And all I need to get is hamburgers and buns. And maybe pickles. I have all the pop we'll need, and hot dogs, and chips. Other people are bringing things, which is delightful.
Oh, and fireworks. We don't have those yet. But we have time.
Have you noticed that even the fireworks places have coupons? I have a couple of coupons. How awesome is that.
Onward.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Rite Aid Rocks (Thank You, Fabulessly Frugal!)
So, I went to Rite Aid yesterday armed with Up+ Rewards from the last shopping ($17.96 worth), coupons, and the list I print off from Fabulessly Frugal (Mel totally rocks this site!)
I was aiming for stockpiling feminine hygiene products and maybe shaving gel. They didn't seem to have the shaving gel on sale, so I passed on that. I got 4 boxes of Stayfree pads (2/$5, with a buy one get one free coupon times two). I got 2 boxes of Carefree pads (also 2/$5, with a 55 cent off coupon times two). I got a bottle of Veet ($6.49, with a $2 off coupon). I got some bubble gum (it's my weakness).
My first total was $25.52 and then I whipped out the coupons. $7.50 off with the coupons. Sweet! Then I used my up+ coupons ($1.50 times two, $2.99 times three, $2, and $1). I have one more up+ coupon from that trip, for $2.99. My grand total for today? $2.56.
Did you hear me scream? Yep. Finally I got big bucks off. Okay, it wasn't a huge trip (I really don't see buying $600 or more at a time of anything). But it's 90% off. And I got $7 in up+ coupons for next time, and still have one from last time (that needs to be spent by 7/9). And I have more coupons for similar products, and yes we'll stock up.
So, I'm learning that it's not just the coupons that saves, that planning things very carefully is required. For instance, if I buy just Stayfree/Carefree at my next visit (and I'll get four items, two Stayfree and 2 Carefree), and one box of toothpaste, I'll use my Up+ rewards (as much as allowed) and pay about a buck. And then I'll do a second transaction with the shaving gel and use the first transaction's rewards on that, and pay a couple of bucks. Doing just one transaction would cost around 7 bucks. It's a little savings, but the little savings are starting to add up.
And with these great sales, I'm now at a solid 25% savings on everything I've bought since the end of May. 50% savings on groceries (and cutting the spending) does now seem achievable.
Onward!
I was aiming for stockpiling feminine hygiene products and maybe shaving gel. They didn't seem to have the shaving gel on sale, so I passed on that. I got 4 boxes of Stayfree pads (2/$5, with a buy one get one free coupon times two). I got 2 boxes of Carefree pads (also 2/$5, with a 55 cent off coupon times two). I got a bottle of Veet ($6.49, with a $2 off coupon). I got some bubble gum (it's my weakness).
My first total was $25.52 and then I whipped out the coupons. $7.50 off with the coupons. Sweet! Then I used my up+ coupons ($1.50 times two, $2.99 times three, $2, and $1). I have one more up+ coupon from that trip, for $2.99. My grand total for today? $2.56.
Did you hear me scream? Yep. Finally I got big bucks off. Okay, it wasn't a huge trip (I really don't see buying $600 or more at a time of anything). But it's 90% off. And I got $7 in up+ coupons for next time, and still have one from last time (that needs to be spent by 7/9). And I have more coupons for similar products, and yes we'll stock up.
So, I'm learning that it's not just the coupons that saves, that planning things very carefully is required. For instance, if I buy just Stayfree/Carefree at my next visit (and I'll get four items, two Stayfree and 2 Carefree), and one box of toothpaste, I'll use my Up+ rewards (as much as allowed) and pay about a buck. And then I'll do a second transaction with the shaving gel and use the first transaction's rewards on that, and pay a couple of bucks. Doing just one transaction would cost around 7 bucks. It's a little savings, but the little savings are starting to add up.
And with these great sales, I'm now at a solid 25% savings on everything I've bought since the end of May. 50% savings on groceries (and cutting the spending) does now seem achievable.
Onward!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Coupons are clipped
The coupons are clipped, and they're filed in the binder. Sometime later this week, I'll go get soda, buns, and hamburger patties. We will then be ready to par-tay on the 4th of July. Oh yeah, we'll get fireworks. Dh has just been paid (he gets paid monthly) and the bills are paid from his check. I am unable to pay a couple of the medical bills at this time, but my next check isn't too far away and I'll take care of them then.
I am not planning to do much for grocery shopping this week except for the party supplies (and milk, got to redeem the coupon for free milk that I have) but I'll probably be clipping more coupons and planning the July 8 shopping. I am going to prioritize the stockpile list by the coupons I have. I'll be tempted to go, though, if there's a really good deal out there that is very little out of pocket. Don't have a lot of money to spend.
Onward!
I am not planning to do much for grocery shopping this week except for the party supplies (and milk, got to redeem the coupon for free milk that I have) but I'll probably be clipping more coupons and planning the July 8 shopping. I am going to prioritize the stockpile list by the coupons I have. I'll be tempted to go, though, if there's a really good deal out there that is very little out of pocket. Don't have a lot of money to spend.
Onward!
Monday, June 27, 2011
No coupons today
I did start to clip coupons tonight, but realized that tomorrow's TV is worth watching for me (Love America's Got Talent) so I clipped just a few of the coupons and will sort tomorrow. I am pretty sure it is time too weed some expireds out of my binder as well.
I had an itch to go buy something but didn't do it, for many reasons: 1. we didn't really need the items, 2. I'm out of double coupons for Albertsons, 3. I really don't need to spend the money even though the deal is really good (check out the Granola Thins scenario on FabulesslyFrugal.com!)
But that's not to say I didn't save big today, I did! I had a screening procedure done today. The office manager called about a week ago to let me know about my insurance benefits, which boiled down to: if they didn't find any polyps or anything that needed to be biopsied, it fell under the wellness part of my insurance and the insurance would pay the doctor's fee. If they had to do anything or biopsy anything, then it became a medical procedure and I'd end up having to pay about a grand. I don't know what the hospital charges will be, and I know there will be hospital charges. So, good news on the medical front: they didn't find anything and therefore didn't biopsy anything. However, I think that also means today's procedure doesn't count towards my deductible. Oh well.
So the last reason I did not do any couponing things today is I spent three hours at the hospital, and slept most of the afternoon.
Life is good.
I had an itch to go buy something but didn't do it, for many reasons: 1. we didn't really need the items, 2. I'm out of double coupons for Albertsons, 3. I really don't need to spend the money even though the deal is really good (check out the Granola Thins scenario on FabulesslyFrugal.com!)
But that's not to say I didn't save big today, I did! I had a screening procedure done today. The office manager called about a week ago to let me know about my insurance benefits, which boiled down to: if they didn't find any polyps or anything that needed to be biopsied, it fell under the wellness part of my insurance and the insurance would pay the doctor's fee. If they had to do anything or biopsy anything, then it became a medical procedure and I'd end up having to pay about a grand. I don't know what the hospital charges will be, and I know there will be hospital charges. So, good news on the medical front: they didn't find anything and therefore didn't biopsy anything. However, I think that also means today's procedure doesn't count towards my deductible. Oh well.
So the last reason I did not do any couponing things today is I spent three hours at the hospital, and slept most of the afternoon.
Life is good.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Made another list
I have, of course, made a list of everything I need to get in order to have a year's worth of food stockpiles, and made it into an Excel sheet that I've put into my binder. I've done my food inventory, and marked what I had.
Tonight, I made a long shopping list of what I need. I could figure it out from the list I already have, but making a list of what I need just helps me.
Some of it I'm just not sure of. I mean, 75 lbs of flour per person? Really?
Anyway, I have 126 items on my stock pile list. And as of June 25, I have a year's supply of 12 of those items. That's almost 10%. That's the beginning, of course.
And I know I haven't put some items on the list, like poptarts and chips. If worst came to worst, that will be food that we could definitely go without.
And out of the 126 items on the list, I do not have any stock of 19 of them. This is stuff that we don't use that often, like lemon juice.
I think I'm going to need to free up some space around here.
Tonight, I made a long shopping list of what I need. I could figure it out from the list I already have, but making a list of what I need just helps me.
Some of it I'm just not sure of. I mean, 75 lbs of flour per person? Really?
Anyway, I have 126 items on my stock pile list. And as of June 25, I have a year's supply of 12 of those items. That's almost 10%. That's the beginning, of course.
And I know I haven't put some items on the list, like poptarts and chips. If worst came to worst, that will be food that we could definitely go without.
And out of the 126 items on the list, I do not have any stock of 19 of them. This is stuff that we don't use that often, like lemon juice.
I think I'm going to need to free up some space around here.
The best thing I did this week
Was to find a small calculator and use it, each time, each item. I used it with great effect at Costco. I was very glad to have it at Winco and Fred Meyer. It works better for me, though, if I just add the items in and forget about the coupons.
YMMV.
YMMV.
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