Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Blog Giveaway: Living on Less is giving MORE!

Derwood MOPS is offering a coupon organizer stacked with money-saving coupons to one mom who:

1. Leaves a comment on this post sharing one frugal change they've made or one frugal thing they've done since our October 28th meeting.

2. Leaves a comment on this post sharing a frugal tip of their own (not mentioned at the October 28th meeting).

3. Shares their tips or hints (new or old) with others. Leave a comment below stating who you shared your tip(s) with and their reaction. Sharing must have occurred since October 28th meeting.

Each mom can enter up to three times (one entry for each item above). The winner will be chosen at random by Joe P. and entries close at midnight on November 17th. Good luck and happy frugaling!

31 comments:

  1. Thanks for your great presentation last week, Trisha! I have already begun to work on my "Buy Price" list AND I purchased a small notebook that will both hold my BP list and give me a place to keep track of my shopping lists. . . . Of course, I probably paid too much for the notebook, because I bought it on an impulse! LOL

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  2. One thing I like to do to save money is buy a long roll of ground beef (like just under 9 pounds, or even 8 1/2). I slice it into 9 equal pieces with a bread knife, then pop each piece into a Ziploc sandwich bag and freeze. Whenever I need a pound of ground beef for a recipe, I just get pull out a Ziploc bag from the freezer. Now I've saved money per pound by buying in bulk, and I've saved a few extra pennies as well by actually using slightly less meat than what the original recipe calls for.

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  3. Trisha - you rock. I learned a ton in your presenation and am referring to your Resource Book almost daily. One change I've made is to split my CVS purchase into 2 transactions so I can use the ECBs before they expire. I am also using southernsavers to make coupon match-ups easier. Talk about hitting the Easy Button!

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  4. I was so inspired by your presentation. Mostly because you said you just started doing this 6 months ago (which I couldn't believe)! So much of what you said made good sense and I don't think it's ever too late to start.

    I checked out one of the blogs on your list - babycheapskate.com looking for where the best prices for diapers are this week. What a cool resource!

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  5. Trisha, I'm sure most of us can't hold a candle to your frugality, but I've been trying to work on a buy price list, and I found chicken breasts for $1.98/lb. Time to go stock up! -Lindsay Meagher

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  6. One thing I do to save some money is not let my husband have seconds on our main course, especially if it's meat heavy. He has to fill up on grains or veggies if he's still hungry, and he eats a lot!~Lindsay Meagher

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  7. Thanks Trisha for a GREAT presentation on being frugual. I am having to work from being cheap to frugual. Have gotten my coupons cut, bought a nice double zipper binder at Target, along with pages. Gonna spend tonight organizing so I can go shopping tomorrow at Harris Teeter and take advantage of triple coupons. WhooHoo!! Will report the savings.

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  8. Just wanted to leave a neat savings idea. If you have a membership to Costco and/or Sam's - set up a special savings account for them. Here is an example of what I mean: the cost for my membership at Costco is $50/year. That can be a big chunk depending on when it comes due. But if you take $50/12 months = $4.17 a month. Which is mangable on most budgets. I opened up a special savings account with ING ('cuz there is no minimum to open and it pays higher interest than most brick and mortar banks). My husband's paycheck is direct deposited into the bank and then I have ING pull the money out each pay period. Now when it comes time to pay the Costco membership - it is not a burden. I have lumped this with my AAA.

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  9. Okay, heard about an AWESOME deal. For those of you with Wii's - Target has them on sale thru 11/7 buy 2 for $49.99 and under and get one free. Then there is a coupon for $10 off the purchase of 2 Wii or DS games. So, go to the following link http://sites.target.com/images/2009H...ons print.html and it will let you print two coupons. Have to use the back button to get the second one. I found a coupon book at the store yesterday. Plan on buying 6 games (easy since we just got it) will get two free and $30 off.

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  10. I share about savings with people all of the time...just the other night at Target I gave this lady a coupon to save on a Leap Frog Jr. she was buying and she was so happy..she said, "Oh you're so kind" and I was just happy to help someone save. =)

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  11. Trisha, I'm already inspired by you, so you're presentation was bonus! I checked the coupon match-up sites you gave me and matched some printable coupons with this week's Safeway ad. When the coupon and club card savings totaled on the receipt, I'd saved $40! Woohoo!

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  12. I emailed my sister some of the websites from the Living on Less resource guide. I also talked to her and my mom and they are excited to try many of your tips!

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  13. Today I went to CVS to really try to play the ECB game (Extra Care Bucks). Before I went, I told my friend Margaret about it, and explained how the system worked. I also suggested she try using coupons on sale items to really save, and turned her on to the "Sunday Double Deal," two copies of the Sunday paper for $2. Yep, this week I bought the paper for the first time, and already saved $13 at CVS . . . and that was without double coupons! For this week, I definitely got my money's worth . . . and I haven't even gone grocery shopping yet!

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  14. Took advantage of triple coupons at Harris Teeter (thanks for the heads up Trisha). I saved $36.75 in coupons. Three of those were $1 coupons so not tripled. If I looked at just the total on the items purchased with triple coupons - I saved 50%!!! Not bad for the first run.

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  15. Not impressed by 50% savings - how about if I break it down by some of the items. I was able to get Welch's grape juice for $.25 a half gallon. I also was able to take advantage of the BOGO deal on cat food. Paid $4.99 less two $.75 off coupons that tripled were $4.5 so I got two bags of cat food for $.49. Also, found out that the soy milk is $1 cheaper there than what I have been paying for it. Plus was able to find a web coupon for $.55 off which tripled made $1.34 a carton. Yippee!!! I made up the money I spent on my binder.

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  16. Hillary, I'm like you - if I have coupons for stuff I am not going to use, I give them to someone in the store I see buying it. Last year around Christmas, Target sent me a bunch of coupons off on electronic stuff that I didn't want. I went around and placed them by the items for someone to use.

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  17. Today, I was at Chick-Fil-A for the Operation Christmas child drop-off and I accidently gave Christine S. the tip that you can exchange your kids meal toy for a ice cream cone or cup! :-) She was very excited, because she doesn't normally keep their toys and throws them away, but now she will get ICE CREAM!

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  18. Here is another tip, I also highly recommend the Chick-fil-A calenders. They normally cost $6 but this month alone (November) if you buy a $20 gift card to Chick-fil-A (which can just use yourself) you get a FREE CALENDER. The calendar isn't the cool part, its the coupon that are in it! Every month you get something free (a chicken sandwich, a shake, etc.) and if one month you didn't get to go to Chick-fil-a and didn't use your coupon, save your coupon anyway! No one has ever given me trouble about giving them the "wrong month" coupon (even if it has "expired"). I put all of my Chick-fil-a calender coupons in a envelope and keep it in my car, so I will have it when we go! :-)

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  19. Trisha, I am trying the binder method, instead of my little file system and the other day I discovered a coupon while I was at Harris Teeter I wasn't even looking for because I saw it displayed in my binder! They had Voila pasta buy one/ get one free and I had a coupon for $1.50 off of that. I thought $3.50 for two dinners was a super good deal. :-)

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  20. I shared the website Nicole's Nickel's (which was in Trisha's resource booklet) with my sister. There was a deal in there about Glade candles. After rebates and coupons it was a money maker!

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  21. One thing I always do if I'm at a fast food restaurant that allows refills on drinks is to order a small drink and get the refills. The fill it up with so much ice anyway there's not a "large" amount in there to begin with. It also limits the amount I consume.

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  22. I always buy gifts year round and stock pile. I have a preschool gifts all the way up to tween gifts for girls and boys. I like to use my Michael's 40% off coupons for these. They have lots of great crafty gifts for kids.

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  23. I've started to shop around a lot more - I used to assume I knew where the deals were, but found that once I started to compare sales ads, I was missing out on a lot! My best purchase since starting the "shop-around" process? A 22lb Thanksgiving turkey - for only $10.25! Score!

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  24. I'm really enjoying all the comments, here. It's fun to see so many successes and to learn some new tips and tricks! Keep 'em comin', ladies. You're doing great!

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  25. Well, I shared all Trisha's info with my husband, who in turn was at work with Deb Rubio's husband last week when they started talking about their crazy wives and coupon clipping. They told some other guys they work with the premise of the coupons and actually making money back from certain purchases. These other med students didn't believe it and said that if it IS true, it has to be illegal. It was pretty funny.

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  26. I shared some of the coupon strategies (coupon stacking and the crazy CVS deals) with my mom and sister. They were both very interested and are checking out the Resource Book. Its a rare day that I can offer any frugal tips to either of them. I am feeling quite pleased!

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  27. I've started reading the grocery store circulars more carefully and comparing prices rather than going to my usual store. Sometimes I go to two stores in a week to get the best deals.

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  28. A great way to get coupons is to join vocalpoint.com. They send you info about new products and then send you coupons to try them. You can then review the products on the website. They send GREAT coupons - you can usually get a product or two for completely free!

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  29. I copy and pasted this and unfortunately the bold, italics, etc. did not come thru. If you would like it that way, I can email it to you.
    Karen

    The Preliminary 2010 Coupon Insert Schedule

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NOTE: COUPON SCHEDULES POSTED HERE APPLY ONLY TO UNITED STATES

    Generally, there are three different types of Sunday Newspaper Inserts.

    One is RedPlum (represented in your lists as R or RP). One is SmartSource (represented in your lists as S or SS). Usually the weekend which falls nearest the first of the month will also have a Procter & Gamble Brand Saver (represented in your lists as PG). I don't list the PG inserts on this list because P&G does not publicize their entire year's insert dates but you can check on their main site at any time to see when the next insert will be available in your area (usually the first of the month with occasional random smaller inserts.)

    This listing is for the expected SmartSource and RedPlum newspaper inserts, 2010. This information is public knowledge, and is here for your ease of reference. Feel free to put a copy on your fridge. Note: Large, italicized and underlined dates mean ~*~*~*~*~EXTRA INSERTS~*~*~ ~YEAY~ . Bold dates mean No Inserts (don't buy one unless you love doing the crossword).



    January 3, 2010 - The Motherlode - 2 R & 2 S (Likely P&G as well)
    January 10, 2010 R & S
    January 17, 2010 NO R & 1 S
    January 24, 2010 R & S
    January 31, 2010 R & S
    February 7, 2010 R & S
    February 14, 2010 NO R or S - President's Day
    February 21, 2010 R & S
    February 28, 2010 NO R & 1 S
    March 7, 2010 R & S
    March 14, 2010 R & S
    March 21, 2010 R & S
    March 28, 2010 1 R & 2 S
    April 4, 2010 NO R or S - Easter
    April 11, 2010 R & S
    April 18, 2010 R & S
    April 25, 2010 R & S
    May 2, 2010 R & S
    May 9, 2010 NO R & 1 S
    May 16, 2010 R & S
    May 23, 2010 R & S
    May 30, 2010 NO R or S - Memorial Day
    June 6, 2010 R & S
    June 13, 2010 R & S
    June 20, 2010 R & S
    June 27, 2010 R & S
    July 4, 2010 NO R or S - 4th of July
    July 11, 2010 R & S
    July 18, 2010 NO R & 1 S
    July 25, 2010 R & S
    August 1, 2010 2 R & 1 S
    August 8, 2010 R & S
    August 15, 2010 R & S
    August 22, 2010 NO R & 1 S
    August 29, 2010 R & S
    September 5, 2010 NO R or S - Labor Day
    September 12, 2010 R & S
    September 19, 2010 R & S
    September 26, 2010 R & S
    October 3, 2010 R & S
    October 10, 2010 R & S
    October 17, 2010 R & S
    October 24, 2010 R & S
    October 31, 2010 R & S
    November 7, 2010 R & S
    November 14, 2010 2 R & 1 S
    November 21, 2010 NO R & 1 S
    November 28, 2010 NO R or S - Thanksgiving
    December 5, 2010 R & S
    December 12, 2010 R & S
    December 19, 2010 NO R or S
    December 26, 2010 NO R or S - Christmas

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  30. For those of you do more Whole Foods shopping - there are coupons for you as well. Pick up the "Whole Deal" book as you walk in. There were $37 in coupons in it this month. also, for $2 you can get a calender and it is full of coupons. Go to this site and see if there are any coupons for stuff you use http://www.wholeplanetfoundation.org/get-involved/whole-foods-market-calendar/ It includes a $1 off Stacy pita chips that we enjoyed last night at game night.

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  31. Waiting for the sales papers to come up with your Black Friday Deals?? Go to www.black-friday.net They have ads from everywhere. You can even make a shopping list so you remember where you saw that deal. Too cool.

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