Confession & Advice:

Remember this picture from Wednesday? Well, I felt like I needed a couple of blocks of Mozzarella because Mozzarella, to me, seems like a summer cheese! Maybe that's just in my head, but the truth is- we only had orange cheese in our house.

I *thought* that I had read that Kroger cheese (all varieties) were 2/$3- or $1.50 per block. $1.50 is above my 'target price' (view my extensive 'target price' list here), but I had a $.70/2 cheese coupon from a home mailer that would make the cheese $1.15/block- so I was willing to make my purchase!

The only glitch was that the cheese was actually on sale for $2/block, and my coupon only brought each block down to $1.65. I HATE when I don't realize stuff like this until I'm at the register!

I was debating whether I really needed to purchase the cheese when my cashier said "come on, two bucks isn't a bad price!" And so even yours truly, a hard-core Coupon Princess (Queens, in my humble opinion, are old and haggard!), succumbed to cashier-peer-pressure! I purchased the cheese.

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(OK, so I realize that sometimes 'target prices' will not be able to be met, and that's absolutely fine! I also realize that its just cheese- but I found an important lesson at the register, and so I'll continue sharing...)

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Even though I consider myself a pretty steadfast bargaineer, I was shocked by my 'just go along with it' snap decision- heck, what's an extra $1.30 to me anyway? In the short run... $1.30 is not much, but in the long run, these little monetary additions will really add up to significant money needlessly being spent!

So here's my advice:

*Tell yourself that its OK to place an item in your cart, stroll it to the register, place the item on the conveyor belt... and then change your mind about purchasing the item! People do it all of the time!

*Its OK not to purchase an item because it rang up higher than you anticipated, and the higher pricing is just not worth your hard earned money!

*Its OK to decide that two is enough when you've strolled around the store with four in your cart!

Ownership of products takes place AFTER you've paid for the items! Until you've signed on the dotted line, ALL of the decision making is up to you (and you alone!), after all, it is YOUR money that you'll be paying with!

Do YOU ever feel pressure to make a purchase?

My Organization Strategy

I am often asked how I keep up-to-date and organized with so many little pieces of paper to keep tabs on... here is my strategy!

The above picture is exactly how I am organizing every last detail of my saving strategy. Here's an in-depth look:

First of all, I need to mention that I don't clip every single coupon! I clip the coupons that I think I am likely to spend, and then I file the rest of the insert away... just in case a deal pops up using a coupon that I didn't clip! Watch this short video to learn how to clip quickly!

For my clipped coupons, I have three little boxes for organization. I have them labeled as FOOD, HOUSEHOLD & HYGIENE.

FOOD: This one's pretty self explanatory.

HOUSEHOLD: Cleaning supplies, paper products, storage containers and laundry.

HYGIENE: Baby care, medications, hair/body products and make up.

My personal style of spending coupons is that I prepare myself for what I want to purchase before I even step foot into the store. I read the sales flyer for the store, online, and I check the appropriate blog (whether I'm shopping a grocery store or a drug store) for the best deals of the week, and then I take only the coupons that I intend to spend!

Using the three mini box system allows me some flexibility in bringing my coupons with me if I choose to (which is very rare!). I can grab just the HYGIENE box if I'm heading to CVS and looking to roll some of my store rewards. Often, I find that the products that I want to purchase are sold out and having more coupons with me, I can easily switch up my purchase. Plus, my three mini boxes can fit together nicely in the shoe box size plastic box that I had previously been using if I plan to shop a spur of the moment shopping trip!

The mini boxes that I purchased also happened to come with tabbed dividers (just flip them all over and use the blank back side!), which would make an easy starter box for someone who is just beginning to spend coupons!

My box tabs are the following:

AIR FRESHENERS, BABY, BAKING, BEVERAGES-COLD, BEVERAGES-SHELF, BOXED FOODS, BODY WASH, BREAD, BREAKFAST FOODS, BREAKFAST CEREAL, CANDY, CANNED FOODS, CLEANING-BATHROOM, CLEANING-HOUSEHOLD, CLEANING-KITCHEN, CONDIMENTS, DAIRY, DEODORANT, FRESH FOODS, FRIDGE FOODS, FROZEN FOODS, FROZEN TREATS, HAIR-SHAMPOO/CONDITIONER, HAIR PRODUCTS, HEALTH CARE-MEDICATION, HEALTH CARE-WOMEN, HOUSEHOLD, JAR FOODS, KIDS, LAUNDRY, MAKE-UP, MEAT, MISCELLANEOUS, PAPER PRODUCTS, SHAVING-HIS, SHAVING-HERS, SKIN-BODY, SKIN-FACE, SNACKS, SPICES, STORAGE CONTAINERS, TOOTH CARE, TREATS, YOGURT, REFILE.

I also like to save my receipts... I'm not too sure why, but sometimes I find out that I've qualified for a rebate without an intentional purchase, and so I've made money doing this. Also, keeping track of your receipts helps for easy returns, exchanges or damaged products.

I made these dividers by using 9 file folders. I cut them down to 6 inches tall and 10.5 inches wide, the perfect size to fit into a shoe box size container. I cut the divider tabs off of the tops and reattached them with double stick tape.

My tabs are as follows:

MEIJER, KROGER, GROCERY (for Costco and the other little/local grocery store I sometimes shop), CVS, WALGREENS, RITE AID, TARGET, REBATE & OTHER (for non-grocery spending).

I also keep this mini binder (13 pockets) in my purse.

Here is a list of what I keep in my mini binder:

Store rewards by store section
Rain checks (according to the store) with coupons paper clipped to the rain check
Store coupons (like Bed, Bath & Beyond)
Restaurant coupons (for drop in meals)
FREE item coupons
Store membership cards (like my Extra Care Card for CVS)

Lastly, after I make sure to carry a single gift card per store that I typically shop (Target, CVS...) and I file the rest of my gift cards (several of them are earned by transferring prescriptions, or are received as gifts) in a business card binder (thanks for this idea Jolyn!).

PS: If you'd like to watch all THIRTY-ONE short video tips, you may learn a new strategy for saving!

Thought Provoking Thursday

I've decided to get a little bit "Crazy Coupon Lady" in order to save just a little bit more on my grocery spending!

WOW!!! My spending habits sure have evolved since I learned how to maximize my spending power with itty bitty scraplets of paper! In my former days, I spent what I felt like I needed to spend, which was about $125-$150/week for just my husband and I (yikes!!!).

After my initial 'learning curve/romance period' with coupon spending, I happily settled on spending $85/week for a family of three (including diapers). Tracking my spending throughout 2009 really helped me to realize that I shopped too much, and that I needed to reel in my spending/time spent in the stores.

$85/week seemed to give me much too much leeway, so in twenty-ten I tightened my wallet snap yet again, and dropped my weekly spending to $50/week! I also decided to push myself into ONLY spending $50 in each 7 day period... that way I'd be far less likely to spend more (time and money) than is really necessary to care for the needs of my family!

So far this year, I have done really well at spending within my self inflicted boundaries (cheerleader jump and a fist pump for me!!!), only once out of the 13 weeks have I over spent!

But I've come to realize something, enforcing a limited budget can make it hard to shop at bulk food stores efficiently. Normally, I can control myself well enough to be able to shop at Costco or Gordon Food Service without needing to sport a grocery cart. I run in (seriously, I get funny looks for not grabbing a cart) and run out- feeling like the worlds cheapest cheapskate, but happy about my wise purchases.

Recently, I did a quick inventory of my bulk food purchased item, and found that I am running low on quite a few of my favorite items (truth: I'm down to my last few crumbles of Feta cheese).

Normally, I would pick one to two "bulk" items to purchase per week, to keep within my $50/week spending, but I started thinking of ways to spend my next crisp $50 bill and not spend it at the same time... all in the name of replenishing "staples" (yep, Feta is a staple in this house!) and still managing to purchase needs, wants and stockpilable deals next week as well!

So I began looking into what money-making deals that I could purchase this week (at Kroger, Meijer and Walgreens) and spend those store rewards NEXT week instead of my budgeted spending allowance, so that I could purchase the items that we regularly use from Gordon Food Service!

Hanging on my fridge are $30.50 worth of catalina's for me to spend on groceries next week, freeing up my $50!


Its creative thinking that's the Mother of Invention, right?


What have YOU done, in the name of creative spending, that other coupon spenders could benefit from hearing?

YAY! YAY! GIVE AWAY!!! My TWO Year Coupon Spending Anniversary

It was TWO years ago today, that I ventured to the grocery store with a fistful of coupons... for the very first time!

Sure, previously I had shopped with coupons... less than the number of fingers that I have on one hand (that's 4... wink) per shopping trip, but I was getting geared up for THE BIG LEAGUES OF COUPON SPENDING! I wanted the BIG savings... and I was determined to figure out this coupon spending stuff for myself and my family!

I'd been wowed a few months earlier, while purchasing all of the fixings for a Thanksgiving dinner for a local family though the Salvation Army, with my Life Group. We spent $50 and coupons (thanks to my BFF Alissa) and we were able to purchase $150 worth of groceries for our adopted family! That's when my obsession set in!

Unfortunately, I was 37 weeks pregnant at the time of our awesome Life Group shopping trip, but over the course of the next several months, I read all that I could find on the Internet for learning to spend coupons! I've come a long way!

Before I began spending coupons "hard core" (aka: stockpiling), our family would spend between $125 -$150/week for food and to run our household... minus diapers, as we were gifted several months worth when my son was born.

After two years of learning the coupon spending 'ropes,' (yep, I'm still learning!), I have been able to limit our grocery/household spending to $50/week... including diapers this time!

The time and weekly Sunday paper expenses are undeniably worth their investments!

I've decided to share ALL of my FREE item coupons with one lucky winner, in honor of my TWO YEARS worth of savvy spending! I've decided that they would be far more beneficial to another coupon spender's budget!

YAY! YAY! Let's GIVE them AWAY!!!

$50+ in FREE item coupons include: 1 package of Huggies diapers, Kraft cheese, (2) Yoplait multi packs, Digiorno pizza, Excedrin, Oreo Cakesters, Pillsbury Grands cinnamon rolls, Box of Kashi cereal, Uncrustables and Sugardale bacon.
*Shopping is way more fun when you walk away with freebies!!!

Here's how to enter: (be sure to heighten your chances of winning by entering more than once!) *If you are reading this post in your email or through a feed reader, please leave your comments on this blog post instead of in my email! Thanks!

1. Sign up to become a FOLLOWER of Sharpen Your Scissors, this is the most sincere form of flattery to a blogger!

2. If you are already a Sharpen Your Scissors FOLLOWER than flaunt your follower status and share how long you've been following Sharpen Your Scissors!

3. For each friend/family member/co-worker/neighbor that you recruit to become a FOLLOWER of Sharpen Your Scissors you will receive another entry to win!
(Make sure to enter separately for each person!!!)

4. Share a short story of the coolest (or one of the coolest) things that someone has ever done for you! In my opinion, coupon spending is all about taking care of your family and those around you... paying it forward! For me personally, I was blown away by all of the love, support and delicious meals that we received after my son was born! Coupon spending allows me to (inexpensively) prepare meals for others in need!

5. Link this page to your blog, Facebook page or Tweet about this give away! (I'm @mrsdavewebber on Twitter!) Then let me know that you've put out your broadcast!


The WINNER of the $50+ in FREE item coupons will selected via Random.org, Thursday 3.4.10 at NOON!

Good luck!

Know Your Prices By Location

The above picture and the below picture are for identical products, but one is priced $.16 less!

Both of these pictures were taken a Meijer locations, and both of these stores are roughly 12 minutes from my house... but it seems that one location is less expensive for me to shop at!

In the grand scheme of saving, $.16 is NOT a great amount of savings! But, when I spend a $.50 coupon, which doubles at all Michigan stores- the above bottle of hot sauce is FREE... and I like FREE!

I'd also say, on average, that I place at least 30 items into my grocery cart each week while shopping at Meijer. If I were to spend an extra $.16 on the items in my cart, I'd be spending an average of an extra $4-5 a week on the exact same items that I could get less expensively by shopping the same store chain, but another location!

Have YOU ever scoped out the prices between identical stores but differing locations?

Fighting Cancer with Coupons

I am BEYOND thrilled to announce that I have teamed up with Birdies and Bad Drivers, a Livonia Relay for Life team supporting the American Cancer Society!


One lucky winner will be selected to go on a two hour shopping date with ME! The winner will also be awarded a $50 Visa card (that's like $500 to a 'hard core' coupon spender like myself!!!) and I'll even share my coupon stash during our shopping trip!

To enter, click on the DONATE button below!

$5 per entry, or $20 earns you 5 chances to WIN!

All proceeds benefit The American Cancer Society!

For additional information and announcement of the winner, please visit our team website:

http://birdiesandbaddrivers.blogspot.com

* Drawing to be held on March 12, 2010 * Winner will be notified immediately after drawing *

"Fighting cancer is a team effort. The impact we can make together is much greater than what any of us could do alone!"

***Prize valid one year from drawing date. Shopping date must be mutually agreed upon between Laura and the winner.

Thought Provoking Thursday

To stockpile or just purchase one or two... hmmm, that IS the question!

When I began spending coupon, just shy of two years ago, I had a hard time deciphering what a "good" purchase was. I was tickled pink to spend $1 on a s.i.n.g.l.e. tube of toothpaste (YIKES!! We veteran coupon spenders know that the Spring brings FREE toothpaste!!!) since the sticker price was two to almost four times that amount!!!

Looking back, it would have done me a world of good to have known when to stock up and when to just purchase a solitary item and hold out for a better sale.

My personal shopping strategy is to purchase the items that my family NEEDS, like dairy, meat, produce, household products like garbage bags and special ingredients for a recipe I intend to make, and then I look for 1-5 items that are ridiculously inexpensive and I stockpile those specific items.

My logic behind always keeping an eye out for the items that MY family uses most frequently is that I would much rather shop from my pantry/fridge/freezer where those items are basically "FREE" that week because they have already been paid for with a previous week's grocery budget!

Here's what I mean: sorry to bust out my math nerdy skills...

This week at Meijer there is a deal on Kelloggs cereal:

Kelloggs cereal, select varieties, $2.49/box
Spend the $1.50/2 MFC (printables available at MMS)
*$2 instant savings when you purchase 4 boxes in a single transaction!
Total: $1/box when you purchase 4 boxes
*$3 cataina prints when you purchase 4 boxes in a single transaction!!!

Essentially, BIG boxes of Kelloggs (that my family likes to eat) are $.49 box!

I *could* purchase a box every 10-ish days or so, over the course of the next 4 months, paying regular retail when there wasn't a sale or coupons, but by purchasing 8 boxes for my family I am able to save with each box that we open and eat... AND keep cereal off of my grocery list... AND not pay a New York cent of my budget towards cereal until the next time there is a stellar deal on our favorite cereal!

BUT... if boxes of Kelloggs cereal were on sale for $2.49/box and I only had the $1.50/2 Manufacturer's coupon to entice my purchasing, I'd be spending $3.48

($2.49 + $2.49 = $4.98 - $1.50 = $3.48)

for two boxes of cereal or $1.74/box instead of this week's $.49/box with the additional discounts factored in by the instant savings and the Catalina reward.

If I NEEDED cereal, than $1.74/box isn't a horrible price (although I've stood in the cereal aisle with a friend lamenting over how pricey an $.80 box of cereal was...) but I'm FAR better off to

1. know what products my family loves to eat

2. watch for deeply discounted sales, store rewards offered and coupons for our favorite products

3. stock up NOW for consumption LATER

I keep the 50% Rule as a source of my measurement on whether I should just place one of an item in my cart, or whether I should allow my cart to over flowith... (just kidding about the shelf clearing insinuation!)

The 50% off Rule, in my book, is as follows:

If the grocery/household item is less than 50% off regular retail (as shown in the sales flyer or on the shelf's tag) after the sales, coupons and any other incentive/discount, than I consider this a single item purchase price, and I will purchase just one of these items.

If the grocery/household item is 50% off regular retail (as shown in the sales flyer or on the shelf's tag) after the sales, coupons and any other incentive/discount, than I consider this a stock up price, and I will purchase 2-4 of these items.

If the grocery/household item is 75% (or more!!!) off regular retail (as shown in the sales flyer or on the shelf's tag) after the sales, coupons and any other incentive.discount, than I consider this a 'rock bottom' stock up price, and I will purchase 4+ (*maybe* even a year's worth) of these items.


Algebra and Calculus master's degrees are not necessary in figuring out the 50% off Rule, but taking a second to slice the shelf tag's regular price is well worth knowing whether or not you'll be getting a good VS. a great deal!

How do YOU decide when to 'stock up?'

Online Savings

A fellow Metro Detroit blogger, Tashena, of Staying Lean in Oakland County, has the "skinny" (sorry, I couldn't help myself!!!) on saving while making online purchases!

Maximizing Your Online Savings (Thanks for your advice Tashena!)

I'm personally not a big spender with online purchases... I'm a see it, feel it, take it home NOW kind of shopper! What kind of shopper are YOU?

Finding Coupons

Jolyn, from Macomb Money Savers, just posted an amazing resource for those of you who are interested in finding some coupons for yourself!

Check out this great article if you are interested in how coupons are located!

Thanks Jolyn!

Q & A

Coupon Clipper: Great shopping! But I have a question...is this your "weekly" shopping or "coupon only" shopping? When I go shopping, I get good deals on many things I buy but I also HAVE to buy things each week, such as milk, OJ, apple juice, bread, cereal, canned goods, etc., that may or may not be on sale or that I have coupons for. I have enough canned tomatoes and tomato sauce to last me a while, but there are many common things that we need every week that creeps that $$ total up on me.

Because of this weekly shopping that I have to do, I can never just pay $13 for almost $100 worth of items, items that my family needs each week. Like I mentioned, I do try and stockpile when I can but there are still those same items that can't be stockpiled or purchased cheaply.

Just wanted your thoughts on this.

Me: Since I have been an avid coupon spender for nearly two years, I have learned to stock up on the food and household items that my family uses more frequently, when they are on sale and I have matching coupons!

Each week, I sit at my computer (or look at the sales flyers in paper format) and review what each store is offering as 'sale items' that week. I pay the most attention to the front page and the back page of each sales flyer- since that is where the stores advertise their greatest discounted items (these super discounted items are also called 'Loss Leaders.' Loss leader means that the store is willing to take a financial hit on the specified items... in hopes that I will do the rest of my spending that week on their other non-sale items! *Milk and fruits and vegetables are often highlighted as loss leaders!).

My personal grocery shopping strategy is as follows:

1. My main grocery store is Meijer. I find that Meijer offers the best produce in my area, for fairly decent prices. I like to shop around 10am since meat mark downs and a reduced produce cart appear (at my store, Livonia) around that time.

I LOVE that Meijer accepts manufacturer coupons (doubles up to $.50) and that I can spend Meijer store coupons as well (Mealbox coupons).

When meat is on a great sale, I will stock up by purchasing what I think that my family may eat/entertain with for the next three months. When frozen chicken breasts are on sale, I may purchase 6 large bags, and store them in my freezer. I also purchase ground beef in larger quantities- ensuring that all of my cooking is with sale priced meats.

I plan my fresh produce purchases around what I can pick up off of the reduced produce cart, what my family will definitely consume (apples, bananas, tomatoes and lettuce for sure!), and what is on super sale that week.

As far as dairy, I purchase milk and eggs when we need them. If milk is on a pretty good sale during the week, I will purchase our milk early in the week for our weekly consumption and then I will pick up more milk (for the following week's use) later in the week, so two weeks worth of milk is purchase on sale!

When cheese is on sale, I will purchase several blocks when I can spend $1/less per block, and then I shred it myself, as I have found that an 8oz block yields more cheese than an 8 oz package of already shredded cheese.

2. I shop at Kroger a couple of times per month- but I only run in really quickly to solely purchase the loss leader items with coupons.

3. I watch for grocery sales at Target and the drug stores! Often cereal, Jello, spices and other food items are great deals at these stores. I am willing to pop in to purchase items that we regularly use!

4. I occasionally shop at Costco. I do purchase a few items, like Crasins, that are the best price at Costco. More recently, I have fallen in love with Gordon Food Service, their Feta, meatballs and egg noodles are great quality and are decently priced!

5. I also occasionally shop a 'mom & pop' type of tiny local grocery store in my neighborhood. I will check out their sales flyer each week and see if there is something I could stock up on.

When I share my grocery purchases in pictures, that is exactly what I have purchased on my main grocery shopping trip for the week. I normally do not take pictures of my little shopping jaunts, but maybe it would be helpful if I do. (Taking pictures of my groceries takes time, effort and me running interference with a toddler :))

I would also like to add, that as far as laundry detergent, shampoo and toilet paper- I normally keep these items completely off of my grocery list by purchasing them with my Extra Care Bucks at CVS or with my Register Rewards at Walgreens.

The BIG picture behind successfully spending coupons- is to purchase what you need BEFORE you need it. Plan in advance (during a sale) to purchase the items that your family uses most often, and then stock up!

Sharpen Your Scissors: TWENTY TEN

Happy NEW YEAR! I LOVE a fresh start! In doubling the pleasure of a 'clean-ish slate' of a year with a blog-o-versary filled with new goals... (sniff, sniff) its just beautiful!!!

I have decided to place a little bit more a of a definition of who I am in the great expanse of the blogosphere. I consider myself more of a 'Grocery Blogger' than a 'Deal Snagger.'

I am much happier putting my time and energy into more practical purchases like groceries and household consumables (like napkins, and laundry detergent)- and making sure that they are put to good use either by my family or another person with needs. 2009 was a year of reflection for my husband Dave and I. We no longer want to toe the line of 'Have to Have's.' We are prefering to grow in the areas of gratefulness and contentment.

As the care provider for my family and our home, I have been adjusting my shopping and spending habits to reflect a more simple lifestyle, which has been helping us to be more thankful for what we have been given.

Mixing our desire to live more simply with being a blogger in a 'nickle and dime yourself to death' type of blogosphere means that I need to be willing to define myself and not look back. I will still be offering stockpiling deals, and I will continue NOT tempting you with offers that can influence you to spend you time, energy and money on things that don't really matter in the grand scheme of living!

Although I began posting in 2009 with super-sluthing sale items and a lot of Q&A, and am MUCH more happy to begin 2010 with your family (and mine) in mind!

Sharpen Your Scissors TWENTY TEN:

Who Am I: My name is Laura Webber, and I am a Christ follower, a wife to my wonderfully supportive husband Dave and I am happily a stay at home mom to our two year old son Boaz... oh yes, and I am a super savvy consumer!

What You Can Expect: to be encouraged along your journey to savvier savings with grocery and household purchases! I currently will be sharing the following posting schedule:

Sunday
Sunday Survey: hear what other Sharpen Your Scissors readers have to say about relevant and timely topics.

***Celebration of Food Sunday: share recipes/ideas for national food holidays.

Monday
Grocery Game Plans for Kroger and Meijer: come and find out which items are at rock bottom prices (including coupon match-ups) each week for the leading area grocery stores.

Drug Store Deals: find out what the Top Steals & Deals of the week are for CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreen's.

Tuesday
Tutorial Tuesday: learn new easy & inexpensive recipes to add to your recipe repertoire! Enjoy seeing the recipe unfold step by step in pictorial format.

Wednesday
***Recipe Junction: swap recipes for the week's highlighted stockpilable item.

Want-A-Peek Wednesday: pictures of my weekly grocery shopping trip(s).

Thursday
Thought Provoking Thursday: creatively thinking outside the box for non-grocery/household spending.

Friday
***Meal Plan/ Grocery List: peek at my following week's dinner menu including a grocery list for ingredients necessary if you'd like to share the same meals.

Saturday
***Spending/Saving Saturday: a monetary snapshot of my weekly spending and saving.

Where To Read Each Post: you can read each post directly at www.sharpenyourscissors.net, you can also subscribe by feed reader or receive email updates by clicking the links along the right sidebar and by visiting ***clipandcook.blogspot.com to easily find all of the recipes shared at Sharpen Your Scissors.

When Are Classes Held: I teach classes by invitation. If you are interested in bringing a class to your area, please contact me at sharpenyourscissors@gmail . com.

How You Can Participate: please feel free to send any questions to the above email address, add your insight into any post by leaving a comment (by clicking on 'comments') at the bottom of each post, or by becoming a 'Follower' of Sharpen Your Scissors. Periodically I host give aways here and of course you'd want to participate to have a chance to win!

Why Do I Teach/Blog: I teach to encourage other to begin spending more wisely and to be able to take better care of their families. Teaching also allows me to fund raise for Raincatchers, an organization that brings clean drinking water to families in some of the poorest villages in Haiti. I blog to share ideas, point out HOT weekly sales and to answer questions along your journey!

I am looking forward to TWENTY TEN being a great start to a more simple new year!

Thought Provoking Thursday

Thought Provoking Thursday

Thought Provoking Thursday's goal it to offer a new-ish perspective to saving on necessary items aside from our grocery and household needs. Each week I will bring an idea to the table to share how I personally tackle areas of my own family's spending. I am hopeful that my faithful readers will feel the freedom to offer more advice through comments below each post.


How do YOU spend your gift cards?

Me? I'm a squirreler-awayer! I LOVE to have 'Fun Money!'

Currently, our family has a collection of 39 gift cards to drug stores, department stores, restaurants, grocery stores, iTunes, movie theaters, home improvement stores and a couple of little gift cards that I have received as rebates. Isn't it interesting that some companies are now sending rebates in the form of credit rather than a check.

I've written about rebates before, and how our family saves each rebate check throughout the year and saves the money for Christmas gifts. Since I earmark rebate money received for our end of the year spending, I had a hard time knowing exactly what to do when a rebate credit card was sent instead of the typical check.

At the very beginning of the year (January, I think) I purchased two Oil of Olay products and earned a $15 rebate card. (You know me, I purchased the products with store rewards so that I would earn the $15 rebate FREE and clear of my own finances!). A few weeks after mailing my rebate information, I received my rebate card... and I sat on it.

It is pretty typical for me to want to hold on to my 'Fun Money' until the last possible spending moment, just to ensure that I am purchasing something that I really want. And so I waited until the week of August 31 (the rebate card's expiration date) to make my final $15 spending decision. (Its one of my quirks, sorry!).

My thought, when I first received the rebate card, was to purchase items that I would earn rebate checks from- so I'd still be placing that money in our rebates received account, but that proved harder to do than I had anticipated. I felt like the summer season was a bit dry for 'good' rebates.

Then I considered purchasing diapers (it goes without saying that I'd match a sale with coupons... right?), or something else to lessen our families 'real money' spending. I just couldn't find the 'prefect deal! (Hello quirk!!!)'

So finally, I settled on purchasing a $15 Walgreen's gift card (since I have plenty from CVS from transferring prescriptions). I decided that spending the $15 a little bit at a time was better than blowing the funds on just another something.

So my Walgreen's gift card now allows me to spend my rebate money without the pressure of an expiration date! And true to form, I just began spending my August purchased gift card last week!

I've posted about purchasing glucose monitors to donate- especially when you are able to purchase the monitor for FREE after a coupon + you can earn store reward money (Extra Care Bucks at CVS and Register Rewards at Walgreens'). Last week I spent $.90 (tax) from my Walgreen's gift card on a glucose monitor and then earned $5 in store rewards.

And since Register Rewards are actually Manufacturer's coupons, I spent my Register reward money at the grocery store, and purchased ground beef for our family. *NOTE: not all stores will accept the Register Reward from Walgreen's even though it specifically states that it is a Manufacturer's coupon. Ask your grocery store manager the next time you are shopping in your store. I have had luck with Meijer grocery stores, in fact the Walled Lake, MI location is my favorite!

So here is the quick chain of events:
1. Spend store reward money to purchase rebatable items... $0
2. Earn a $15 credit card... +$15
3. Purchase a store gift card with the rebate card... +$15
4. Purchase an item, pay the tax (- $.90)... +$14.10
5. Earn store reward money from the purchase... = +$19.10
6. Spend store reward money on meat, an item that makes a larger financial impact on our grocery spending. (Hmmm, my quirk payed off!)

The moral of this story is to encourage you to become a thoughtful spender. Don't just run out and spend your gift card (or even store reward money for that matter) on the first item that you set your eyes on. My early in the year purchasing allowed my late in the year meat buying for my family.

Are you looking to just buy stuff, or are you looking to spend less on the items that your family consumes?

Taste Of Technology

Last night I had a wonderful time sharing how the Internet greatly impacts spending coupons. I thought that many of my readers may also enjoy reading the information that I collected and spoke about yesterday... enjoy!

Learn all of the Sharpen Your Scissor’s secrets to spending less and saving more through the use of coupons. It is once again in vogue to spend coupons instead of cash or credit. Tough economic times call for tightening up on loose spending habits.

Coupons have been clipped for decades. Savvy marketing for coupons has long since infiltrated the newspaper, magazines, store shelf displays, home mailers and now, the Internet.

Each year nearly $400 BILLION in coupons are made available to consumers, yet less than 1% of coupons are ever redeemed. With the introduction of print-at-home Internet coupons, coupons are once again being spent by the fistful.

Consumers who earn $75,000/year or more are the leaders in coupon redemption. Ironically, those with an average yearly income of $25,000/year or less, are the least likely to spend coupons.

With technology improving and continuing in its innovation, a coupon’s “spendabilty” also continues to morph. Print-at-home Internet coupons are being spent, which has increased the overall number of coupons being spent simply by manufacturers directly marketing to their target audience. Many US consumers daily surf the web, often viewing little advertisements promising savings by spending coupons.

Also gaining in popularity with tech-savvy consumers is the loading of coupons onto a store reward card, such as a Kroger Savings Club card, even college savings credits can be deposited electronically to a U-Promise account. Currently, IPhone and Blackberry applications are also in development.

With the rise in new information come those who teach its use. “Shopping blogs” have cropped up all over the web to teach less informed consumers the wave of the digital coupon future.

Many bloggers will compile a list of store sales with “in-print” and “printable” coupons that correspond with sale priced items. This technique allows consumers to receive the lowest price possible when purchasing these items.

Different blogs offer an array of ‘advice:’

“Coupon match- up” blogs, such as macombmoneysavers.com, offer every single deal available for the lowest possible price. Locally (Metro Detroit Area), Jolyn, the blog author, matches coupons to the deals for the areas largest grocery chains.

Educational blogs, like sharpenyourscissors.net, educates consumers on best practices of coupon spending and informs consumers of how coupons really work.

Also available in ’digital print’ are sites that host a myriad of Internet printable coupons such as coupons.com and redplum.com. The runners up for non-paper coupons include shortcuts.com and cellfire.com. Each allowthe depositing of digital coupons directly onto a savings club card. You have to love invisible savings!

The only downside to the rise in technology driven coupon spending is the risk manufacturers take in hosting printable savings live on the web. Unfortunately there are those who will always seek out ways to corrupt coupon spending, digitally or not. Good thing that technology continues to improve itself!

Information written by Laura Webber of sharpenyourscissors.net

Store and Manufacturer Coupons

Did you know that coupons are made available because the manufacturer decided to run a campaign?

When a manufacturer wants to get the word out about the products that they stock our stores shelves with they will run an ad campaign... especially if the manufacturer has a new to the market product that they want to introduce to us consumers.

An ad campaign can take on several different forms including TV commercials, Radio spots, online advertising, billboard signs, full page spreads in a newspaper or magazine, strategically placed tear pads and blinkie machines near the products on the shelves, a direct mailing or through a coupon campaign.

Even coupon campaigns differ. Some coupon campaigns are very high in value and are solely for magazine subscribers to benefit. Other coupon campaigns widely publicize specific brands or products through the coupon inserts that are delivered with our Sunday papers. And more recently, we have seen an onslaught of printable coupons available to us with just a few taps upon our computer keyboard.

With so many options available for manufacturers to run a campaign, the need arises for manufacturers to decide where exactly will they receive the most bang for their advertising buck!

Many manufacturers are supplementing the pricier advertising avenues with the far more affordable online coupon campaigns. It is far less expensive for YOU to print coupons on YOUR paper and with YOUR ink, than it is to run a traditional newspaper coupon campaign.

Manufacturers have also found another venue for making printable version of their coupons available to precisely the market of spenders who will use them... store websites like Target and Meijer. Store coupons, like the more familiar online printable manufacturer coupons allow for an even deeper discount for savvy clipping consumers since stacking one manufacturer and one store coupon per item is allowable!

Let me explain, a manufacturer 'rents' space on a store's website as an added advertisement location. Don't get silly and think that the store is over benevolent and happily gives the manufacturer leeway with hosting tempting coupons on their site... these store coupon campaigns also come with a premium, the store always wants their slice of the pie!

It seems that offering to knock down prices is one of the key motivators in moving products from the shelves, into carts, off the end of the conveyor belts, and into grocery bags that will ultimately make their way into our homes and our hearts...well, at least into our homes. Plain old fashioned bargaineering a trick that always works.

Bargaineering, in fact, is a campaign that allows the consumer to obtain a product for FREE. (Have I ever mention that I *heart* FREE stuff?) FREE samples, FREE item coupons and even pricing items so that post coupon spending the product that they manufacture is, you guessed it... FREE!

Manufacturing and marketing products is a multi-billion dollar industry. Stakes are high which is why so many manufacturers are competing for our attention (um, and our $$$ too!). Savvy marketing, unique features and a wide variety of sizing forces us to really need to think if we want to stretch our household budgeting dollars to the extreme.

Tossing a few (hundred... wink) coupons into our thought processes, and coupons really help us to quickly decide where our manufacturer loyalties lay. If I can purchase a product at a discounted rate, I'll give it a shot. If I can try a product, even a trial size, for FREE... I'll take it. Who ever said you can't get anything for FREE? Trial size for FREE? Is that legal? As long as the coupon does not exclude trial size, or isn't size specific. Crazy huh?

Manufacturers are fully aware of all of the products that they market. Someone (most likely many someones who are far up on the company food chain) are paid to be aware of every product on every shelf in America... along with what coupon campaigns have been made public. Manufacturers know what stores are stocked with which products because they have to pay (BIG money!!!) for the 'shelf real estate' at every single store they choose to do business with (another nice little perk for the stores!) So if a savvy coupon clipping consumer matches a coupon with an item and the item ultimately becomes FREE to the consumer... trust me, the manufacturer isn't shocked, just the cashier is!!!

So when I am asked if I feel badly spending coupons... WHAT? Badly? Nope! Spending coupons is like ballroom dancing, a beautiful embrace where the consumer gracefully follows the lead of the manufacturer because ultimately they each depend upon the other.

Raincatchers

Forgive me, it has been way too long since I last updated the funds raised through my Sharpen Your Scissors coupon classes. Thank you to the many, many students who have made a $10 donation as a part of the class fee, I know that for many of you this was a tough sacrifice when money was tight.

Together we have raised $4,230!!! That's amazing!

Back in January, when I decided to step forth and publicly teach coupon classes to raise awareness and funding for Raincatchers, I secretly tucked my own personal goal of raising $5,000 during 2009 deep into my heart. I'm so excited to be so close to this dream of mine! Thank you for walking this journey with me and (I hope) sharing in my joy!

Lives are changing, yours, mine, and even the lives of people that we will never meet because of our banding together! Thank you for your generosity!

I've decided to host my best (in my humble opinion) YAY! YAY! GIVEAWAY! ever! When $5,000 has officially been raised I will raffle off a grocery shopping trip with ME as your grocery store tour guide, MY coupons available for spending and $100 out of MY wallet... oh ya, and ME pushing your grocery cart! I can't wait!

*For my new-ish readers, Raincatchers is the grass roots organization that I decided to partner with after my husband Dave spent a week equipping some of the poorest Haitian families with the means to gather the cleanest drinking water available.

The beautiful mountainside of Seguin, Haiti is the starting location from where the Raincatcher's volunteer teams venture out across the mountainside. These teams carry all of the items necessary to build a Raincatcher, a rough gutter system that catches the rain water from the tin roof, directs the water through a series of filtration systems and empties the water into a 55 gallon barrel as a holding tank.

Raincatchers change the course of life for the Haitian families lucky enough to receive a Raincatcher. Life without a Raincatcher often means that the children from each family are forced to take a two hour hike (each way) to the nearest source of fresh (non-salt) water. The closest water source is also where animals bathe and where clothing is laundered, this source is not clean water.

Exchanging my shopping skills for a $10 donation to Raincatchers seemed like a win-win situation all of the way around. I enjoy teaching, I could show my husband how much I value his passion for caring for the needs of others and Raincatchers could benefit from the financial support.

If you have any questions about Raincatchers or the Sharpen Your Scissors classes, please feel free to email me at sharpenyourscissors(@)gmail(.)com.

PLEASE Put Your Scissors Down!!!

Occasionally there is a break in the weekly routine of having coupon inserts in the Sunday papers, and this weekend happens to be 'one of those weekends!' Bummer!

NO COUPONS THIS WEEKEND!

I've been told that the break in our weekly clipping is due to the holiday weekend... sure, like coupons need a vacation!

Anyways, I dug back in my archives and found this list for when coupons are scheduled to miss a week, and so I have shared the anticipated schedule for the rest of the year since we will all be celebrating many more holidays before 2010.

2009 Coupon Insert Schedule:

When your collect coupons, it’s often helpful knowing when the different coupon inserts are scheduled to appear in your Sunday newspaper. Below is the 2009 schedule for coupon inserts to appear for the Red Plum, Smart Source and Procter & Gamble coupon inserts.

September
6 — Procter and Gamble??? (***I've been reading that this is "iffy" whether we will receive this insert this week... I'm not planning on it!***)
13 — Smart Source (Diabetes Smart), 2 Red Plum
20 — Smart Source, Red Plum
27 — Smart Source, Red Plum


October
4 — Smart Source (Smart Source Pink), Red Plum, Procter and Gamble
11 — Smart Source, Red Plum
18 — Smart Source (Bowl Championship Series), Red Plum
25 — Smart Source, Red Plum


November
1 — Smart Source, Red Plum, Procter and Gamble
8 — Smart Source (Children’s Miracle Network), Red Plum
15 — Smart Source, Red Plum
22 — Smart Source
29 — No Inserts (Thanksgiving)


December
6 — Smart Source, Red Plum, Procter and Gamble
13 — Smart Source, Red Plum
20 — No Inserts (Christmas)
27 — No Inserts (New Years)

***These schedules can change from time to time as the year progresses.

FREE Stuff?

OK, its no secret that I LOVE FREE stuff (doesn't everyone?), but how am I able to score so much of it?

The truth is that I have practiced. I didn't always score so many FREE deals, I had to learn what to look for, when to look, and how to strategically spend my wad of coupons.

18 months ago, when I first started clipping coupons, I would purchase just about ANYTHING that I felt was a good deal. For example, I would pay $1 each (after sale prices and coupons) for 6 tubes of toothpaste ($6 total) feeling like I was catching a great deal since each tube of toothpaste normally is purchased for $3.49.

I have learned over time to practice restraint in spending in a few different ways:

1. If an item that I like is not on sale, but I have coupons for that item, I will purchase ONE item with a coupon and I will save my other identical coupons in hopes for a sale before the coupons expire.

If I don't come across a sale on that particular item the week that the coupons will expire than I will decide IF I should spend more of my coupons on the non-sale item, and if I plan to purchase more of that item, I will decide the quantity that will last me for approximately 12 weeks since *most* coupons make there way into the newspapers at least once every three months.

2. After the first year of coupon spending, I realized that stores were duplicating last years sales patterns. I Keep this in mind for stocking up:

Spring: Cleaning supplies (think Spring cleaning), dental hygiene products and candy (for Easter).

Summer: Condiments, grilling foods like hot dogs, marinades, paper plates/cups.

Fall: Canned beans/vegetables, pastas, soup making mixes, the beginning of baking supplies like sugar, flour, chocolate chips and butter. (Remember to overly stock up on school supplies since they are ridiculously inexpensive!)

Winter: Baking supplies continue to be inexpensive along with turkeys.

Shopping by the seasons allows me to purchase items when they are on sale and often with coupons so that I am getting the best prices possible! When thinking about seasonal items, like ketchup for example, I don't just pick up the one or two bottles that I'll need over the course of the summer... I think of my year round ketchup needs :) !

Last year Meijer put their store brand canned vegetables on sale for $.33/can. I stocked up on 24 cans ($8) to use for soup making throughout the winter. If I had just picked up a Meijer brand can or two of veggies when we needed them, the same 24 cans would have cost me $26.40 little by little over the course of the year.

I'd rather over buy products at rock bottom prices than need to spend full price because I didn't stock up when I had the opportunity.

In the same vein, I have learned that quite a few items that I would not have thought were freezable actually are! I have learned to freeze butter, cheese and I just had a friend tell me that I can freeze yogurt!

My first year in couponning allowed me to stockpile the majority of our families favorite items, and the six most recent months of shopping have allowed me to maintain my stockpile by waiting for only the sweetest deals (or even passing up certain deals) to make my purchases.

My advice is to spend your first year of coupon spending stockpiling items that you will actually use (and FREE items to donate as well!!!). You WILL notice a significant reduction in the amount of money that flows through your hands, and as time goes on and you'll hone the skills necessary to care for YOUR family, you will be able to widdle down your spending even less, which is where I am currently.

Kmart: the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

First, the GOOD news.
Once again tomorrow (8/30-9/5) holds the promise of $2 doubled coupons, where a $2 coupon magically transforms into a $4 coupon in the land of Kmart Super Doubles.

Yes, there are rules for shopping...
1. Kmart allows coupon spenders to use up to 10 coupons per day/ up to 4 identical coupons.
2. Coupon spenders must purchase at least $25 worth of merchandise before coupons to be eligible to have your coupons doubled.
3. Internet printable coupons are allowed.

My suggestions...
1. Shop early in the week before the shelves are cleared of all of the goodies... Kmart does not restock well.
2. Check out Hip2save.blogspot.com for an extensive list of coupon matched items... keep in mind she is using prices from another region.
3. Bring a friend along... shopping is more fun with companions!

The BAD news:
Sadly, the entire blogosphere claims that this may be the last Kmart Super Doubles for 2009. I talked with a customer service rep. at a local store several months ago and she shared this very same info with me... although, at that time it was strictly speculation.

All of this info leads me to the UGLY:
This same customer service rep. let me know why Kmart had been continuously tightening their Super Doubles list of rules and exclusions. It seems that too many Kmart customers were purchasing carts brimming with awesome coupon deal items- only to return to the store the following day to return most (sometimes ALL) of the items purchased just to get the cash!

Let me explain. When you purchase an item with a coupon, the coupon becomes the store's property- which they then are reimbursed by the manufacturer for. After your coupons leave your possession you may NEVER have them back.

So when you return an item, the store is obligated to give you the cash value of the coupon that you spent since they are unable to return your coupon to you... do you see where I am going with this?

Kmart has been experiencing extreme coupon fraud, and FYI, Kmart is prosecuting local shoppers.

I thought I'd take the opportunity to share a few thoughts about returning items since not all returns are fraudulent in nature.

An occasional return for a justifiable reason is OK. It's human to accidentally pick up the wrong item, or to decide that you don't care for a particular item. One return in a 'Blue Moon' is fine. If you find that you are constantly retuning items ask yourself if it is really worth it!

Unfortunately many couponners are taking advantage of the 'get cash for your coupons' in returning items. This really is an addiction for some and it can lead to court, hefty fines and even jail time... yep it is happening here in Oakland County MI.

I'm asking each of you to be aware of your intentions in returning items to the store in which they were purchased.

Here is how I personally handle unwanted/unneeded items that I have purchased.

1. If I have purchased 6 bottles of shampoo on sale and with coupons, and the shampoo makes my scalp itch like crazy-then I would return it to the store. I would bring my receipt and I'd let the store know why I was returning the shampoo AND that I had spent coupons as part of my payment method. The store will still have to give me what I had spent plus the coupon value back to me, but I will offer to take store credit- so I can respect that store by keeping the money with them.

2. If I have purchased 6 bottles of shampoo on sale and with coupons and I just don't care for the shampoo since it makes my hair flat... then I will either find a friend who likes that shampoo and give it to her, I may use the shampoo as a substitute for shaving cream on my legs or I will donate the unopened bottles to my local food pantry.

The difference between the two scenarios above is whether or not the item can be safely passed on to another person or use in your home.

I think that if you were NOT a 'return items kind of shopper' before you began using coupons, than you really need to take a moment to evaluate why you are returning now that you spend coupons. Could you find a new home for the product? Or do you just want your money plus the additional coupon money in your wallet?

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!

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!