A few weeks ago a reporter left a message on the Southern Savers facebook page to get questions and stories from Southern Savers fans and users. Well, the article is officially out. If you want a paper copy you’ll need to live in Central South Carolina, but everyone else can read it online.
I only knew the questions I answered so it was fun to see everything you guys also sent in. If you ever wondered how I got started with Southern Savers, it is a great article.
(Thanks Lexington Life!)
Starting Memorial Day through Labor Day, 600 museums nationwide are offering free admission for active duty military personnel and their families. Go here for more information and to find participating locations near you!
(Thanks Sparkle!)
Don’t let your kids brains turn to mush this summer, encourage them to read with the help of these Summer Reading Programs!
Borders –
This summer Borders is running the 10 Summer Reading Double-Dog Dare. If your child is 12 or under, they simply read 10 books and record them on the Double Dog Dare Form to get a free book from one of ten popular children’s books!
Barnes & Noble –
Get your child (grades 1-6) to read 8 books and record them in the Passport to Summer Reading; turn them in for a free book!
Pizza Hut’s Book It! –
From June 15 – August 15, any kid who is in K-6 and reads five books has a chance to win a summer prize package!
Also make sure to check your local library; many libraries have summer reading programs going this summer!
(thanks to everyone who emailed!)
One of the most common questions and frustrations in couponing is “missing coupons”. I will tell you that there is a coupon in a certain insert and you search through the insert 14 times. It’s just not there!
Why?
Manufacturer’s think of coupons as part of their advertising budget. They have areas that they want to target or a certain number of people that they want to reach. Generally their money goes further in larger cities. So the big cities get more coupons. In the south that’s Atlanta GA, Jacksonville FL, and Charlotte NC. They get a lot of the coupons that are released, from there the smaller the city the fewer the coupons you will find in your newspaper.
How can you get these coupons?
Order them or Trade for them. If a coupon is in the weekly insert previews, but you didn’t get it in your paper, remember that somebody somewhere did get the coupon so head online and see if you can find it. There are a lot of sites that have coupons you can order. After you open your paper on Sunday and see what you are missing that you wanted then go ahead and order them. A few that I would recommend are:
One note: Never order a printable coupon online. You don’t know it’s history or if it’s an orginal or a copy. Also for Ebay look at the reputation of the seller just as you would if you were purchasing something else.
You can also trade coupons you have for coupons you want. We have a traders board on Southern Savers with over 700 members. Jump in there and see if someone else can help you out with the coupon you need.
A tip for Organization:
If you keep your inserts whole and only cut the coupons as you need them for shopping each week, “missing” coupons can be a big waste of your time. You go through the insert 14 times hoping you’ll find it if you just keep looking. So save yourself some time and frustration and print the regional variation list for your paper each week. I post these every Wednesday night for the previous week. So print your list and put it with the inserts for that week. Now when you see:
-$4 off Nivea Body Wash SS 5/02
You can go to you inserts from May 2nd and look at the variations list first to see if it’s even in your Smart Source insert. If it is on the list for your area then start to flip through to find it, if it’s not on the list then move on (or go order it!). Read More→
I’ve gotten a number of emails from folks that have gotten their next Food Lion ad or talked with store managers and found out some juicy details on a new coupon program for Food Lion. First from looking at ads from various areas these changes only appear to be in certain areas. For right now the only verified region so far is North Georgia.
Starting Wednesday 5/19:
- Food Lion will double any coupon 60¢ or less!
- For a limited time these stores will also accept ANY grocery store competitor coupon and
- For a limited time they will price match any competitor ad.
If your area is starting these new policies then I would start getting excited. I don’t know how easy things will go in the first few weeks but as they iron out kinks this will really make Food Lion a competitor in the south!
Sometimes if you look closely you’ll see that some sales aren’t really deals at all! At least with this “sale” you don’t have to stock up because these savings are always available!
I have exciting news. I told you a few weeks ago that this coming weekend (5/08) I’m speaking in Nashville for an “Action Packed” workshop. I found out yesterday that this workshop is now a fundraiser for the Red Cross efforts in Nashville! All proceeds will go to the Red Cross.
I would love to have you come out and enjoy a fun morning learning new things but also to help us make this an awesome event. You’ll leave with a ton of information but also some fun things… I promise.
When you head out Saturday bring with you any stockpile non perishable items you have. They can use anything you can bring. If you are coming from another city and want to try to gather items from other folks in your area to bring let me know! We’ll figure something out.
Don’t live near the area but want to help?
You can make a donation of any size on the Event page. All of this will go straight to relief efforts!
One plug here: This couldn’t be possible without the help of Eventbrite. They are agreeing to waive all order processing fees so that we can have even more to help relief efforts! Thanks for stepping up guys and seeing a need.
Our Wonderful Event Sponsors:
If you are with a corporation that would like to help please send me an email at jenny@southernsavers.com
Many Pharmacies have a way to save extra on your prescriptions. This is a highlight of the program at Walgreens. We do not have prescription insurance coverage and actually are a member of their club.
First it costs $20 for an individual or $35 for a family for 1 year.
The Benefits
- The Prescriptions Savings Club (PSC) is a program put together to help those without prescription insurance and for drugs not covered through your insurances. There are over 5000 medications covered and some are on a special generic list making it $12 for a 3 month supply. Check out the list of generic medications here. For our family, the one prescription that we get a month I would pay $34 without any savings program, with this we save $90 every 3 months! Check out their savings tool to see what your prescriptions would cost and to make sure they are covered.
- As a PSC member you also save 10% off all Walgreens Brand products and 10% off your entire photo order.
- The savings also covers diabetic supplies and insulin as well at Pet Medications!
Getting Started
If you decide that you want to get the extra savings in store and on prescriptions then you sign up online, head to a store or call a store to get signed up.
Remember the very coupon friendly store in Batesburg SC, from a few weeks ago? They are in the middle of a district contest and would love to have you call them if you are interested. They will process it over the phone and mail out the card. You can use it at any store in the country, it would just help them out to be processed locally. Call 803-532-2586.
(This is not a sponsored post, just something helpful to learn about savings options).
If I hear “Mama, What can I do?” one more time I’m gonna… here are some ideas for Saturday 4/17 to have fun for FREE.
Lowes Home Improvement
Lowes Build & Grow is making a planter box.
This is free and starts at 10 am at stores throughout the country. It’s geared towards elementary aged kids, though we started taking our girls when they were 3. This has become a big Daddy Daughter event in our house now.
They do run out of kits most day’s so get there early (like 9:45)!
**If you want to make the trip more fun for you print your Home Depot Garden club coupons and take them too (most Lowes stores accept HD coupons as competitors!!). We just got B1G1 Tree coupons this week!!**
Toys R Us
Toys R Us is having a Thomas and Friends Play Date on Saturday, from 11am – 1pm.
Activities: Storytime, Coloring Fun, Thomas Trivia, Special Offers, Free Gifts
Call your local store before heading out to make sure they are participating.
(Thanks Saving and Stewardship!)
