Food Fun Family

Giving Back – Budget Bootcamp #12

Lolli — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 21:18:46 +0000

I don’t know exactly what I expected when I began the 90-day Budget Bootcamp with Mummy Deals and In Good Cents, but I am probably not too far off in saying that I thought I was already doing well when I started this 3 month challenge. In fact, here’s where I was when I started:

When Claire and Beth invited me to participate in their 90-day Budget Boot Camp last month, I answered immediately with a resounding YES! I have always considered myself a frugal person. I shop the deals and I cook my meals from scratch. But the last two years have been extremely detrimental to my finances and my budget, and I am determined to get back on track. I have a few budget pounds to lose. Here’s a run-down of my shopping and cooking habits and history:

I love to cook, but I hate to decide what I’m going to cook. I know that spending a few minutes every 2 weeks or so to plan out several meals in advance is SO worth it, and yet I rarely stick with it. My bad.

I like the idea of coupons, and use them when I can, but I often find that I can get better deals by buying generic. I get jealous when I hear about friends who have mastered the art of couponing and see the deals they come home with.

My favorite way to shop is to stock up on each store’s current deals and then “shopping” my food storage shelves in my basement. I keep tons of cans and boxes on shelves and freeze meat in bulk.

It is impossible to budget $0. When I had a steady income coming in, it was easy for me to say that I could spend X amount on groceries and other miscellaneous supplies each week. But when I had nothing coming in for months, I got into the habit of a) shopping only with cash on hand (which is a good thing), and b) not sticking with a plan (which is a not-so-good thing). I kind of gave up on budgeting, planning, stocking up, etc. It was scary to see my food supply dwindling.

Now that we’ve got a little bit of income trickling in, I want to get back into my better habits of planning ahead, stocking up, and I would love to master shopping with coupons.

And now? Three months later, I am feeling more confident with my budget and I am saving money. I use a hand full of coupons at every shopping trip, and I am finally convinced that coupon shopping is the way to go (when combined with in-store sales, of course). I love reading my receipts after each shopping trip and seeing that I am saving around 50% on each visit. I am well on my way to mastering rolling rewards, and I am determined to keep going with it. And best of all, my cupboards have food on them and I’m using those items and wasting less.

The last challenge of Budget Bootcamp is sponsored by Peter Pan, who not only sent us some yummy peanut butter in the mail, but is also hosting a giveaway along with this week’s challenge. The challenge is to give back. Whether it is giving some of the money we saved or some of the freebies we gathered along the way, the point is to give. This is what Clair said about this week’s challenge:

So often when we see a need we think that the only way to give is money but that’s simply not the case. There are three other great things you can give that don’t require a lot of money:

1) Your time. Places are often calling out for volunteers. From helping at a resale shop that supports a great cause to lending time at an animal shelter, these are examples of ways we can donate time.

2) Your expertise. Do you know how to build a house or even just how to paint? Habitat for Humanity may be able to use you. How about by giving your services as a consultant or help with accountant.

3) Your freebies. Yup, for those of you who’ve been around here long enough you know what I mean: Grab toiletries from Walgreens, CVS or Rite Aid because they’re free and sometimes you make money using a coupon. Then, donate them. Women’s shelters love toiletries, food pantries can always use peanut butter that you didn’t need 20 jars of but got for free. There are fab places that ship supplies to our servicemen oversees that would really help them. Donate paint brushes and other supplies from Menards freebies to Habitat for Humanity.

I was thrilled to find a donation box at my kids’ elementary school where I could donate some of the extra school supplies that we gathered by shopping the back to school sales. Yes, believe it or not, although I shopped for 5 kids’ back to school supplies, even I ended up with extra folders, notebooks, pencils, and erasers. And composition books. Don’t forget the composition books.

We also had the opportunity to serve dinner at a local homeless shelter. CandyMan took KitKat and Necco with him, along with food donated by members of our congregation and lunch bags that the I got to help the teenagers in our church assemble the night before. Even more important than the food donated that night (to me) was the time that my two daughters donated, willingly. I love the fact that they have this opportunity, and can’t help but believe that it is going to make a difference in the way they appreciate and value what we have.

Now that Budget Bootcamp is over, I feel better equipped to face the store….and my wallet. I am saving more money than ever. And I feel 20 lbs lighter.

Disclosure: Peter Pan sent me 4 jars of peanut butter for this week’s challenge, but I was not otherwise compensated for this post. As always, the experiences and thoughts presented are my own.

Rolling Rewards – Budget Bootcamp #11

Lolli — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:31:53 +0000

This week’s Budget Bootcamp challenge is to Roll Rewards.

What is Rolling Rewards?

Basically, you make a purchase that results in rewards, and then use those rewards in another transaction to lower your out of pocket expenses. Beth has an excellent post about Getting Paid to Shop and Clair explains Rolling, Rolling, Rolling. Beth also has an excellent All-you-ever-needed-to-know-about-stores page that I highly encourage you to scan. I was honestly only aware of two places to roll rewards and had only used the CVS extra care bucks before this week’s challenge. However, many stores offer some type of rolling rewards program – CVS, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Menards, Meijer, Target, Kroger, Toys ‘R Us, Babies ‘R Us, to name a few.

I love how Beth and Clair (and so many others) not only give you the deals of the week, but often spell out exact scenarios of how to make the most of your rollover money. And at this point, I need it spelled out.

CVS – https://ingoodcents.com/tag/cvs-weekly-deals
Walgreens – https://ingoodcents.com/tag/walgreens-weekly-deals
Rite-Aid – https://ingoodcents.com/tag/rite-aid-weekly-deals
Target – https://ingoodcents.com/tag/target-weekly-deals

This week, I made a trip to CVS. I was equipped with coupons and a CVS circular. I took advantage of 4 deals (make up and hair products) that I needed already, and though I had to spend around $45, I came back with $14 of CVS extra care bucks, which is more than I’ve ever gotten. My challenge today (after a trip to the bank and a quick return at Staples) is to stop by CVS with a strict plan to spend those ECBs to get more for a future purchase. Eventually, I won’t be paying anything out of pocket, and I can’t wait for that day to come!

What is your favorite place to roll rewards, or are you a newbie like me?

Ditching the Extras – Budget Bootcamp #10

Lolli — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:43:32 +0000

It’s week #10 of Clair and Beth’s 90-day Budget Bootcamp. Where has the time gone?

Week 10 Budget Challenge:

Think about one thing your family purchases that you could do without to save money – paper towels? Disposable diapers? Now, go without it for the week. How did it effect your life? How would it effect your budget if you no longer purchased it? What other items could your family do without?

My Experience:

Despite my typical frugality, there are a few items around my house that I love simply for the convenience of them. They may not save me money, but they save me time and they make me smile. Worth it? I’ve convinced myself that they are. But this week’s Budget Boot Camp challenge was to do without something you typically use in order to save money. For some strange reason, this challenge coincided with a shortage of several of our normal household necessities. Either I ran out of the items and didn’t replenish them on purpose, or I simply forgot to add them to my shopping list. Either way, it provided an interesting perspective this week.

What we did without:

Napkins – My kids use and over-use napkins. A few of my kids are clean-freaks when they are eating. Any little stickiness must be removed immediately. The table is set with napkins at each spot. But not this week. We ran out unexpectedly and I forgot to put them back on my list. Plus, I was curious to see how everyone would manage without napkins at every meal. The result? They did just fine. When they needed something to wipe off, they either grabbed a paper towel or walked over to the sink. How I felt? Honestly, for $1.29, I’d rather keep 300 napkins around. But we would be wise to use them a little less.
Kirkland Signature Household Wipes (Costco) – I would maintain a yearly Costco membership simply for these miraculous wipes. I love them. I love the smell, I love the way they clean, I love the way I can hand one to a child and they’ll clean anything. I love them over any other brand that I’ve tried, and I certainly love them better than handing a child a towel and a spray bottle full of cleaner…..somehow half the bottle of cleaner is always used when they have control. Plus, I can’t stand sponges or wash cloths in the kitchen. But, in light of the challenge, I thought I’d back off on the Wipes and make some of our own. Here was my thought: I always put several paper towels in the bottom of a used container to soak up the cleanser left in the bottom after the wipes have been used. So why not use a dry container to make some wipes of my own? Great idea. Not so great execution. My problem? The paper towels I used were not strong enough (got to use heavy duty paper towels) and the cleanser I poured on top of the paper towels had a tendency to get sudsy. So every time I pulled out one of my homemade wipes, I had to squeeze the excess liquid (and suds) out of the paper towel. They didn’t work well to scrub things that had dried. And I resorted to using a sponge to scrub. Eww! The consensus: the homemade wipes didn’t work for us. We did save money, but I think entrusting the kids with a rag and spray bottle is probably a better option. They’ll learn limits, right?
Lunch and after school snacks – These suckers can be costly! It’s hard to NOT have anything around, though. Convenience is…convenient. So we’re trying something else. Instead of buying individual bags of pretzels or chips or apples or carrots (etc), we are buying big bags and putting them in small snack sized ziploc bags. They are still convenient and ready-to-use, but they cost less and I can control portions a little bit more. And there are plenty of things that I can make myself to stick in their lunches to save money as well. For instance, I enjoy making my own juice or lemonade and putting it in a used water bottle. My favorite? Homemade popcorn. Which brings me to my next go-without item…
Ziploc bags – When we ran out of ziploc bags it was not on purpose. When you’re making as many bagged lunches as I do, you go through ziplocs pretty fast. But when we ran out, we had no choice but to figure out another alternative. Sandwiches were wrapped in plastic wrap. Snacks were put into a make-shift aluminum foil baggy. Disposable containers were used (the problem with that is having enough of the right sized containers…and getting them back home!). The final result? I went out and bought ziplocs as soon as I could. Brown paper lunch sacks on the other hand…..we’ve been able to get by just fine without them. Thank goodness for reusable lunch bags…and for those kids that don’t want to use the reusable bags, lunch is a great way to recycle/reuse shopping bags.
Purex 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets– Spring Oasis scent. I got hooked on these laundry saviors back in February when I did a review on them. (Note–it’s totally worth it to click on that link to watch the hilarious short video about them). The way they make my laundry smell makes me happy. The fresh, clean scent literally acts like a calming essential oil or something. I love it. It’s also SO easy to use these things. Just drop one in the washing machine, and then carry it over with your clothes to the dryer. The one, simple sheet acts as detergent, fabric softener, and anti-static. Wait. I’m not trying to sell you on these sheets. I’m trying to do without them. Ahh. Ok. So I stopped using the Purex sheets this week. And guess what? My laundry got cleaned. No one noticed or complained that their clothes didn’t smell quite so nice (really, it’s just me who cares about it). Laundry didn’t take me any longer than it usually does (that’s not saying much, really!). We survived. And I can attest that we did save money using regular, generic detergent.

What are some things around your house that you could stand to eliminate for the sake of saving some budget money?

PS–I’ve got a giveaway ending every day this week. If you missed last week’s Back to School Giveaway bash, make sure to check them out before they’re gone!

Do It Yourself – Budget Bootcamp #9

Lolli — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:45:28 +0000

It’s week #9 of Clair and Beth’s 90-day Budget Bootcamp, and our challenge this week is a fun one.

Do It Yourself

I’ve always been a DIYer in the kitchen. I don’t sew, I don’t do crafty projects around my home, I don’t fix my own car, but I DO D.I.Y. where food is concerned. Not only does doing it yourself save a bunch of money, often times (more often than not, I’d wager) the from-scratch items taste hands-down better than the store-bought versions. I didn’t change much in my habits this week, but simply having this do-it-yourself challenge has made me think about some of the things that I love to DIY. And thinking about those things makes me want to get out my recipe book and make more of those yummy recipes. I figured that I’d share a few of the homemade goodies that we prefer around our house.

Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

Soften 1 Tbs yeast in ¼ cup warm water and 1 tsp sugar for 10-15 min. until spongy (in small bowl).

Mix together in large bowl:
¼ cup oil
¼ cup honey
2 ½ cups hot water
1 Tbs. Salt

Add 5 cups wheat flour and mix well.
Then add the yeast mixture and 2-3 cups flour.
Knead or mix in a stand mixer.

Let rise in a warm place (in a greased bowl, covered with plastic wrap and a towel)–1 hour or until doubled.

Split the dough in half and form into two loaves. Place into two greased bread pans, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until the dough reaches the top of the pans.

Bake (uncovered) at 375° for 30-35 minutes. Cool on a rack…but be sure to eat a piece while it’s hot!

VARIATION:(how we make this a meal) I make half of the dough into a loaf and then use the second half of the dough to make thick whole wheat tortillas. All you do is take a small handful of dough and roll it out into a flat circle (you want it to be thin!). Place the circle of dough onto a heated (medium-high) DRY skillet (no oil needed). Heat on each side for appx. 2 minutes (time may vary with your stove–just watch for the bubbles and golden brown color).Fill heated tortillas with tuna, lunch meat, chicken salad, or anything else you might put into a sandwich. They are a family favorite!!

Buttercream To-Die-For Frosting

(sounds like a good way to die, doesn’t it?)

2/3 cup butter, softened but not melted

4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2-4 Tbls milk

In large bowl beat butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating well. Beat in vanilla and milk, adding enough milk for desired consistency. You can add 1/3 cup of cocoa powder to the powdered sugar step to make chocolate buttercream frosting (yum!)

Note: My friend once asked why I made my own frosting. She actually thought that I was spending more money to make it on my own than I would have if I’d bought the canned frosting. I told her that no matter the cost, once you make your own frosting, there is no going back to the canned stuff. I’m afraid I have completely spoiled my husband and kids, and they will accept nothing but the real thing now.

Freezer Jam

I’m afraid I have no special family recipe for this one. I simply get a bunch of fresh seasonal berries (our favorite combination is half strawberry/half raspberry) and follow the easy directions on the back of the box of pectin. Here are a few tips for making your own delectible jam (this is another are where I have spoiled my kids and husband for ALL other forms of jam! They won’t touch anything but authentic freezer jam).

Fruit– Your jam will only be as good as the fruit you put into it. Make sure that your fruit or berries are ripe. I purchase (or pick my own) berries during the Summer and then freeze them in quart-sized ziploc freezer bags. That way, I have recipe-ready berries for jam all year long. Another benefit I’ve found from freezing berries is that they tend to mush up a bit during the defrosting process, which actually works in your favor when you’re making jam.
Pectin– Used to thicken the jam. I’ve used both liquid and dry pectin. They are both easy to use and I’ve had good luck with either.
Sugar – Sugar is essential in freezer jam. Not only does it sweeten the jam, but it also helps the jam set up and prevents bacteria growth. See? Sugar is good! You can buy special pectin to use with low or no sugar freezer jam recipes.
Jars– I use simple wide mouth glass jars to store my freezer jam, and make sure that there is plenty of space at the top of the jar to give the jam breathing/expanding room while it freezes. Plastic containers also work well (that’s what my mom always used).

Homemade Play Dough

This may not be good to eat, but it’s a perfect recipe to keep on hand when you’ve got little ones around. My kids adore play dough, and go through it way too fast. I love making my own because you can make a bunch of it (and I mean a bunch!!) for not much money. You can knead in food coloring or a packet of dry jello mix to give your play dough color AND a sweet smell.

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon powdered alum
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons vanilla
food coloring

Mix all dry ingredients in a medium pan. Add oil and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Remove dough from heat and add vanilla and food coloring. Divide into manageable balls and work the color in by kneading the play dough. Your hands might get colored during the kneading process, but the color should not continue to come off during play time. You might want to be careful, though, around nice clothes and furniture.

What are some of your favorite things to DIY? I’d love to hear some of your recipes and tricks!

Play dough image from blog.makezine.com

Freeze It! Budget Bootcamp #8

Lolli — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:35:04 +0000

First, before I get into this week’s challenge, I have to tell you about my great shopping trip on Monday. And, yes, I do feel like I’ve graduated to some level of couponing madness since I took a picture of all of my groceries after getting home from the store. What can I say? I was proud. I saved 47%, using over $30 worth of coupons and over $60 worth of sale savings. Plus, I went home with a $10 certificate for a free giftcard from the Safeway giftcard mall, which technically pushes my savings over the 50% mark. In other words, I saved more than I spent on a shopping cart full of food. Not only that, but the milk and the bananas were the only 2 items not on sale.

I am a deal seeker. Always have been. But yesterday, I worked for these deals. I did my research, I did my planning, and it payed off! This couponing thing is getting to be easier for me!

And now on to this week’s challenge…..

The Challenge:

Make an extra meal and freeze it to use when you don’t feel like cooking or are short on time.

This is actually a concept that I have used before (I’ve even taught a class about this before!) so I do know a thing or two about freezer meals.

There are several ways to tackle freezer meals, but the concept is the same: Prepare your food when you have the time so that you will have the food ready when you don’t have the time. Brilliant, isn’t it?

Here are a few of the methods that I have used:

• Spend an entire day cooking a bunch of meals. Years ago, a friend of mine gave me the book Dinner is Ready – 30 Meals in One Day and I took the challenge. It takes a lot of preparation and a big chunk of time, but I cannot express the thrill of having a month’s worth of meals made in one day. It’s worth it! I would recommend getting a book, though, since there really is a method that needs to be followed.

• Prepare a double recipe when you cook dinner. Eat half, and freeze half for later. This is probably an easier way to build up a stock of freezer meals. You just won’t have all the meals ready at once. Sometimes this is a good thing if your freezer space is limited. I’m lucky and have a full size deep freezer (the old kind that has to be defrosted

• Get together with a group of friends and have a mega cooking day swap! Clair actually wrote a guest post on my blog about Meals Swaps a while back. Go check it out!

• Buy meat in bulk, cook it as soon as you bring it into the kitchen, and freeze it, cooked, for use in future meals. This is a mini-step, but can be a real time-saver. You can also do this with things like onions, peppers, fruits, and other things that are only available seasonally.

In fact, yesterday, I cooked up a family pack of ground beef, added some taco seasoning and onions and froze the meat for use in tacos later. And then, last night before going to bed, I stuck a whole chicken in my crock pot so that it would cook over night. Today, I am going to use that chicken in a few recipes (much cheaper and yummier than cooking single boneless, skinless breasts for a recipe).

Have you ever tried cooking ahead and freezing meals? What methods work best for you?

Psst–click above for some great bulk buying!

Grocery Price Book – Budget Bootcamp #7

Lolli — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:06:35 +0000

It’s Time for the results of Budget Boot Camp challenge #7. It’s been an interesting road these last several weeks, with some of the “challenges” being second nature to me, and other challenges being really hard for me to adapt to. This week’s challenge happens to fall into the second category.

– – The Challenge – –

Create a Grocery Price Book

Why create a Grocery Price Book?

According to Beth and Clair, the trick to truly saving money is purchasing items when they hit rock bottom prices and buying enough to get you through until the next rock bottom sale. That’s right, you don’t have to stockpile enough to get you through months or years, just until the next amazing sale. If you can master this, then you’ll always be paying incredibly low prices. But, to do so, you’ll need to know what those rock bottom prices are.

And guess what? Beth and Clair can’t tell us when items hit rock bottom because it varies by brand, region, store, and so much more. It depends on if you’re brand-specific, only live near one store, don’t have stores that double coupons, or are open to buying whatever is cheapest!

How do you do create a grocery price book?

The 6-Week Cycle is a term used to describe the sale cycles. Most items we purchase go on sale at rock bottom prices every 6-12 weeks, so if you track prices for 12 weeks for the items you buy, you’ll know how low they go. That’s where a Grocery Price Book comes in handy! This basically means that you have to do some leg work to make this a success, and you will have to update it about every 6 months or if you notice a price change in your area.

Beth has a handy spreadsheet to use for your Price Book, but I am more of a paper and pen girl. As much of a spreadsheet diva as Beth is, I am a spreadsheet moron. So instead of killing myself using something that just won’t work, I am starting out with a simple pend and small pad of paper in the front of my grocery coupon organizer. I am keeping track of where they weekly sales are (so I know where I absolutely need to go this week!) as well as the types of sales I’m noticing this month.

Just because I’m already sales conscious, I can tell you off the top of my head that November is the best time to buy canned vegetables. And December is the best time to buy baking items. I typically buy an extra ham in April to use after the Easter season. The middle of the summer is the best time to buy ribs. As tough as it was for me to start a Price Book system (and I’m sure it will go through plenty of revisions) I must admit I’m a little excited about being even more sales-savvy.

Wish me luck.

Shop the Sales – Budget Bootcamp Challenge #6

Lolli — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:39:43 +0000

I’m back from BlogHer in New York City, and ready to get back into kicking my budget’s booty. (To be totally honest, I’d rather be sleeping the day away in my PJ’s). Before I left for New York last Thursday, I went on an enormous shopping trip to ensure that the kids would not go hungry while I was away. I wasn’t too worried about that happening, considering the fact that my mother in law stayed with them all weekend. Thank goodness for Nanas.But it’s always good to be well prepared.

Are you ready to hear about this week’s challenge?

The Challenge

Buy only products on sale and that you have a coupon for, excluding dairy, meats, and produce, which rarely offer coupons. For these products, you can only buy products on sale.

Was this a challenge for you?

It has never been a challenge for me to buy products on sale versus specific brands. I would have a harder time if someone told me to buy specific products without the option to swap for their cheaper alternatives. I’m cheap at heart and love sales. The challenge for me was finding enough coupons that coordinated with the sales in the stores. I have enough of a stock of dried and canned food in my cupboards that I am totally fine passing by a product that is full price. But what if I only find seven coupon and sale combos? That’s not going to work for a family my size. So I’m still working on finding more coupons. I did better this last week by printing a bunch of coupons off at Coupons.com through My Points. Not only do I get to save when I use the coupons, but every time I use a coupon, I am earning points to go towards gift cards of my choice.

Did it effect the quality of food you purchased?

Not at all. I am typically not picky about the brand of the food we eat, and I actually think that food I got for a great deal tastes even better (yes, it’s all in the head….and that’s totally ok with me!)

Were you successful or not?

I was successful in that I was able to use more coupons as well as pay better attention to the sales before I set foot in the store. I even carried the store’s circular in my purse to remind myself of the things that my store was featuring that week. I stuck with my list, and didn’t wander up and down aisles. I consider that a huge success.

Here are a few Sales Shopping tips from Clair:

Either get a newspaper or see if Beth or Clair cover the stores you regularly shop at and will then tell you what’s on sale that week. They’ll even show you which coupons to use with which sales.

Start reading the sales ads and buying things according to that.

Then you’ve got to meal plan around what’s on sale. It makes for fun variety. (Plus, I always store meat in my freezer for future use, so there’s always variety around)

Finally, walk into the store with blinkers on. No impulse buying, no brand specifics unless they’re on sale and definitely use lots of coupons!

How do you make combining sales with coupons work to your advantage? Don’t forget that Beth and Clair will have a Budget Bootcamp link up for those of you unofficially following the challenge. And definitely don’t forget the weekly giveaways associated with the Bootcamp!

Organize Those Coupons! – Budget Bootcamp Week #5

Lolli — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 03:03:40 +0000

Could we really be into week #5 of the Budget Bootcamp challenge? Yes, we could. This week, the challenge was simple. Or was it? Hmm. Maybe it wasn’t so simple.

The Challenge:

You’ve started collecting coupons. Now it’s time to organize those coupons!

So let me get this straight. My trusty old envelope isn’t going to cut it? Do you mean to tell me that it takes more than clipping the coupons that I want to use and sticking them in my purse? Ah-ha!

I learned something this week. I still have a long way to go to master couponing, but I took a step in the right direction. I went from my old envelope (or a side pocket in my purse!!) to a much cuter, much sturdier plastic file that can fit in my purse (just excuse the black and white scan!) There are dividers inside for organizing, but most importantly I am determined to put the right things in there to begin with!

Here are some of the things I learned about organizing coupons this week:

If you’re going to clip coupons, don’t ONLY save the coupons that you think you’ll want to use right away. Brilliant idea!! How often have you clipped just a few coupons from the paper and then later on found a great deal at a store that could have been made even better with that coupon you recycled a week before? I know that it has happened to me. So now I vow to clip and file MORE coupons (no need to clip cat food coupons or coupons for Depends or anything like that….).
If you’d rather not clip a bunch of coupons (too many loose papers to keep track of?), you can keep the circulars and inserts in a folder, binder, etc organized by date. I had never thought of doing it this way!
Try a few different methods or variations on the clipping or not clipping methods until you’ve found your ideal fit.

I think I am a clipper, though I vow to clip MORE than I have in the past. But in addition to that, I have started hanging on to the store circulars and store-specific coupons without clipping them so that I can better plan my shopping trips. I have not mastered this yet, but I am learning. Beth’s e-course on Coupon Organizing has certainly helped! Clair always has great tips, too! She says:

“Without a coupon organization system, you’ll be less likely to use them and more likely to completely forget about them or avoid them, because you can’t find anything. Plus, with your coupons organized, you’ll be able to quickly plan your shopping trips.”

How do you manage your coupons? Are you ultra organized or do you stuff (and lose) your coupons in the bottom of your purse like I did?

Gathering Coupons – Budget Bootcamp #4

Lolli — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:41:07 +0000

It’s time for Challenge #4 in Budget Bootcamp. This is the time to really get serious, friends. Last week, Clair mentioned, “We’re gonna get you yet, girl!” and I fear that we have entered unfamiliar territory this week. This is the part I’ve been waiting for.

The Challenge:

Simply gather coupons this week.

Why? From Beth: “While many say they spend more when clipping coupons, there’s more to it than just using them. You have to use them at the right time! Confused, read over Coupon Myths & Facts to get past your coupon stereotypes. Then, start stocking up, because couponers can save an average of 50-70% per shopping trip if you know how to use them correctly.”

How? Beth lists some great sources for finding coupons:

Subscribe to the newspaper. The savings will more than make-up the cost! And, consider All You Magazine too.
Register online with manufacturers of products you love or often use and sign up for their e-mailing list, mailing list, and rewards program (if they have one).
Keep your eyes peeled in-store for blinkies, peelies, tearpads, and in-store coupon opportunities.
Sign-up for a few samples, just for the high-value coupons that often accompany them.
Follow 2-3 frugal blogs, like In Good Cents & Mummy Deals, to get hot coupon alerts!

Ok, I admit that I know how to clip coupons. In fact, I often do clip coupons. I stick them in an envelope and carry them around in my purse….until they expire and I throw them out. I pull them out of my purse while I’m shopping and check out the items that I have coupons for, but more often than not the deal is not “good enough” for me to use the coupons. So, again, they go back into my purse until the next time I remember to pull them out and consider using them.

I have a nice stash of coupons in my purse now….but this time they are ready and waiting for my next lesson or two from my Bootcamp mentors. Come back next week to see what my next step is in becoming a pro couponer.

PS–thanks to paying closer attention to coupons and circulars (and friend’s advice) this week, I was able to get a free backpack from Staples for KitKat’s first year of high school as well as almost all the other school supplies we need (for FIVE students!!) for about $35. I am thrilled with our deals. And I am thrilled that I knew where to go for the best prices. All because I spent a few minutes looking over circulars.

How many coupons did YOU clip this week?

Generics – Budget Bootcamp Week 3

Lolli — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:43:31 +0000

This week’s challenge:

You may only put generic items into your cart. These can be store brands only or no-name products. At the end of the week we’re gonna see how much you saved from the products you normally purchase!

My results:

I have to admit: this week’s challenge was not much of a challenge for me. I buy generics 90% of the time. I am a huge price-comparer when I shop. I often don’t use coupons because I realize that I can get a better deal by buying the same thing as a full-priced generic. There are only a handful of items that I will almost always buy the brand-name version of, including Doritos, Best Foods/Hellmans mayonnaise, and Kleenex.

I have another confession: I did so well planning my shopping last week that I don’t have to shop at all this week. Is that a miracle, or what?! Talk about saving money on our grocery bill!

Here’s what my Budget Bootcamp mentors, Beth and Clair, had to say about buying generics:

Not everyone lives in the land of double coupons like me, so sometimes it’s not always cheaper to go with the brand name. When a $0.25 coupon is really only worth $0.25, sometimes it just doesn’t really make enough of a difference in your savings plan.

Of course, some shy away from generics, but do you realize most store brands are made by the brand names we love? And some are exactly the same or close enough that you won’t notice a different.

Read more about Clair’s, who has to struggle to save in the land of no doubles, thoughts on generic products from prescription drugs to food! Plus, enter the exciting giveaway from Hane’s.

What about you? Do you prefer brand-name products, or are you a fan of generics? Do you only get generics when you have to or are there some products that you will only buy the name brand version?