Weekly Grocery List

I'm not gonna lie. I'm quite disappointed in the Turkey specials this year. Albertsons requires you to spend $50 in one transaction in order to get a Turkey at $0.27 per pound! For those of you who followed my blog before I redesigned it, know that I rarely spend $50 in one transaction. In an effort to take advantage of Twice The Value Coupons and promotions, I usually do several smaller trips in a week rather than one big trip.

I'm leaning more towards Safeway this year for my turkey. They are offering turkeys for $0.29 per pound and you only need to spend $25 in one transaction. The only problem is that I haven't been thrilled with their sales ad the last couple of weeks. I have spent way too much time trying to find a bargain at Safeway this week, just to get a turkey!

I was able to find a couple of worthy items at Safeway that I think I can use towards my minimum $25 spending.

Tillamook 2-lb Bricks $3.99

• Use $1/1 coupon here (zip code 83501)
• Final Price $2.99

Lucerne Eggs 18-ct Large Eggs $1.99

Lucerne Sour Cream 16-oz $1.50

Golden Sweet Pineapples $1.99 each

Please remember when planning your trips that the store always uses your precoupon total to determine if you met the promotion's spending requirement, including their in-ad coupons.

I haven't spent much time looking at Albertson. I'm focused on Safeway and a turkey this week! However, rumor is that Albertsons is releasing another round of Twice the Value coupons on Sunday, so if thats true, I may revisit Albertsons and see what I can round up on coupons.

Albertsons Twice the Value Coupons

I had read a rumor that Albertsons would be releasing Twice the Value (TTV) coupons every weekend through Thanksgiving, but since I didn't know how to confirm it, I left it unsaid, however, with the release of TTVs three weekends in a row, I would say its a safe bet!

A couple of deals I will be doing:

Tillamook Cheese 2-lb brick $4.99 with in-ad coupon

• Use $1/1 coupon here
• Use TTV
• Final Price $2.99 each

Maxwell House Coffee $5.99

• Use $1/2 coupon from Holiday coupon book in-store
• Use TTV
• Final Price $4.99 each

Tip: I don't know if you would consider this a fabulous price, but as I mentioned almost a week ago, I'm completely out of coffee so any price would pretty much do at this point, and its better normal!

I also might rething the Super Savings Spotlight this week. While sorting coupons this weekend, I found more Betty Crocker Cake Mix & Frosting coupons and with TTV coupons, this becomes an awesome deal.

Buy 5 Cake Mixes $0.99 each

Buy 5 Frostings $1.49 each

Subtotal: $12.40

Use 5 $0.75 on Cake Mix and Frosting coupons

Use 3 TTVS

Receive $5 INSTANT savings for purchasing 10 partipating items

Final Price $1.40 for all 10 items!

Hot California Deal

I overlooked the Albertsons deal on California Kitchen Pizzas this morning. I wasn't expecting the coupon or the Catalina offer to match up to the individual pizzas, but it looks like it just might. Here is how to make the deal work.

This week at Albertsons, the California Kitchen Pizza Smalls 5.5-10.2 ounces are on sale for $2.50 each.

• Buy 4 Pizzas for a total of $10
• Print and use 4 $1.50/1 coupons
• Final Total will be $4.00, but you should receive a $3 catalina back to use on your next shopping trip.

I have not tried this but it appears the individual sized pizzas are producing the catalina. Also remember that you can only print two coupons per computer, so to get a total of four coupons, you need access to a second computer!

I will let you know once I tried this how it worked out for me! Please let me know if you try it first =)

What's on Your List?

Thanks to Albertsons for releasing Twice the Value coupons this past Sunday, the last three days of Albertsons sales last week were awesome! I hope you were able to take advantage of their Instant Spotlight Savings last week to stock up on cooking soup, gravy and waffles! My cupboards and freezers are full of all three items, which will really help me create fast and easy meals over the winter.

There's not much going on this week that I am too excited about so I will probably take a back seat to shopping and just hit a couple of places. Here is what's on my list for the week:

Albertsons
Farm Fresh Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast or Tenders 3 lb bag $5.64 (with in-ad coupon)

Tillamook Brick Cheese 2-lb $4.99 with in-ad coupon

• Use $1/1 coupon from here
• Final Price $3.99

I will probably wait until Sunday before purchasing just incase they release Twice the Value coupons again.... you never know.

I'm not certain I will purchase from their Instant Savings Spotlight (Receive $5 INSTANT saving for every 10 participating items purchased) this week but here are the items that look the best to me.

Betty Crocker Super Moist Cake Mix or Traditional Brownie Mix $0.99

• Only $0.49 each after INSTANT savings

Keebler Graham Cracker Pie Crust $1.49

• Only $0.99 each after INSTANT savings

Gold Medal Flour 4.25-5 lb Bags $1.49

• Only $0.99 each after INSTANT savings

Peter Pan Peanut Butter 16.3-oz $1.49

• only $0.99 each after INSTANT savings

Rosauers

Gallons of Milk $1.79 each (limit of 2)

Fuji Apples $0.69 lb

A&B Foods
Pork Sirloin Roast $1.98 lb


I am also on the hunt for a good coffee deal, but haven't found one yet. Anyone know of one? I'm completely out!!! Help!!!

FREE Clabber Girl!

Starting Sunday, November 7th (Ends Saturday November 13th), you can get FREE Clabber Girl baking powder at Walgreens!

Clabber Girl Baking Powder 4-oz $0.50 with in-ad coupon (limit 4)

• Use $0.75/1 coupon from SmartSource.com (zip code 77477)
• Final Price FREE - Possible Overage?

Excited to see what other great sales come around on our favorite baking items! Have you seen any great ones?

Albertsons Deals 11/3 - 11/9

I have found my self stuck in a rut again, so this week I am hoping to climb back up on solid ground. A month ago, I was so proud of myself for getting my coupons organized and jumping back on the trifty wagon, but I have once again fallen off and the only thing I know to do is to slowly fight my way back on! I am committing myself to at least an hour a day to clip and/or organize my coupons so I am able to locate them easily to take advantage of some thrifty deals.

I have found that if I don't know where to begin on locating my coupons, that I let many thrifty deals go by. Then a friend of mine will brag about their stockpile of crackers or soup they just scored and I start to beat myself up about letting that deal get away from me due to my disorganization! There's been a few deals this past week that I just know in a week or two I am going to torment myself for not taking advantage of. So to avoid any additional torture, I must get back on track, especially with all the baking and snack sales that are bound to come along with the Holiday season!

I am excited to see that Albertsons has some pretty good stock up prices this week on items I want and they are part of the Savings Spotlight promotion so most of them, you don't even need a coupon for! These are a some of the items I hope to purchase this week:

Mentos Gum $1.00

• Use $1/1 coupon from 10/10 Smart Source
• Final Price FREE

I just need to locate my coupons =)

Coffee-Mate Creamer 16 oz. $1.50

• Use $1.50/1 coupon from here
• Final Price FREE

Always happy to find printable coupons, especially when my coupons are in such disarray!

Instant Savings Spotlight

Save $5 INSTANTLY when you purchase 10 participating items (Savings of $0.50 per item). There are many participating items, but I am only listing the ones I plan to purchase. Please see the weekly ad for all items. You can receive multiple savings in one transaction. For example, if you purchase 20 items, you will receive a total of $10 in INSTANT savings. The prices are listed before/after INSTANT savings.

Albertsons Broth 14.5 oz $0.85/$0.35

Albertsons Cream of Chicken or Cream of Mushroom Soup $0.79/$0.29

Pepsi 2 liters $1.29/$0.79

Heinz Gravy 12 oz $1.29/$0.79

• Use $1/3 coupon here
• Final Price $0.46 each

Dole Pineapple 20 oz $1.25/$0.75

Albertsons Vegetable Oil 24 oz $1.49/$0.99

Eggo Waffles 10-ct $1.49/$0.99

• Use $1/2 coupon from here
• Final Price $0.49 each

What great deals do you plan on rounding up this week? I would love to know!

Albertson Twice The Value Coupons

What a nice Halloween surprise! Not only did Albertson put out Twice the Value (TTV) coupons yesterday, but they gave out 4 instead of the usual 3. This will really help out our savings if we can get an $1 savings per trip!

Even with my busy day yesterday, I was able to get in one trip. I purchased items from the Instant Spotlight Savings promotion (buy 10 qualifying items, receive $5 INSTANT savings). Here is what I did:

4 Coffee-Mate Creamers (32 oz) $3.49 each

• Used 4 $1/1 coupons from Safeway's $70 coupon book (no longer available)
• Used 4 TTV coupons
• Final Price $1.49 each

4 Nestle Morsels $1.99 each

• Used 2 $1/2 coupons from here
• Final Price $1.49 each

2 Nestle Refrigerated Cookie Doughs $2.49 each

• Used 2 $1/1 coupons from here
• Final Price $1.49 each

Received $5 INSTANT Savings

Used $3 Catalina from a previous trip

Total Spent $6.90

For more idea on how to use your TTV coupons, visit Krazy Coupon Lady or A Thrifty Mom. Happy Shopping!

Frigo-tastic Savings!

Coupons for string cheese don't come around often and right now there are two different print links available for Frigo string cheese!

Go here to print a $1.50/1 coupon. You can print this coupon twice per computer. Once the first print has finished click your browser back button twice to get the second print.

Go here to print a $1/1 coupon. This link to this coupon is at the top of the left hand side of your screen. Again print this coupon twice.

I printed both these coupons today and the $1.50 coupon is good through March 2011 and the $1 coupon is good until December 10th of this year! I will let you know if I find a great sale price on this item!

FREE Movie & Oreo Creams

TODAY ONLY text TREAT to 727272 and you will receive at text back with a RedBox code for a FREE movie rental. You must use this code today as the code will only be valid until 10 pm CT 10/14/2010.

If your local Walgreens has a RedBox kiosk like mine does, then swing inside and get some FREE Oreo Creams while there!

Oreo Creams Single Serve (3-0z) $0.89 each

• Use $1/1 coupon here
• Final Price FREE

Helpful Tips: You should be able to print two of these coupons per computer. Also, the coupon will probably beep as the value of the coupon is more than the product, but they should adjust the coupon down (as their coupon policy states) and allow you to use it. I would recommend you print their coupon policy and keep with your coupons just incase you run into any problems.

I'm thinking this may be a great reason to have a movie night tonight with my son. We already have plans to go out to dinner so why not follow it up with a movie and treat! I am headed out of town for the weekend on a girls trip and wanted to do something special with him anyways so now I can do it for FREE!

Get Your Teeth Fresh & Clean and Make Money!!!

This week at Rite-Aid (Saturday the 9th is the last day) you can make money purchasing toothpaste!


Crest Toothpaste with Scope (4 oz) is $2.69

• Use $1/1 coupon from the Smart Source insert from the 9/26 Sunday Paper
• Pay $1.69 each and receive back a $2.69 +Up Reward
• Final Price = $1 MONEYMAKER

What you need to Know: Rite Aid +Up rewards are Rewards that print on the bottom of your receipt. You can cut these off your receipt and use them on your next shopping trip like cash. You can earn multiple rewards in one trip. If you use your rewards towards another purchase of the same item you will not earn a new +Up reward, so you want to save these rewards to use on purchases of other items. On this +Up reward offer, you can earn multiple on one transaction. In the same insert, there is also a $0.50/1 coupon you can also use!

Here is what I did:

6 Crest Toothpaste $2.69 each

• Use 3 $1/1 coupons
• Use 3 $0.50/1 coupons
• Final Price $1.94 each

4 Packages (8-ct) Hershey's Candy Bars $1.00 each

1 Tugaboo Diaper Travel Pack (2-ct) $0.89

• Used $1/1 coupon from previous purchase
• Cashier adjusted down to $0.89
• Final Price FREE

Total Before Coupons: $21.03

• Used $4/20 Rite-Aid Coupon from the Video Value Program
• Used $5.39 in Manufacturer Coupons
• Used $6 in +Up Rewards from a previous Huggies Purchase

Total After Coupons: $5.64

Earned Back: $17.14 in +Up Rewards

Here's my math on how much money I made: I started with $6 in +Up rewards and ended with $17.14, an increase of $11.14 but I spent $5.64, which makes this a

Only Time Will Tell

What do you all think about Albertsons' Coupon Roundup? This is when Albertsons will take coupons between $0.25 and $0.99 and automatically round them up to $1 and any coupon $0.24 or less, they will quadruple the value. This promotion has not come to our area yet, but I would like to give it a try and see how I like it in comparison to their Twice the Value coupon promotions.

One side of me feels like you get a better value when they give you up to $1 for each of my coupons, where the Coupon Roundup, I wouldn't receive that much of a benefit on one coupon. I can potentially save $2 on just one item. However, the other side of me realizes the benefits of their Coupon Roundup program. Albertsons will round up an unlimited number of coupons in one transaction, so that would cut down on the number of trips I would be making to Albertsons, saving me time and gas. Also I don't know how many coupons I don't end up using each month because they just weren't a high enough value to warrant a great deal. Now I may be able to utilize these lower value coupons on a great deal. I'm curious to know your thoughts.

I have heard that some Idaho Albertsons will be running a Coupon Roundup promotion the entire week! If it hits our area, it may be a perfect time to test it out. However, I am not expecting it as we sit on the border of Washington and usually follow their lead. Last time the Coupon Roundup came to Southern Idaho, Twice the Value coupons came to our area, so I am hoping that we may have the TTV coupons here all week! Can't wait to check my paper tomorrow!

Take a Deep Breathe... It's All Good!

Do you ever have moments of insanity when a deal doesn't work out well? Then comes the moment of clarity that you realize your upset over a couple of dollars and that you spent less than you would have a year or two ago? Man I have those moments weekly! And every time it gets frustrated and I have to talk myself away from the edge of insanity.

Tonight after work, I was already frustrated, because I had hoped to get in stops at both Albertsons on my way home, but due to a sllloooowwww moving line, I did not have time to get two runs in. I was also upset because a good friend of mine had given me some great Darigold coupons that I had planned on using on that second trip and I was feeling guilty because I wasn't going to be able to use them. Time to talk myself away from the edge... coupons are good until December, there will be plenty of time to use them.... Twice the Value coupons will come around again.... possibly even tomorrow.... you did good and got several great trips in this week.... breathe.... breathe.... it's all good.

Crud I had planned on getting my egg noodles on that second trip to Albertsons, but thats okay because I want to swing by Safeway and use my $1/1 Oscar Mayer hot dog coupons with the Safeway in-ad coupon to get some FREE coupons and I have to do it today so my coupons don't expire. I make a mad dash into Safeway grab my noodles and hot dog packages, go to checkout and my coupons beep. The cashier takes a look and my coupons were actually $1/2 coupons! Why did I think it was off one? He says, "I can only take one". I told him I wasn't sure if I still wanted them but he, moving at the pace of lightning, already had me totaled out and acted as if he hadn't even heard me, so I handed over my cash. Now irritated again, my mind is spinning, "Do I got to Customer Service and return the Hot Dogs or do I just go." Running behind schedule, I just grabbed my bags and head to my car. Here I am AGAIN on the edge of insanity upset because I just paid for hot dogs.... I haven't had to pay for a package of hot dogs in almost two years! Then the moments of clarity came - you only spent like 65 cents on each package, you use to pay a couple of bucks per package!

How crazy can we get at times? Please don't tell me I'm the only one! Do you ever get mad when you get a really great buy then your kids or your husband chow it down like its water? Then you have to take a deep breathe and realize you only paid like 25 cents for it!

I would love to hear your moments of insanity! Please share!

Sunday Shopping

Now that we have approached the fall season, I am falling back into my normal routine of Sunday shopping. We spent so much time playing this summer, that very little else got done during the weekends, leaving me feeling stressed and scrambling all week long, then needing another playful, leisure weekend to recover.... such a vicious cycle =) But now fall is here and our Saturdays are still full with the boys' sport activities and other community activities, however, we are spending our weekends at home with lazy Sundays. This is a perfect opportunity for me to get a few shopping trips in early in the morning and have the rest of my day for laundry and all that other fun and wonderful stuff!

In anticipation of Alberstsons Twice the Value (TTV) coupons, I headed straight to my paper box Sunday morning and was pleased to indeed find them in my Sunday paper. I headed out to do the following transaction:

6 Del Monte Vegetables $0.59 each

• Used $1/5 coupon & doubled (not available locally - I ordered from Ebay)
• Final Price $1.54 for all 6 or $0.26 each - received $2 catalina - $0.46 Moneymaker!

2 Darigold Chocolate Milk Singels (16-oz) $1 each

• Used $1/2 coupon from & doubled
• Final Price FREE

1 Danimals Yogurt 4-ct $2.49

• Used $1/1 coupon from Albertsons Fall Savings Coupon Book (no longer available)
• Final Price $0.49

Total Spent $2.03 - Received $2 Catalina = Like Paying $0.03!

While at the store, I noticed they did not have any extra TTV coupons out, so I decided to buy some extra papers. It was a good week for coupons so I thought it was worth the extra copies and that way I would have extra TTV coupons incase Albertsons didn't put any extras out. I first purchased a Spokesman Review hoping they would have the Red Plum since our local paper did not - no such luck. I was really wanting that $4 Shick coupon!

Now that I had more TTV coupons, I headed to different Albertsons and did these two transactions (broke a set of TTV coupons into 2 transactions to take advantage of Del Monte vegetables on my limited TTV coupons).

Transaction 1:

6 Del Monte Vegetables $0.59 each

• Used $1/5 coupon & doubled
• Final Price $1.54 for all 6 - $0.26 each - Received $2 Catalina = $0.46 Moneymaker!

1 Coffee-Mate Creamer (16-oz) $2.29

• Used $1/1 coupon from Safeway $70 coupon book & doubled
• Final Price $0.29
  

Used $2 Catalina to Pay - I had a brain dead moment and thought my total was going to be over $2 before tax. Total ended up only being $1.83 but it still accepted my catalina and applied the difference to sales tax. Final Price = $0.17 Moneymaker!

Then on my way home, I stopped by Walgreens:

4 Nivea Lip Care $0.99

• Used 2 $2/2 coupons
• Final Price FREE

1 EOS Lip Care $3.00

1 Gallon of Milk $2.89 (ouch)

Used $5 RR from Previous Week

Total Spent $0.85 - Plus I earned a $3 RR

Since Sunday, I have been back to Albertsons several times to do the Del Monte vegetable deal. This deal after coupon and TTV, ends up being $1.54, so I have been combining it with either Danimals yogurt at $0.49 each after coupon and TTV or with Coffee-Mate creamer at $0.29 each after coupon and TTV, then using my $2 catalina earned from previous transactino to get my out of pocket total between $0.12 and $0.52. This is a perfect way for me to stock up on vegetables, yogurt and creamer! I just have to make sure to be aware of expiration dates!

Super Cheap Progresso Soup and Betty Crocker Potatoes

Safeway has a really good buy on Progresso Soup and Betty Crocker Potatoes this week. They are priced $1.99 each, but you receive $4 of INSTANT savings for every 4 you purchase, making them only $0.99 each.

Because I regularly load electronic coupons onto my Safeway card, I had 4 $0.50/2 Progresso coupons and 4 $0.50/2 Betty Crocker Potatoes loaded on my card - an additional $4 of savings! If you don't know about electronic coupons,then you will want to go here and educate yourself. It is well worth your time.

Here's What I did:



4 Progresso Soups $1.99

• Used 1 $1/4 coupon from coupons.com
• Used 4 $0.50/2 e-coupons
• Received $4 INSTANT savings
• Final Price $0.24 each!

4 Betty Crocker Potatoes $1.99

• Used 2 $0.50/2 coupons from coupons.com
• Used 4 $0.50/2 e-coupons
• Received $4 INSTANT savings
• Final Price $0.24 each!

Bad Deal Gone Good

As couponers, we are all too aware of a good deal gone bad - your perfectly strategized shopping plan ruined by products out of stock or a cashier refusing coupons. Don't you just hate it when things don't go according to plan? It can almost ruin a day, can't it? This week, I had to take back a deal I use to think was horrible and determine that under current circumstances it was a great deal indeed!

A little over a year ago, Wal-Mart (WM) built a new Super Store. We had a WM, but it was a standard WM with limited groceries, no tire center, optical shop or any of the other services found inside Super WM. I have never been a big WM shopper but my friends who frequent there were excited for the one stop shopping the new Super store would provide. They also built it across from Costco so my friends and family who live in the rural areas nearby were excited to get their two main stops next door to one another. But then it arrived.....

My friends were disappointed with the limited amount of products available and prices. They found that some of the items they specifically went to WM for were no longer available or the variety they bought wasn't available any longer. WM use to be the place you went for almost everything but now its just not the same and its left us disappointed. The one thing I did always go to WM for was their photo studio. They had fantastic package prices and the packages had all the photos I needed so I didn't have to buy extra sheets. Guess What? The new and wonderful Super WM does not have a photo studio!

I took my youngest son to Sears a couple of weeks ago for photos, paid three times as much and got a third of the photos I use to get at WM. I was so disappointed! Now onto the point of my story.

My oldest son brought home the order form for school photos last week. The last couple of years I looked at this order form and thought no way am I paying that much for a package of photos. This year, I was so excited to get this form and see the package prices. The most expensive package is $30 which is what I spent at Sears a couple of weeks and it has all the photos I need in it AND I don't have to make an appointment and use a precious hour or two out of our busy week or sit through the upsell script. All I had to do was send a check to school with my son! Its my best deal of the week!

Move it Tater! I'm Getting Mashed Over Here!

Were you able to score any of the Ore-Ida fries for only $0.49 per bag at Safeway last week? I hope so because I don't think I have ever gotten them this cheap before. I ended up doing 3 transactions for a total of 12 bags. I wish I could have made another trip or two because these will definitely go fast in our house!

Myself and a couple of friends and co-workers are always making quick trips into the grocery store on our way to work or on the lunch hour whenever there is a great deal going on and we had the freezer at worked crammed with taters this week! I love the deals that get us all excited and recharged!

Safeway has another great FREEBIE this week that's worth a stop.

Nestle Coffee-Mate Creamer 16-oz $0.99 with in-ad coupon, limit 3

• Use $1/1 coupon from $70 Dairy Coupon Book
• Final Price FREE

Tip: You will need to:

• Take your weekly Safeway ad with you or grab one on your way into the store
• Find the Coffee-Mate coupon inside the ad to show cashier at checkout (they usually do not make you clip them out). You can buy 3 at $0.99 each with this coupon but no more than three and there is a $10 minimum purchase requirement. This means that you need to have at least $10 worth of products in your cart before coupon is applied and the price of the creamer counts towards this $10 limit. For example, if the creamer without coupon is $2 each (a total of $6) you will also need at leat another $4 of other products to use the coupon.
• Find the Dairy Coupon Book (if you don't already have it) and tear or cut out the Coffee-mate coupon which is towards the back of the book. You will need one coupon from the Dairy coupon book for each creamer you are purchasing. So if you plan on purchasing a total of three, you will want to try to get 3 coupon books so you will have 3 coupons.
• If you are able to do all of the above, you will end up with 3 16-0z Cartons of creamer for FREE! Just make sure to check your expiration dates so you will be able to use the creamer before it expires!

Last Day for These Safeway Deals

Here are a couple of Safeway deals that you don't want to miss and today is the last day to get in on them! These are great deals too since the only coupons you need are right there in the store!


Ore-Ida Frozen Potatoes $1.99 with in-ad coupon (limit 4)

• Use $3/2 coupon from Safeway $70 Coupon Book (found in freezer & dairy sections)
• Final Price $0.49 each

Buy 6 Pillsbury Regfrigerated Crescent, Grand or Sweet Rolls $1.00 each

• Use $1/2 coupons from Safeway $70 Coupon Book
• Final price $3 for All 6 - Get Back $3 Catalina = FREE after Catalina

Tip: Inside each coupon book is a $1/2 Crescent Roll coupon, $1/2 Grands coupons, & a $1/2 Sweet Roll coupon, so if you only have one coupon book, mix and match the Pillsbury items to use all coupons. If you don't know what a Catalina is, go here and read my post about coupon types!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Yesterday on a quiet afternoon, shortly after getting my 3 year old down for his nap, there was a knocking on the door. This loud knock, set my dog off into a barking rant, and as my husband went to answer the door, I took a peek out the window to see what obnoxious soul had the nerve to disrupt my quiet home and risk startling my toddler out of his nap. Peering between the slats of the blinds, I see two sets of legs and in their arms is the Sunday paper. Occassionally our local paper hires teenagers to go door to door offering free papers in hopes of selling suscriptions. I'm thinking to myself, Jeez don't the give these kids a list of homes who don't already have subscriptions? Don't they understand people might be upset to have someone coming to their door during their quiet Sunday afternoons? I could call and complain like some manic mother, but would they really understand the frustrations of a child being woken from a nap. That would just be silly and besides there was no harm done - they are gone, my dog is done barking, and my son is still sleeping, but oh no, wait......

I go running upstairs saying to my husband "Who was that? Was that the tribune? Did you get a paper?" He looks at me like I grew two heads in the laundry room, "No, I told them we already had the paper?" Ah man! "You should have taken the paper! There were really good coupons today!"

Yes, I gave my husband a good dose of crazy yesterday :-)

Braggin' Time

Jeez the nerve of me, right? I take a vacation from my blog and then my first post back and all I want to do is brag... thats just not very friendly is it? Once I get done with my bragging, I think you will understand that this is a moment in a working mom's year that a gal just needs to share a rare moment with someone who understands.

First let me start by sharing that this past Friday was my 10 year wedding anniversary! Yay for us! How did we celebrate? Dinner out with the kids... yep that's right, you heard me, an ordinary weekend night out for dinner with two children in tow! However, I must say (er I mean brag) that my boys were fairly well behaved so all in all it was a great night. Now my husband and I really aren't big gift givers. We usually celebrate our birthdays by picking out our own gifts, something we really need or want but feel guilty about spending the money on any ordinary day. This anniversary, even though a milestone, we celebrated with dinner and our usual exchanging of cards. You see the wonderful thing about marriage is having someone in your life who really is in sync with you. I have been saying to friends and fellow couponers how desperately my freezer needs defrosting and one day this week I came home from work to find my husband had defrosted the freezer! Its was the perfect gift, even though I don't think he intended for me to think of it as a gift! My first response was, "Wow, now I can do some more shopping!" A joke of course, but I just found out there is a great buy on Ore-Ida fries, so I am seriously so relieved of my new found freezer space! Check it out!

My second item to brag about is my cleaned carpets! Actually they're not worth bragging about since I spent a good portion of my weekend pushing and pulling a heavy cleaning machine over my rugs, without much improvement, but at least I can say they are clean and I knocked off one an item from my every growing things to do list! Our carpets have to be 20 years old and in desperate need of replacement, but with two small boys, it just doesn't make sense to replace them at this point in our life. I just need to tough it out a few more years!

My final item in need of bragging, which is truly the rarest of them all, is my FINISHED laundry. Oh yeah, that's right, woo hoo, my hampers are empty, my laundry is washed, dried, folded and put away! I almost don't believe it! I don't remember the last time I accomplished this! The summer months, packed of so much activity, led to my weekly panic of going to bed on Sunday nights not knowing if I was going to be able to find clean clothes for myself or the rest of my family to wear come morning. Then I followed it with a stressful week of cramming a load of laundry into our hectic evenings, with not enough time to actually fold it, but to just let it pile up on the downstairs table, waiting for Friday afternoon to arrive so I might hopefully get it folded and put away before the wrinkles permanately set in.

After my list of brags, I hope you can understand my need to get it out there to someone who will understand how truly great of a weekend this was. I was starting to feel that there just weren't enough hours in my week to get it all done (which there really isn't) but there is enough to get a LOT done. I think I just forgot how much could be accomplished in a weekend. We really took advantage of the summer season and spent our weekends enjoying the outdoors and time with our family and friends, which is what summer is all about so I have no regrets to all those wonderful days on the beach and the river!

I just let myself get overwhelmed with the list of chores that piled up while we were out playing. It feels really good to have a weekend of accomplishment, a reminder that I can get a handle on things when I use my time wisely! I almost forgot to mention that I also got my coupons organized. I am not completely done, but I would say I am about 80% there, which is much closer, than where I would have ranked myself a week ago, which I hate to admit was probably only about 25%!

I hope everyone else had a great weekend and that the fall season is getting everyone else back on track from a summer of play, because before you know it, the Holidays will be here!

Coupons 101 - Electronic Coupons

Some grocery stores allow you to load electronic coupons onto your store card that are automatically deducted when you purchase those products. Here are three sites you can go to load coupons onto your card:


cellfire.com

• Participating stores: Baker's, City Market, Dillons, Fry's, Fred Meyer, Gerbes, Hilander, JayC, King Soopers, Kroger, Owen's, Pay Less, QFC, Ralphs, Scott's, Smith's, Carrs, Dominick's, Genuardi's, Pavilions, Randall's, Safeway, Tom Thumb, Vons, ShopRite, Giant Eagle, Shop 'n Save

shortcuts.com

• Participating stores: Safeway, Carrs, Dominicks, Genuardis, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Vons, Bakers, City Market, Dillons, Frys Food, Fred Meyer, Food4Less (Fremont), Gerbes, Giant Eagle, Hilander, Jay C Foods, King Soopers, Kroger, Owens Market, Pay Less, QFC, Ralphs, Shop 'n Save & Smith's.

pgesaver.com

• Participating stores: Safeway, Carrs, Dominicks, Genuardis, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Vons, Bakers, City Market, Dillons, Frys Food, Fred Meyer, Food4Less (Fremont), Gerbes, Hilander, Jay C Foods, King Soopers, Kroger, Owens Market, Pay Less, QFC, Ralphs & Smith's.

If you have a local grocery store that is a participating store, then it is well worth your time to load the coupons onto your store card. The only store in my area is Safeway so I load all the coupons available at all 3 sites onto my card.

Electronic coupons will be deducted from your card only one time no matter how many participating products you purchase. For example, if you have only one $1/1 Ore-Ida e-coupon on your card but you buy 4 bags of potatoes, only $1 will be deducted from your total (based on my experience at Safeway).

All electronic coupons will be decuted from your card for the participating products your purchase. For example, if you have two $1/1 Ore-Ida coupons on your card but only purchase one bag, both coupons will be decuted from your total (based on my experience at Safeway).

You can also use paper coupons in addition to e-coupons loaded on your card. For example, if you have one $1/1 Ore-Ida coupon on your card and you have a $1/1 paper coupon, you can use both coupons even if you are only purchasing one bag!

Coupons 101 - How to Organize Coupons

Now that you have started to compile your coupon stockpile, you will want a way to keep them organized. You should organize them in a manner that works best for you. I started with a smaller accordion style folder. This worked for awhile, but as my stockpile grew, I out grew the folder, and then upgraded to the binder you see above. There is a nice deep pocket on the front of this binder that is perfect for keeping the weekly ads of the stores I frequently shop at. This allows me to carry around my ads from home in which I have marked items and/or written notes in.

When you open the binder, on the left side of the binder is an accordion style filing system. The file pockets are perfect for storing the weekly coupon inserts from the Sunday paper or any internet printed coupons until I have time to clip them.

On the right side of the binder I have inserted sheet protectors designed for baseball cards. There are nine pockets to each sheet which I slip my coupons into. This allows me to flip through my binder and be able to see all my coupons without flipping through them. These sheets are broken into categories by indes tabs. The categories I use are: Produce/Bread, Cereal, Dairy, Groceries, Frozen Foods, Drinks, Snacks, Paper, Household, Personal Care, Pet, Baby, and Healthcare.




My binder has a place for me to store pens, scissors, calculators, and notepads. This way I have all the supplies with me that may come in handy. You would be surprised at how often I need my scissors while shopping.






One of the features I like best about my binder is this clear zip pocket. Sometimes I plan my trip(s) out the night before. I then paperclip my list to my coupons and insert it into this pockets, so all I have to do is grab this pocket from my binder to take into the store instead of my entire binder.

My binder is working well for me. The only complaints I have when it comes to my coupon organization is my lack of ambition to keep my coupons organized. I have the tools in place, but sometimes I fail to take the time to get everything orderly. My advice (based on the examples set by friends) is to clip your coupons on Sunday and get them filed away into your binder immediately. Once you have this task done, your coupons are organized in a fashion you can quickly flip to, rather than stuffed into your binder in a manner that causes you to have search for a particular coupon. In the long run, it saves you time. I am working on this because I know once I can get in the habit of keeping everything organized, I will be able to plan and execute my trips much more successfully, saving me not only time but money.

Please share your coupon organization system with us by leaving a comment below. We could all use other ideas!

Coupons 101 - What You Need to Know

Sunday Newspaper

You can find coupon inserts in most Sunday papers. Coupon inserts will vary from region to region, as well as the coupons inside the inserts. The two most popular inserts are the Smart Source (SS) and the Red Plum (RP). Occassionally General Mills and Proctor and Gamble will put inserts in the Sunday paper too.

Some areas offer a subscription package that will deliver multiple Sunday papers. I personally only have one Sunday paper delivered, but I will purchase additional papers, depending on the quality, number, and value of the coupons for that week.

Internet Printable Coupons (IP Coupons)

The internet is becoming one of the best sources by far to find coupons. These are my two favorite sites to print from:

:: coupons.com

:: smartsource.com

The general rule is that you can print most coupons twice per computer, however, some coupons can only be printed, but occassionally you will find a coupon that will allow several prints! The print limits are per computer, so if your home has more than one computer, you can print the coupon up to its limit from each computer!

Please do NOT photocopy the coupons. This is against the rules! IP coupons are very convenient and abuse of the systems in place will decrease the number of coupons manufacturers make available to us via the internet.

If there are specific items on your grocery list that you don't have coupons for, try checking the manufacturer's websites to see if they have any coupons available.

You can also get buy coupons from ebay! Its against the law to sell coupons, but many people will advertise coupons on ebay and charge you a fee for their time to find, clip, advertise, and mail the coupons. There have been a few instances in which I have done this for coupons on items we use regularly.

Inside Stores

Believe it or not, you can find a lot of coupons while you are shopping! Sometimes you can find coupons right on the product (peelies). You can peel these coupons from the product and use on that trip, or if you have a better coupon in your binder, you can wait until you get home, peel the coupon and save for a future purchase.

Another place to find coupons in the store are in coupon boxes attached to the grocery shelves. These coupon boxes are commonly referred to as blinkies because they usually have a blinking light on them.

Coupons can also be found in the form of a tear pad, which are either located on the shelves or on a display.

Catalinas are coupons that print at checkout. Many stores have a machine from the Catalina Marketing company next to their registers which spit out coupons while the cashier is processing your transaction. The coupons that print are triggered by the products your purchase.

Family, Friends and Co-Workers

Don't be afraid to ask the people you know if they use their coupons, and if not, if you could have them.