First, I’m sorry I haven’t been around much the last week.  This pain is pretty bad but hopefully it’ll let up in a day or 2.  When it gets this bad it usually only lasts about a week, and I’m at the tail end of that so keep your fingers crossed   I have barely been able to function, so I sit in front of the TV and catch up on DVDs   Please keep checking back, because I have some awesome giveaways coming up next week for you.  Whether or not I’m able to move, I’m posting those giveaways for you!

I am very glad that I do not clip all of my coupons anymore because the ones I have clipped look like that picture from above!  I’m getting there though; I’ll get organized one of these days!  Remember when I rambled on about organizing my e-life a few posts ago?  I’ve made some great headway but one thing that I did a few years ago that really helped me to feel moe organized is something I’m going to do again, starting this weekend, and for those of you who do not do this I believe it is something that won’t only help you feel organized and in control but also help you save money!  I am going to create my own personal coupon database.  I’m still going to build one for the site, for locals who would like some help keeping up with what coupons we have, but I’m going to build one that is just for my personal use.

Creating your own (CYO) database, or even a simple spreadsheet, is a simple way to keep track of the coupons that you actually have in your possession.  The point is to log which coupons you have, no matter what type of coupon it is, and how many of each coupon you have.  When you organize your shopping trips, and you should never go shopping without a plan, you use the database as a tool to help you and you simply change the number of coupons on your database/spreadsheet as you use them.

Does that make sense?  Sometimes even the simplest thing is hard for me to articulate and explain, so I just ramble.  Whether you choose to create a database or a spreadsheet you need certain software.  You may own a copy of Microsoft Office, which is perfect as is Microsoft Works (which is what I own).  There is absolutely no need to buy any software to do this!  You can easily use Microsoft Open Office, use Google Docs, or you can find more free software here or here.

I can’t stand for my coupons to be in a mess any more.  It has driven me to the point of insanity, because I am spending too much money at the store and watching sales go by without being able to take advantage of them.  I am about to have to actually pay for garbage bags, shampoo, and toilet paper.  I haven’t paid more than $1 for this stuff in years, and it’s all because I’ve gotten disorganized over the last few months.  I haven’t even paid for shampoo, the really good stuff, in 2 years.  Luckily I’m 2 bottles away from having to but that’s a very low supply in my home!  When I had my coupon database, I knew exactly what I had, how many of each, when they expired, and it was simple to clean them out.   I know that I probably have more time on my hands than some of you, but this is still something you can do if you take 30 minutes a day for a few days to commit to doing.  If your coupons are organized already, it won’t be a problem.

I am going to do the tutorial in another post, since I probably lost most of you a few saentences ago .  I will be doing the tutorial tonight and posting it for tomorrow so you’ll have the day to do it before Sunday’s coupons come out.  But you get to i twhen you get to it.  I just need most of the day today to put the tutorial together as well as finish up some coupon store match ups I’m doing.  I’m slow!

I am leaving you with some homework for those of you who are taking this step to becoming a New Shopper in the New Year.  This will definitely help you get there and help you save money really quickly and believe me, I’m lazy so I wouldn’t do it if it didn’t help me a LOT.

So anyway, your homework is as follows:

Read up and decide whether you’re going to do a simple database or a spreadsheet.  A spreadsheet is the simpler, quicker thing to do, but will take more time in the long run to use.  Not by much, but as you’ve seen by the databases on Hot Coupon World and A Full Cup there is a lot more you can do with a database.d

Find whatever software you’re going to use and download it if necessary.  OpenOffice is a HUGE file so keep that in mind if you download it.

The last step of homework I am giving you for the day is to gather your coupons.  Gather them up and make sure they’re somewhat orgnaized so that it won’t take you long to type in your quantity of each coupon you have, or the size specification.

Creating your own database or spreadsheet may  be a  tedious task but was instrumental to me in my savings years ago and will be  now!  I hope you all take this one (optional) step to becoming a New Shopper in the New Year!

!

One of the easiest keys to saving money is to learn your sales cycles for your favorite stores, and for the stores you may start shopping when you learn the great deals they may hold.  All this means is that you need to learn how often items go on sale.  Maybe not individual brands but categories as a whole.  For instance, bread.  Not necessarily Nature’s Own bread but when one particular type of bread will go on sale at a rock bottom price for you to stock up.  This is a part of Creating a  Price Book in a big way, but even if you don’t have a price book (I don’t have one at the moment) you should know your sales cycles.

Each grocery store will be different so the message of this post is short and sweet.  You’ll have to ask your store’s management how their cycles work.  When I spoke with a Publix member of management, she told me that items are cycled to go on a Buy 1 Get 1 Free sale every 4 weeks.  This means that every 4 weeks, there’ll be a cereal that is BOGO, or garbage bags or whatever else is in a general category.  These are the perfect building blocks for your stockpiles, and even for those of you who won’t use coupons it is beneficial to build your shopping habits around the cycles for your stores so that you can stockpile the things your family will use until they go on sale again.

For a family who is brand loyal to a certain item/brand, this is especially important.  When a BOGO sale happens plus you have coupons to get the items at a deep discount then  you should definitely stock up.  For those of you who aren’t brand loyal, if you have other stores you shop you have a little bit of leeway because another brand will soon be on sale.

Breakfast cereals come to mind when I say these things.  There is always a breakfast cereal that’s on sale Buy 1, Get 1 Free at Publix.  Cereal runs about $3-$4 per box no matter where you go in my area, and it’s a few pennies higher at Publix.  I refuse to pay that.  However, I will buy it if I have coupons and find a good BOGO sale on kinds we enjoy.  We eat a variety of brands/types, so I buy whatever is cheapest.  With kids, you may not have that luxury.  My “big kid” doesn’t care too much.  My target price for a box of cereal is $1 or less; it’s hard in our tiny town to get free cereal.  Before our move, we could have because we had lots of stores that doubled coupons.  We stock up when we visit my in-laws in the city where we used to live, as well, so that helps.  Some may find it odd to see 10 boxes of cereal in t he pantry of a childless couple but when I buy those 10 boxes for $.50 or less and never buy another box for a year they don’t often say much.

I won’t ramble on any longer.  Rather, I’ll wrap it all up by just asking that you have a short convo with your grocery store’s management or a knowledgeable employee the time you shop, if you never have.  Get in their good graces, so they’ll let you know of store coupon books and future sales.  Most important, ask them how their cycles work.  Ask them when they mark down items like short-date dairy or meat.  You’ll be saving the most money you ever have once you leave the store with that knowledge.

This series was supposed to end December 31, and you were supposed to be set free to be the best shoppers in the world.  Alas, it didn’t happen like that.  I should have known better than to plan anything at all around  the month of December but I happen to learn things the H-A-R-D way.  Like brick dropped on my head, hard.  There’s a story with that, maybe I’ll share one day- it’s an in-law story and it’s hilarious.  Anyway, geez keep me on track will ya, as I have shopped recently little topics keep popping up that I want to she with you.  Today’s topic is convenience, and it’s quite simple so it won’t take long.

The lesson you need to remember: The smaller packages aren’t always the better deal, nor are the larger packages always the better buy.

The reason I wanted to share this tidbit with you, one that you probably already know, is because my husband and I almost paid twice as much as we could have for dog food at the same store (Walmart).  I didn’t have a coupon because (GASP!) it was an emergency trip.  We thought w’ed get the smaller bag because we have tiny dogs and a 4 lb. bag lasts them forever. I could stockpile at a later date.

Back up.  Let me tell you- my “children” will not eat anything except Purina Little Bites.  Nothing.  When we attempted to feed them Iams, expensive Iams, my babies sniffed their food, looked at the food closely and then looked at us.  Just like defiant, p*ssed off children they are, they ran off to hide under covers. They went 12 hours without eating a bite.  We caved!  Tiny babies have to eat, and they like what they like.  ‘nough said.

Well, the 4 lb. bag cost about $4.87 I believe (memory issues, I’m gettin’ on up there in age!) which came to $1.22 per pound.  For that particular food, that is NOT a good price but that’s another post entirely.  (Remind me if you’re interested to do a post on good prices for dog good.) When we priced the 18 pound bag, which was the largest Walmart carried, we found that wwe were paying $10 for the entire bag.  That came to $.55 per pound. Yep, fifty-five cents per pound of the same food that would have cost $1.22 per pound if we’d bought the smaller bag out of convenience.

Convenience is something that has cost us as Americans a lot of money.  Microwavable meals have replaced left-overs in the lunches of many working stiffs, packaged cookies and snacks replaced homemade (even the mix) that would cost a fraction if one would take the time, and even the vending machine has replaced a simple thermos.  That’s just food.  Don’t get me started on the money we, and if you think I’m not included in that you’re nuts, have wasted in this country.

For those of us who want to become New Shoppers in the New Year, and I am reaffirming my desire to do this with you, we have to make a choice.  Are we going to pay for convenience of smaller packages, packaged meals, drinks out of a can, and packaged cookies for your kids that contain chemicals Einstein can’t pronounce?  Are you going to stop the insanity, take half an hour from somewhere else in your day and make your own meals for lunch during the week, prepare snacks for  your kids, package chips and pretzels in individual baggies yourself instead of buying a $10 box, and if you can’t use a giant bag of food in a short amount of time buy one of those giant plastic keepers or split it with a friend/relative who also has a dog?  Seriously, your choice has to be the latter if you really want to make a dent in the way you shop and save.

My point is just not to get trapped into buying so much just out of convenience.  Life is inconvenient sometimes; it’s a pain to separate chips into Ziplock bags but if I told you that you would save $100 per year doing that then what would you say?  What if I told you that you’d save another $800 (figure in recent magazine) per year by taking leftovers for your work lunches and sending your children to school with leftovers or sandwiches?  The money you save adds up; you can’t use coupons to get vending machine items free.  You CAN go to the grocery store and stock up on FREE chips and pretzels when you see a sale.  It takes dedication, organization and work.

So what do you think we did about the dog food that day?  Of course we bought the big bag! We had a plastic container already, so the $10 for the Purina Little Bites was all we were out.  We would have snagged it for much less had I had a coupon but it wasn’t meant to be that day.  Don’t let manufacturer’s fool you with package sizes.  Take your calculator with you, and figure out how much you pay per unit.  It’s on the shelf but sometimes it’s hard to see.  Break it down yourself into pounds, ounces or whatever unit of measurement is proper for the product.

Afraid you’ll get weird looks carrying around calculators and examining packages?  Well, you probably will get 1 or 2, but when you’re buying the $.22 per pound bag of food and someone else is buying the $1.21/lb. bag, you can give THEM weird looks.  I am so used to weird looks and stares it doesn’t faze me any longer.  Be proud that you’re contributing to your family in such a HUGE way.  Now THAT’s convenient and it makes life make cents!!

For those of you who are just venturing into the whole journey of saving money, earning great prizes and trying to get your budget under control, there’s one avenue you probably aren’t aware of taking: social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.  You’re already using blogs, like this one, which is one definition of social media designed to help you save money.  At least that’s what I hope to accomplish!  Twitter and Facebook can be valuable, fun tools as well that will get you freebies, discounts and even help you to win great prizes.  I highly recommend creating accounts for those two outlets if you haven’t already, and becoming more active if you do have accounts.

I didn’t use Facebook much a lot for a very long time, I admit.  I always thought it was more for teenagers and younger “kids” sort of like MySpace.  I found out the last few months, though, that companies market through Facebook quite often to those of us in our 20’s and up (darn it i’m now in the “and up”) to showcase new products and services and to provide us sometimes with coupons, discounts, and free samples of those products. Facebook is free for them to use, and they have a huge reach for their consumer base (us) so they can interact  more directly and form closer, more intimate relationships with their consumers.  I personally have found that Facebook is a great way to get companies to know what I have to say about their products, whether it is positive or negative, because there is a real person behind those accounts.    You can also get feeds from Making Cents Out of Life if you’re a regular Facebook user, and you’ll know whenever I post a deal!  I do recommend signing up for Facebook, and even if you don’t use it for recreational purposes like some of my friends do (I still don’t understand all of the ways it can be used!) it is a great tool for saving money and learning about new products.

The same can be said about Twitter, although it’s quite simpler to use.  There’s also less you can do with Twitter but I find I enjoy it more.  With Twitter, you “follow” your friends and family, and other people like me and your favorite companies.  When they post something, for instance if I want to let you know about a hot coupon, my followers will get my message and know about it.  People who aren’t following me wouldn’t know about it.  I’m going to do entire posts on each one of these but this is the short version.  With Twitter, you have 140 characters to say something.  You have to abbreviate and use slang sometimes 2 get ur msg acrs & ur ppl  got 2 know how it works.  See?  That’s how I sometimes I have to type on Twitter.  Companies use this the same as they use Facebook, to get a message across.  They Tweet (message) coupons and contest often.  I could probably stay on Twitter all day, and never tire of it.  This is a great way to find out about discounts, contests, coupons and personally a way to interact with friends and family.

They reach so many people through these outlets, and it helps them because it’s free advertising!  They can pass on their savings from not having to pay to print or use television advertising on to consumers in the form of freebies, coupons, samples and prizes.  In the New Year, I plan on sharing more about these and other ways you can get first hand knowledge of great freebies and discounts.

To become a New Shopper in the New Year, Twitter and Facebook definitely need to be in your bookmarks on your computer(s).  As I said, not as a tool for recreation per say (unless you want it to be) but as a tool for saving money and earning prizes.  When you’re online, do as I do and leave those programs going in another browser or tab, and check them periodically to see if something is posted that you want to know or use.  This way if something is limited to the first 1,000 or whatever, you’ll be included!

Part of the New Shopper in the New Year series will be a post on each Twitter and Facebook, and a couple of others because I found those to be great savings tools during the last year.  For those of you who are already “fluent” in the use and workings of those sites, feel free to skip them.  In fact, if you’re an avid Facebook user please comment or e-mail ME with tips!   I use it but not quite enough so I’m going to have to learn a lot more before I do that post.  I could barely set up my page.  Also if you will, please spread the word about our page and ask friends and family to follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

I’ll be posting “New Year, New Shopper” posts more this week since I had to set it aside during the holidays more than I wanted to.  The series is set to end on January 10 rather than January 1 as I’d hoped but you’ll still have 51 weeks to use all the knowledge to save.  Plus that last week will just be a review of the previous weeks.  If there’s a topic you want covered, e-mail me at kristinbriannethompson at gmail dot com.  Remove the spaces and replace the at and the dot with the actual symbols.

I’m sure a lot of you have started to believe I’ve forgotten about the  series I started a few weeks ago called Be a New Shopper in the New Year.  I haven’t, I just set it aside as the holiday deals and life started to get more hectic.  A couple of the posts will teach you how to shop online to get the absolute best deal possible, which was one of my goals for the series.  You can find the two main posts for that here and here.  Whether you’re an online aficianoado or have only purchased through Amazon, these posts will teach you how to navigate your way through the online retailers to find the best deals and even get cash back on your purchases!!

A lot of you are probably wondering why I’m still posting online deals.  I’m pretty sure you’re finished with your Christmas shopping, and you can’t get much here by December 24 now without paying a million bucks in shipping fees.  Well, you can get these awesome buys and keep them for other occasions like birthdays, birthday parties, next Christmas, and any other occasion where a gift is warranted.  Even if you just like to occasionally give your kids a present for being super sweet, why not get a toy for $3 instead of paying $15 for it when the time comes?  Other things I post are also ideas for gifts, home decor,and just stuff I think are darn good deals.  If I post it, it means I think it’s worth paying for, and I’m cheap.  Seriously, some times I think Dollar Tree is too expensive .

The moral of the post is that every bargain hunter should have a gift stockpile.  Some people have gift closets, gift rooms, or gift basements.  Me?  I have a couple of drawers in a dresser with small items that I can throw together to make a nice gift bag for various people.  Try to have a variety of items- cheap toys and stickers and kids’ items, toiletries for men as well as cheap socks and other things that are um…proper to give to someone else’s husband if you’re at an office party, and lady’s gifts like Bath and Body Works freebies, drugstore freebies..the list of possibilities is endless; just don’t spend a lot of money to create your stockpile.  Last year I was able to create gift bags for about 15 people using items I simply paid tax on.  Don’t start thinking it’s tacky to give someone toiletries for a gift, either.  If you give them a $5 bottle of shower gel, you just saved them $5 and the gift cost you $.40 tax!  People love to get nice gifts like that.

One question I’ve seen various places is centered around the etiquette of giving these gifts to people who know you get the items free or nearly free.  Someone even had a person at a gathering spill the beans to everyone who’d received a gift (a freebie basket) from this person.  Needless to say the gift giver was humiliated.  First, I don’t surround myself with people like that.  If you have no choice, perhaps tell that person a few days ahead of time that you’re giving everyone in the office/family/party the same kind of gift, and although she knows how you shop would she please not reveal your secrets.  Something along those lines will keep everything friendly yet hopefully help keep you from feeling embarrassed about giving “Freebies” as gifts.  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it; just cover your bases ahead of time.

Do you have a gift stockpile established yet?  If so, what do you include?  Do you have any secrets for giving these items to those who know how you shop…a.k.a. that you’re a Bargain Queen?

I can’t imagine very many of you are new to online shopping but since I just starting shopping online last year I thought there might be a few of you who aren’t yet convinced of the great deals you can find online versus shopping in the store.  I have a few tips for you to help with security as well as saving money.

Security

• Federal law mandates that you are only liable for the first $50 if your credit card is fraudulently used.   Most major carriers are following this with debit cards as well, especially if your debit card has a major logo on it (Visa, Mastercard, etc.).  Your bank also has a security department whose job it is just to track fraudulent charges, so chances are they’d catch it and cancel the purchases before anything gets spent.
• Don’t use websites that don’t accept credit/debit cards.  A legit site should never ask you to send money up front.
• When you go to a retailer’s site, you’ll see a lock icon somewhere on the site at the very least when you are placing your order.  It could be at the top of the page or near the bottom.  You can also do a search for the online retailer’s security statement to ensure that your information isn’t going anywhere but used to process your order.  If in doubt, look for a phone number and call someone.  Ask them how they guarantee your purchases.  I don’t think you will ever have to do this.
• If you are still in doubt, start by shopping with one of the major retailers with whom you shop in-store.  For instance, use Target.com or Walmart.com.  They don’t want to lose your business in-store so they won’t take any chances with your business online by not securing your information.

General

1. Make sure you shop with a site that has a good return policy.  If you or the gift recipient are dissatisfied you’ll want to make sure you can return it.  The best site for their generous return policy is Zappos.com.  Try to shop with sites who will cover your return charges, if possible, and always get some sort of confirmation/insurance so that if the package is lost you will not lose your money.
2. Shop online as early as possible because it takes time to get your orders, and also things may have to be back ordered if you wait too long.   Overnight shipping charges are horrendous.  Take advantage of any free shipping you can get, as long as it doesn’t mean they will take weeks to get you your order.  Amazon Prime is a wonderful service if you shop a lot from there year-round.  You get free 2-day shipping for any orders that come directly from Amazon.  Right now they are offering a free month of Prime.
3. Check your memberships and credit cards for any rewards and discounts.  Credit cards often come with discounts specifically for users of the card, such as Visa Signature rewards.  AAA offers more than just roadside assistance.  According to Friday’s airing of the Rachael Ray Show, AAA members can save 5-30% at retailers all over the web.  They say you can save 10% at Target.com and BarnesandNoble.com.  Check your membership kit for details.
4. Need help getting to a certain threshold for free shipping or a discount? Shop with a friend and just split the purchase.  One person can use his/her credit or debit card and let the other one give them the cash, and you both reap the benefit of the discount.  This works well with sites who give free shipping to higher-end orders of $50 or more.  Why should 2 people pay shipping?

Money

1. Join every retailer e-newsletter you can find.  They often send special discounts and coupons to their subscribers that you otherwise might not know about, or have birthday-specific rewards (for example) that you can take advantage of when the time is right.
2. Find online coupon codes for discounts on your orders and shipping.  Sign up for these sites as well so you can be alerted when a new code is added.
3. Combine your coupon codes with cash back by shopping at sites like Cashbaq, Ebates or Big Crumbs.  Register for all of these sites and use the site that offers the largest cash back reward for the specific store where you will be shopping.  During the holidays the cash back offers will probably be amped up at each of them because they’ll be competing for your business.
4. Use sites like Pricegrabber.com to do price comparisons for you.  This is a really cool site, and I am not affiliated with them so I’m not being paid to say that!  I wouldn’t do that anyway.  I’m a very opinionated,blunt girl so I always tell you what I think about something.  In case you were wondering, which you probably weren’t.  Anyway, you type in the item you’re looking for and it will bring up every place it can be found and show you the prices.  Check a few of them out because while one may be the lowest price, the shipping might make up for the price difference.  Pricegrabber has  a rebate section as well, so you can see if an online purchase is offering a rebate.
5. Just do research on your purchases.   This is where Swagbucks will come in handy for you to earn some Amazon gift cards.  Search “Best price for xxx” or “promotions for xxx” and see what you find.  You may find a site offering a gift with purchase.  Get the biggest bang for your buck, even if it takes a little bit longer.
6. Some banks offer a one-time use credit card that you can use online for your purchases.  This will enable you to protect yourself as well as possibly get rewards if that card has a major logo on it.  Shopping with a pre-paid debit card may also net you those rewards.
7. Sign up for a UPromise account.  You don’t have to have children to have a UPromise account.  You can easily use it as a savings account.  Register your debit/credit cards, and use them at the sites and stores where you’ll earn cash back.  Eventually you’ll have a nice little nest egg waiting for you that you haven’t even thought about.  You can request a check rather than have it come in the form of college savings for a child.

What tips do you have for saving money doing online shopping?  I am fairly new to the world of online shopping, and I still don’t buy much, but since I refuse to pay a lot for anything (I have got to be the world’s cheapest shopper) I learned quickly all the different ways to save our money.  If my husband knew that it was a difficult for me to make up my mind online as it is for me in the store, he’d laugh his rear end off!  I’m one of these shoppers who will walk the entire distance of the mall after I have seen something I really want, go somewhere else outside the mall, and then go back and get it because I’m afraid I’ll see the item cheaper somewhere else.  I hate sitting in a return line!

How did everyone’s Black Friday shopping go?  I’d love to hear horror success stories, so feel free to share.  I know I have a few readers, so come out and share with us.

Edit:  I neglected to ensure that the links were all working in this post; I left out the link to CouponShack.com.  This was not intentional and I want to apologize to those great folks.  I haven’t ever used their site but it does look great.  I was simply working on this for about 4 hours and extremely tired, but if ever you see a link that is not working please e-mail me and I will be happy to fix it!

If you don’t have one of those in your back yard, you’re probably going to want some deals to go along with your holiday shopping come Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  If you DO have one of those in your back yard, can I come over and pick what falls off?  Thanks!

You have several ways to make your holiday shopping a little easier on your wallet, even for the most expensive gifts.  You might not even have to go fight the mobs of people busting down doors to get to the 2 or 3 big-ticket items that are in stock on Friday morning at the crack of dawn (well before that!).  How, you ask? I’ll pretend you did, anyway!  Now, I am going to talk about online shopping.  I’ll dedicate an entire post to saving money in-store, I promise.  I know you just can’t wait!

For online shopping you’ll need to befriend a few sites because they will give you cash back for your purchases.  Furthermore, if you refer friends and family, you can get cash back on some of their purchases.  That’s another incentive for you to encourage them to shop in their pj’s this weekend.  Shopping through a cash-back site is simple.   All you have to do is go to the site of your choice, and I’m going to tell you about many, and then click on whichever store you choose.  You’ll be directed to the store and as long as you don’t leave before making your purchases you will receive a certain percentage of your purchases back (depending on which site you choose).  I recommend having at least 3 that you are signed up for so that you can pick the highest payout on the store of your choice.  They often vary and some will have specials that day.  For instance, you might get 3% back at Old Navy on one site and 4% back at Old Navy on another.

This is probably going to be a lengthy post, but it’ll pay off for those of you who aren’t signed up for these sites!

Online Coupon Codes

Online coupon codes can save you tremendous amounts of money when you shop online.  Some offer free shipping, some offer a free product with purchase like the great ones at Bath and Body Works, and some offer a dollar amount off your purchase  ($/$).  You can Google use Swagbucks to search for online coupon codes but why don’t I just tell you about my favorites?  My mom is an expert online-coupon-finder, let me tell ya if there’s one out there she will find it!

My favorite site for online coupon codes as well as printable retail coupons is Retail Me Not. Retail Me Not has the most current coupon codes and printable coupons for thousands of stores.  It is set up as a community where you can join and be a part of the site so a lot of the information comes from members and is verified by people who are actually shopping in the stores.  They have a blog and a spot for you to make a wishlist.  Another site for online coupon codes is Coupon Cabin.  It is set up similarly but has features that I like a lot.  There’s a price comparison tool that’s awesome.  This is actually my personal favorite but I always check each of the sites for current coupons.  Always be prepared!  A few more sites include CouponCode.com, CouponShare.com, CouponCactus.com, keycode.com, CouponShack.com, and CurrentCodes.com.  If you are using online coupon codes, jot them down.  You’ll need them for the next thing we’re going to discuss.  Did I miss any, Mama?  Anyone else have any great coupon sites?

Cash Back Sites

The one thing that usually deters me from online shopping is the shipping cost.  I’m always hesitant to order something that’s going to cost me $10 to have shipped.  Since I found out about cash-back sites, which give me back a percentage of my purchases, I’m fine with online shopping.  I don’t have to deal with crowds or parking (or an irritable Michael), and I put no miles on my car!  Finding the right cash-back site can be daunting because there are so many, but it doesn’t have to be.  Guess what?  You can sign up for them ALL, and possibly start raking in the dough.  Chances are, at least some of the time they will all offer a different cash-back amount (promotions and such), so if you’re signed up for them all you can just buy from that particular cash-back site that day.

It works simply.  Some of them have coupon codes as well as cash back offers.  Check out their coupon code as well as the ones you find from the sites above.  Usually you can choose which one to use.  Most of them won’t allow you to use more than 1.  Click on the store that you want to shop in at the cash-back site, and as long as you don’t leave the store before you make your purchase you’ll get the percentage back stated on the cash-back site.  Examples will come later; there’s a reason why I’m not a teacher.  Here are the best cash-back sites and a few facts about each of them.  I recommend joining them all.  It costs nothing, usually you get a bonus, and some of them even offer referrals.

Ebates is one of the more popular cash-back sites.  There are hundreds of stores offering cash back up to 25%.  I can’t imagine getting 25 percent of my purchase back, can you?  They also offer coupon codes, printable coupons, and they even have a gift section with suggested gifts for the upcoming holidays.  You can shop directly from their site using their coupon codes or yours.  You will earn $5 for each referral!

Shop At Home is a newer cash-back site, and is quickly becoming my favorite!!  First of all, they are a dream to work with.  They offered my readers the chance to win a $100 Walmart e-gift card, and have already contacted the winner!  Their site is great.  They offer online coupon codes. printable grocery coupons, a deal of the day up to 75% off, and more!  They offer a referral program so if your friends and family sign up through your referral link you will get $5 added into your account.  They even offer free samples.  This site has it all, and I do believe will be my #1 site for online shopping.  They will answer every question you have on their Help page! Keep an eye on their blog for special notices, too.  You get your cash 60 days after the end of every month provided there is $20 in your account.  With rates as high as 28% back, and sometimes higher, that won’t take long.

Mr. Rebates is one other major cash back site.  I told you there were a lot.  You get $5 just for signing up!  Now, it’s all about finding the best deal. Mr. Rebates is similar to the other sites, although it seems more basic and simplified to me.  Their referral program is aso different.  On some of the others you get a flat $5 for each sign up. Some you get a smaller percentage. With Mr. Rebates, you get 20% of your referrals purchases.  Check it out for more details.

Big Crumbs is the last big cash back site I’m going to mention in detail on this post.  I will list a couple moreo but your homework for the day is to check these sites out and bookmark them for future use    It has coupon codes, printable coupons and a community of members who help each other get the best deals.  There’s no mention of how much you earn with referrals, does anyone know?  They do say they give you a percentage of cash back for the referrals who sign up under you.

Did I miss any cash back sites?  These are the big ones for sure, and I love the referral process.  It’s worth it to sign up even if you do not shop online because you will earn from referrals.   I hope that if you haven’t already, you will take the time (about 2-3 min. each) to sign up for each of these in the next couple of days so you can get help with your holiday shopping!

How do you save money when you shop online?

The easiest place to cut down in a household budget, when a family just can’t find anywhere else to cut, is the grocery budget. You may not feel any wiggle room, but if you aren’t shopping with coupons I can almost guarantee there is some room. You just have to be willing to invest the time and effort. This will help you to Be a New Shopper in the New Year. One of the most important things for you to know is where to get your coupons. Obviously you can get them in your Sunday newspaper, but where else? Here is a rundown of every resource for coupons I can possibly find. There are probably more, which is where you come in. Leave comments! Tell me what I’m forgetting and help newcomers. I’m going to list the places to go to get coupons; I will explain the “lingo” in another post so you’ll know what the different types of coupons are.

Paper coupon resources:

• Sunday newspaper- This is obvious, however there are a couple of things you should watch for when getting your Sunday newspaper. First, get the Sunday paper for the largest city in your area that you can get. For me, I have a choice between The Birmingham News and The Huntsville Times. I can get The Huntsville Times more readily because I live closer and it’s sold more places. There’s almost never any difference in coupons, and it’s $.50 cheaper so that’s what I buy most of the time. For weekends that there is going to be a very large amount of coupons, I split up my purchases and buy a couple of each. This is especially true if there’s going to be a hot, free product coupon in the paper. I use Sunday Coupon Preview to find out that information. Try to buy your newspaper in a store, not a box, so you can ensure that your inserts are actually in the paper. Just do it, and trust me because I’ve wasted at least $20 this way. It stinks. You may actually want to buy 1 of each large paper if you have more than 1 big city paper to choose from, and then decide from there which city you will continue to purchase. If that doesn’t make sense, comment and I’ll try to explain better! You may also find newspapers at Dollar Tree, but again make sure that they have good coupons in them. Our DT sells them for The Gadsden Times, but the coupons for that city are almost never as good. However, if there’s a “free product” coupon in there, and it’s actually in that paper, I will buy another couple of papers if it is an item I really want (like those Glade soy candles from awhile ago). Also, buy extra papers for awhile, especially in your earliest couponing months. You will want to get more than 1 of any given freebie so that you can develop a stockpile. Some say that you should get 1 newspaper for every person in your home, which is a decent rule for when you’re established, but I’d say to pick up 4-8 newspapers in your beginning few months so that you can quickly establish a stockpile of items you use and coupons for later use. I did this. If you have BOGO sales, 4 papers will ensure that you get (technically) 2 deals since you’re buying one and getting one free. If that sounds excessive, and you don’t have time, buy 2 papers so you can get 1 extra item to put up for later use. We’ll talk about stockpiling in a day or two; basically, get enough newspapers to buy enough of an item to last you until it gets to that rock bottom price (from your price book) again. It takes 6-8 weeks for an item to go on sale. Your friends and extended family will, I’m sure, be more than happy to take extra items you have on hand. Food pantries are ALWAYS in need!
• Friends and family- Remember those people with a coupon phobia? Ask for their coupons. You may have enough friends and family who donate their inserts to you that there’s no need for you to buy multiple newspapers. This is ideal. Trade with them- tell them you’ll get them a free tube of toothpaste or a bottle of shampoo with their inserts if they will give them to you; chances are if they were going to throw them away anyway it won’t be a problem!
• Free store publications- Walgreens is a great example of a place to go to get coupons; they always have at least their monthly booklet with store coupons as well as their Diabetes & You publication (free by the pharmacy) with manufacturer and store coupons in it. Usually there’s 1-2 more coupon booklets, at least, available. Other stores like Publix have booklets all the time with a mix of manufacturer and store coupons (that can be stacked..more on that later). Never go into a store without scanning it for coupons again. Repeat that over and over until it’s stuck in your head. Gas stations, drug stores, grocery stores..they are a coupon treasure trove.
• Store Shelves- The little flashing red machines on store shelves that spit out coupons are your friend. Take the 2 that spit out, then walk away for 90 seconds. Go back and take 2 more. Those coupons are often the same that are found in the newspapers, but can be of a different or higher value. You should always try to get 4 of those coupons; more is good but please don’t empty the machine. Be a conscious couponer. You’ll see pads of coupons throughout stores, too, and the same rule applies. Take 4-6 of each, and that will be plenty for you to stockpile the items. Take the coupons even if it’s something you don’t use- I’ll explain that later. Look for items that you are already going to purchase that have coupons on the packages. This is an obvious thing, but some packages are specially marked with coupons inside the packages; if you’re already buying that item, buy those! It’s kind of like a child and their cereal box toys. Now, you’re an adult and you get the coupons in the box. Keep an eye out for special displays all over your stores with coupons on them, too.
• Contacting the manufacturer- If you love, hate, or have never tried a product, contact the manufacturer. Tell them why you have those feelings, or how much you want to try their products. Chances are they will send you a few coupons to try their products at a greatly reduced price, if not free. I did this last year quite a bit, and was rewarded for my time with a ton of free item coupons and high value coupons for things we use daily. Start with the products in your home. Call or e-mail each of the manufacturers and see what happens; your mail box will fill up!
• Sign up for every manufacturer’s mailing list, both e-mail and regular mail because companies reward their loyal customers with savings not offered to others.
• Sign up for programs like Vocal Point. Some programs are developed simply for word of mouth advertising, and will supply consumers with a product for free and/or high value coupons so you can try the product and spread the word about it.
• Doctor’s offices and pharmacy counters- Look for special discounts on OTC medications as well as prescription meds for those of you without adequate insurance. Ask your doctor for coupons or discount cards (if not samples) for prescription drugs. Preferably samples, as I actually had to ask for yesterday at my doctor’s appointment. Try to realize what meds your insurance won’t cover, such as brand name antibiotics, and if there’s no generic available ask for samples or coupons. Drug reps spend a ton of time getting doctors to write Rx’s for their drugs, so chances are they left the Dr. wtih something to help you.
• Magazines- Make sure that you scan every single magazine that comes into your home for coupons. You’d be surprised at what you can find. Women’s magazines are filled with great coupons each month, and occasionally you’ll find a coupon for free items. The best magazine for a coupon resource is All You, and I’ve never seen it with less than $30 worth of coupons that you can actually USE each month. It’s $2.44 at Walmart, but if you visit my special fund raiser you can get 24 issues for only $20. That’s only $.83 per issue and you can make that up in just 2-3 coupons per issue. I promise it’s an investment, not an expense, because it pays for itself times four! The fund raiser goes to help my local elementary school’s 2nd grade, who is using the money for instructional supplies since their funding was cut this year due to pro-ration. My mom is a teacher there, and we all really appreciate any orders. Obviously, please don’t buy anything you don’t need. I started this fund raiser in order to offer my readers this step discount on All You as well as to help my mom’s school. You can also get renewals on your current magazines at deep discounts as well.

I’m sure there are more resources for paper coupons; I’ll add them as I think of them or as you leave comments (I will give you credit-just help my poor memory out!).

Printable Coupons are another great way to get valuable manufacturer’s coupons. Often, a manufacturer will release a coupon that’s a much higher value than those you will find elsewhere. There are dozens of printable coupon resources, so I can’t list them all, but I can list the best of the best. The ones I use are the ones I’ve researched and trust and have never had any problems with.

• Coupons.com- Updated regularly, usually a couple of times per month, this is one of the most reliable sources for printable coupons. You can almost always print 2 of each coupon by using your browser’s back button. The coupons you get will depend on your zip code; you won’t always get the higher value coupons if you live in a smaller area of the country. It’s regional just like a Sunday newspaper; sometimes that stinks, sometimes it works to your benefit. You can print these from my side bar or from the website, or you can also print them from your MyPoints account. Do this and you will get points for each coupon you print and redeem that you can use to buy valuable gift cards.
• RedPlum.com- Red Plum is another great printable coupon resource. There are often many exclusive to Red Plum coupons for items that you don’t normally have coupons for. Right now, they have many coupons for wine! You should print those now for holiday celebrations. You can also print those from MyPoints.com to redeem for points toward gift cards.
• Smart Source- This is the 3rd site I use for printable coupons, but it can be temperamental. If you can’t print the coupons from one browser, try another. I have better luck using Safari and Sea Monkey on this site. Again, go to MyPoints.com to print these for points!
• Cool Savings- Register here for access to more savings and printable coupons; this process takes a few minutes, so be prepared to go through the junk to get to the jewels.
• Coupon Surfer is a portal to help you locate and print coupons. There are a lot of fun things about this site!
• Coupons Inc.- This is the list of almost every printable coupon available. At the bottom of the page there is a huge list of printable coupons that won’t be found on the top 4 sites. These are usually from manufacturer’s websites.
• Health e Savers- This site will allow you to print out organic and health related coupons. I’m not familiar with many of the products since they aren’t sold near me, but a few of them are really great that I can tell.
• Delicious Living- This site has a few organic/natural product coupons for your enjoyment. Again, I’m not familiar with the products but those of you who shop mostly organic probably are.
• Mambo Sprouts- This site offers printable coupons as well as you can request a coupon booklet for organic products. I get mail form Mambo Sprouts quite often, and I always enjoy it. The coupons are for nationally-known brands that aren’t always native to the health food stores we don’t have in this area.

I hope this list has been beneficial to some of you who aren’t couponers yet. I realize that I skipped over e-coupons, and that’s because they will be their own separate post. There’s just too much to add to this already-lenghty post that I just couldn’t see anyone sticking around long enough to read it all the way through I’m hoping some of you are still here now! E-coupons deserve their own post, if nothing but for the fact that there’s so much controversy around using e-coupons in conjunction with paper coupons. I have to research some stuff; we don’t have anywhere near me to use e-coupons and I don’t want to steer you wrong.

I hope you’re all familiar with where to get coupons. Please let me know if I missed anything! I’l gladly check it out and amend my list if it fits.

As a die hard couponer, I find it hard to fathom why a person would not want to do everything they possibly could to pay the lowest possible price on anything and everything. This includes using coupons. However, there are people even in my own family who just have no desire to spend any time clipping coupons, organizing shopping lists, and using coupons at the grocery store. It’s ok, though, because even if you fall into that category you can still save cash at the grocery store and become a new shopper in the new year. You just won’t save as much. Everyone’s priorities are different, and I happily respect that even as I fight the desire to give you coupons for every item in your shopping cart!

1. Watch for loss leaders in your grocery store sales ads. These will be items on the front cover that are priced extremely low, in hopes that a person will come in to buy those items and stay to buy the rest of their groceries. For instance, right now Walmart occasionally has turkey priced at $.40 per pound. Go in and buy your turkey, and then buy your other groceries wherever you find them cheaper. The trick is to just buy the lowest priced items at that store, and not get sucked into shopping somewhere with higher prices just to get their loss leaders. Just buy the loss leaders.
2. Make a list and stick to it. The easiest thing to do at the store is to go in and spend endless amounts of time perusing the aisles to decide what to buy that week. Plan your trip before you get there, and get in and out of the store only buying what is on your list. Plan your trip to include every single item you need from each store so you can “shop like my husband” who says that a man “needs a coat and buys a coat” and a woman “needs a coat and buys a coat and a hat and shoes and…”. Don’t let him be right!
3. Befriend your department managers and find out when markdowns are taken. Whether or not you utilize coupons, this is a very important tip. Find out when meat, produce and bakery items go on sale for the day; meat that is nearing the sell-by date can be easily frozen, as well as bakery items and some produce that can be prepared and frozen. Why pay full price when you can pay as low as 75% off for the same things? We save about 40% doing this alone on some of our groceries each week.
4. Do it yourself. Forgo convenience foods like shredded carrots and chop and shred your food yourself. You’ll save up to 50% on items just by preparing them yourself.
5. Buy food at places other than grocery stores. Some of the best deals you’ll find on groceries come from places like Walgreens and CVS, thanks to their rewards programs called Register Rewards and Extra Care Bucks. They also often clearance out items when they don’t sell or they’re getting room for other items, so you can find things far cheaper than the grocery store. Why pay $4 for cereal at the grocery store when you can stop by Walgreens and pick up that same box for $2.50?
6. Buy store/generic brands. While I strongly feel that you can get a better deal combining a coupon and a store sale, and buying national brands, buying generic brands is often best for those who do not want to use coupons. Do look thoroughly, however, because this is not always the case. Stores often have sales on national brands that are much better than the cost of store brands. Cheese is one great example of this. Kraft often goes on sale 3/$5, where as the store brand is $2.50 each (just an example).
7. Substitute your proteins. Meat is expensive, and if you can’t get it at a discount you may be better off going vegetarian a few times each week especially if you’re a meat and potatoes family. Beans and rice may sound bland, but there are many recipes out there that make those two ingredients absolutely delicious, and you don’t miss the meat!
8. Stock up when items are at their lowest prices. When you see soft drinks 4/$9, for example, buy as much as you can if that’s the lowest price you see them in your area and it’s one of your family’s choices. This way, you’re set until the next great sale comes around, typically 8 weeks later. It may help to keep a price book of your most frequently bought items so that you will know what their lowest prices are; this will be key in helping you save money.
9. Utilize BOGO sales. If a store in your area frequently holds Buy 1 Get 1 Free sales on grocery items your family uses, shop those sales even if you don’t normally shop that particular store. This way you can buy 2 of any given item that is on sale that week and save up to 50%. Publix is one store that does this, and even shopping the BOGO sales without coupons saves a ton of money each week!
10. Compare unit sizes. Take a calculator to the store with you to determine the price per unit. The larger size isn’t always the best price. Quite often, it’s just the opposite and it helps to be able to figure this out quickly. It is also usually printed on the shelf tag, if you can quickly reference that but I find it quicker just to figure it out using my own calculator. It may not be a lot of fun to try to store 2 bottles of ketchup, but it IS fun to save $.50 on the 2 bottles as opposed to buying 1 giant bottle!
11. Settle sometimes for something else. Sure, a certain brand of cereal/cookies/soda is a family favorite, but why not buy the kind that’s on sale that week every once in awhile (or every week)? Your favorites are bound to go on sale often, but in the mean time throw brand loyalty out the window and buy what’s on sale. It’ll taste good, and you’ll save money. We love certain types of cereal in our home, but when I can get another kind for less than $1 per box, that’s what we buy. I am just not going to pay more than $2 for a box of cereal. I find it hard to pay that much, but it’s hard to find great sales in our area. We enjoy it almost as much, if not just as much, and we save a lot of money. Get your family, even the kids, on board by settling on a certain goal or “gift” that the family will get after a few weeks/months of saving money.