Are You Ready for Christmas???

As of today, we have officially 27 days to Christmas (and my birthday!). So my question to you is are you ready? Do you know what you need to make for Christmas dinner? I know you're thinking, "She's kidding right? I just finished cooking for Thanksgiving and you want me to start thinking about Christmas???" Yes, I want you to start to think about Christmas.  You need to start thinking about Christmas so you can start planning ahead as to what you're going to make. If you know what you're going to make, you can start watching the sales and pick those items up at the lowest price possible.

Speaking of sales, what are some of the good deals out there this week? See the list below.
Safeway:

•  A gallon of milk for $1.97.  

Walgreens:

• Dawn dish soap (9 oz.) on sale for $0.99. If you have the $0.50 coupon that came out about two weeks ago, it makes your soap just $0.49!   
• Gillette Fusion ProGlide razors or Venus Embrace razors for $1.99! Let me explain how you're going to get them this cheap.  They are on sale for $10.99, you get $4 in register rewards (this can only be used on your next visit), this takes the price down to $6.99. Use the $5 coupon that was in this Sunday's P&G saver and your final price.....$1.99!
• Folgers Coffee (10.3 or 11.3oz.) for $3.49. 
• Hershey's candy bars are also only $0.59.  

Sunmart: These are only good thru Tuesday, November 29th

• Mayo or Miracle Whip $1.99 (22-30 oz.)
• Buy a 10lb. bag of locally grown potatoes and get the following for FREE a stalk of celery and a 3lb. bag of onions.

Be on the look out for tomorrow's post as new fliers come out tomorrow!

Finding Good Deals on Meat

If you clip coupons you know that rare are the meat coupons.  Sure, on occasion you can find coupons for sausage, bacon, hot dogs and there may be a couple of coupons a month for lunch meat, but where's the beef?? Let's face it, you don't find coupons every month for staple items like chicken breasts, ground beef, pork chops, or seafood.  So, how do you get the deals on these items? Take a look at your grocery store's flier for any given week.  The meats on the front page are generally the most discounted.  But to be sure you're getting the best deal, start keeping track of the prices of meat on a weekly basis.  Pretty soon, you will start to see a trend and you'll know when the sale price is at rock bottom prices. When they hit rock bottom, plan on buying enough to last you for a week or two, if you can afford it. Another way that you can save some cash is to look for unadvertised sales.  Most often, what happens is right before the meat gets ready to expire, they will slash prices on that product. If you find a product that is with in a few days of expiring and hasn't yet been marked down, ask the store if they will discount that item. They may be willing to do this, as they would rather make a profit off it than throw it out. You will need to use or freeze these items right away, but the savings make it all worth while.

The holidays, or right after them, are also great times to get add some meat to your freezer.  Right after the holidays, grocery stores generally discount items like hams and turkeys to get rid of them.  Look at it this way, on Black Friday, I seriously doubt there will be a fight over all those frozen turkeys that didn't sell!  Right after Easter, check the ham prices. Chances are you're going to find a bargain!

Want better quality meat that the grocery store has to offer? I know I do! Especially, when it comes to beef. I've been spoiled my whole life with really good meat.  My grandparents, who raised my sister and I,  were butchers and owned their own meat processing plant. I was brought up on good quality, home raised, beef and pork.  Today, my aunt and uncle own and operate the place. While the upfront cost my seem like a lot, you're getting the whole steer at a certain price per pound.  Don't want a whole beef, but just the maybe just the hamburger? You can generally get more meat for your money by ordering just what you want than paying for a whole beef. For example, a whole beef may cost you $2000 including the processing fee. But, purchasing 200lbs. of ground beef would cost $600, still cheaper than the $1000 cost of a half of beef. Here is a list of local butchers & meat processing facilities in our area for you to check out:
Knudsen's Meat Processing
730 E. 1st Ave.
Otis, CO 80743
970-246-3201

Mike's Meat Market
624 S. 10th Ave.
Sterling, CO 80751
970-521-0430

D&L Meat Co. Inc.
115 Main St.
Ovid, CO 80744
970-463-5657

 

Let's Talk Stockpiles

Stockpiles.  Everyone on that you've ever seen on Extreme Couponing have HUGE stockpiles.  I know that people have asked me if I have one as they know that I live in a small mobile home with hardly any room. The answer to that question is yes, I do have a stockpile, be it ever so humble.  Do I think that there is a need to have stockpiles as large as they do on the show? No.  I don't think that anyone should have enough laundry detergent to last them for 12 years, or 1,000 toothbrushes, or even 300 containers of  barbecue sauce. Not when I know that there are so many people right here in our own communities that I know could really use some of those items. I really do appreciate the people on the show that keep a small portion for themselves and donate a majority to charity.

To save some room and give back, here are some ways that you can help our community:

Cooperating Ministries: They are a Christian non-profit organization that is in desperate need of food right now. They are having a hard time keeping their shelves supplied because of the great need in our community at this time.

Help for Abused Partners: This organization helps women escape from abusive relationships.  Most of the time these women only have a few minutes to grab some essential items for themselves and their children before leaving their homes.Often times they leave with only what they have on their backs. They will take any donations that they can, but a really big need for them is paper goods such as toilet paper, paper towels, and napkins.

Great Deals & Great Coupon Websites

The Great Deals!

Here are the some of the great deals that are out there this week! 

Walgreens:

• Palmolive dish washing soap for $0.69.  You must use the $0.25 coupon from Sunday's paper to get this price. 

King Sooper's: (YES, Walmart will price match!)

• Coke, Pepsi & 7UP products 4/$10! This offer is for the 12pks. If you pick up a flier from Sunmart or Grocery Mart there is a coupon to save you $2 off 4 Coke products making your purchase 4/$8. (That equals out to only $2 per 12 pack!) There's an additional deal if you need bottles- 4/$11. Check out the ad for details here: http://kingsoopers.mywebgrocer.com/Circular/KING-SOOPERS-032/000323226/Weekly/1/6.  
• Jennie-O Grade A turkeys up to 15.99 lbs $7. $9 for the same bird in the 16-19.99lb. range. 
• Jimmy Dean Sausage 12-16 oz. roll or 9.6 oz. fully cooked 2/$5
• Country Crock 45oz. 2/$5

Grocery Mart: 

• 5lb. bag of Shurfine (store brand) flour for $1.09.
• Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce 14 oz. for $0.99.

Sunmart: 

• Buy a 10 lb. bag of locally grown potatoes and get the following for FREE: a stalk of celery, and a 3lb. bag of yellow onions ($5 value). 
• Our Family (store brand) Sliced Bacon 1lb. $2.99 each. 

There are other great deals that are probably out there so don't forget to check your fliers and of course www.couponmom.com.

The Great Coupon Websites!
When going coupon hunting on the web, sometimes you can become a little overwhelmed. There are so many sites out there, so here are just a few of the ones for you to browse.

www.smartsouce.com

www.redplum.com

www.coupons.com

www.couponmom.com

http://www.grocerycouponcart.com

Most of these sites will allow you to print off your selected coupons twice.  You will find that a lot of these are duplicates, which is good if there is something that you really want to stock up on, but as I've said in an earlier post, there are way more coupons in the Sunday paper than there are available online though these sites.   

The other great place to go when looking for great coupons is right to the maker's website of your favorite products.  They will sometimes offer better coupons than you can clip from the paper, which can add up to some serious savings!

Tips Part 3

Want an easy way to see where the best deals are this week at the major stores? There is a great website that I've found that will show you where the greatest deals are at all major grocery & drugstore chains. The website is www.couponmom.com.  You will need to create an account, but doing so is free.  She has really made things simple.  When you click on a store she will show you what items you can get for free and what other items you can get with your coupons.  She shows you which circular the coupon came from and on which day they were put out. She will also tell you how many coupons to use and what percentage you're saving on that specific item. CAUTION: I've noticed that a lot of times the prices she lists for Walmart are often cheaper than what our Sterling store's prices are.  Therefore, you may end up not getting the item for free, so you may still end up paying something for the item.

One thing that may also be helpful to you that the Coupon Mom mentions could help those of you that are too busy to cut coupons.  To save time, just grab the coupons from the paper and make sure that you write the date that they appeared in the paper and then store them in a file.  If you go to couponmom.com she will tell you which date and which coupon flier the coupon appeared in.  That way when you are creating your grocery list, you can just clip the coupons that you need from those fliers.

For those of you reading this blog, I have a question for you. How often do you use coupons? Please post a comment with your answer.

Tracking & Tips Part 2

I was finally able to do a little shopping today! I purchased $121.01 worth of groceries, but only paid $84.35 for a grand total savings of 30%.  I will have to say that I did like the savings at some stores than at others.  I was able to save 60% off my bill at Walgreens and 54% off my bill at SunMart, while only saving 31% at Walmart.

Here's where my best snags of the day were by store.

Walgreens: Purchased 3 coffees @ $2.49 for my Grandma. (I did pay the sale price of $3.49 for one canister. I thought I had 4 coupons but, only had 3. However, I promised my Grandma 4 so 4 she will get.)

SunMart: They have a special deal going on now through Tuesday that if you buy 2 Dole salad mixes they will give you the following for FREE: grape tomatoes, a cucumber, shredded carrots, and a bottle of Our Family salad dressing. This ended up being a savings of $8.46!

Walmart: The best deal there was Carefree pantyliners for $0.44! One of my biggest expenses was here as well...printer ink.  Alas, there was no coupon for that expense.

TIPS PART 2
My biggest tip for today is know your stores coupon policies! Not all stores are created equal when it comes to coupons, unfortunately. So here are some very important things to find out about your store's coupon policy:

Do they double coupons? If so to what amount?
For those of you following who live in Sterling, SunMart, to my knowledge, is the only one that will double coupons.  They double up to a dollar.  So, if you have a coupon for $0.50 they will double that to $1.  If you coupon is for $1 it will not double. I know Safeway also doubles coupons up to $1 as well.

Do they accept competitors coupons?
Walmart is the only one that I've found in town who will accept a competitors coupon BUT, it must have the sale price written on the coupon, and not just a price amount off of item x.

Will they match a competitors sale price? 
Once again, only Walmart will do this in Sterling. Please look at the link below to see their Ad Match Guarantee.

Do they accept printed internet coupons?
Most stores will, but always check with your store in the event that they do not accept these type of coupons.

Do they offer a Customer Loyalty Card?
If they do, make sure that you get one and use it.  This will help you save even more money. Sadly, the only store around here that offers this is Safeway and we don't have one located in Sterling. On a side note, I'm all for bringing another big name grocery store into Sterling.  It's time to give Walmart a run for their money. I would love to see some thing like Kroger, Albertson's, or King Soopers here in town!

Can you use more than one coupon per item?
Sometimes stores will have in store coupons for certain items.  You may also have a manufactures coupon for that item as well, saving you even more.  It pays to see if you can use both of these coupons on that item.

Here are links to the local stores coupon policies. (Unless there are some exceptionally good deals that come out in the paper tomorrow, you won't be seeing anything new posted until Monday.)

Walmart: http://connect.walmart.com/feature/?_prevTerm=coupon+policy&_sc=0&search_redirect=true
Walgreens: http://www.walgreens.com/topic/help/generalhelp/coupon_policy_main.jsp?erule=couponpolicy
Family Dollar: http://www.familydollar.com/Documents/PDFs/Coupon-Policy-0911.pdf
SunMart: http://www.econofoods.com/Support%20FAQs.pdf
Dollar General: http://www2.dollargeneral.com/Customer-Care-Center/pages/coupon-policy.aspx
Safeway: http://www.safeway.com/ShopStores/Justforu-CP-RL

Tips of What I've Learned So Far

I've been couponing since this last June, and while I'm no where close to getting the big bargains that they get on the  TV show, I can usually end up saving a good chunk of money on my grocery bill.  I will soon start documenting that, but for now, no $$$=no buying.  However, I thought there may be someone out there who is wanting to start couponing and would love a few tips.  These will be coming out over the next few days so be patient with me, I don't want to overwhelm you.

• The first place to start is with, of course, coupons! The best place to get them are from the Sunday paper.  They are available all over town from Denver Post dispensaries, to stores like 7-11 & Sunmart.  You can also subscribe to the Denver Post as well and just get the Sunday paper.  The Post will cost you $2/paper. I recommend that you  purchase one paper per family member.  There are also printable coupons available online.  What I've noticed with these is that the really good coupons available in the Sunday paper you won't find anywhere else and that includes online.  You can also go directly to the company of a product that you really like.  Certain companies offer their own coupons. 
• The next thing that you are going to need is a way to organize your coupons.  Find a method that works best for you.  I personally have a zippered three ring binder.  If you go the binder route you will want to get some baseball card organizers.  The binder and a set of baseball card organizers will set you back about $15 but it is a good investment. Once all your coupons are clipped you will want to then organize even further so you can find your coupons easily.  My binder is organized by isles in Walmart and I have two basic sections, one for food and one for everything else not food.  Those two are then broken down even further into categories such as frozen food, dairy, meat, paper products, makeup, razors, laundry detergent....you get the picture.
• Lastly, pick up fliers from all the stores in town so you can see what's on sale and who has the best price.  My biggest advice here is learn to be FLEXIBLE with the brands you buy! I realize there are times when you can't be flexible for allergies or other reasons, but there are good deals to be had if you ditch the brand wagon! 

So there you have it, the start of couponing in a nut shell! Hopefully, you find this helpful!

A Way to Help Our Troops with COUPONS!!!

I found out last night that there is a way to help military families with good and even expired coupons. What neat idea! So here's the deal, people. Start clipping ALL you coupons.  The ones that you know you won't use,  put them into a pile.  As you go through your binders and are cleaning out all your expired coupons, save them and don't throw them away! If you want, you can give all these coupons to me or you can mail them off directly to the group that is doing this.
But first a few guidelines for the coupons they accept. This is directly from their website: (you can see the site yourself at http://www.couponcabin.com/troopons/)

Coupons we can use:

• Save 'em whether they're active or expired! We’ll send both.
• Only manufacturer’s coupons can be used.
• They can be from the newspaper, dispensers in grocery stores, tear-pads, and elsewhere, as long as they state "Manufacturer's Coupon" on them.
• The most important coupons our troops need are for food supplies.
• Baby supplies are 2nd priority, though common household goods help troops, too.

Coupons we unfortunately can't use:

• No assistance vouchers.
• No food stamps or the like.
• No store coupons. For example, we can’t use store coupons like Walmart, Kroger, Safeway, Walgreens, etc.
• No restaurant coupons.
• No coupons that have been printed from the Internet.

Oh yeah, and they will take coupons that have expired for up to three months of the expiration date!

Active and expired coupons are sent to different address.
Active coupons send to:
Active Troopons
P.O Box 231
Whiting, IN 46394

Expired Coupons send to:
Expired Troopons
P.O. Box 430
Whiting, IN 46394

With Veteran's Day tomorrow, I can't think of a greater way to say thank you! For more ways that you can help be sure to visit www.supportourtroops.org.

Ok, I went and picked up the circulars that I didn't get on Sunday.  Walgreen's has one of the best deals for this week.  Purex laundry detergent (33 load) is on sale for $1.99! I thought I had a coupon for it to make it even cheaper but it has already expired. Still, even at $1.99 that the cheapest laundry detergent that I've seen yet.  So those of you who don't want to clip coupons, stock up on this item now.  Walgreen's will do rain checks if they run out and Walmart will price match this item.

One thing that I would like to price check there at Walgreen's are the 6 count of Viva paper towels.  I have a dollar off coupon and the Walgreens coupon book also has a dollar off coupon for a total savings of $2! If they are priced between $3-4 it would definitely be worth investing in.

Another bargain that I can see (maybe) is that Folgers coffee is on sale for $3.49 (10.3 & 11.3 oz.) Black Silk & Classic Roast.  I happen to have a $1.00 off coupon on any Folgers coffee 3 oz. or larger which would make this coffee $2.49. If someone who does drink coffee and knows the prices well, please tell me if this is indeed a good deal please! I may have to do that and give this to my Grandma.  She loves coffee, and on her budget I know that it would be greatly appreciated!

The Start of the Challenge

Starting a new endeavor...sort of.  I'm going to start couponing on a serious level.  I'm going to try to budget myself to $150 a month for groceries.  As I go, I'll tell you  how it goes and for those around here who want to save some extra $$ I'll let you know the good deals in town that I find.  Here we go!