Couponing Beyond the Sunday Papers

Printable Coupons 

There are many coupon printing websites out there but I personally, am not a huge fan. Ink, at least for my printer, is incredibly expensive! So, one has to figure out how much of their coupon savings are going right back out the door to pay for the ink and paper. I will still peek around the printable coupon sites and if there is a great deal, I’ll absolutely use it. Realistically, those deals are far and few between and most times, if it’s that great of a deal, I’d rather use a clipping service (more on that shortly) and be able to buy more than one or two. If you do decide to use printables, below are some links to get you started.

*Note: Please be careful about printable coupon sites. Most of them require you to install printing software in order to use their site. This is all fine and dandy but I have found that some of them also install spyware/adware onto your hard drive. I have tried to weed out those sites from my recommended link list below, but I still recommend running a free program such as Spybot Search and Destroy after installing any type of software.

http://www.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=5S2ZUA6PWPEPO

http://www.couponnetwork.com/?utm_source=hotcouponworld&utm_medium=Affiliate

http://www.redplum.com/coupons.aspx?t1id=1118&t2id=1118&t1=grocery&t2=&view=all

http://www.valpak.com

http://www.coupons.com/Couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=13306&zid=iq37&nid=10

http://www.redplum.com/

http://www.pgeverydaysolutions.com/pgeds/pg-brandsaver-samples-coupons.jsp

http://www.couponloop.com/

Clipping Services

I love, love, love clipping services! If you want to save a lot on a particular product when it hits its rock bottom price before coupons, clipping services cannot be beat. If I spot a great deal coming up, say $1 baby wipes, I can hop onto one of the clipping websites and simply order however many of the coupons (Most sites have a limit to how many of one coupon you can order in a week) that I need and a couple of days later, there they are in my mailbox, clipped and ready to go! How cool is that?! In addition, some sites allow you to order entire inserts! This is a fabulous and fairly inexpensive way to build up a stockpile of coupons if you are just getting started. Keep in mind, time is of the essence in these types of situations, so order your coupons from a nearby vendor so delivery is fairly quick. Also, make sure you start your planning early in the week so you have time to wait for them to arrive.

*Coupons cannot be sold/bought. You are paying for the time and effort of the person who is cutting them out and mailing them to you!

Please visit: Hot Coupon World for a great list of available clipping services or just head on over to Google (Google knows all)!

www.hotcouponworld.com/resources/coupon-clipping-services/

Stockpiling 101

Although stockpiling is basically the heart of couponing, it can also be a touchy subject amongst couponers. I am of the mindset that it is fine to stock up on items – within reason. I have two big, 5 tiered shelves in my laundry room where most of my stockpile resides. I do not, however, understand why any one family really needs 200 boxes of cereal. Cereal goes bad, right? How will you consume those 200 boxes of cereal before they are stale?! I just don’t get it. But, alas, we are all free to do what we want, so if you are one of those couponers who really want to take this to the extreme, you go for it! Otherwise, please consider donating your excess items to a local food shelf/shelter. There are lots of people out there who can benefit from your time and generosity.

The first step in stockpiling is knowing what items you should stock up on. You can buy 100 shampoos because they won’t go bad but you have to consider consumption rates vs. expiration dates. Because every household varies in what they use, I won’t bore you with the details of my stockpile list - instead I’ll just give you a printable that you can customize: Here http://frugalliving.about.com/library/pdfs/StockpileListbw.pdf.

Just as important as knowing what to buy, is knowing when to buy. Overtime, you will learn what is a bad price, fair price, a good price, an excellent price, and a rock bottom price. Of course, you always want to buy when the product is at its rock bottom price but excellent or good prices are okay buy times too, if you need or want that product.

Many people create what is called a Price book. A price book is just what the title implies – a book (physical / on computer) in which you record price trends for products you use. I personally started one of these and quickly discovered how much work they were and decided to abandon it. I usually have a great memory, so I just tend to remember prices, plus the website I use each week when creating my shopping lists, will note if something has reached its rock bottom price. If you want to try your hand at making a price book here are a couple links to get you started:

http://frugalliving.about.com/od/foodsavings/a/Price_Book.htm

http://organizedhome.com/printable/household-notebook/price-book

Pricing Strategies

Pricing strategies are highly dependent on where you live. What is a great price for toilet paper in California would be a horrible price here in Minnesota. Ultimately, you have to figure it out for yourself but, as always, the web is a wondrous place, so I found this printable http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/2010/03/when-to-stock-up.html when I first started couponing and it did help me quite bit.

That’s it for this week! Tune in next Tuesday when we will talk about Catalina coupons and store reward systems.

The Super-Duper Couponing 'Secret'

We see it all over the TV - people waltzing into their local grocery store and, in an adrenaline filled frenzy, they fill their carts with multitudes of canned goods, boxed dinners and shiny packages and - best of all - they pay little to nothing for it all. It seems like a dream scenerio or , more likely, a scripted TV show on The Learning Channel.

While it is completely possible to cut your shopping bill by half or better using coupons and other frugal living techniques, it is very unlikely that you will (or should) have your own grocery store in your spare room for pennies on the dollar.

The secret to couponing is pairing store sales with available manufacturer’s coupons. Each Sunday, you can study your favorite stores circulars and, using an online coupon database, pair the sales with available coupons. Instead of spending hours looking through circulars, however, I let other people do the leg work for me! There are a million websites out there that list all of the great deals (sorted by store), tell you exactly what coupons to use, and even have searchable databases that list every available coupon (expired and not expired)!

Hop on to Google and start searching! A good keyword search to start with is “coupon database + your zip code” or “couponing + your zip code”. There are so many choices available, have fun exploring before choosing your favorite. An example of a great couponing site is: www.pocketyourdollars.com. It has a searchable coupon database, a searchable online coupon database, and store specific shopping lists (soooo useful). Try to find one that is similar! Another resource that I just stumbled upon is "The Frugal Map" - What an awesome idea!

I get 2 Sunday papers delivered to my house (I got crazy deals on the subscriptions) and I also have friends and family that give me their inserts. If I know that there are going to be a lot of inserts, or specific coupons that I love, I will go to the gas station and buy more papers or use a clipping service (More on clipping services later).

To Clip or Not to Clip

 I save a ton of time and effort by not clipping each and every coupon, like I know many couponers do. I see these women with binders that are litterally,  5 + inches think and must weigh 10 pounds. Instead, I have a storage tub that is designed to hold file folders. Each month has its own folder and every Sunday, I write that days date on the front of each (whole) coupon insert. I then file them in sequential order - this helps when using couponing websites, as they tell you which coupons to clip by the date that they were issued.

Every Sunday I go to my favorite website, search each store, and copy and paste the items I want to buy into my computers Notepad (each store has its own saved Notepad document). Next, I simply clip only the coupons I need, and finally, I put all of the coupons and an individualized list into a separate envelop for each store.

 *I do also have a coupon binder for coupons that I clip but don't end up using or for stray coupons.

Databases  and Forums (Let’s you know what deals are coming, also great places to ask questions): 

www.pocketyourdollars.com

www.frugalgirls.com

www.afullcup.com/

www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/coupon.php

www.becentsable.net/

www.bargainbriana.com/

www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/store-deals/ (Find specific stores forums)

Tune in next Tuesday when we will talk about: Printable coupons, Clipping services, and Stockpiling!

Things I Wish I had Known Before I had my Baby

1.     Your child will never wear all of those adorable clothes that you got at your shower. All we needed was Sleep and Play’s (pajama type things with feet)  and one or two cute “going out” outfits, for the early stages of growth. My son LIVES in Sleep and Play’s. It’s colder than a witches tit here in Minnesota, so we rarely take him anywhere – and let’s just be honest here- there is no point in dressing a little baby in a Onesie, pants, socks, shoes, and a sweatshirt. All this does is A) Make it harder to change that diaper that already feels like you're changing every ten minutes B) Produces a lot more laundry that you have absolutely no time to wash, let alone fold and put away in some sort of organized manner and C) Makes you feel horrible that you have two drawers full of clothes that your baby has never worn and now, because he grows like a weed, never will wear. My suggestion is to keep the tags on all but about two changes per day of whatever type of clothes you choose to dress your little one in. If/when they outgrow the rest, you can exchange them.

2.     People will feel the need to bring your child something every time they come over. It’s not that we don’t appreciate their well intended gifts but we’ve got nowhere to put all of this stuff! We by no means have a small house but we don’t live in a palatial estate either. Our basement, which is supposed to be being turned into a playroom, is FULL of stuff that has no home.

3.     You really do forget the pain of childbirth. It’s just a vague memory now and I had six hours of back labor, so that’s really saying something! I can remember sounds, sights, smells, and emotions from the moment when I held Wee-man for the first time and yet, like my expensive wedding, labor and delivery is just a blur.

4.     If you’re not careful, in no time flat, you will become one of those blathering parents who never shuts their pie holes about how amazing their baby is. Your baby simply must be a prodigy. Tread carefully friend – no one wants to hear about your kid 24/7.

5.     The saying, “Time flies” is a saying for a reason. When you are operating on two hours of fitful sleep, it may seem like the day is never going to end but I promise, it will. And as that beautiful baby grows (so fast it makes you dizzy), you will wish that you could pause time.

6.     When you have a tear or have abrasions, it is possible for you to develop a condition called Labial Adhesion. In all of the reading and research I had done while pregnant, I had never, not once, read anything about this. Yet, the doctor’s all say, “It’s not uncommon”. Well, Einstein, if it’s not uncommon, why the hell wasn’t I warned about it?! After six weeks of recovering from childbirth, I then had to have a minor surgery on my labia. This. Sucked. Ass.

While the anxiety leading up to the surgery was overwhelming for me, the actual procedure was quick and the recovery was relatively painless. The worst part was the Lidocain injections. Yes, I said injections. In. Your. Hoo-ha.

This whole thing could have been avoided if I had been informed. My advice is, right after giving birth, ask the doctor if you have labial abrasions. If you do, every day, while you are taking a bath/shower, manipulate ALL external parts of your genital area (Labia majora, labia minora, and clitoris). After you dry everything very thoroughly, apply a small amount of KY Jelly to the labia majora and labia minora. This will help prevent the various parts from adhering to one another. Spread the word, sisters.

7.     “Sleep while the baby sleeps” – utter nonsense. You will always find that there is something that absolutely must be done while your little one sleeps because there is no other time to get it done. Those dishes aren’t going to wash themselves!

8.     Breast feeding is a beautiful bonding experience. It is also true that it is very good for your little bundle of joy. It can also be, however, very difficult and very, very painful.
Don’t get me wrong – I am in full support of breast feeding and I think, barring some medical condition, every mother should at least try it, for the well-being of the child.

I just wish that someone had prepared me. The exhaustion was already present from the birth and the constant interrupted sleep but it was absolutely amplified by breast feeding.
The exhaustion was followed by pain. My Wee-man repeatedly latched on and pulled away – over and over and over. This led to very painful feedings for mama. It also led to double mastitis - Also, extremely painful – in my opinion, more painful then childbirth. After I had recovered from the double mastitis, I then had the joy of a yeast infection of the milk ducts. Yay.

After the second round of infection, I just couldn’t do it anymore. The guilt I felt over my decision to stop breast feeding was horrendous and quite overwhelming. I felt like the worst mother in the world. I felt so selfish.

After a lot of soul searching, speaking with my doctor, and also a lot of reading on the net, I started to feel like a decent human being again. I realized that I was being entirely too hard on myself. The pain of breast feeding was robbing me of the joy and bonding that should happen with feeding time. I also firmly believe that my frustration and pain was being transferred to my son. As I was crying silently from the pain, he would scream and thrash when I tried to feed him. As soon as we moved to the bottle, his whole demeanor changed. He eagerly accepted the bottle, he was eating for much longer periods of time, he seemed to be satiated, and the screaming and thrashing immediately stopped. I finally felt the joy and the overwhelming feeling of love and closeness with my son during feeding time. I literally wept. It was one of the best parenting decisions I’ve made thus far. That being said, I would absolutely do it all over again because I know that six weeks of breast milk can make an enormous impact.

9.     You know how when you’re pregnant, every one forgets that you still have a right to personal boundaries (physical and otherwise)? Yeah, that doesn’t stop once the baby is on the outside. Everyone has an opinion, everyone has advice, and many people will openly question your parenting choices. You must learn to both respond politely (or at least without tearing their face off) and let people and their judgments roll off your back. Someone once asked me, “You’re not going to go down the stairs with him are you?!” Really? Yes, I have actually become quite adept at these strange things we call stairs. Holy shit.

10.  People can tell you and tell you about how awesome the parenting experience is but the fact is, there is absolutely no way you will ever truly understand that until your little person is here. The first time he smiled directly at me, the first time he really laughed, the first time he rolled over – all of these things were, individually, ten times more exhilarating then zip-lining through the Costa Rican rainforest or repelling down a twenty story building in a military obstacle course.

Every single day I am dumbfounded at the tremendous amount of love, pride, joy, and pure fun that Wee-man has brought us. I will do anything to get him to smile and laugh in that belly-busting way that he has just recently started doing. I will do anything to keep him safe. I will do everything in my power to make sure he has the best life I can possibly give him. He is the best thing we have ever done.