Couponing for a Cause

Please come and shop with us for the Couponing for a Cause food drive on November 12 from 9am-12pm at Hancock's Market in Princeton. Hancock's will be doubling for the event and all donations will go to the Hope/Cope/Migrant Centers of Caldwell County. I hope that everyone will come out and support this cause!

New Dollar General Tips

While teaching my class yesterday I picked up some great new General Dollar tips from a participant that I wanted to share with everyone! First of all Dollar General has started placing pads of in-store coupons around the store, while these deals alone are not always that great, I have found out that you can pair them with manufactures coupons which makes for some very sweet deals, this is also true with coupons printed from the Dollar General website that say Dollar General exclusive on them. Also, with the $5 off $25 promotion, if the cashier scans that coupon before your manufactures coupons then you do not have to worry about the limit, and you can do two transactions, say you have $50 worth of pre-coupon items, you can break that into two transactions and use two $5 off $25 coupons. So with all of this in consideration it looks like as I had hoped, that one of the smaller stores is going to step-up and make couponing there attractive!

Not-So Extreme Couponing Class

The next date for my "Not-So Extreme Couponing" class is this Saturday, Sept. 17 at the George Coon Public Libary in Princeton, KY at 10am. There is a $5 charge to cover the cost of materials, I hope to see everyone there!

Sept. All You Mag

There are a couple of really good articles on couponing in the September addition of All You Magazine that you may want to check out. One is on how to deal with changing coupon policies. http://www.allyou.com/budget-home/money-shopping/coupon-policies-00411000073041/ The other article that I want to point out deals with finding new sources for coupons. http://www.allyou.com/budget-home/money-shopping/find-coupons-00411000072983/ So yet another reason to snag this months copy!

Coupon meet and swap

Thank you to everyone who joined me this morning for the first (hopefully monthly) Coupon meet and Swap today. I hope everyone had a great time and picked up some good coupons! I have scheduled another one for October 1, same time and place, hope to see you all again and bring a friend!

Pilgrim's farm coupon

There is a new coupon floating about for Pilgrim's Farm frozen fully cooked chicken. I don't recall having seen this product around here but it is worth a try since meat coupons are so rare. The coupon is listed under zip code 77380 http://www.coupons.com/couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=15493&zid=yn07&nid=10&bid=0820050834673179d6d3219

Expired Coupons??

For those of you wondering what to do with your expired coupons that you have laying around (it seems such a waste to just throw them away), I have an answer. You can send them to " Coups for Troops" an organization that sends the expired coupons to US military families living abroad to use. Check them out on Facebook for more info on how you can help! http://www.facebook.com/#!/CoupsForTroops

Don't forget!

Come out and join us this Saturday morning for the first (possible monthly) Coupon Meet and Swap in Princeton. This even will be at the George Coon Public Library in Princeton from 10:30am-11:30am.. Bring your coupons that you would like to trade pre-sorted into the following categories:  Deli/Produce, Frozen, Cereal/Snacks, Baking Supplies, Canned/Boxed Goods, Cleaning, Medications/First Aid, Health/Beauty, Baby,and Pets. There will be several door prizes up for grabs as well so make sure you plan to attend!

Coupon Bonus Packs of Prilosec

I found packs of Prilosec today at Walmart with $5 worth of P&G coupons inside. These where by the check out and clearance price at $11.xx, there are plenty of coupons to match up with this deal so if you use the product it should be well worth your purchase. Happy Shopping!

Redplum Radio Show

I have never checked this out personally, but I looks like it could be something useful to listen to every now and then, this week they will be talking about savings strategies for back-to-school. This episode will air at 4pm eastern time today! http://www.redplum.com/pages/viewarticle.aspx?id=2147484800

Coupon Meet and Swap

Don't forget to join me this Saturday 8/20/11 for the Couponer's Meet and Swap from 10:30am-11:30am at the George Coon Public Library in Princeton. There will be door prizes and a great opportunity to meet and socialize with other couponers. I hope to see everyone there!

$5 off $25 This Saturday at Dollar General

There is a "Super Saturday" coupon printing this week with any purchase a Dollar General good for $5 off $25 good this Saturday 8/20/11, this coupon can also be printed on their website if you need one. While you are at the website there are some other great coupons too: $1.00 off any Rexall allergy priced $2.00 or more, this product is buy one get one free at $3.00 this week so after the coupon this is two boxes for $2.00, they also have a 20% off your entire school supply purchase. So come to the Couponer Meet and Swap this Saturday and then head over to Dollar General to use your new coupons with bonus savings!

http://www.dollargeneral.com/coupons/Pages/index.aspx

Luv's $5 bonus coupon packs

For those of you that still have little ones in diapers, I noticed some Luv's packs at the Dollar General yesterday that had $5 in bonus coupon inside. I did not get a chance to snap a picture, but it looked like the items that the coupons for where not baby related, and where more household type items. So be on the lookout for these if you need diapers and catch some extra savings.

Ronco Pasta Coupon

Sign up for an free account on Ronco pasta's website and they will send you a free coupon in your inbox for .55 off any Ronco pasta. I don't recall seeing this brand locally, but I will be on the look out for it!
http://www.roncorecipes.com/coupons/list

A new coupon match up tool

Here is a link to a great little tool for matching up sales prices and printable coupons that I borrowed from a friends facebook page (thank you!), as usual not alot of local stores but there are a few listed and anything helps! http://www.allyou.com/static/weekly-circulars/?genUrl=true&forNav=1&omniref=1&zipCode=42445&tab=browse&page=1&storeID=31&store=Save-A-Lot&ay_ret=SaveALot&ay_cat=

Fage Greek yogurt coupons!

For those of you that love Greek yogurt like I do there are some great printable coupons out there right now! If you "like" Fage yogurt on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/FAGE you can print off two coupons a $2.00 off 2 and a $2.00 off 5. This is a pricier brand so I usually save these for a Kroger run and then pair my coupons with a "manager's special". Happy Shopping!

Hancock's Neighborhood Market 8/10-8/16/2011

After my successfully use of the pork ribs coupon last week, I am seriously taking another look at the possibility of couponing at Hancock's on a regular basis, so with that in mind I have "cherry picked" a few deals that they have going on this week that might interest everyone.

Totino's Pizza $1.00 use printable $1/4 final price .75 each
Totino's Pizza Rolls $1.00 use printable .40/2 final price .80 each
Pillsbury canned dough products are all on sale this week and there where alot of possibilities for those.
Pillsbury toaster strudel 2/$4 use printable .50/2 final price $1.75 each


This is by no means all they  have on sale this week or a full match-up just a few things that caught my eye, this may become a good local store to coupon at if we start frequenting them!

$1.50 off Hormel Canadian Bacon coupon deal

There is a printable coupon available for Hormel Canadian Bacon on http://www.coupons.com/ as many of you know, but I found out today that you should be able to use this coupon on the small chunks of Canadian bacon in the pizza toppings section making them less than $1.00, Canadian bacon is the meat of choice for homemade pizza around here so we will be stocking up!

Dollar General Coupon

There is a 20% off any home decor or dorm accessory purchase on the Dollar General website that can be printed out. This is great if you are needing new hangers, organizers or towels and sheets for back-to-school, they have got some really cute stuff right now. Happy Shopping! http://www.dollargeneral.com/coupons/Pages/index.aspx

Door prizes for Coupon Meet & Swap on 8/20

There will be three door prizes that you will have a chance to win if you attend the Meet & Swap on 8/20. They are: a 70oz box of Tide detergent with $3.00 worth of coupons inside, a $25.00 restaurants.com certificate to Shandies's American Restaurant in Paducah, a $25.00 restaurants.com certificate to Martin Fierro Argentinean Grill in Padcucah. I hope to see everyone there!

Expo Markers

Here is another great back to school coupon available.  $2.00 of any 2 packs of  Expo markers! Like the Bic pen deal if you look you should be able to get four packs of these for free (I believe that Walgreens has them for .99 a pack is week). Thanx to the Hopkins County Couponer for originally posting this deal! The coupon is at http://www.coupons.com/ I found it under 42445 zip code. Enjoy!

Another round of great on box cereal coupons!

While shopping today I noticed several good on box cereal promotions that are going on right now. This first is Kellogg's cereals, market boxes have high dollar peelies on them making them a great return purchase item, just use your existing Kellogg's cereal coupons to purchase the box and then use the peelie for your next purchase of the cereal ( just make sure that you pull the coupons and file it before you get to the register so the cashier doesn't use it for today's purchase, and please don't "peelie pick").

The next one is also a Kellogg's promotion, but it is on cereal bars.

The final deal I spotted is a group of coupons in the box and if you flip it over it shows the items to be things like Campbell's soup, Ziploc, Pepperidge Farms, sorry put my picture did not come out clear for the back of the box that showed the items.

Happy shopping everyone!





Monthly shopping trip statistics

I just completed my monthly grocery shopping trip and I thought that I would share my statistics with you so that everyone can get an idea of how I shop and how much I save on average. Also, keep in mind that I shop for one month at a time (see my meal planning section for more insight), and that while I am buying the items in my monthly meal plan, I also use items from my pantry that I have stocked up on earlier and I replenish my pantry with good deals that are not in my plan for the month each trip. This month I also purchased one RX and two large hams that I intend to freeze for the holidays, (used the $2.00 off coupons from All You Mag for these!). So here is my breakdown (won't list each item because it would be too much), purchased 82 items, total before coupons was $216.11, total after coupons was $174.51 with tax,  I used exactly 40 coupons (the limit before you need management approval ;)) which averages out to  $2.13 per items (including my hams!), so not a bad month at all. I will purchase a gallon of milk here and there, but I am done with grocery shopping until Sept. unless of course a great deal comes along to stock my pantry!

Dollar General 7/31/11-8/7/11

This looks like a good week to do some shopping at Dollar General. While I usually try to avoid couponing there because of the slowness of the process, there are many deals this week that match up with the coupons that where available to print as of the 1st, this is the place locally  to use those Hamburger Helper coupons!  There are alot of deals but I am not going to go through each one simply because everyone has different things in their coupon folder. Here is a link to their ad so that you can match up with the coupons that you have. http://dollargeneral.com/waystosave/Pages/HTMLCircularaspx.aspx#

Happy Shopping!

.99 lb Ribs

Who is up for .99 lb Ribs? If you pair the pork rib coupon that I posted earlier in the week with the $1.99 lb pork rib special this week at Hancock's Neighborhood Market that is what you will get. I have not tried this deal myself yet and Hancock's is a bit vague on their coupon policy (I have asked them to better clarify it but so far no response), so if anyone does this deal please let us know how it goes, I won't be trying until later this week.

$1/2 Bic is Back!

The $1/2 Bic Stationary items coupon is back, so this means more free (or cheap depending on sales) pens with all the back to school sales going on. Not sure if Dollar General is still running them 2/$1, but Food Giant is (not sure if they will do this, they don't like internet coupons that make things free). If not they will still be .50 a pack at Walmart making this a good deal. Don't forget to print two and happy shopping!

http://www.campbellskitchen.com/Coupon.aspx?fbid=7nTo80i4XVj

Rare fresh meat coupon

Here is a link to a coupon for $2.00 off any fresh or frozen Pork ribs 2lbs or more. I borrowed the coupon from http://www.iheartthemart.com/2011/08/02/sweet-2-off-pork-rib-coupon/ and not sure how well it will work locally but it is worth a try and don't forget to print it twice!

Walmart doubles update

Well unfortunately we did not get picked to be a test market for the Walmart doubles (no real big surprise here). They will be doubling in WV, parts of OH and 7 counties in UT, so I am very jealous of all my Utah friends right now! Looks like they are doing it right in the areas that are doing though i.e. a .75 coupon is doubling to $1.50 and such, but like all things Walmart there are many complaints of slowness and uneducated staff about the program. If you would like to read more about this check it out here: http://www.iheartthemart.com/2011/08/01/walmart-double-coupon-guidelines-for-the-pilot-stores/

Who knows if this works out well we may be next!

Printable Coupon Reset

It is the first of the month so we all know what that means, printable coupons have reset so make sure you take the time today to make the rounds to all the sites: www.coupons.com, www.redplum.com, www.couponnetwork.com, www.smartsource.com and print out your coupons for this month, and do forget to hit back and get your second print. I "shopped" in 90210 today and got alot of really good food coupons, which is great since the inserts from yesterday where pretty much health and beauty items. The favorite Totinos pizza coupon is up on both couponnetwork and coupons.com so you can potentially get 4 of these. This is one of my favorite coupons, they are great to keep in the freezer for a quick meal. I usually buy the cheese ones and then doctor them up with veggies from home. Happy shopping all!

Puffs bonus packs full of coupons

There are certain Puffs tissue back to school packs that have $10 worth of P&G coupons in the package so be on the lookout for these. They run about $4-$5 for a pack of three and have some pretty good coupons in it so they are well worth the purchase over a generic brand.

Dollar General $5 off $25

Don't forget to use your $5 off $25 coupon today at Dollar General (if you need one you can print it off there site or check your recent receipts). I did really well pairing this coupon with manufacturer's coupons today brought a $70 total down to $30, just make sure that your total after your manufacturer's coupons is still over $25 or they will not let you use the extra coupon. Happy Shopping!

Two upcoming Couponing Events

I have two upcoming couponing events that I wanted to share with everyone:

Couponer's meet and swap-8/20 10:30am-11:30am George Coon Public Libary, Princeton, Come out and meet fellow couponers to swap unneeded coupons and talk about current events in couponing.

Not-So Extreme Couponing Class-9/17 10am-12pm George Coon Public Libary, Princeton, there is a $5 charge for this class to cover materials.

Plese feel free to add me on facebook and reply to these events there if you wish, I hope to see everyone there!

The Hopkins County Couponer: Meet Amber: Another Local Couponer with a Cause!

The Hopkins County Couponer: Meet Amber: Another Local Couponer with a Cause!: "I stumbled upon a post on the West KY Couponers facebook page from a fellow couponer trying to gain interest for a coupon get together in Ca..."

Rumored 4 inserts this week

While I usually don't buy a Sunday paper for coupons because I can do just as well printing them and getting them from other sources, there are times when I will make a execption and a paper with 4 inserts is worth the hassle of going out early on Sunday to purchase for me. I know there is supposed to be a pretty heavy P&G insert, for more details on what is exactly supposed the be included check out www.iheartthemart.com for his rundown. Also, for those of you that are new to all this, I usually buy the Couriour Journal when I do purchase a paper.

Food Giant back to school sale

I haven't really been doing matchups for a while do to the lack of deals available at out regional stores (as I have said before there are many large blogs that do the national stores very well). That being said I have to share several Food Giant back to school supply deals that are beating even Wal-Mart's loss leader prices on these items. These prices are good from 7/27-8/9 2011.

Elmer's Glue Stick 2 pack 4/$1
Elmer's White School Glue 4/$1
1" Vinyl Binder $1.19
Bic Stick pens 2/$1 (if any of you have the $1 off any two bic from coupons.com and missed the Dollar General deal for free pens, you can try Food Giant, but they are picky about internet coupons)
Eraser set (both pink and cap erasers in set) .89
Top Flight notebooks .15
Top Flight folders .10
Binder filler paper 2/$1

There are many other back to school items in this sale that are good prices, but all of these deals listed are beating Wal-Mart!

New article and possible Coupon Swap day.

First of all I wanted to share with everyone the new article about my couponing classes and shopping experiences that ran in the Times Leader today. http://www.timesleader.net/eedition/page-a/page_c6a3bfc0-b866-11e0-b705-001cc4c03286.htmlThe article starts in section C1. Secondly I wanted to let everyone know that I am in the process of setting up a coupon meet up and swap for Caldwell county. This would probably be one Saturday a month where local couponers can get together and trade coupons and talk about shopping strategies and trends that are effecting couponing such as store policy changes and other things like that. I will keep everyone posted when I get a date and a place for the first one together.

Possible Walmart Doubles days????

Visit the attached link the support the petition for Walmart starting a double coupon day once a week. This would be huge in small towns like ours where there are little choices for couponing or shopping at all. Thanx to "I Heart The Mart" for getting this going. http://www.iheartthemart.com/2011/07/12/do-you-want-double-coupons-walmart/

New tool to help plan healthy meals with products on sale!

This link takes you to a planning tool that will help you plan healthy meals using items that are on sale, they have several local stores listed (including CVS) and it will make a list for you. This will be a great tool to help you match up coupons with items that are on sale and plan healthy meals too!

http://recipes.prevention.com/Recipes/GroceryDeals.aspx?cm_mmc=Facebook-_-Prevention-_-tool-_-grocerydeals (could not get the link to work so you will have to copy and paste)

Results from Couponing Class shopping list

For those of you who attended my couponing class and are curious of the results from the shopping trip that I was using as an example, here they are. I was shopping for a 4th of July party and will be feeding approx. 30 people, so this is equal to the amount of food that I would normally buy monthly. I shopped at walmart and here where the stats, 97 items purchased for a total of 166.99 that is a average of $1.72 an item.....I purchased large amounts of fresh produce, a large pork shoulder for BBQ and many other hight dollar items. I used only $32.25 in coupons in this trip, so it was actually quite a small amount compared to what I usually do, but combined with some good pre-holiday sales I still did well.

Couponing Classes

First of all since I have kind of taken a break from blogging, I was hoping that I could get some insight from those of you following me as to what kind of content you are interested in seeing so that I can attempt to update this more. Also, I have recently taught my first Couponing Class and decited that I would be open to teaching more, so if you have a group or organization that is interested in hosting a class please contact me at couponinginprinceton@gmail.com!

Food Giant week ending 2/8/11

Kellogg's cereal 5/$10
$1.00/2 – Kellogg’s Cereal, Rice Krispies or Cocoa Krispies, 10oz or larger – (kelloggs.com) $0.70/1 – Kellogg’s Cinnabon Cereal, 10oz or Larger – (kelloggs.com) $0.70/1 – Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies Cereal, 11.3oz or Larger – (kelloggs.com)
Final Price-$1.52 per box (using all three coupons)

Kraft cheese singles $1.98
$1.00/1 – Kraft 2% Singles – (bricks.coupons.com)
Final Price-.98

Philadelphia Cream cheese .98
$0.50/2 – Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese – (coupons.com)
Final Price-.73 each

New Links

I felt as if i was letting everyone down by not wading thorugh all the Walmart and CVS deals to be had, so I have added two new links to larger databases to help with those deals. For Walmart deals there is iheartthemart.com and CVS is the Krazy Coupon Lady which also has a great database of printable coupons if you want to do some digging on you own and of course I will continue to break down the local ads that you cannot find broken down anywhere else each week. Happy shopping!

Food Giant ending 2/1

Borden shreds or slices 2/$3
$1.00/1 – Borden Cheese – (friendsofelsie.com)
Final Price-$1.00 Each

Totinos Pizza .98
$1.00/5 – Totino’s Crisp Crust Party Pizza Products – (smartsource.com)
Final Price-.78 Each

Stouffers family size $5.98
$1.00/1 – Stouffer’s Family, Large Family, Party Size or Skillet Entree – 23 oz. to 96 oz. – (nestlefamily.com)
Final Price-$4.98

Old El Paso Refried beans .98
$0.60/2 – Old El Paso Products, Excludes Refrigerated Frozen or Soup Products – (bricks.coupons.com)
Final Price-.68 each

Freds ad for 1/25-2/5

Red Baron Pizza $4.00
$1.00/1 – Red Baron Pan Pizza or Pan Pasta – (bricks.coupons.com)
Final Price-$3.00

Stayfree pads $3.00
B1G1 FREE – Stayfree Product, 14-24ct, Up to $3.00 – (coupons.com)
Final Price-$1.50 each

Degree Deodorant $2.30
$1.00/1 – Degree Women Natureffects – (makinglifebetter.com)
$1.00/1 – Degree Women Ultra Clear – (makinglifebetter.com)
Final Price-$1.30

Listerine mouth wash $4.60
$1.00/1 – Listerine Mouthwash, Any, 1.0L or Larger – (smartsource.com)
$1.00/1 – Listerine Mouthwash, Any, 1.0L or Larger – (valuesforhealth.com)
Final Price-$3.60

Extra Laundry detergent $5.00
$1.00/1 – Extra Laundry Detergent – (smartsource.com)
Final Price-$4.00

Purex fabric softener $3.00
$0.35/1 – Purex Natural Elements Detergent or Fabric Softener – (purexsavesgreen.com)
Doubled on saturday
Final Price-$2.30

Lysol all Purpose cleaner $2.25
$0.50/1 – Lysol All Purpose Cleaner Pourable – (homesolutionsnews.com)
Doubled on saturday
Final Price-$1.25

Lysol Disinfecting Spray $4.50
$0.50/1 – Lysol Disinfectant Spray – (homesolutionsnews.com)
Doubled on saturday
Final Price-$3.50

Air Wick Candles $5.00
$2.00/1 – Air Wick Candle – (airwick.us)
Final Price-$3.00

Hancock's update

Here are a few more deals that I found at Hancock's for this week.

Betty Crocker fruit roll-ups 2/$4
$0.50/2 – Betty Crocker Fruit Shapes, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers or Fruit Roll-Ups – (smartsource.com)
Final price-1.75 Each
or use $1.00/3 – Betty Crocker Fruit Shapes, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers or Fruit Roll-Ups – (bettycrocker.com)
Final price-1.67 Each

Betty Crocker specialty potatoes 1.00
$0.55/1 – Betty Crocker Potatoes, Excludes Potatoes Buds and Potatoes Pouches – (bricks.coupons.com)
Final price-.45

Old El Paso Refried beans 1.00
$0.60/2 – Old El Paso Products, Excludes Refrigerated Frozen or Soup Products – (bricks.coupons.com)
Final price-.70 each

7-10oz Green giant frozen vegetables 1.00
$0.50/1 – Green Giant Frozen Vegetables – (bettycrocker.com)
Final price-.50

This weeks deals most ads run through 1/25/11

Not much going on this week in the coupon world (at least not locally) but I did manage to pick a few deals out. These are by no means the only deals to be had out there, and if you clip paper coupons you can probally sweeten them. I usually strive for a savings of 50-75% over retail when selecting deals to post.

Walmart

Johnson and Johnson Trial size first aid kits .97 each
Print one 1.50 of any two Johnson and Johnson products
https://www.valuesforhealth.com/ (you’ll need to register with them before printing)
Final price-.22 each

Athenos greek yogurt 1.00
$2.00/2 – Athenos Feta, Hummus, Baked Pita Chips or Greek Yogurt – (bricks.coupons.com)
Final price-2 cups for FREE

Fred's (this ad ends 1/24)

Cottonelle TP 4.50 for 6 pack
$0.50/1 – Cottonelle, 4pk+ – (bricks.coupons.com)
doubled to 1.00 on Saturday
Final price-3.50 for 6 pack

Glad forceflex trash bags 5.50
$2.00/1 – Glad ForceFlex Trash Bags, Any Count – (bricks.coupons.com)
Final price-3.50

Easy off oven cleaner 4.25
$0.50/1 – Easy-Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner or Fume Free Oven Cleaner – (homesolutionsnews.com)
doubled to 1.00 on Saturday
Final price-3.25

Hancock's

Pillsbury Grands refrigerated biscuits 1.00 each
$0.30/2 – Pillsbury Refrigerated Grands Biscuits – (coupons.com)
Final price-.85 each

Totinos pizza 1.00 each
$1.00/5 – Totino’s Crisp Crust Party Pizza Products – (smartsource.com)
Final price-.80 each

Totinos pizza rolls 1.00 each
$0.50/2 – Totino’s Products – (totinos.com)
Final price-.75 each

Food Giant

Progresso soup 8/$10
$1.00/4 – Progresso Soups, Any Flavor – (facebook.com)
Final price-1.11 or 1.00 each if they let you use two coupons

Yoplait yogurt 2/$1
$0.40/6 – Yoplait Yogurt Cups – (coupons.com)
Final price- .44 each

Local Coupon Policies

Freds: Accepts manufacturers and Internet printed coupons, doubles up to .70 on Saturdays only. One coupon per item.

Dollar General: Accepts manufacturers and Internet printed coupons. One coupon per item.

CVS Pharmacy: Accepts manufacturers and Internet printed coupons. Can combine manufactured coupons with store (CVS mailer) coupons and Extra Care bucks.

Food Giant: Accepts manufacturers and Internet printed coupons. One coupon per item.

Save-a-Lot: Accepts manufacturers and Internet printed coupons. One coupon per item.

Walmart: Accepts manufacturers and Internet printed coupons. One coupon per item.

Hancocks: Accepts manufacturers and Internet printed coupons. One coupon per item.