Super Kroger

It sure was fun SUPER Krogering with many of you last Saturday... this is looking like a monthly event!!!

Grocery Total: $195.65

Spent: 16.98 & Saved: 178.67

132 coupons used

44 FREE items!

Don't Forget...

This Saturday you and your little cloth shopping bags are ALL MINE!!!

JUNE 27th, 9am...SUPER KROGER

Come and shop along with me and bring your friends along too!

If you have yet to hear about Super Kroger, it is one of the very few Kroger's that double coupons up to $1 every day!!! Super Kroger does have a few rules- so I'll quickly get those out of the way:

1. You must bring your coupon box with you... no planning just shopping! (Well, you can try to plan ahead if you'd like to, but I never do! The deals are everywhere!)

2. You may ONLY use up to three identical coupons (purchasing 3 products). Previously SK allowed more than one transaction per person, but unfortunately that is a thing of the past!

3. You must wear PINK (OK, this is optional) so that we Sharpen Your Scissors coupon clipping friends can recognize one another...

4. You must be ready to shop kindly... no grabbing, fist fighting or the like! (Just kidding, all of that is unnecessary) But do feel free to share your extra (or nearly expiring) coupons with other shoppers!

I will plan on shopping from 9am - 11 am, will you join me?

SUPER Kroger: 108 W. Highland Rd., Howell MI 48843(517) 552-0126

Let's get our shop on together!Drop me a comment if you'll be there, and make sure to say "Hi" to me in the store!!! I LOVE SUPER Krogering!!!

PS: If you really don't own anything pink, you have 3 more shopping days to find something :)!!!

3X coupons at VG's!

TRIPLE COUPONS!!!

My friends Amy & Tina let me know that VG's is tripling coupons up to $.99 this week! Woo Hoo!

Check out this post for the best match up deals: http://macombmoneysavers.blogspot.com/2009/06/vgs-june-22-29-2009-triple-coupons.html

As always, happy shopping!

Shop Too Much?

TWICE this week I have had to double up on carts... maybe I shop too much!!!

At least I have a great coupon helper who doesn't care how many carts I drag around with me!!!

Target Gift Card Challenge Update:

My trips to Target have been scarce recently... but I am actually posting about two little trips.

This is my latest trip (preceded by the 10 trial sized packages of Nexcare band-aids... not shown but $.59), I picked up 6 Crystal Light packets up by the check out and I actually purchased 6 of these 6oz Edy's with Target's online printable coupons for $1... final cost $.19/each.

After these purchases I have spent $13.31 of my $20 gift card, leaving me $6.69 for future purchases.

My $13.31 spent has actually purchased $260.75 worth of products using Target store and manufacturer coupons combined with sales and savvy shopping skills!!!

Grocery Shopping at Meijer

Both of these pictures are from Meijer this morning!!!

Grocery Total: $118.03

Spent: $33.78 & Saved: $84.25

44 coupons used

24 FREE items

(10 Kool Aid packets, 12 pkg's Quilted Northern, 5 box pkg Mac & Cheese for purchasing 20 Kool Aid packets + I earned $4 off of purchasing 2 sugars with this past weekend's coupon and Crystal Light Essentials box)

I decided to shop this morning, so I read the sale paper online (I hate reading it online, but the flyer i no longer delivered to my home!!!). After picking out my purchases, I looked at the mealbox coupons (http://www.meijer.com/, type in mealbox in the search box, when a box pops up, select coupons and scroll through...) and I noticed a Quilted Northern $1 6 rolls or large coupon. I ran to check my coupon box for Quilted Northern manufacturer coupons- and I found some for $1 off, but they expired 3 days ago.

I decided to take my chances and bring both the store and manufacturer Quilted Northern coupons with me- my plan was to ask my cashier if it was OK for me to use my 3 day expired coupons... my cashier and the store manager both said yes (my cashier verified) so I used dual coupons on my already on sale TP!!!

These 6 double roll packs normally sell for $4.77/pkg.

This week they are on sale for $2.50/pkg.

Minus $2 for the $1 store & $1 manufacturer coupons

$.50/pkg of 12 rolls!

***I used a gift card that I had earned from a really bad shopping experience... just keeping up with my 15 months of NOT paying a cent for toilet paper!!! I heart coupons!!!

***Just for the record, and for you to follow suit, it is VERY important NOT to spend expired coupons without explicit permission, that's considered stealing. I make it a practice to "just ask" if I have a great coupon that is expired less than a week!

So go check your coupon stash, print your mealbox coupons and head to Meijer...

Q & A

Coupon Clipper: While going through this weeks coupons, I notice quite a few manufacturer's coupons that said 'Do Not Double' at the top. Does this mean that if I use a 35 cent coupon at Meijer, I will only save .35 instead of .70?

Me: When a store doubles a coupon the store just "loses out" on that money. The manufacturer can encourage the store not to double, but in the end if the store wants to lure coupon spenders into their store by matching the manufacturer's savings... they can. I gladly accept the double discount!

Helpful Hints:

Helpful hints for printing online coupons:

HINT: after your first coupon prints, hit the back arrow 3-4 times and a second coupon will print.

HINT HINT: If you have more than one computer that is accessible to you, print at several computers.

From My Readers...

Hi Laura,
Well, it's been about three months now since I attented one of your coupon classes and I just wanted to drop you a note to thank you for what you have taught me, the questions you have answered from me, and the inspiration you have imparted on me.

It sounds a little corny to be this impacted by coupons, but it is so much more than that. I can't tell you how much things have changed for us. We started Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover around the same time I took your class and things have totally turned around for us.

We have a new outlook on our finances and are finally excited about our future and not constantly feeling stressed. I am now spending less and getting more when it comes to groceries, diapers, health care items and so much more....it's such a blessing to walk into a stocked pantry and have what I need and to be able to fill bags of groceries from my pantry to give to others.

Thank you for giving of yourself to so many others! I know you will be so blessed for your time and effort in teaching others about being good stewards of the money God gives us! Thank You!


My pleasure, I LOVE to hear stories of lives being greatly impacted! Thank you!

Q & A

Coupon Clipper: After this weeks shopping I have two more questions this time re: Walgreen's (sorry, I'm still learning).

1) I tried to use my WAG register rewards ($11 worth) and was told they wouldn't scan and that the cashier tried to enter them by hand but that wouldn't work either. Why not? His suggested reason (though he didn't sound sure of his answer) was that it didn't work since I had used so many coupons. Is that true? I used 2 WAG coupons (from the add this week) and 4 Manufacturers coupons. I bought 5 items. Can you explain this? Should I have asked a manager to remedy this? I was so bummed since my total was $13 so I would've only paid $2!

Me: You should gave been able to use 1 Register Reward since RR's are actually viewed by the cash register as Manufacturer's coupons. Walgreen's allows ONE manufacturer coupon per item purchased (Walgreen's store coupons don't count!!!) You must have had more than one RR.


Coupon Clipper: 2) I saw this in your blog "I brought $47 in Register Rewards (from Walgreen's) with me, and I purchased a $50 Meijer gift card for later use since RR's expire within two weeks." How does that work? I thought RR could only be used at Walgreen's!

Me: RR's are actually manufacturer coupons, and they CAN be accepted RR's but they are NOT obligated to. Just ask your cashier or store manager next time you shop at your store. *I have called the company makes these coupons possible to verify that this information is accurate!

Returns

I love to purchase but HATE to make returns... funny how is seems so much more fun to haul things home!

Recently we were gifted a Little Tikes sand box! (I have been collecting sand toys since I found out I was pregnant... we are soooooooooo stocked!!!) Thanks for sharing Jackson!!!

Anyways, just before I headed out to purchase sand (how do you even guess the quantity of bags needed?) I read an article on the web to watch out for crushed rock imitation sand. Yes, my husband did remind me that all sand is actually crushed rock (and shells too), but I was looking NOT to purchase sand with chunks of rock. The site where I had been reading warned that the dust created by the crushing was downright horrible for kids to inhale- especially over time.

The weekend that we bought our patio set at Meijer, I also earned a 20% off all lawn and garden items made in a single transaction. Later in the week I returned to Meijer to use my coupon to purchase our sand, but Meijer closes their lawn and garden section at 8pm. I was so bummed.

I decided to stop at Home Depot (which shares the same parking lot with Meijer) to ask of they would accept this competitors coupon, and allow me to purchase their sand. Yep!

So just before dark I picked out 10 bags that were labeled "washed play sand." Pity had been taken on me by a kind store employee to lift my bags, push my cart and load them into my car. Then, the next morning Dave dumped 5 bags of sand into our sand box and he tossed the bags into the trash since it was trash day.

Later that afternoon, I opened the lid of our favorite frog sand box to get nice and sandy with my son- and I realized that I had purchased the wrong sand. I was so bummed.

I called Home Depot's corporate number and asked if I could return the open sand- without their bags, or if I could only return the unopened 5. Corporate got me in touch with the store who allowed me to return the 5 unopened bags and receive my money back for all 10 bags!

When I returned my sand I asked the cashier if I could still use my 20% off coupon in the store since I was repurchasing "real sand" that day. She said "No" because she didn't have a coupon to give to me.

I asked to discuss my situation with a manager. My cashier called the Lead Cashier, and the Lead Cashier also said "no". I felt like the cashier who had made my returns was no relaying my thoughts to the Lead Cashier so I asked to have the Lead Cashier come over and talk with me.

When I expressed that I didn't need a coupon, and that I was hoping 20% off could just be keyed into the cash register at my check out she happily agreed. She then understood what I was asking for, and I did indeed get another 20% off.

I'm sharing this story to encourage you to speak up and ask for what you think is fair.

I was happy to return the sand to the store in plastic grocery bags- or to just only be able to return the 5 unopened bags. I did however feel like the packaging on my initial bags of sand was misleading by calling the chunky crushed rock "sand." And since I needed to repurchase exactly what I had originally purchased, I felt that it was OK to ask to receive my initial discount.

Toilet Paper

OK, understand that it is kind of a taboo subject to talk about toilet paper. Weird huh? We all use it- so I think TP deserves a bit of lime light here at Sharpen Your Scissors!

Once upon a time Kroger sold 4 roll packages for $.99. Ah, the good ol' days! Frequently, the makers of Cottonelle brand toilet paper would publish $.50 off coupons in the Sunday paper, and Kroger would double those coupons to make the 4 roll pack of TP absolutely FREE! Woo Hoo!

Unfortunately those wonderful 4 roll packs of Cottonelle have long since disappeared from Kroger's shelves... but alas, I have found them once again!!!

Walmart has picked up where Kroger has dropped off... 4 roll packs of Cottonelle!

Cottonelle.com allows each of us to print two $1 off coupons per month on their site! That's 8 FREE rolls of Cottonelle TP my friends!

So if you have been staring longingly at your last 4 pack of Cottonelle- afraid to unwrap its wonderfulness beacuse it may very well have been your final pack, or if you have begun rationing "squares per flush" to hold on just a bit longer to the belovedly FREE Cottonelle, or if (like me) you are trying desperately to de-snob yourself from you FREE Cottonelle and succumb to tolerating the FREE Angel Soft... (I'm being brutally honest here friends) than join the ranks who are headed to Walmart for the GOOD STUFF!!! (Hmm, that sounds funny!)

May there be happy heinies everywhere!!!

PS: FREE Angel Soft TP is available at Kroger! Watch your Sunday papers for $.50 off coupons that will be doubled at Kroger- scoring you 4 FREE rolls of Angel Soft.

Garden Update:

The occasional clump of dirt under my fingernails has paid off... my garden looking good!

I wish that I had transplanted my strawberries earlier in the season before they bloomed. The berries are slow to ripen, but delicious. I have been picking and pureeing the berries and sticking them in my freezer until I collect enough to make strawberry jam! Mmm!

I have 15 tomato plants with 5 more plants that magically appeared in last years growing spot! I LOVE surprise plants! 20 tomato plants in 5 varieties: Beefsteak, Big Boy, Roma, Yellow pear and Juliet! Mmm, I'm salivating!

I hope to have a bumper crop of cuccumbers too!

This celery will be perfect to freeze and use to make Chicken Noodle soup all winter!

I'm pretty geeked about my rows of corn! My Dad was an advid vegetable gardener when I was growing up... planting and growing and even picking fresh corn with my Dad is one of my best childhood memories!

Boaz will have his pick of the litter with the 3 pumpkin plants we are growing!

I decided that it would be cool to try and grow some baby watermelons...

Dave LOVES peppers so I am growing 4 varieties, Bell, Habanero hot peppers, Jupiter and Sweet. I planted the rows alphabetically so I could remember!

I planted beans in two different locations- I can't wait until they begin climbing!

My lettuce is still growing strong, I have three varieties: Spinich, Spring Mix, and a leafy Head Lettuce (not ice berg!) I'm dying for a home grown salad!

Baby Head Lettuce! These little guys will need to be transplanted to the grown when they get a little bit bigger.

And my collection of Summer Squash and Zucchini plants. Not pictured are my cilantro and basil plans and my sole broccoli plant.

Gardening really has been so much fun- I wish that I would have started years ago!

Coupon Classes

I have been reflecting recently on how amazing a journey I have been on since I began formally teaching coupon classes this past January. Words cannot express the joy that I receive from hearing story after story of lives changing- especially in this economy. I have loved meeting, teaching, receiving emails and even shopping alongside many of you, thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life!

Sharpen Your Scissors has really become a hot spot to share with family, friends, neighbors and co-workers, thank you so much for spreading the word! I sometimes am overwhelmed by the number of people who are interested in attending and/or hosting classes. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am passionate about teaching, and I am honored to bring hope to those who are financially struggling. Coupons, funny as is sounds, are changing lives, in our families, in our community food banks through donations made by many of you, and around the globe with SYS class fee raising funds to bring potable water to some of the poorest villages in Haiti through Raincatchers (http://www.raincatchers.org/).

With the overwhelming interest in learning to shop with coupons, I am trying to meet every opportunity to teach, but I am doing so in a less than efficient manner. I would like to begin teaching larger classes, possibly in churches, community centers or libraries.

Larger classes in non- home locations would allow classes to be extended to a greater number of people in two ways: 1. many SYS readers would love to attend a class without hosting, but I feel unable to invite additional guests into my host homes, and 2. classes would not need to be limited to in home seating space.

I would love to be able to reach a community, like Farmington Hills for example, by offering a larger location site and inviting SYS readers through my blog. I have currently taught 6 classes in Farmington Hills- which is awesome, but very time invasive on my end. For each class I spend a minimum of 5 hours collecting/printing the class supplies, driving and teaching. If I could teach larger groups of people less frequently (currently I teach 2-4 times per week) I hopefully would be able to reach the same number of people who are interested in pursuing a coupon education, plus possibly reaching even more families.

All of this to say that I would really appreciate any feedback or suggestions on how to continue reaching more families without me spending so many evenings and weekends away from my family.

Grocery Shopping at Meijer

I headed to Meijer around 9am on Monday, hoping to score quite a bit of meat markdowns, but there were slim pickings. I did get a few good deals matching my manufacturer's coupons to Mealbox coupons...

Grocery Total: $88.10

Spent: $24.29 & Saved: $63.81

54 coupons used

27 FREE items

***I used the printable coupons found at mommysnacks.net for the cereal, mealbox also had a B2G1 coupon, making all 9 of these cereals FREE!

Yay! Yay! Winner!

Yay! Mrs. Yankster you are my winner!

Please send me a quick email with your address and I will happily send you your gift card!

Thanks to all of my "faithful" and "fresh" followers! I love posting and celebrating milestones with you!!!

400+

I have reached another milestone! Today's class brought my student total up to 400 (404) students!!! I am so thrilled to have been able to teach so many of my readers to care for their families by using coupons! Thank you for allowing me to step into your lives, and especially THANK YOU for all of the donations that have been made to benefit Raincatchers (www.raincatchers.org)!

In honor of this Sharpen Your Scissors milestone I am hosting another Yay! Yay! Giveaway!

A $25 gift card to Target!!!

The winner will be selected at random Monday, June 15th at 5pm. You must be a SYS Follower to win... join the ranks of my savvy shopping friends on the right side bar of my blog!

Good luck!

Mark Your Calendar

JUNE 27th, 9am...

SUPER KROGER

Come and shop along with me and bring your friends along too!

If you have yet to hear about Super Kroger, it is one of the very few Kroger's that double coupons up to $1 every day!!!

Super Kroger does have a few rules- so I'll quickly get those out of the way:

1. You must bring your coupon box with you... no planning just shopping! (Well, you can try to plan ahead if you'd like to, but I never do! The deals are everywhere!)

2. You may ONLY use up to three identical coupons (purchasing 3 products). Previously SK allowed more than one transaction per person, but unfortunately that is a thing of the past!

3. You must wear PINK (OK, this is optional) so that we Sharpen Your Scissors coupon clipping friends can recognize one another...

4. You must be ready to shop kindly... no grabbing, fist fighting or the like! (Just kidding, all of that is unnecessary) But do feel free to share your extra (or nearly expiring) coupons with other shoppers!

I will plan on shopping from 9am - 11 am, will you join me?

SUPER Kroger: 108 W. Highland Rd., Howell MI 48843
(517) 552-0126

Let's get our shop on together!

Drop me a comment if you'll be there, and make sure to say "Hi" to me in the store!!! I LOVE SUPER Krogering!!!

Grocery Shopping at Meijer

I hit Meijer at the perfect time this morning... just in time for the produce markdowns.
Here are my regular (non-markdown) groceries...

And here are all of the fruits and vegetables that I purchased today...

Grocery total: $47.75 (minus the markdown amounts of the F's & V's)

Spent: $22.60 & Saved: $25.15

30 coupons used

9 FREE items

These 12 beautiful peppers were $1.51!

Target Gift Card Challenge Update:

Purchasing back by popular demand....

I made another purchase at Target with my Mother's Day gift card from Grandma Webber (thanks again!). The Bliss candy bar coupons were expiring on Saturday, so I decided to pick up a few more! I also used Target printable coupons for the Degree Deodorant (a manufacturer and a store coupon per deodorant; the store coupon was printed at smartsource.com) and the Hefty handysacs were Target printable coupons from target.com, but I was given grief by several store employees about the coupon- so I don't recommend trying to use it. FYI Target, in July, is supposedly going to make their online printable coupons far more specific... we'll see!

All of my other purchases were with regular clipped from the Sunday paper coupons. ***I had a class that was cancelled a few weeks ago so I had a million Dove and Vaseline coupons from my six papers and the ten extras... just putting them to good use!

Spending total: $54.30

Spent: $.62 & Saved: $53.68

Grand total spent: $11.62

Grand total saved: $225.44

Only $8.38 left to spend...

Coupon Clipper: Here are my two questions after shopping at Meijer today...

1. I got the free Mars candy bar coupon in the mail this week from going to their website during their Friday promotion. I also have the b1g1 Mars coupon from the Sunday paper. It seemed to me you should be able to use both to get two free candy bars, but the cashier disagreed! I didn't push the issue because I wasn't certain it was legit, but I can't see why not. What do you think?

2. Does Meijer do sale price adjustments??? I stocked up on something this week (8 boxes) and I got the ad for next week and they are almost $1 cheaper next week. Darn!!! If I bring my receipt back next week will they give me the difference (like Target does)?

Me: First of all, your cashier was mis-informed, you are able to use both of your candy bar coupons together... I'm sure she just doesn't have the opportunity to have such a savvy consumer in her lane very often. When this happens to me, I just politely ask for a manager.

I would assume that Meijer does allow price adjustments- here is how I would handle that situation:

I would take my receipt with me the next time that I shopped at the store, and I would first thing, visit the customer service desk. I would ask to have my items price adjusted.

If they decline, then I would purchase a new set of identical items (even without coupons) and I would just return (with my first purchase's receipt) the first set of items... and even if you have consumed some of the first rounds' items- just return the second rounds as their replacement. When you return the "original" items, you will receive the full price, including your coupon money back... thus making up for purchasing round two's items without coupons.

The bummer about returning grocery type items is that the store is forbidden by law to resell those items. Even though the items may have remained completely sealed, they will need to be destroyed. (I am actually kind of thankful for this law).

So, I would imagine that Meijer (or any store for that matter) would be happier price adjusting rather than simply destroying food for no good reason.

I would let the customer service rep. know that you are aware of this law of destroying perfectly good food, and that your main concern is caring for your family well by keeping your grocery budget as low as possible. I'm sure that you will get the best price.

PS: Use your buy one get one FREE coupons for your Mars candy bars at Rite Aid this week, they are having a buy one get one FREE sale on the same candy bars... get TWO FREE!!!

Q & A

Coupon Clipper:

Coupon Questions: if I have 2 coupons that say "$1.00 off when you buy two" can I use both (one coupon per item?)

Can I use manufacture coupons at the dollar store? ...if yes, do you recommend a particular branch of dollar stores? (dollar general, dollar tree, etc.)

Me: If you have 2 "save $1 on 2" coupons... you must purchase 4 items. The one coupon per item rule applies on single purchase coupons.

The only dollar store that I know of that accepts coupons is Dollar General- not a true $1 store, but I hear they occasionally have some pretty good deals.

Happy shopping!

K-Mart's Super Doubles are Back!!!

Starting Sunday June 7- Saturday June 13 Kmart will be doubling coupons up to $2 (a $2 coupon magically becomes a $4 coupon at the register).

All Michigan stores are participating, but shoppers are only allowed 10 coupons per day. Yikes! Last time it was 25 coupons per person.

There is a HUGGIES diaper deal running: Purchase select Unilever, Kimberly-Clark and SC Johnson Products and get a Catalina coupon to use on your next purchase!

Spend $20, get a $3 Catalina

Spend $35, get a $7 Catalina

Spend $50, get a $14 Catalina

Diapers are $9.99/pkg, so you could buy 5 packages and another inexpensive item that qualifies for the promo to get your total up to $50 (5 pkg's of diapers =$49.95... not $50). Then use the $5 off $50 coupon (available at www.kmart.com).

$50 in diapers + 1 small qualifying purchase = about $50
-$5 Kmart coupon = $45
- (5) $1.50-$2 coupons = $25-$30
receive $14 in Catalina's to spend on your next transaction.

...so pay $5-$6 per pack of diapers and get $14 back to do all over again.

***Remember to send your Huggies receipts to www.caregiversmarketplace.com to receive a $.75 rebate per package of Huggies diapers.

Meijer Gift Card Update:

This morning I took more earned Register Rewards (from Walgreen's) to Meijer, to purchase another gift card... no dice. Same store as before... bummer.

This may not be allowed any longer. Sorry.

Grocery Shopping at Meijer

Wednesday I shopped alone (I picked up some extra special goodies to celebrate my son's half birthday with both sets of grandparents) and I hit three stores.

Gordon Food Service: Good Season's giant salad dressing mix (makes 16 bottles worth) & fake bacon crumbles (these are gross, do not purchase) $7.18

Costco: 2 (6) packs of romaine lettuce and a giant bag of Craisins $14.76

Meijer: the rest of my groceries $32.73

Grocery Total: 103.69

Spent: $54.63 & Saved: $49.06

37 coupons used

17 FREE items

***I brought $47 in Register Rewards (from Walgreen's) with me, and I purchased a $50 Meijer gift card for later use since RR's expire within two weeks. Now I have a gift card with no expiration date, that I can purchase food, clothes, shoes, toddler toys/games... or even an umbrella table and chair set that Dave and I have been eyeing for our back deck. Like I always say, a manufacturer coupon is a manufacturer coupon, and it can be redeemed where coupon are accepted. My U-Scan cashier was just as geeked about my gift card as I was!

My New Shopping Strategy

I have been asked to expound on my new shopping strategy. To be honest, it isn't all that different than before, just refined.

When I shop I often will pick up unnecessary items that I don't really need, just because it will only cost me $.25. It may seem silly, but these small purchases really do add up. So I have decided to streamline my purchasing just a bit, but I will keep up on purchasing items to donate.

An example of this would be Kraft BBQ sauce. I purchased at least a dozen of these last month. Some bottles I paid $.25 for and some I was able to get for FREE. Since I was able to get some for FREE, I feel like I shouldn't have paid $.25 for any of them. Even though I probably only paid $1.50 (for 6 bottles) it still was unnecessarily spent. Especially since all of my Kraft BBQ sauce is earmarked for donations.

I feel like I can refine my shopping just a little bit more and I can save just a few more dollars each month. Coupon spending, to me, is about saving money (or getting the items that our family needs by spending less than full price) but I have recently had my focus on how much money in FREE stuff I have been scoring. I just want to change my focus.

My husband and I have been learning more and more about Dave Ramsey's Total Money Make Over and we would like to leave the world of school loans debt asap. Spending less and creating a snowball of debt pay-off will help us to escape our loans more quickly, thus spending less on interest.

So, all in all, I'm not a cheapskate (I HATE the word cheap!!!) I would just rather wisely spend my money so that we can invest in our future, our son's college education and in loan repayment.

Q & A

Coupon Clipper: I am having problems finding the right charity to accept all of my health care items that I've been collecting, I bet I have about $300+ but my local place only takes food. Do you have any suggestions as to places that accept this type of donation?

Me: I have a friend who works for Gleaners and she recommended the site http://www.pantrynet.org/. I peeked at it and it is really a great site. On the home page there is a pantry locater button of the left hand side. You just need to enter your zip code and how far you are willing to drive and several (like 20+ for me) popped up. Out of that list you could find (by calling, the phone numbers are included) a location to donate your food, hygiene and medications.

Q & A

Coupon Clipper: Maybe it's just me, but it seems like there are not nearly as many good deals out there as there were a month or so ago. The coupons seem to be lacking and I haven't seen many good deals at the pharmacies Any ideas why? Is this just a normal cycle pattern?

Me: Last year (my first couponning year) I wondered the same thing. I have read, and it has felt like the truth in my own experience, that product sales have "seasons." Weird huh?

It seems like in the winter and spring tooth care and basic hygiene products and cleaning supplies (spring cleaning...) are ridiculously inexpensive, the when summer is about to hit we see sun screen, insect repellent and BBQing items (think of my $.25 pkg's of hot dogs and FREE or nearly FREE condiments) with great coupons. This fall we should expect some great deals on canned beans and veggies- for the "soup making months." Then the shopping cycle will begin all over again...

This is why stockpiling is so important. When I see a great deal on Lysol wipes in the spring, like when Meijer has them 50% off and I have a coupon, I will purchase enough to last me for the ENTIRE YEAR. It seems goofy, but if I can eradicate that expense for another 12 months when the wipes are at the lowest possible price, than I believe that that is the wisest way to spend my money. Then, the following year I will cross my fingers and hope that Meijer will have the same sale again- and I will purchase for the following year- NEVER leaving me to have to pay full price... ever!

The first year of couponning was an education of seasons... but hang in there, you'll learn a lot from this first year and you'll be a become a better shopper because of it!!!

Monthly Total

May 2009

Spent: $240.18

Saved: $1,935.02

Tax: $38.61

Coupons spent: 713

FREE items: 469

Rebates received: $136

So, I feel like I have been focusing on the wrong numbers. I have been working more towards getting free-ish types of items but that keeps my spending higher than it needs to be. So... I will be working towards lowering my overall spending... we'll see!

Grocery Game Plan: Meijer

Stockpilable items for May 31- June 6, 2009

Whole seedless watermelon, $3.49

Strawberries, $1.33/box

Kraft chunk cheese, $2/pkg... use $1/2 IP

Select General Mills cereal, $2/box

Meijer shredded cheese, $1.50/pkg

Meijer boneless/skinless frozen chicken breasts, $4.99 for 2.5lb pkg

Barilla pasta, $.79/box

Bisquick, $1.99/box... use $.60 MFC

Kellogg's cereal, 4/$10- purchase 4 receive FREE gallon of milk... use $1 MFC

Daisy sour cream, $1.50/pkg... use $.50 MFC

***Be sure to check out mommysnacks.com to see her deals on Pompein oil & Vinegar (money maker) and her Crystal Light/ Meijer bottled water deal... awesome!

Grocery Game Plan: Kroger

Stockpilable Highlights for June 1-7, 2009

Kroger gallon milk, $1.77

Kroger shredded or chunk cheese, $1.50/pkg

Kellogg's cereal, $2.49/box... use $1 MFC

Raincatchers Update

In May 2009 $490 was raised to help make clean drinking water available to some of the poorest families living in/near Seguin, Haiti. Thank you to each of you who made donations last month through taking my coupon class! If you would like to read more about Raincatchers and the life changing gifts of clean drinking water, visit www.raincatchers.org.

Year to date: $2,780 raised... nearly 14 raincatchers!

Q & A

Coupon Clipper: Walgreen's has Batteries on sale with their in store coupon for $2.99 and it is buy one get one free, I was wondering if I can use a manufactures coupon for each one (the one I buy and the one I get free)?

Me: Double coupon using on BOGO items is up to the cashier's discretion. I always try to use two coupons, but I understand if the cashier says no. Walgreen's should let you!
Good luck!

Grocery Shopping at Meijer

I hit the grocery store late last week, but here is what I purchased.

Grocery Total: $66.87

Spent: $29.63 & Saved: $37.24

20 coupons used

1 FREE item

Target Gift Card Challenge Update:

So... I'm feeling like this challenge is only exciting for me (correct me if I am wrong) so this will be my final post on the subject.

I love this new Kraft cheese! Target sells this cheese for $2.09/pkg. and Kroger sells it for $3.99, so I spent my Kraft coupons at Target.

***I have to admit, I spent a $5 gift card that I found in the bottom of a box of General Mills cereal, so my gift card total would have been higher.

Grocery Total: $26.62

Spent (GC): $4.72 & Saved: $21.90

Overall totals:

Spent: $11

Saved: $171.76

I love a good challenge!

Super Kroger... Again?

Twice in one week? I received an invitation that I couldn't turn down!

Grocery Total: $196.85

Spent: $9.56 & saved: $186.79

117 coupons used

54 FREE items

I received (3) $1 catalina's for purchasing (in separate transactions) two Countrytime Lemonade Mix's. ***WORD ON THE STREET: Super Kroger DOUBLES $1 catalina's because they are Manufacturer coupons!!! Woo Hoo! Thanks Courtney!

I will also receive a rebate ($2.49) for purchasing the Yo Plus yogurt.

All of this... $4!