I found this site today that lists stores that double coupons by state.
Find out your store’s restrictions. Many only double coupons that are for UP TO $1.00 off (so you can get up to $2.00 off). Happy couponing!
These money saving tips might sound backwards at first, but that what we Renaissance Lifers do…we work less and make more. We commit to not committing. We’re always looking for more and chasing a goal, so these tips suit us…
1. Go To More Stores, More Often
I know the feeling. You just got paid and almost all of the check went to bills and house payments. So you’ve decided you’re going to ground yourself. You won’t go shopping at all unless you run out of something. Bad idea.
If you try to keep yourself from shopping, you’re going to slowly run low on essentials, then give in one day and go on a spree, spending way too much all in one trip. Instead, go to more stores, more often.
Try this: When your local store ads come to you in the mail or the paper, look through them and start a list. Keep a separate column for each individual store. Below the store name, write down which products are on sale that you are interested in, size restrictions if applicable, and the price. Also note what day the sale ends.
You might notice when you move to the next store ad, the same product is sometimes on sale somewhere else for even less! So cross it off from that other store.
After you’ve gone through all the store ads, go through your coupons to see if you can save even more. If you find a coupon, mark it on your list so you don’t forget to use it at the store. Then at your leisure, visit the stores in order of sale-ending day and purchase ONLY WHAT IS ON YOUR LIST and other items that you have coupons for.
2. Don’t Buy Products You Need
If you run out for one of those “quick trips,” ”just to get a couple things,” you’re going to spend way more money than you need to, even if you DO only get a couple things (and you probably wont succeed at that, either).
Make yourself a promise: You will either ONLY buy items that are on sale, or, if you’re a beginner at watching your dimes, you will at the very least always use ONE coupon per visit. I promise you, if you start with that goal, the number of coupons you use at each visit will increase, as will your savings.
Spend a couple weeks learning store ads and coupons. You might feel overwhelmed at first, but after just a few weeks you’ll start to learn what the GOOD prices are for your personal choice items.
3. Spend More Money On Things You Don’t Need
In other words, STOCKPILE. Buy more of what is on sale–even if you don’t need it at this time–so that you don’t shoot yourself in the foot by having to buy it when it’s not on sale.
I just bought four tubs of butter the other day. They were on sale, of course. I knew I’d be buying four someday anyway, so why not buy them all on sale rather than waiting until I run out and having to buy it at its highest price just so I can cook one day! Now I have purchased four for future use at a sale price, rather than one on sale now (yay!) and three in the future not on sale (boo).
I also bought four cases of pop because they were 4/$12. It wasn’t the best price at $3.00 a case, but it was the only sale on pop I knew of at any of my local stores and it’s better than the usual $3.50 or $4.00 a case. Of course, the very next day a store ad arrived in my mailbox boasting 5/$11 at another store! You can bet I’m going to go buy those too and stockpile even more. When you stop to think that you can pay $2.20 for 12 cans of pop or you can spend $1.20 on just one 20 ounce bottle during a road trip, the choice is pretty clear.
4. Don’t Buy Items Because They Are On Sale.
Sales are a good way to try something new to make sure you like it, but they are also good at trapping you into buying something you wouldn’t have even wanted but bought “just because” it was on sale! If you spend one day shopping when you don’t really need a lot, buying only things you’ll one day need, you’re going to feel SO GOOD seeing that “Today You Saved…” total on the bottom of your receipt. So stick to what you need or what you always buy whether its on sale or not.
Buy often….buy more of it…pay less…feel better.
If you’re like me, you wish you could fill your cart up with fresh and healthy organic food, but sometimes find yourself buying Ramen and spaghetti instead.
Thanks to my favorite healthy mind and body doctor, Dr. Weil for creating this list of foods you don’t have to feel guilty about buying if you can’t afford to buy them organic. Luckily, some of my absolute favorites are on the list!
Here are Dr. Weil’s 11 Foods You Don’t Have to Buy Organic:
The best way to reap the health benefits of fruits and vegetables without exposing yourself to potentially harmful pesticides is to choose organic produce whenever possible, especially those varieties which are more likely to be contaminated. But if organic produce is cutting into your budget, it’s okay to buy non-organic varieties of the fruits and vegetables listed below, which tend to contain the least amount of pesticides. However, make it a habit to wash them thoroughly before eating or cooking, to remove dirt and bacteria.
I know this post doesn’t seem to fit the overall theme here, but this topic is just too important and I really want to help spread the word on this. While most of this site is about living frugal, this is one area in which I won’t scrimp.
Short story: 13+ year old Cat was sick. Chronic diarrhea, often vomiting. Vet gave antibiotics, only helped a few days. Switched cat to raw food. Cat cured.
Ok, now if you’re intrigued, here’s the full story:
My pets didn’t seem sick after the big pet food recall of 2007, even though I had been feeding them a brand from the recall. I simply checked all the dates and styles, returned the possibly contaminated ones, and bought more of the same brand. I wasn’t too worried, and they’d been on the brand for years and years.
In late 2007, both my cats started vomiting a lot–about once a day or once every other day. I thought to myself, I should do some pet food research and see if I’m missing anything. But I put it off until one of the cats started to get bloody diarrhea. Now, he’d done this before years ago and it always cleared on its own. He seemed fine, so I didn’t rush him to the vet. Instead, I did the research and switched them back to a brand I’d fed years ago when I had more money: California Natural, made by NaturaPet.
The cats loved it at first and then stopped eating it. The diarrhea continued despite the antibiotics. Before I returned him to the vet for more in-depth testing, I felt that I should do yet more research.
This time I found that NaturaPet had been included in a class-action lawsuit for false advertising and using bad ingredients. Now, some people wouldn’t worry about that. Many people stand by the company and feel that a class-action lawsuit does not indicate guilt. But it was enough to push me to research taking yet one more step further: switching to raw.
At first I was confused. I thought it sounded crazy! It’s filled with bacteria! What do you do, throw them some meat??? I read ALL about it; how many vets don’t condone it and how vets don’t really get schooled on nutrition, and when they do it’s sponsored by commercial pet food companies that pay them commission on sales. I read how a cat with the exact same symptoms as my cat was switched to raw and the diarrhea STOPPED. I learned a little about the prey-model and the BARF diet (Bones And Raw Food).
I learned the obvious: cats are carnivores. They need meat. They were designed to kill their prey and eat it right there and then, bacteria, bones, heart, liver, and all! I learned that their digestive tract is so short, bacteria doesn’t have time to multiply like it does in humans. I learned that feeding them kibble all day is like feeding them sugared cereal. It’s not full of meat like they need, it’s full of grains and carbs, things they DON’T need and cannot process and break down well! And no, it doesn’t help clean the teeth. Both my cats were fed kibble the first 10 years of their lives, and both are practically toothless now.
So please, if you are reading, please consider feeding raw. If you cannot fathom that, please consider feeding at least 1/2 canned or preferrably all canned…even if it takes you MONTHS to get your cat to start eating it. Don’t give up. If your cat only eats kibble, they might not seem interested in eating canned, but they need it and can learn to like it. Your vet bills will be SO much lighter if you do this, trust me! There are lots of online links to help you with transitioning them.
Now, there are two ways to feed raw food. One is to buy from a butcher, grind it all up, and compile it carefully so that your pet gets all the correct balances of nutrients following recipes. Now I am no kitchen conisseur, so I do the other method:
Pre-made raw. I started feeding Nature’s Variety Frozen Raw a month ago. My diarrhea cat loves it; the other one, well he was addicted to kibble so it was more difficult. When I discovered what the freeze-dried raw was, I started mixing it into his medalions and now he loves it!
My diarrhea cat has NO MORE DIARRHEA. Seriously, the antibiotics the vet prescribed took away the diarrhea for 4 days. The raw food diet took away the diarrhea completely, for one month now so far. Also, I wish I had a picture so you could see, this cat’s coat has grown in a lot and is fuller than it had been for 4 years, since the last time he got sick and lost some fur! He’s a Persian, by the way, which is why I talk about “fullness.” He has also gained much needed weight, comes to the table now at feeding time (which he never used to do), has a lot more energy, plays more, feels softer and looks healthier. All this in one month!
Feel free to ask questions, but if you do a google search you’ll find what I did. Not all the pre-made raw brands are good, but many are much better than any canned and kibble. I chose Nature’s Variety because it’s as closest to doing it yourself as you can get. It’s 95% meat and bones, and the rest is the fruits and vegetables. They dont need fruites and veggies, but they *would* get some in the digestive systems of their prey, so 5% is ok.
Thanks for reading!
PS To learn more about feeding raw yourself and the good pre-made brands, please visit this site.
I’m pretty much snowed in today. Fortunately I was able to find all the coupons from today’s Sunday paper on eBay for $2 including shipping. I will gladly pay an extra 50 cents to not have to try to shovel my way out of here today.
The reason I went on there in the first place was because I was on a mission to find one certain coupon. Two different stores had cool discounts going on recently that you can combine with coupons. If you keep your eyes open, these deals really pay off.
For example: Right now there is a $4 off coupon for a certain razor, AND CVS and Walgreens had their own specials on those products, so you could get the razor for free and event MAKE money with a rebate from Walgreens. Right now CVS is offering a $6 coupon to CVS when you buy this razor. That means the razor is free when you combine with the coupon! This is good through 3/15/08.
You need to have a CVS extra card for this–do it! I had this card for years before I understood it, and it’s easy. Certain products spit out a coupon at you when you buy them. The coupon is for $$$ off at CVS, not like those other stores that give you a coupon for some product you “might like” since you got a similar one. It’s easy to shop at CVS and get $5 off your next CVS trip. Worth it, especially when you come with manufacturers coupons in hand!
Of course all my local CVS’s were out of the razor so I had to get a rain check. But that turned out to be a good thing, because I originally had a $2 off coupon before the $4 off coupon was circulated. I imagine the people out scooping up those razors at such a steal are the same people who are selling them on eBay. I searched for the coupon there and found many of the real deals. Some of them were the same price as if I were to go out myself and buy. Some of them would be considered “on sale” if you do the math.
Combining coupons and sales is really the key to saving. I know many people feel they don’t have time to clip coupons for 50 cents off this and 10 cents off that, but the little ones really add up, especially if you have a store that doubles coupons like Giant Eagle. And the large coupons can often be combined with sales to get items for well over %50 off, sometimes, free, and sometimes you MAKE money. Imagine if you found one or two rebates per week. In a few weeks you’d be getting $1-$10 checks coming to your mailbox every week!
Here are some of my favorite coupon resources:
http://www.thecouponclippers.com (best for stockpiling; you get multiples of the same coupon)
http://www.coupons.com (easy to use, fast and free, print yourself)
http://www.mygrocerydeals.com/ (this is free, and it is kind of similar to http://www.thegrocerygame.com which I only recommend using for about a month or so if you are a newbie and want to figure out how this all works. After that, cancel and do it on your own for free.)
Ohio links:
North East Ohio Couponers
Joe the Coupon Guy (he actually holds classes!)
If you know other good (preferrably free) resources please comment!
Related Post: Stores that double coupons by state
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