBucks that I can use in the next few weeks. :)

Here are the major deals that I found there this week:

RepHresh Brilliant tampons, on sale for $5.79. Click here for a $1.00 manufacturer coupon. CVS is offering $5.79 in ExtraBucks with your CVS ExtraCare card. Final price: $1.00 MONEYMAKER.
2 Dove Men + Care Deodorants, on sale for $3.50 each
2 Dove Men + Care Body Washes, on sale for $5.00 each
Buy One, Get One Free coupon for Men+Care Body Wash and a $2.00/1 Dove Men+Care Deodorant from Red Plum insert of this Sunday’s newspaper. If you purchase two papers, you can use two of the deodorant coupons. Pay $8.00, receive $5.00 in ExtraBucks. Final price: $0.75 each.
1L SmartWater, on sale for 5/$5. Receive $2 in ExtraBucks. Final price: 5/$3.

Then I used $16.99 in ExtraBucks that I had earned last week. It.was.awesome.

I’m not sure if I can ever get to the point where I’m saving 98+% at other stores, but I did get some awesome deals at Target as well. Old Spice deodorant and body wash is on sale and I had a B1G1 coupon. Playtex tampons are on sale, I had a $1.50/2 coupon and you’re supposed to get a $5 Target gift card with the purchase of two (I got home to realize that the gift card wasn’t triggered at checkout for me. Bummer.).

Basically, Hubster is stocked up on deodorant and body wash for quite some time and I have a ginormous supply of tampons. But it’s stuff that we will use – I never plan to stock up on things that we won’t use! For those of you that would like to become a Coupon Ninja, one of my favorite new sites is The Krazy Coupon Lady. There’s some fabulous information on there and they do all the work for you. (This week, I found most of these CVS sales on my own before checking their site, so I was pretty proud! haha).

I Love Coupons

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I think couponing is a way of embracing my new role as a stay-at-home mom. While I do work from home, I also recognize the need to save money and keep a tight budget since we don’t have two full-time incomes. Diapers are expensive, aren’t they?! ;)

Usually, I plan our meals around the weekly sales at the grocery store. This week I took it a step further. We went through our freezer and are planning on using up everything that we have in there. It’s amazing what you accumulate and forget about. I only purchased produce that was on sale. In fact, with the exception of a couple items, everything that we purchased was on sale this week. After I handed over the coupons – get this! – I saved $20! TWENTY DOLLARS! I was SO excited!

One of Hubster’s coworkers is really into couponing and offered to teach me some strategies before she moves away to take a different job this summer. I’m pumped to learn more about saving money for our family.

Do you have a shopping strategy?