Being Frugal: My First "Haul"

$40.35.

That's forty dollars and thirty-five cents.

Fourty dollars and thirty-five cents.

I think I've said it a hundred times today. That's how much money I saved on my first real attempt at being a real couponer.

I know there are people on tv who are saving literally thousands of dollars, and so my $40.35 may not seem like that big of a deal, but when you're used to saving a buck, maybe five on a good day, this is huge.

The thing that's always concerned me about couponing is that I felt like the only way to save money was to buy stuff you don't really need or ever use, just because you have a coupon. But what I've learned is that if you watch the sales, cut out every coupon that you *may* possibly use some day, and are flexible about your brands, you can save money on things you'd buy anyway. I'm proud to say that today's "haul" only included things I would have bought at some point anyway, even if the brand was different.

So, here are my goods.

I bought the following items:

-2 boxes of Fiber One Cereal
-4 bottles of Pantene shampoo
-1 bottle of Frank's Red Hot
-1/2lb Thin N Trim Ham
-1lb Land O Lakes American Cheese
-1 Head Romaine Lettuce
-1 Cucumber
-1 Avocado
-3 Tomatoes
-2lbs Green Mountain Coffee
-1 pkg Hannaford Seedless grapes
-1 jar Kraft Mayonaise
-2 pkgs Thin N Trim Chicken Sausage
-1 bag Hannaford Light Wheat Bread
-1 can Geisha Mandarin Oranges
-2 1/2 gallons Turkey Hill Tea
-1 container French's Yellow Mustard
-2 boxes Wheat Thins
-2 Boxes Wheat Thins Stix
-1 container Coffee House Breve Cream Creamer
-1 container Bailey's French Vanilla Creamer
-1 Cantaloupe
-2 boxes Planters Nutrition Bars
-1 package Jello Pudding
-1 package Hannaford Pudding
-1 box Shake and Bake

Total cost for all items before coupons and sales: $116.16
Total paid: $75.81

Again, not the thousands of savings you see on tv, and I didn't walk away only spending $20, but I did walk away spending well under our weekly budget, with products I would have bought anyway,and with a stockpile of goods that I don't have to buy in the weeks to come.

So, laugh if you must, but today, I felt like a rock star. I even sang out loud with my windows down as I drove away from the stores.

So, how'd I do it? I won't lie, it took some time this weekend, and a few weeks of practicing and saving coupons. But there are 2 major things that allowed this to happen. 1. I bought items that were on sale, that I had a coupon for. I never buy Fiber One cereal. But it's not because I have anything against Fiber One, there's just always been cheaper options. Today they were 2/$5 at Hannaford and I had an additional $1/2 coupon. Combine the deal and I got two boxes of brand name cereal for $4. 2. Shaws doubles coupons up to .99. This is huge. Planters Nutrition Bars were on sale at Shaws only for 2/$5. I had 2- .75 coupons which Shaws automatically doubled to $1.50 each. After the sale, the coupons, and the doubling, I got the bars for $1/box. Awesome!

Again, it took some time, some planning, and two separate trips to two different grocery stores, but in the end, I saved what I consider to be some serious bucks, and learned some great tips to do even better next time. Give it a shot..this is actually really fun!

Friday Favorite: OxiClean

This week's Friday Favorite is brought to you by my adorable daughter, Molly.

See this face?

Pretty darn cute huh? Well, believe me when I say, the "gifts" this cute face offers up 2-3 times a day, are not so cute. And when those "gifts" are spread to her adorable little outfits, it's not fun for anyone involved.

At first, I just tried washing the clothes. But poop does stain, and after one wash, her onesies and pants were inevitably destroyed. Obviously, throwing out every soiled outfit is ridiculous, so on a whim one day I decided to pick up this stick of OxiClean pre-treating gel.

If Billy Mays were still alive, I'd be shouting right along with him. This stuff is A-MAZ-ING. If you've ever had an infant for more than a day, you know what I'm talking about when I say the word blowout. We're talking poo everywhere. Up the back. Down the legs. In the hair. I've had entire backs of onesies covered in poo, and after treating it with this stuff and washing it, the shirt looks like new. I've even (and I'm ashamed to admit this), let clothes sit for 4-5 days without pre-treating them, added the OxiClean gel, and again, they end up like new. You just need to be sure to wash your treated clothes in HOT water, or else the stain will set, and you'll have yourself a new dust rag.

If you're a mom, heck if you're not a mom (I tend to have a hole in my lower lip), this stuff is a necessary staple in your laundry room. With a quick registration you can even get a coupon here!

And that my friends, is the power of OxiClean. (Sorry, had to do it).

Being Frugal: The Coupon Train

It's no secret that saving money is on just about everyone's radar these days. It's a necessity, but something that can be really difficult to do, unless you know a few secrets, and have a little time.

I can't keep secrets, and my time is precious. So, I'm excited to share with you the tricks I've been learning to save a buck or two, and also how I fit it into my already packed schedule.

Couponing is complicated. I've always really avoided it because it seemed like just too much work. But a few months ago, I decided to give it a shot. There are two ways you can coupon: you can go the quick and easy route to save a few bucks, or you can go the intense "it's a big part of my life" and save a lot of bucks. Right now, I go the quick and easy route, because that's what works for me.

The key to couponing is really only using coupons for things you'd buy anyway. If a you have a "save $1.00 on three boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios" coupon, and they aren't already on your grocery list for the next three weeks, then it's actually extra money that you don't necessarily need to spend. Look for coupons that are relevant to you. For example, I like granola bars. I buy them every week. If there is a coupon for my granola bars, I'll snag it up, because it really is saving me money. Buying a package of Kit-Kats because I have a coupon is wasting money, because I would not have bought them without the coupon. Get it?

So, given that information, I wanted to share with you a neat couponing thing that I do with some girlfriends. We've created a coupon train. The first person on the list, "the conductor," (yes, we really are that cool), takes any coupons from the Sunday paper that she feels may be relevant to the girls in the group, and sends them along to the next person in the list. Person #2, takes what she needs, removes any coupons that have expired, replenishes from her Sunday paper, and passes it along to Person #3. Yesterday, I got the train, and here's what my stash looks like. I particularly like how this train is sorted..it makes it so much easier to go through!

As I went through the stash, I took out the expired coupons, and then took the ones I need.

(I have over $10.00 of savings here!)

Then I cut out any relevant coupons for the girls in my group, and off it will go to the next person on the list!

Now, you ask, how do I have time to do this?? The whole process took me about 30 minutes. I've made couponing part of my Sunday morning routine. When I don't have a train to go through, sorting through the Sunday paper and clipping coupons takes me about 5 minutes. Some weeks I save $10-$15 in one shopping trip. To me, that's worth 5 minutes of my Sunday morning.

If you have a group of friends who are interested in saving money, I recommend this. Once you get going, you build a great stash of savings, and it's something to look forward to in the mail!