Couponing-- Who Knew It Could Be So Addicting?

It's been a couple weeks since I've done anything on here, and I have a reason.

Clipping coupons.

It's been so bad, that my 5-year old says I need to go trick-or-treating as one.  But if you haven't tried it yet, get a Sunday paper, and go through the coupon insert sections.  Did you know that you could not only save what it says on the manufacturers' coupons, but (what they refer to as) "stack" them with the stores' coupons, thus saving more?  Even getting them for free by taking advantage of their 'buy 1 get 1' offers.  You can also add those deals onto the stores' deals (like Walgreens' Register Rewards or Rite Aid's Up plan, and get money back to spend on other items in the store. 

I mean, check out this video from Hip2Save's trip to Walgreens:

(Do you hear how fast she's talking?  It's from the adrenaline rush you get from all the savings!)

I'm amazed at this! 

(Check out the part at frame 5:00, where she's at Toys 'r Us.  Do you see how she was able to take advantage of a 'buy 1 get 1 free' promotion in the store, and stack it with a paper's 'buy 1 get 1 free' coupon?  She totally saved $11 doing it!)

So for the past couple of weeks, that's been what I've been trying to do.  My biggest save, was going to Rite Aid, and purchasing $32 worth of makeup, using their Buy One Get One 50% off and an two $8 off of two coupons.  (If I had bought eyeshadows instead of powders, etc. I would have got them for FREE!

Incredible!

I could have been saving money for craft projects-- or just putting the money away in savings all this time!

If you want to try this out, check out The Krazy Coupon Lady's(https://www.facebook.com/#!/TheKrazyCouponLady), Totally Target ( https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/TotallyTargetcom/213500492508), and Hip 2 Save's (https://www.facebook.com/#!/Hip2Save) profiles on Facebook.  Click 'like', and every hour, you'll get updates on how to put your coupons to work.  (There are other couponing sites around, but I'm still learning, and sometimes, they are named in the deals that the aforementioned put up.)

For those of you who missed out on Sunday's paper, but still want to get in on the action, you can, but your choices will be a little limited.  (As in the good deals on the good stuff are in the Sunday paper.)  These sites can be found at http://www.smartsource.com/ and http://www.redplum.com/.  There are other sites available (like the grocery stores, for example), but they usually have the same products that these other two have, since they are the main coupon providers. 

A rule of thumb to go by, as you see these deals, is that you may notice how the stores are having sales with the same products as the coupons are for that week.  It's not coincidence, but a strategized marketing tactic.  They want for you to use these coupons with their sales.  That way, when you blow them all that week, they can do the real markdowns later on, and that's where you lose out on making your steal.  So if the deal doesn't sound that great-- put the coupons away for later.  It's a gamble, but as I'm learning, I'm seeing how this is the general rule.

So, I will try to get back on here by the end of the week for some projects, but right now, I totally need to do some shopping!

(**Note:  These sites will ask you to download their 'printer'.  I was reluctant to do this at first, but I realized that it's the company's way of keeping track of how many coupons are being printed.  And also a word of warning, I found out that it is against the law to reprint coupons on your own, as it is viewed as coupon fraud.)

Border's Sells More Than Books!

(Sorry about the pic on the right.  I had posted this on my Facebook with the message intended toward a friend who I'm sure was going to make a remark about all this shabby chic stuff! :)

I had to come back home really fast and post this, before they all disappear!

Border's bookstore is sadly going out of business.  (If you haven't gone in by now, then there's not the greatest chance you'll be able to find a deal on something you've always were curious about getting, but never didn't.)

Anyways, I went straight to the frames last week, and then got a few today.  THEY ARE A STEAL!!!  Shabby chic all the way.  And for the price, you can flip them into dry erase boards that would look better than the cold industrial ones that you find in the office supply aisle. 

How great would these look on the wall in the kitchen?  Or (if your kiddos are careful), putting them into a bedroom to doodle on?  Even if you're not into the dry erase boards, they are still a steal to just hang on the walls with something inserted in them, or (taking the backing off), to add into groups as just the frame!

Workin' The Fields!

One day, I'll end up with a nervous breakdown, where I will have this overwhelming urge to learn how to make my own jams and jellies like my mother once did, yelling at us kids to get out of the kitchen and play outside.  I always thought of doing this myself, adding my own little touch of covering the lids with a cute little gingham fabric swatch, and finishing it with a ribbon.  But until I can afford to scoff at the $100 pricetag it would probably cost to start such an adventure, I think I will stick with Smucker's instead.

Nonetheless, I could not rob my little one, the fun to be had, in picking berries at a u-pick farm.  So I've been thinking of turning these little trips into part of our summer traditions now. (Especially when trips to the beach are a joke right now, because of the money-- or lackthereof!)  As a child, I can remember my mother dragging my younger brother and I to one of those places, and how I would stand around and pout in the hot sun about it.  (Apparently, you could still make money back in those times, and maybe my mother needed some extra gas money or something.)

But times are different now.  I love raspberries.  But I hate the prices at the grocery stores.  I mean, $4 for a teeny plastic container?  That's INSANE!  So last summer, I came across the novel idea of taking my youngest to a berry farm to see how much we could save.  I ended up bringing 3lbs of them home, for just $2.50.

And it's not that big of a deal really though.  (Unless you end up taking a giant container of berries home, and can't really figure out what to do with them all, since your little one complains that there's "too many seeds" in her smoothie.) But it's a good break from all the screaming and yelling that goes on at the park.  Like a kind of meditation for you and your child.  And it also gives them the opportunity to see where some foods come from before they are processed in a factory, and spread on ice cream later on!

Ps-- I found out how to freeze berries.  A friend said that you spread them out on a cookie sheet, and freeze them for a few hours, before you toss them in a ziploc.  This way, the berries don't get smushed together.  Genius!

One White Tee Saved!

When I thought of having daughters, I envisioned little girls, running freely through a sunny field, giggling and happy, as they played amongst the Downy-fresh clothes, hanging on the clothesline.

Instead, I got the ones who would march through the front door with red popsicle stains running down their arms and dripping on the brand new white tees that hadn't even been on them longer than a half hour!  (By the way, you think that by having a 16-year old, I would have learned my lesson with the younger one.  But those happy, giggly, little visions...)

That's when I came across this little discovery the other day, that made me give a little gasp of hope in the aisle of the freezer section:

I was absolutely floored when I saw this.  Mini-- and more than 3 flavors?  Of course, I had to take these home and check them out.  Albeit, when I opened the package, they were a little smaller than I had expected.  But that's okay.  The full-sized ones got wasted anyways. And on top of this, they take forever to melt.  So by the time it even starts to drip-- it's already gone, where your kiddo is asking for another!

I haven't heard an "oops-- I'm sorry" yet, and haven't had to wash anything ten times, having to use four different stain removers.  So I think these are a really good bet!