Our Hiatus

We have been gone for about a year and we are SO sorry.  But...We are back in action! We have both added some fun additions and bundles of joy to our family and now we can get a move on life!  We are still couponing and still saving LOTS of money! The crafty side hasn't failed either.  Hopefully we will get some of those posted for you all to take a look at.  So check back on us for more fun recipes, crafts and couponing tips!

Target Deal!

We made a little trip to Target last night with our wonderful P&G coupons.  One thing to keep in mind that our HUSBANDS (bless their hearts) don't get is just because you have a coupon, doesn't mean you get a larger item and get money off.  The idea we have is to get the best size possible for as close to free as possible.  This may mean, as you will see below that we a lot of times get trial size or smaller sized items with our coupons.  Some times, but not always you get FREE items with your coupons in the trial size section.  However, one thing we did notice last night on some of the items are not really "trial size" but were the cost of trial size.  This was the case for my Suave deodorant and Olay Body Bar Soap.  So any takers on how much I spend on this order? It wasn't AMAZING but it was a pretty darn good deal!

So here is a lowdown on what I got in case you can't tell.

Regular Size items:
(3) Olay Body Washes
(4) Pampers babywipes
(2) Ziploc large bowl packs with 2 bowls and 2 lids
(3) Ivory barsoap packs of 10--yes this means 30 barsoaps!
(1) Bounty Basic Paper Towel
Trial Size items:
(3) Satin Care Shave Gels
(1) Tresemme hairspray
(1) Pantene Shampoo
(1) Pantene Coditioner
(1) Olay Body Bar
(3) Axe Mens Bodywash
(2) Vaseline Moisturizing Creams
(3) Degree Womans Deoderants
(3) Suave Womans Deoderants
(2) Secret Deoderants

My total BEFORE coupons was $61.53.  Keeping in mind you still have to pay tax on the product at full price...meaning I spent $4.22 in taxes.  So my order total was $21.30 which means a total savings of $45.10!

Now like I said...I know people who might have done better...and I actually forgot to give her a coupon which was my fault.  But I still think I got a really good deal for still being a little "rookie" at couponing.

Hope you all are excited as we are! I LOVE saving money!

Couponing Etiquette

We love using our coupons! We love saving all that money! But ladies PLEASE let’s not make it a Nightmare for the people around us. With the opening of the new Winco in our area we both headed down to check it out and score some great deals! But some of our fellow coupon-ers were driving us nuts! Even our hubbies made comments about if we ever did that they would die! (They are a little dramatic!) So, let’s review some things real fast!

- When you are standing in a crowed isle going over your coupons it makes it VERY hard for everyone else around you. Move your cart to the side of the isle and try to keep out of the way of others, if it is an option you could leave your cart at the end of the isle and run down to grab what you need. That way you are not adding to the congestion.

- Pay attention to the people around you, if someone obviously is looking for the thing that you are standing in front of, politely apologize and scoot you and your cart out of the way.

- BEFORE you get to the cashier have the coupons that you are using out and ready to go. It already takes a little longer to ring up when you are using coupons, you don’t want to make the people behind you wait any longer than they need to. We really did wait in line behind a lady while she went though her binder to find the coupons she was going to use! I have created a cute little coupon pouch. I think that it could help with this a lot!

All of that being said, DON’T be afraid to stand up for your coupons! They WORK, and YOU KNOW IT! If you don’t educate the cashier and/or the manger then someone else may miss out! And just think about all the cashiers and managers that have been educated so that you didn’t miss out! We are all in this together! The more we help them know what’s up, the less hassle EVERYONE has!

Decorating with Fabric

I have this hanging in my house. Cute, huh? It was super easy!

I bought the small picture frames at IKEA, they were like $3 for 2 of them. I bought 4 packages (8 frames). They come white, I just spray painted them black. I purchased the large already black frames, with the mat in them at Walmart for $5 each. I found fabric that I liked and matched the colors and style I was going for in my front room in the scrap fabric at Walmart together the pieces of fabric cost less than a dollar. I took the fake little picture that comes in all frames and traced around it on to a piece of thin card board (I just used a cereal box). Then I took the card board and cut the fabric about an inch bigger around all the sides, pulled it around the back of the cardboard and hot glued it down. Put your new “picture” back in the frame and your done!

Cart Coupon Carrier

Last week when we were at the coupon conference, Melea told us how she just sticks the coupons that she is going to use in her pocket and then unloads her pockets at the register. But sometimes she doesn’t quite get them all out, and by the time she finds the forgotten coupons it’s not worth driving back to the store and unpacking her baby again to go back in and deal with it. I had seen a few things floating about the internet, but I didn’t really like any of them, I didn’t think they were very practical or useful for me. So I came up with me own version, and here I am sharing it with you! We are also considering selling these… what do you think? Would you buy one?

1- You need a piece of patterned fabric 6 in. x 17 ½ in. and a piece of see-though fabric that is 6 in x 5 in.(You could use plastic if you want, but I was afraid it would rip to easy after sewing it) If you don’t have scrap fabric laying around, and you need to go to the store to yours most places won’t let you buy a piece of fabric that little, I would say buy about a foot of fabric for the patterned and if they will let you buy about 8 in of the see-though stuff. This will be good for 2 reasons 1) you will have extra in case you mess up, and 2) the nice lady that cuts your fabric will probably not cut it straight, but you will be able to fix it at home!

2- I put the Velcro on next, I used Velcro dots, for a set of 18 it was $2.50 at Walmart. But really the shape of the Velcro so does not matter. On the top and bottom sew the Velcro on to the face up side. You’re going to want to make sure that they will line up straight before you sew them down, mine had sticky on the back so I was able to place them and make sure it was right before I sewed, but a pin will work just as well.

3- Fold the top over about a ½ in (just bigger than the size of your Velcro) and sew it down. Then fold the bottom up accordion style so the Velcro ends up on top. Now fold the bottom up about 4 ½ in. and sew it in place.

4- Take your see though fabric and cut the side that you want to be the top straight, fold it over a couple times and sew it, this will finish off the edge. Then add a piece of ribbon to it. I forgot to take a picture of this, but you can see it in the next picture.

5- Then take your see though fabric and place it in top of the other fabric, cut around the edges so that they all match up (you may even want to leave a little extra to be trimmed off after you sew it down, the edges of this fabric fray VERY easily.) and then sew around the 3 edges, get as close to the side as you can.

6- Now measure and cut some ribbons that will the edges of your bag. I cut mine about an inch longer than I needed. Iron them so that you have a nice seam down the middle.

7- Take the ribbon and pin it down around the edges to that it wraps around the back (this is going to hide all the unfinished sides). And… you guessed it… sew it down. You will want to go slow that you make sure your ribbon doesn’t slide off and you miss sewing it to the fabric! I only put ribbon around 3 sides, because when it’s hanging on your shopping cart you won’t see the top. When you are done cut off the extra ribbon and put some clear nail polish on it so it doesn’t fray (there is probably a better way to finish off the edge of ribbon… but I am unaware of it).

8- You’re DONE! Fold the top over and admire that you just made! Now when you are at the store you have some place easy to store your coupons and you won’t miss any cause you see if there is anything left in the bag!

Walgreens

You can get some pretty sweet deals at Walgreens. The downside is that using your coupons there is unlike using them anywhere else! It’s intimidating, and honestly I don’t go there often because of it. But, knowing the ins and outs can go a long way in helping you score some pretty awesome (my dad hates that word!) stuff! Here are some tips to help you though Walgreens.

- First, they DO NOT have a coupon policy. It is all up to the manager’s discretion.

-We have found that we prefer the Walgreens in Pleasant Grove in the Macey’s parking lot on State Street, over the one on the corner of 8th and State in Orem. The one the PG seems to have more of the things we are looking for. It is a little bit of a drive, but we are over there enough that we have been able to just stop in when we are down there.

- Use your STORE coupons FIRST! Before your manufactures coupons when checking out (most stores prefer it the other way around).

- Register Rewards are considered manufactures coupons. (I don’t know why cause you can only use them at Walgreens!) And you are only allowed to use one manufactures coupon per item. So if you want to use your RR but you are only getting one thing and you have a coupon for it then you need to grab a “filler” item. Often at the register there are little .25 cent candies or pencils or SOMETHING that you can grab so that you can use your RR. I made this mistake last week. I was buying a Razor with a coupon (the same one in the example below, lol, we both messed up getting this razor! Live and Learn that’s what we’re doing!) I have a $2 RR, so I wanted to buy my razor, use my $5 off coupon, and use my RR. Then I would have only paid about $1 and gotten back another $5 RR. But I couldn’t use 2 coupons on one thing. What I should have done it grabbed something for super cheap and used both coupons! Now, I just have 2 RR…

- You will only get ONE RR per transaction. So if you are getting multiple things that qualify for a RR split your transactions so that you can get them all! Cristina learned this lesson the hard way here is what she did (hopefully we can clear up confusion here): A couple of weeks ago we got a coupon for $5/1 Schick Hydo razor. That same week there was a deal on them at Walgreens: Buy 1 schick hydo razor ($7.99) and receive a $5 RR. SO when we combined the two it looked like this: Buy one Razor at $7.99- $5/1 coupon= pay 2.99 but then get $5 RR back. It’s like MAKING $2! Here is where she went wrong. She bought 2 because she had 2 coupons. She still got a killer deal, but she didn’t make any money. What she should have done is split her transactions at the register to get 2 RR back!

- This next one can be confusing so I will do my best: If you received a RR for a product, and you are going to buy another product that is listed in that RR (sometimes there is more than one thing) don’t use the RR you received the first time because it will not print you a second one. Now going with Cristina’s example above she should NOT have tried to use the RR she got on the first Razor to purchase the 2nd one. She would NOT have received her RR rewards. She should have split the transactions and taken both her RR home to use the next time she was there. This get tricky when there is more than 1 item on a specific RR, however, the manager should be able to let you know, if it’s not making sense to you.

- Most Walgreen stores will NOT take B1G1 coupons (The one in PG on State will NOT)… bummer huh!? (If you find one that does, kiss the manager for us!)But, RITE AID will take them… so just drive down the street and get your goods there!!

UPDATE: We have had no trouble using our B1G1 Free coupons with a B1G1 Sale at the Walgreens in Orem! (and... no... we didn't kiss the Manager, even if we wanted to!)

If you are still confused about Walgreens here are two other blogs that we like that also have a good Walgreens break down: hip2save and freebies2deals

Coupon Conference Notes

Cristina and I went to the Freebies 2 Deals coupon conference this week, and let me just tell you, we LOVED IT! We had so much fun, met some other super coupon-ers (Shout out to LISA, you’re so cute!) and learned some great things! Here are a couple of notes that I took, and I will let Cristina add to them too. For more in depth information check out our Coupon page and head over to see Melea at Freebies 2 Deals! She ROCKS!!!

-Melea posts a lot of freebies, most of them are samples, but who doesn’t love free stuff!! The bummer is that every time you sign up for one you have to fill out a form with all of your information. It’s time consuming and boring! But, she found this amazing thing: RoboForm! You can download it for free it will add a toolbar to the top of your web browser, you fill out all of you information once, and then the next time you need to fill out a form for a freebie it just one click and done! I love it! I have been using it for 5 days now and I am in love!

- When it comes to printable coupons her advice is to print it when you see it! The print limits are set by the manufacturers so if you want you better get it when you see it! If it runs out of prints before you get to it, there is no way for the website you found it from to help you. SO… if you want it… get it when it’s HOT!

- For the coupon-ers with a binder that you use the baseball cards in, when you are slipping your coupons in fold them so that you can see the picture on the front and the expiration date on the back. It will make cleaning out your binder at the end of the month a lot faster!

- It is always good to have a copy store coupon policies and price matching policies in your binder. (That is if the store has one!)

- Pay VERY CLOSE attention when you are checking out! As much as we just love some of our cashiers, others are very lazy, and will not make sure that your coupon scanned and went onto your order properly! And it’s a big fat bummer to find the mistake later when you looking over your receipt.

- If the coupons that you load onto your Smith’s card (or any other loadable shopper card) don’t come off when you scan your card at the register, call or email the company when you get home. They want you to use their coupons and to continue shopping at their store, so they will make it right!

- Associated Food stores (Macey’s, Allens, Ridley’s—those are the ones around us, I know there are more, they are also referred to as the “Cart in the A” stores) will not take coupons for “Free” items. If the amount on the coupon will make the item free then its fine, but if the coupon says “get a free (whatever)” then you can’t use it there… take it someplace else, in my opinion Target is the best!

- Do your best to use your highest coupon values on the smallest size product possible, this is how you will same the most money! And it how you get your free stuff at the store 90% of the time!

- If you are going to receive gift cards or Catalina’s for something you are purchasing, ring up your order in 2 purchases so that you can use the gift card on your second purchase! Save your money right then! Not the next time you come in! The exception to this is Walgreens, but I am going to do a whole post on Walgreens so check back for that!