How To See My Earlier Posts

I have been getting a lot of messages on Facebook asking if the landing page that has my most recent posts is all there is to my blog. The answer is, no. To see my earlier posts, scroll all the way to the bottom right hand side of the page and you will see "blog archives". This has a list of all of my blog entries by month, or you can scroll all the way to the bottom of the page until you come to "older posts" click on it to see the same earlier posts. I have a total of 61 posts and once you know how to find them and figure out the date you are good to go. Remember, Blogger posts my MOST RECENT entry first. If you have any questions, leave a comment or message me on Facebook.

Happy Savings and Couponing!! :)

Frugalness ;)

Frugalness...I'm not really sure if that's a real word, but to my 10 year old son it is. I grew up in very frugal households ( with my mother and bonus father in WV, and my father and bonus mother in MD). We recycled not to be eco-friendly, but to make extra money to go on fantastic vacations. I bring this up because my 10 year son IS very frugal for his generation. He loves yard sales, the Salvation Army and Goodwill. He particularly loves crushing cans and turning them in for cash. When he found out how some metals are going for .80 cents a pound, he asked if the cover to the water meter on our sidewalk was really necessary..lol. So, in his mind, frugalness is a real word and a real necessity as it should be.

I found the rather cute site while I was looking up frugal ways for him to save or make money without committing a crime and I came across this one... http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/
This sites caught my eye not just because of the title, but when I started to read it, there were a lot of useful, smart, practical ideas and recipes on it. I hope you find it as entertaining and educational as I have.

Spreadsheets and Savings Tracker

If you are someone who watches Extreme Couponing on Wednesday on TLC, you may have noticed that most of the shoppers say they use a spreadsheet to keep track of their coupons, savings, rebates, and freebies. I just found this great site that has a 2011 savings spreadsheet. I know it's near the end of the year, but she does update her site and tools often.

Spreadsheets are one of the best ways to see your savings and keep track of your progress throughout the year. Yes, you can write it all down in your coupon binder, but what a great way to compare your couponing progress from month to month. This download is free so, start printing and keep on organizing...instead of becoming a Queen of Couponing, you can become a Coupon Diva before you know it!
http://thecouponproject.com/2010/12/savings-tracker-2011-for-excel-and-google-docs.html

VERY IMPORTANT.....KNOW your coupons!!

I learned an excellent lesson this morning...I had planned on getting some free stuff and/or rebate items and found out that I no longer had some of the important coupons...they have mysteriously disappeared! This is exactly why I want to stress KNOW your coupons. Know what insert you got them from, either Smart Source, Red Plum, or the internet. If you are going to save money successfully you have to study, make lists, organize and do what ever it takes to know, which, what, where and how you are going to use the coupons.

As I stated in my last post, organization and knowing what coupons you have before you start shopping is absolutely key if you are planning to save BIG on your total grocery bill. I want to stress also, that I am learning this process as I go along just like everyone else, so please let me know what neat ways you organize your coupons and lists. I am finding out that successful saving and couponing is absolutely a full time job if you want to get the most out of the process. These people on the Extreme Couponing show didn't get those stock piles over night and they certainly didn't just walk into their supermarkets and magically begin to saving the hundreds of dollars on their grocery bills.

So with that being said, as soon as I get my new binder and I gain more confidence, I am so recording my first big extreme shopping trip. Right now, my husband and I are couponing on a much more average scale, and yes we are saving money, but I cannot wait to get this whole system down, so I can go out and take the supermarket by storm.

Remember what this post is about...know your coupons, where and what insert they come from and don't let them expire!

Organization and Other Tid Bits I've Learned...

I have yet to embark on a serious extreme couponing venture. To tell you the truth, I really am scared to do it. The key to any couponers success as many of you may have guessed, is organization. Whether you are using the small accordian coupon holders, a binder or even a plain old envelope, being organized with your coupons, having your list, coupon policy, and map of the store are all great ways to keep your shoppin trip running smoothly. I cannot stress enough to check the store you are going to be shopping at, for changes in their coupon policies. Keep them them with you, because as shoppers are starting to coupon more, stores are changing their policies.

Another reason why I haven't done a huge couponing trip is that I have a huge stockpile of coupons and I am running out of room in my medium accordian enveloped. I just ordered a "pro" coupon binder with 100 sleeves on Ebay for $15. There are a lot of different styles of binders and sleeves to choose from on there, so shop around and find what's best for you.

One thing that I have run into with some of the internet store coupons is that sometimes they don't scan. I think I have found a solution...make sure your ink in your printer is fresh and dark. The scanners will not pick up the barcode if just one line is off, too light or smugged.

One of the neatest things I have discovered about using your smart phone scanner is, that some commercials have the barcode on the screen of the TV. If you have a DVR, you can paused the commerical and then scan the coupon code to your smart phone and there you have another way to save and in some cases another way to "stack" for even greater discounts. I haven't tried the scanning on my smart phone because I just got it, so when I do, I will be sure to let everyone know how it goes. the barcode looks like this

You can also find these barcodes on almost any insert coupon and on some merchandise. It can be like a game finding different places that they show up. So, keep your eye out for them and of course, find out for sure where this great piece of technology can be used. :)


The last thing many people don't think of are rainchecks. A raincheck is an assurance to a customer that an item on sale that is sold out or out of stock may be purchased later at the sale price. People seemed to have forgotten this long time practice of retailers. I can remember that my mother always asked for a raincheck when an item was out of stock. I very rarely see anyone asking for them, but the way to big savings is to cover all your bases.

Happy Couponing!!! And please feel free to leave comments and any questions you may have.

The Coupon Wizard's Webinars

Webinars are seminars that are presented over the internet. The Coupon Wizards are offering webinars all week. Tonight the topic is "What's the Coupon Magic?" It starts at 9:00pm Eastern Standard Time. You will need a headset with a microphone or just your telephone. It's filling up fast, so hurry and sign up! https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/111631782

Listia, Bing, Coke Rewards...Points for FREE Stuff!

Free stuff is always good especially when you can aquire it in the comfort of your own home. Bing give you points for searching with their toolbar and completing certain tasks, then you redeem them for free stuff like gift cards, clothing, airline miles and more.

Listia is an auction site where you get items for points and also sell items for points. I like to call it the poor people's Ebay.

My Coke Rewards offers points from the codes on the caps of products made by Coca-cola such as Coke, Sprite, Dasani water, Powerade, Mr. Pibb, Vault, Mello Yello, Fanta, Barques Root Beer, Fresca, Minute Maid, Seagrams Ginger Ale and Nestea. Codes are also on the cases and 12 packs of Coke products. You can get great rewards such as gift cards, entries into sweepstakes, instant wins which could include great trips. You can also redeem them for a year's subscriptions to magazine from Redbook to Better Homes and Gardens, donate to a charity or a public school, and the list goes on and on. I just redeemed points for Christmas presents today from Bing and Coke. Here are the links for these FREE sites.

http://www.listia.com/signup/893595

http://www.mycokerewards.com/home.do

http://www.discoverbing.com/rewards/web?FORM=MRWHPG&PUBL=BINGYAHOO_PUBL&CREA=userid1743byooba2f30c3e317ca01b06a7b20477eac0fb&bdef=4

Family Dollar Match-ups and Deals Through 11/27/11

I found this great site while making my spreadsheet for a shopping trip to Family Dollar. I love it when these nice people do the work and all we have to do is print, clip and SAVE! http://theqtippingmom.com/category/family-dollar/

This site also shows how to "stack" your coupons at FD. Stacking is using a store coupon or internet coupon with a manufacturer coupon, which sometimes results in practically free items. FYI...do not try to photocopy or duplicate and internet coupons.

I know that in previous posts I stated to join as many coupon groups as possible on Facebook not thinking that there are some people who do not have a Facebook account. It's easier for me to post the links instead of trying to keep up with the ever changing deals and sales.

http://coupon-wizards.com/

http://www.supercouponlady.com/

http://www.couponcabin.com/?fromKey=coupon+cabin

Some of these sites are offering webinars where they will show you in real time how to use your coupons in the most effcient way. In case anyone misses them, there will be other ones out there and I will be posting them as well.

Load Up Your MVP Cards!

Did you know that you can load up you MVP cards with e-coupons? No clipping, no sorting, just load them onto you card from your computer, go to the store, buy the items, get savings right at the register!! How simple is that? Here is the site where you can load your card http://www.foodlion.com/Savings/Coupons