A New Week of Savings

Okay, everybody--did you get your Sunday paper?  Have you had a chance to clip the coupons and look over the ads a bit?** I got mine this morning, when I normally would be at church, except I have two sickies here at home today, neither of which was fit to look after the other.  So, I put the minimum acceptable amount of effort into hair and makeup, drove to the nearest gas station (I'm SO not a gas station shopper--I felt totally out of my element--but it was convenient for my needs this morning) and picked up a paper (never grab the top paper--someone may have stolen the coupons out of it! lol) and stocked up on more Gatorade (so as to keep the 2 sickies' electrolytes in check) and quickly made my exit.

Back home, I made sure the sickies were adequately hydrated and resting, and then retreated to the living room floor, where there's plenty of room to separate the ads and cut coupons.  One thing I would love to know is who thinks of all those crazy products they use, seemingly anyway, as "filler" for the coupon inserts?  Wow, no one should ever have to feel an ache or pain if they buy these products.  Some of them are hilarious-looking!

Well, okay, I suppose I should get down to business.  Before I give an example of an actual purchase, let me say a little more about coupons in general.

Please don't purposely try to use an expired coupon!  Probably everyone has accidentally done that, or might in the future, but let's be above-board and not give each other a bad name by trying to be sneaky.  I have actually seen money-saving blogs where the blogger purposely buys a product with the intention of taking advantage of a money-back guarantee refund.  Then he or she has the product to use AND the refund.  I've seen all kinds of justifications, including filling in the complaint box with "It was too expensive for what I got."  So, try exercising some self-control and don't buy the product if it's too expensive!  Please!  I'm a reasonably tolerant person, but I don't have ANY tolerance for such shady tactics!  We need to think about our every move in light of what is honoring to the Lord--He's the one we will answer to after all is said and done!

Don't disregard Catalinas!  What's a Catalina, you might ask.  I must laugh when I remember the first time I heard my sister Amy, who recently moved to Arizona, use that term.  It was Catalina this and Catalina that.  "Um, Amy?  Isn't Catalina a salad dressing?"  Apparently, according to Amy, a Catalina is a coupon you receive with your receipt at a store like Meijer.  It took my observant husband to find out why it's called that (Amy didn't know why but, as the new girl in town, went along with the seasoned southern Arizona shoppers).  One fateful day, I had no time to redeem some Register Rewards from Walgreens on the day they were to expire, so I made a detailed list, explaining how to use said Register Rewards and sent them with my brave husband, who was willing (not thrilled, but willingly willing) to go to Walgreens for me that day.  While waiting for the cashier to take care of whatever detail I had forgotten to write down, Kevin noticed the machine beside the cash register had the name "Catalina" on it, as the brand name.  Then, when my "Catalinas" came out of that machine, the mystery was solved.  I was a little proud to tell my sister that I knew why they were called Catalinas before she did.  All that to say you should always look over those Catalinas before just tossing them to the bottom of your purse.  I have saved a great deal of money with some of those things! :)

More sources of coupons:
Red Plum
Smart Source
Valu Pak
Coupon Surfer
Store websites

Now, I haven't yet figured out many awesome grocery deals for this week, between making Gatorade popsicles for Little Mister and making sure everyone has a clean wastebasket nearby in case a bathroom is too far away, but one that jumped out at me right away as a good example is this:

At Meijer, they have 16 oz. Coffee Mate on sale.  It's kinda weird that it caught my eye, since I don't even drink coffee, but I'm going to take advantage of this one because I know people who do drink plenty of coffee (and I like the coconut creme flavor in my chai tea from time to time).  Anyway, their sale price is $.99.  That may or may not be a good deal on its own.  I'm not the person to ask.  But I can tell you how to get 4 of them for free, plus make a dollar profit!  This, of course, will only work if you're buying more than just the creamer.  They aren't going to hand you a dollar, but if you're doing your weekly shopping, you can save an extra buck!

Go here, and print out two $1.50 off 2 coupons.  Then go to the Meijer Mealbox (go to the box at the right and click on the "specials" tab.  This is where you find Meijer coupons) and print two of the $1.00 of 2 coupons.

Most stores will allow you to use 1 manufacturer coupon AND 1 of their store's coupons for each item. Also, most coupons can only be printed 2 times per computer.  For this scenario, each manufacturer coupon and each Meijer coupon is to be used on 2 items.  If you want to print them the max of 2 times each, you will be able to use them on 4 bottles of Coffee Mate.

4 bottles, $.99 each = $3.96

subtract $3.00 (2 coupons of $1.50 each) = $.96

subtract $2.00 (2 Meijer coupons, $1 each) = free, + $1.04 profit!

Or, here's another really simple scenario (again, it's really weird that I would notice this one--Mentos is not one of my fave brands, ever since the incident where I thought I was buying candy for my 2-year-old nephew who wasn't allowed to have gum and, not really being current on the Mentos changeover to gum, corrupted him with his first piece of gum).  At Kroger this week, they have many items priced at 10/$10.  One thing to remember about these sales is that you don't have to buy 10 items to get that price, unless it states that somewhere in the ad.  Anyway, Mentos gum is on sale for $1 and I remember seeing a coupon in today's paper for $.55 off 1 Mentos.  If you're a gum-chewer, you can get gum for $.45! :)

These two specific examples will not apply to everyone.  Different parts of the country have different stores and maybe even different coupons.  Maybe, like me, you're not even likely to buy Coffee Mate or Mentos.  But the idea is the same.  Look for the best ways to use your coupons on items that are already on sale. Research your own favorite grocery stores.

I REALLY want to tell you about Walgreens and CVS, but I simply must end this now and make my shopping list for tomorrow.  I will do my best to get as much money-saving info on this blog in the most timely manner I'm capable of managing! :)

**If you didn't have a chance to read my post from yesterday, Coupons and Ads 101, click here! :)

Happy Savings!