Monthly Archives: January 2010

Frugal Living Tip #5: Shop At Home

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savvy_125

In this case, I’m not referring to Shop At Home (to get cash back on your purchases.)  I mean: shop your pantry, shop your linen closet, shop your stockpile.  Just to be clear, stockpiling does not equal hoarding.  There should only be two objectives when stockpiling:  to avoid EVER paying full retail price and to collect more to donate!

Today’s Frugal Living Tip is:  SHOP AT HOME

Shop Your Pantry:

If you’re grocery shopping with a strategy similiar to mine, you’re buying multiples of staple ingredients.  (Read the first two paragraphs of any Meijer weekly deals for my strategy.  Example HERE.)  Make an effort to plan menus #1 using the items already in your pantry/freezer and #2 from items in the weekly sale ads.  This was the idea behind NO SHOP January – I’ll humor myself and imagine you all participated in your own way ;-)

Shop Your Linen Closet:

(Or where ever it is you keep your personal care and household items.)  Because I make the effort to gather more coupons, I have 6 months worth of FREE toothpaste in my closet.  When I run out, I don’t have to throw a full-priced tube in my grocery cart.  I can spend that $3.00 on perishables.

Shop Your Stockpile:

This one is my favorite.  My goal is to keep about 6 months worth of necessities on hand in case ________. 
a.  I run out
b.  I have an unexpected change in my employment situation.
c.  Disaster strikes. (No, I don’t have a bomb shelter.)
d.  Someone I know needs something.
e.  Someone I don’t know needs something.

Frugal Living Tip #4: Get More Coupons

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savvy_125

If you’re going to go through all this “work” of using coupons, are you going to go to the store with your one little set of coupons you got from the Sunday paper you subscribe to?  NO!

You need to go armed with MANY coupons so you make an actual impact on your budget and out of pocket (OOP).

Today’s Frugal Living Tip:  GET MORE COUPONS!

So how do you get more coupons?

Buy more papers!
I frequently incorporate multiple Sunday papers into my drugstore Savvy Scenarios and get my $2 Sunday paper for 25-50% off! Friends and family also save inserts for me. AND umm… is anyone willing to share the location of a newspaper recycling location? I’m not above dumpster diving… *gasp*

Print more!
Print coupons you want as soon as you see them because they often have print limits. They reset and reappear at will! Here is a controversial tip and I’ll leave it up to your discretion: you can find different coupons/values by searching under different zip codes.

  • Coupons.com – this is my favorite site and I check it daily.
  • Smartsource – Original Flavor HERE or Family Fare Flavor HERE
  • Red Plum – smaller selection and slower reset, but usually high value.

Purchase more!

  • The Coupon Clippers – great alternative if you don’t like to clip coupons PERIOD. You purchase only the coupons you want without purchasing a whole insert.  If you run out, reorder and they arrive in a couple days!
  • Ebay – some people have great luck finding a particular coupon on eBay.  Just be careful not to over-pay for coupons!  Shop through Ebates for cash back on Ebay purchases.

Stack coupons!
See Frugal Living Tip #2

Join Vocal Point!
What is Vocal Point?

What’s your favorite way to collect coupons?

Coupon Insert Preview 1/24

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coupon preview

There will be 2 inserts in this Sunday’s paper. *As always, coupons and values vary by region, so please use this as a guide only.

1/24 Smart Source Insert
Great Super Bowl coupons:
Kraft or Cracker Barrel Natural Cheese, shreds or chunks – $1.00 off any 2 (x2/28)
Hormel Chili – 55 cents off any 2 (x3/21)
Stacys Pita or Bagel Chips, 7.5oz+ – $1.00 off any 1 (x2/28)

1/24 Red Plum Insert
Red Plum is no longer distributing inserts in some areas.  Are you having Red Plum drama?  Go HERE to find out which of your local papers still include the Red Plum insert or see if it’s available to you via mail.  Don’t forget, you can always purchase coupons HERE.

(Thanks, SCP!)

*Question for locals:  RP says we should still be receiving inserts in the Grand Rapids Press but I didn’t get it last week.  Are you still getting RP??

Frugal Living Tip #3: Stockpiling

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savvy_125

Today’s Frugal Living Tip is STOCKPILE!

Stockpiling:  buying as much of a useful product as you can afford and have room to store when the prices are lowest (by combining coupons, sales, and rebates) so you’re not subjected to full retail prices!

Sales are cyclical.  Buy what you can at rock-bottom prices to last you until the next sale!  In my mind, there are three types of pricing:  retail, buy, and stockpile.

  • Retail price = what the store wants me to pay (this may even be a “sale” price).
  • Buy price = the price I’m willing to pay if I need something and have a coupon for it.
  • Stockpile price = the lowest price at which I buy as many as possible.

Stockpile products you will ALWAYS need… like toilet paper. For example, the retail price for Quilted Northern Ultra Plush is around 58 cents.  Suggested “buy” price for toilet paper is 42 cents per double roll.  This past summer, I purchased Quilted Northern Ultra Plush (that’s like the ultra-elusive Queen/King toilet paper couponers only dream about, just so you know) for 8 cents per double roll!

It was on sale at Rite Aid so I used manufacturer coupons, RAVV coupons, AND a purchase coupon all rolled up into a Savvy Scenario.  (Explained in Frugal Living Tip #2: Stack Coupons.)  When I tell you I purchased 84 rolls (and you know I am one person living in a 700 sq ft space) refrain from thinking I’m crazy.  The point is, I bought as much as I could because it was ridiculously cheap and I don’t need to buy it again until the next sale cycle!

Stockpiling requires more coupons than just one little coupon insert in your Sunday paper can provide you.  See Frugal Living Tip #4: Get More Coupons.