Where Do You Get Your Coupons?

This is probably the #1 question I get asked. I often end up with multiple copies of the same coupon which of course, I love! But how do I do it?

1. I subscribe to the Washington Post - which is our major newspaper - for $12.00 every six months it's a bargain. I only get the paper on Sunday (the inserts come on Saturdays) so it doesn't clutter up my house with newspapers. It's worth the savings to subscribe to a major newspaper.

2. I subscribe to a local newspaper. This is kind of a fluke but I signed up for it on a whim at a grocery store (no longer under my budget!) but it has paid off in dividends - I get a second copy of the coupons on Sundays.

3. My local paper - I get a free paper every week and it has at least one of the coupons inserts in it (Smartsoucre and/or Red Plum).

4. Papers or flyers that come in the mail - I check them all and I often come up with another copy of the coupons.

5. Ask friends and family to save coupons they don't need. I have 2 friends and my mom save coupons for me so I have another copy of the good coupons.

6. Ebay. Weird, huh? Paying for coupons. Well, legally you are not paying for the coupons you are paying for the person's time to collect them and/or cut them out but I just ordered 6 copies of the Unilever insert that did not come in my paper for $3.00. Since my savings will far outweigh the small cost I find it a great deal. And I was a little annoyed that these great coupons were not in any of my papers.

7. Websites - here are the ones I use most frequently - for more go HERE.

www.coupons.com
www.RedPlum.com
www.SmartSource.com

8. Manufacturers sites. I believe Cherie has mentioned this before check out manufacturers sites and see if they have any special offers. Generally by signing up you can get a coupon or two from them.

Let me know if you have other thoughts or get your coupons from other places.

Safeway Take 2

So, I think I have a slightly better handle on the Safeway promotion but man is it a lot harder then having a list printed out for me!! I know, I'm lazy but seriously to do this promotion I've scoured blogs and websites to find the coupons and the deals that I will actually use since we don't tend to eat taste-free products.

I know, horrible but seriously I like a little fat in my food :) Bad mama!!

I ended up doing 2 transactions once again.

First time around I spent $23.61
I saved: $20.86 with sales an coupons and earned a $10 coupon - of course it didn't print I had to go to customer service and ask for a coupon which wasn't a coupon but that didn't matter till the 2nd transaction.



2nd transaction I did better - after fixing the $10 coupon issue (manager just credited me the $10) and using coupons -

I spent: $13.89
And saved: $23.79

I also got a $10 coupon along with 2 $2.00 coupons for the water so I got $14.00 back meaning I made $0.11 on the transaction! Not much but I'll take it :)



I had an issue with the coupon printing the 2nd time around as well and had to see the manager again who just signed my receipt for $10 off the next time. They were very nice about it but I think the whole thing is a tad frustrating to them. There are 3,000 participating products but they are not all marked. Like my bread (Nature's Own) - there was no tag but it was on the list.

So, your tag may print and it may not but if not just check with the manager in the nicest way possible and they should be of assistance.

As for this week - the water deal is still going on - if you buy 2 6 packs of Deer Park water for $1.99 you will get a $2.00 coupon off your next order.

Check Moneywise Moms for the best list of deals - she does a great job of sharing everything she bought and where she got the coupons and on my limited time I can certainly use her help!



Also go HERE TODAY ONLY!!! to get a rebate for Reynolds Wrap made from 100% recycled aluminum. Essentially you get one roll free up to $3.99 but you have to print it today!! Did I mention you had to do it today before midnight?? It's an Earth Day thing.

Get out there and start saving!!

Free Food!

Check out your local Ben and Jerry's today for a free scoop of ice cream.
The special is available between 12 noon and 8pm today.

You can also check out your local Dunkin' Donuts today and recieve an iced coffee for 50 cents!

Enjoy!

Made It To HT

I ended up making it to HT yesterday even after my yummy dinner with Cherie. We had a great time and I paid cash I had set aside! No guilt :)

Here's what I got:



I spent $29.83
I saved $61.56

Here's the thing - my HT has been sending out $20 off your $50 purchase which has been wonderful but last night I had to go back for some more things to hit the $50 - what I spent is the absolute lowest I could spend and still use the coupon (my total before the coupon was $50.33).

Best deals this week:

Bagel-fuls normally $2.69 - on sale for $2.19 - used a $1.00 off coupon (Smartsource 4/19) - paid $1.19.

Shout Stain remover - $3.49 each - on sale for buy one get one free - both bottles had a $0.55 coupon on them (they did NOT double) but I paid $1.20 for each bottle.

Pop Secret popcorn - regular price $2.99 - on sale for buy 2 get 3 free - used a $0.50 off coupon - final price was $1.00 a box.

I have definitely found that some weeks are better then others. Last week HT had a large number of sales and this week not as much. But by going every week I stock up on the sales and have enough stored away that I don't need that much.

By buying what's on sale and not really what I "need" I ultimately spend less and as the weeks go on I'm actually spending less and less but I still have plenty of food to feed my family for the entire week. I rarely spend more in a trip then I used to whenever I ran in because I "forgot something" but now I go in with a purpose and buy what I need.

I do enjoy hearing what you all save so please continue to share!

1st Safeway Trip

I had some time this afternoon so I took the oppourtunity to run to Safeway while the girls were napping. I scoured other blogs for the deals they used and the coupons they used to come up with a handful that I could work with on my first trip - I'm determined to do even better the next time around but I didn't think I did too bad today :)



This is actually a photo of my combined 2 trips - let me explain -

First trip:

I spent $23.56
I saved $27.79 (after coupons/sales)
And I earned $10 back

Then I did a second trip to buy the grapes, Pepsis and Doritos which were $10 for 3 12 packs and 2 bags of chips and I spent $1.94 after using my $10 off coupon.

So, my whole total spent was $25.50

A few things I learned -

Coupons do NOT count against your total. Doesn't seem right I know but it's true. If the item is on sale for $2.00 then that goes towards your total but if you also have a $1.00 off coupon then it does not mean you have to buy another $1.00 item to reach the $30.00 - this I had to see for myself to believe. But it means you could spend $10 and get $10 back - very cool! Yes, I'm going to figure out a way :)

Not all qualifying items are marked really well - a lot of them had the tag that said it was a participating item but I purchased Pasta Roni which was not clearly marked and I could not have achieved $30 without them so clearly they are a part of the promotion.

The $10 is off anything not just items indicated in the sale. I wasn't 100% sure and couldn't find the answer anywhere so in case you were wondering you can buy anything in the store and save $10 off.

Best deals -

Pasta Roni/Rice Roni are on sale at $0.89 a piece - I used a $1.00 off three coupon from here making them just $0.56 a piece

Finish Powerball Electrosol Tabs - normally $5.99 - on sale for $3.99/each - there's a $2.50 off coupon in today's Smartsource coupon flyer making them $1.49 each and getting me $3.99 closer to my $30 total! I had 2 coupons.

Caprisun Sunrise juice box drinks - normally $2.50 - on sale for $1.99/each - there's a $1.00 off coupon in today's Smartsource coupon flyer making them $0.99 each. Also, when you walk into the store there's a flyer with more coupons and it contains a $0.50 off Caprisun coupon (you can only use one per transaction).

As I said yesterday lots of other blogs list the sales out in real detail so follow my link from then to find more - these are just examples of how I did.

While I am very excited about this promotion and happy about how I did - this is an example of why I use the Grocery Game instead of doing it myself. There was a LOT more leg work involved to track everything down and find all the coupons as opposed to a list that tells me "buy this, save this". This is an example of how triplets really effects my bottom line - I don't have all the time in the world to look everthing up or to store hope but I NEED to save money. I have way too many mouths to feed to pay full price!!

Safeway Deals

Safeway is generally not my store but I always check their ads because they often have some pretty good deals.

This week is no exception - in fact that have a HUGE list of items that if you spend $30 on you get $10 back in Catalina bucks which is essentially means you will get a ticket at the register for $10 off your next order.

There are TONS of deals and coupons to be had and used. I have yet to head that way but I am planning to and will let you know how I do when I go. Of course, I'll make my normal HT run but not tomorrow. Tomorrow I will be celebrating with Cherie in honor of her birthday!

Yea, Happy Birthday Cherie!!

For Safeway deals (and their sister stores) - head here:

Want To Buy Organic?

I may know a little about coupons but I know next to nothing about going organic. We haven't made the switch - the expense, the taste, the variety. I don't know - we haven't gotten there.

But a lot of my friends have and they have complained about the expense and the lack of coupons.

While I am no means an expert on this subject I have come across a few places that you could check out in order to save money on organic foods.

Check out:

Organic Grocery Deals

Also, if you have joined the Grocery Game you may not know that there is a message board on the site that answers questions and shares what people have saved in their couponing "adventures". You may also not know that there is an entire thread on Organic and Whole Food Topics.

So, if you didn't think you could use the Grocery Game because it doesn't apply to say Whole Foods then I'd think again - you might still be able to buy great food at a discount and still stay organic!

Let me know if you try it and how it goes.