Using Tools Makes Couponing Easy

I used to be an avid coupon clipper, and spend a ridiculous amount of time shopping at different grocery stores, matching up sales with double or triple coupons so that I rarely spent much on food.  It was great for our budget, but it wasn't great for our lives.

As our family's schedule has evolved, I've been couponing less and spending more.  It isn't a great situation, but it works.  Then, yesterday, I saw a grocery store advertisement offering triple coupons up to 99 cents this week.  My inner coupon queen started getting a little antsy and I decided that I'd take a little time, sift through the exploding drawer of coupons, and see if I could make any good deals.

On a hunch, I googled "Shoppers Food Triple coupon" and after a few false leads, came upon a site called Redemption Unlimited.  It lists all sorts of deals and coupon savings, including a huge list of coupons that can be used with the Shoppers triple coupon deal.  They list the date of the coupon flyer that the coupons were published in, which works out great for me since I've been doing nothing but shoving the flyers in the drawer for months now.  A few minutes of organizing the coupons, then going down the list, locating the coupons, and I was out the door.  It was way faster than any other way I've ever done it before!

I had such a successful trip at Super Fresh that I then did the same thing for Walgreens.  I happened to remember that a site called The Thrifty Mama listed the best of the Walgreens ads each week, so I went over to that site to check it out.  I was able to match up a few coupons with sales and register rewards and make a great deal.

If you like to coupon but want to extend your savings, or you are just learning about couponing, or you need to shave time off your couponing, you will definitely want to use the internet tools available.  I'm amazed at what I found, and how much time I saved.

Veteran's Day Offers

A few national Veterans' Day promotions will be coming up in the next few weeks.  So you can plan ahead, here is the list so far:

Every year, Golden Corral does an offer for Veteran's Day that includes a free meal for all military members or veterans.  The 9th Annual Military Appreciation Monday is being held on Monday, November 16th, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and includes a free meal for all veterans, retirees, active duty military members, and members of the National Guard or Reserves.  In addition, individual stores are supporting various veterans' groups through raffles and other fundraising efforts.

Applebee's Restaurant is offering a free meal, from a limited menu, for vets on November 11th.  Their webpage lists the required documentation:  a military ID, an LES, a membership card from a Veterans' organization, a photograph of you in uniform, actually wearing a uniform, a copy of your DD214, or a copy of a citation or commendation.  It's nice that they list those so clearly.  It appears that they are offering the free meal all day.

McCormick & Schmick Restaurants are also offering free meals to veterans, on Sunday, November 8th.  Most locations are participating and you can find the list here.  There is a special menu being offered, reservations are suggested, and parties are limited to 6 people.  I've never actually been to a McCormick & Schmick, mostly because I am cheap, but this might be a nice way to try them without spending the full amount of dinner.

Update 11/7:  Pizzaria Uno is offering a free entree or individual pizza, with purchase of the same, to all veterans and active duty military members.

While not a national chain, Masala Wok, of Northern Virginia and various Texas locations, is also reported to be offering free meals to vets on Veterans' Day.  I'd call the individual location first but if you are nearby anyway, it might be a good way to try a new place.

With all these deals, you could really splurge and eat out a lot during Veteran's Day week, without spending quite as much as you usually would.

June Saves on Groceries

June, of USAA and Ask June fame, give the following advice today on Twitter: 

Friday can be good grocery day cause shipments arrive for wknd. Prime tenderloin slashed $9/lb cause another pallet just arrived. Yes!

My kids know that we shop the dent-and-damage at the commissary, and we always look for marked down meat at the regular grocery stores.  I hadn't though about there being a weekly pattern - I bet if you watch (or ask) you can figure it out.  Some stores will mark down fancy cheeses when they are within a few days of their sell-by date, or deli items like cooked chicken or potato salad if they have too much for that one day.  Also, check to see if your store offers discounted vegetables if they are less than perfect.

Please share your secrets for finding clearance food products.

Chipotle Halloween Promo

It looks like Chipotle is doing their free burrito promotion again this Halloween, from 6 to 10 pm.  Dress as a burrito (or something less complicated, but apparently it needs to include foil and be somewhat in the vein of the burrito concept - maybe a crown?) for a free burrito.

I'm not going to attach a link because I keep getting some suspicious activity when I try to click on anything that includes the words "chipotle halloween promotion october 2009."  In the interest of saving both our computers from a mess to be cleaned, I'll just tell you to check with your local Chipotle.

Update 10/31/2009: It worked! I went to Chipotle with a aluminum foil crown on my head, and I got a free salad! The guy behind the counter teased me that I was a burrito princess. There were lots of people there who were not wearing any sort of costume, and my sister refused, but I saw at least one whole family wrapped in various aluminum foil accessories. Cool, huh?

Free Snack at Barnes & Noble

Do you have a Barnes & Noble nearby?  What a great way to spend an autumn afternoon, curled up in a bookstore with a warm drink and a snack.  Especially if that snack is FREE!

Today, October 24, 2009, Barnes & Noble is offering a free kids' size hot chocolate and cookie with a printable online coupon.  Yum, yum..it is almost enough to make me wish for a rainy afternoon.

Watching Carefully at the Big Warehouse Clubs

I made a run over the my local BJ's warehouse club store today.  I don't shop their often but I do have a membership because their gasoline is significantly less expensive than anywhere else nearby.  I heard a rumor that they had a great price on wheeled backpacks, which my daughter needs due to her shoulder injury and the ridiculous amount of stuff that sixth graders are required to carry around.

On the way out the door, I grabbed a coupon book that the store had recently mailed to me.  I had lots of time to look over the book while I waited for the store to open, and I started trying to remember how much the same items cost the commissary and also at the local grocery store.  It was really hard, and I have a pretty good memory for food prices.  The comparisons were harder due to the huge sizes that most of the warehouse club stores offer.

I went through the store quickly and picked up a few things that I knew were good deals.  More often, however, I wasn't sure.  How much was a gallon of orange juice at the commissary yesterday?  And how many "regular" boxes of chicken nuggets equals one giant sized box?  And will we really use 640 post-it note flags, or are we better off paying more per flag but buying less at the office supply store?

In order to be a savvy warehouse shopper, you must be very aware of the prices that are available to you.  If you live in a non-military community, the answers are usually a little easier because warehouse clubs often do provide good value over regular grocery stores.  However, if you have access to a commissary, the question becomes a lot more difficult.  Often the commissary prices are better than the warehouse club, the selection is greater (if you have a large commissary) and there is a lot more flexibility in sizes.  On the other hand, the warehouse club may offer certain products that your commissary doesn't carry.

My good finds today included the wheeled backpack for around $17, a six pack of binders for $8 (wish I had found that before I bought them at Office Depot!), the megapack of Post-It flags for $6, and the calculator my daughter needs for $11.  I also picked up some sweet peppers (expensive but very cute, they are miniature and look like hot peppers but they are sweet), a case of organic milk in the little boxes, a big bag of Baby Bel cheese, and an enormous package of Listerine strips.  The first two are items that I can't find at the commissary, and the second two were a much better price than the commissary.

There were other items that I wasn't too sure about:  garbage bags, orange juice, yogurt, cereal.  In order to make smart choices, I'll have to check prices a little more carefully next time I'm shopping on base.  My friends swear by their meats and produce but I wasn't too impressed with the prices.  I often do better shopping the sales at the grocery store.

All in all, the warehouse stores can be a useful tool in keeping the grocery (and other) spending down.  However, it requires a thorough knowledge of the prices you can find elsewhere to ensure that you are truly saving money.  In addition, check to see if your local warehouse store accepts manufacturer's coupons to extend the savings.

The Paycheck Chronicles Main Page

Free Chick-fil-A and Other Restaurant Goodies

Thank you, Bargain Briana, for pointing out TWO ways to get free Chick-fil-A!  It is nice to have a little restaurant treat once in a while, and even better when you can get a bargain as well.

Speaking of bargains, don't forget to check your favorite restaurant websites to sign up for their birthday clubs and other clubs.  Just tonight, the four kids and I ate dinner at Bob Evans for only $13, courtesy of a couple of birthday club coupons.  (Don't forget to calculate your tip based upon the full amount of the bill before discounts.)  I noticed that the kids hadn't received their Friendly's birthday emails so I clicked on over to discover their new Best Friend of Friendly's club.  I'm a little confused about whether the old Friendly's registrations are gone but I did sign up for the new club.

I'm in the mid-Atlantic, so I'm also signed up with Boston Market's VIP club, the Cheeburger Cheeburger Fan Mail Club, and Denny's Birthday Club.  Check websites for restaurants in your area to see what deals you can find.  I keep my coupons in the glove box for surprise treats or to keep the costs down while traveling.

Cheese, Please

I love cheese, and so does my family.  Unfortunately, we seem to eat it in spurts:  a ton one week and hardly any the next few weeks.  Fortunately, I found these handy hints from Mary Hunt to help me keep our cheese fresh and cheese-colored.  I knew the trick about keeping cottage cheese stored upside down, but the rest of it was news to me.  Hopefully Mary's info will help you save a few dollars on the cheese bill.

Old Advice is Often Still Good Advice

For all the world's focus on modern ideas and thoughts, often the same advice that our grandparents followed is still appropriate for our world.

Today, CreditLoan did an excellent article (Buying Food:  Grocery Shopping Tips from 1950) based on a 1950's Home Economics (Buying Food) movie about grocery shopping.  While the tone is dated and very sexist, the core concepts are still solid.

• Use a shopping list.  I am hugely in favor of shopping lists (and menus) because I know I spend more when I don't have one, plus more food gets wasted because I didn't have a plan when I purchased it.

• Compare unit prices, but don't buy more than you can use.  I find this to be particularly true as we approach a move - how much mayonnaise can we use before we leave?  I hate giving away loads of food because I didn't plan well.

• Consider different forms of the same food:  fresh, canned, dried or frozen.  Sometimes one form is clearly more appropriate for your meal, sometimes it just doesn't matter.  Frozen has great quality and a good price but canned is usually the most inexpensive.

• Purchase quantities when the price is good.  Of course, this requires that you know your prices.  Don't stock up unless you're sure the price is right.

• Buy in-season fresh fruits and vegetables.

• Learn to cook!

The video itself is only about 11 minutes long and it is a fun look at grocery shopping in the 1950s.  Even if you already know all these things, it is always good to have a little more encouragement.

Random Free Stuff

As usual, there is a selection of free stuff to be found on the internet today.  I'm always amazed at people who find gobs of free stuff - it if doesn't come right across my email, I don't usually find it.

Here are today's offerings:

White Castle is offering One Free Original Sliderwith a printable coupon.  The coupon is good until July 12th.  Thanks Bargain Briana!

A&W Restaurants is celebrating their 90th Anniversary with Free Floats and 99 cent Papa Burgers.  (Also from Bargain Briana.)

TGIFridays is giving away a free appetizer or dessertif you sign up for their Club.  Also at TGIFridays, you can print off a coupon for Buy One Get One Free Entrees, good until June 22nd.

If usually see these offers and think "I'll never take advantage of that, so I'm not going to print out/sign up."  Then I find myself at one of these restaurants and think, "Oh, I should have snagged that coupon!"  I should print these out right now and add them to the restaurant coupon stash in my glove box.  Sometimes like is unpredictable!

(Re)Finding My Focus

I'm finding myself in an unusual situation lately.  With my husband deployed, and me working, we're meeting our 2009 financial goals without much pain.  I know that I'm lucky to be in such a situation, but it still makes me uncomfortable.  During the times when money is tight, I am great at squeezing the most out of every dollar.  Now that we are managing to live comfortably, I'm finding myself getting lazy and spending unnecessarily.  I need to get back to the basics of good financial planning and stick to them.  Where should I start?  Actually, it is pretty easy:

1. Assess the current situation.  That should be pretty painless, since I've been (trying to) use the monthly updates for my husband.

2. Update our budget.  We've used serious, down-to-the-penny budgets in the past.  While I'm happy to round to the nearest dollar or even five dollars, it is hard to be successful without following some sort of spending plan.  I've used everything from a simple sheet of paper with expenses to a complicated, Mary Hunt-style Freedom Account scheme, and they all have their advantages and disadvantages.  However, in my current chaotic "let's just get through today" mindset, my idea of a spending plan is that I'm fine as long as I don't bounce any checks.  That is really not making good use of our money.

3. Pick your battles, focus on your priorities, and keep it manageable.  There are a million ways that I could take serious control of our money.  I could unplug every lamp and alarm clock when I'm not using it, I could make sure everyone showers at the pool so that we don't use any hot water at home, and I could make my own laundry soap.  Realistically, though, none of those things are going to happen right now.  So where can I make changes?  There are lots of places to choose, but I'm going to try and focus on just one general area:  food.  I can start making menus again, to make sure that we use all the food we buy and that we aren't tempted to get Chinese because I have no idea what to cook.  I can start making grocery lists again, so that I don't end up with 16 boxes of couscous but no soup.   I can get the dust off my slow cookerand ensure that 5 pm isn't panic time.  I can take the time to cut coupons and teach my kids to help.  Why do I choose food?  First, in most families, food is the second biggest expense, after housing.  Second, I enjoy saving money on groceries.  I love the thrill of a good triple coupon extravaganza.  Third, having meals planned is good for my family's health and brings us together at the table regularly.  (Priceless!)

Keeping your family on financial track isn't painless, but it shouldn't be drudgery either.  Keep your eye on the goal and figure ways to make it fun, and you'll be successful!

The Freezer Menu

Let me guess...at least one night in the last month, you have ordered pizza, driven through a fast food place or picked up take out when you hadn't planned to, right?  That is pretty common.  Life is moving fast and sometimes the thought of preparing dinner is just overwhelming.  Eating out or ordering in is expensive and not very healthy.  What's a solution?

Here's what I do...I have what I call our "freezer menu."  It is a list of five or so days of meals that are quick and easy to make, and will last a long time in the cupboard or freezer.  I'm the first to admit that they aren't the most healthy or glamorous meals, but they are better than nearly everything from a restaurant and the price is right.  What kind of things might you put on a freezer menu?  Here's what we have:

• Frozen chicken patties and frozen french fries with frozen edamame
• Boxed scalloped potatoes, frozen green beans and a ham slice.
• Macaroni and cheese and fish sticks with a veg
• Spaghetti with jarred sauce and turkey meatballs.  Add frozen bread if you want to be snazzy.
• Kielbasa or Smoked Sausage with boxed rice:  spanish, saffron, whatever you like - Yum

 

I'm pretty sure that you all have some variety of freezer menus in your minds, or maybe even in your freezers.  Please share your ideas!  For those of you who haven't tried this trick, give it a try.  If it is too much to buy a week's worth of meals at once, just add one meal a week.  The first time you manage to avoid Dominos or Burger King, it will pay for itself.  Your wallet and your waistband will thank you!

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What The Grocery Store is Thinking

I spend a lot of money at the grocery store.  Granted, there are usually six of us, and I try to buy quality food.  I also occasionally fall prey to the super sale, the "ooh, I'll try that" trap, or the pleas of small and bored children.  It's even worse when I don't have a meal plan or a shopping list, but even with those two tools, I often end up making some unplanned purchases.

One line of self-defense is knowing the strategies and tricks the grocers use to lure you into making those extra purchases.  The grocery stores are trying to make a profit, and even the not-for-profit commissaries are competing to keep your business so that they remain viable.  I've recently stumbled across a variety of articles that discuss different ways that supermarkets work to make your trip more expensive and more complicated.

At Bankrate.com, Cynthia Brodrick exposes some Grocery Store Ploys.  I thought I knew a lot about the ways that supermarkets seduce their customers, but I'd never heard of some of these.  Who knew that certain music makes you buy more?

At the Greenest Dollar, Heather lists some Grocery Store Tricks and How to Avoid Them.  I love the IPod idea!

In Grocery Store Tricks and How to Avoid Them, Mrs. Fussypants at Divine Caroline reminds us to check those prices when they ring up, especially on the items that are on sale.

One tip I'll add:  be scrupulous in checking your prices at the commissary case lot sales, especially if you are a serious couponer.  There are great sales to be found at the case lot sale, but there are also many items that aren't much of a savings, and are actually more expensive if you could have used a coupon in the regular store.

Learning about grocery store strategies will help you resist the lure of the fresh bread, pretty flowers and so-called sales.  A little reading can help you save some serious dollars.

Busy

I've been busy lately - really busy.  My husband is gone, I'm working a little over half-time, and one of my daughters has injured herself, requiring a crazy number of doctor's appointments.  One of the glaring results of all this business is that I'm not watching my money as carefully as I should, and I'm not planning ahead to save money when I can.  It's so frustrating

1. Not planning my spending before it happens.
2. Not reading sales ads to search for the best price.
3. Not cutting coupons and taking advantage of stock-up sales.
4. Not choosing budget-friendly meals.
5. Not being prepared for things that happen, then spending more at the last minute because I'm not prepared.

 

I've been trying not to let this bother me, but it has been anyway.

Fortunately, I read this post at Leaving Excess:  Is There A Secret to Consistantly Making Dinner at Home?   Obviously, it was the title that originally pulled me in, but the meat of the response is truly great:  We all have 24 hours in a day.  Yes, you will need to make the most of those 24 hours in order to live a frugal life, but you can't do it all.  When you add to your plate, something are going to have to go.  Maybe it is OK to give up a little bit of sleep, or a little bit of quiet time, but basically any wholesale change in one direction is going to require a similarly sized change on the other end.

In my own case, doing the single-parent thing, working, and spending an inordinate amount of time in doctor's offices means that I'm not going to make it to CVS some weeks, and sometimes coupons aren't going to get used when I buy groceries.  And that is OK!

More importantly, you can extend this to other areas of your life as well.  Does it matter that your house isn't super clean?  Not really.  Maybe you didn't get the trash out last Tuesday?  The trash will come again.  Sometimes we just need to cut ourselves a little slack and realize that there's only so much one person can do.

An important factor in that is making sure that what you are doing is in line with your priorities.  It is more important to me that my kids eat healthy meals than that I save money.  It is also not worth it to me to spend our limited family time schlepping around to various grocery stores chasing deals.  In that regard, I guess I'm doing well.  And making sure that my actions are in line with my values is way more important than the bottom line.

Case Lot Sales

May is Case Lot Sale month at the military Commissaries.  Good deals can be found but be sure to know your prices - they aren't always the best prices, and you don't want to stock up if you are PCSing this summer!

Click here for the list of sale dates.  If you click through, you can see if it is being held at the store itself or if it is being held a separate location.  If you are travelling a distance, call before you go.  Case Lot sale dates sometimes change unexpectedly!  Also, you can sometimes get an advance list of products and prices at the commissary the week before the sale.  This definitely makes it easier to comparison shop.

Store Brand Groceries

There are many different ways to save money on your grocery bill.  One way is to change the brands that you purchase, usually by moving to economy brands or store brands.  Are they any good, or are you just wasting your money?

Keep in mind, these are not our parents "generics."  Gone are the white boxes with boring black print, and in comes the snazzy labels and upscale products that rival name brands.  In fact, many store brands are made by the same companies that manufacture the name brands, just using different labeling or packaging.  If you are shopping in a civilian grocery store, they often have a "try our brand" guarantee.  If you are unhappy with the store brand, you can bring it back if you are unhappy with the product.  Stores are promoting the value and quality of their own brands for several reasons.  First, customers are becoming more value conscious and less impressed with fancy stores and crazy sales strategies.  Stores don't want to alienate customers by putting their own name on an inferior product.

There are categories where the differences are obvious:  store brand sodas rarely taste like their brand name counterparts, and my daughter can spot most store brand oatmeal before I'm even done cooking it.  I won't by store brand soups because I just don't like them.  However, in most products the difference is negligible.  Frozen vegetables?  Usually identical.   Cheese?  Pretty darn similar.  And so far, my Cheerios addicted daughter hasn't complained about all the non-Cheerios brand cereal I've been sneaking into the container.  The website WalletPop has done a lengthy side-by-side comparison of numerous products and agrees:  it all depends on the product.

How much can you save?  In an ABC news report (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/Story?id=6926703&page=1) , the editors saved about 25% by purchasing store brands at three different stores.  Their experiment included 9 household items and included both a regular grocery store and a super-store.  It's not scientific but it does illustrate the potential savings.  I think that their numbers may have been a little low - I've seen other studies with significantly higher savings.  If you are a savvy-coupon cutter and stock up when certain products are on sale, then the savings will be a lot less.

Of course, the military commissaries don't offer store brands, but they do often offer an economy brand.  For example, the commissaries sell Quaker oatmeal products and they also sell Ralston oatmeal products.  Most of the time, (but not always,) the Ralston brand is less expensive.  You have to keep your eyes open and be aware of your prices to make sure you're choosing the least expensive option.

I recommend a little experimentation.  Pick the three items that you purchase the most frequently and try the least expensive brand available.  If you like it - great!  You've just easily saved a bundle on your groceries.  If you don't like it, try to take advantage of any store guarantee.  Chances are you'll find that at least one of your regular products has a less expensive choice that you'll enjoy.

photo by:  robertstinnett

Couponing 101

You may have seen those people at the grocery store, clutching a handful of coupons and making the cashier just a bit nutty.  They are holding up the line and you're a little annoyed, until the cashier hands them the receipt (it's a mile long) and announces, "You saved $74.30 today."

And suddenly you wonder - should I be clipping coupons?  How do they have time to do it?  And aren't they buying a lot of stuff that I wouldn't regularly buy?  These are all legitimate questions.

I admit that I go in phases:  sometimes I am hyper-organized and save a bundle, other times I just shake my head  sheepishly when the cashier says, "Do you have any coupons today?"  It can be work, and it can make you crazy if you let it.  Fortunately, Briana at Bargain Briana has put together an excellent series of posts:  15 Days of Couponing.  She's currently on Day 5 and they've all been super so far.  She keeps it simple enough for beginners but adds enough complicated stuff to keep experienced couponers interested as well.  I'm confident the rest of the articles will be just as good, though I can't imagine where she's going to come up with 10 more posts.  I look forward to finding out.

Good News! DeCA Gift Certificates to be Honored

In a surprising turn of events today, the Defense Commissary Agency has announced that it has received approval from the Department of Defense to honor all Certificheck Gift Certificates until July 31, 2009.

Last week, Certificheck announced that is was suspending operations and filing for bankruptcy.  The company has issued $20 million in DeCA gift certificates since the program began in 2002.  It was initially expected that those certificates would now be worthless.

DeCA and the DOD have been working together to find a legal way to honor the gift certificates for commissary patrons.  The certificates have been very popular, particular for family members to send to military families as gifts.

I'm so glad that they've figured out a way to let these certificates be used.  What a blow to have all that money "disappear" into a private company's bankruptcy.  I know that both the givers and the receivers were disappointed by the potential loss.  If you have DeCA Certifichecks, be sure to use them by the end of July!

photo by:  Robert Couse-Baker

DeCA Gift Cards Lose All Value

Due to the bankruptcy of the issuing company, DeCA gift cards are no longer accepted at the commissary.  The issuing company has posted directions for possibly receiving a refund.  Check out the Military.com article here to learn more.

Free Burger at Ted's Montana Grill

If you live near a Ted's Montana Grill, you can enter their burger contest.  In addition to some great prizes, every entry will get a free burger.  I actually made a serious entry into the contest, but I imagine that you could make a simple entry to qualify for the burger.

Photo by:  javajoba