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4 lads mom
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| Posted: Oct 01 2013 at 10:01pm | IP Logged
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Betsy wrote:
4 Lads -- your PM box is full!  |
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Sorry!!! I fixed it!!! 
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Mom of four brave lads and one sweet lassie
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SeaStar
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4 lads mom wrote:
Melinda, that is crazy!!! Is this stuff that is prepackaged? I’m just curious...I’ve got my work cut out for me....but THANK you for all of your input, it really has opened my eyes.  |
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No! It's not all prepackaged stuff. I used to dismiss coupons for the same reason- thinking there was nothing I was going to buy with one.
I am using coupons for organic milk, cheese and yogurt, fruit, meat... you name it. Also for plastic bags/paper products, toothpaste, diet Pepsi (dh's favorite), medications, etc.
Some examples... Driscoll's raspberries lets you print a coupon right off their website for 50 cents off, which doubles at my store, where they are buy one get on free this week. That puts a carton in my price range, which I will buy as a treat to put in a fruit salad.
Stonyfield organics routinely lets you print coupons from their website. I had one the other day for 75 cents off kids yogurt, which was doubled to $1.50 off at my store. The yogurt was on sale for $2.50 for a six pack. So I got a six pack of organic yogurt for what...$1? My kids love these.
I have bad allergies and rely on my allergy medication. From the Sunday paper I had a coupon for $5 off Claritin, 30 ct or higher. Harris Teeter always has carts of clearance items at the front of the store, where, guess what? Claritin 30 Ct was on clearance for $8.50 for a 30 ct box. With my coupon, I got $5 off, which put the price at $3.50, which is less than I pay for the generic version at Walmart.
In that same cart there were Always pads reduced to $1.99, and I had a coupon for $2 off two. So I got two bags for $1 each. On the same day, Kotex was 2 for $6, and I had a coupon for $2 off 2 for those, which brought the price down to $2 per bag. But Kotex was running a promotion that week: buy two bags and get a $2 off coupon at the register good on anything on your next trip. I didn't realize this and was happily surprised at the register to get my $2 off voucher. That has happened to me a couple of times with different products.
My family loves boxed cereal, but I won't buy anything that has BHT in it. So that leaves us with organic expensive choices or select types of Cheerios, like Honey Nut. Lowe's food had Cheerios on sale for $2.50 a box, but in their store coupon book there was a coupon for $3 off 3 boxes. Then I had a General Mills coupon for $1 off three boxes. At Lowes I can use both at the same time. That made them about $1.20 a box each- which is pretty good (though I've done better!). Now that is a processed food, but we eat a lot of muffins/pancakes/oatmeal already, so I don't begrudge my family their Cheerios. 
One tip that has helped me get these good deals is having all my coupons with me all the time. If I just took coupons I knew I was going to use to the store, I would miss out on deals like the Claritin and Always.
I could go on and on... but I have already glazed over the eyes of my family with my coupon talk and probably yours, too.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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4 lads mom
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Seriously, Melinda, you have made me a believer!!!!! Thanks for all of your input, I am on it!! 
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SallyT
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We're Zyrtec users here -- lots of allergies (and my husband calls Claritin "Placebotin" . . . your mileage may vary, of course!). He claims that the best deal anywhere on Zyrtec, which is always pricey, is at Dollar Tree, where you get something like 14 tabs for a dollar. It's not a large amount, and I haven't done a scientific comparison, but he says that per unit there's not a better deal.
Dollar stores can be deceptive -- you don't want to buy a lot of canned goods there, for example, because Walmart's Great Value canned beans (to name one thing I can think of immediately) are 68 cents a can, way less than the dollar you'd pay at Dollar Tree, if canned beans are something you buy. BUT DT does have some food items that are a good deal: gourmet roasted red peppers in jars, sometimes sundried tomatoes, things like that. Their pasta, if you buy regular pasta -- which we aren't right now because I have a child on an elimination diet -- is often a good deal.
And I'm totally couponing this week. I have my envelope all full. We've already gotten a free dozen eggs from Bi-Lo, and I just made an account so that I can load store coupons onto my Bi-Lo bonus card. They're mostly for toiletries, but we do spend a good bit on those things, with everyone in razors, deodorant, and the like. I'll compare before I buy, but if I do buy them at Bi-Lo, I'll get the coupon automatically when they swipe my card.
I do my basic grocery shopping at Aldi, which beats just about any other deals out there, but then there are things you can't get at Aldi, so I'm planning my coupons around those things primarily. And I've been looking for gluten-free coupons while we do this diet. There's a Bob's Red Mill buy-one-get-one-free deal on right now, so I'm jumping on that for more rice flour.
Sally
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4 lads mom
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I have been using a regional chain store for years, finally signed up for their "perks" saver club...and that's just the beginning!!
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roomintheheart
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I started cleaning house this past summer. It pays $25/hour, and I do one house for 2 hours a week. So I'm getting $50 a week just for that house, and word is starting to spread. I'm trying to decide if I can take more houses or not. The money is good, but my time is already stretched to the limit.
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roomintheheart
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I don't think couponing works in my area. The local stores don't double coupons or ad match or take other store's coupons. And we're rural, so driving to more than one store would probably wipe out any savings.
In fact, jut a couple days ago, I was talking to a woman who moved here from a larger metropolitan area, and she loved couponing before she moved here. Now she says it doesn't pay. 
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TryingMyBest
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Does anyone here use Target Cartwheel? I just downloaded the app onto my iPhone. It requires a log in to FB which annoys me though.
I went through the offers today and found 5% off on a number of items that are on my shopping list, e.g. pullups and kitty litter.
I'm sure there's a catch I'm missing here and I really dislike the idea of it being hooked up to social media.
Jenn
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Erin
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Melinda
I have to rock your world***We do not have coupons here in Australia****
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guitarnan
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I occasionally do market research studies for Focus Forward. I don't waste time on the ones that offer small rewards, but I usually can get picked for a couple of $100+ studies per year. Last study, my per-hour rate worked out to about $20, and the study I'm starting this week should pay about the same per hour worked. Because you can't do too many studies in a year (they ask!), this isn't a way to add to the monthly budget, but it does help out with extra expenses/Christmas gifts.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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SeaStar
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Erin wrote:
Melinda
I have to rock your world***We do not have coupons here in Australia**** |
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I think that the dollar stores do accept coupons, Sally- so you maybe could save even more there! Blogs like CouponMom.com and Southern Savers do list the weekly deals for those stores. That is one area on my list to explore further.
I just figured out this week that if I print out coupons from the Swagbucks site (googel Swagbucks grocery coupons), then I can earn 10 swagbucks for each coupon I redeem. The coupons are tracked at the register, and eventually show up in my account. 45 coupons used= 450 Swagbucks, which is a $5 gift card at Amazon. I think I could easily earn one in a 2-4 weeks.
Alternately, if you print your coupons off from InBox dollars, you earn 10 cents per coupon redeemed. That goes to your account and can be cashed out when you earn enough. Again, I think I could do that fairly easily.
As with Savings Star, it can take up to 3 weeks for the credit to be posted to your account, so don't give up if you don't see your credit right away.
SB and Inbox dollar both have the coupon.com selection- at least that looks that way to me, so there is a lot to choose from. I might as well earn extra for the coupons I use!
The Target Cartwheel is something that I would really like to learn more about- but it annoys me, too, that I have to have a FB account for it. I think there is a way to use it via an e-mail account, but I haven't figured it out yet. I have to put dh on it .
Nancy- thanks for your survey tip. I signed up for Opinion Outpost a few weeks ago, but I am finding i is not a good match for me. I am never the right person for the survey.
I also wanted to mention I set up a free hotmail account just for my couponing blogs and coupon sites. Funnily, after over a month, I have not been spammed once on that account... it's all coupons, all the time.
Anyway- let me know how you all do this week with your coupons!
I was thinking that even if I only used a few coupons a week and saved $5 dollars a week, in a month that is $20... and in a year that is almost $500!
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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Servant2theKing
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Recently noticed for the first time that Amazon has coupons on select items. You simply click on the coupon portion of the product page before placing the item in your cart and it deducts the amount when you check out. There's a promotion box that is checked for using your "credit" when you make your purchase ~ I suppose you could accumulate the credits from multiple coupon purchases and bank them for the future. I may just be late in noticing this feature, but thought I'd share in case anyone else was unaware of it!
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SeaStar
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roomintheheart wrote:
I don't think couponing works in my area. The local stores don't double coupons or ad match or take other store's coupons. And we're rural, so driving to more than one store would probably wipe out any savings.
In fact, jut a couple days ago, I was talking to a woman who moved here from a larger metropolitan area, and she loved couponing before she moved here. Now she says it doesn't pay. |
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That is discouraging! Servant to the King just posted about Amazon coupons- which might work for you. Also some stores do double or triple but only on select days. Keep your eyes open... even if you have a Walmart somewhere around, you can use coupons there.
I am also to say that I just realized this week that I can use coupons that say "redeemable at Walmart" at other stores. Most places will take them as long as they are a manufacturer's coupon.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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SeaStar
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SallyT wrote:
We're Zyrtec users here -- lots of allergies (and my husband calls Claritin "Placebotin" . . . your mileage may vary, of course!). He claims that the best deal anywhere on Zyrtec, which is always pricey, is at Dollar Tree, where you get something like 14 tabs for a dollar. It's not a large amount, and I haven't done a scientific comparison, but he says that per unit there's not a better deal.
Dollar stores can be deceptive -- you don't want to buy a lot of canned goods there, for example, because Walmart's Great Value canned beans (to name one thing I can think of immediately) are 68 cents a can, way less than the dollar you'd pay at Dollar Tree, if canned beans are something you buy. BUT DT does have some food items that are a good deal: gourmet roasted red peppers in jars, sometimes sundried tomatoes, things like that. Their pasta, if you buy regular pasta -- which we aren't right now because I have a child on an elimination diet -- is often a good deal.
And I'm totally couponing this week. I have my envelope all full. We've already gotten a free dozen eggs from Bi-Lo, and I just made an account so that I can load store coupons onto my Bi-Lo bonus card. They're mostly for toiletries, but we do spend a good bit on those things, with everyone in razors, deodorant, and the like. I'll compare before I buy, but if I do buy them at Bi-Lo, I'll get the coupon automatically when they swipe my card.
I do my basic grocery shopping at Aldi, which beats just about any other deals out there, but then there are things you can't get at Aldi, so I'm planning my coupons around those things primarily. And I've been looking for gluten-free coupons while we do this diet. There's a Bob's Red Mill buy-one-get-one-free deal on right now, so I'm jumping on that for more rice flour.
Sally |
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You are lucky to an Aldi. That is the favorite store of the MoneySavingMom.
But I just checked on Bilo- you can use a manufacturer and a store coupon on the same item. Plus- you can use up to ten coupons for the same item at a time! That is awesome. So if you have five coupons for Skippy, and it's on sale, you can buy five jars all in the same trip.
I am limited to 3 like coupons at a time here.
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SallyT
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Melinda, I'll read Southern Savers more carefully. I just hit them up for coupons and info the other day, but I need to spend more time overall just figuring out what's out there. And I need to work my SwagBucks better than I have done in the past -- I signed up ages ago and then forgot all about it. Right now I'm thinking mostly in terms of saving on our Christmas budget -- we don't ever do huge extravagant Christmas things, but anything that will keep the holidays from making too much of a dent in our normal budget is worth at least a little of my time and energy.
And Nancy, I'll check out Focus Forward as well. I've been doing some studies through Vindale Research, where I have found a higher percentage of surveys I qualify for than some of the other survey engines I've tried in the past. They're not generally high-paying -- I made $4.40 yesterday doing about three surveys -- but they're usually quick and pretty fun, and every little penny that falls into my Paypal account does add up over time. I did one rather hilarious one yesterday which involved virtual dog-food shopping. The child looking over my shoulder thought it was a video game I was playing.
Can you bank those Amazon coupons? Or do they expire? I have a cart loaded with a number of grocery items from the coupon page, though I want to figure out whether they're really a good deal per unit (most are bulk things) before I buy.
Well, this has become a pretty amazing conversation, I must say. Thank you, ladies, for all the couponing and frugal wizardry! It's a huge help to me this week.
Sally
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SallyT
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And yes, I really like Bi-Lo. You can save in all these different ways, plus earn fuel perks -- we've gotten 20 gallons of gas for $2.00 (total) before, and that only because they won't just flat out give you free gas. The fuel perks do expire, but not that quickly, so that we've been able to save them up for road trips and get a good deal on our first twenty gallons before we set out.
Plus our Bi-Lo is like the town social center. We see everyone we know there, either working or shopping. Our priest in his cassock makes a pretty big splash there . . .
Sally
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DianaC
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SeaStar wrote:
jawgee wrote:
SallyT wrote:
And Melinda, who are these mom bloggers telling you what to buy? I need somebody to tell me what to buy, too.
Sally |
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http://thekrazycouponlady.com/ is a good one! |
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I like that site! I like the way she lists her Walmart deals... I find it very easy to follow, which is not the case with all coupon blogs.
I am new to this modern couponing thing, so I am just learning.
I am finding that right now, for me, the grocery store deals are working out the best. I have trouble at Walmart and Target because:
1. I don't go to either one that much (they are not close by) and
2. There is a lot of regional variation in stock and price. Sometimes my local one doesn't carry the right size/type of product for a coupon match.
It can take me a long time to find what I need, which annoys me.
But having said that, I was at Walmart yesterday and got Suave Professionals shampoo for $0.49 cents a bottle and Colgate toothpaste for $0.49 a tube. I know many coupon moms hold out for free, but I have to do what I can with the time I have.
If I lived closer to Target, I could really clean up there because you can use a manufacturer coupon, a Target coupon and a Target Cartwheel coupon
*all on the same item*. That often makes it free- with a profit that is applied to the rest of your purchase. Sweet.
Delly's Deals is my very favorite site, because she lists deals at Harris Teeter, Lowes and CVS- all stores where I shop. AND- she lists her deals step by step, often including a video, which I find very helpful. She does tell you *exactly* what to buy and when. You can sign up for her news letter, but I like to check her site daily, since she posts often. She is the mother of 4. You can print coupons right from her site. (FYI- some Harris Teeters have triple coupons all the time, but not mine. Delly lists final prices for stores with both double and triple coupons.)
Southern Savers is another site I like. The mom there- Jenny- lists the deals with multiple sites to print off coupons for each deal, so you can literally go through and just pick the coupons that you want.
She covers Publix, Kroger, Harris Teeter and more and does a good job.
I have a couple of more to list, but no time now. I will be back!
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Thanks SO much for this information! Based on your information about Cartwheel, I gave it another look. Since it seemed to have a connection to Facebook, I just passed it over. But, it was super quick to sign up and I just chose "skip post to friends". There were savings for several of the items I had on my list: paper goods, toiletries, dog food, etc. as well as % off for clothing. I saved $6 on a dress for my daughter and $3.35 on the other things on my list (this was in addition to the $9 I had in coupons (Target and manufacturer). $18.35 off of an $82 Target shopping list is excellent!
I've just quickly looked at the Southern Savers and found additional coupons to print that I hadn't accessed before. And, I love how the blogs list the specials and which coupons are available with direct links - this is definitely a money saver and a time saver. Thanks again!
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TryingMyBest
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RE Focus Forward, years ago I did some consumer survey. The questions they asked were really interesting. It was clear that they were trying to figure out what kind of people liked certain kinds of products and brands. For example, they kept asking a question about whether I believed in a literal interpretation of the creation story. They kept re-wording it so it looked like a different question but each question asked the same thing. They would throw a question like in the middle of questions about what I thought about Tide. Maybe people who believe the Bible literally are more partial to Tide instead of All? Who knows but it is one of those demarcation questions.
The whole idea of marketing is really interesting to me. It's kind of disturbing when you start to realize that many of the things that we think we like are actually things we've picked from advertising, e.g. the colors we like are probably moreso from 'fashion' than our preferences.
About 10 years ago, when I still single, I bought a Honda Civic. After buying it, I read online that Honda referred to their typical Civic buyer as "Jennifer" (very generational name) and that they described this "Jennifer" as being glad when it rained because then she didn't need to wash her car. Interesting since that describes me exactly (even the name). So I thought I was buying a Civic because I researched it, etc. but I was just following some of a brand perception.
Sorry for hijacking the thread - but I guess it is relevant when talking about frugality since advertising and the ideas that we have about products, e.g. must use certain brands, are some of the biggest challenges to being frugal.
Jenn
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SallyT
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Years ago, when I used to score university writing-program placement essays, one of the prompts asked students to define the purpose of advertising. It was a little depressing to realize that roughly 9 out of 10 18-year-olds in this test-taking population believed that the purpose of advertising was "to provide information."
Sally
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guitarnan
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Wow, Sally, really? That is scary. Time to make sure that Dancing Daughter learns a bit more about the research surveys I participate in!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: If you needed to make money....
