But what if I can't play the "Drugstore Game"?

I'm going on 1 1/2 years of my adventure with coupons. Last spring, I braved the "deep end" in couponing and decided to play the "Drugstore Game". I chose Rite Aid as my drugstore of choice... We have several within a few miles: one by my church, one by the grocery store, and one by the mall. I wanted to see if shopping at a drugstore was actually worth it, so I kept an Excel sheet with the items, total OOP (out-of-pocket) spent, and value of the items if I purchased them somewhere like Walmart or Target (since the shelf price at drugstores can be ridiculous sometimes).

In a six month time period, I stockpiled name brand household & toiletry items like toilet paper, razors, toothpaste, toothbrushes, household cleaners, laundry detergent, paper goods, etc... When I reached a six month supply of items in a category (I do NOT want to be a hoarder), and if I could still get more for "free", I donated them to groups from our church working with homeless or people in need. After six months, I had spent $94.96 OOP (including our 6.5% sales tax) on 256 items valued at $914.18 (including 6.5% sales tax), making each item approximately $.37 each (since I still had to pay tax on "free" items and you can't use Rite Aid UPR on tax, my balance was never $.00). This made for a 90% savings on those items.

Was playing the "drugstore game" worth it for my family? Yes, for us it was.

But what if you can't play the drugstore game? Maybe you live in the country and don't have any drugstores around. Maybe you have small children who would not make the trips peaceful encounters. :-) Maybe your physical health doesn't allow it. Maybe your budget truly doesn't allow you to stockpile things right now, because every week pinching pennies just to get through that week. Or maybe there is nowhere in your home to "stockpile" right now.

I posted on this blog and talked to friends last spring about the deals I was getting at Rite Aid. I often heard "I wish I could do that... I wish I could get those deals... When I hear stories like that, I feel guilty that I pay too much for household/personal items..." As I talked to them, I saw something that I often got myself: "Drugstore Deal Envy" (you know what I'm talking about, those moments when get a little jealous at the amazing deals others get, but that we never come across!)

If you noticed above, I said "in a six month time period". When I found out that I was expecting our second child, and was battling pregnancy related sickness & fatigue, the "drugstore game" quickly started being put on the back burner. When Rite Aid changed some of their coupon policies in June, I decided it was my time to "cash-out" (bought items eligible for check rebates and used my UPR to buy them, so I got cash back at the end of the "game") and quit.

For our family personally, the "drugstore game" was for a season. I might be able to enter that game again sometime, but right now I have other things I need to focus on: cuddling with my precious little newborn girl. Reading books with my toddler son. Washing laundry. Meal plan & grocery shop. Preparing healthy snacks & meals for my family. Listening to my husband after a long day at work and encouraging him in what he's doing. Call my family that lives out of state. Take a shower (moms, you know how vital this is, but how hard it can be to have time to do it without kids hanging on you!).

Have I felt guilty about using our stockpile? No, very grateful that those items are there. Have I felt guilty about not replenishing it, as well as having to pay much more for items only a year ago I could get for "free"? Yes, I have. Do I get jealous when I hear about great deals online or from friends? Mmm-hmm. Sure do. Do I wish I could still do it? Yep, sure would!

Here's the thing: I'm learning in my many adventures as a wife, mom, & couponer that I have to focus on what I CAN do, not what I CAN'T. Here are some of the things I CAN do right now to save our family money, so that we can live within our monthly cash budget, stay debt-free, have fun, and have money to give to others in need:

- Meal plan, so I buy only the things on my list when I grocery shop
- Watch sale flyers to know who has the best price, then price-match at our local Walmart to save myself from making so many different trips
- Shop for my grocery basics at Aldi's (a small local chain store that primarily carries produce and generic pantry items)
- Still get one Sunday newspaper and clip coupons for items I need to buy ($.50 is $.50)
- Follow other money-saving bloggers for the heads-up on fantastic deals for my family or great printable coupons that are available (again, I don't have time to check my email/Facebook all day long, so I don't get as many amazing deals, but I still get some of them)
- Plan at-home family fun nights that reduce our expenses (rent a Redbox, make a frozen pizza, or just have a "pajama & play" night with our toddler)
- Trade babysitting with friends so my husband & I have an occasional date night

So if you've been feeling guilty for not getting in "the drugstore game", DON'T. Your husband, kiddos, or job (or all of them!) need you as least stressed-out as possible. And if taking the guilt off your shoulders from not playing the "Drugstore Game" lightens your mental stress any, do it. You can find other creative ways to save money and live well. I've been learning that. Maybe at some point in the future when you start having a few hours of wiggle room in your week, you can try it out. I definitely recommend it. But not at the expense of my family's or your family's sanity!

You can do what you CAN do. And don't fall prey the the "Drugstore Game" or "Deals" envy that has captured me at points during this last year!

Giant Eagle Shopping Trip 7/7

Since Giant Eagle's weekly ad runs from Thursday-Wednesday, I got to make another run this morning to continue the stockpile re-build in my house! And this time I took a picture... As I shared with a friend this week, I never thought I would regularly shop at Giant Eagle because of their high prices, but because of their coupon doubling policy, matched with weekly sales, Giant Eagle now has become a place I do shop at for stockpile basics like yogurt, cereal, pasta, boxed dinners, etc... Anyway, on to today's shopping trip:

Breyer's Ice Cream: 3/$10, Buy 3 Get the 4th FREE (sale price)
- used (4) $.75/1 coupons from here
Total: $1 each


Green Giant Steamers: 3/$5 (sale price)
- used (4) $.50/1 printable coupon (no longer available)
Total: $.67 each


Yoplait YoPlus yogurt: 3/$5 (sale price)
- used (4) $.50/1 coupons from 6/26 SS (I bought extras of this coupon online at thecouponclippers.com)
Total: $.67 each


Kraft Veggie Mac & Cheese: $1.59 (regular price)
- used (1) printable coupon from here
Total: $.09 per box


Grand Total: $9.43
That's a 63% savings! yay!


The thing about couponing/deals for me is not about always getting everything free, or almost free, but about reducing the cost of some of the items I normally buy (like ice cream, cereal, pasta, and yogurt), to free up room in the grocery budget for other things, like lots of fresh produce & fresh meat! I have been couponing for right at a year now, and while we've lived within the same food budget, we've been able to transition to eating way more home-cooked, fresh meals, while still enjoying treats like ice cream!

Giant Eagle Shopping Trip 7/5

My helpful husband unloaded the groceries for me, so I didn't take a picture of today's shopping trip, but it was a good one! This pregnancy has been keeping me out of whack, so we've used up a lot of our stockpile (but I was so glad we had built one this last year!), and it felt really good to start rebuilding. All my coupons were doubled since Giant Eagle doubles up to $.99. So here's today's shopping trip recap:

(2) Yoplait YoPlus Yogurt 4-pk: $2.19 each (regular price)
- used (2) $.50/1 from 6/26 SS

(2) Yoplait Original Yogurt 4-pk : $2.00 each (sale)
- used (2) $.50/1 from 6/26 SS

(1) YoBaby Yogurt 4-pk: $2.50 each (regular price)
- used (1) Free YoBaby 4-pk coupon received in the mail

(4) Kraft Veggie Mac & Cheese: $1.59 each (regular price)
- used (4) $.75/1 printed from here (hit your "back" button to print it a second time... I printed these from my computer and my husband's)

(3) Fiber One 80 Cereal: $2.50 each (sale)
- used (3) $.75/1 coupon from here
- there is also an $.85/1 from here and here (which would make these boxes only $.80 each!)

(3) Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal: $2.50 each (sale)
- used (3) $.60/1 from here and here
- you can also print a $.50/1 from here

(1) Reese's Puffs Cereal: $2.50 each (sale)
- used $.50/1 I had printed awhile ago (not available)

(3) Bumblebee Tuna Cans: $.89 each (sale)
- used a $2 catalina towards a beef, chicken, or tuna purchase, printed from buying hamburger helper a few weeks ago

Total: $35.48
After Coupons: $11.88 (including $.39 discount from fuelperks)
That's a 66% savings! Sweet!


Don't forget Giant Eagle's sales run from Thursday-Wednesday of every week. So these sale prices end tomorrow, July 6th!

Glade Sense & Spray: 2 Starter Kits + 2 Refills for $3.08 at Target

Whether it's to stock up for yourself, or to use as a stocking stuffer, here's how to get 2 Glade Starter Kits + 2 refills for $3.08 at Target...

Glade Sense & Spray Starter Kit: $5.04 each
Glade Sense & Spray Refill: $3.44 each
Original Price: $16.96 +tax


Choose 2 Starter Kits and 2 refills in the scent of your choice (My favorite is the Cinnamon & Apples or something like that).
- Use 2 $3/1 Glade Sense & Spray manf. coupon from here (each computer is allowed to print this coupon twice).
- Use 1 $1/2 manf. coupon from here (same place as above, so you can print at the same time). Use this coupon before using the next coupon...
- Stack with the B1G1 Target Web coupon* from here, which is Buy 1 Glade Starter Kit (Automatic or Sense & Spray), and get 1 refill free.

Total Price: $3.08
* Target's coupon policy allows you to "stack" manufacturer coupons with their "Target Web" coupons, which make for some really sweet deals!

Recycling I didn't know about...

Somehow in the last year I became a lot more "green" than I ever thought I would be. Through the experience and advice of friends, we have been using cloth diapers for over three months now (which means we're now in the saving money phase of it, since it costs a little bit to start up). We started doing recycling through our garbage company over the winter, and I've been learning how easy it is to bring my own reusable bag into a store when I'm just picking up a few things. And with making my own baby food, I don't have dozens of little jars hanging around.

But I learned two new tricks this summer about things that I didn't know I could recycle. Baby swim diapers and kitchen sponges.

Swim diapers, which run anywhere from $8-$10 for a pack of only 12 diapers, can be reused. And it's actually pretty simple:

1. Let your kid have fun in the pool. If it's only wet, then just slide the diaper off (instead of tearing off the sides).
2. Throw it into your wash with the rest of your laundry/baby clothes.
3. Instead of putting it into the dryer (it will get crunchy), just let it air dry by placing it over a canned good, bottle of something, etc...
4. Reuse (which means you only have to buy one pack for probably most of the summer)

The second thing I've learned about reusing is kitchen sponges. They say you're only supposed to use it for a week, but who can keep up with that? Anyway, I can't stand it when my sponge gets all stinky and mildewy, and it's still pretty much brand new. But I always end up throwing it out because it's makes my hands stink. Well, if it gets stinky, just put it in the silverware tray in your dishwasher when you run a load of dishes, and it returns to being clean smelling. Of course once the sponge gets grungy, throw it out!

What other household tricks have you learned to stretch the dollar a little bit more?

Are you trying to find your coupon inserts?

Ok, so here are some of the links you can use to find your coupon booklets. Or find out that you don't get certain ones in your area!

RED PLUM: If you type in your address, you can find out if you receive the RedPlum coupon booklet. Apparently, a lot of newspapers dropped carrying them about a year ago. However, you can request to have it sent to your address. The website says it takes 5-6 weeks to get your first booklet. I just signed up for mine, since our newspapers don't carry it. :-)

SMARTSOURCE: not sure the link yet, although I can say I know the Cleveland Plain Dealer carries it, since this is the newspaper I subscribe to personally. And if you ever get a newspaper without it, you can contact your newspaper, and they will send you it! (this happened to me this past Sunday)

P&G SAMPLER: Definitely find out which newspaper in your area carries this valuable monthly coupon booklet, which comes out on the first Sunday of every month!

Let me clarify something...

After talking to a friend today, I wanted to clarify something: this summer I have gotten some great deals on various groceries, household supplies, and photos, but that doesn't happen every shopping trip, or on every item.

When I started this, I decided it was worth my time if I could take $5-$10 off my weekly grocery trip. I wanted to set my sights low, and then be surprised when/if something more amazing happened! If I could cut down our expenses by $20 a month, that would be $20 we could move somewhere else!

Probably the biggest lesson I have had to learn in getting a really good deal on something is simply waiting. Waiting for a sale to match a great coupon. This involves glancing over the weekly sales ads that come in my Sunday newspaper, and the local store ads that come in my mailbox every Tuesday.

Once that opportunity comes, I try to buy several of something to stock up for later. Don't forget that you can use one coupon per item, and some stores allow you to "stack" coupons. So if it's a sale for 4 for $10, you can also use four coupons... And make an "ok" deal a great deal!

There are times, however, that I have to have something that week, and I have to be okay with that. I can't always get a fanastic price, but that's ok... that's what I've already been paying all along, and the other sales help balance things out.

So just wanted to let y'all know that! And that's the fun of blogs. We can inspire each other on the great deals we find, jump on board on some of those deals, or at least encourage one another to keep on looking!

Thanks, friends, for your patience as I learn this stuff!

Stocking Up On Baby Food

No, I didn't hit some fantastic deal on baby food at the store and buy a cart full---I spent my afternoon making baby food for the next month. Today I worked on veggies and teething biscuits. Learning from the suggestions and recipes at Wholesome Baby Food, as well as talking to several friends who have paved the way. So on today's yummy agenda were carrots, peas, sweet potato, green beans, and the all-new zucchini (which he LOVED!). Basically, you just have to do the following:

• steam the vegetable/fruit until soft and tender
• puree in your blender, adding the water from the pot (or breastmilk) to thin until the desired consistency
• spoon into ice cube trays (each ice cube is approximately 1 oz. of food)
• freeze for 3-6 hours
• pop cubes out of tray, and store in quart size freezer bags
• pull out desired amount for a serving, microwave, and serve!

I have also had great success with the basic teething biscuit, which my son loves to gnaw on forever... it's like a baby gobstopper! He just gums it and gums it... with his new little teeth, this week he has worked small pieces off of a couple, but since he eats cheerios now, he's fine. I use the recipe from the website above, which is:

• 1 cup of juice
• 1 cup of baby rice cereal
• 1 cup of flour

Mix together, cut into desired shapes (or form into shapes--I use a candy cane cookie cutter and just cut the stick part so it's oblong). Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. One of those biscuits kept our kiddo busy almost the entire time we were at Kohls this evening looking at tennis shoes for my husband.

Tomorrow it's the fruits! Bring on the nectarines, peaches, apples, and bananas!

Tomorrow 

My Top Three (or Four) Stores

Shortly after my husband and I got married, we attended a 12-week financial class called "Financial Peace University" that met once a week. We can't tell enough people how much this helped us get started out on a more stable foot financially as we also started the adventure of marriage. While both of us had handled our own finances prior to marriage, this helped us start looking at our finances together as a team, and create a realistic budget to start living on (which gets revised several times a year!). One of the choices we personally made was to pay cash for our everyday expenses like groceries, household items, clothes, etc... It's a lot harder to fork over cash than it is to swipe a credit card! This also helps me at a quick glance see how we're doing on our month's allowance for stuff!

To make our grocery budget stretch as far as it could, I went to multiple grocery stores/supercenters to get my weekly or monthly items. It was an all-day ordeal several times a month, but it kept us living within our grocery budget. I was excited when a Wal-Mart Supercenter opened up near us, because I was able to find food items I had grown up with (I live 1300 miles from my hometown currently) that I had been using substitutes for, or had to live without. Silly, I know. As a motivation to get great deals, whatever cash I had left in our grocery budget at the end of the month went towards our travel/date money. Yay! But when I got pregnant last year, my energy levels sagged, and I resorted to primarily going to Walmart and skipping a few of my other favorite haunts. But we still stayed within our budget.

Once our son came in January, I neither had the time or energy to do grocery shopping! The last six months has been a journey of getting back to eating more meals made from scratch, meal planning so I grocery shop with a purpose, and seeing where our budget can stretch. I mentioned before we hit a point this summer where something had to give, because we were continually going over in the grocery category.

Implementing what I have been learning about coupons and bargain shopping, I now shop at two stores regularly, and two stores occasionally. Despite having a ton of houseguests this summer, we have stayed within our grocery budget the last two months! And primarily eaten good, healthy meals. So here are my stores, and why I shop at them... (and one day, these blogs WILL get shorter, I promise!)

1. WAL-MART SUPERCENTER: Wal-Mart has great prices on almost everything, a wide variety of products, as well as consistently stocking the same products (some bargain stores carry a varying stock from week to week, which makes grocery and household shopping a challenge some days!). This is also an great place to start bargain shopping, because they offer a price-match policy on everything they carry. This is super easy to take advantage of because all you have to do is stuff the ad in your purse as you walk out the door! No clipping, no printing... Here are the rules for price-matching (I tried finding it on the walmart website but can't right now... maybe later!)

• Current ad from a LOCAL store/company.
• Not an internet offer.
• Not an offer for "card" or "reward" members only (if the price requires using a members card at the store)
• Not a percentage off of a product.
• Buy 1/Get 1 only if original price of item is also listed in the ad.
• You have to buy the exact number to get the deal (ex. 4 for $5, you have to buy all four...

I primarily use this on groceries, especially produce, ice cream, pizzas, etc...

2. TARGET: This is the funny one. Before using coupons, I rarely shopped at Target because I could not get good deals on a consistent basis. Great clearance prices once they get low enough, but not enough good sales. Their sales ususally just bring it down to Wal-Mart prices. However, I discovered that they actually have printable Target coupons ONLINE that you can use in store, and to make this better, you can stack them with manufacturer coupons! They have coupons for groceries, household supplies,kids' toys, adult apparel, pet food... the list goes on. You can print Target Online Coupons and match with a manufacturer coupon as stated in Target's Coupon Policy. This week I got a pair of sandals for $.24 with a $3/1 Merona shoes coupon, 4 SoBe drinks for $1, 10 free Post-It notes blocks, 4 packs of free BIC pens (which I donated to the youth ministry at church), 4 cans of Ravioli for free... You see how this adds up quick!

3. GIANT EAGLE: This is a local grocery chain store, and reminds me of other higher end grocery stores like Krogers, Jewel Osco, etc... that carries the widest selection of products of anywhere around, but their prices are also the highest anywhere around. I almost never went to Giant Eagle unless I had to, because even with a sale, I would spend more! Once again, I learned something new this summer. Giant Eagle doubles coupons up to $.99, so if you match with a great sale, you can get really cheap stuff! Two weeks ago I got 3 packs of Taco Bell taco seasoning for free, because I had a $.75/3 coupon. I also got Yoplait yogurt for $.12 a container, and Mission Tortillas for $.75 a pack. I don't go here regularly, but watch the weekly ads for their specials, and then grab my coupons for a quick run! A few weeks ago my purchase was ringing up in the negative with how much the coupons took off, so the lady had me grab a candy bar to bring it back into the positive!

4. ALDI's: I did not have this store where I grew up, but I quickly grew to love it! This is a smaller grocery store that carries primarily all generic of basic foods. I go here every 4-6 weeks to restock on essentials. Things like canned goods, salsa, boxed goods, etc... are radically cheaper here, even compared to Wal-Mart. So I stock up on chicken broth, cake mixes, canned corn, green beans, black beans, etc... for $.20-$.60 cheaper per item than anywhere else. When you're buying several weeks worth of basics, this adds up to a lot saved!

Ok, those are my four stores. How about you? Where do you find great deals?

A Few of My Favorite Blogs and More...

Well, it has been a little longer between postings than I planned on, but all is good! After going on vacation to New York for a family reunion, our little family caught a yucky 24-hour flu bug, so we're slowly getting back into our routine! Since it's the beginning of the month, I'm excited to start finding the new coupons various websites have posted, since a lot of places change them at the beginning of every month. I also had my Sunday newspaper waiting for me when I got home, full of great new coupons to clip!

So I said in my last blog I would post my favorite places. My top two fav's are "The Frugal Girls" at http://thefrugalgirls.com/ and "Money Saving Mom" at http://moneysavingmom.com/. Both of these websites line up with a lot of the values my husband and I are trying to implement in our home. It's where I have also learned a lot about couponing and finding great deals.

So here are a few of the basics I started with on this adventure to make shopping and saving more fun, giving me more smiles along the way as I try to stick to our budget so we can save more, and give more!

1. Stick to the basics. I promised my husband I would stick to stuff we already buy, or sign up for freebies I would actually use. We are trying to simplify our life, not make it more cluttered. So I sign up for stuff I would use (shampoo, conditioner, razors, tampons/pads, etc...) and stick away from stuff I won't actually use. This not only saves me printer ink and drawer space, but it keeps me on target with the whole point of budgeting and saving.
2. Utilize things I already have, before I buy more. Before I get more, I need to either get rid of stuff, or finish using up the stuff I already have. This has made me grab the almost empty bottle of cleaner under my sink first, before the almost full one. Also combine together conditioners into one bottle before buying a new bottle. Clean out my pantry (throwing out expired stuff, rediscovering foods I haven't used yet), etc...
3. Once again, think outside my normal box! If I'm not planning on using it, there might be someone else who could use it right now. God has challenged me that all I "own" is actually His, and I need to be a better steward of what He has blessed me with, instead of being a "hoarder". God has provided for our needs (and wants) through so many different people, I want Him to use me, too!
4. Don't complicate things. Saving money might take a little extra time, but it doesn't mean I have to go overboard. I already use Facebook, so this is one way I can simplify and save at the same time. I follow "Frugal Girls" and "Money Saving Mom" on there, and can also sign up for coupons and freebies through different companies. I see this stuff in my normal newsfeed along with all my friends updates. So don't stress yourself adding a ton of extra stuff into your day!
5. A Few of My Favorite Places. Before couponing, I primarily shopped at Walmart, Aldi's, and Marc's. I avoided places like Target and Giant Eagle because I couldn't ever get good sales. Next post I will share why I now actually go to both of those places!

The Basics to Coupons... Part 1

This summer has brought some new adventures in my house... And I'm not talking about all the "firsts" that come with having a six month old boy around the house! Over the last six months I have had a lot of "free time" while sitting and feeding my son. But limited as to what I could do because I only had one hand free. So I got drawn into the fun aspects of internet games... Coinciding with having a new addition in the house, we started seeing a change in our finances. We have our monthly expenses budgeted out, and we started hitting our max in multiple categories. We re-arranged things several times, but still saw a need for something to give somewhere.

So we started praying for these two things: something more constructive for me to do furing some of the feedings, and as well as some way to start saving more money. God answered both things at once... online blogs, coupons, and deals to keep me busy and save us money! So here's some of what I have been learning...

1. Set up an email address to use only for couponing, blog updates, newsletters, etc... I use http://www.gmail.com/ for mine.
2. Find a few online deal/coupon blogs and primarily follow those (I'll share my fav's in the next post). Choose your absolute fav's and follow them... if you try to follow too many you'll get overwhelmed and spend more time online than you should. And a lot of the top blogs will be covering the same deals.
3. Think outside the box. I totally clip coupons for things I already use. But I figure if I already paid for the newspaper, or I'm already printing some coupons, clipping a few extra high-dollar ones to match with a great sale might pay off... and it definitely has already! I still buy primarily my favorite stuff, but I've bought some new brands because I got them at such a steal (like buying a different brand of razor blades when you can get them for a $5 pack for $.47, or even one for FREE)
4. My time is money. When I can take an hour to clip coupons that take $32 off my next grocery shopping trip, that's worth way more than what I could make at work. It's helping me to see ways I can contribute to our finances since we live on one salary! It's like working at home without having a boss! :-)
5. Learn the system. Find out the stores coupon policies and which stores do coupon doubling or price matching. Those things really pay off, too! Especially price matching... all you have to do is stuff the ads in your purse with you! No clipping required!

Ok, time to get the kiddo in bed. But I will write more again about my favorite blogs, and what places locally I find deals!