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

January 4, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

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.


Filed Under: Back to Basics-extreme couponing for the beginners, Grocery Store ads, deals, matchups, coupons and clearance finds Tagged With: ,

{getting back into couponing} Day 2~the grocery and dining out budget

January 2, 2013 by · Leave a Comment

extreme couponing, bandwagonHere we are, day 2. Day 1 was easy, if you didn’t do it you still have plenty of time. For those of you that missed day 1 and the intro, I am doing a program, day by day, to get back into couponing and get our household budgets back on track. You can do any or all of the steps, and join us at any time. It’s never too late to start saving money!

Day 2-your household’s grocery and dining out budget, since they go hand in hand.

I’m taking a look at what we spent on groceries last year, month by month. Then we’ll decide what is a realistic yet frugal amount that we can and should be spending on groceries each month.

We’ll also take a look at what we spent on restaurants and take out and come up with a figure for that.

Once we have our budget numbers created again, I will have to decide how I am going to stick to them. I’m the one that does 99% of our household shopping, so it really does fall on me. I think I may do the envelope system again, until I get used to spending the same amount each week and know what that figure “looks like” in my shopping cart.

And that’s all I’ll do for today. So at the end of day 2, we have cleaned out coupon binders and our budgets. What will tomorrow bring?



Filed Under: Grocery Store ads, deals, matchups, coupons and clearance finds Tagged With: ,