Missi has figured out a great deal for us!
Head to Walgreens to make money on Dove products and Headbands:
Buy:
(2) Dove Travel Size deodorants .99 ea
(2) Dove Body Mists at $3.99- $4.49
Use:
(2) Buy 1 Dove deodorant, get 1 Dove Body Mist FREE from RP 6/28
-$1.50/2 Dove Deodorant RP 6/07
Total Due: .48 cents (plus tax)
Get $2 RR back (for purchasing Body Mists)
You Make: $1.52!! This deal should be good through July 25th!
Buy:
(1) Goody’s Ouchless Flex Headband
Use:
-$1 off Goody’s Ouchless Flex Headband
A mail in rebate will print after you check out for a full refund!
You make $1!
(thanks Coupon Cravings!)
The 44th annual Pillsbury bake-off is currently going on. This year they are trying something new though… “You be the judge” voting! For the first time in over 60 years (yes 60 years though they say it’s the 44th annual) online readers will help decide the final 10 contestants.
How does the “You Be the Judge!” voting work? Judges will select 20 recipes to be placed online at www.bakeoff.com in pairs for a period of two weeks for each pair. Consumers can vote for their favorite recipe in each pair. The recipe from each pair that wins the most votes will earn a spot in the final competition, April 11-13, 2010, in Orlando, Florida.
Voting is limited to one vote per person for each pair of recipes. Voters must be registered members of www.pillsbury.com and 18 years of age or older as of May 1, 2009, to participate.
Go and cast your votes now, and then again on July 9, July 23, August 6, August 20, September 3 and September 17.
The Giveaway::
Two Southern Savers readers will win a Pillsbury prize pack. This is a funny one! You will get:
- Magazine cookbook of all the past winning recipes of the bake-off
- A Pillsbury dough-boy doll (he makes noise when you poke him)
To enter, leave a comment below with what you think would make a winning recipe.
I’ll go first: “It has to be quick and have chocolate involved!!”
Today, 6/27, Books-A-Million is havin their one day sale. All Club members get 20% off today (usually it’s 10% off). (thanks Jennifer!)
Get a FREE quart of paint from Glidden. Pick from any color they make and they will mail it to you within 3-4 weeks. (Note: 1 quart is just a tester size, but it works if you are picking colors)
(thanks Wendy, Aymie and others!)
We had a wonderful vacation. Arrived home yesterday after a very long stay in the Atlanta airport… lesson learned – a one hour layover is not enough time to clear customs and go back through security.
Where were we?
We were in Cancun, Mexico. We earned a free trip (airfare, room and board) to Cancun working with Southern Living at Home. So really a big thanks to everyone that ordered All You or hosted a home party this year. We give up most of our commission on the magazines, but it was worth all the email and questions to have 4 days alone with my Husband!! I will never push business here but if you ever have questions about direct sales just ask! I met so many wonderful people (including the now infamous Coupon Connie of Buford GA).
I hope you guys managed without me. I tried to stay as up on what was going on but we were just having too much fun most days. The motto of the trip for me was do everything that we couldn’t do if our kids were there so we rented mopeds, rode little jet boats, and kayaked. Went riding all over town on the buses and learned the art of bartering. We walked at least 10 miles in all (I can only imagine the whining that would have created with the kids). The thrill for me was just getting a passport and getting using it. I had never needed one before so it was fun!
Now that we are back I have work to do. If you emailed I am working on my inbox, also I should have Rite Aid and Walgreens up during nap time. I also now have to start working on not saying “Hola” to every person I see.
There are lots of different places to get coupons. Newspaper, printables, magazines, in store dispensers, coupons on products, pamphlets in the store… the list is endless. Please remember with all these different coupons that you can still only use one manufacturer coupon per item. It doesn’t matter where you found the coupon, only one per item.
So you print a coupon to take with you and then find a coupon on the box when you get there. If they are both manufacturer coupons then you need to pick one of them to use for that item. Pick the coupon that is the highest price, or will be the highest price after doubling (a .40 cent coupon would be worth more than a .65 cent coupon at a store that doubles .50 cents or less coupons).
How do you tell if it is a manufacturer coupon?
Many store coupons say at the top that they are manufacturer coupons, so how do you really know what kind of coupon you have?
First look at the bar code. A manufacturer coupon will start with a 5 or a 9. That’s it. Any other number starting the bar code and you have a store coupon. Also look in the small print for a mailing address for redemption. All true manufacturer coupons that can be used at any store will have an address. If the coupon starts with a 5 or a 9 and has the address then you will be able to use the coupon at any store without problems. (Note: If the fine print states to be redemption only for X store than the above does not apply – haven’t run into one of those yet though). “Redeemable At…” or a coupon having a store logo are only attempts for the store to get you to use the coupon in their store, not a requirement.
If you find that you do have a store coupon, then you can find a manufacturer coupon to use with it. This is called stacking. At most stores you can use a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon on each item. Stacking them together can really increase your savings! All stores covered by Southern Savers allow stacking.
Many grocery stores will double coupons that are a certain value or less every day. This is not based on the words on the coupon, but is based on the bar code. The computer systems will double any coupon that is the right value and if the bar code starts with a 5. While the store can override the double manually, that is not done in many stores.
This is just a basics post.There is a lot more to bar codes but for SouthernSavers.com we will stop there. It borders on illegal to go into decoding coupons and I am not up for that. Please no linking to other posts that discuss this either.
I recently listened to a segment of the Dave Ramsey show where he was talking about everyone filling in the following sentence:
“I save so that I can __________.”
What would you fill in the blank. For us, part of our answer would be, “We save so that we can give.” Not only does saving money on groceries allow us to do this, but just the way we shop allows us to do this too. There is so much in each week that is free or pennies that others can use. If you see deals for free items and pass by them thinking that it isn’t an item that your family would use, I want to encourage you to think about who else could use that item. There are many groups that would love to have your glucometers, shampoo, razors, food, and pretty much anything else that you can buy. Some groups to contact would be:
Churches
Medical Missions (local and abroad)
Food Banks
Homeless Shelters
Battered Women’s Shelters
Red Cross Disaster Relief
To give you an idea of the needs out here let me highlight one organization in my area, the Oliver Gospel Mission. This is a mission in downtown Columbia SC that has both a one night shelter and a long term leadership program. As you skim this list there I hope you see so many things that we have opportunity to buy for almost nothing. While you might not be in my area, I would venture to guess that the organizations in your area have needs very similar.
Current Needs:
Non-Perishable Food
Sugar – 5lb bags or larger
Coffee
Kool-Aid Drink Mix – unsweetened
Tea Bags
Non-dairy Creamer
Spaghetti pasta
Canned Vegetables (#10 cans preferred)
Grits
Parboiled rice (Important: parboiled, not regular rice)
Disposable salt and pepper shaker sets
Paper Products
Paper napkins
Plastic knives, forks and spoons
Styrofoam coffee cups (small)
Clothing
Men’s underwear (new) Sizes 32 – 4
Undershirts: Sizes M-XXXL
Jeans: Sizes 32 – 46
Long Sleeve Shirts: Casual or dress, all sizes
Tennis Shoes: Sizes 8–13
Socks
Belts
Winter coats: Sizes M-XXXL
Knit hats
Baseball caps
Back Packs – new or used
Guest Post from Christy Jordan of Southern Plate.com:
I almost didn’t bring this to you at all because it is so embarrassingly easy. I’m giving away my secrets here! But after a busy day at school and chauffeuring around kids to appointments, you just might need to call upon this dish. It is also extremely economical. Using a sale I found out about on Southern Savers, I picked up these two boxes of scalloped potatoes when they were buy one get one free. I had two coupons for .40 cents off a single box, which Publix doubled to make it .80 off each box. Considering the price was 1.59 with buy one get one free, I actually made a penny by purchasing these. I used up the leftover ham from a dinner and that puts my out of pocket costs at whatever the little bit of milk and two tablespoons of margarine ran me.
I apologize for springing math on ya like that. Believe me, its something I try to avoid!
Embarrassingly Easy Ham and Potato Casserole
- 1-2 Boxes Scalloped or Au Gratin Potatoes
- Leftover ham
- Ingredients called for on box (typically milk, water, and a bit of margarine or butter)
Prepare potatoes according to package directions, place in casserole dish. Stir in ham. Bake according to package directions.
1 Box potatoes yields 8×8 casserole
2 Boxes yield 9×13 casserole
Can add green beans or peas to make this a more complete meal!
For a delicious and economical dessert, try my mother’s Chocolate Cobbler recipe!
Visit SouthernPlate.com for a complete tutorial, including photos of every step!
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All You Magazine, a source of coupons with as many as a Sunday Paper, has started a fun Challenge. They are offering one person:
- $1000 Grocery Card
- Year supply of Knorr Sides
- Chance to appear in All You Magazine
What’s the deal? You have to try to spend $25 or less per person per week. The Challenge starts July 13th and runs for 4 weeks. Go HERE to sign up and to get more information. I know we can have a winner from Southern Savers!!
Even you don’t fully suceed it would still be something to help hold you accountable on spending. They even have a free tracking program you can use.
One more upside… if Southern Savers can get the most registered over other sites we win $250. For me that sounds like (5) more $50 free grocery giveaway winners… So go and register!!
Note: All You has stated that costs of infant formula do not count into the $25 per person.
Most of you that visit Southern Savers on a regular basis, already know that you can drastically decrease your grocery shopping expenses with coupons. But did you know you can also decrease your organic grocery shopping by at least 50%? I am able to say this, because I have done it myself.
Having organic items in my family’s diet is something that is very important to me. It means less pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and chemicals in our food. Organic deal finding and couponing is not for the faint of heart. Don’t think that it is easy. It is harder than regular deal finding, because there are usually less deals and options. But it can be done! Here are a couple of tips to apply to your organic shopping (notice how some of them are similar to regular couponing):
1. Buy local. Shopping from local farmers will not only reduce your costs on produce, but it will also be supporting farmers and helping our economy. Check out Local Harvest to find local farmers and farmer’s markets in your area.
2. Do some research and find all the possible sources of organic coupons. Some come in the paper, there are a lot of printables, and you can even get them by contacting companies. You want to get your hands on every organic coupon possible. Here is a list that I have compiled on my site of all the online resources for organic coupons.
3. Watch the sales and match coupons with the lowest price.
4. Check for mark downs or clearance items, and match coupons with those.
5. Use your overage from other grocery deals to use towards your organics. This sometimes means getting things you would never eat or use.
6. Use your store rewards to get your organic items. ie. Register Rewards and Extra Bucks.
7. Watch the online deals. Lately, places like Amazon
8. Use rebates and gift card deals to get your organic items. One example of this would be the prescription transfer coupons that give you a gift card. Use those towards your organic items.
9. Find blogs and websites that help you find organic grocery deals. One such forum is www.OrganicGroceryDeals.com.
