$0.25 Colgate toothpaste and $0.60 Colgate toothbrush

 
Jewel has Colgate toothpaste and toothbrushes for $1 this week.  In this weekend's paper, there are coupons for both.  I can't remember if it was the redplum or smartsource insert.  I clipped it all out before I took note.

$0.75 off toothpaste
$0.40 off toothbrushes

Nice time to stock up :)

One Week Free Yoga - it's Yoga Month!

CorePower Yoga is offering the chance to try out an unlimited amount of classes for one week.  This applies to new accounts only.

http://www.corepoweryoga.com/YogaforBeginners/FreeYoga.aspx

Once the week is over, they are also offering a great deal for a one month of unlimited classes for $89 (at least in Chicago).  Normally, the one month unlimited is about $130.

I'm taking advantage of this deal tomorrow!

Free Wheat Thins at CVS this week (8/29)

In the new ad book, CVS has Wheat Thins as part of the 10/$10 deal. 

If you go to the Wheat Thins facebook page, you can print up a $1 off your next purchase.

Which means.....FREE!

Week Four Results

I really can't believe this....but in the four weeks that I have started couponing and shopping smartly, I have saved a grand total of: $274.38

That may not seem like a ton of money, but that's $274.38 that I could use somewhere else...pay off debt primarily.  Watching where I spend money has been revolutionary for me.  I was a spend-a-holic!  Just becuase there was a deal...I would purchase.  I wouldn't pay attention to weather or not the advertised sale was an actual deal nor evaluated whether I really need to buy that item.

I am a changed woman!

Now don't get me wrong...I will still splurge on the things that I want, and there are some things that I'm a brand snob about (mostly make-up), so I'm not being crazy frugal....just smarter with my money.

My goal is to pay off my credit card debts by my birthday in January....happy birthday to me!  Then I can concentrate on actually putting money into savings.  Slow and steady I go!

Date	Store	Amount of Receipt	Amount Saved	Amount Earned	% Saved
8/15/2010	CVS	3.33	6	3	73
8/18/2010	Target	28.4	5.02	0	15
8/18/2010	Michaels	3.92	0	3.92 rebate	100
8/18/2010	Walgreens	22.06	3.68	0	14.3
8/21/2010	Jewel-Osco	0.99	1	0	50.3
8/21/2010	Dominicks	26.48	10.96	0	29.3
8/21/2010	Staples	43.95	11	6	27.9
8/21/2010	Dunkin Donuts	1.97	1.97 free	0	100
Total		131.1	39.63	12.92	28.9

Do Not Double/Do Not Triple

I have this statement on many of the manufacturer coupons that I print up off sites like coupons.com, redplum.com, etc.  I assumed it meant that you couldn't use both a store and a manufacturer coupon for the same item.

From what I can tell, that is not the case.  It has to do with stores that have "double coupon" days....and the branding is more for the store than for us because it would mean that the manufacturer will only reimburse them for the face value of the coupon.

Here is a great example that I found:

"So, for example, if you have a 50-cent coupon and the store doubles it to $1, the manufacturer will pay the store back 50 cents for the coupon, plus that 8 cents for handling. But the other 42 cents comes out of the store's pocket. Many stores choose to go ahead and double coupons anyway because it's a way to compete with other stores in the super-competitive grocery industry. And that is really good for shoppers!"

Read more: http://projects.newsobserver.com/taking_stock/coupons_101_do_not_double#ixzz0xOdRAWK4

I've added tabs!

I know that that there are some common questions for specific stores and organizing, so I've created tabs for each at the tab of this blog. It has taken me forever to figure out how to do this (hence the weird color). I'll eventually try to change the color of the tabs, but for now I'm going to concentrate on filling in each section with useful info for you!

I feel like such a computer geek right now! Ha!

The Organize Tab is content rich - hope it's helpful.  Let me know if you have any additional questions that I should consider adding.

I'm gonna try out the Binder method

Oh my goodness....I was afraid to try this, but I was starting to lose my mind with all the stacks of coupons in my expandable file folder.  The store specific coupons are much easier to manage in an expandable file folder.

But the amount of manufacturer coupons is started to get crazy and so are the multiple copies of redplum and smartsource....so I ordered the baseball card holders to try out the binder method.

I ventured onto a new site called Cuckoo for Coupon Deals (link to her site is in my coupon guru section) awhile ago and I posted a video of her binder organization.  In that video she mentioned that she would be posting her binder categories on her page.  I took a peek this evening and jotted down the ones I liked for me.

Here is a list of her categories...

I am about to start sorting the coupons....will post an update (and hopefully picture) later tonight!

Week Three Results

It's that time of the week again....the time I get to crunch the numbers and see where savings were made and how much additional payments a credit card will get it.

Because of my crazy work week and less need for items, I shopped smart and less than my first weeks.  I've mentioned that I'm really concentrating on buying things that I need and if they make me money, it's a bonus.  I'm really trying to avoid buying things for the sake of buying of them.  I feel like some people who super coupon have stock piles of items that they'll never use or that they then have to donate.  Though I understand that they are often free items...I just don't get how you get to the point where you have garages full of "extra" stuff. 

Enough of my soap box.....here are this week's savings!

Date	Store	Amount of Receipt	Amount Saved	Amount Earned	% Saved
8/8/2010	CVS	17.12	14.02	5	52.6
8/8/2010	Jewel-Osco	0.99	1	0	50.3
8/9/2010	Jewel-Osco	39.28	0.4	0	1
8/12/2010	Dominick's	48.53	30.92	2.5	40.8
Total		105.92	46.34	7.5	33.7

I spent $0.33 on my order today :)

Have I mentioned that I love CVS....well, today solidified it for me!

Last week, I took advantage of the Garnier Fructise last week.  Spend $15 on their products (I bought shampoo and conditioner) and get $5 in extra care buck. 

Today, I saw that there was a deal on a gallon of milk -- $2.79 and you get $1 in extra care bucks. 
Head and Shoulders shampoo was $4.99 and you get $2 in extra care bucks.  I know that I just bought shampoo yesterday but I do use H&S, so why not stock up a bit.

So my subtotal was $8.33.

I used the $5 is extra care bucks, which means that my new subtotal was $3.33 (what I actually paid the cashier).

In return, I got $3 to use on my next order.

Which means?  I only paid $0.33 for my whole order.

Coupon Win!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've monetized!

Here goes nothing!

On the encouragement of a my friend, Mel, I went ahead and set up my blog to potentially make me some money.

So if you see a link/advertisement that looks interesting....click away!

My family is converting....slowly but surely

As you all know, I've become a nut when it comes to searching for coupons and shopping smart.  I'm amazed by how much I never noticed in the past and by how much I can actually save by having a fridge full of food.  I used to dread the idea of grocery shopping and would have nothing but bare essentials.  I tended to eat out a lot!  Because I have no dependents, I never actually saw the impact on my budget.  I just spent what I wanted when I wanted.

Couponing has forced me to evaluate how I spend my money and where I spend it.

In the now three weeks of couponing, I have only eaten out twice....once out of necessity (worked a day long event and had no access to a fridge for a brown bag lunch).

The fun part, however, has been watching some of my family members start to read my blog and start to embark on their own penny pinching journeys.  Though the art public followers of this blog, they have sent me fun messages.  I thought I would share some of my favorite postings...

Cousin Alma

you would be proud of me...this AM I went to Walgreens and saw erasable pens $1 a pack limit 4 w/ coupon....compositions books 5 for $1 w/ coupon...and nice pencil cases for $.99 on sale 1/2 the original price....and good thing I was checking the register because at 1st the total was coming out to be close to $20...but ...after all the double checking I got it down to $7!!!! Woo-hoo!!!!

Cousin Sandra

I saved $14 yesterday and ended up paying only $30 at Meijers. Nubia, you have converted us all!

I somehow made money at Staples!

So last week, Illinois had a reduced tax week (elimination of the State tax for a week).  I printed up the list of qualifying items and saw that double sided tape was an approved item.  I use a lot of double sided tape in my scrapbooking business, so I decided to drive to the burbs (no city tax) to buy myself some double sided tape. 

There was a huge line of folks, so I didn't check the receipt until I got home.  Doh!  I realized that I did not receive my reduced taxes.  So I printed up the list and took another trip to the burbs.  I also had received a $5 off $25 coupon in the mail, so I wanted to tack that on to my purchase.

When I arrived at Staples, the manager was confused that the system didn't automatically take off the sales tax...so he decided to see if it was only on a particular size of the double sided tape.  OF COURSE it was.  So I changed it up and took advantage of my $5 off coupon.

Well now that I'm couponing crazy, I started to do the math.  I figured out the cost of the tape per inch...and low and behold, I was totally screwed when moving to the "approved" size.  So the next day, I went back to the staples right by my house to return the tape.

What I was shocked to discover was that I made $5 by doing this?!  I know that I submitted a $5 off coupon, but I never actually paid that money, so I would imagine that I should only get back the amount I paid, right?

Guess not!

Thanks for the $5 Staples!

My Sunday Ritual

So tomorrow morning (I mean today) is Sunday....and so starts my new Sunday ritual.  First thing I do is go pick up my Sunday paper and store guides (CVS and Walgreens only as Dominick's and Jewel have new ones that come out on Wednesdays and those are usually included in the Sunday paper).

This month, the Sunday Chicago Tribune (which tends to have more coupons) is apparently on sale for $0.99 at Jewel...so I'll totally be picking up my paper there for now.  Some super couponers buy more than one paper...I'm not quite there as I'm only feeding myself right now.  I think if I had a family, I might consider buying multiple papers so that you get multiple copies of the coupons to use.  I don't think I'm there yet.

Once I've picked up all the store books and the paper, I come back home to start the clipping and organizing.  I haven't done any shopping on Sundays yet as I like to plan out what I might buy first AND I like to take advantage of the postings by bloggers like Jill Cataldo and Mashup Mom who help me understand what coupons I can use in the current week to get the best deal.

So first thing I do is label any of the coupon booklets from the paper - the Red Plum, SmartSource and/or P&G.  Sometimes you'll get more than one of each which is kinda great :)  Before I file them, I look through them to see if there is anything I might buy and clip only those coupons.  If I do find anything, I'll also go through the older ones to see if I can use multiple coupons for that one item.

I then painstakingly go through the other coupon inserts in the paper to see if there is anything.  I'll clip the CVS, Walgreens, Dominicks and Jewel booklet coupons that I know I'll use and put those in my little expandable folder.  Since I won't destroy the store books completely, I'll put these as extra copies in my larger expandable folder to help plan any future shopping that week.

Make sure to look at every page....you'll be surprised how much stuff is there sometimes.

Also, now that I have clipped for three Sundays, I've had to start organizing my coupons better since I'm not ready to upgrade into the full binder.  I'm paperclipping my grocery section into themes.....snacks, dairy, bread, cereal, etc.  This should help me from having to constantly go through every coupon in that section.  Here is what is currently looks like.

 Before I go shopping on Monday night...I make a list of the things I need and I STICK to that list as much as possible.  I also make sure to explore any money making possibilities at CVS because the Extra Care Bucks are great to buy some of those extra household items that never seem to go on sale.

That's my chaotic process....not completely figured out yet, but this is how I do it for now. 

Let's talk Organization

I received a request to document my process on Sundays.  I'm happy to oblige :)  I'm still figuring things out of course, but here is what is currently working for me.

First let's talk organization.  Instead of a binder, I've opted for expandable folders - a small one to carry in my purse and a larger one to always keep with me (it's either on me or in my car).  Anyway, here is how they are organized.

The little binder has my clipped coupons by categories...

I also have a few notes on it to remind me of the good stuff.

The larger expandable file folder holds the Red Plum, P&G and Smartsource coupon "book" you get in the paper.  I don't clip the coupons in these because I've found that the super bloggers give you good tips by date of the "book."  I instead, put a label on my booklets with the date that they are from and stash them in the larger file folder.  I also keep a current copy of the Jewel, CVS, Dominicks and Walgreens sales booklets.  They help me shop smartly.  This is what the larger file folder looks like.

If you feel a binder might be a better option for you....here is a good video on how some of the super couponers organize their stuff.  I'm not at this point, but it seems to work for many, many people...so I might (eek!) one day end up with one of these.

IL Sales Tax Holiday

Today started the beginning of the IL Sales Tax Holiday (August 6-15th), and I wanted to take advantage of the decrease is sales taxes to purchase something I know I use a lot of - DOUBLE SIDED tape.

If you know me, you know that I am a small business owner of a custom scrapbook design company.  I'm the President and CEO of Just Remember Scrapbooks, Inc. and the sole employee.  Small, small business - ha!

Anyway, I discovered long ago that double sided tape is acid-free and much cheaper to buy to use on projects, so I'm always looking for sales to take advantage of when purchasing it.  I had pulled up the IL Dept of Revenue's list of qualifying items at work and saw that double sided tape was on the list.  Score!

Unfortunately, I took a trip out to the burbs today to purchase the tape (minus the extra City of Chicago tax), and I realized that I was charged the full rate of taxes.  Sad face!

Of course I didn't have the print out document that proved this item was on sale and there was a huge line of people behind me, so I paid the full amount knowing that I will be going back with PROOF to get my discount.

Word to the wise while shopping, print up the list of qualifying items here!

Week Two Results

I'm a little early with Week Two results, but I know I won't be shopping anymore this weekend.  I'll also be working and/or running around all day, so shopping week two is officially over.

Anyway...I crunched my numbers and am proud to say that I have once again saved a plenty!

Date	Store	Amount of Receipt	Amount Saved	Amount Earned	% Saved
8/2/2010	PetCo	31.41	3.99	0	11.3
8/2/2010	Dominick's	74.7	45.01	0	37.6
8/3/2010	Walgreens	7.17	4.38	0	37.9
8/3/2010	Staples	22.69	0	0	0
8/3/2010	Target	8.43	3.68	0	30.4
8/6/2010	Target	6.5	1.75	0	21.2
8/6/2010	Jewel-Osco	35.03	13.19	0	27.4
Total		185.93	72	0	27.9

Because I still have plenty of funds to get me through the end of the month, I went ahead and sent the $72 saved to my highest interest credit card! Woo hoo!  An extra payment this month!

CVS didn't really have any great deals for me this week, and I didn't see a way to earn any money by buying things that I needed.  I can't justify buying things I don't necessarily need when I have debt. 

Forget that...I hope to never buy things to just buy them.

Some additional things to remember!

Besides the useful links, there were a couple of other important items shared.  Tips to remember at the individual stores.

• Dominick's accepts expired manufacturer coupons
• some CVS stores accept expired bucks....from what I've read it's only if they just expired.
• Every time you walk into CVS, look for the kiosk where you scan your card.  Once you scan your Extra Care card, coupons will print out the side of the kiosk.
• Jewel-Osco does not accept coupons that say "Free" item, but they do accept "Buy One, Get One Free"
• Jewel-Osco accepts Walgreens Register Rewards

I'll share more as I come across them!

Happy shopping!!!!

Some useful additions to the blog

I was scolded for not having posted some of the most useful information I've gotten to date.  I'm still working on posting links to everything, but keep an eye to the right side of my blog.  Here you will see:

• The Couponing Gurus - they give you step by step guides on what coupons to use to get the best deal at specific stores.  It's pretty awesome to see how they do it!
• Places for eCoupons - here are links to load your Safeway and Jewel-Osco card. 

I've done pretty well this week....I have a fridge full of yummy food and tons of snacks for home and work.  Have only eaten out once this week...and that was for a coffee and croissant at a breakfast meeting.  Otherwise, I've had real, homemade food all week - improvement to my normal diet and much nicer on my pocket :)

A girl could get used to this couponing thing....

Also, I've had a blast converting many people in my life...my manager, my coworkers, my interns, and my friend (and boss's wife!).  LOL.  It's awesome.  Gotta work on the many family members in my life!

First Month Debt Reduction

So couponing isn't going to eliminate my debt alone, but it will help me put in that extra bit on any current debt.  I've decided that I will tackle my bad debt first (along with keeping up with my car payments and student loans).  I previously reported an estimate of my bad debt (credit cards)...but I was off a bit.  I actually owe a bit more than I first reported.

Because I get paid at the end of the month, my August update is already here (one week after I started couponing).  I'm pleased as punch to see my progress...and happy to see that my additional $100 in savings from couponing have already gone to helping pay off a debt. 

Here is my August 2010 update (smiling with pride).  I'm hoping to be free of this debt by my next birthday (January).  Wish me luck!

Account	July Debt	August Debt
1	323.64	223.64
2	1888.52	1813.52
3	2434.46	2434.46
4	200	0	paid in full
5	400	0	paid in full
6	274.75	0	paid in full
7	260	0	paid in full
	5781.37	4471.62	23% reduced

Week One Results

Oh my goodness....I crunched my numbers...and the results are amazing! 

Because I never really shopped by sales (or by using my savings card), I'm also counting how much I saved in the store card savings (along with the actual coupons).  I then took the amount saved + the amount earned (roughly $110) and put it into an additional payment for one of my outstanding credit cards.  Here is my detailed breakdown for week one.

Date	Store	Amount of Receipt	Amount Saved	Amount Earned	% Saved
7/27	CVS	52.93	6.75	16.99	31
7/28	CVS	5.41	29.64	0	84.6
7/29	Jewel-Osco	15.59	6.49	0	29.4
7/30	Jewel-Osco	10.82	3.99	0	26.9
7/30	Dominick's	82.06	34.72	0	29.7
8/1	Walgreens	24.78	14.4	0	36.8
8/1	CVS	2.84	0	1	26
Total		194.43	95.99	17.99	37

Other Shops

Due to the constant coupon searching, I found myself having to take a visit to my local staples for more printer ink.  I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to learn a few things about the store.

First - if you bring in empty ink cartridges (Lexmark, HP, Dell, Kodak, Brother, Cannon, Epson), Staples will give you $2 in Staples rewards per cartridge.  Also, if you have a rewards card, you will get 10% off each new ink cartridge purchase. 

Note:  Apparently, the $2 per cartridge will arrive later (it's not immediately deducted).  You can recycle up to 10 cartridges per month.

Second - Staples does accept manufacturer AND my local store stated that they accept competitor's coupons!

Jewel

I'm still having a hard time loving shopping at Jewel.  They aren't the friendliest with coupons, but they do have a store sponsored site where you can upload coupons to your card which is nice.

Special note: Jewel-Osco does not accept "Free" internet coupons, but they do accept "Buy One, Get One Free" coupons.  Depending on the cashier and/ore manager, they may tell you different and not budge.  I tried getting a written policy and OF COURSE no one could find it for me.

Craft Stores

Coupon tips on craft stores

Dominick's

UPDATE:  Dominick's NO LONGER takes expired coupons and have drastically changed their policy.  I honestly haven't shopped at Dominick's since the change, so I need to do a little homework on it before updating this section.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Because I live in the Chicagoland area, my Safeway store is Dominick's.  Until I had learned how to use coupons, I avoided Dominick's stores like the plague because I thought it was more expensive than some of my other local choices.

Little did I know....Dominick's accepts EXPIRED manufacturer coupons.  So all these years that I've looked at "good" coupons and thrown them out....I could have used them at Dominick's!

It's officially one of my new favorite places to shop and one of the primary reasons why I had to finally create a binder!

 

Also, it's the only store that allows you to upload e-coupons (list of sites on the right side bar) directly to your savings card from multiple sources (Jewel only has one site).  Often times, you'll forget you have those e-coupons and end up doubling up the savings by also handing over a paper coupon.  It's a sweet, sweet surprise.

Shop CVS

I LOOOOOOOVE shopping at CVS.  Why?  Because it is the one place where I am almost always guaranteed to make money. 

What?!  You read that right.....with some skill, you can almost always make money at CVS and here is how you go about planning your shopping trip to CVS.

First thing - make sure you have an ExtraCare Rewards card.  If you don't have one, make sure to sign up at your next visit to CVS.

Then pick up the CVS sales catalog and look for items that earn you extra care bucks.  The advertisement looks like this:

Let's say you suffer from heartburn and you know that you use these products on a regular basis.  Well, in this particular week's advertisement, you could take advantage of this rewards deal.  By buying two of these products, you would get $4 in extra care bucks after your purchase to use on the NEXT purchase. 

So the first time you try this...you would pay the full $16 for two Pepcid Complete bottles and get $4 in extra care bucks to use on your next order.

So what does an extra care buck look like?  It's a print out at the end of your receipt.  Coupon Gal had a great image that I'm borrowing.  It highlights all the important items!

You can use multiple printouts per transaction.....so if you have $20 saved up in your files and your order is over $20...feel free to use them all!

Lastly, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS scan your card at the Coupon Kiosk when you walk in the door.  When you scan your card, it will print out coupons to the side.  I usually get two coupons every time I swipe.  The kiosk looks like this:

Organize

My first post on organizing my coupons was a good way to start, but as I have continued on this journey for a month...I quickly realized that my expandable file folder method was not going to work for me after all.

I actually decided to take a stab at the dreaded coupon binder that all the true super couponers use.  I was hesitant to start on this route because I thought it looked foolish to carry around a binder like this.

Little did I know....I was the foolish one.

After 7 hours of clipping and organizing a month's worth of coupons, I saw the light.  The binder is a god-send!  I've gone out for some items since organizing the binder of manufacturer coupons (I still keep an expandable file folder for the store coupons for now as they expire regularly), and saw the utility in being able to find something quickly.

First thing.....purchase a BUNCH of baseball card holder sheets.   I bought a pack of 100 to split with my cousin thinking that there was no way I would be able to use that many.  Oh man....I think I'm going to have buy more sheets soon.  I only have about 5 left.  I thought I would be able to find them cheap on ebay, but it actually ended up being a lot cheaper to get them through amazon.  Who woulda thunk it!

Second.....make a list of the categories that I thought would work for me.  These are the ones that work best for me.  You can clearly customize to what works for you.

• Air Fresheners/Candles
• Baby
• Baking
• Breads/Cereals
• Candy
• Cleaning
• Condiments/Salad Dressings
• Dairy
• Deodorant/Razors
• Drinks/Sodas
• Feminine Hygiene
• Frozen
• Hair Care
• Health
• Lotion/Body Washes
• Make-Up
• Meat
• Pasta/Soup/Rice
• Pet
• Snacks
• Teeth
• Paper Products/Zip Locks/Garbage Bags
• Office

Now you're ready to start clipping and organizing all of your coupons into the predetermined categories.  Clip everything and separate them out into category piles.  I would recommend to clip everything at once as it will take you much longer to go through separate booklets one at a time per category (that's how I started) - big mistake!  This is no easy feat though.....this is a LOOOOOOOOONG process.  I'm just glad I have no kids or a spouse to take care of yet, so I could take as much time as needed at once.  For those of you fortunate enough to have little people and a spouse...clip everything and store it envelopes.  Then organize little by little until you're done.

Because I only have a month's worth of coupons, I used a 1.5 inch binder.  I'm sure that I'll eventually upgrade.

Lastly...I bought a packet of make your own tabs at Staples that I could attach to any page I wanted.  This helped eliminate the need for dividers which would have taken up room in my binder.  I used my favorite label maker to make the tiny labels needed.

And this is what the final binder looks like!