Time to Save Money Again

Two friends posted their grocery savings today on Facebook and it got me motivated to get back in the game. I've clipped last week's coupons and sorted them by store I will use them at. I make a pile of coupons that are .50 or less and use those at Kroger since they double up to .50 and triple up to .35. The rest of my coupons will be used at HEB or Wal-Mart because they are cheaper than Kroger.

Tomorrow I will clip the latest coupons and head to the stores to save, save, save. Before I do that, I've been visiting my coupon links and found out that Nabisco is offering $55 in savings here.

Head over to S'mores and enter the contest to win a $20,000 backyard make-over.

Wendy's is offering $10,000 or free Oreos for a year.

For more promos like these, or a chance to win $25 off of groceries, visit this site.


Free food at restaurants. Go to 918 Coupon Queen for a long list of restaurants that offer promos and coupons.

Welcome!

If you are here for the first time, I am taking some time off from this blog but I encourage you to please visit the links on the right. I have learned GREAT tips from these bloggers about how to get my groceries for fabulous prices. Some of these women post how they get things for free or almost free by clipping coupons. You don't have to subscribe to the paper either, there are tons of sites where you can print your own coupons. Don't forget to use them at stores that double and triple their value.

Also, please read my earlier post about knowing your prices. I have created a spreadsheet where I list the prices that 4 different stores charge for the items I buy. I look at my store's ads online each Wednesday and find out what it on sale, what I have coupons for, and what store coupons are available.

I've let my self down!

If you are still coming to my blog, I can't believe it. I was so gung ho about my adventures in savings. I thought for sure I'd have MORE time to keep up with this blog once summer break got here but it just hasn't worked out that way. My pregnancy had me "under the weather" for the entire month of June and I just had time today to clip coupons from the last 4 papers. That's sad!

Yesterday, while my 2 older kids were in VBS and the 18 mo. old was taking a morning nap, was the first time I've had all summer to give my house some attention.

So I hate to do this but I'm just gonna have to say I may not be back until the new school year starts. That will be my 2nd trimester and hopefully I'll have my energy back. I won't delete this blog though because I have some fabulous links.

Deals of the Day

I can not believe this, I finally sit down to update all the savings deals and blogger is having problems. Here is what I got before the errors.


Free sample of Dove Heat Defense Therapy or Intense Damage Therapy here.

Mark your calendars for July 23. That's when McAlister's is offering free tea.

Money Saving Recipes & deals in my copuon book

First I want to let you know about a show I just found on the Food Network. It is called 'Sandra's Money Saving Meals' and Sandra Lee makes cost effective meals and shares with you how much each recipe costs. Today she made her own slasa and chips and it cost her $4.29 for 10 servings compared to almost $10.00 for store bought.

Next, in my previous post I mentioned buying those big coupon books. In College Station it benefits the high school's FFA. It cost $39.95. They delivered it to my house as promised. If you live locally, here are just some of the coupons I know my family will use:

2-Applebee's free appetizer or entree (up to $7) w/purchase of equal or greater value
2-Cafe Eccell free Wood Fired Pizza w/purchase of equal or greater value
2-Chili's free bottomless express lunch w/purch of equal or greater value
Dickey's free daily special w/p of e or G V
Dickey's free sliced or chopped beef sandwich w/p of e or G V

Just to name a few! I yank the coupons I won't use and give them to friends who will.
To order yours, call 979-297-1200 or go to www.diningandshopping.net

Great savings book and support local high school

A few weeks ago I posted about buying savings coupon books.
I just got a very welcomed phone call from the A&M Consolidated FFA Boosters not only offering the new savings coupon book, but also delivering it to my home! I'm pretty excited. It will come tomorrow and I'll let you know about all the wonderful coupons being offered this time!

Know Your Prices!

I've said it before and I think it is becoming my mantra, but you must know your prices in order to stretch your buck. Last night I bought a new laptop. There aren't many places in town to shop around but we went to Wal-Mart and then to Best Buy where I bought a 15.4" 2 GB of memory and 160 GB harddrive. It was on sale for $349 and I was so hesitant to make such a large purchase just so I could have the convenience of scrapbooking digitally from anywhere.

This morning I FINALLY got around to the Sunday paper and found the exact same laptop at Office Depot for $394.99, regularly $519.99.

See? Know your prices!

Now I'm going to check out all the grocery store ads which remember come out on Wednesdays.
Kroger
HEB
Wal-Mart

Some Deals of the Day

Free sample of Slim Fast here.

Spend $50 at Sears and get $50. Click here for details.

Free sample of Aveda for men here and you can send your man a free e-card.

Free sample of Crest Whitestrips here.

Updating right now!

I am working on a new posting right now.
Also I wanted to tell you that a friend told me she hasn't gotten any of her freebies. It takes some time but you will get them!

I have been getting a lot of freebies in my mailbox. We have gotten a Tide sample, travel size Dove deodorant, overnight pants for toddlers, diapers, a dog chew, a travel size Caress body wash, and my husband got a really nice 5-blade razor.

Keep signing up for those freebies but you may want to set up another email address so your personal inbox doesn't fill up every day like mine does!

Anyone still reading?

I have to apologize for my absence and thank you if you have been coming back. Last week was a really tough week at work and I fell behind in everything. Then we left town for my cousin's graduation and did not return until Tuesday night. I had to go clean out my classroom and catch up with household responsibilities AND....

I am pregnant so I have not been myself at all. I have been exhausted and the hormones have not been nice to me. I am a little better every day so I hope to be back full force soon! Until then, please visit the other savings blog links on the right-hand column and THANKS again for being loyal!

Deals of the Day

Stop by participating Wal-Mart stores this Saturday, May 30, for free ice cream. Go to this site and enter your zip code for details.

$1.00 off Starbuck's Ice Cream here.

You will receive the free sample by entering the Gillette Highest Performers Sweepstakes. Be sure and click the box that says “Yes, I want to receive a FREE Gillette Sample.”

FREE Father's Day card from Shutterfly. You can order a 5x7 card with up to nine photos in matte or satin finish. There is a limit of one per customer with the coupon code: CARD4U. You will have to pay shipping at a cost of $1.05, and the card will be shipped to you. This offer is available through June 10, 2009.

Click here to get .80 off 3 boxes of Hamburger Helper. This site has a limit on the number of coupons for each item so print now before they're gone.

Go here for Walgreens Weekly Match-Ups

Go here for info about Free Bar-S hot dogs and Banana Boat Sunscreen at Wal-Mart.

Behind

I know, I am terribly behind and I so apologize. I will get a new post up this afternoon, thanks for being loyal and stopping by!

Deals of the Day

3 oz. and 6 oz. kid-sized vanilla soft serve cones are only $0.88 at all participating Baskin-Robbins locations through May 25.

Click here for Johnson's baby coupon printables.

Click here for Wendy's B1G1!

Click here to sign up for 2 FREE regualr size cookies and a FREE medium soft drink. I'd better tell my husband to do the same!

Sara Lee is 50% off at Kroger. Look at these possibilities:

Sara Lee Cheese Cake: 17-19oz: $2.49 Use $1/1 in 5/17 Red Plum insert Final Price = $1.49
Sara Lee Pound Cake: $1.84 Use $1/1 in 5/17 Red Plum insert Final Price = .84 each
Sara Lee Cheese Cake Bites: $1.99 Use $1/1 in 5/17 Red Plum insert Final Price = .99 each

FREE Reynold's cookbooks: Delicious Family Meals for Less, Signature Family Recipes, and The Way Mama Cooked It

Free tote filled with coupons and samples at Target.

Click here to get your $5 off of $25 coupon. Remember to use it before using your other coupons or your balance may drop below $25.

Quiznos- sign up here for coupons and a free cookie on your birthday.

FREE Oscar Mayer hot dogs. Click here for your coupon. I can't type that name without singing the song O-S-C-A-R....M-A-Y-E-R

Don't forget it is Weekly Ad Wednesday. If you don't get the newspaper, simply look up your grocery store ads online. If you're new to my site, I have a spreadsheet where I track all the prices that my local stores charge on about 400 items. I sit down with my spreadsheet and my ads every Wednesday and I write all the prices that each store has listed. That way I KNOW when I am getting a good deal. For example, Excedrin Migraine is 7.99 (100 count) at Kroger, 6.99 (100) at Target, 6.99 at WalGreens (40-50) and 4.79 (24) at CVS.

Coupon Fever is Contagious

So my husband (who stays home with the kids) had to run to Wal-Mart today. I am so proud of him. He not only browsed through the coupon organizer, but he also took the Target ad with him to get price matching. Here are the savings he got for us:

Band-Aids 2.50 used a coupon for .50
Neosporin on the Go 3.87 used a coupon for $1.00
Off Clip-On (he knows that mosquitoes feast on me) 6.88 used a $2.00 coupon
Huggies wipes 2.49 price match Target ad 1.99 used a .75 coupon!

He saved us $4.74 off of a $15 purchase.
Just think, we didn't even use coupons a little over a month ago!
Every coupon counts. Pennies make dollars!


How much can you save in one month? I challenge you to set aside a place for all of your receipts and log in your savings for a whole month. I haven't logged all of my receipts but I know that in the last 3 weeks, we have saved well over $30. How much do you think you can save in a year?

My First Blog Award

I'm really grateful to Deal Fanatic for giving me this award. She said she liked my blog because it is simple and easy to follow.

Here are the rules:
1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I will be passing it along to:
Aggieland Bargain Mom for posting about deals other than groceries and coupons
A Thrifty Mom
Bargain Briana
"Cents"able Momma
Coupon Cravings
Good or Free Deals
Happy Couponing
In Good 'Cents'
Living as Mom
Mommies with Cents
Southwest Coupon Clipper
Stretching a Buck
The Centsible $awyer
The Deal Mom
918 Coupon Queen

Deals of the Day

Did you clip the $1 for 1 coupon from 5/3? Well, the travel size is .97 at Target so you can use your coupon to get it free. You can print one here.

Click here for more info on FREE Hefty bags.

Kraft has reset their coupons. You should be able to print them once and then hit your back browser button a few times and they will print one more time. Click here to print them on coupons.com. For a complete list, click here.

The June issue of All You has over $112 in coupons. For a complete list of coupons, click here.

DiGiorno has given away all of their coupons for FREE flatbread melts but you can click here for a $1.50 coupon.

Please visit Coupon Mommie for a list of this week's Kroger deals.

How to get great deals at Wal-Mart here.

I did it!

I have officially become a coupon junkie! I used to only buy my groceries from one store (the cheapest in town) and I never used coupons. I made the same excuses as most people, "They don't have coupons for what I buy," or "I don't have time to clip coupons."

What a mistake. Now, I still consider myself a beginner but last week I printed Target coupons and I printed coupons from coupons.com and I matched them up with the sales. That's the way you get the most out of your money.

At Target, I used my $1 off Ritz TARGET coupon and my $1.00 off Ritz manufacturer coupon and got $2.00 off. Most other bloggers posted that their Ritz were $2.50 but our Target charges $2.75. I got a box of Ritz for .75!

We had a Target coupon for $1.00 off of 2 Kool-Aid containers plus 2 $1.00 manufacturer's coupons AND it was on clearance for $2.25 so we got 2 tubs ($4.50) -$3.00 in coupons so we payed $1.50!

At Kroger, we used a $1.00 off barbecue sauce which only cost .99.
Oscar Mayer hot dogs were 2/$3 and we used 2 $1 coupons (because we were buying 2) so we got 2 packages for $1.

I have been a faithful used of Cheer laundry detergent for alomst 20 years but Tide was on sale at Kroger and we had a .35 coupons (which they tripled) so we got a bottle of Tide liquid for $5.99.

That's only the beginning. I can't wait to find out how much money I can save this week!

I'll post my Deals of the Day a little later today....I have a super long to-do list.

Couponing 101

Why would you pay full price when you don't have to?

I have found video clips from when "Be Cents Able" was on Good Morning America and they show you how easy it is to coupon (is that a verb?).

The video box looks small while it is loading (and it takes a long time to load) but you will be amazed and I guarantee you will learn something. You should also watch the other little clips that are below the main story.

If you like this story, you MUST go to 918 Coupon Queen to see how one reader's total at Target came to $87.00. Amy saved $79.87 with coupons. Her out of pocket cost was only $7.13!

Happy Saving!

Free-On the Border, AMC popcorn, Hawaiian Tropic, and more!

Join On The Border's Club Cantina and get an instant coupon for a free bowl of Queso or free Empanadas when you sign up now.

Free popcorn at any AMC. Print your coupon here.

Free Hawaiian Tropic sample here.

Click here for your free sample of Kellogg's All-Bran

Today's Finds

Kirkland's is having a sale this Friday only where lots of items are only $5

Sentiment Stakes $5

Photo cubes $5

FREE sample of Don't Bite Me. Send your address info to this address.

This lady knows how to shop!

Centsable Momma has info on B1G1 DVDs.

Wal-Mart has a new sample available. Click here for a free sample of Bodycology lotion in coconut lime or brown sugar vanilla.

Coupon Cravings said Arby's is having freebie Wednesdays:Starting today, you’ll be able to take advantage of a great “free with purchase” offer every week, and in many cases you only need to purchase a soft drink!No coupon is necessary. However, you may want to call ahead to ask if your local Arby’s is participating in this promotion.

Here are the freebies for May:5/13: Free Roastburger with Any Soft Drink Purchase5/20: Free Chocolate Malt Swirl Shake with Any Sandwich Purchase5/27: Free Regular Roast Beef Sandwich with Any Soft Drink Purchase

Kraft is having another promotion where you can win one of the following:

a digital camera

Coleman road trip party grill

S'Mores kit

Don't forget to try every day until Spetember 14.

FREE Orange Julius smoothie on May 19th with this coupon. I had no idea these stores were still around, we don't have them here in Aggieland.