Everything's Coming Up Green

Archive for the ‘Intro’ Category

Have you ever felt uninspired?

Well that is me lately when it comes to this blog. Each day it seems like the elephant that follows me from room to room. When I started this blog I had grand ideas of it making money within a year or two. I knew it would take work but I thought I could manage it. I started writing posts for the blog back in April of ‘09 and went live in July. By the time we went live I had an eight month old and had just discovered that I was pregnant with baby #2. To say I felt a little over my head would be a serious understatement but I pressed forward doing as much writing as I could manage with a small child and morning sickness. Then Sammie came along and I realized just how good I had it with just one kid. Now I have a toddler and a nearly 5 month old (already?) and I am working hard to have a menu plan for the week and get the grocery shopping done let alone sort and organize my coupons so that they are ready at my becking call. Why do I tell you all this? Well it’s simple; I am sharing this with you because no one’s life is perfect including mine. There are times in life that one needs to scale back their expectations of themselves and those around them. The house won’t always be picked up, dinner may be late, I won’t score the best savings I could have and if I get a post up on this blog it may not have a picture but that is ok. I am choosing to be ok with that. The point of living the frugal life is to be able to have the freedom to enjoy special moments that cannot be manufactured and scheduled; the moments that just happen because you were there at the right place at the right time to experience them instead of working extra hours to keep up with the lifestyle you have created for yourself. I am choosing to be present with my daughters; to sit and snuggle with both of my precious daughters on my lap; to chase my little girl until I’ve cornered her and have an impromptu tickle fest. The toilets and the laundry will get done eventually and I will still blog in those windows of time that I can find, but my heart is with my girls right now and not with becoming a financially successful blogger. I hope and semi-plan for that to happen down the road when the girls can truly play with each other but for now I will share what I can and if there is a sweet urgent deal I will probably shoot it out via facebook.

I love you all. Thank you so much for continuing on this journey of life with me. It’s been fun so far and I expect it to only get better!

I will be on vacation all this week with limited to no internet access, so I will be taking the week off from blogging and enjoying spending time with my husband, kids and all of hubby’s family! Hope you all have a great week!

   Attention Shoppers!! What a great trip we had to Bag ‘n’ Save this week. Because next week is a holiday week all the stores are running their ads through Thursday the 24^th instead of Tuesday the 22^nd so you have extra time to score some great deals. Most of the sales this week were rather ho hum, but for some reason Bag ‘n’ Save decided to throw in a couple of biggies. Joel and I were out on a mini date/shopping trip and swung in so I could use the in-store coupon. I usually price match to this store since is out of my way, but since we were in the area and they had such a sweet store Q I stopped in. I just want to say that I love shopping with my hubby, especially when I am 7 months pregnant!

Here’s the breakdown of what I/we scored:

7 Kraft Cheese Shredded $1.30 each – $1/3 in-store Q – $1/2 MQ = $0.47 each = $3.29

11 Kraft Cheese Block $1.30 each – $1/3 in-store Q – $1/2 MQ = $0.47 each = $5.17

12 Stove Top Stuffing $0.89 each = $10.68

3 Bags Kraft Marshmallows $0.88 each = $2.64

4 Dz Eggs $0.87 each – BOGO Free Q (This was IP from awhile back put out by some egg coalition or something. It’s no longer available)

Total before Coupons: $39.33

Total After Store and MQ’s: $23.72

I only actually paid $21 and change (I don’t have the receipt with me). The best that I can figure is that she entered the egg coupons wrong, because if you take out the eggs completely the total is about right. The only thing that would have made this even better is if I had put two and two together and realized since we were taking Joel’s car my grocery bags were not in the trunk like they are in my car. Bag ‘n’ Save gives $0.05 per bag so with the three bags needed I would have save an additional $0.15!

Also, they have Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers on sale for $0.69 a bag, a great deal in and of itself, but what makes it sweeter is that in last Sunday’s coupons there is a $0.40/1 MQ making it just $0.29 per bag! I will be price matching this at Wal-Mart on Sunday when I go to finish my shopping while hubby watches the kiddo!

 Did you get any great deals this week? Feel free to share!

I got everything in the picture above in one day! Needless to say it was a great day.

What I got:

• 50 Free photos for signing up with Shutterfly.com-I only had to pay shipping. (This is an ongoing promotion. Just sign up and 50 free prints will be credited to your account.
• Nutri Dog Hig and Joint treat (No longer available)
• The current issue of Martha Stewart Living (I recieved a free years subscription for taking a quick survey whic is no longer available)
• Set of note cards thanks to Dove (No longer available)
• A form from Enfamil to send in for a free baby bag and formula sample

      I love getting free stuff in the mail. Especially when it takes only a few second to sign up for them. Lots of little freebies add up, and who can argue with free magazine subscriptions!

As I’m getting going I will post links to new freebies available!

I’m attempting to start meal planning over the next couple of weeks in order to damage control the grocery budget for the month.

Here’s the plan:

This week: 

Mon-Chili

Tues-Rice and Bean burritos

Wed- Chili cheese dip

Thurs-Potato Soup and Grilled cheese

Fri-Taco salad at Parents house

Sat-Dinner at Parents

Sun-Leftovers

  Hopefully I can stick to it. This is one of those tired weeks, but I am determined to get on track with the meal planning!

How about you? What are you planning for meals this week?

Right now you can go here and sign up to receive a coupon for a Free box of Beech-Nut Cereal and 2 Free jars of baby food! I signed up for this a while back and have already received mine!

Thanks moneysavingmom!

Yea for $1 sandwiches. The Jimmy John’s on 1417 Farnam st is Celebrating Customer Appreciation Day on November 20th! From 11am to 3pm their numbers 1-6 will be priced at just $1 a sandwich. There is a limit of 1 per person and is only available for in store purchase. Go-eat and be merry!

      Couponing can be intimidating at first. Especially if you are reading the blogs of the well seasoned that walk out of the store with hundreds of dollars worth of groceries for pennies on the dollar. A wave of anxiety washes over you. You ask yourself “How could I ever possibly do that?” The answer is quite simple-baby steps. You are not going to be able to do great grocery feats on day one and, depending on where you live, may never get quite as great a deal as they did. There are a lot of variables that lead up to huge grocery savings and my goal is to navigate you through them as best as I can. This will be a series of post outlining the dos and don’ts of couponing, sale ad matching, and saving money on your groceries in general. You are welcome to leave questions in the comment area and I will answer them as best as possible. So with that, here we go!

 

Coupon Terminology

You can’t know what you are doing if you don’t know what in the world everyone is talking about with all their fancy abbreviations and scenarios. Below is a somewhat brief explanation of the most come terms used.

Coupons (General)

Coupons in general are a piece of paper that holds a monetary value that is applicable towards a specific item. The monetary amount is subtracted from your total and you owe the remaining balance (if any) on said item. If for some reason you need to return the item, you would receive the entire price including the amount of the coupons. This is because it’s considered to be real money. Having said that, it is not cool to make a practice of purchasing items with coupons and the returning them just to get the extra money. We’ll talk about this more in depth when we discuss coupon ethics. Q is short for coupon.

Manufacturer Coupons

                These are released directly from the manufacturer most commonly in your Sunday paper or online, but you may find them in your store ads or on a tear pad or blinky (those little plastic box like things you see in some stores next to the item that is on the coupon. Pull one and it spits out another) at your local store, or sometimes through the mail directly from the manufacturer. In short lingo manufacturer coupons are referred to as MQ.

Store Coupons

                These are put out by the store themselves and are only redeemable at the stated store (unless you have a store in town that accepts other store’s coupons). These coupons are paid for by the store themselves not the manufacturer. Therefore you CAN combine a store coupon with a manufacturer coupon for even greater savings! This is called stacking. Hy-Vee and Target have coupons on their website that you can print off. Target accepts multiples of the same store coupons in one transaction, though the coupons say otherwise. Target has come a long way with accepting coupons but if you have any issues you should print off the Target Coupon Policy here. I often talk about target coupons which are commonly referred to as TQ’s. You can check out hotcouponworld.com to be able to print off multiples of the same coupon onto one sheet. If you go to Targe’ts website you can only print off one of each at a time. If there is only one coupon that you need you would have to print it off several times one coupon per sheet.

Internet Coupons

                These are obviously found on the internet. You can find them on the product/manufacturer site or through coupon generator sites such as coupon.com, redplum.com, couponbug.com, smartsource.com, coolsavings.com. Most of the time you can print off two of each coupon by refreshing the page. Coupons have a print limit, which means that if it is a high value coupon you should print it right away even if you don’t have a sale to match with it right away, otherwise it might be gone by the time you are ready for it. Also they sometimes reset a coupon once it has reached its printer limit allowing you to print off another set. I do want to mention that most of the time you can print off 2 of each coupon by refreshing the page. I have only had one instance where they only allowed me to print off one.  Internet coupons are referred to as IP (internet print).

eCoupons

These are coupons that are loaded onto your loyalty card (in Omaha Baker’s is the only one with a loyalty card). Shortcuts.com, Cellfire.com, upromise.com (see Upromise), or bakersplus.com -where you can load on Proctor and Gamble (P & G) coupons are the sites where you can load them on. These coupons are separate from manufacturer coupons. Though they are put out by the manufacturer you can use a paper coupon and an ecoupon for the same item. An ecoupon will only come off once. When you load on coupons from several sites often there are doubles or triples for the same product. Only one will come off for one item. If you buy three and there are three separate eCoupons, one will come off for each. I will warn you that these are great in theory but don’t always come off at check out. You can fax/email them a copy of your receipt and they will credit you, but it is extra work. I figure if I have the time to load them on then I do. If they come off at checkout then bonus but I don’t plan on them.

Catalina

                When you are in the checkout lane you will notice either next to the receipt machine or in the general cashier’s area there is a separate machine that often will print off a narrower slip of paper. Sometimes it is an advertisement, coupon off a product you just bought that you can use on your next transaction, an amount off at a different store (I often get these for some wig place or Office Max), and sometimes it’s $$ off On Your Next Order (OYNO is the short hand). Many of the blogs out there that give you coupon/sale match ups will also let you know about these Catalina deals. Sometimes they are unadvertised and sometimes the store will have it clearly marked under the item that is valid with the deal. Below is a picture of what a Catalina looks like.

Weekly ad Sales

                Matching up your coupons with your weekly ads is where you are going to find the biggest savings, but beware. Just because it is in the weekly ad does not mean it is the lowest price the store will offer. The manufacturers pay for space to advertise in the store ads. The items advertised on the front page are usually the best deals, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore what’s inside. In the weeks to come I will talk about creating a price book to track the regular price and the lowest sale price of your most frequently purchased items.

                Also keep an eye out for stores such as Baker’s and Hy-Vee who have additional weekly/monthly ads online that have items not advertised in the weekly circular. Hy-Vee many times will have coupons for their store for very low if not free items.

Upromise

                This is a website that offers e-coupons with a different end result. You add them onto your loyalty card (Hy-Vee has a specific upromise card you can pick up at customer service and then register the card on upromise’s site), and use it as you would normally the difference is that the amount doesn’t come off at check out, instead it is banked with upromise. Once you reach $$ you can request a check and put it towards your college debt (Sallie Mae student loans), your child’s college expenses, or you can continue banking for a college fund. They will cut a check quarterly at a minimum of $25. You can also go on their site and send to friends and family members a guest number so that they can earn for you as well.

That’s it for today. Lots of information I know but you’ll get the hang of it. After all I did and that is saying something. Next week we will talk about acquiring a coupon stash and how to organize them.

       I just got an email today from Kelloggs with a link to they’re snackpicks site where you can print off some great coupons. Pair several of them with the mega sale at Bakers and you’re looking at some great deals! Just go here and click on my account at the top it will take you to a page where you can log in or create a new account. Once you have created an account click on coupons at the top and it will redirect you to the printing page. You should be able to print off two of each.

Here is a of the coupons:

 

Keebler Club Snack Sticks $1/2

Keebler Graham Cracker Snack Bites $.75/1

Keebler Fudge Shoppe Cookies $1/2

Murray Sugar Free Cookies $.55/1

Kellogg’s Club Crackers $1/2

Kellogg’s Cinnabon Bars $1/1

Cheez-it Baked Snack Crackers select varieties $.75/1

Keebler Sandwich Crackers $.75/1

Nutri-Grain Bars $1/2

Cheez-it Whole Grain Baked Crackers $.75/1

I was recently at walmart looking through summer pool and pool toys on clearance when I found this gem.

Its a Better Homes and Gardens childrens parachute originally priced at $20 marked down to $5.00! It came with a nice drawstring storage bag and guess what else was inside and still valid.

          I don’t know if you can see on the picture but there was a mail in card for a free year subscription to Better Homes and Gardens magazine. And if for some reason you didn’t want to receive the magazine you could fill it out, mail it in with refund written on it and receive a $6 refund. Note that you can only mail in one per household.

                                                                                        I ended up giving the first parachute to a friend so I went back to pick up another and grabbed a couple more goodies.

       I picked up a larger baby pool priced at $3.50 down from $10 and an adult size inflatable tube priced down to $1. I have already blown up the tube and Emma is having a good ‘ol time climbing on it. I bought it for next years vacation but if it doesn’t last that long it will still have been well worth the $1.

All in all I spent $14.50 for $54 worth of product. Not bad if I do say so myself!

Have you found any great clearance finds?