Savings and Spending for 2012

 

I have a love affair with spreadsheets ( nerdy I know ) but I thought what better way to help you guys out than to make one that will help!!

I am planning on using this to keep track of my spending (good, bad and ugly) so I can try to get control of my spending. For the first ever we are planning on taking 2 vacations never year, one to California to vist family and one to Orlando to head to Disney World!! So saving is going to be extremely important!!

This what it looks like follow the link below and download the spreadsheet and then click enable editing to be able to enter in your own information. If you have any question please send me and email and I will try to help you out!

 

Good luck to all of us J

 

Savings 2012 Google Doc

 

 

 

 

 

Extreme Couponing: Coupon Crack Down

 

 

 

 

 

So in light of the all the extreme couponing going on and the TV show that made couponers look like a bunch of loonies, stores are changing their policies.(I found this article on Wall Street Online and just had to share it) Which most would say is a bad thing.

I on the other hand think it is great!! I hate going to a store 3 hours after it opened to find they were sold out of something (happened this morning) So some stores are now limiting the amount you can buy to 4, how great is that!! Might mean things that I really want to stock up on like laundry detergent this week at Kroger for $1.25 I will just have to make more trips which is ok if the deal is good, it is on my way to and from work! What do you think about the changes are you for or against?

 

On a side note:

I do believe in having a stock pile, totally for it I try to buy between 4 and 8 of everything I buy since there are 6 in my household. However I do not believe you should have more rolls of toilet paper than you could use in 3 lifetimes. Food goes quickly in this house (especially since I have 2 teenagers and one that wishes he was) Health and Beauty Items what we don’t use by Christmas goes in goodie bags for our family and then the rest to a women’s and children’s shelter. Then in January the fun starts all over again!

Store Coupon Policies

 

 

 

After the airing of TLC’s Extreme Couponing I was asked by several people about the various store coupon policies. So I did some research this morning to try and find what I could so that you be prepared!! Please note they can change without notice. I will try to keep you updated!

Target

Wal-mart

Ingles- Must use Advantage Card. 3 coupons doubled/tripled ($0.50 or less) for every $10 spent. Will not take competitor coupons. No FREE internet printables, only 2 internet printable per customer per day. Only 2 like coupons will be doubled.

Publix- Really varies by store and area. My Publix doubles all coupons $0.50 or less. They will take competitor coupons (I suggest calling the store prior to your trip to double check), you can stack store and manufacturer coupons. They DO NOT allow overage anymore.

Kroger– This really only talks about Printable ones, know that eCoupons do not double and you can not combine eCoupons and paper coupons. They do not take competitor coupons and mine here in GA on double coupons $0.50 or less with your Kroger plus card

CVS

Rite-Aid

Walgreens

 

If there are any other stores you would like me to find out about, leave me a comment and I will check it out for you!!

My Freebie Closet~~Revealed

I wanted to give you guys an idea of all the great things I have to donate or giveaway!! So here is a look at what I keep in my closet (and this is after I have already given away a bunch of stuff)

The Body wash Collection

 The Shaving Collection

The Hair and Face Collection

 

The Household Collection

The Oral Care and  Medical Collection

The Deodorant and Misc Collection

How to get the most out of your coupons

Ok so the above picture shows MOST but not all of my coupons(plus my son and one of the dogs sleeping). The box on the table is full of loose coupons. I try to keep my inserts from the papers together. I buy anywhere from 3-5 papers a week depending on how good the coupons are. I always buy one on saturday, to browse thru and post on here what coupons there are. I get one delivered every sunday and then when we do our Sunday shopping I try to pick up the double packs.  If you don’t want to have that many papers it is ok. But I do suggest at least 2 so when you run into a BOGO you have a coupon for both.  MOst Holidays that land on Sunday or the Monday after (like memorial day coming up) there will not be an insert, but sometimes they will surprise you and put one in there.  I will try to let you know if that is the case.

There are 3 main inserts; Smart Source(SS), Red Plum(RP), and P&G(PG). When I put up deals I will put up the coupon insert where you should find the coupon (ex SS 2/14) but remember coupons vary from region to region. My AJC has different coupons than the Gainesville Times so sometimes it pays to get both.

Online coupons are wonderful and easy to find, sometimes you can go directly to the products webpage and print coupons from there or you can go to Coupons.com; Redplum.com ; eat better america; Betty Crocker.com;Smart Source; Pillsbury; Wyeth Drugs ; (Advil, Alavert, Robitussin, Ambesol, Centrum and more…); Target & Food Lion (these are store coupons and can be stacked with a manufacture’s coupon you can also see if other grocery store in your area accept these as competitor coupons).Most coupons can be printed 2 times from one computer but if you have more than one computer on your home you can print more. Another great way to get coupons is magazines…I LOVE All You. They have anywhere between $70-$120 in coupons every month. I don’t use them all but I used enough the first month to pay for my 2 year subscription. Kraft Food and Family Magazine (which used to be free but know you do have to pay for); Rouge Magazine (free it is put out by Proctor & Gamble); Publix Magazines (it offers store coupons, the subscription is free); Rite Aid offers coupons if you watch videos and once you have 20 credits you get a $5/$20 coupon. Also if you want to know if there is a coupon out there for a certain product I use the database at Hot Coupon World to find them!

Also if you email the company and tell them how much you LOVE their product or even if you have a compliant about their product, sometimes they will send you coupons!  Just go to the company website and in the contact us section, put a rave review about one of their products you do not even have to ask for coupons, just make sure you fill out the form completely adding  your address. You can also be on the lookout for free samples which sometimes include coupons. I try to put free samples up on the blog whenever I come across them.

Another great way to get coupons is off the products themselves, these are called peelies and as a coupon “rule” you should only pull off the coupon if you plan on purchasing that item right then. Plus the little “blinkies” that spit out coupons are another way to stack up a general thought is 2 coupons per but it is up to you. When my children go to the store with me they fight over who is going to pull the coupons out. It is quite funny to watch

I try to keep most of mine in a big binder with plastic page inserts to hold the entire coupon and have them grouped together by date. I do have a lot as you can see so we purchased a table from walmart for me to spread them out on. I keep everything I need handy. Scissors ~~a must have, I suggest more than 1 person working on it so I do get my teenage daughter and husband involved in clipping, the weekly sales ad, and my computer! Couponing can be very addicting. I love saving money on things I have to buy so I have more money to spend on the things I WANT to buy. It does take patience to go through everything and get everything together, but when the end result is saving 80% on your grocery bill then to me it is worth it. If I save $50 on my bill and I spent 2 hours working on it then I was just paid $25 an hour to clip coupons!! So if you would like some help getting started I will be more than happy to help you along!!

Heather mill3464@gmail.com https://couponingprincess.wordpress.com