Coupon Contest

I wanted to let you all know that I am running a coupon giveaway over at my frugal blog: Coupon Queen of Corning. Come on over and enter to win over $75 in coupons. Contest begins today and ends Sunday May 10.

Couponing 101 Part 2

This is the second part of my article on the basics of couponing. If you would like to read the first part, click here.

I personally save any coupon for a product that I will buy if I can get it dirt cheap or even free. For example, we don't usually use Land O'Lakes butter,but I will put it in my coupon holder just in case. So, this week I do have a coupon for it for $.55 and I found it on sale for $1.69. It can be doubled at this store so I will paying $.59 for a pound a butter. Pretty good price huh? You know those coupons they have near products in the stores (they are called blinkies), grab a couple of them if it is for a product you might possibly use. Usually the product is not on sale anyway, so just put it in your holder.

Most store ads come out on Sunday. What I do to prepare on Saturday night is go through my coupons and throw out expired coupons. Besides getting rid of bad coupons, I am also refreshing my mind on what coupons I have. I also personally have a spreadsheet where I keep track of what coupons I have, when they expired and the quantity. I can easily delete and add more coupons and when I want to find a coupon I just click on control-f. I can also print this off and take it with me when I have a lot of coupons in my holder (which is the current state).

Many store ads are online, but you may have a local store that is not. I find it easier to look at a paper ad anyways, plus I am buying a paper for the coupons so why not make my life easier. The front page of the ad is where you will mostly find the best deals, these are commonly referred to as loss leaders. These are meant to lure you to the store and get you to spend money on other things that aren't on sale. Don't fall for this trick. Only buy things that are on sale!

Look through the ad and write down anything that seems like a good deal. You may want to start keeping a price book or a spreadsheet where you can write down who has the best regular prices on things. Be careful, because sometimes they may say it is on sale, but you're only saving pennies. Make sure you only write down things that you may use or eat. Buying stuff to only throw them away is wasteful and you are throwing your money in the garbage.

After looking through the ad, look through your coupons and see if any of them match the sale price. A $.40 coupon may not seem like a lot but if your store doubles coupons then that is really $.80 off that item, which may end up making it a pretty good price. Check with your store about their coupon policy. After looking through your coupons, go online to A Full Cup or CouponMom and see what printable coupons are out there that match your sale prices. Again, check with your individual store to see if they accept Internet coupons (Some Walmarts do and some don't).

Don't forget to look at ads for CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid if you have any of these near you. Many times you can get products for really cheap or even free. Walgreens has Register Rewards where if you buy a certain product or products you can get money off your next purchase at Walgreens. CVS also has a similar program, although I do not know the name of it since there is none around here. Rite Aid has rebates where you can get a certain amount back or you can even get it for free. Walgreens has rebates also, but they are ending and this will be the last month.

Put all your coupons that you plan to use in one spot. I usually paperclip mine together by store and place in the front pouch of my coupon holder. An envelope labeled with the store would also work really well. As you're walking through the store, don't forget to look at clearance items and other unadvertised sales while you are picking up the things on your list. You can really save some money if you can combine these with a coupon. This is really why I cut out any coupons I could possibly use. If I find something on clearance and have a coupon in my holder, I can usually get somethings for cheap. Plus you really never know what you will find on clearance where.

What I usually do as I am putting my items on the conveyor belt is keep a running total in my head. So then I know about how much my total is going to be. I can't always do this, because of the kids or whatever else, but I like to when I can. Make sure you give the cashier your store bonus card if there is one for that store before ringing up. Try to watch the prices as they are ringing up. It's a lot easier for the cashier to fix them at that point, then for you to have to wait at customer service for them to do it. After everything has been rung in correctly, hand the cashier your coupons and watch your total go down.

You may not pay $5 for $100 worth of products, but you will save. The more you use coupons and sales, the better you will get at it. Usually at grocery stores I can save about 50%. At drugstores, it is usually 60%-80%! Your savings will also depend on how good the sales are and what coupons are out at that time. Sometimes, you are just not going to find that good of deals and other times there will be tons. Make couponing and saving money a challenge and it will make it more fun. Shop several different stores as long as you are not going out of your way.

Happy couponing!

Please leave me any questions or comments.

Don't Forget - coupon giveaway

I just wanted to remind everyone to come over to my frugal site - www.couponqueenofcorning.com - and help me celebrate getting my own domain. I am giving away over $100 in coupons, so come on over and visit.

$100 Coupon Giveaway

Hi everybody, I am having a contest over at my new domain. Coupon Queen of Corning. I am giving away over $100 in coupons. Come visit my new domain and say hi.

Target bargains for the week of 4/5-4/11

Here are some good deals that are going on at Target this week.

- Hershey's and other bagged candy $1.99

- 12ct easter eggs $.65 and easter grass 1.5 oz $.25

- Disney, Dreamworks and other select dvds $6.99. I went looking for Madagascar 1 and 2 on Sunday since both were supposed to be this price but they only had one copy of number 2 left. Also for this price is children's Easter movies.

- Disney movies $13.99 includes Bolt, Pinocchio, Wall-E, etc.

- Gilette Fusion Power razor for $7.99 and Gilette shave gel $1.89. Use coupons from Sunday's paper (if you didn't get one yet sometimes Tops has them for sale for a few days after) for $2 off the razor and $1 off the shaving gel. You then get a $5 giftcard, making these two things about $2!!

- Last week Target sent out coupons for baby products. You can use these coupons along with manufacture coupons (including internet printed ones) to get a great price. For the pampers and huggies diapers, wait until the jumbo packs go on sale for $9.99. You get the best price per diaper by waiting. You will end up paying $6-$7 per pack by using both coupons. For the huggies wipes, the cheapest way to do it is by buying the biggest pack. These seldom go on sale, but per wipe they are the cheapest. I bought a box yesterday for $12.99 and had a $.75 internet coupon and a $1.50 Target coupon. SO, that was a pretty good deal. If you don't already get
these coupons mailed to you, go to the Target website and signup.

- Target also had a deal on the new Always Infinity Pads. This was not advertised in this week's paper but was on the end aisle near the pharmacy. Buy 2 at $8.99 each and get a $5 gift card. There was a $3 coupon for these in the paper, so if you can get your hands on 2 of these coupons you would essentially be paying about $7 for 2 packs.

TOPS DEALS 4/5

I got some pretty good deals at TOPS this week. Check it out and you have a TOPS near you, go over and visit. They have some pretty good deals this week. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of it all. I wanted to get it put away before the ice cream melted and veggies thawed.


Betty Crocker Frosting. On sale for $1.50 - $.55 coupon doubled = $.40

2 Betty Crocker Potatoes. On sale for $1.25 each = $2.50 - $1 coupon= $1.25 both / about $.63 each.

2 Ragu spaghetti sauce. On sale for $1.67 each = $3.34 - 2 $.30 coupons doubled (60 cents of each) = $2.14 for both / $1.07 each.

2 Stovetop Stuffing. On sale for $1.25 each - no coupon = $2.50

2 Skippy Peanut Butter. On sale for $2.19 each = $4.38 - 2 $.40 coupons doubled (80 cents of each) = $2.78 for both / $1.39 each.

5 Campbell cream soups. On sale for $.75 each = $3.75 - $1 coupon in 5 = $2.75 for all 5 / $.55 each.

Snyder's chips. On sale for $3 - $1 coupon = $23.01 pounds of bananas for .59 a pound = $1.78

2 pounds of strawberries on sale buy one get one free - $4.99 = Paid $2.50 a pound

3 bags Steamfresh veggies. On sale for $1 each = $3 - $1 coupon off 3 = $2 / $.75 each.

Perry's half gallon ice cream. On sale for $2.50 - no coupon.

Kraft cream cheese. on sale for $.99 -no coupon

2 bags Fleisher bagels. On sale for $1.33 each = $2.67 no coupon

Spinach seeds for garden = On sale for $1.59

Gallon of chocolate milk - coupon for free gallon of milk any flavor up to $4.69 - FREE (we usually don't buy chocolate milk but it was free)

Total Before Savings: $63.42

BonusCard Savings: $20.24

Manufacture Coupon Savings: $10.64

Doubled Coupon Savings: $1.40

Total After Savings: $31.14

Couponing 101 - Part 1

Would you like to start using coupons but don't know where to start? Or maybe you feel like it takes too much effort to clip and use coupons? In this post, I will concentrate on the basics of couponing and how to get started, with less than an hour of your time each week.

One of the keys to using coupons is not to be too brand loyal. You will be able to use more coupons if you are willing to buy different brands. There are only a few brands that our family is loyal to and will not buy anything else. But I am also able to find coupons and sales for these items. When I find a coupon for one of these items, I buy extra papers or buy the coupons online, and stock up.


If you want to start couponing, you will need some sort of filing system. Some people use large binders with plastic insert pages that can hold baseball or business cards. Others use a small coupon holder. I personally use a coupon holder that is a little bigger than the regular sized ones. It holds all my coupons and still fits in my purse. I bought it at Target for $1.
There are several places to get coupons. The place where I get the most coupons, is the Sunday paper insert. When the paper has a lot of coupons in it that are good, I will sometimes even grab another paper. You can also find a lot of coupons online at places like: coupon.com, smartsource.com, and more. I have also bought coupons on Ebay stores for around $2 for 10-20 coupons. This is a great deal if it's for a product you use often. Just make sure you can use a majority of the coupons before they expire.


I will continue with Part II soon, so look for it.

Shopping Deals Today

Me and my little girl went shopping today. We went to Walgreens and Rite Aid and then headed on down to Tops to get some great sales. Here are the pictures of our trip, along with the details.

TOPS

4 2-Liters of Pepsi $1 each (saved 89 cents on each)
3 coffee-Mate creamers *$2.25 for all 3 (saved $3.50)
2 gallons of milk *$1.69 and $2.15(saved 46 cents on one)
bananas $1.80
Kotex tampons *$1.00 (saved $1.50)
Kotex pads *$.50 (saved $2)
Freihofer whole wheat bread $3.89 for both -BOGO (saved $3.89)
2-Liter Diet Dr Pepper *Free (with coupon)
4 Post Cereals *$6.23 for all 4 (saved $7.30)
8 o'clock coffee *$3.29

**The coffee has a coupon in the package for $1 off so
I will use that next time. Also, for buying I had a coupon
from my last Tops visit for $3 off my next visit when I buy
4 Post cereals.

Total before savings: $54.99
Total after savings: $29.18
Saved: 53.06%







Walgreens and Rite Aid

Rite Aid
2 Eyeshadows $.99 cents each (on clearance - 75% off)
Huggies pullups $5.99 (saved $6.50)
Scrubbing Bubbles Wipes $3.98 for both (saved $4.98)
2 Pantene shampoo $2.24 for both (saved $10.74)
2 Secret deodorants $2.77 for both (saved $3.78)

Total Before Savings: $51.01
Total After Savings: $17.51
Saved: 60.8%

Walgreens
Honey bun (breakfast lol) $.99
Reynolds 75 sf aluminum foil $1.29 (saved $2)
2 Pantene Natural Care $4.58 for both (saved $5)
Bic soleil razor system $3.29 (saved $3.59)
Snuggle fabric softener $3.49 (saved $1.50)
Gilette Fusion Gamer $4.99 (saved $4)

I also received a $4 Register Reward to be used at a future visit.I used my rebate gift card from last month and after that I paid $10.28 out of pocket and $6.28 after rebates. I will give you totals without the Register Reward added in.

Total Before Savings: $37.86
Total After Savings: $6.28
Saved: 83.4%