Coupon Clippers

I know I have told you all that I love coupons and I hate them.  Well, I was reading this blog that I really like (Moderate Means) and she mentioned something about buying coupons from a coupon clipping service.  This is something I thought I would never do, but I experimented with it and bought some coupons from there last week.  The website is Kuntry Klippers. 

I decided that I would make a list of the brand name items we used and only buy coupons that fit that list.  Here is how it works, most of the coupons sell for $1.00 BUT that is for 20 coupons of the same item.  I bought Dawn liquid detergent ($.25 off), Ball canning jars ($1.00) and some toilet paper ones that I can't remember the name brand of.

Well, I only ever use blue Dawn because it has no phosphates and it has many uses (see here).  I also use it as my hand washing liquid.  I love things that do double duty.  Anyway, it was $0.97 a bottle at CVS last week, plus I had $5/$15 plus I had 20 $.25 off coupons so I bought 20 bottles and paid $10 which is $0.50 per bottle so I thought that was pretty good.

I also purchased 20 Ziplock coupons because as you know I do lots of freezer cooking.  This week they are having a great sale at Meijer and I am going to stock up on them this week.

I just wanted to share this idea with you in case you have ever thought about doing it.  I also bought several canning jars as well because Menards had a great sale on them last week so I have already saved more money than I spent on the coupons.

I bought more this week to take advantage of some men's shaving cream deals going on.  Has anyone else tried this?

Works for Me Wednesday – Coupon help and Financial stuff

I am feeling more like what doesn’t work for me. I am, again, in a coupon funk. I go back and forth about every other month trying to decide if couponing really is worth it. I know I have saved a lot of money buying different things and at some times it really is fun. I now have several family members doing it a lot more than they used to. I think I just need to challenge myself more to not have to get every deal (because sometimes I feel like I have to). I really, really like homemade stuff. I love to cook and bake from scratch. I know it takes more time, but I really enjoy doing it. I like making my own laundry detergent. I feel good every time I do a load of laundry (which is often).

I really want to chuck my massively huge coupon book out of the window, but then I’m afraid I may regret it.

My dad asked me why I don’t blog about money matters on my blog. I considered myself a Dave Ramsey groupie at one point. I worked for a financial firm for 5 years and I constantly preached at people that did not have a Roth IRA (I still love Roths by the way). I explained what a mutual fund was. I helped people pick out their mutual funds for their 401K’s. I like numbers; I just don’t think I’m very good at them. I love spreadsheets. I have tons of them. I just leave the frugal/saving money website blogs to others who really enjoy it more. Besides I’m not a fan of spilling ALL my dirty laundry, especially not my financial dirty laundry.

So, I guess I’m asking What Works for you as far as saving money? If you don’t use coupons what do you do and how well does it work?

For more Works for Me Wednesdays, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

Close to Free stuff

Thanks to Money Saving Mom and the Sunday paper I got all of this for $1.12 (before tax).

These are the deals that I did straight from Money Saving Mom’s website. To the right of the item I put the price that they were at my area Wal-mart.

Zantac 8ct - $3.98 Actual price: $4.23
Use $5/1 on Zantac here
Free plus possible overage after coupon!

(3) 10-pack Schick disposable razors - $1.99 Actual price: $1.97
Use $2/1 Schick razor coupon from a recent RedPlum insert
Free after coupon!

Powerade is $0.75 Actual price: $0.60
Use the $0.75/1 coupon from insert two weeks ago
Free after coupon!

Gold Bond Lotion (trial size) - $0.99 Actual price: $0.97
Use $1/1 coupon here
Free after coupon (Thanks, Wendy!)

(2) Johnson's Buddies - $0.94-$0.97 each Actual price: $0.94
Buy 2 and use this $2/2 coupon here or buy 1 and use this $1/1 coupon here
Free after coupon!

(4) Travel-sized (16-ct.) Kotex - $1 Actual price: $1.00
Use the $1/1 coupon here or from the May issue of All You
Free after coupon! (Thanks, More Than Enough!)

K-Y Jelly (2 oz.) - $2.59 Actual price: $2.64
Use the $3/1 coupon from a recent insert
Free plus possible overage after coupon (Thanks, Anna!)

(2) Farmland Ham regular price $2.88 Actual price: $2.88
Use $2/1 off Farmland Ham from 05/04 SmartSource insert
$0.88 after coupon (Thanks, Denise!)

I also purchased 5-pack lemonade for $0.86. The total was approximately $28.21 when she rang it up before coupons. After coupons, it came to $1.12 before tax. Of course tax was $1.42 so I ended up paying $2.54 for everything.

I took my husband so he could see how it works and he was very happy. Also, he kept me on track to only buy the basically free things on my list

Also, there is a picture of an iced coffee from Starbucks. Apparently, Indiana and Georgia residents got cards in the Sunday paper that allow a free hot coffee or iced coffee everyday until July 14^th so we took advantage of this on the way home!

Savings Saturday - Saving without using Coupons, Part I

Several people have been posting lately about how competitive it is getting to see who can buy the most stuff for the least amount of money. I have been trying to figure out ways to cut my grocery bill using coupons and without using coupons. Full disclaimer – I currently use coupons, but I have friends that don’t and I want to create ways to save even if you don’t.

Cleaning products
There are a million posts on how to clean with vinegar and baking soda. Here you can find out how to make your own. You can also use Shaklee’s Basic H to make several natural cleaners.

I use Shaklee products and I really like them, but when I run out I may make my own cleaners which I have done in the past.

A great post on this subject can be found here.

Toiletries
This one is trickier. Many people believe that homemade toiletries aren’t as good as store-bought ones.
There are several body products that you can make. You can go here to check out which body products you can make and how, and there are more ideas here .

There are even many books written about natural body products. If you do make them and you have had success, please share that and the recipe!


If you would rather not make your own, you can play the CVS game. Even without coupons you can do some of the deals and make it worth your while check out this site to see how.


Paper Products
I personally am trying to cut out most paper products. I definitely still use toilet paper. I try not to use paper towels even though we do have them in the house for really gross things like your child throwing up (which happened last week!)
I only buy paper plates when I have birthday parties.
I am using cloth diapers most of the time and even started using cloth wipes (except for poppie diapers!).
But if you still want to use paper products I would suggest trying the CVS game or the Walgreens Rebate program. Even if you had coupons for these items they usually are only $0.25 or $0.50. You can also buy store brands or go to Aldi’s. I warn against CVS brand of toilet paper – it is only one-ply!

This post also has some very good information. I probably wouldn't do all of it, but I would consider most of it!

Meat/Poultry
This is one thing that I don’t scrimp on. I buy grass-fed beef from a local farmer. I am now starting to buy my chicken the same way. It is more expensive, but worth it to my family.
You could start having a vegetarian meal twice a week. You can do meatless lasagna or a bean dish.

These are some ideas to cut your grocery budget if you do not use coupons. I will be talking more about this next week. What ways do you save without using coupons?

CVS this week

So, I could have done better, but I was in a big hurry because I was completely out of formula.

Similac $23.99
Colgate Total Adv. $2.99
Aquqfresh Extreme $2.99
Total: $29.97

I used the $3/$15 coupon
$5 Similac coupon/check
$1 each coupon for the toothpaste
$10.99 in ECB's

Total OOP: $8.98
Total ECB's back: $4.99

The World of Blogging

I am obviously new to the world of blogging and to say the least, I am a bit overwhelmed. For the entire 8 years of my marriage I really had never clipped coupons, but my grocery budget was rarely over $250.00 a month. Of course, for the first 5 years it was just the two of us. It did probably get a little higher after my son was born and now my daughter is here, but I still keep it under the $250.00. Now, I don’t include restaurants/eating out in my grocery budget so I don’t know if that makes a difference. After reading these blogs I was feeling like I had to go out and get every deal out there. Then I read one of Money Saving Mom’s blogs and I felt better. I am trying to simplify my life. In fact, before this couponing thing started, I had almost figured out a way to rarely enter a grocery store.

I was having organic fresh fruit and vegetables and milk delivered to me. It was so nice. So I only went to the grocery store once every two weeks or so to get pasta and some toiletries. I definitely spent less this way even though I was paying a little more for my organic groceries.

It can get a little overwhelming, but like everything, do it in moderation and you don’t always have to tell people what you paid for stuff. They really don’t care all that much (unless they are couponing as well and then it is okay).

Coupon Encouragement

I just don't know if I can keep doing this. I need some coupon encouragement. Since I have started using coupons more I feel like I am shopping more. Looking for more deals and taking up so much more of my time. So if anyone out there can encourage me to keep going, please do. If not then I may quit and go back to my original plan which is to buy in season fruits and vegetables from local growers when possible. Also, to buy my grass fed beef in bulk which I have done! And then try to make as many things from scratch as possible. I may not give up my CVS just yet though. I will keep trying that for a while. We shall see!

Coupon Reminder

Just a note for all of you who coupon out there. You can send your expired coupons to bases overseas. Check out this link at couponmom.com so you will know where to send them. They can use expired coupons 6 months past their experiation date, but it is advised to send coupons that are no more than 2 months past thier expiration date so that they are received on time and can still be used.