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!

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.

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.  

1. Asparagus
2. Avocados
3. Bananas
4. Broccoli
5. Cabbage
6. Corn (sweet, frozen)
7. Kiwi
8. Mangos
9. Onions
10. Pineapples
11. Peas (sweet, frozen)

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.

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

 The funny thing is, I’m supposed to tell them what my dog did in reaction to them. Um, he ate them. Fast. He didn’t care which one he was getting.  I looked at the ingredients, and they were the same except one said “meat” and one said “beef.”  My dog is happy. And when I get my $2 for doing this cool survey, I’ll be happy too.  Heck I already am happy!  Thanks Mindfield!

That was a new one on me, I don’t think I’d ever heard of a night nanny. Of course, she does do day work too. One of her clients is going on an adult-only vacation, so she’ll have the kids for a whole week. She doesn’t have a web site yet so I can’t promote her, but she’s here in Cleveland, Ohio, and her business is called Rock-A-Bye-Baby. Good luck!

Now, regarding Thomas Mulready of CoolCleveland.com, this guy is amazing.  I’ve subscribed to his e-newsletter for probably a year now and never realized what a huge venture it actually is. This guy has done everything from Communications for National City Bank and Vicks to founding a performance arts festival that has showcased 100 acts a year for over ten years here in Cleveland.

He stressed the importance of podcasts. He said videos get clicked more than text links 5 to 1 in his emails. He had a cute story about how his email list began. Cirque du Soleil was in Cleveland and he met some of the performers, who expressed their boredom with the city to him. He said he would prove them wrong, asked for their email addresses, and promised to email them a list of cool things to do here in Cleveland. After sending it to the performers, he sent it to his friends, who started to tell him about THEIR events and ask to be included. Now he sells advertising, holds parties, and gives speeches like the one I attended today.

He also highlighted for us just how much we’ve shifted. I know as a writer, I dream of getting published in hard print. Well Thomas Mulready had a monthly, full-page column in an important local magazine for 3 years. In his talks, he asks people to raise their hands if they get the magazine.  Then he asks how many of them had ever seen his column. Today, I think one person still had a hand up. He said that always happens, people have read the magazine faithfully for years and have no idea who he is.

His point was the internet is preferred because we SEEK out the information that is important to us. It’s hard to push information down someone’s throat unless they were already looking for it.

One day when I was very young, I hung a sign on my bedroom door that said, “Rainbow Factory - $.10 per Rainbow.”  I got two customers that day - my mom and my dad, who each paid ten cents and each got a beautiful rainbow, drawn by me, with Crayola markers.

A year or two later I put up a new sign. This one said, “Butterfly Factory - From the Maker of Rainbow Factory - $.25 a Butterfly.”

I think each venture lasted a day or two. I would love to say I went on to become an artist, but for some reason I moved away from art and toward other things in college. Looking back I get a chuckle that I had such ideas, and sometimes wonder if that spirit is still inside me.

So, what did you do as a child?  Why not revisit those activities and start making money again?  Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. You Ran a Lemonade Stand
Create a new lemonade!  Buy some fruit, juice, and other ingredients and spend some time experimenting. Write down each recipe and every measurement as you go, and tweak a little with each try. Once you have something delicious and unique, you can start selling the fresh, healthy drink at church bazaars, neighborhood sales, and flea markets!  If you have any small, independent health food stores nearby you could approach them as well. Who knows, you might even find a health-conscious business owner interested in partnering with you, bottling it up, and getting distribution.

2. You mowed lawns or shoveled snow 
As a single woman I can tell you there have been many times I wished I knew of someone who was willing to handle these tasks for me. Make up a flier and create a listing at an online classifieds site like Craigslist or Backpage. Fliers could go in laundromats and store bulletin boards, and you can get to know the people in your neighborhood to see if they need help. Ask your friends if they have any friends or relatives who need help with such tasks, and remember to offer a “Friends and Family Discount.” Also, don’t forget about poop-scooping! If you don’t have a schedule flexible enough to offer pet sitting, try this instead. I know a woman who does this full-time. She offers her services for free whenever shelters or pet stores have outdoor public events in exchange for a booth for her own advertising.

3. You organized car washes
We all know there are free car washes on every corner in the summer, but instead of trying to get people to come to you, GO TO THEM!  Offer a car wash pick-up service.  You’ll pick up their car while they are at work, wash and vacuum/wipe down/detail the interior, and return to their workplace to get paid.  You might have to start with friends, neighbors, and family until you become a trusted business, or you can approach car wash operations and see if they would be interested in the idea. Now that I think about it, I’m going to see if anyone in my area offers this for oil changes, too.

4. You had a paper route 
Start a courier service.  This will likely be more successful in a larger city and you might need to tell your car insurance company that you are using your vehicle for work.  This would be a good opportunity to purchase a magnetic sign for your car, such as those offered at magneticsignsontime.com. A similar possibility is an errand-running or grocery shopping service, which could be a god-send to busy mothers or the elderly. 

5. You helped the younger kids with homework after school 
There are many sites that need online tutors. You can start at tutor.com  Or, this  could be a nice opportunity to work at home with kids in your town.  The web sites TutorLinker.com and TutorMatch.com can help you do just that. You could start your own web site advertising these services.

6. You helped mom bake cookies for the bake sale or made the pot-luck dinners
Offer an in-home cooking service or a learn-to-cook in your own home seminar. There are a lot of people who either don’t like to cook or can’t do it comfortably due to age or illness. The seminar could be every other week for 5 weeks, or longer durations for more lessons.

With commitment, any of these jobs can become professional and fruitful….even franchised. But for the Renaissance Lifers out there, they can begin as a few fun pools to dip your toes in.

My favorite site back then was Volition.com. It was so exciting to have a LONG list of mystery shopping companies in front of me. I methodically went down the list and applied to probably each and every one.  I even spent the $15 to become a certified mystery shopper!!! I had a lot of free time during the week, I was driving a car that got over 30 mpg, and no one was talking about how expensive gas was. I routinely set my shopping radius at 50 miles.

Getting jobs assigned to me became as addictive as eBay. You had the find the job, sign up for it, wait to hear if you got accepted, then ACCEPT the job! Then you’d often have to go through some training for that particular assignment. It proved quite challenging to find the time to devote to this process, especially if you were out all day, say, MYSTERY SHOPPING!

But I kept at it as much as I could.  I met people online who claimed it was their full-time gig and they paid the bills with it.  Maybe they were insomniacs who had the time to search all night and shop all day…then don’t forget reporting your findings all evening. Doing the shop itsself is the EASY third of the entire process!

This isn’t to say that mystery shopping is completely draining or not worth the time.  I once went a whole year getting free Oil Changes from my favorite oil change shop thanks to mystery shopping!  I still get the offers to do these shops in my email and if I’m checking my email enough during the day I can still get accepted to do them before other shoppers in my town swipe them first.

One company that seems especially in need of shoppers, at least here in the Cleveland, Ohio area, is Corporate Research International. They have a lot of pizza evaluation shops right now, so if you like pizza, check them out!

If you couldn’t guess by the title of my blog, I don’t put all of my eggs in one basket.  Mystery shopping can be fun, fruitful, challenging, and even satisfying! But I spend my time and energy evenly committing to various types of contract jobs. This avoids burn-out and setting myself up for disappointment. Approach it as a fun activity to do when you have the time. Don’t plan on getting rich on this one type of work - that’s really my running theme on all topics. Renaissance Lifers want work to be fun, not a chore. So find jobs that work with your life and schedule, not against it. I will help you!

My bookmarks are chock-full of mystery shopping companies.  Here are some that I’ve had success with:

Ann Michaels & Associates

BMA

INSITE

Palm Scheduling

Plenty more links where those came from! More to come.

Once I got paid $30 just for trying two different types of hot dogs!  Probably the best $30 I ever made, plus I learned that I HATE Nathan’s hot dogs.