Savings Information

Several people have inquired about the ECBs and other coupon terms, so I wanted to use today to try to answer some of those questions. Instead of trying to type out information that is on so many other websites, I'm just going to provide links to those sites so you can read the information as you have time.

ECB Information
CVS Shopping for Newbies
Walgreens Shopping

To find all of the deals for the week for most stores, including drug stores and grocery stores, check out this pretty comprehensive list. If you don't want to spend the time tracking down all the information on blogs, you might want to consider going the Grocery Game or using Coupon Mom to find everything already put together for you. A few other tips along with stores can also be found here.

For me, I buy 2-3 newspapers a week so that I have more than one set of coupons to work with. You will still save in the beginning, but the real savings come once you get a good stockpile. Once you have most of the items you use already on hand, you can wait for them to go on sale again to maximize your savings. I try to buy meat when it is on sale too and stock my freezer up as much as I can. If you don't have a stand alone freezer, I would really recommend getting one. It will save you so much money in the long run. If not, you'll be running out and buying meat at the non-sales price to make that recipe you just have to have that week. Same goes for frozen veggies and other snacks. My freezer is full right now thanks to the current Mega Deals at Kroger! I also bought an extra turkey at Thanksgiving while they were cheap and got a ham after Christmas at a great discount! If I didn't have my freezer, I couldn't have done that.

Another great way to save that I have discovered lately is Kroger closeouts. I bought some razors just today that were normally 4.99, but were on closeout for 2.09. I had $2 coupons for them, so they were only .09 each. I also got some good deals on cleaning products the same way. I went early this morning and made my way down each aisle looking for markdowns and closeouts that I had coupon matches for. It took a little time, but I enjoy saving so it was fun for me.

A great way to keep up with deals and sales is to sign up for Google Reader and subscribe to several money saving blogs. You can then go read any new posts on a daily basis and find any special sales as well as the weekly store sales. I follow around 8 or 10 of them myself and put together all the information to do my deals each week.

As far as other terms and abbreviations I use on the blog, there is a list over on the sidebar that you can use as a reference.

Saturday Savings Tip 12/20

Today's tip is LISTS! Before I really got serious about saving money, I would go to the store and randomly pick up things up and down all the aisles in the grocery store, never really having a plan of what to do with them. Some of that stuff has probably been thrown out because it expired or went bad, which is a big waste of time and money. Now I always plan out my menus (VERY IMPORTANT), and make a plan of what I want to get at the store. I only deviate from my plan if I find a deal that I did not know about or find some clearance items that I know we can use. I don't always have all my coupons with me, so sometimes I make a note of the unadvertised sale and come back later with my coupons in hand. I do not spend nearly as much money now and am actually using most of the items I buy. Some go into my stockpile and will be used later.

So, start making your Monday Meal Plan using items you have on hand, as well as what is on sale for the week. Make a shopping list, and stick to the list!

I even make out my Walgreens and CVS lists before I go there, just do I remember what I need and have coupons for! Tomorrow is an awesome day at CVS so I will spend time tonight planning and clipping coupons. If you haven't looked over the sale yet and made up your plan, go check out the deals at Deal Seeking Mom!

Money Saving Articles

Today I wanted to share a few articles that will get you on the right path to start saving money!

US News and World Report: Smart Money Saving Tips You Need Now

Frugal Times

A great resource is MoneySavingGuide.com; here are a few articles from there:
Guide to Living It Up on a Budget
How To Trick Yourself into Saving Money

I admit that I am horrible about trying to make a budget and follow it. I know I need to, but I just can't seem to do it. I plan on making that one of my resolutions for the new year, so be sure to comment and ask me how its going! If you want to get started, I recommend using Quicken Online to see where you are currently spending your money, then to double check that you are staying within your budget. It is free to use the program online, so take advantage of this awesome software program!

Coupon Sites

If you like saving money like I do, you are probably on the lookout for free coupons and free sample offers. I have two websites I like to use to find these, so I wanted to share those so you can save more too!



Be sure to print out any coupons you think you might can use. Sometimes they are no longer there when you go back to get them and you'll miss out on some savings!

Savings Tip: Coupon Clipping Services

I have recently started buying two newspapers to get an extra set of coupons; our local .99 Store has the paper for $1, so it's not that much of an expense considering the savings it yields. There are a few of those products that I could definitely use more than 2 coupons for, so today I tried using a coupon clipping service. For this first attempt, I used The Coupon Clippers. I'll let you know how that goes... If it works, it will be a great way to get extra coupons that you know for sure you'll put to good use. They have a .50 administration fee and you also pay for shipping, but I think you if place a big enough order for some good coupons, it will be more than worth those fees!

Saturday Savings Tips

(again, a day late because of our fussy little guy)

I'm really excited about this toy! If you check at target.com, it is listed as $17.99. I went to our local Target (on sale there for 14.24) and walked out with it for $6.75! How? Well, the tip for the week is coupon stacking! You can do this at Target, Kroger, and CVS. If you have a Target coupon, which I did, you can also use a manufacturer coupon. On this deal, I used a $5 Target toy coupon, along with a $3 coupon I got for signing up at Leapfrog.com. If you get a coupon printed on your CVS receipt, you can use that plus MCs. For Kroger, use MCs paired with coupons from cellfire.com or shortcuts.com to increase your savings! I got free toliet paper, toothpaste, soup, and oatmeal tonight at Kroger by combining coupons! Nothing better than free stuff!!!

**note, the Target coupon says it's for Fridge Phonics, but I don't remember the one I printed out being so specific*** It may have been and they took it anyway?