Q&A: ...Should I Stop Stockpiling?

Question:  My stockpile is pretty full and my freezer is at it's limit, should I stop stockpiling?

I actually felt this way last summer.  I had a full pantry including 20 boxes of cereal, 4 canisters of oatmeal, cans of green beans, bags of beans, etc.  Our financial resources were very slim and I decided I'd make meals from our pantry and not buy any new pantry items.  We focused on purchasing milk, cheese, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables.  We did this for two months with no problems.  Then all of sudden, we were slap out of everything.  It sort of happened all at once!  I took for granted my pantry, assuming we still had certain foods when we didn't.  I felt like I did before I started couponing. 

If your stockpile is relatively full, I wouldn't stop stockpiling altogether.  Instead, purchase two of each sale item during the slim months.  Even if you can purchase only one of the sale item, it will keep you from becoming "Mother Hubbard's Cupboard".  I realized this a little too late and had to jump back into full swing purchasing my normal 4 of each sale item.  Our grocery budget didn't always allow it, and I started going over budget for the first month.  After the initial month, everything started leveling off and was back to normal.   

In the end, you have to do what works best for you.  This is only from my own experience.  

Enjoy!

Family Fun: Zoo Atlanta Coupon Code

After reviewing the report for most hits for my blog, I was surprised to see Zoo Atlanta Coupons as one of the most frequently viewed posts.  I thought I'd share the recent coupon code from Savvy Shopper.  Savvy Shopper is a coupon booklet mailed to your home.  Inside are coupons ranging in food and entertainment to dentistry and granite counters.  You will need to have the coupon from the Savvy Shopper mailer in order to take advantage the coupon code "SAVVY SHOPPER" to receive $3 off general admission.  This coupon is good for up to 4 people and expires 12/31/10.  It's not valid with any other offer or discounts.  

My Momma and I are taking the kids to the Zoo on Thursday, so I'll let you know how it works with a senior discount.

***Update*** You can combine the $3 off coupon with a seniors admission to get in even cheaper!  YEAH!!!

Enjoy!

Confessions of a Former Coupon Snob (Guest Post)

"I can't use coupons. I eat a healthy diet."
"Couponing is tedious and takes too much time."
"It's not worth the trouble to save a few pennies."
"I never find coupons for the foods I eat."

Have you ever told yourself these things? I confess, I did too. For years, I've had to keep a tight watch on my food spending. I attempted using coupons, but found them not worth the trouble. But that's because I wasn't doing it right! Now I've learned a system that allows me to spend about an hour a week but spend half what the average family spends on groceries. Not a bad return on investment. After all, money saved is money you "earned" without having to pay taxes on it!

I'd like to address some of the issues I named earlier. I'll call this article "Confessions of a Former Coupon Snob".

Confession #1: I thought coupons were only for junky food.

This one is partially true. About 80% of the coupons I find ARE for foods I won't eat. I don't care if I can get it for free, if it's junk, I don't bring it into my home!

We eat a whole foods diet around here. (If Great Grandma doesn't know what it is, I don't eat it. If I can't pronounce it, I don't eat it.) I buy my eggs, honey and milk from a local farmer whose cows and chickens are pastured. I'm also very picky about the meat I buy, so I make a once a month trip to Whole Foods for their uncured, nitrite free bacon, sausage and other meat. I prefer grass fed beef, and chickens from hens who have actually seen the light of day. This is very important to me.

Using the coupons for foods I actually DO buy at the store saves me so much that I'm able to spend a little more on higher quality meat, milk and eggs. Who doesn't use canned tomatoes, cheese, whole grain pasta, brown rice, frozen veggies (which are more nutritious than a lot of fresh produce) etc in their cooking? (Not to mention the free razors, soap, toothbrushes, etc I get from drugstore deals) I can get these items for pennies using couponing strategies.

Confession #2: I spent too much time "doing" coupons and created stress for myself.

That's because I was doing it all wrong! Now I use the "no clip" system and rely on websites that serve as a database for coupons and deals to make the process easier. Clipping and organizing coupons is for the birds!

Confession #3: I saw too little savings for the effort.

Again, I was not using a good system. Now I know that in order to really save, I have to combine double coupons with the lowest price for the item in question. And instead of stressing myself trying to figure all this out on my own, I rely on the work of others.


Confession #4: I didn't know where to find good coupons for the foods my family eats. 

My youngest daughter and I have wheat intolerance, which makes buying processed foods pretty much out of the question. Canned soups, boxed rice mixes, granola bars, cereals etc ALL contain wheat in some form. As I already mentioned, I also eat as close to an all natural, whole foods diet as possible. I cook from scratch and use the healthiest ingredients I can.

Now I've learned where to find coupons for unusual items like: organic yogurt, kefir, health supplements, wheat free breads, wheat free baking mixes and pastas, natural peanut butter, etc. It just took some education.

Our family budgets $650 a month for groceries, and there are 7 of us (and I'm pregnant, therefore I snack. A lot!). I've talked to families of only two or three people who spend more than that. That figure includes organic raw milk, raw honey and TRULY free range (pastured) eggs from a local farm. I'm working on getting this number even lower so that I can budget more dollars for buying more grass fed meats from local farms.

The other day I was at a dinner party, talking to a relative about our couponing and strategic shopping habits. She's also a super grocery saver. Another mom was listening in and, with her nose in the air, declared that since her family ate a healthy diet, she couldn't possibly coupon. My cousin and I just looked at each other knowingly, and stayed quiet. :-)

I still eat a healthy diet, only now I'm saving a lot more money. I challenge you to question some of your snobbish assumptions about coupons and see what possibilities open up!


Carrie (@carrielee on Twitter) is a homeschooling mom of 5 (soon to be 6), blogger and host of the popular natural family living podcast at http://www.NaturalMomsTalkRadio.com/blog. She also manages a whole foods recipe site at http://www.NaturalMomsRecipes.com

Q&A Saturday: I didn't get my coupons, now what?

Carrie asked, "Do you know where it's possible to get the Sunday inserts if you miss a week?"

This has happened to me before.  I purchased the newspaper but the inserts had already been taken out!  It's sad but true.  

There are a couple of solutions:

1.  Hit the "green store"!  That's right, go dumpster diving in recycle bins.  You'd be surprised how many people toss out their coupons.

2.  Visit the library.  Your local library may carry a variety of newspapers.  However, the smaller newspapers may not carry all of the coupons that the larger ones receive. 

3.  Purchase whole inserts online.  There are a couple of places to purchase whole inserts online:

• Coupons & Things by Dede
• Collectable Coupons
• Hot Coupon World also lists other clipping services and/or trading sites
• eBay.  Be careful when purchasing coupon inserts from eBay.  READ the entire auction carefully.  Also make sure the seller has good feedback.  Purchasing from sellers with a high volume can result in good and bad service.  I try to pick someone who is middle of the road and have never been dissatisfied.

Hope that helps!

CVS & Walgreens Diaper Deals SNEAK PEEK 3/21-3/27

THIS IS A SNEAK PEEK ON THE DIAPER DEALS AT CVS & WALGREENS WEEK OF 3/21-3/27.  THIS IS NOT FOR NEXT WEEK, BUT THOUGHT YOU MIGHT WANT TO PRINT THE $2/1 HUGGIES PRINTABLE COUPON BEFORE IT'S GONE!

CVS:

Week of 3/21-3/27

Pampers Jumbo pk diapers or Easy-Ups $8.97 (limit 2)

- $3 ECB

- $2/1 Cruisers coupon 2/21 P&G

- $1.50/1 diapers or pants 2/7 P&G

- $1.50/1 Easy Ups trainers 2/7 P&G

- $1.50/1 Extra Protection diapers 2/7 P&G

Here's the Cruisers scenario:

(2) Pampers Cruisers $8.97 each

- (2) $2 Cruisers coupons

= $13.94 OOP Get back $6 ECB ($3.97 each pack after ECB)

If you have ECB from the week before or if you receive any coupons for $ off $$ then you will be OOP even less!

Walgreens:

Week of 3/21-3/27

Buy 3 of the following products (Huggies, Cottonelle, Depends, Kotex, Poise, Scott, Viva) Get $5 RR

See the list of prices for these products at I Heart Wags.

Here's the Huggies scenario:

(3) Huggies $8.99 each

- (3) $2/1 coupons

= $20.97 OOP Get back $5 RR ($5.32 each pack after RR)

If you have RR from the week before, your OOP expense will be less.  (Starting Sunday 3/14/10, you can purchase the Colgate toothpaste at $3.99 and receive $4 RR essentially receiving it for FREE.  Save the $4 RR and use it the following week on the Huggies scenario above to make the diapers only $3.99 per package.)

Remember this is for the week of 3/21-3/27.

Thanks to I Heart CVS & I Heart Wags for the ad previews.

Enjoy!

Sunday Coupon Preview 1/31/10

Go to Sunday Coupon Preview to see what to expect in your newspaper inserts this weekend.

Enjoy!

Sunday Coupon Preview 1/24/10

Go to Sunday Coupon Preview to see what to expect in your newspaper inserts this weekend.

Enjoy!

Sunday Coupon Preview 1/17/10

Go to Sunday Coupon Preview to see what to expect in your newspaper inserts this weekend.

Enjoy!

COUPONS: Cheerios

Go HERE to request your coupons.  They will come via email.

Enjoy!

Sunday Coupon Preview 01/10/10

Go to Sunday Coupon Preview to see what to expect in your newspaper inserts this weekend.

Enjoy!

Sunday Coupon Preview 1/3/10

Go to Sunday Coupon Preview to see what to expect in your newspaper inserts this weekend.

Enjoy!

Sunday Coupon Preview 12/27/09

Go to Sunday Coupon Preview to see what to expect in your newspaper inserts this weekend.

Enjoy!

COUPONS: Con Agra $25 Coupon Booklet

I participated in a similar offer earlier this year and the booklet was filled with great coupons including some for FREE stuff!  Make sure you buy $10 worth of participating Con Agra products and complete the form and postmark it by April 10, 2010.  

Thanks Frugal Living and Having Fun!


Enjoy!

Sunday Coupon Preview 12/20/09

Go to Sunday Coupon Preview to see what to expect in your newspaper inserts this weekend.

Enjoy!

FREE Sandwich from Quik Trip

The FREE QT Sandwich is back! Print yours before it's too late!

Thanks The Frugal Girls!

Enjoy!

P&G eSaver eCoupons Ending 12/31/09

I received the above email today notifying us that P&G eSaver coupons can no longer be downloaded to your Kroger card. Any eCoupons you have already loaded will be valid until December 31, 2009.

I need to make an apology as I was under the impression that is was completely acceptable to stack an eCoupon with a paper coupon. After reading this post by Andrea at Mommy Snacks, I now understand it was NOT okay. Please accept my apology for passing on misinformation. Unfortunately, misinformation does happen. I just hate that I was apart of it.

COUPON: BOGO Special K Cereal

Check out this great coupon from Special K!

Get a FREE box of Special K when you purchase a box of Special K cereal. The FREE box is limited to the New Special K Low Fat Granola 19.5 oz or Special K Original 12 oz. This coupon expires 1/31/10.

Thanks Money Saving Mom!

Enjoy!

Sunday Coupon Preview 12/13/09

Go to Sunday Coupon Preview to see what to expect in your newspaper inserts this weekend.

Enjoy!

NEW Coupon: General Mills Cereal $1 Off

Go HERE to print your $1/1 coupon for General Mills cereals (Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms or Trix varieties). This can be printed in Internet Explorer but it would not print in my Mozilla Firefox.

Use this coupon at Publix this week to get Cocoa Puffs and Trix for $.75 each!

Thanks I Heart Publix!

Enjoy!

NEW Coupon: $1 Off Marie's Yogurt Dressing

I received an email from Marie's today with a $1 coupon offer for their NEW line of dressings. My daughter was recently on a I-don't-want-anything-other-than-french-fries diet but after I came home with the little baby carrots from Kroger the other day, she has been eating them dipped in Light Ranch dressing. Marie's is offering a $1 off coupon for their Yogurt Dressing (Ranch, Bleu Cheese, Parmesan Caesar, Feta Cheese varieties). I can't wait to try one! I think my kids will love this with their salad and carrots!

Go HERE to register for your coupon.

Enjoy!