I never understand when people say that you can not control how much you spend on gasoline. YES YOU CAN!
Get rewards card from places that offer savings on gasoline if you shop there, then hit their sales with your coupons and buy gas that same day. Walk more often. Carpool with others. Do more each time you leave the house so you do not have to go out so often. Ask others to pick things up for you if you need something but need to cut gas usage.
Entertainment. Drop cable, have internet and netflix. Thats maybe $35 a month for us compared to the $100 + to have cable or satilite and a movie channel.
Electric bill? Raise the Ac temp 2 degrees and run a few rotating fans to help circulate the air better. Turn lights off, or use the energy saver bulbs if its a light you need on for long periods of time. Remove the bulbs from the fridge, really do you need it? I don't!
Natural gas bill? Lower the heat a few degrees in the winter. Don't use it to heat up things only a couple degrees warmer than it is without. Turn off the pilot on the furnace once the cold weather is gone. Turn down your water heater a bit. Wear sweaters, don't walk around in the middle of winter wearing shorts and a t-shirt and complain that you are cold. OF COURSE YOU ARE! Cover up and you wont be so cold.
Have issues with paying rent? Use savings from other areas to save up and buy a place of your own with cash! Get a fixer upper and FIX it. You don't need a 100K+ home. We are working on saving $45K to buy a 3 bedroom with a few acres. It will more than suffice for our needs and then we will fix what we can on our own and save up to pay professionals to do the rest.
Do not stick with brand X just because its what you have always used. Use what is on sale that you have a coupon for. The cheaper you get stuff the more you have to save, or use to fix the house up or whatever. I hate hearing people whine about how they can not figure out how to save and I see name brand clothes in their closet with tags still on, or a new car with a huge payment due in the driveway, or a house that is too big for their family with a huge mortgage. Its rediculous how anyone thinks they can save money when they live beyond their means. You have to smarten up people, don't like having a huge mortgage, find out about paying in advance and use what you save to pay down the principal. Does your mortgage have a clause that keeps you from paying early due to a huge fine? Get a new mortgage with another bank that will allow early payment. There is always a way to save. Oh and credit cards? Pay'em and cancel them. Get rid of them they are stupid!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Coupon Trains and Trades Yahoo group
I recently began my own yahoo group for trading coupons and doing coupon trains. I found most groups wanted you to send out large (30 or more) coupons at a time if you were conducting the train and that just puts the risk a bit high for some folks. So I started a group where the most in any train will be 20. A much easier loss to handle should anything go wrong. You can check it out and join here: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/coupon_trains_and_trades/
Friday, May 27, 2011
Organizing can be difficult!
When couponning finding the organizational method that works for you can be difficult, however its very important. I started with a regular binder system but burst the pockets. Then tried using a couple of inexpensive albums. I like this method, but I am now refining my catagories. Tried by experation date, too tricky. Tried by brand. . . too many brands! Now trying a more traditional wide scale catagorial approach. For example: Dairy, Boxed meals, laundry needs, etc. This should prove easier, especially with the addition of an expired check organizer and a bag to carry them all in.
Happy Couponning and do not forget to check your local Walmart for the new issue of All You Magazine!
Happy Couponning and do not forget to check your local Walmart for the new issue of All You Magazine!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
The Kansas City Star results for 5-1-11
It has been years since I had gotten a Sunday paper. I remember being mad when it went up to $1.25, now its $2 each copy! So saddly I could only get 2 copies. Oh well, its a good start and now I am better prepared to get papers in the future because I know how much they are.
Ech copy had 8 things I pulled to start with. Once these are all checked and clipped I will scan the paper for oddly placed coupons, its not a regular thing but I remember finding coupons in the oddest places growing up even though we did not use them.
First thing of interest is the Find N Save page. It is a single page, the size of a regular newprint page. It has a variety of oupons for buisinesses it seems. For example 20% off your entire bill at Perkins, a restaraunt. Or 50-70% off at Mark's Rugs. I will be clipping these and seeing if anyone in my area needs them, that is if I do not.
Next is the redplum insert. Each has 3 of what I call full pages, because its folded to open like a book and 10 half pages. Most have at least one coupon on them for the half pages. The whole pages have 2 or more each.
First thing I did was seperate the full pages from the half pages. Then I cut the full pages into half pages. Then I clipped the coupons from these and stacked them in a pile of coupons from the red plum insert only. I will trim them down to look neater later. ALWAYS check front and back before you cut as coupons may be close to each other on opposite sides risking cutting one if you are not careful. Seems there were two half pages with no coupons this time. They had stuff for sale on them via mail order. Gave a nice stack of coupons.
Next I did the Smart Source insert with the Steak & Shake coupons on the front. This insert had mostly full pages and several half pages. Again I seperated the full from the half and cut the full ages so they were halves. Also had a Dollar General ad inside which I set to the side for now. True couponers who trade coupons with others should always cut EVERY coupon. You never know what others are looking for. Even ones for restaraunts and other companies. Remember, first go through is to get the bulk of the waste paper off. You can trim them more nicely later when sorting and putting them away. In this insert I only found half page with no coupons on it. Whew, another nice stack of coupons to sort through later!
Then I did the Smart Source insert with the Purina ad on the front. Ooo, that means two Smart Source inserts this week! Cool :D Again, seperate the full pages from the halves and cut the full pages to make handling the pages easier. This one only had 2 full pages each insert. Whew, less cutting! Ok not less cutting ha ha, there was not a single page without a coupon in that one. I am tired and I still have 4 more inserts/ads too look at! Then there is the actual paper to peek through. I can tell you now this is not an average paper for coupons. I'm going to sign off here saying that if you got a newspaper this sunday, you will be super busy with your coupons today!
Ech copy had 8 things I pulled to start with. Once these are all checked and clipped I will scan the paper for oddly placed coupons, its not a regular thing but I remember finding coupons in the oddest places growing up even though we did not use them.
First thing of interest is the Find N Save page. It is a single page, the size of a regular newprint page. It has a variety of oupons for buisinesses it seems. For example 20% off your entire bill at Perkins, a restaraunt. Or 50-70% off at Mark's Rugs. I will be clipping these and seeing if anyone in my area needs them, that is if I do not.
Next is the redplum insert. Each has 3 of what I call full pages, because its folded to open like a book and 10 half pages. Most have at least one coupon on them for the half pages. The whole pages have 2 or more each.
First thing I did was seperate the full pages from the half pages. Then I cut the full pages into half pages. Then I clipped the coupons from these and stacked them in a pile of coupons from the red plum insert only. I will trim them down to look neater later. ALWAYS check front and back before you cut as coupons may be close to each other on opposite sides risking cutting one if you are not careful. Seems there were two half pages with no coupons this time. They had stuff for sale on them via mail order. Gave a nice stack of coupons.
Next I did the Smart Source insert with the Steak & Shake coupons on the front. This insert had mostly full pages and several half pages. Again I seperated the full from the half and cut the full ages so they were halves. Also had a Dollar General ad inside which I set to the side for now. True couponers who trade coupons with others should always cut EVERY coupon. You never know what others are looking for. Even ones for restaraunts and other companies. Remember, first go through is to get the bulk of the waste paper off. You can trim them more nicely later when sorting and putting them away. In this insert I only found half page with no coupons on it. Whew, another nice stack of coupons to sort through later!
Then I did the Smart Source insert with the Purina ad on the front. Ooo, that means two Smart Source inserts this week! Cool :D Again, seperate the full pages from the halves and cut the full pages to make handling the pages easier. This one only had 2 full pages each insert. Whew, less cutting! Ok not less cutting ha ha, there was not a single page without a coupon in that one. I am tired and I still have 4 more inserts/ads too look at! Then there is the actual paper to peek through. I can tell you now this is not an average paper for coupons. I'm going to sign off here saying that if you got a newspaper this sunday, you will be super busy with your coupons today!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
BuyCoupons.org service review
I took the plunge and ordered some coupons from this clipping service. I placed my order on Wed 27th and recived them Saturday the 30th! I got all 60 I ordered. I got 20 ech of the following:
50 cents off 3 totino's pizza Qs (the party pizzas)
$1/1 Jose Ole item
B10G5 Koolaid packets
These are all things we would use anyway, if we line up with sales these will help us stock up for a while and save in the long run so I can buy more produce or meat.
The price was on the high end for a clipping service but I am very happy with what we got. Our next coupon order will be from another service so we can give our review on that one. We are not sure which one just yet though.
50 cents off 3 totino's pizza Qs (the party pizzas)
$1/1 Jose Ole item
B10G5 Koolaid packets
These are all things we would use anyway, if we line up with sales these will help us stock up for a while and save in the long run so I can buy more produce or meat.
The price was on the high end for a clipping service but I am very happy with what we got. Our next coupon order will be from another service so we can give our review on that one. We are not sure which one just yet though.
Ah, they DO love us!
Ok folks, it is TRUE! Companies do want to hear from their customers! I reported to 9lives that I had some cans just explode when I went to open them and they sent me a check for $10, BE HIONEST if you report things like this. There is certain info they will require as proof. I also told Whiskas how uch my cat loves their food and they sent me 2 coupons for FREE cat food! Today I received 2 55 cents off 2 cans of bush's beans after telling them how wonderful their plain canned beans are for making quick Chili! If you use a product take a moment to call or email the company telling them you loved it or hated it and why. They really appreciate hearing back from you.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
All You Magazine from Walmart
I have quickly come to adore the All You magazine offered at Walmart. Just ising 1 coupon from each magazine made it worth buying 4 of them! These wonderful magazines are chuck full of coupons each month and are usually found near the cash registers. Why they do not sell out quickly I do not know, honestly why not pay $3 for hundreds in savings? I do not care much to read them but after clipping the coupons the paper shreds nicely to make great cheap bedding for my pet snakes!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
My eyes have been opened to MONEY!
In the past 9 years we have rarely if ever bought any name brand food products because of the cost. We would go without favorites or skimp in other areas to splurge "just this once" and suffer for it later. Does this sound familiar to you?
About a week ago I was uplate and flipping through the tv guide for our cable service and saw the title "Extreme Coupon". I figured it was one of those info-mercials trying to sell a book or something like that but was bored beyond tears. So I selected the channel and sat back. It showed this guy they called Mr. Coupon shopping. I watched him load up his cart and thought to myself I hope he is rich. Then I started listening when he popped in tidbits they did not encourage or ask for. He noted this was NOT a usual trip. When they showed his stash he said it happened over time, not from a single monster trip like on the show.
It got over and I sat and thought about it. I always buy generic and bare minimum trying to make our money stretch so we can eat that one week between running out and getting more Foodstamps. ICK I hate that word, but unfortunately my family is in a position to need them. We recently took up gardening in a serious way to help cut our dependance on the retched things, and canning. I kept thinking, if I can do those why not try couponing? First thing I did was look deeper into what I could do on Inboxdollars.com to earn money, and what did I find? PRINTABLE coupons that they would PAY me to use! I went nuts and printed off a LOT, as many as they let me, all of them even if I had no idea what they were for. OOPS. Do not do that folks. Now I have no black ink. . .and coupons I can not or will not use. To fix this a little I went on Yahoo groups and searched Coupon Exchange and found a great group called AmericanCouponTrain or AllAmericanCouponTrain, I am not sure which exactly and I do not have it in front of me. Well, this group runs "trains" where one person sends out an envelope stuffed with an agreed upon number and type of coupons. The person who gets it takes what they need and any that will expire before the date that is exactly 3 weeks from the day they got it, then they put in new ones to bring it back to the original number and send it to the next person. They do this through the train list and the last passenger sends it home to the conductor (person who sent it out) so they can get new coupons too.
I am currently waiting for my probationary 3 trains to arrive so I can pass them along and prove myself able to complete the trains properly. Once I can do that I can arrange and run trains myself.
In the mean time I have a 1 inch binder with page dividers that I have taped strips ofpaper onto to creat pockets for the coupons. At first I sorted them by experation date. This proved difficult to work with and very easily quite messy. Upon asking for advice I was told to catagorize them and nwo I add pockets as needed for new catagories. So far so good!
Another great tip. If you are unsure how to GET coupons try the magazine All You at Walmart, it has TONS of coupons in it. I was amazed. I have gotten 2 copies of the May issue so far but really I want more just because of 2 coupons that make it extremely worth it! The $5 off 1 JMS coupon and the $! off 1 White Cloud TP coupon. JMS, for those who do not know, is a line of womens clothing at walmart, White Cloud is a brand of toilet paper also sold there. Currently the White Cloud is marked down to $2 for a 6 pk of double roll! Use the coupon and pay only $1. With the clothing coupon you may find something on a clearance rack that is that brand, grab it, buy it, wear it and if you are lucky get paid to do so because it is Walmarts policy to give cash back on overages with coupons! Be sure to get a copy of their coupon policy though so that if you run into trouble you can show them that it is allowed. Without it you maybe forced to pay full price or leave without it and that is a shame.
A couple of days ago I saved about $27 on pillsbury products. I matched coupons to a good sale! I got almost 5 times what I would have when splurging for just a couple of dollars more than if I had gotten similar in generic. I prefer pillsbury if I can get it, I tell you what! Tomorrow I will be buying a first aid product for $2.99 with a 55 cent off coupon, its package has a $2.99 rebate form inside! I will get paid to buy then redeem the rebate! Yes only a few cents but come on, overall that makes that product FREE! You can not beat FREE.
Each time I shop I will post what we got and how much we saved. So stay tuned!
About a week ago I was uplate and flipping through the tv guide for our cable service and saw the title "Extreme Coupon". I figured it was one of those info-mercials trying to sell a book or something like that but was bored beyond tears. So I selected the channel and sat back. It showed this guy they called Mr. Coupon shopping. I watched him load up his cart and thought to myself I hope he is rich. Then I started listening when he popped in tidbits they did not encourage or ask for. He noted this was NOT a usual trip. When they showed his stash he said it happened over time, not from a single monster trip like on the show.
It got over and I sat and thought about it. I always buy generic and bare minimum trying to make our money stretch so we can eat that one week between running out and getting more Foodstamps. ICK I hate that word, but unfortunately my family is in a position to need them. We recently took up gardening in a serious way to help cut our dependance on the retched things, and canning. I kept thinking, if I can do those why not try couponing? First thing I did was look deeper into what I could do on Inboxdollars.com to earn money, and what did I find? PRINTABLE coupons that they would PAY me to use! I went nuts and printed off a LOT, as many as they let me, all of them even if I had no idea what they were for. OOPS. Do not do that folks. Now I have no black ink. . .and coupons I can not or will not use. To fix this a little I went on Yahoo groups and searched Coupon Exchange and found a great group called AmericanCouponTrain or AllAmericanCouponTrain, I am not sure which exactly and I do not have it in front of me. Well, this group runs "trains" where one person sends out an envelope stuffed with an agreed upon number and type of coupons. The person who gets it takes what they need and any that will expire before the date that is exactly 3 weeks from the day they got it, then they put in new ones to bring it back to the original number and send it to the next person. They do this through the train list and the last passenger sends it home to the conductor (person who sent it out) so they can get new coupons too.
I am currently waiting for my probationary 3 trains to arrive so I can pass them along and prove myself able to complete the trains properly. Once I can do that I can arrange and run trains myself.
In the mean time I have a 1 inch binder with page dividers that I have taped strips ofpaper onto to creat pockets for the coupons. At first I sorted them by experation date. This proved difficult to work with and very easily quite messy. Upon asking for advice I was told to catagorize them and nwo I add pockets as needed for new catagories. So far so good!
Another great tip. If you are unsure how to GET coupons try the magazine All You at Walmart, it has TONS of coupons in it. I was amazed. I have gotten 2 copies of the May issue so far but really I want more just because of 2 coupons that make it extremely worth it! The $5 off 1 JMS coupon and the $! off 1 White Cloud TP coupon. JMS, for those who do not know, is a line of womens clothing at walmart, White Cloud is a brand of toilet paper also sold there. Currently the White Cloud is marked down to $2 for a 6 pk of double roll! Use the coupon and pay only $1. With the clothing coupon you may find something on a clearance rack that is that brand, grab it, buy it, wear it and if you are lucky get paid to do so because it is Walmarts policy to give cash back on overages with coupons! Be sure to get a copy of their coupon policy though so that if you run into trouble you can show them that it is allowed. Without it you maybe forced to pay full price or leave without it and that is a shame.
A couple of days ago I saved about $27 on pillsbury products. I matched coupons to a good sale! I got almost 5 times what I would have when splurging for just a couple of dollars more than if I had gotten similar in generic. I prefer pillsbury if I can get it, I tell you what! Tomorrow I will be buying a first aid product for $2.99 with a 55 cent off coupon, its package has a $2.99 rebate form inside! I will get paid to buy then redeem the rebate! Yes only a few cents but come on, overall that makes that product FREE! You can not beat FREE.
Each time I shop I will post what we got and how much we saved. So stay tuned!
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