The local paper had $194 worth of coupons. A true haul. One thing I love about coupons is finding coupons for products I normally buy. Actually, the majority of coupons that I use are exactly for those things.
As I've said before, I am in the process of creating a stock pile of products so I only have to buy things when they are on sale and not because I need them. This morning I was noticing that I was going to have to buy Q-tips soon. I've only been clipping coupons for a few months, but I've not come across any coupons for Q-tips. Today's paper...a coupon for Q-tips! Yes, God does provide. Some may scoff when I say that, but I believe that God has a role in the little things in life as well as the big things. So God gave me a coupon for Q-tips. Actually, He gave me two because my paper had duplicates of those coupons.
One down side, I noticed that a lot of the coupons from this week's paper expire at the end of the month. Usually they are at good for at least two months. My mother was complaining about this just the other day. She said that coupons used to be good for around six months. At least I've noticed that as soon as a coupon expires, there are often new ones that just came out for the same product. Not always of course, but this happens for a lot of things.
I did my first of the month shopping yesterday. I didn't get much stock piling done, and I wasn't as impressed with Walgreen's sales this month, but I did get a few things. However, you never know when you'll come across a coupon that matches something in their sale adds.
I'm hoping that if I give it a few more months, I will have gotten a good stockpile of products and will no longer need to buy as many things when they are not on sale, thus cutting my grocery bill way down. Anything helps right?
How are you saving? Or are you?
Showing posts with label Savings Sunday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Savings Sunday. Show all posts
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Savings Sunday 3-29
I've blown my saving streak this weekend. I have already gone out to eat twice this weekend and I'm getting ready to go out again tonight. These were all very legitimate reasons, however. I went out with a colleague from another school district yesterday to discuss teaching methods and a possible shift (for me) to my hometown school district; I saw that lunch as a possible investment in my future, so I was okay with it. Also, one of my former youth group kids is in town for spring break, and I bought us a pizza when she came over after I got off work Friday. Tonight I'll be taking her and a college friend of hers out to eat for supper. I'm also okay with all of that because I enjoy getting to spend time with her, and I don't begrudge giving a college kid a free meal.
I did make a good purchase this weekend on the "savings front". Bath and Body Works was having their 5 for $15 sale on antibacterial hand soap. Their soap is all I'll use, so it was time to stock up. I've actually had a huge stock for the last year or so, but it had dwindled down to just 3 bottles left. I ended up buying 9 bottles of soap and one bottle of lotion. Even though they were a little over $3 a piece (with s&h), that is a good buy when it comes to B&BW soap. I also love having B&BW products around because they make great spur-of-the-moment gifts! No one knows that I didn't make a special trip to the mall to pick them out something, and they don't know that I bought it on sale!
How did your savings go this week?
I did make a good purchase this weekend on the "savings front". Bath and Body Works was having their 5 for $15 sale on antibacterial hand soap. Their soap is all I'll use, so it was time to stock up. I've actually had a huge stock for the last year or so, but it had dwindled down to just 3 bottles left. I ended up buying 9 bottles of soap and one bottle of lotion. Even though they were a little over $3 a piece (with s&h), that is a good buy when it comes to B&BW soap. I also love having B&BW products around because they make great spur-of-the-moment gifts! No one knows that I didn't make a special trip to the mall to pick them out something, and they don't know that I bought it on sale!
How did your savings go this week?
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Savings Sunday 3-22
I didn't really have any good savings to add this week. Even the coupons in this week's paper were pretty lame...unless you like Rhodes rolls (4 coupons...why?).
I did find out some pretty disturbing news. My mom went to Walgreen's this week and the man at the register told her that Walgreen's was going to get rid of their Easy Saver book. What?!?! Why? He told her that they were going strictly to Register Rewards, and that most people preferred them. Whatever. Now I have to want both the product that produces a RR and the product the RR is for. Not awesome. She wasn't sure if they were getting rid of the weekly ads with the instant value coupons in them. I hope they don't, but I am betting they do. They'll probably just have sales in their adds with the RRs that you can get. Apparently, next month is the last month for ES.
And just when I was getting into the whole Walgreen's thing.
What do you think about Walgreen's new system?
I did find out some pretty disturbing news. My mom went to Walgreen's this week and the man at the register told her that Walgreen's was going to get rid of their Easy Saver book. What?!?! Why? He told her that they were going strictly to Register Rewards, and that most people preferred them. Whatever. Now I have to want both the product that produces a RR and the product the RR is for. Not awesome. She wasn't sure if they were getting rid of the weekly ads with the instant value coupons in them. I hope they don't, but I am betting they do. They'll probably just have sales in their adds with the RRs that you can get. Apparently, next month is the last month for ES.
And just when I was getting into the whole Walgreen's thing.
What do you think about Walgreen's new system?
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Savings Sunday 3-15
I am beginning a new venture in my life as an adult…yes, I have finally decided to be a grown-up. I am going to work on my finances!
I have started an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my monthly expenses. That was step one. The list has all my monthly bills, but I have even broken down the list into smaller categories including: gifts, Amazon purchases (for my Kindle), eating out, make-up, clothes, etc.
I have major debt from college loans that need to get paid off. I already pay over the minimum payment, but at this rate it’ll take me over 15 years to pay it off! I also have some credit card debt. Not as much as some, but around $3,000. I used to be so good to always pay off credit cards at the end of the month, but I got into the habit of putting everything on the credit card, so it went up pretty fast. I also have a problem with paying bills on time. I don’t know why, but instead of paying them when they come in, I put them aside so I can do it all at once. I use online bill pay through my bank and it is really easy, but I still don’t do it immediately. This becomes a real problem when I forget there are bills that haven’t been paid…then I find them 5 days after they are due. Not good. I’ve combated this, somewhat, by setting up auto pays for my credit cards (as well as anything with a fixed amount such as my DirecTV). That way I know they get paid and then I can go in at any time and send an additional payment if I want. I’ve also stopped using my credit card for grocery shopping and gas.
Coupons and local savings ads are my next big thing to tackle. I’ve been reading through the advice my friend Phoebe gives on her blog, Cents to Be Debt Free. I’ve been picking up the Sunday paper for the coupons they have inside. I have also started a coupon binder. You can go here to see Phoebe’s binder. I am organizing mine by the aisles in my local Wal-Mart where I do the bulk of my shopping. This is basically the same as organizing by category, but a little more specific. I’m trying to learn the ins and outs of Walgreen’s. There’s a lot of saving to be had there, and I hope to snatch some of those this month.
After attempting my first foray into the world of Walgreen’s savings, I have found that I waited too long to go shopping for the big buys. I lost out on a few freebies (or near freebies) because I didn’t go shopping until the 12th. Next month I will try to get down there as soon as possible. I think my mom and I plan to go the first Sunday of the month. We’ll go eat after church and work through that day’s coupons, pairing them with Easy Saver Catalog and then go shopping. There is a specific way to work the Walgreen’s system. There are multiple savings sites that give out a Walgreen’s 101, but here’s a link to my friend Phoebe’s post.
I still managed to get some really good deals, including some freebies.
I am also beginning to work on creating a "home store". This is where I am going to store all the products I buy that I don't need yet. One of the keys to coupon shopping is to buy when things are on sale, not when you need them. This means that you end up with stuff that needs a place to be stored. I have a spare room that I use as a storage room (I don't have a garage or basement). Currently, it's a mess. My Christmas tubs are still stacked up in there. They usually go to long term storage in my Mom's basement, but she is re-modeling right now and has her storage room full and blocked off. Also, there are tubs full of old craft stuff that I plan to go through and get rid of most of it. Another problem is all the old Creative Memories products that I still have. I used to sell it and still have a lot of product in stock. Maybe one day I will actually get around to selling it on ebay or something.
Here's my current "home store" products. I will just go in and "shop" in my own home when I need one of these items. I'm really excited about this whole venture. It's like a treasure hunt between sale adds and coupons. This week I saved $17 at Wal-Mart and $42 at Walgreen's (before rebates)...and I'm just getting started.
What are you doing to save money?
I have started an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my monthly expenses. That was step one. The list has all my monthly bills, but I have even broken down the list into smaller categories including: gifts, Amazon purchases (for my Kindle), eating out, make-up, clothes, etc.
I have major debt from college loans that need to get paid off. I already pay over the minimum payment, but at this rate it’ll take me over 15 years to pay it off! I also have some credit card debt. Not as much as some, but around $3,000. I used to be so good to always pay off credit cards at the end of the month, but I got into the habit of putting everything on the credit card, so it went up pretty fast. I also have a problem with paying bills on time. I don’t know why, but instead of paying them when they come in, I put them aside so I can do it all at once. I use online bill pay through my bank and it is really easy, but I still don’t do it immediately. This becomes a real problem when I forget there are bills that haven’t been paid…then I find them 5 days after they are due. Not good. I’ve combated this, somewhat, by setting up auto pays for my credit cards (as well as anything with a fixed amount such as my DirecTV). That way I know they get paid and then I can go in at any time and send an additional payment if I want. I’ve also stopped using my credit card for grocery shopping and gas.
Coupons and local savings ads are my next big thing to tackle. I’ve been reading through the advice my friend Phoebe gives on her blog, Cents to Be Debt Free. I’ve been picking up the Sunday paper for the coupons they have inside. I have also started a coupon binder. You can go here to see Phoebe’s binder. I am organizing mine by the aisles in my local Wal-Mart where I do the bulk of my shopping. This is basically the same as organizing by category, but a little more specific. I’m trying to learn the ins and outs of Walgreen’s. There’s a lot of saving to be had there, and I hope to snatch some of those this month.
After attempting my first foray into the world of Walgreen’s savings, I have found that I waited too long to go shopping for the big buys. I lost out on a few freebies (or near freebies) because I didn’t go shopping until the 12th. Next month I will try to get down there as soon as possible. I think my mom and I plan to go the first Sunday of the month. We’ll go eat after church and work through that day’s coupons, pairing them with Easy Saver Catalog and then go shopping. There is a specific way to work the Walgreen’s system. There are multiple savings sites that give out a Walgreen’s 101, but here’s a link to my friend Phoebe’s post.
I still managed to get some really good deals, including some freebies.
I am also beginning to work on creating a "home store". This is where I am going to store all the products I buy that I don't need yet. One of the keys to coupon shopping is to buy when things are on sale, not when you need them. This means that you end up with stuff that needs a place to be stored. I have a spare room that I use as a storage room (I don't have a garage or basement). Currently, it's a mess. My Christmas tubs are still stacked up in there. They usually go to long term storage in my Mom's basement, but she is re-modeling right now and has her storage room full and blocked off. Also, there are tubs full of old craft stuff that I plan to go through and get rid of most of it. Another problem is all the old Creative Memories products that I still have. I used to sell it and still have a lot of product in stock. Maybe one day I will actually get around to selling it on ebay or something.
Here's my current "home store" products. I will just go in and "shop" in my own home when I need one of these items. I'm really excited about this whole venture. It's like a treasure hunt between sale adds and coupons. This week I saved $17 at Wal-Mart and $42 at Walgreen's (before rebates)...and I'm just getting started.
What are you doing to save money?
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