{getting back into couponing} days 5, 6 and 7~clip and shop!

extreme couponing, bandwagonWell, here we are, wrapping up the first week of the new year. One of my resolutions is to get back into saving money on my groceries, pay attention to what I’m buying, pay more attention to what we’re wasting and overall just be a better shopper. It takes time, it takes effort, but I think the savings I will see are significant and worth the time and effort.

So if you’ve been with us since Day 1, we are now at Day 5. And today’s task, and the task f0r tomorrow and the next day…. clip your coupons and shop!

We should be all ready–we cleaned out our pantries, we looked at the sales ads, we planned our meals for the week, so now it’s clip today’s coupons, complete your list and go.

This week, I’m choosing Superfresh. I go back and forth between Superfresh and Acme, usually going to Acme. But I like the P&G deal they have and the cereal is a good price. Since I don’t need much–just milk and produce and a few other things, Superfresh is just a better choice.

Another thing I’m going to try to resolve to do–shop alone. Even if it means I go at night when I’m tired, I’m going by myself. My kids just really mess up my deals and couponing mojo and I can’t think.

Have a great week!



{diapers and wipes} price roundup for week of January 6~10+ stores listed

 

Coupons:

Huggies are coming 1/6, Pampers were in 12/29  inserts. Varying amounts. As always, there are many home mailers.

$2.00 off any one PULL-UPS Training Pants
$1.50 off ONE Pampers Baby Dry Diapers
$0.50 off ONE Pampers Wipes 60 ct. or larger
$1.50 off Triple Paste medicated ointment
$1.50 off any one package of HUGGIES Diapers
$2.00 off 1 HUGGIES Little Movers Slip-On Diapers
$3.00 off any 1 Gerber Good Start Soothe Formula
$0.50 off two Gerber Graduates Yogurt Grabbers


Pricing guidelines (my opinion): Don’t pay more than $0.02 per wipe or $0.20 per diaper unless you’re out. Aim for $0.01 per wipe or less and under $0.15 per diaper–give or take, depending on size of diaper. Larger sizes cost more.

Packaging: Use your phone or a calculator to figure out what you are paying per diaper. I do not calculate all the costs in this post because number of diapers per package varies greatly.

Acme, Jan 4-10: Acme has a $5 off your next order when you accumulate $25 in qualifying baby products.

Diapers include:

  • Baby Basics jumbo packs at $7.99
  • big things of Huggies at $19.99
  • SuperPacks of Pampers at $25.99
  • Pampers and Huggies tubs of wipes shown at $2.99, which is a TERRIBLE price for 60 wipes! That’s almost $0.05 a wipe!

Amazon: prices change all the time, but here is a round up of best Amazon diaper deals.

Big Lots: Remember those horribly ugly denim-ish diapers that Huggies came out with? Well, BL has them at $7 a jumbo pack and $15 a box. Depending on the count, this could be an ok price if you’re going to cover them up anyway. Big Lots does not take coupons.

CVS, Jan 6-12:

Pampers Jumbo Packs are $9.49 and big things of wipes for $5.99,  and $3 ECB back when you buy both.

Giant, Jan 6-12:

not available yet

Kmart, Jan 6-12 : Buy a big box of Huggies at $29.99, get free tub of wipes. Store brand big box, $15.99. Also, front page of website says “stock up sale” and shows a box of Luvs, but they are not in ad. May be worth checking out.

Doing double coupons on Wed & Sat, see your store for details.

Rite Aid, :

Did not get a Rite Aid ad this week.

Superfresh, Jan 4-10: Having a $7/$35 Procter & Gamble deal–with big boxes of Pampers showing at $29.99 and the wipes at $5.99.

Live Better Baby Club members get 10% off on baby items every time you shop. See store to sign up.
$2.00 off one package of GOODNITES Underwear
$2/1 GoodNites Disposable Underpants printable
$2/1 Pull-Ups Training Pants printable

Target, Jan 6-12:

Big boxes of Huggies and Pampers are $37.99, $10 gift card when you buy two.

Toys R Us:

No ad this week.

Walgreens, Jan 6-12: Not showing any other promos besides getting your Balance Rewards points. Items in ad are:

Huggies and Pampers wipes-$5.99

Huggies jumbo packs-$8.99

Pampers box-$24.99
$2.00 off one package of GOODNITES Underwear
$2/1 GoodNites Disposable Underpants printable
$2/1 Pull-Ups Training Pants printable

 

Walmart:

Parents choice big boxes for $19.77.

Make sure you join Gifts to Grow to get good (higher value) home mailer coupons and earn points. I got B a bike for this birthday, just with Pampers points!
Pampers

 

 

{getting back into couponing} day 4-browsing sales ads and gathering printable coupons

extreme couponing, bandwagonWelcome to another day of getting back into couponing–our step by step plan to get us back in the habit of clipping coupons and saving money. Below you can see what we’re doing each day if you need to catch up.

Today, this is what I’m doing–browsing sales ads and gathering printable coupons.

I usually get my ads in my mail on Wednesday, but when they are late I almost always have them by Friday. This also is a good day for me to do this, because after I put the boys to bed, or if I let them stay up and watch a movie, I will have time to get it done.

I’m browsing the ads to see at first glance what appeals to me, and circling it. Any catalina offers that look decent, sales and so on. I also am crossing off items in the ad that I know I DO NOT need. Yesterday I did my pantry and my freezer so I have a good idea of which items I don’t need. The big X over the item in my ad will serve as a reminder while I’m shopping that I do not need to buy that unless it’s free.

My next step is to hit the printable sites and print what I want and clip them. If I do this right after I browse the ads, then I sorta have an idea in my head of what is on sale. For example, I browsed and saw lots of General Mills deals, so I know to click and print the GM coupons if I see them.

And that’s it, that’s all I’m doing today. Saturday and Sunday will be some bigger tasks, so get caught up on these days’ tasks if you haven’t already. There are 5 inserts coming this Sunday!

If you look at the list of categories directly under the blog header/banner, you see where it says “COUPONS.” That will take you to all the various printable coupon sites-Coupons.com, SmartSource, RedPlum, Catalina/CouponNetwork, Cellfire and SavingStar.


{getting back into couponing} day 3~back to basics in the pantry and freezer

Ok, we made it through the first two days, now on to day 3. To recap (and the posts are linked below):extreme couponing, bandwagon

Day 1-cleaned out our binders

Day 2-set our budgets

Day 3-cleaning out my pantry

That’s right, that’s what I’m doing today, cleaning out the pantry. And depending on how much time I have and how much work (my job) I can get done, I may go further than that.

What is expired, stale and needs to be tossed? Toss it or donate it (if unopened). I may reorganized and clean out my stockpile and freezer if I can get to it. Then, going to make some lists of pantry staples that I have, ones that I’m overstocked in, and what I need.

My list of pantry basics:

pasta

beans

sauce

broths

cereal

rice

ketchup

mustard

mayo

snacks

bisquick/flour/baking stuff

oils

vinegars

tomatoes

My freezer basics

First, read this post about how I prepare lots of chicken and ground beef to keep in my freezer.

frozen veggies for side dishes (usually GG boxes)

frozen veggies for cooking with (usually Birds Eye bags)

chicken breasts

a whole chicken or two

ground beef

a few roasts, either pork or beef, purchased when on sale/clearance

pork chops

pork tenderloin

chicken nuggets for kids

waffles

a frozen pizza or two for emergency weeknights

frozen pizza dough

tortillas

 

And that’s about it. With just those few items in my pantry and freezer at all times, I can construct lots of quick healthy meals. Tomorrow is Day 4–now we have a clean slate, a new budget figure, a cleaned out binder and a cleaned out pantry and freezer. We are ready to clip, shop and save money!