Using coupons to cut your grocery bill...

Coupons aren't just for grandma anymore.  I'm sure you have seen or at least heard of the extreme couponers who hoard stockpile food and supplies.  Seeing those people with all that stuff makes me think of my poor, sweet grandma who was convinced she needed to take refuge in a storm shelter during Y2K, so she stocked it with non-perishable items.  BUT, I digress.  You don't need to be an extreme couponer to make coupons work for you.  I do not go crazy, and I am able to save $50-$100 off my grocery bill each time I go.  The most important thing to remember is to start slowly and do not get frustrated.  There is a lot of information floating around out there, and it's hard to keep track of all of it if it's not your full time job.

OK...here we go.

Some things to do in preparation:
1.  If you don't already have them, get a loyalty/club/rewards card from your local stores.  This will help reduce your grocery bill even if you don't have a coupon.  A lot of stores also offer other rewards in addition to money savings.
2.  Set up a separate email address for your couponing.  You will get a lot of emails for coupons.  You don't want this clogging up your regular inbox.
3.  Order 1 newspaper for each member of your household.  This will give you more coupons to cut.
4.  If you have an Iphone/Ipad or other smart phone, get the following apps.  They were all free!
          a.  Grocery Pal - this app allows you to view items on sale by different stores, make lists of items for
               purchase, compare price among different stores, etc.
          b.  Card Star - this allows you to put all your loyalty cards in one place.  No more carrying all those
               cards on your keychain.  All you need to do is pull this up on your phone and have it scanned.
          c.  Saving Star - this app is like magic.  You routinely open the app and click on the deals you want.
               The app will then link with your loyalty card.  Once you purchase the item you clicked, it will build
                an account for you.  Once your account reaches $5.00, you are eligible to receive a payment in
                the form of a bank deposit, Paypal deposit, Amazon.com gift card, etc.
           d.  Ibotta - This works very similarly to Saving star.  You pick the stores where you shop and the
                ecoupons for the items you plan to purchase.  Once you have purchased those items, you will take
                a picture of your receipt.  Ibotta will then confirm your purchases and create your
                "savings"account.
            e,  Endorse - This app, again, works a lot like Saving Star.  It works in conjunction with Facebook.
                 The offers here do not just apply to groceries.  I recently had an offer for 10% back on any
                 fast food.  Ca ching!
5.  Using your Facebook account, "like" the following pages:
            a.  We Use Coupons
            b.  Frugal Living and Having Fun
            c.  The Krazy Coupon Lady
            d.  Hip2Save
            e.  Stockpiling Moms
             f.  A lot of products have their own Facebook pages and will offer coupons after you "like" their
                 page.
6.  Go to www.lozo.com and sign up.  This website does most of the work for you.  You pick the coupons
      you want and then print them.  The first time I used this site, I got over 100 coupons.  In the interest of
      full disclosure, you will be asked to fill out our name and email address for a lot of these coupons.  This
      is where it will be handy to have your special couponing email address.
7.  Another website to use is coupons.com.


WHEW...time to take a breath!

OK, now that you've gotten yourself ready and started printing your coupons, it's time to start putting it together with sales at the stores.  Since you are getting at least 1 newspaper (BTW...I just get the Sunday paper, not through the week), you will get sales flyers for your local stores along with the national coupons.

Look through your sales flyers to see what things you normally purchase are on sale.  I circle these things with a sharpie.  You can also use your Grocery Pal app with these flyers to put things into a list.

Once you have all of your things circled and your lists made, it's time to tackle your big stack of coupons.

Bear in mind, I do not have the time, energy or patience to be an extreme couponer.  I do not look through all coupons and compare with all sales to see what would make money for me or what I could get for free just by using coupons.  If I know my family will not use it, I do not buy it.  My primary objective for couponing is to save money on my shopping bill.  The picture below is the stack I have accumulated for the past 2 weeks.
If you prefer, you can clip these and organize them as soon as you print them.  Waiting until you get a stack like this will take you a looooong time to cut and sort.

Most grocery stores have a map on their website so you can easily navigate through the store, but you can also use it to organize your coupons by aisle.  You can use whatever method of organization that works for you.  I tried the 3-ring binder with the baseball card clear plastic things.  That really did not work for me.  I now use envelopes, just plain white mailing envelopes with the name on the front (breakfast foods, frozen foods, canned goods, etc).  

This is what my ginormous stack of coupons looked like when I finally finished cutting and sorting.

Time for another breath.....

Now you are ready to tackle the shopping.  A few last things to remember before you do:

1.  Do not rule out places like CVS and Rite Aid for your shopping.  CVS takes coupons and they have ExtraBucks to go towards your next purchase.  RiteAid offers a similar program with their UP rewards.

2.  Pay special attention to Buy One Get One Free deals.  Yesterday, I saw Ballpark Franks were BOGO (buy 1 get 1) at my grocery store.  I had 2 coupons for $1 off Ballpark franks.  SOOO...I received 4 packs of hot dogs for $2 less than the price of 2 packs!  It's not quite grilling season where I live yet, so they will go in the freezer for the next few weeks.  

3.  Don't forget about your Ibotta and Endorse.  One of my Ibotta offers this week was for Ballpark franks, so on top of my huge savings listed in #2, I will now get money added to my Ibotta account for later withdrawal!  

That is a lot to take in...I know.  Take it 1 step at a time and you will be fine.  However, don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have along the way!  I'm here to help!

Why yes, that is a toilet paper roll...thanks for asking!

  Everyone seems to be talking about recycling, upcycling, bicycling these days.  We make all kinds of things from all kinds of things.  This little ditty is nothing short of wow.  

Take an ordinary toilet paper roll after you've finished using the paper.  Now, find something you need to organize....like all those USB cords, chargers, etc.  Stick the cord inside the roll, label the roll and store in a box of your choice!

See....I told you it was a wow!

Time for some didja know....

Didja know (did you know) is a technical term for helpful hint.  Below I have listed some that have recently come to mind.


DIDJA KNOW...

**  toothpaste can be used to buff out small scratches on your DVDs?

**  if you put a rubber band over a screw that has been stripped, you will be able to remove it?

**  a rubber band (or a hair tie) can be used to give you a little more room in your pants?  Face it, we all have days where we need a little more room...after dinner, when the dryer "shrinks your pants," etc.  Just hook one end of the band to your button, feed the other end through the button hole and then attach the second end over your button too.

**  a dryer sheet placed in your gym bag can keep the stink out?  Put one in each shoe or just one in the bag.

**  if you have a baking pan with baked on yuck, put a dryer sheet in it, add water and let sit for a few hours?  The yuck will wash right out!

**  while I'm stuck on dryer sheets....a dryer sheet rubbed lightly over your hair or clothing will eliminate static cling?

**  you can use a hair dryer to blow the dust out of a corner?

**  sandwich zip-lock bags can be used to pack your jewelry when you travel?  I plan each day's jewelry selection and put it in a bag.  I then place each individual bag into a pocket in my suitcase.  As each day goes by, just pull out your jewelry for the day!

**  drinking a little apple cider vinegar can help with nausea and heartburn?

**  apple cider vinegar dabbed on a pimple will make it less red and go away sooner?

**  making a paste with baking soda and water can help tame a canker sore?

**  putting a wooden spoon across a pot of boiling liquid will keep is from boiling over?

I think that's about it for now.  I will make another list and post more at a later time!

Crock pot cooking....let's get started.

So, if you are recently married or recently moved into your own place, you may have received a crock pot (slow cooker).  If not, you should make a trip to Target, Wal-Mart, or wherever you can find one.  Mine looks similar to this....http://www.target.com/p/crock-pot-6-qt-slow-cooker-red/-/A-14207121#prodSlot=medium_1_4&term=crock+pot.

But what if I can't cook?  It's OK!  Using a crock pot to cook is like not really cooking at all.  You just put your ingredients in the crock pot, turn it on and VOILA...Dinner.  You can do this in the morning before work and you have dinner when you get home.  This is also good for those "when are you going to have us over for dinner" occasions.

SO...I tried this recipe last night to make sure it was good before I posted it.  I'm glad I did.  It was delicious!  It is for barbecued chicken.  Mouth watering yet?

You will need to assemble the following ingredients:

crock pot
crock pot liners (see below)
chicken (I used just breast meat)
liquid measuring cup
solid measuring cup
measuring spoon

ketchup
vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
Worcestershire sauce
brown sugar
salt
mustard

Now--run to the store...I'll be here when you get back.

OK...now that you're back.  I never, and I mean never, use my crock pot without a liner.  This will save so much time in cleanup!

Once you have your liner in the crock pot, add your chicken.  Mine were frozen boneless, skinless breasts.  I happened to have a pack of Perdue in the freezer.  I tossed them in while they were still frozen.

Now you want to add your barbecue sauce ingredients.  Here's the recipe:

1 cup of ketchup

1/3 cup of vinegar

1/3 cup of Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of mustard

Again, I just dumped the ingredients on top of the chicken and put on the lid.  If you are doing this before work, turn the crock pot on low.  I, of course, did not think of that in the morning, so I did mine on high for about 2-3 hours and then turned it down.  

This chicken fell apart as I stirred it.  It was soooooo good.  

I made some rice (instant) and some frozen vegetables to go with it.  BAM!  15 minutes and dinner is ready.

I wanted to take some pictures of the finished product, but my boys jumped in too soon and ate it all before I got the chance.

Don't be scared, it's only a needle...and thread

  Where are the little gremlins who come in the middle of the night and chew holes in your shirts?  I am telling you...it has to be gremlins.  How else would they get there?

So, now what to do.  Don't throw away all your shirts.  Sewing the holes is not a difficult thing to do once you get the "hang" of it.  

First, you will need a sewing kit.  You don't need every sewing gadget known to mankind.  You just need the basics.  I think I got this one at the Dollar Store.

You will need a needle, thread and some scissors.  Normally, you would choose a thread color to match your shirt.  For the purposes of this post, I used a contrasting color so you could see what I was trying to accomplish.  Cut a piece of thread.  Take one end of the thread and "thread" it into the hole in the needle (what else would you do with thread?).  Anyway, once you have the needle threaded, match both ends of the thread so that the needle kind of splits the thread in half.  Tie the 2 ends of thread together and make a knot.  This will keep your thread from pulling through the hole.

                                                                                

Now, pick up whatever you are going to sew.  Pinch the edges of the hole together.  Insert the needle a little bit below the hole.  Push the needle through the other side of the hole and pull the needle until the knot stops you.  This will be the first stitch.  Now...go back to where you started.  Insert the needle just above the spot where you made your first stitch (remembering to keep it below the hole).  

Push it through the other side of the hole.  (sorry about the picture quality...trying to hold the shirt and take the picture with the other hand did not work out so well).  STOP BEFORE YOU PULL THE THREAD TIGHT on the second stitch.  At this point, you want to push the needle through the loop you created on top of the material...DO NOT MAKE ANOTHER STITCH IN THE MATERIAL YET.  

Now is when you want to pull the thread tight.  Pushing the needle under that loop and then pulling the thread tight helps to lock the stitch in and make it more secure. You will now continue on with the same process inserting the needle through both sides of the hole and then under the loop, pulling tight, etc. until you have completely stitched closed the hole.  Once you have done that, you need to tie off the end of your thread.  To do that, you make a loop of thread without pushing it through the material and then feeding the needle through that loop.  Keep the loop close to the material.  Pull the thread tight to make a knot and then cut the thread above the knot.  

OK...that sounds pretty confusing when you read it.  Here are 2 little videos to help you....

sewing 1.htm

Emergency candles.....

Crisco...it's not for baking and frying anymore.  A Crisco 48 oz tub is about $5 where I live.  Well worth the money.  If the power goes off and you have no candles handy, pull out your Crisco.  Stick in some toothpicks or something else to serve as a wick and light.  It will burn like a candle for short periods of time.

When the power comes back...bake yourself some cookies!

Start your savings account....without the bank

I got this idea, as I do many of my brilliant ideas, from Pinterest.  It's so easy.  Get an empty jar, can or whatever you prefer.  Every time you have a $5 bill in your possession, put it in the jar.  Now, here comes the hard part...forget it's there unless you are adding money to it.  It's very easy to see something you want and dip into the jar.  Only do this for life-or-death emergencies.  I am currently working on my stash for our summer vacation.