Couponing Example

Alright, a few people have asked for an example of how to make money shopping. Using coupons is a great way to save money and get things for free and even sometime you can make money :)

A product I just purchase, Finish Powerball dishwashing tabs, I made 50 cents for buying 2 of these.

The steps I used to save money 

1. Rite Aid was having a sale, retail value $7, sale was $4.99 per box
(sorry i didn't keep the ad so its a picture of Rite Aid's weekly ads off my computer)

2. I printed a 75 cents off coupon that I got off thekrazycouponlady.com 

3. So far I purchased an item on sale for $4.99 and used my 75 cents off coupon, paying $4.25 for my item.

4. I then have a mail in rebate for $4.50 that I received in Smart Source (SS) in last weeks Sunday newspaper.

 So I paid $4.25 and have a mail in rebate for $4.50, earning .25 cent per Finish i buy.

I bought two boxes of this product
I used two .75 cents off coupons
and since I get two Sunday newspapers I have two mail in rebates

Earning a total of .50 for making this purchase.

Hope this helps answer your questions, if you have any more questions leave a comment here or on FB.

Couponing 101

How to save money.

1.   You can buy things when they are on sale, 20 – 30% savings

2. You buy things when they are on sale plus you use a coupon for extra savings, 60 – 100%    savings
3. You buy multiples of the same items when they are on sale to stockpile and save even more.  MEGA SAVINGS.

The reason you want to stockpile is because sales are cyclical. They typically happen ever 3 months for the same product. So when you buy an item it’s best to stockpile it so it will last you until the next “rock bottom price” sale. (Also this is an excellent way to start or add to your food storage and 1 year supply)

For example: if your family likes kellogs raisin bran cereal and Walmart is having a sale for $1.50 per box (retail value $3.50). Not only do you buy it when it is on sale but you use 4 coupons for .75 cents off per box and you buy 4 boxes. By using a coupon with a sale you are paying .75 cents per box of cereal. Not only are you saving $2.75 per box but you are saving $11 total because you are buying 4 boxes in one shopping trip. You can see how stockpiling can save you even more money.

You might be wondering how do you know when stores are having sales like theses and what coupons to use when?

Great News is that there are many websites and people who do all the work for you. And it’s FREE for you J

Before you check out the websites here is a little list of what you need to start couponing.

1. You need to get the Sunday newspapers (only the Sunday paper has the coupons). They recommend getting a paper for each person in the house. If you are a family of 4 then that’s 4 Sunday papers. Honestly get as many as you can. If you neighbor doesn’t use there coupons ask to have them :) This way you can stockpile and buy multiples of the same items. I currently have a subscription for 2 papers one for me and one for my hubby. In the Sunday paper you will find your coupons.

a.     Smart Source (SS)

b.     Proctor & Gamble (P&G)

c.      Red Plum (RP) in Utah the Red plum comes in your mailbox every Tuesday 

Get your hands on as many newspaper as you can. The more newspapers you get the more you can save. 

    2. A file system. I only spend 30-40 minutes a week with my coupons. You do not need to cut them all out and put them in little card holders (too much time!) All I do is take my two Sunday coupon packets (remember I buy two Sunday papers but if you buy more then you need to stack all of them by page numbers) and stack them together. Putting page one with page one, page two with page two, page three with page three. So in the end I have ONE Sunday coupon packet. So when I need to cut them out I only cut once because both of my coupons are stacked on top of each other. Next I write the date on the top of the packet and drop it in a clear plastic sleeve and then in a filing folder.

Where I put all my packets                    

RP - Red Plum coupons for June 15 6/15

Printable coupons folder                       

They recommend saving coupon ads up to 5 months and then tossing them.

       3. Another way to get even more savings is by printing coupons online. There are many great sites that have coupons. Coupon.com is one of my favorites. You do need to download the printer software (it’s free) for the different coupon sites. Even when printing Target coupons from the target site you need to download there printing software. We use a mac and so far have never had any bugs/viruses from doing this.

It is best if you have two+ computers because you can only print the same coupon twice per computer. So if you want to do a mega stockpile you will need to print it more than twice.

*On the websites I give you, it will have links to which coupons you need to print to get even more savings. They do all the work, you just need to print off the coupons.

I only use 2 Websites for my couponing. Yes, there are tons of coupon websites but for me these are the most user friendly and ones I like. (Pleas know that I do not get ANYTHING for promoting these sites, these sites don’t even know I exist.  I just really like them).

These sites will tell you what’s on sale each week that has coupons and how to use the sales plus your coupons to get the biggest savings. They do ALL the work for you.

     1. The Krazy coupon lady – http://thekrazycouponlady.com/  I use this one ALL the time. She has tips, videos, tons of examples and ‘how to use coupons’

a.     Here is the link to here ‘how to start using coupons’ http://thekrazycouponlady.com/beginners/#day1 

     2. Grocery Smarts -  http://www.grocerysmarts.com/  I primarily use this one for grocery purchases.

a.     You select your state (top left corner)

b.     Then on the top in RED there is a ‘How to use this list’ this will teach you how to best use their site.

c.      You can shop by store by selecting which store you want with the drop down tab in the tops left of the page.

- If you find another website that you love please send me a link, I love finding new sites that help you save money

*Just remember when you are starting out, this can all be overwhelming. My biggest tip is to start slowly with stores that you currently shop at and then as you get the hang of it, branch out to new stores.

The more you get familiar with these websites the easier couponing is and the faster you can get it all done. I think reading through these websites and learning the layout was the longest/toughest part about starting couponing. Now it's super easy and fast for me. 

I hope this little Couponing 101 has helped, if you have more questions please leave a comment or if you find a deal or website you like, please share it. We all love saving money.

Alright here goes....

24 days without sugar
It wasn't my goal (my goal was 30) but cheers to 24.

The down fall, baking. When my friend asked me to make her two year olds birthday cake I couldn't refuse and as any good baker knows you need to taste your products before giving them out. So yep, I had to taste my chocolate buttercream to make sure it was perfect. It was in fact delicious. Did I over indulge and lick out the bowl and spatula, no but did eat sugar yes and buttercream has a lot of it. So cheers to 24 days of no sugar success.

I have again started this journey for making it 30 days (I am currently on day 4). Why you might ask? Because I noticed a HUGE difference with my body when I don't eat the stuff.

For example, when I took a bit of my daughters "Kids Cliff Bar" which is an organic 'healthy' alternative for granola bars I immediately felt my mouth salivating and wanting more. I not only wanted more of her bar but I wanted more of anything sweet. You know that craving you get once you take one bit of ice-cream or chocolate? You want more. Kids Cliff Bars have 12 grams of sugar per bar. If you look at the size of the bar you would figure that about 1/5 of it is just sugar. Too much for me.

When you eat sugar it makes you want more sugar. The first 3 days of the challenge where the toughest. Your body wants and craves those sweet treats. I usually had my cravings after dinner when I am accustomed to treating myself to something sweet. By day 5 I could tell a difference in my cravings. Where they still there, yep but they were much more mild and easier to resist. By day 20+ I didn't even think about having something sweet after dinner. Dinner was dinner and I was done for the night. I love not having those sugar cravings. I love not 'needing' something sweet after dinner. So heres to another 30day journey.

For anyone wanting to do a 30 days no sugar challenge here are some of my tips:

1. Stock up on yummy fresh fruit - when you get a sugar urge eat a piece of fruit
2. There is no added sugar to fresh vegetables, fruit, meat off the bone, fish, nuts etc... eat clean natural unprocessed food and say bye bye to sugar
3. Read ALL labels - things you think wouldn't have added sugar typically do and lots of it

Good Luck!

Remember, your body is your greatest investment. Treat it right and it will take care of you. 

Eat healthy Eat Clean. 

Say NO to Sugar

Avery's First Easter 

(well, technically it's her second but this is the first one she has participate in)

Avery's favorite parts about the Easter party:

Fruit snacks

Finding and opening the eggs. Every egg she found she had to first open it, examine the contents, then she would put it in her bucket and get the next one. If there was unwrapped candy in it she would shove it in her mouth as fast as possible. 

Least favorite part:

Trying to take a picture together, bahaa look at her expressions in our photos together  

What is more addictive than cocaine? 

Sugar 

According to "CBS This Morning" and many other studies sugar is being said to be eight times more addictive than cocaine. What! Seriously? 

I have known sugar is addictive but more addictive than cocaine? This sounds absurd but after reading many studies and doing a bit or research it seems that this statement may in fact be true. 

In my effort for a healthier life I decided it's time to break away from this addictive substance. My biggest problem is when I start eating the stuff I just cant stop. Five M&Ms turn into the whole bag which leads to cookies, candy and any all other sweets in the house. I am not much of a junk food eater (chips, takeout, donuts etc) but I love my chocolate and lollies. 

So here is to 30 days of no Sugar

The first attempt was a total failure! 

I lasted 48 hrs. Dang you Swigs sugar cookies.

Second attempt only 24 hrs, failure! Road trip to Arizona. 

Yep, even my third attempt ended in failure! Aunties fudge. 

Not eating sugar is much tougher than expected especially when you are traveling and vacationing. 

Fourth attempt is in current progress, so far 3 days down 27 to go. This one is going to be the winner. The first 2 days were a little tough because I wanted a sweet after dinner but on day 3 the craving was very minimal. Let's see how the rest of this journey goes. 

I challenge everyone to try a 30 day sugar cleanse; let me know how is goes :)

Pure joy and excitement enters her eyes when she sees a child
She gets her face as close as she can and stares into their eyes
She laughs and coos waiting for a response
I stand back and witness the beauty of her soul
Moments like these make me want to be a better person
If only I could capture and freeze this moment time