Savings Tips – Stretch Your Budget!

1. Buy Generic when brand isn’t important.  In many cases it tastes the same, has the same ingredients. This can include Meds, Cleaning Supplies, and Food. Some examples of items that are the same include:

Acetemeniphen —> Tylenol

Diphehydremine —> Benedryl

And when I was still using formula (haven’t checked in a while) SAMS Club brand formula Members Mark was the same as Enfamil (and a lot cheaper).

2. Plan Shopping Trips – Use Blogs and lists – take coupons and make a list.  Make a Menu ahead of time and use it to make your list.

3. Eat Before you Go!  You’ll be less susceptible to impulse buys.

4. Look Up and Down in the aisles.  The higher price items are usually located at eye level.

5. Check Unit Price.  (I know Kroger frequently has sales that make 1/2 gallons per ounce cheaper than gallons of milk)

6. Stock up at Sales – I do this every time Mt. Dew 12 packs of cans are 2.50 or less and 2 liters are less than $1.00. I really stock up when they are .89 or less….  Know your price point for the items you buy a lot of.  By buying soda at $1 or $1.50 and going through almost 10 a week (me, 3 boys and a husband) I save at least $5 a week just by stocking up on Mt. Dew 2 Liters.  My husband takes the cans to work and so that’s another .50 per 12 pack.

7. Reduce size (Cut Dryer Sheets in Halve, reduce the amount of detergent you use, split hamburger up to get one extra portion in the family size…)

8. Make your own.

For Example: Window Cleaner – 1 cup Vinegar + 2 cups warm water

For our pool I bought the standard generic bleach in place of the expensive chlorine for pools (Same thing)… and I used Baking Soda in place of one of the other chemicals.  Use Search Engine to find mixture.

Closing Credit Card Accounts – Help or Hurt?

If you have an old credit card account with little to no balance it could actually help your credit rating.  Even though it seems feasible to close these account (I hate to risk the wrong person getting a hold of them) It could end up hurting your credit rating.  Closing an old account will   lower your credit score (opening a new account also will affect your credit score badly).  One factor affecting your score is your debt to limit ratio.  When you close cards the amount  of your debt to limit will increase.

Normally you want your debt to limit ratio to be no more than 25 percent of your borrowing limit across all your credit cards.  – Also having an old card with no history of delinquent payments will help your score.

While refinancing I found that even applying for a new store card came up.  To get our refinance with the terms I wanted we had to write a note to the company explaining that the card was for the store discount and showing that the balance was immediately paid in full.  We also are affected by the fact that even though we pay off each month, we use our cards for everything – so the companies see a running total that is around 50% of that card’s limit.  We carry several additional cards for just in case and to reduce risk of online fraud, I use specific other cards for specific sites.  We have a specific card for Amazon, one for Paypal and so on.  The card that I normally carry is normally not used online.

Give a New Meaning to ‘Extreme Couponing’ and Help Others!

One in six people in the US struggle to get enough to eat. – more than six million children rely on food stamps.

You can help out, by helping use your stockpiling and couponing skills plus great shopping strategies to get groceries and toiletries for free (or close to it!) – then donate to charity.

1. Locate and Identify the Need – In Bowling Green that includes places such as HOTEL INC, Saint Vincent De Paul, and more.

2. Donate items that are about to expire before they expire.

3. Shop for extras of Free items to donate.

Items to Donate:
Basic Toiletries
Clothing, Towels, and Sheets
School Supplies (Stuff the Bus and School Resource Centers) – including hand sanitizer
Toys (Think Angel Tree)
Pet Food, Newspapers, and Litter (Humane Society)
Paper Products and Cleaning Supplies
Canned Goods

Couponing 101 – Where to find Coupons

Here’s another great post I found in CafeMom:

Newspapers: Sundays newspaper contain most of the coupons you will need. Inserts such as smartsource, red plum and P&G (proctor & gamble) are found here. Sometimes you can find inserts in your local Wednesday paper as well.

Online: internet printables are a great source of coupons. You can print these coupons from coupons.com, smartsource, red plum, and p&g. Facebook is also a great way to get coupons, simply “like” their page and look to see if they offer a printable coupon.

Blinkies: blinkies are found inside the store. These are usually manufacturer coupons and can be found in various places through out the store. They come in a small black dispenser that usually has a blinking light on top.

Peelie/Hangtag: These are coupons that are found on the product its self, it is usually in the form of a sticker and can be peeled off the product(peelie) or hanging around the neck of a product (hangtag). These can be either manufacturer or store coupons

In store displays: Some stores have coupons set up around the store, usually in the form of a display. You have to look for these coupons, because they can come in many forms such as hangtag or as a. booklet. Some stores keep these coupons at customer service rather than placing them around the store so always ask someone at the service desk Catalina Coupons: These are those coupons that print out with your receipt that before you would just stuff in the bottom of your purse. Not all stores print catalina, Kroger and Walgreens are common stores that do print them.  These can be either manufacturer or store coupons and are sometimes given to you based on your shopping history

Source: Cafemom Serious Coupon Swappers Group
Cafemom.com

Couponing 101 – Let’s Get Started

 

Here’s another great post I found in CafeMom: (Red are my comments)

Lets get started:

•One of the most important things to remember is you don’t need to use a coupon right away just because you clipped it. You need to use a coupon when that item is on sale!
•It’s also important that you learn how each store works, their coupon policy, and how they run their sales.

Double Coupons: Some stores double coupons with a face value of up to 50 cents, other double coupons with a face value up to 99 cents. Some may limit the number of coupons you can double in one trip and others don’t. The best way to find out the Double Coupon Policy at your local store is by stopping by the service desk and asking. Kroger in our area is the main that doubles

When a coupon is doubled, the store pays for half the value of the discount. So, for example, when a coupon for 50¢ doubles at the register, and you get a $1 discount total, the store gets 50¢ reimbursed by the manufacturer. The other 50¢ is a promotional expense for the store. Sometimes you will find the following wording on the face of a manufacturer coupon: “Do Not Double or Triple.” This is a manufacturer’s way to remind stores that if they double coupons, they will only reimburse the face value of one coupon.

Learn how store promotions work. For example, bogo, when some stores say “buy one box of cookies for $3.00 get one free” they really mean that the second box is free. However, when other stores say that, what they do is divide the $3.00 between the 2 products so in reality each box of cookies is $1.50.

Gas rewards: some stores offer a discount on gas when you buy a certain amount of products in their store. Pay close attention to these rewards and look at them closely before accepting. Sometimes buying items to get the rewards can cost you more.

Don’t be afraid to speak up! If an item rings up different than what the shelf or ad says ask the cashier about it. Some stores have a policy that if there is a mistake, you get that item free or discounted. Computers and humans make mistakes so always check your receipt, BEFORE leaving the store. I had a transaction one time that had I not checked would have cost me $8.00 extra dollars, and when you’re trying to save money, $8.00 is a lot.

 Stacking Coupons: to save even more money, some stores allow you to stack coupons. This means, using a store coupon & a manufacturer coupon on the same item. For example: Lets say cookies are on sale for $3.00 a box, and you have a $1.00 off store coupon and a .75 off manufacturer coupon. Using both coupons, will allow you to only pay $1.25 for one box of cookies!

Overage: Overage occurs when the value of a coupon exceeds the value of the item the coupon is intended for. Most stores will let you apply the exceeding value to the rest of your shopping order. This is a good reason to keep coupons for items that you may not buy generally. They could help create overage that helps lower your out of pocket expense at the register. An important thing to remember is that a store doesn’t lose money by giving you the face value discount of an item, even when the item costs less. The store will get the face value of the coupon reimbursed by the manufacturer, plus a handling fee, regardless of what the price of the item was at the register.

Price Matching: Target and Walmart offer a price match guarantee. Both will match the price of an identical item if a competitor is selling it for less. You will need to bring a ‘print ad’ with you in order to have the item price matched, and the item must be identical to the one sold in store. This is a great way to save time, as you can shop all the sales at one place. But, you need to be aware of all the exclusions at both stores.

Target requires you to match at the customer service counter

Rain Check: A rain check is a store note that promises to honor the sale price of an item (if it is out of stock) at a future time. So, if you ever get to your store with your coupons only to find that the shelves are empty, make sure to ask for a rain check. That way, you will be able to get that same low price when the item is restocked. Make sure to ask how long your rain check is good for, as this varies by store.

Most will not give you the price after Register Rewards, Catalinas, or so on.  Some in our area will let you know when the items comes in – Rite Aid sometimes will, some won’t – Walgreens won’t

 Rebates: Mail-in-rebates are a great way to save a lot of money. Most rebates are honored based on the purchasing price of an item. Therefore, if you use coupons and take advantage of a store promotion, a rebate can help you get your items for FREE or possibly even better.

Source: Cafemom Serious Coupon Swappers Group

 
Cafemom.com