Alright guys and dolls, today’s lesson is easy.Stores run sales on a cycle system. Those cycles typically run in the following ways:Every 3 monthsEvery 6 monthsSeasonallyIn the beginning, while you’re still figuring all of this out, you might not know what your store’s cycles tend to be so you’ll need to make a concerted effort to find out. Using some notebook paper you can start tracking sales quickly:Be patient. It’ll take you at least 6 months to get it down pat – but keep it simple. This shouldn’t be more than you jotting down a date here and there.Seasonal sales don’t just apply to the holidays, either. I’m dedicating an entire post to what to by when, so be ready to print. ;)One last note on sale cycles: It’s important to know your local store’s sale week as well. Next time you get the sales flyer, look for the fine print…

OK. So now that we’ve gotten all of that nasty math taken care of, let’s talk about how you can create even more savings by changing how you shop.First, picture your typical trip to the store. I’m guessing (because I’ve been there) that you have a long list of all the things you’re out of – and have probably been muddling through without – scribbled on a piece of scrap paper. You gather up the few coupons you can find, along with one or two reuseable shopping bags and head off to the store. When you get there, you grab what you need, but oops you forgot you needed milk and eggs so you add that too, and oh look! pasta is on sale, so you grab some of that before realizing you haven’t taken anything out for dinner yet so you grab something you can nuke or reheat from…

Hey y’all! Today is a fairly quick post on how to calculate that all enticing percent saved. Here’s the equation (I bet you never thought you’d need to use that as a grown up…):Now let’s do an example:Remember this receipt? At Target, they don’t put the “regular” price in line with the sale price up at the top. Instead, you get this at the bottom:Basically, they take the markdown amount and your coupon savings and lump it all together at the bottom. Some stores (my grocery store is one) list the store card discount in line with the item on the receipt and then have a summary at the bottom. Some even go ahead and give you the percent saved. (I love it when they do that!) Let’s calculate percent saved for this trip using my equation up there: $3.36/$3.36+.07$3.36/3.43 = 98%Easy peasy! BUT (You knew there was a catch right?):Here’s the deal. I routinely only hit…

Today we’re going to talk about Unit Price. It’ll start us off on the math you’ll need to be a successful and sensible saver. This is also a great opportunity for you to get your hubby involved – especially if he’s a human calculator like mine. ;)So, what is unit price?Simply put, it’s the price you’re paying per serving, per diaper, per can of soda (or 12 pack), etc.Why is unit price so important? This goes back to knowing when a sale is a sale. Sometimes a product that’s on sale may not be the best deal. I can (and do) calculate unit price quickly in my head and determine whether or not that sale price is good enough to warrant my purchase. My husband is very good at this. As a matter of fact, he’s better at it than I am at this point. He can spot a good unit price faster…

One of the questions I’m asked most often is, “What are double coupons and how do I get them? How do I double?”First of all, let’s talk about what double coupons are.Most of the time when you hear “double coupons” it means that when you use your manufacturer’s coupon for 50¢ the store will double it by adding 50¢ making your savings a dollar.My favorite stores, Wegmans and Giant double coupons up to 99¢. This means that they’ll double my 99¢ coupon – making my savings worth $1.98. Exciting stuff right? You clipped one coupon and it counted as double!Here’s an example:Dawn detergent – 99¢Manufacturer’s Coupon – 20¢Store Doubles Coupon – 20¢Final Price = 59¢ (40% savings)Sometimes, when stores say they will double your coupons up to 99¢ that means that while they’ll double your coupon, they won’t do a true double if the amount will end up being more than…

For the record, this *isn’t* the coupon stacking you’re looking for. It is however how my coupons look when I get backed up. And the Diet Dr. P is a requirement to get through it. 😉 Today we start getting into the exciting stuff – the fancy schmancy tricks you may not be aware of, but all those big time savers do and use often.We’re focusing today on Coupon Stacking.What is coupon stacking?The simple answer? It’s when you can use two coupons (one store specific coupon and one manufacturer coupon) on one item.Say for example, you buy Pantene and you have a Target coupon (you know the kind I’m talking about here, the ones that print out at the register? Or maybe you got some in the mail directly from Target?) and you also have a manufacturer’s coupon that you clipped from the Sunday paper flyer. Guess what? You don’t have to choose!…

Hey guys! I’m still a smidge under the weather but I’m here! So you’ve got your container, you’ve got your coupons and you’ve done your match ups (or so kindly let someone else do the hard work for you) and you’re ready to head off to the store and snag all those deals!Whoa there sister. Wait just a minute. How do you know that sale price is really a sale? One of the big aspects of saving is knowing when to buy and when to wait. Say you have chicken breasts on your grocery list this week and you’ve checked and hey, your store that routinely runs chicken at $2.99 per pound is now running it at $2.59 per pound. Major savings right? Maybe…but you may be missing out. What if another local store runs a sale on chicken breasts for $1.99 per pound once a month? That $2.59 isn’t looking so stellar anymore,…

Hello guys and gals, are you still with me? It’s awfully quiet out there…Let’s just dive right in today, shall we? The first thing anyone ever asks me when they find out I’m a couponer is, “OK, but how much do you really save?” and then their jaw drops when I tell them I routinely save anywhere from 40 – 98% on my purchases. Here’s proof:That’s 98% off at Target folks. Now, I know what you’re saying to your computer screen right now. “Well sure Christina, you saved 98% on three of the same item. But what about big trips to the store?” Here’s the truth. I don’t make big trips to the store and I don’t spend my days running from store to store either. I simply don’t shop the way most people do and today we’ll take a look at the first step toward changing your shopping habits – matching…

Hey guys! Sorry today’s 31 Days post is a little late going up. I’ve been under the weather today and it’s hubby’s birthday so we’ve been busy. Are you ready to dig a little deeper into savings? Awesome! Let’s go!Today I wanted to take a brief moment to talk about all that legal mumbo jumbo you see on your coupons. Every coupon has terms and conditions, but I can promise you that even some stores don’t know what all that stuff means. But you will! Let’s take a look:OK consumers take a look at that picture. See where it says “limit one coupon per purchase”? That means you can use one coupon per item you purchase. This coupon also says you can use up to 4 of this same coupon in one trip to the store. So if you have four coupons you can buy four shampoos and use them all. You might also…