Internet Coupons

When it comes to printing coupons off the internet for groceries and bathroom items there ARE savings to be found.  I know that some people get overwhelmed by all the different sites available for printing coupons so I wanted to do a little internet coupon break down to try and make it easier.

First and foremost, my favorite internet printable coupon website is coupons.com.  You can access this by clicking HERE.  I like it because I can find a lot of the coupons (that'd I'd find on other websites like, coupondivas.com or afullcup.com, all in one location).  A good coupon available now on coupons.com is for string cheese/cheese heads and you can get it quickly by clicking here.  The only requirements of coupons.com is to sign up by entering you e-mail address.  It will generate coupons each time you log on by the zip code that you enter during sign-up.  However, you can enter different zip codes while browsing the coupons to see what other offers are available.  (Keep in mind that not all the coupons offered in different zip codes will be for products available to us)


Another website that is good for printing coupons is redplum.com.  These coupons will be similar to ones that you clipped from the newspaper, but occasionally they offer coupons that are not found in the Sunday paper, so it is worth checking.  You can get to that website by clicking here.

I also like smartsource.com.  It is similar to redplum as far as being like the ones in the paper, but again sometimes the website offers different coupons.  You can access it by click here.

So, those are the top three sites that I would suggest when printing internet coupons.  There of course are a bunch more available than that, but those are my go-to sites.  Let me know what YOUR favorite printable site it!

Also, don't forget, tomorrow is Wednesday so you will want to make sure to pick up your Marshfield Mail!

A Sea of Binders

Totally amazed this morning at Walgreen's when EVERY person I saw (ok maybe not everyone but more had than didn't have) had a binder for coupons!! It was interesting actually because I've been shopping at Walgreen's on Sunday morning for a few months now and I've never really noticed before.  The word must be getting out, coupons rock!

After seeing the sea of coupon binders this morning, it compelled me to post a few reminder tips in regards to coupon courtesy and etiquette.

1.)  Be friendly and polite while shopping.  This morning it seemed like everyone was there, with their binder, but it was more like a contest/race than a pleasant shopping trip.  I couldn't tell that anyone was really HAPPY to be saving, more like everyone seemed to be trying to get the item first and into their cart...even if that meant buying, 6, 7, or 8 of the same items...yes I saw that this morning.  So, remind yourself not to be the green eyed monster snatching up items and tossing them in your cart, just so you can say you got a good deal!

2.)  WHAT ARE YOU DOING with all those multiple items?  I saw a woman loading up on like 8 dial body washes...yes I REALIZE they were on sale and had a great RR attached to them, but when you get home and need to store all that-where do you put it?  I can only hope that the people I saw buying multiple items (beyond the amount of adding to their stockpile) were planning on donating it to a pantry, church, or family member in need.  Otherwise, I encourage everyone that when shopping with coupons (while extremely exciting and a great head rush) to analyze each items you are purchasing.  There is nothing more embarrassing than getting home and having to explain to your husband why you bought him 6 body washes when he already had 2 from your LAST coupon shopping trip!!

3.)  Give the cashier your store ad coupons instead of expecting them to ring up correctly.  (My big goof today, even I still mess up lol).  I always seem to forget that I have to show the cashier the coupon in the ad I'm expecting to use, it isn't their JOB to scan it for you.  Now, that isn't to say some cashiers won't do it just to be nice, but on a Sunday (their busy coupon day) have the ad ready and ready to be scanned with your other coupons to save the cashier time!

Hope everyone saved a bunch today!  I didn't buy much, just a few sharpies and deodorants (sharpies for coupon class and deodorants for church) and of course my paper!  (If you haven't bought your paper yet, there was only a Smart Source insert this week.)  Let me know what kind of deals you got!!

Preparation is Key!!

When it comes time for grocery shopping (whether you are using coupons or not, but ESPECIALLY if you are using coupons) preparation (ie: planning) is the KEY to a good (ie: lots of savings) shopping trip!

The way I prepare for my shopping trips is by following 3 rules!  Budget, Meal Plan and List, and Sales

First Budget:
Set your budget before ever making your grocery list for the week.  If you do a monthly budget already this should be easy, however if you do not do a monthly budget and are unsure of how much you typically spend on groceries then I suggest you sit down and give this some good thought.  If you don't typically set a budget decide early on whether you want to shop for 1 week of groceries, 2 weeks, 3 or even 4.  (For myself I have found that shopping for just 1 week of groceries at a time I can save the most money since the sales are new each week.  By shopping just once per week I'm able to get the things I need and usually have a little extra for those stock up items when they go on sale-ex:noodles, sauce, sugar).  When I first started couponing we were spending about $170-$200 every two weeks on groceries (and toiletries, household, diapers) which adds up to $400 a month!!  (WAY WAY WAY too much in my opinion).  I'v now been able to drop my grocery spending to about $70 a week (including toiletries, household, diapers) which is only $280 a month (a savings of $120 a month).  My current goal is to drop that down to only $50 a week.

Second Meal Plan and Make a list:
Make your meal plan for the week (or however long you'll go between shopping trips) by looking at the sale ads. I repeat MAKE YOUR MEAL PLAN BY LOOKING AT THE SALE ADS.  The most expensive part of your bill will be meat, so watch for meat sales and base your weekly dinner around what is on sale.  From there ad on your sides, snacks, and anything else you'll need to EAT that week.  Make your grocery list from you meal plan list and check your coupon binder or folder to see what you coupons you have for sale items that week.

Finally Sales:
This kind of goes with the steps above but I want to reiterate how important sales are.  As I said above meat is expensive, if you can cut down the meat price by buying the sale items then do it!  Another way to save on meat/meals is if you can buy sale meat in bulk to put in your freezer and do multiple meals ex: HH had hamburger patties last week for $5.99 for 10, that made about 3 meals for my family at only $0.89 per burger!!  It's quick, easy, and CHEAP)

So I've got a little challenge for you!!  If you haven't started couponing or saving much money on your groceries yet then I am challenging you to spend at least $15.00 less this week (or in the next two weeks, whenever you'll be shopping) on your groceries (this means food items only, not toiletries, household, or diapers).
If you have been couponing and following the above steps for a while and have already cut down your bill then I challenge you to find a way to cut $5.00 more dollars off of it!  IF you just don't think you can cut down the $5.00 then add $5.00 TO your budget and spend $10.00 on food you can donate to the local food pantry or local church!

I bet you can do it by watching the sale ads alone!!  Good luck and Happy shopping-and yes, I'll expect feed back :)

Walg's Trip 8/31/11

(First I have to appologize for not posting match-ups but there wasn't anything better than the ones I already posted on Saturday, and on the back page of the Walgreens ad, the coupon match-ups for the P & G coupons were already on there)

Well, after checking out the amazing coupons in the paper, I did a Wags trip on Sunday afternoon.

I scored a really great deal at Walgreens!  I only spent 21.47 and took home two bags full of goodies, including 10 folders and two pairs of scissors for my coupon class!

I wanted to make sure to remind everyone that Today and Tomorrow are the only two days to get your good deal on Hamburger and Whole chicken Fryers at Summer Fresh (don't forget there is also the $10 off of $50 coupon on the bottom of the Circular)

I hope everyone has gotten their coupons clipped (I haven't, I plan on doing that today during my lunch hour) and I can't wait to hear about any awesome deals you scored this weekend!

Free Weekend!

Great shopping trips this weekend!

First-Harter House in Strafford, MO.  They had General Mills cereal on sale for 1.99.  I had a coupon that I printed from coupons.com for .50 off of one box of honey nut cheerios and a coupon for 1.00 off any two General Mills cereal (from the Sunday paper)!  I got two boxes and spent 1.98 (Harter House doubles up to 0.50 cents, which I didn't know until Saturday!!)  which means I got a box of cereal for FREE and one for 0.01 LESS than the sale price! I also had a coupon that I got in the mail for Rotel, buy 3 get one free.  The Rotel was on sale for 0.99, so I got 1 for free (or 4 cans at 0.74 per can)!  TWO fantastic deals at Harter House.  This sale will run until Tuesday!!

Second trip which was today to Walgreens got me 2 free Oral-B toothbrushes and 2 free boxes of Snuggle Dryer Sheets!  The Oral-B toothbrushes were on sale, 2/4.98 with a $3.00 RR.  I had a $2.00 off of 2 Oral-B Indicator toothbrushes(from the 7/1 P&G insert), which made the toothbrushes free (after RR), OR 1.49 each with $3 in RR for next purchase!!  The Snuggle was free with the purchase of one Wisk product.  Wisk was on sale for 6.99, but I used a $2.00 off coupon (can't remember which insert this was from, sorry!!) and that made the laundry soup 4.99.  (Also, to make the deal even sweeter there was a $2.00 off coupon attached to the bottle for the NEXT trip, so it was like getting my coupons back!!).

All in all it was a great shopping trip, ending me with 2 free boxes of snuggle, 2 free toothbrushes, 1 free can of rotel, and one free box of cereal!!

Let me know if you scored any great deals!!