Bargain/Couponing Links and Tips

For a little while now I have been meaning to put some of this info in one place as I seem to find myself recreating it every now and then. So, today is the day I start! [it is about a week later now. I think it is finally done. It is very rambly, but I hope you can pick some nuggets out of it all. I hope you enjoy your couponing journey!]

First, the blogs I use...
I use several. Some I subscribe to via e-mail, many also have a FB page, I also have a 'favorites' folder and every couple of days I try to skim through them when I feel I have the time. The ones I am currently using are...

Adding in here - If you are just starting out I would strongly suggest only following one or two of these for starters. I believe I put them in the order of how often I use them.

The Krazy Coupon Lady - I probably use her site the most, I 'like' her on Facebook. This blog is based in ID, but most the deals still work just the same. She also seems to have the most information for 'coupon virgins'

Frugal Living NW - I often check in here if I want the local scoop. This blog is based in the Portland area. She also often posts other articles that help with the frugal living lifestyle. Also on Facebook.

A Thrifty Mom - Also based in ID. She seems to be the most complete (exhaustive?) on a regular basis.

Hip2Save - A fun site. She lets you know about good coupons to print off. Also often lets you know of good deals to get online. I also have a soft spot for her as her hubby is in the USMC. Ooh-Rah! :) Also on Facebook.

Coupon Mom - I love her data base. If I am looking for a particular coupon, this is where I head. For my area I go to the by region (Northwest) option. If I have a Wal-Mart shopping trip planned I try to head here to see what on my list there just may be coupons for.

Surviving the Stores - A new one for me. Seems to be a lot of duplicate info from my other sites. I do have this one on Facebook as well. I have gotten a couple of deals through this one that have not shown up elsewhere.

Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs - Ok, she is more a DIY paper craft site I just came across yesterday. But she mentioned shopping in McMinnville as well as going to Bible study, and over all just seems cute, so I thought I would add her to my list, just to see what she has! I mostly just keep up with her on FB.

Ok - I know there have been several tidbits I like to share with new couponers, lets see how many I can remember now. These will be given in no particular order.

• Stockpiling - This is what really makes couponing worthwhile. Figure what your need for a particular item for 3-6 months, and try to get that much. The goal is to get enough to last until the next great sale. I have been doing this with diapers with Joey, amazing how nice it is to have cheap (I should say, inexpensive, they are all Huggies) diapers waiting for me in my closet. Ok, over all I look forward to NOT having a 4+ month supply of diapers in my closet, but you know what I mean! Dennis and I regularly stockpile... cereal, salad dressing, soups (I really like Progresso) BBQ sauce, toothbrushes, deodorant and the list goes on. Last week Oatmeal was the great bargain, I spent $2.40 for 6 large canisters. Wish I had, had more of those coupons!
• Learn to shake it off - Sometimes a deal just does not work. Its all good. I know in those early days I would get quite worked up, it really is not worth it.
• Buy multiple papers - I would suggest at least 2 for everyone. Here, get the Sunday Oregonian. Dennis and I regularly get 4 papers, occasionally 6 (hence the 6 canisters of Oatmeal!)
• Give it time. When you first start try to commit to hanging in there for a particular length of time. Three months would be good. Please do not give up after your first attempt just because the store was out of toothbrushes.
• Be polite - don't clean out a store (this applies more to drug stores) of a great deal on the first day. Think of others.
• Know that a store will run out of the great deals sometimes. Get rainchecks when you can.
• You don't need to clip all your coupons! (at least not until you need them) I have a Rubbermaid-like hanging folder box, I file my coupon inserts by date, most recent to the front. I do try to clip a few coupons that I KNOW I will want to use deal or no deal. That said, I am working on a Krazy Coupon Lady style coupon binder to keep track of my loose and printed coupons. They are taking over!
• Cut yourself some slack - if you are overwhelmed with life and the idea of following through on the latest bargain makes you feel a bit queasy. Take a break. The world will not come to an end! BUT do keep buying your papers, otherwise you will kick yourself later down the road. (Trust me!)
• It is good to know that there are not always coupons in the paper holiday weekends. Check your favorite blog, or just take a peek in the paper before buying multiple copies.
• Sunday comics - multiple copies make most families happy. I also make my kids save these to wrap birthday gifts with.
• It may take a while to get your computer/printer set-up working. Took Dennis a few hours of trying things. But oh so worth it when you get there. Great coupons online. We have a b/w laser printer so toner goes quite aways. I often come across ladies complaining about the amount of (color) ink they go through. Might be wise to learn how to print your coupons in b/w. Also good to know you can print your coupons on the back of used paper you were going to toss anyway.
• I remember! (I knew I had one more) Try to pick one or two stores to do most of your couponing at. If you try to get every deal within a 30 mile radius you will drive yourself crazy! My favorites are Albertson's and Rite-Aid. They are both very friendly to couponers. I also keep my eyes open for deals at Staples (I got so much free and cheap printer paper last summer!) as well as Wal-Mart. Our Wal-Mart does not have all the great deals the others do, but if I am in the right frame of mind I will take some coupons in and see if I can get lucky. Last week, it was free Tucks, don't know if we will ever need them, but if they are free, worth having on hand. I personally will not do deals at the WalGreens here in Mac, never works. Amelia has done ok a couple times. I will do Safeway from time to time.
• Know your own frame of mind. If you are in the mood to bite someones head off, probably not the best time to be doing a deal you are not sure how it is going to go.
• One last thing - be nice to those in the stores. It does not take much for all couponers to get a bad name.
• Oh! One more last thing - cashier profiling. I did this before I even knew it had a name. Coupon deals generally go better with young guys. Otherwise just get to know your cashiers. There are a couple at Alebertson's that I will always choose to go to if they are available. I know they are on my side!

A Day in the Life a Broke Bargain Shopper!

Just got done posting this as a note on FaceBook, decided it would make a good blog entry as well. Not terribly exciting read I am guessing, but it is part of our lives here. Trying to get what we need for less with as little inconvenience as possible... (meaning, some deals take more time, I have been known to decide they are not worth the effort the amount saved)

I know I need to post the links to the 'bargain blogs' I currently follow. The plan is to put them into a note so they are in one place for future use. Along with that I am hoping to jot down some of the hints/tips I have come up with over the years. Life is just crazy, as usually so it has not yet happened. (Hopefully later today) I did think I would post about my shopping yesterday to maybe give a realistic idea of how a 'coupon' shopping day might go. :)
Tuesday - started with the task of catching up/balancing checkbooks. Most went well but a mathematical error was found leaving the main account a bit leaner then it was before. Yikes! But life happens, and on we march. When the checkbook is quite so lean, bargain shopping has to be closely assessed as no matter how good the bargain (unless a $0 out of pocket deal of course!) if there is not the money for it, it is NOT a bargain.
I needed to be in town around 1:00, was running late but did grab a few coupons I was hoping to use before running out the door. Mostly I was wanting to get $15 in Rite-Aid Up-Rewards used this week as I am thinking I will not get to any Rite-Aid shopping next week. I left with 2 BOGO Special K coupons, 2 Crest coupons, 4 Gas-X coupons and 2 Wet Ones coupons to match up with deals at Rite-Aid as well as 6 Soft Soap coupons to use at Albertson's.
First trip through Rite-Aid, got my 4 boxes of Special K, could not find the crest that was supposedly on sale (I was going off the blogs), Gas-X was out and in the process of looking for the Wet-Ones I lost one of my coupons. (I just tell myself that someone that needed it more than I found it and used it, I can not consider it being swept up and thrown out!) The cereal was $4.79 a box, I got $4.49 off twice (the max 'free' value), and the Wet-Ones were $1.99, my coupon was for $1 off. I used my $10 Up-Reward, and paid $1.17 out of pocket and in turn received a total of $9 in new Up-Rewards ($1 each for the cereals, $4 for a combo cereal thing - I think, and $1 for the Wet-Ones) and I still had my $5 Up-Reward that is close to expiring. *sigh* what to do, what to do... I remembered that the had the boxes of Huggies on sale, not a bargain deal, but very competitive. Oh! and I had received a 10% off one item coupon on my first receipt. So I went ahead and went back in, grabbed a box of Huggies on Sale for 19.99, used the 10% bringing it down to $17.99, used the $15 in Up-Rewards and left paying $2.99 for the box along with a new $2 off Up-Reward. Yay!
A word of caution here - do be careful to not 'double-dip' your $ off next purchase rewards (Up-Rewards at Rite-Aid, Catalina at Albertson's or Safeway...) Generally you count them towards the item you received them for.... I am using them as an example here of what I choose to do with little cash on hand, but rewards about to expire.(I hope that makes sense)
Another exciting thing about shopping yesterday is they have an offer currently running http://www5.riteaid.com/resolution-rewards where as a good portion of my purchases are counting toward a $20 Up-Reward. The 1st transaction gave me $39.16 credit, and the Huggies gave me $17.98 (I already had $20 credit, so I only need to 'spend' another $22.86 to receive $20 in store credit!) Sometimes, when being careful, it feels like Rite-Aid is paying me to shop!)
Later in the day as I was heading home I did manage to swing by Albertson's in anticipation of a great Soft Soap deal. The blogs were saying... Soft Soap on sale for .99, use your .35 cent coupons making it .64 cents a bottle - I have done better, but as I have two little boys we often seem in need of more liquid soap so off I went to get it. Disappointment hit when I realized that the coupon for was 8 oz. and up, and the bottles on sale were 7.5 oz. and below. Ugh! I was glad to see a huge refill bottle of Albertson's brand liquid soap on Sale/clearance. Probably ended up paying about the same per unit, but was too tired to check at that point. (ok, had to check, If I had bought my 6 bottles I would have paid $3.84 for 45 oz, in stead I paid $3 for 40 oz. - so as long as I have containers to pour into, I did do better - had there been the expected doubles... I would have been more sad!)
Anyway, a very long post I realize. But I wanted to show that 'things happen', it is best to expect it. Bloggers can be wrong, stores change things, and rarely you can lose a coupon. :p But to end the day with aprox. 2 weeks worth of Huggies, 4 boxes of cereal, a container of Wet Ones to toss in the car and the liquid soap we needed for $7.16 out of pocket on that particular day. It is worth it. :)

Oh! I just remembered! Since I was in Newberg anyway I was also able to get 2 - 2# blocks of cheddar for 3.99 each. :) (at Freddies)