Clothes Shopping!

I love clothes shopping more then couponing! Finding cute clothes for pennies is so thrilling to me. I pay about 4 dollars for a shirt, or pants for my kids, and about 6 dollars for an outfit for my kids. I wont pay much more then that unless its something they really need, or its really, really cute.

Sales times of clothes: I know that Target and Gap, and Aeropostale always have clearance racks. Other stores do to, but these are the stores I shop at a lot! I can go in there and always come out with cute things for really cheap. I have found shirts for me for only 3 dollars at Aeropostale, and a pair of jeans for only 13 dollars at the Gap. I am willing to pay about 10 dollars for a shirt, and about 15 dollars for jeans. I rarely pay more unless its something I feel like I "have" to have!

I typically buy clothes for my kids in advance. I will shop for summer clothes at the end of summer and buy them big so they will fit next summer. Same with winter.

I know that clothes tend to go on sale the first week in September for Labor Day sales. I like to hit the mall on Labor Day weekend. Thats the only one I can think of right now because I am not in shopping mode right now. I hybernate in the winter, 1 because its christmas season, and there are just way to many people out, and 2 because its soooo cold!

I have stopped shopping at second hand stores for things because I feel like I can get the things I am looking for new for probably a better price if I watch the sales and be patient!

A lot of clothes shopping is just hit and miss, (but not always), I check Gap, Aeropostale, and The Childrens Place, Target, and a lot of other stores often. Get to know the clearance racks, where they are and whats on them, at your favorite stores, chances are, you will find great deals if your patient and watching the sales!

Rebates

Lets talk about rebates.

A rebate is when a company says you buy this item, mail in a form, and the company will pay you back. In hopes that you forget and never send in the rebate.

There are many different kinds of rebates. There are store rebates where the store will give you the money back for the item, manufacture rebates, where the manufacture will give you money back for the item, and there are instant rebates where the rebate will be taken off at the register, you will not mail anything in for this type of rebate.

Rite Aid and Walgreens fall under the category of store rebates. The store is taking a loss on these items to give you the rebate. You mail your rebate to the store directly.

Beer rebates fall under the category of manufacture rebates. The Beer company wants to give you money back for the items you purchased. You purchase the items from the store, but the store has nothing to do with this type of rebates beyond the purchase. You send these rebates to the manufacture to get redeemed.

Instant rebates are rebates that are taken off at the register, so once your rebate has been taken off at the store, there should be no more work involved with this type of rebate.

I hope this answers some questions about rebates. Let me know if you have any questions about anything really (coupon, shopping, deal related). I am here to help!

Food Storage Tips

The purpose of bargain hunting is to build your food storage so that you don't have to pay full price for anything. You just go to your basement and get what you need when you need it. One thing that needs to happen is food rotation. What good is stale, spoiled food? How much did you save on food that has gone bad? not much.

Do you buy it just because its on sale? Don't! If your family doesn't use it, it doesn't save you money to buy it. It doesn't do any good to spend money on it and have it sit on the shelf until it goes bad.

Check expiration dates on items before you buy them. Make sure that they have a long enough expiration date so you can put it at the bottom of your stash and rotate.

Satisfied or Not?

Call the manufacture.

I have had 2 incidents where I have had to call the manufacture on a product. One was digorno pizza, and the other was Coca Cola.

I called digorno pizza to complain about the way the pizza cooked. I love their products and just cooked one the day before and it turned out fine, but this one didn't. I was really surprised when he offered me a coupon. I was like wow! The coupon was for a free pizza.

The coke one, I wasnt upset about and decicided to call just to let them know. My sprite can in my 12 pack had no sprite in it. It didnt leak or anything, just nothing was put in there. I called and guess what? they gave me a coupon for a free 12 pack of soda. awesome!

So the point is, if you are dissatisfied with a product you can call the manufacture and they will take care of you.

Also, if you love the product, you can call and tell them you love it, They will probably give you some coupons.

Just remember Be honest.

Halloween Clearance

I went to Michaels and Roberts during the week, and they had their Halloween clearance at 50% off. They have some dang cute stuff.

I would still wait until it got closer to Halloween to buy anything because they might drop even more. But just keep an eye out at all stores for their Halloween clearance.

Stores used to clearance their holiday stuff the day after the holiday, but it seems that the last few years they have been putting it on clearance weeks before the holiday has even come.

Host a House Party

What is a house party? Its a party that you host from your home, you get a lot of free product, coupons, and samples for you and your guests. Its a way to keep friends and families connected.

Check out this link to apply for your own house party!

http://houseparty.com/

Sign up and receive emails about upcoming house parties.

Basically a company wants their product to get out there so they form a party around their products and let you try their products for free. You have to apply, and you don't always get accepted to host the party.

A little Tip about P&G Inserts...

Once a month the P&G insert comes in the paper. The coupons usually expire in one month. I decided to stop cutting them, keeping them around for when I need a coupon out of there. I only use one or two coupons out of there each month, It saves me so much time! Time saved not having to cut them, and time saved not having to throw them out of my binder when they expire!

Keeping Track

I am going to share my cool toy with everyone. My husband made this for me because he is awesome. Its a spread sheet that tracks rebates, stores you go to, original cost of Items, how much you spend, and save. It is great for comparing months, seeing your spending go down, and your savings go up!

Download Now

Target In-Store Coupons

Target has in-store coupons on their website at target.com, that you can use with or without manufactured coupons to get a better deal.

Instructions to get to their coupons:
1. Go to target.com
2. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page
3. Click on Super Target coupons + Specials
4. Click the big red print button ( Valid coupons must be printed with the red "Print" button.)
5. All the coupons should be checked, you can un-check any coupon you don't want.
6. Press Print

The great thing about these coupons is that you can print them right from your target store computers. The same machines that do the baby and wedding registries will take you to Target.com. You can save paper and ink.

Walmart?

A lot of people think that shopping at Walmart is the cheapest way to shop. I disagree, I haven't shopped at Walmart in almost a year due to some bad experiences. I vowed never to go back, and I haven't since.

I have been able to save $1433.32 (2 months worth of savings) by using coupons and sales, without shopping at Walmart.

I now shop at Target and LOVE IT! I rarely have to wait in line at the check stands, they are cleaner, they have better customer service, they have better quality items, and I love their clearance sales!

101 Tips to Save Even More

Here are 101 tips to save even more money on your grocery bill. Some of them I like and agree with, other I think blah, who would do that? But thats just me.

Check it out, I have learned a lot from it. Its a PDF file. I found this on another site on the internet.

Prescriptions at Albertsons

I found out that Albertsons in Utah will no longer accept competitors coupons for prescriptions starting Oct. 1. They said it would be all locations. I was at the Albertsons at 1600 N Orem.

Dont Go Overboard!

Its really easy to get caught up in a good deal. Buying things you don't really want, or need, You think its saving you money, but really your just throwing your money away.

Buying too many of an item that is going to expire before you can use them.
Buying items just because they are a good deal that you aren't going to ever use.
Buying items that you don't like, just because they are a good deal.

I know these seem like common sense, but really when you get caught up in a good sale, you can really go overboard.

Its all a learning experience, and the good thing about nonperishable food is that you can donate it to the food bank, or food drives. A great way to rotate your food storage if you buy something you decide you didn't like after all.

The First Few Months

The first few months of using coupons can be deceiving. You may feel like your spending the same, or more money. I know I did. But I could see that I was bringing home a lot more groceries then I did before coupons.

After a few months of stocking up on items, you start to settle down, look at the sale, and say, thats a good deal, but I don't need that, I don't need that, I don't need that. And you realize that your monthly budget can go down, and you are spending less. It takes about 3 months, more or less, but when it happens, its a very noticeable change.

The first 3 months, I was overwhelmed with coupons. I felt like it was a full time job. My husband was worried about money and how much I was buying. He would say, I know its a good deal, and I can see that coupons are a good thing, but I hate to spend that much money! I would remind him that it take time to start seeing the savings, to be patient. And then all of a sudden, I didn't feel overwhelmed anymore, I didn't feel like it was a full time job, and I could even point out some good deals in the ads.

You will start to remember what coupons you have, so you can easily point out the good deals in the ads, and everything will become easier. It just takes time, practice and patience.

Using Coupons the Right Way.

Using coupons can give you a rush, or a thrill when you get a really good deal. But we have to remember to be honest to get that deal. We need to make sure that we are using the coupons properly and ethically.

1. Make sure the items that your getting match up to the coupon. Size, brand, amount of items, and everything that you need to make that coupon work.
2. Make sure your coupon has not expired.
3. Read the fine print. Make sure everything has been met to be able to use that coupon. If it says only one per transaction, don't try to use more then one.
4. Do not copy coupons and try to use them. Its illegal.

There are many more things that we need to watch out for to be honest with our coupons. Its getting harder to use coupons because of people who abuse the system. A lot of stores in Utah County are not taking printable coupons any longer because of coupon fraud. Walgreens is cracking down and its harder to get good deals there. A lot of these stores have lost money due to bad coupons.

Lets try and be honest and ethical. Make the stores like us and want us to come back and shop there.

Rainchecks

When you go to the store for your item and find that the shelf is clear, no need to stress, get a raincheck. A Raincheck will allow you to get the item for the price you want at a later day when they have the item in stock.

Some stores have expiration dates on their rainchecks. I know that Albertsons' policy just changed to one month for your rain checks.

But its just something to know, you don't have to be frustrated that you wont get your item, you can just get it later. Just hope that your coupon doesn't expire before you can get to the items!

Transfer or New Prescriptions

Did you know you can make money by filling a prescription? There are many coupons and deals floating around where you can actually make money or get your prescription for free!

Right now, Rite Aid has a promotion going on until the end of November that says, transfer your prescription here, and get a Free $30 dollar gift card. All you have to do is transfer your prescription from a different store other then another Rite Aid, and they will give you your gift card.

There are some limitations you will have to ask your Rite Aid pharmacy if the deal is going on at your location, if the deal will work for you, and see if you can get a hold of the coupon!

Just keep your eye out for deals on prescriptions. Now you can find something good about filling a prescription!

Gently Used Items part 2

Yesterday I told you about ksl and craiglist. I forgot to mention Savers and the D.I. (Deseret Industries) These places are great for finding your gently used items. Savers has sales and promotions that are actually pretty cool. Every monday every specific colored tag is .99 cents. I have gotten Strollers, Exercausers, and other toys for the kids for only .99 cents. they also have sales on holidays, and they have punch cards to get even better deals.

Gently Used Items

There are some items that I would never buy used. But there are some that are great to get gently used for a great deal.

Most of the time I have found that I can get the same item for new, for around the same price, if I am patient and wait for it to go on sale. But sometimes I cant wait, or I don't mind it being gently used. Then I turn to Ksl.com or craigslist.com There is also Ebay.

These are great sites to get gently used items that you need.

List of Prices

Here is a list of prices of items that Shelley from Pinching Your Pennies has created. It is called the Price Points List.

You can use this spreadsheet as a guide to see what a good price is for items.

3 star means that its not that great of deal.
4 star means that its a good price if you need the item.
5 star means to stock up!

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pK8hPG06iUDQSGKQcXqg8VQ