Target Mobile Coupons!

Here's a couponing option that saves on ink & paper. You can now sign up to have Target send your cell phone mobile coupons. Every few weeks, you will receive a text message with a link for some Target mobile coupons. When you click on the link, it will open up your phone's internet browser and take you to a link for the coupons. Head to Target and do your shopping and then hand your phone to the cashier for them to scan and your coupon savings will be deducted! It's really that easy!! I've used it twice now and haven't had any problems. Both times, my cashiers were a bit surprised and had not scanned mobile coupons before but it scanned fine.

This weeks coupons were for $1 off Purex laundry detergent, $0.75 off 6-pk. Hershey milk chocolate candy bars, $1 off 12-pk. beverage item (A&W Root Beer, Canada Dry, Sunkist or 7Up), $1 off Hanes apparel item and $1 off InStyle magazine. They do not expire until 8/7/10 so I'm holding off on these to pair them up with a good sale! Go here to sign up for your Target e-coupons. Message and data rates may apply.

High Value Coupons on Meat & Free Money!!

About 6 weeks ago, I signed up to receive a weekly newsletter from Albertson's. Not sure of what to expect and knowing I could always unsubscribe, I gave it a whirl hoping to get an early sneak preview of there weekly savings. Low and behold...every week since, I get an email that DOES include a sneak preview of there sales but MOST IMPORTANTLY...I get a HIGH value coupon off of a different meat each week. One week, it was $2.00 off of a $4.00 purchase of chicken at the meat counter. Another week, it was $2.00 off of a $4.00 purchase of pork at the meat counter.

This week it is $2.00 off Lloyd's Babyback Ribs so I can combo that with the $0.75 manufactured coupon I have and get a great deal on some Ribs! If you haven't already signed up to receive the Albertson's Newsletter, according to hip2save, you can sign up now and get some free bread (up to $3 value). Use promo code FREEBREAD when you enter your information.

Your family will thank you when you come home with meat for a family BBQ dinner! Pair it with some homemade potato salad and some ice cold lemonade. I'm getting hungry just writing this!

So, a while back, I mentioned Swag Bucks on my blog. I joined about 3 months ago and have received a $10 Starbucks Gift Card (yummy!), have $20 in Amazon.com e-Gift Cards and I have enough swagbucks to buy another $15 worth of Amazon.com e-Gift Cards. This program is AWESOME! My Starbucks Gift Card came right before I went to Texas so that was a great treat to have!

All you do is sign up here and then you use it for your searches just like you would another search engine like Yahoo, MSN or Google. I'll be using my Amazon.com e-Gift Cards for buying some Christmas presents this year. Why not get paid to search? I'd be happy to give you some pointers and answer any questions you may have about Swag Bucks...just comment or send me an email. Enjoy the summer with your family!

A Peek in My Coupon Binder and My Categories

I thought I would share my coupon binder for anyone looking to get serious about couponing. I wish I knew about this when I became a stay-at-home mom! It is saving my family so much. It is a part time job for me right now but it is totally worth it! I plan on bumping my family grocery budget down by $50 per pay period in a month.

Above is the binder I recently moved up to after my other binder was getting too full. Also, you really want a zipper binder to keep from losing your coupons if the binder get's dropped. This binder was purchased at Walmart for $10 in the Office/Supply section.

Weekly, I make my stop at the Dollar Tree after church and pick up the Sunday paper for $1.00 each. I pick up one paper per family member. You may think that's a little crazy but when you have 5 coupons for Cheetos and you can snag them for $0.29, you'll thank me! We're not talking about the small lunch Cheetos either. Yes, I bought 5 bags of Cheetos at Safeway for $0.29/bag and my girlies were thrilled!!!

At the front of my binder is the Stock-up Prices that I got here at Fistful of Coupns and here at Faithful Provisions. The Faithful Provisions is an 11 page pdf file and very detailed. Stock-up Prices is the price you pay to stock-up your pantry and freezer. This list also includes the sale price they are willing to pay for items. Example: A good sale price for cookies is $1.25 but the stock-up price is $0.99. That way when you are making your list, you can make sure it is the best deal for your family or you may decide to wait until the price is lower.

These are the categories that I have in my binder. I have added to them since I started and you will want to modify it for your family. I no longer have Babies at home so if you do, then you will want a section for that.

*Free

*Produce/Dressing

*Condiments/Sauces (includes your BBQ sauce, mayo, salsa, marinades, etc.)

*Beverages

*Packaged/Canned Goods (includes pasta, bread, boxed mixes like Zatarain's, etc.)

*Baking (Includes sugar, chocolate chips, cake mixes, etc.)

*Cereal/Breakfast

*Snacks/Candy (Includes chips, granola bars, gum, crackers, etc.)

*Dairy (Includes milk, butter, cheese, sour cream, yogurt, etc.)

*Meats (Includes meats from deli and meat dept. - frozen meats like chicken nuggets are filed in the next section - frozen foods)

*Frozen Foods (Includes meats, icecream, rolls, prepared frozen meals, etc.)

*Personal/Razors/Deoderant (I have all three of these together and plan to break them down when I get more dividers! Personal includes feminine products, etc.)

*Oral Care/Make-up (I also have these combined but plan to break them down when I get more dividers. Oral Care includes toothpastes, whiteners, dental floss, etc. I keep all cleansers, etc. in the Make-up sections as well as nailpolish, lipstick, etc.)

*Medicine/Vitamins

*Hair Care

*Body/Lotion/Soaps (Body includes body washes. Soaps includes hand soaps, soap systems, etc.)

*Cleaning Supplies (Includes your toilet and glass cleaners, dish soap, etc. I also include sprays and candles here.)

*Paper Goods (Includes toilet paper, ziploc containers and bags, kleenex, paper towels, etc.)

*Office Supplies/Misc. (Includes light bulbs, batteries, pets, bug sprays, etc.)

*Kids/Toys (Includes coupons like The Littlest Pet Shop you can snag here! Click on the link and select Toys on the left side to see and print the BOGO coupon and score them free at Toys R Us this week since they are on sale Buy One Get One!)

I use the baseball card holders for my coupons. You can find these at Target and Walmart by the registers and trading cards. I have three packs of them now but you can start out by buying 1-2 to get going. They are around $5 for about 30 sheets. This way you can flip through all your coupons and see what you have. A little more time consuming than some of the other couponing methods out there but I won't miss things by having them all filed and visible.

A couple of tips:

1) To make clipping those coupons easier, grab all your coupon packs from the newspapers you buy (ex. SmartSource) and open up and lay out the like pages on your kitchen table or living room floor. Grab a stack that are the same and snip them leaving a bit of a border so you don't cut off the expiration date, etc. This way you are not clipping coupons from 5 of the same SmartSources. Really speeds up your clipping!

2) Only print computer coupons that you know you will use. Otherwise, you are wasting your ink. Lots of times, the newsletters/emails I receive will say to print the latest coupons and in the beginning I did. Now, I've learned that you can usually print the coupons that you need when the product is on sale.

3) See a newspaper coupon that is not a product you use/want...keep it! I am not a contact lense wearer but yesterday, I bought contact solution and profitted $1.26! They paid me to buy the product and I'll pass it along to a family member if they can use it or to my local food bank. How did I do that? The product was on sale for $7.99 and after I paid, I received a Register Reward for $8 for a future shopping trip. I used a $2.00 off coupon so after paying for the product plus the taxes, I profitted $1.26 - Wahoo! You may be thinking, it's only $1.26 but I could buy 4 bags of those $0.29 Cheetos with that money! That is what couponers call a Money Maker or MM.

4) Keep in mind that you pay the tax on those free items so make sure it's an item you need or that you'll use. Those free deoderants and lotions are not really free when you consider the tax but they are really inexpensive.

Feel free to leave me a comment if you have any questions. Good luck!

Celebrate Good Times...Wahoo!!!

Alright guys & gals! I am celebrating and wanted to share a couple of things with you as an encouragement that you too can do this!!

#1 - Walgreens Deals

On Saturday, I purchased the above products from Walgreens for a total of $5.29!! Wanna know how...I stacked coupons and used Walgreens ad coupons. The Tide detergent was $5.99 normally so I paid less than that for everything. I also had 3 Register Rewards from past sales. My purchase would have cost me $27.90!! It truly does pay to clip those coupons & get your grocery list in order. My #1 secret...sign up for those newsletter of the gals I've mentioned in other posts and start clipping and organizing those coupons. They know what they are doing! I've been at this for a month and if I can do it, so can you. FYI..those seed packets were 3/$1 and were added as fillers so I could use my Register Rewards. They are cheap and we can use them in the yard.

#2 - Freebies in the mail today!!

I was working at my daughters school today and came home with a headache so finding this Taster's Choice coffee in the mail was very refreshing. You gotta love coffee and a good nights rest!! Although, my hubby may not need the Breathe Right strips anymore (click on the link and get your free sample!). He's lost nearly 30 pounds since January 1! Way to go Babe!!! I'm so proud of him.

#3 - Got an email from Faithful Provisions & guess what...I won!!! Yippee!!

I entered a drawing for a "Blue Avocado Starter Kit" at Faithful Provisions for Mother's Day and won! I received an email and my package will be in the mail soon. I'll post some pics when I receive it. Yahoo!! I'll be sporting some cool bags at the grocery store. Too cute!! Best of all...FREE!!!! Thanks Faithful Provisions!

4 - Not so good news...last week my youngest came home with what appeared to be the flu and was home for 4 days and today my other girlies came home sick with similar symptoms. To make matters worse...and I'm in serious denial and hoping I'm just coming down from the coffee high from earlier...I think I'm getting sick too! So, off to bed as soon as this is posted.

Make sure you are getting your rest and taking your vitamins! Best of luck on your couponing adventures! Isn't it fun!!

Stock up Prices

Since starting seriously with the whole couponing, I feel like I'm getting good deals but I've actually been told I can do better by the "seasoned pro's". These gals have been doing it for years and know what they are doing! The more you do this, the better you get at gettting the BEST deals. I'm told it takes 2-3 months before you start to see a significant decrease in your food budget. I'm baby stepping my way there though and having fun doing it.

I started searching online to figure out what the best deals are and what prices you should pay to stock up on food so that I know when to wait and when to buy more. This first gal, from Faithful Provisions, is from Tennessee so some of the prices may be more or less depending on where you live. She has an 11 page stock up price listing! Click on the "provisions - get it now list" to be directed to it. She also has some good recipes available there.


I'm not sure where this second gal is located but I have subscribed to her at Fistful of Coupons. She has a much shorter stock up price list but it includes things that the other gal does not have. She also includes what she get's for free which is really helpful to know!

These are the things she get's for free...Toothpaste, Shampoo, Conditioners & Stylers, Razors, Contact Solution, Bodywash, Mouthwash, Deodorants: both Mens & Womens, Floss, Crackers, Scented Items:candles, plug-ins ect, Lightbulbs, Pantiliners, Medicines/Vitamins. I'll drink to that!!

My Coupon Shopping List for the Week

I thought I'd share what's on my coupon shopping list for the week so far. That way, for those of you new to couponing, you can copy the text, print it along with the coupons and head to the store. You will need one of the coupons from the Sunday paper.

There are so many other offers available so be sure to check out the two websites that I've mentioned in previous post... Thrifty and Thriving as well as Hip 2 Save.

By the way, for those of you in need of printer ink...I need some and priced it at Walmart & Target for $39.00!! You can get it at Walgreens only on Thursday, Earth Day, for $1!!!!! Now that's a GREAT savings. Hope this helps those of you just starting out. Have a great week!

My Shopping Deals

RITEAID (go on Monday)

U By Kotex Pads 14-18 ct., Pantiliners 50-60 ct., Tampons 18 ct. $3.49
Get a $3.49 Single Check Rebate #36
Use the $1/1 coupon found here
Final Cost FREE + a $1 moneymaker!

TGI Friday’s Snacks $0.99
Use the $1.50/1 coupon found here
Final Cost FREE + Overage! FYI...I Need to go back and try to find these. I thought it was a frozen good but I think it's a chip.

Hershey’s Candy Bars 4-4.5 oz. $0.99
Use the $1/1 Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate Bar 3.5oz+ coupon from the 4/18 SS (SmartSource coupon from newspaper)
Final Cost FREE! FYI...tried this today at Rite Aid and it would not work with the coupon on had.

WALGREENS (go on Thursday)

Colgate Total Advanced or Enamel Strength Toothpaste 4oz. or Wave Toothbrush $2.99 = $2 RR
Use $0.75/1 coupon found here
Final Cost $0.24!

Printer Cartridge Refill black or color $1 with in-ad coupon BRING INK CARTRIDGES!!
Available 4/22 (Earth Day) ONLY! Wa-hoo! What an awesome price! BRING INK CARTRIDGES!!

Buy 4 Velveeta Shells and Cheese cups $1 each = $1.50 RR
Use 2 buy one get one free coupons from here
Pay $2
Get back a $1.50 RR
Final cost ONLY $0.50 for all 4 cups!

Walgreens Reusable Shopping Bag 3/$1 with in-ad coupon
Final Cost $0.33 each! Great “filler” item for your coupon to item ratio!

TARGET (go on Friday)

Quaker Instant Oatmeal Single Serve Cup $0.93 (Price Cut until 4/24)
Use the $1/1 coupon from here
Final cost FREE!

Men’s Merona Classic Fit Jersey Polo Shirts are on sale this week for $8
Use the new $3/1 Men’s Merona Item Target coupon from here
Final cost only $5!

Simply Go-Gurt $2.12 (On Price Cut until 5/8)
Use the $1.10/1 Go-Gurt coupon from here
Final cost ONLY $1.02!

Pure & Natural products– 2 pack Bar Soap or hand soap priced around $2 or less
Use the $2/1 coupon from here
Final cost FREE! !

Shout deal scenario without coupons:
Buy 3 Shout 4-Pack Travel Size Wipes $0.97
Pay $2.91
Then submit for the $5 SC Johnson rebate in folder for a final cost of FREE + a $2.09 profit!

Couponing at Drugstores

Starting to get more organized with this couponing and I'm having fun at it too! Yesterday I headed to Walgreens with my list and coupons in hand. The Pecan Sandies were on sale for 2/$5 and they had an in-store coupon for $2 off which takes it down to 2/$3. I printed 2 coupons for $1.00 off each Pecan Sandie at home. When I got to Walgreens though, they only had one Pecan Sandie. The Walgreens offer and coupon did include the Keeblers. So, my goal was two packs of cookies for $.50 each but instead I paid $1 each. Not bad!

The Kotex were on sale for $3.49 and I had a $1 off coupon. When you pay at the register though, a $2.50 Register Rewards prints for your next shopping trip. So, the Kotex were basically free!

Pantene was not on my list to purchase at Walgreens but I noticed that it was on clearance. The gel was marked down to $2.59 instead of $3.99 and the shampoo was marked down to $3.59 instead of $5.99. That is already a great deal but I happened to bring along my extra coupons (just in case) and saved an additional $1 for the two Pantene products.

All of the Easter products are marked down by 75% so I picked up some candy. The Brach's Hawaiian Punch jelly beans (note...nothing on the bags indicates Easter) for $.62 and I had to pick up some of the Whoppers Robin Eggs for $.50. Love that!

I am now reading daily the Thrifty and Thriving and Hip2Save newsletters. I signed up for a lot of the coupon sites earlier in the month but I find that most of them are linked in these newsletters or they are coupons that you need to clip.

I do have an update and a word of caution for any of you that signed up for Cellfire with your Safeway card. I tried using it the other day at Safeway for an item that I knew was saved to my account. The coupon never showed up and when I went to the site to figure out what the problem was...I realized that my cell number is not the number that I enter when going through the check-out. You have to use your cell number though for this electronic coupon site. I may not continue to use this program... I'm finding better deals by following the two newsletters I mentioned earlier.

Check out the video below on The Today Show from the Coupon Mom. This is another good site to check out but I find the other two are easier for me to follow. This video is amazing for you to see just how much you can save at the register. Now I need to find that app they are talking about for my phone... Anxiously awaiting my free Sunday YES! newspaper coupons so I can get to saving some more money for my family! Who knew that couponing could be so much fun! Happy Saving!

Watch video

I'm Hip 2 Save

Since we've started our Financial Peace class at church, I'm working on becoming a couponing queen and having financial peace. My latest and now favorite couponing email/newsletter that I receive is from http://www.hip2save.com/! You get an email a day from this fun, sweet, and helpful gal with all the latest deals that are out there.

Sometimes, all the coupons are linked for you to grab online and other times, you'll need to have past coupons that you've saved to get the greatest savings. She even has videos to explain some of the in's and out's of couponing that are quite helpful. Did you know that Target will take 2 coupons!?! They will take a manufacturer's coupon and a Target coupon. That doubles your savings!

Still trying to get a system down for it though. I used to get the coupons, go through them and pull out what I'd need or use and toss the rest. Now, I'm starting to file all of the coupons and keep them so that I can get in on all the good deals and freebies!

Our new budget is starting to become fun now. I've always loved a good deal and yesterday I was just giddy over what I was able to get at Target.

I was able to get the five items above at Target for $4.18 (before taxes)! The price I would have paid is $11.18!! I had a savings of $7.00 in coupons. Now how cool is that!! I paid $.84 each for the Degree Girl deoderant rather than $2.34 each. The Reach Dental Floss, I paid $.52 instead of $1.52. The Nivea Body Wash would have cost me $3.49 but I had a $2.00 off coupon and paid just $1.49!

The savings are adding up so I'm able to spread that out in our grocery fund. I'll be adding the hip2save link on my blog for others to see when they visit. You just can't go wrong here ladies. It takes a bit of time in the beginning to get more organized and get your game plan but it really adds up! Happy Shopping!!

We got a Dollar...Hey, hey, hey hey!

I'm on a new mission! Couponing! We've been going to the Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class for the last several weeks. It has been very informative! If you ask me how it is, you will hear that last statement from me as well as "In my face". It is a great class to make sure you have all your financial ducks in a row but at times for me, it has been a bit overwhelming.

The first few weeks, you work on your budget. I can hear you groaning & trust me, I have and still do my fair share of groaning!! Jack and I thought we were doing pretty good...NOT!

So, my lately endevor is to start taking advantage of all those dollars out there that are available to everyone. I've always been a bargain shopper and a coupon clipper. Now, I'm getting more serious though.

I've recently signed up for two electronic coupon programs. That way, if you run into the store to grab that gallon of milk and remember that you haven't ate lunch, you can grab that yogurt that you have a coupon for at home and not feel guilty for not waiting until you had it. When you scan your Rewards or Club card, you'll get the discount! How easy is that?? I guess I'll have to let you know after I've used it.

The two electronic coupon programs that I've signed up for are: http://shortcuts.com/Home.action and http://www.cellfire.com/. They came to me in an email from another coupon program that I've subscribed to. Each day, I get an email from http://www.thriftyandthriving.com/. Within it are a number of savings opportunities.

Today, one of the deals was a Mr. Potatoe Head from Toys R Us for $1.99 which is normally around $9.99! If you go to Thrify and Thriving, you can see this deal with the coupon as well as all the others available.

I'm hoping to be singing the Dollar song and doing a little jig but replacing it with $100 or even $50! The most important thing to keep in mind though...don't buy it if you don't need it. Good luck!