From the category archives:
T.G.I. Friday’s is a favorite in our family because they’ve got such a great variety so everyone can find something that they like. Right now they have a great coupon out that will let you buy one entree and get one free with the purchase of two beverages. This would make a great frugal date night. This is good through March 31st but I’d print it now to make sure you have it on hand when you need it.
To find a Friday’s location near you, click here.
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I realize that not everyone is a fan of oatmeal. My whole family loves it though and ever since we discovered Better Oats a few months ago, it’s our new favorite brand. If you “like” Better Oats on Facebook and then click on “special promotions” you can print a buy one get one free coupon. This is a great deal!
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We’re huge fans of the Hallmark Christmas ornaments so we start looking for Hallmark deals this time of year. Right now, moms and expectant moms can sign up to print a $10 off any purchase of $10 or more in the store. My “baby” just turned 3 but I still had to enter him into the baby spot on the form in order to get it to work. This is a great deal though and I’m looking forward to some of the cute Hallmark ornament designs that are available this year.
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Just a quick reminder that the coupons on Coupons.com will reset on the first of the month so today is your last day to print October coupons. Most of the coupons are still good for quite a while so be sure and print the ones you think you may use.
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Hurry and snag this coupon for half off a pastrami grilled sandwich at Jack in the Box. This would make a cheap lunch if you need something fast.
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Using coupons can be a bit overwhelming in the very beginning. It isn’t hard to do, but there are a lot of rules to learn and it may be confusing. This is a free coupon course that you can do online in your free time and it may simplify things if you are struggling getting started using coupons.
Has anyone given this a try before? If you have, leave us a comment and let us know how you liked it.
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Coupons.com has refreshed with September Coupons. I’m going to get myself into trouble with those Pillsbury Sweet Rewards coupons but I’m printing them anyway. Some of the best coupons disappeared fairly quickly last month so if you see any coupons that you know you’ll want to use be sure and print them early.
Some of the coupons included this month are:
$1 off Pillsbury Sweet Rewards
$0.75 off Betty Crocker Gluten Free Dessert Mix
$1.50 off Welch’s Refrigerated Juice
$7.00 off admission at Knotts Soak City Waterpark
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When I first started using coupons I was frustrated. I wasn’t seeing the savings I expected and it was taking up way too much of my so called free time. I didn’t realize that I had made one of the most common mistake of beginning coupon shoppers. I only had 1 subscription to the Sunday paper.
Sure, having 1 subscription to the Sunday paper will save you some money. You can find a good coupon for something you need, use it when the item is on sale and get one good deal. But that’s the problem. All that work and you are only getting 1 product. What if you did the same amount of work and got 4 really great deals? That sounds like a better use of your time now doesn’t it?
Now you may not need 4 of everything that you find a great deal on. Buy it anyway. The stores run through a cycle of sale items so you’ll want to buy enough of something to get you through until the next sale so you can avoid buying it at full price. Buying one really great deal isn’t going to save you much money if you have to turn around and buy the same thing for full price a few weeks later.
As a general rule, you should have 1 newspaper subscription for every member of your family. There are 5 people in my family so I used to get 5 newspaper subscriptions (we’ve since cut back to 4 because we have now have so many tubes of toothpaste that it falls out of practically ever cupboard you open in my house). Subscribing to the newspaper is MUCH cheaper than buying it at the news stand each week and you can get Sunday only subscriptions. Some newspapers offer discounts if you buy more than one Sunday only subscription (although I am still looking for one that does that in Southern California so let me know if you hear of one).
Having multiple Sunday newspapers does present a bit of an organizational challenge. Before I figured out where I was going wrong and started subscribing to multiple Sunday papers I had a small accordion file that fit in my purse and could hold all my coupons separated by category. It didn’t take me long to realize that with multiple Sunday papers, that accordion file was going to fill up fast. There was no way I was going to be able to fit all my coupons in there and keep them until they expired. There simply wasn’t enough room.
I took took some advice from a friend and simply stopped cutting out all my coupons. I was hesitant to make the change because I liked having all my coupons with me when I was at the store just in case I ran into an unexpected clearance item but it made my life so much easier. I used to have trouble finding my coupons, even when they were sorted by category within my accordion file, because there were so many coupons that they were easy to miss or I may have filed it under a different category than I thought it fit under when I finally went to look for the coupon. I was missing a lot of great deals for things because of this even though I had the coupons.
When my Sunday paper comes, now all I do is separate out the different inserts (most Sunday papers will come with a Smart Source, Red Plum, and (once a month) a P&G coupon insert) then write the date on the front of the insert. I store them in a plastic container, stacked with the newest insert on top and then when I need to find a coupon I know exactly where to look. I cut out only the coupons I need based on the sales at the stores I am planning on shopping at each week and leave the rest of them in the insert until I need them in the future. Easy.
Photo by DRB62
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I love Chili’s. We used to live so close to one that we’d always go there to get takeout Chips and Salsa because it ended up being cheaper than the grocery store most of the time. There’s a great coupon out there just in time for the weekend for free Chili’s Chips and Queso (yum). These will probably go fast so if you want a treat this weekend you’ll want to print your Chili’s coupon right away.
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I try and avoid taking my kids grocery shopping with me at all cost but unfortunately my kids seem to want to eat dinner every night, despite the fact that I fed them the day before so I have to go to the grocery store a lot more often than I have childcare available. I certainly can’t pass up deals like this:
I got all that (including the bottle of olive oil hiding in the back) for a grand total of $25.28. Everything I got was included in the weekly Von’s coupon matchup with the exception of a few things I had free coupons for. The free almond milk coupon printed out when I bought another brand and the other free coupons were given to me at BlogHer so unfortunately I can’t duplicate them. To get this deal I had to take my kids shopping with me though because the new grocery deals start tomorrow.
I’m convinced that if I don’t start rotating grocery stores a bit more often, one of these days my local store is going to have someone waiting for me at the entrance ready to turn us away. Grocery trips with kids usually involve multiple temper tantrums, the occasional broken jar, and end in tears (usually mine).
The first rule of grocery shopping is never shop with kids (that goes double if you have a child on the autistic spectrum). It never ends well.
1. You’ll likely spend more money because they will absolutely have to have everything they walk past. They probably saw a very convincing commercial and can sing the jingle if you tell them they can’t have it. Even if you turn down most of their requests, you’ll probably have a few extra things added to your cart. My youngest once filled the entire floor of one of those car carts with bubble gum while we were going through the checkout line. The cashier saw the one in his hand in time but the rest made it all the way out to the car with us before we noticed. Which brings us to the second point.
2. Grocery shopping with kids will take you 3 times as long as it normally will (which will also cause you to spend more money). I get coupon burn out every few months but it happens a lot more often if I make a habit of taking my kids with me. Shopping with coupons does add some time to your regular grocery trip but when kids are involved you may as well unpack your things and move in. You aren’t leaving anytime soon.
3. It’s hard to follow a shopping list when kids are with you. You may miss things (which will require another trip to the store) or you may forget to use coupons you were planning on using.
4. You’ll buy more chocolate. Seriously. I can’t get through a trip to the store with my kids without buying chocolate. Notice the chocolate cake and the frozen brownies in the picture above. I don’t want to think about how much weight I’ve gained from post-grocery store chocolate binges.
5. You won’t be able to catch cashier errors, and they happen more often than you think. Grocery shopping with kids requires the reflexes of a super hero (honestly, I would kill to be elasti-girl from the Incredibles). You can’t pay attention to what the cashier is ringing things through as while trying to keep an eye on where your kids are (and what they are touching). I’ve had more than one shopping trip where I made it to the car before realizing that the cashier forgot to scan a coupon or I forgot to hand one over. So far, it has never been worth it to me to take the kids back in and keep them under control while waiting in line at customer service.
If you absolutely have to take kids grocery shopping with you, be sure and go when they are in the mood to handle it. Don’t go right before dinner on a day your 2 year old hasn’t had a nap. I, of course, have never done that. Ever.
Off to put the kids to bed so I can enjoy my stash of chocolate . . .
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