Money Saving March - Week 5: Maximize your Coupons!

This is the fifth and final week in the Money Saving March Series.  I hope that over the course of this past month, this series has given you some useful information to help you organize, save money and start or continue on your couponing journey!  This week let's talk about maximizing your coupons' value. 

Coupons are a GREAT thing any way you look at them.  What else gets delivered right to your door or your inbox that helps you save money each week? But did you know that you can maximize the value of the coupons and put them to work for you even more?  Here's how!

Try to keep in mind that just because you have a coupon and use it, doesn't always make for a great deal.  Try and use your coupons when the store is offering a sale, incentive, reward or offer making the item at an already low rock bottom price.  Then add your coupon. This will make for a much larger saving.  For example:

I had 4 Buy One Get One FREE Special K Cereal Coupons.  In itself, they were great coupons.  I could have taken them to Walmart or Kroger on any given day and payed about $3.00 for one box and got the other FREE.  Good deal right?  How about this...I saved this coupon until Rite Aid was having a Buy One Get One FREE Sale on Special K, used my BOGO FREE Coupon in combination with their sale and scored 8 boxes for totally FREE!! (I had 4 coupons) See how much better that scenario played out!  When you can wait and watch for a good deal to pair up your coupon and sale with a store, get the product and extremely low prices, then stock up!!  That way, you have a little flexibility as to waiting and holding on until a great sale comes along.

Next up, take full advantage of stores like Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS and Target allowing you to use their store coupon and a manufacturer coupon "stacked" on the same item.

This makes for awesome deals! This week, you could use the $2/1 Manufacture Coupon fro Loreal Hair Color AND the $6.99 Walgreens In Ad Coupon combined on one box making it $4.99! 

Also, remember that you can use coupons on items that are offering store rewards to make for great deals!  These offers are made by the stores for you to use.  So take full advantage and increase your savings by doing so! 

What tips do you have for maximizing coupons' values?

Money Saving March - Week 4 Organize your Shopping Trip!

This week's topic is "How to Organize Your Shopping Trip"!  This is a very important part of the whole couponing process.  How many of you have gotten to the store, got to the check out, reached for your coupons and you had left them in the car?  Or at home? Or in another purse?  Or how about take them with you and get your items, pay for them and get to the car and realize that you didn't use a single coupon you had clipped! (I personally have done that) 

Just by taking a little time at home when you are more relaxed and less stressed  to plan out your shopping trip can help with all the chaos we encounter at the store.  From kids who have to go to the bathroom, to husbands who just want to GO, we all have some sense of stress while we shop.  The more efficient you are while at the store and the better you plan, the more money you will save and the less time you will spend shopping.

You have heard me talk about making a shopping list before and this is no different.  Make a list, shop from the list and avoid impulse buying.  That's simple, right?  WRONG!!  But with a little help of organization, it can be a much more simple to carry out the task of staying on budget.  Here is how I plan and organize my shopping trips....

#1.  Take your weekly ads from the stores you plan to shop at this week.  Make a decision on what you will buy or what you need.  Make a list for that specific store.  I like to list the number of each specific item I will purchase, the coupons I will use, any rewards I may be getting back and the final cost.  This helps me to figure out if I am really getting a good deal on that specific item.

#2.  Match up your coupons to your list.  Clip your coupons to the list in the order you will hand them over to the cashier.  If you have a $3/$15 purchase, you want to use that first, so put it on top of the stack as a reminder to hand it over first.

#3.  Like we talked about last week, label your take along coupon organizer by store.  Take your list and coupons and drop them into the correct section. 

Now when you get to the store, you are organized and ready to shop.  Coupons for that specific store are ready and you no longer have to search for the ones you're looking for.  Go in with your list, purchase the items, get to the cash register with coupons in hand, and take all your great buys home with you!  Easy and stress free!! 

How do you get ready for your shopping trip?  What works for you? Leave a commet!

For more info on our organizational Starter Kits will all items mentioned in the previous two week's topics head over here!

Money Saving March - Week 3 How to Organize Your Coupons

This week's Money Saving March post is all about coupon organization.  An organized system is vital to couponing.  By using a very effective system, you can easily track down your coupons, match them up with sales, and not spend a lot of time doing so.  If you already have a organized system that is working for you, then please continue to use it.  This is the way I organize and what works for me.  I use this system because I do not like to clip coupons and do not want to spend time clipping every coupon that I may or may not use.  This is a very easy way to organize that is less time consuming and correlates with the way The Frugal Friends' blog is set up as well as the Starter Kit that we offer.  So, here is step #1:

This is my personal coupon binder.  It is a 3 ring binder with about 10-12 sheet protectors.  Here's what you do...When you get your coupons, go through them, clip the ones you KNOW you are going to use.  If it is something you're going to get this week on sale or if your family always uses Corn Flakes, clip that coupon.  Everything Else, leave in tact and uncut in the insert it came in.  Write on the insert the date of the paper that the insert came in and slide that week's coupons into a sheet protector.  Stick a label or piece of tape to that sheet protector with the date as well.  This will make the deal match-ups that are on The Frugal Friends so simple for you.  When I list a coupon, then I reference the date and the insert name the coupon is in.  For instance, If I post a deal where you need to use a $1/1 Crest Toothpaste from the 1/11 PG, then you flip to January 11, pull out the P&G Insert and clip that coupon.  This system eliminates the need to cut every coupon and keeps everything in one central place. 

You will notice in the side pocket of my binder several coupons.  I get coupons from family members after they go through and clip the ones they want.  Most times they are just sheets and are not in the inserts, so I don't know what date the insert actually is.  I stick those either in the pocket of my binder or an expandable file folder.  This is also a good place to put clipped coupons that you maybe didn't use this week, but know you will use them later.

I will go through about every 10-12 weeks and clear out the inserts that have expired.

When you do clip your coupons, a very simple way to keep them organized for shopping is a coupon organizer like this:

It has several dividers inside to organize your coupons and take with you to the store.  I label the tabs in my organizer by store.  This way you are ready to shop, you have your list and coupons in one place and when you get to that specific store there is no searching for coupons...They are right there for you!

I also leave a section in the back for clipped coupons. These are coupons that I plan to use, but maybe the product is sold out or something of that sort.  I will stick those back there so I have an actual place to keep them so they won't get shifted to the bottom of my purse :)

Next week, we will discuss how to organize your shopping trip!  This, too, is an important part of couponing.  Leave a comment with your system.  What things do you do to organize and save time?



Money Saving March Week 2 - Tips to Cut your Grocery Bill

This is week 2 in Money Saving March and I would like to share with you some ways to cut your grocery bill.  We could all use that right?!  If you missed today's segment on WBKO's MidDay Live, I shared several ways to help cut your cost of groceries.  If you would like to view the segment go here. 

As I talk about in the segment, use your coupons when they are most valuable to you.  When a store has a sale or you can combine a store coupon and manufacturer coupon and get items for rock bottom prices, THAT is the best time to buy.  Buy enough to last your family for about the next 8-10 weeks, that should get you to the next big sale.  Creating a small stockpile will allow you to save money by decreasing the need to purchase items at full price.

Buy cuts of meat when they are on sale and store in your freezer for upcoming meals.  Try to purchase your fresh produce in season which will keep you from paying a premium on out of season prices.

Meal plan!  A great way to cut your grocery expense is to meal plan and make a shopping list and stick to it.

Don't forget the drug stores have food, too!  Not a large variety, but they do have basics that you will be able to purchase using store and manafucturer coupons to increase your savings.

Shop stores that double coupons, load ecoupons, etc.  Take advantage of the incentives that the stores offer you.

Have any more tips?  Leave a comment,  I'd love to hear them!!

Menu Monday!

Congrats to Mindy, the winner of last week's Menu Monday and Mini Coupon Organizer!  Thanks for posting your menu, please send me an email to thefrugalfriends@yahoo.com and we'll get your prize right out!

Here's my menu for the week of March 7 - 11.  I have transferred a couple of last weeks meals to this week since my lovely Mother-in-Law cooked dinner for us one night and I totally forgot that we were leaving to go out of town Friday night, so I didnt' have to cook 2 of my meals.  That is the beauty of meal planning...I already have the ingredients, so now I have two meals ready for this week :)

Monday - Fish Sandwiches, Baked French Fries, Mac n Cheese
Tuesday - Chili and grilled cheese
Wednesday - Crock Pot Chicken and Dressing, mashed potatoes and green beans
Thursday - Left overs or sandwiches :)
Friday - Spaghetti, salad and bread

I actually already have all the items needed to cook these meals, so I won't have to make a big shopping trip.  Just a few necessities will get me by.  Now it's your turn!  What's on your menu for this week?  Leave a comment with your menu and your name will be entered for a mini coupon organizer! You have until Midnight Sunday March 13 to get them posted!

Welcome to Money Saving March!!!

Today starts a new feature on The Frugal Friends Blog...Money Saving March!  What is Money Saving March you may ask?? Well, we are now 3 months into 2011 and I know a lot of times, by now, the momentum of our New Year's resolutions' of saving money, budgeting, and frugal living have began to fade.  SO, during the month of March, let's BOOST that back up with weekly topics to give you new ideas and tips to get back to your goal of saving enough for vacation, paying off a credit card bill, or adding an extra dinner out each month with your family!

Each week, you will find a new post with money saving ideas, ways to cut your spending, organization tips and other helpful bits of information to reeve up your savings. Following is what you can expect to see in the coming weeks:

Week 1:  Meal Planning
Week 2:  Tips to Cut Your Grocery Bill
Week 3:  How to Organize Your Coupons
Week 4:  Organize Your Shopping Trip
Week 5:  How to Maximize Your Coupons

I want to hear from YOU, too!  Each week, please leave comments on tips and ideas that you have, or tricks that work for you.  Money Saving March is about helping each other out to gain more savings and keep more of our hard earned money in our pockets, where it belongs!  Welcome to Money Saving March...Let's get started with Week 1:  Meal Planning!

Money Saving March - Week 1

The topic for the first week of Money Saving March is Meal Planning.  Meal Planning is a very simple way to save your family money on groceries as well as save you time.  Instead of standing in front of the fridge, freezer or pantry gazing and trying to decide what you will cook for dinner, you already have a plan of action and know exactly what you will be serving up on that specific night. 

I was able to see a drastic drop in my grocery bill once I put meal planning into action.  By planning what you will have around sales, using the same ingredients multiple times, and using from your stockpile at home you will be able to decrease that even more. Here's a few tips to get you started:

#1.  Try to plan meals around what is on sale for the week.  For instance, if pork chops are on sale, incorporate that into your menu.  And while your at it, pick up a couple more packs for the freezer.  Purchase meat, non perishables and freezer items while on sale and start (or add to) your stockpile.  This will save you tons of money by eliminating not having to purchase items at full price.  Pull from your stockpile to create future menus to cut down on THAT week's grocery bill. Also, plan meals around what you already have at home.

#2.  Plan your menu and write it down.  If you shop every two weeks, plan menus for that period of time...every week, plan one week at a time - you get the picture.

#3.  Make your shopping list from your menu.  List everything that you need to purchase to make the meals you have planned.

#4.  Add to your list any sale items or other items you need for the week, such as milk, snacks, bread, etc.

#5.  Match your coupons up with any items you have on your list.

#6.  Head out to the store, with your list and coupons.  Shop from your list!  Let me say that juuust once more...Shop from your list!  I know it is nearly impossible to purchase only what is on your list, but when you are planning for your menu and shopping trip, try to list everything you need to purchase. Try your best to purchase all items on the list and steer away from impulse buys.

So with all of that in mind, I thought a great way to help you along and keep us all on task would be to start ANOTHER new feature on The Frugal Friends.  Menu Monday is a way for all of us to work together and help each other out with menu ideas, recipes and sale items.  You will notice the top of the page now has a tab for Menu Monday with all the details.  Basically, each week I'll post my week's menu and grocery bill then if you would like to give meal planning a try, you can leave a post with your name, menu for the week and, if you would like, your grocery bill.  By leaving a comment with your info, your name will be entered into a drawing for a small prize!  You can leave your menu anytime starting now and until midnight on Sunday, March 6.  Remember, this is your menu for the week of 2/28 - 3/7.  I will announce the winner on next Monday's Post.   This week's winner will win this cute Mini Take Along Coupon Organizer - Great for Grocery Shopping :)

Now for my menu, the picture above was actually mine for this week.  In the case that you were unable to read it, I'll list it out:
Monday - Baked Ham, Cheezy Potatoes, Corn and Baked Beans
Tuesday - Tacos, Rice and Beans
Wednesday - Chili and Sandwiches
Thursday - Chili Dogs or Leftovers :)
Friday - Crock Pot Chicken and Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans
Grocery Bill - $54.69

Now it's your turn!  Let's see those menus and please leave any tips you have, recipes you'd like to share or sales...let's help each other out to cut those grocery bills!!!