Super Double Deals and Sneak Peak at Tomorrow's Coupons!
2/20/2010
I just checked The Grocery Game to see what the deals are for the Super Double Week!
King's Hawaiian Snacker Rolls- use $1.00 coupon and buy them for .49 cents! 80% savings
Ken's Salad Dressing- use $1.00 on 2 coupon and they are FREE!
Kellogg's Raisin Bran- use $1.00 on 3 and get them for $1.10 each! 69% savings
Nabisco Cheese Nips- use $1.00 coupon and they are FREE!
Hefty Easy Grip Cups- use .50 cent coupon and they are FREE!
Purex Complete 3 in 1 Laundry Sheets- use $1.00 coupon and it is only $2.99! 57% savings
Comtrex Cold and Cough- use $1.50 coupon and it is FREE!
Sure Deodorant- use $1.00 coupon and it is only .35 cents! 85% savings
Edy's Ice Cream- use $1.00 coupon and it is only .99 cents! 84% savings
Go out and shop!
This is the kind of stuff you can find on The Grocery Game. I know I talk about HT all the time. That is really the only grocery store I shop at just because I don't have the time to go to several. If you shop like I do and only buy what is on special and what you have a coupon for you really save alot- especially since they double at least up to .99 cents every week! But you can find this info on all grocery stores- the internet really does make it so easy. I am not going to print out lists like this every week- that is what The Grocery Game and Southern Savers are for- I just want you to know the tools available to you!
If you like the list above then you should sign up for a free trial of The Grocery Game- it has really saved me thousands of $$'s!
Go to this link if you want to see what coupons will be in tomorrow's paper- get ahead of the game!
http://www.southernsavers.com/2010/02/221-sunday-coupon-insert-preview/
Thanks for reading!
jm
It's Organized!
2/18/2010
I promised I would tell you about the new way I am keeping everything organized. Finally, I got the pics on my computer so here we go! In order to understand how I decided to do things this way you have to see how I was keeping things together before. Take a look at these pics so you can see what I was dealing with......which was nothing short of a disaster!
When I started cutting coupons this is what I used. This was my mom's old coupon clutch that she gave to me. It worked perfectly for awhile because I was not that into it. I only cut the coupons that I saw in the paper of items I needed right then. I had no idea the whole science behind coupon cutting then until my mom heard about The Grocery Game. The Grocery Game has this whole section on their website about how to organize your coupons and I totally ignored it and kept doing it this way. I should have listened because I wasted so much time cutting every single coupon I saw. I could not even velcro this thing shut if I wanted to! One day Kate (my 2 yr.old) took it out of my purse and dropped it on the floor in the grocery store- all my coupons went everywhere! Can you imagine? All the "organized" shoppers were looking at me with pity in their eyes- so embarrasing! It took me weeks to get it back together. I say again- it was a disaster!
So then I ended up with this......
It was bigger- I thought it would work. It was a disaster too. This thing is not meant to be a coupon organizer! It is meant for receipts or bills. Trying to make this thing into grocery catergories was pretty much impossible and it was very hard to get anything in and out of it.
So then I had a big mess on my hands......
Coupons in both holders. A Months worth of coupons to still cut and about 100 coupons that were cut that needed a place to go and I had no where to put them! So I started doing some thinking. I have not seen one way to organize that will work for me. I don't like putting the coupons in the big binder in baseball card holders. That still requires you to cut everything. I don't like having everything in these little coupon books because they end up to full and cluttered- you can't find anything. I don't like how the grocery game just wants you to put the dates on the coupon inserts and stick them in a binder and then cut them when you use them according to her list. So- the best way for me was to combine a few different methods. Hopefully this will work for you too! Please leave me some comments about this or let me know what you do- I am sure this will be an ever evolving project!
The Grocery Game publishes a list every Friday for the grocery stores you shop at. It will tell you what is on sale, what coupon to use, what insert it was in and on what date. They color code the items based on if they are free, or the best deal you will get on this item-buy it, or only buy it if you need it. They also tell you the percentage saved. I typically only buy something if I am saving 50% or more. So with this list you do not need to cut all coupons. You just need to have the inserts in a clear protective sleeve in a binder- dated. Cut the coupon when you use it. This idea is great! See below.......
In one proteective sleeve I have all the inserts that were in the paper for that week- this one is for 2/7 and has 4 inserts in it. When the grocery game tells me that Tide is on sale and I have a .50 cent coupon in the Red Plum insert on 2/7 I know right where to go to cut the coupon. I took it one step further. Sometimes you need something and it is not going to be on any list because maybe it is not on special or you just don't have time to look at the list. For that- Southern Savers is great! They have a list of all of the coupons that were in the paper and list what insert they were in. See below.....
I just print that list out and put it in front of the the inserts for the week in the same clear protective sleeve.
Then I thought, what about the coupons I know I will use all the time even if it is not on sale- they are things we use everyday and I want them on hand all the time. For that I went back to my old way. I look through the coupons every week and if it is something I buy on a regular basis then I cut it and put it in a coupon organizer- a little one so it is not super bulky.
I bought this at Target for about $7. I had to make up my own categories but it gave you the labels to do it pretty easy. Jsut make categories that make sense to you. In the zipper portion I put my store specific coupons. In the very front is where I put my coupons that I will be using on a specific trip. Then with the coupons I use all the time I cut them and put them in their proper category.
So, thankfully there will be no more cutting a ton of coupons and trying to get them to fit somewhere
and I am done with having to go through monthly to throw out all the expired ones that I never used......
I think it will be so easy to keep up with now! Sorry for the long post today but I wanted to make sure I explained why I do it this way now. I hope it helped someone that will be reading this.
I feel like I could still write for hours but I will save that for future posts.
Thanks for reading!
jm
SUPER DOUBLE WEEK!
2/17/2010
I am a little disappointed that this weeks paper only had $55 worth of coupons in it. What's up with that? They think just because it is Valentine's Day that we don't want coupons? I guess having over $300 worth the week before makes up for it a little but seriously- only $55. That is just wrong.
On a better note- I have finally done it! I have organized the way I handle my coupons- I really needed to do that. I have pics I need to upload to show you what it was and what it looks like now.............but my memory stick will not work so that is going to have to wait until later. It is really going to make things so simple now! Can't wait to share it with you.
Anyways, BIG WEEK this week at HT! Super Double Coupons! That means they will double coupons up to $1.98 in face value. I get asked about this all the time. What that means is if you have a coupon for $1.50 they will actually give you $3.00 off. I think alot of times people think they can only get up to $1.98 off but what HT is saying is that they will double any coupon that has a face value of $1.98 or lower. So- this is the time to pull out your coupons for medicine, detergent, frozen meals, household cleaners, etc. Thank goodness for the WWW- you do not have to figure out what coupons to use. Go to this link: http://www.southernsavers.com/2010/02/harris-teeter-super-double-217/. It tells you all the deals that you will find at the HT stores this week and what coupons to use. I will cross-reference it with http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ on Friday to make sure nothing was missed. I like the way The Grocery Game lists the items and coupons the best but they do not update until Friday. If you can't wait until then Southern Savers is a great way to go and they have a ton of printable coupons to.
A couple of other good deals this week is their 50% off sale. Go to the deli and pick up some pre-sliced meats and cheeses. They taste so much better than what you find with the regular lunch meat and this week it is pretty much the same price if not lower! Banana's, Purex, Progresso, Roast Beef and fresh Chicken Breast are 50% off to!
Go to http://www.ht.com/ to sign up for evic if you haven't already. This weeks evic special is Barilla Pasta for $1.27. I always by the evic special no matter what it is - such a great deal! Pair this weeks evic special with the Buy 2 get 3 free Barilla Pasta and you have a really inexpensive meal!
Happy Shopping!
jm
Starting Out
2/11/2010
So, I have always wanted to start a blog but have never been able to figure out what to write about. Not for the lack of ideas but because I have too many of them! Do I write about being a mom to a 2 and 3 yr. old? Do I write about how I was once very successful and had not a worry in the world and then the real estate market crashed and so did my bank accounts? Do I write about my fruitless attempts to lose those 15 pounds, or about all the books I read or about the neighborhood I sell homes in for a builder? No- they all seem too common and it has all been said before. I still will probably throw some of this in here every now and then but right now my passion is coupons and saving money! I have learned so much over the past year on how to cut costs and I get asked about it all the time so now I am just going to lay it all out on this blog! I want to tell you about how there is a time and place for every coupon- you don't just use it the week you get it, you have to sit on it for a bit until it is worth the most! I want to tell you how to organize your coupon book. I want to tell you all the great websites out there for learning about all of this. I want to tell you about how my grocery bill used to be $1600 a month and now I have it down to $500 or less and I have more food in our home than ever!
My first task with this blog is for me to teach you how to organize your coupons. This will be a learning experience for me too because I have yet to master it but I think I have finally figured it out! I can't wait to see how much more I save once I am finally organized! I am a complete mess with it all right now. If I can figure out how to get pictures on this thing you will see for yourself. I have great news too- you do not have to cut coupons! Well, some of them you do but probably a lot less than what you are cutting right now.
Why Coupon Clique? Have you ever noticed when you are at the grocery and you have your coupon book laid out in the shopping cart and then you notice someone else with their coupon book? You kindof nod or smile to each other. Sometimes you even strike up a conversation and you end up comparing books and sharing the best deals. It is immediate acceptance and friendship- like a clique.
I hope you enjoy reading my blog and welcome to my clique!
-jm
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)