Today I wanted to take a quick break from the tips to give you a better picture of how I shop. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t make huge trips to the store and that I stockpile product until the next sale cycle, but up until now I haven’t shown you what my trips actually look like. I thought it might help if you have a visual.Here’s a picture of the stuff I bought on my Target run last weekend:Not pictured: One E.l.f. nail polish that was on clearance.I bought:4 bottles of Olay Body Wash4 small bags of Milo’s Kitchen Chicken Jerky (our dog has a slight addiction)3 bottles of Simple face wash1 e.l.f emory board1 e.l.f. Python edition nail polishNow, in all honesty this wasn’t a fantastic trip percentage wise (31% – the sales here have been kind of mediocre), but I was good on hitting my target price on…

OK, this post comes with a warning – for some of you, today is going to be one of the hardest things to swallow. In the interest of being honest with you, I have to say that up front. We all have favorite brands or products that we just do not want to stray from – I get you. Really. But hear me out.In the quest to be a mega saver I’ve read a ton books, ebooks, articles and pamphlets and I’ve even taken a couponing class and they all say you can’t save big and stay brand loyal.I have to agree with that – to an extent. I think the better philosophy is just to be open to trying new things that are on sale and you have a coupon for. There are some things I won’t give up. Though now that I think about it, it’s hard to come up with an…

People always ask me about my couponing skills, but that’s not the only way I save. There are many ways you can cut your grocery and household budget just by finding inexpensive alternatives for the things you buy often. Here are a few of my favorite swap outs:Microwave popcorn – We swapped microwave packets of popcorn for plain old popcorn kernels. Hubby even timed it (yes, we’re nerds…). It doesn’t take any more time to do it the old fashioned way on the stove than it does in the microwave. Seriously. As an added bonus, when we do it on the stove we only use a couple of tablespoons of oil and then we season it with spices or a popcorn sprinkle like cheddar cheese or kettle corn (we like Archer Farms brand) so it’s healthier too.Canned/boxed broth – We used to use a lot of boxed broth and I…

Hopefully by now you’ve got quite a collection of store club cards on your key ring. I hope you took a look at the pamphlet that came with it! Many stores offer special perks for being in their shoppers club.Some of my local stores offer the following in addition to special club pricing and coupons by mail:Free gas (Many of our local stores offer cents off per gallon at the gas station. You earn by shopping! Bank enough points or cents off and your gas could be free.)Free groceries (The same store that offers gas points as a reward, offers a percent off of your grocery bill for filling up your car at their gas station. Right now I have 14% off my next trip to the grocery store!)Free or steeply discounted holiday dinners So check to see if your local store offers extra perks for being a shoppers club member. It…

Alright, so you’ve been diligent, scrimping and saving but you’re feeling deprived. You deserve to spend some of that money you’ve saved…key word: some. Let’s not get crazy here.Even I have days (weeks) when I feel a little deprived. Sometimes I want to splurge and pay full price (ok, maybe not full price). I may claim to be cheap, but don’t get me wrong, I love the nice things in life – like say, my affinity for Coach bags. 😉 There’s a trick to knowing when to take the low end route and knowing when it’s OK to splurge on high end product.For me, shoes have to be high quality. Rather than buying a 50¢ pair of flip flops (a weakness even now that I live in the north), I pay $30 or 40 bucks on Reefs. Why? Because I live on my feet. We all do. I don’t go nuts and…

Before I started this series, I asked you guys what you’d like to know most. One of my favorite requests was for best ways to consistently save. Even if you aren’t a couponer or someone as fanatical as I am about saving there are ways you can cut your grocery and household budget that are quick and easy to maintain over the long term.First, as I’ve said in several posts now, make sure you have store shoppers cards and use them each time you shop. If you buy only the items on shoppers card special that week, you’ll cut your budget by around 30% (in my experience…your mileage may vary of course). That’s before coupons.Second, go to the store with a list and stick to it. If you have family members that like to mention things you need/want while you’re grocery shopping, it may not be a bad idea to start…

One of the biggest complaints I hear from people who know I’m nuts about coupons is, “But I don’t have time to clip all of those coupons!” I hear you. It does take dedicated time, and if you’re busy it seems impossible. So let’s take some time today and build in some strategies for saving that don’t require clipping and keeping track of coupons.Shopper’s Club Cards – Make sure you’re signed up and have a shopper’s card for each of your favorite grocery stores and drug stores. You can easily save 30% each week by only buying items that are on sale with club card. That’s 30% without clipping a single coupon!eCoupons – One of my favorite local grocery stores offers coupons online that you can attach to your store card. Manufacturers coupons – no clipping required! (Here’s a link for one of many sites that offer electronic coupons -…

Raise your hand if you love Costco. OK, now Sam’s Club. What about BJ’s? OK, now tell me – do you know if that hefty membership fee you pay yearly is made up for in your savings by shopping there? We had a Sam’s Club membership for several years, but what I didn’t realize at the time was that by using high value coupons or coupons that double on smaller packages saves me more money. Wholesale clubs were designed for, well, wholesale. Do you run a restaurant? I don’t.Now, I’ll fully admit that not shopping at these gigantic stores is a personal choice. But I’d like you to take a moment and answer the following questions before you hop in the car and head out to Costco:Do you make your membership back in savings over the course of the year membership? If you aren’t actively shopping there, probably not. Remember, you’re basically paying…

Ah craft stores. My biggest weakness…cosmetics being a close second. What’s a DIY/craft enthusiast to do when on a budget? Well you learn to work within the system and coupon your way to big savings.I’m going to cover what I consider the big three – JoAnn, Michaels and A.C. Moore. I know Hobby Lobby is a very popular craft store chain, but I have only very limited experience with it since we don’t have one where I live (yet…I’m hoping) and I don’t feel qualified to give you an in depth look at that particular store. I will include links to it’s coupon policy though so you can review it and print out a copy. If you’re well versed in saving at Hobby Lobby – educate me. I love ya forever!JoAnn FabricsWhy I Love ItWell, it’s a craft store, why wouldn’t I love it? In all seriousness though, JoAnn has great…

Today we’re going to focus on the two of the most popular stores out there, Target and Walmart. It’s true they make it easy to save moderately without coupons, but you can cash in big if you know a few tricks.First up, Target.Why I Love ItOK, honestly, who doesn’t love Target? It’s clean, organized, has a great selection and while their base prices are a little higher (pennies) than Walmart, it leaves Walmart in the dust in my opinion. The only drawback? Sometimes it feels like you can’t get out of there without spending a minimum of a hundred bucks. But you can. You totally can. It takes some discipline, but you can.As I mentioned in a previous post, Target allows coupon stacking – using one manufacturer coupon plus one Target store coupon per item. So where do you get all of those store coupons? They make it easy! Right on…