RSS
 

Archive for the ‘Thrifty Thursday’ Category

Thrifty Thursday — Triple Coupons

27 Aug

Last week was my first experience with “triples” since I started couponing.  It was quite an experience, and I learned a lot by the time it was all over with.  And not only did I learn a lot, but I saved a LOT!  My final tally was $386.66 worth of groceries for $130.60.  That totals out to a savings of 67%.

Some of the items I got included:

  • Betty Crocker fruit snacks for 80¢ a box
  • 32 oz jars of Welch’s Concord Grape Jelly for FREE (and I got 4 of them!)
  • 6 oz cups of Dannon yogurt for 15¢ each
  • Colgate Total for 25¢
  • GUM toothbrushes for FREE
  • Jell-O for 14¢ a box
  • Bounty paper towels for 64¢ a roll
  • Betty Crocker Warm Delights for 17¢
  • Kix cereal for 74¢ a box
  • Red Baron Singles pizzas (box of 2) for 75¢
  • Dawn Dishwashing Liquid (which I use to strip cloth diapers!) for FREE
  • Uncle Ben’s Long Grain & Wild Rice FREE
  • Wishbone Dressing FREE
  • 3lb bag of Mahatma white rice FREE

And the list goes on and on.  Obviously I got multiples of a lot of these items.  I had 2-3 of each newspaper coupon, as well as some printed off the internet.  I knew that I if I had 5 of one internet printable coupon, I could only use 2 at a time.  I knew that only the first 20 coupons under 99¢ tripled.  And I knew that they might run out of things so that even if I planned ahead, I might find that flexibility was the key to a successful shopping trip.  I also learned about how I could better plan ahead so that the next time they run triples I can save even more!

Here’s the math…

My kids love fruit snacks, but they’re expensive at $2.89/box.  They are each allowed one package a day, so we go through a box of 10 in less than a week.  This gets expensive, so when they go on sale for $2/box, we stock up.  Except this time was triple coupons and I had a whole stack of 40¢ coupons for BC fruit snacks!  This knocked an additional $1.20 off each box, bringing us down to 80¢.

  • $2.89 each (or about 29¢ per individual package)
  • minus 89¢ = $2 each sale price
  • minus $1.20 for manufacturer coupon = 80¢ total for each box (or 8¢ per individual package)

For the jelly, I found coupons online and printed them.  The regular price is $2.59 per 32 oz jar.  They were on sale 2/$4, which made them $2 each.   I had a 75¢ off coupon that tripled to $2.25, which made these completely free.

  • $2.59 each
  • minus 59¢ = $2 each sale price
  • minus $2.25 for manufacturer coupon = FREE!!!
 
No Comments

Posted in Food/Recipes, Thrifty Thursday

 

Thrifty Thursday — Coupon Stacking

20 Aug

Last month I was invited to a “coupon party” where someone taught me how to save a lot of money by using coupons.  Initially I was skeptical…I thought it was a waste of time, that I couldn’t find coupons for the things I use, that I saved more money using generic, etc.  Now I feel compelled to share what I learned because it’s already saved me a ton of money!  Bear in mind that I am a newbie at this, so I’m still learning myself.  Hopefully this info will be useful to someone else.

On Monday afternoon, I went to the Lowe’s Foods here in Sanford and got:

  • 4 single serve packs of Whitehouse applesauce.  That’s 24 applesauce cups total.
  • 4 cans of Chef Boyardee canned pasta.
  • 2 boxes of Uncrustables.  That is 8 sandwiches total.
  • 1 box of Snyder’s pretzel snack packs.  That’s 10 small bags of pretzels.

Do you know how much that would cost without coupons or sale prices?  At Lowe’s, these items would come to a total of $23.17, without tax.  I paid $6.61, plus tax.  That’s a savings of almost 78%.

So how did I do it?  For all of these items, I had both a Lowe’s store coupon that saved me some money off of the regular price, some giving me a discount even on the sale price.  And then I had manufacturer’s coupons on top of that.  This is called coupon stacking.  Usually (not always…check with the store) a store that puts out it’s own coupons will let you “stack” manufacturer’s coupons on top of theirs, allowing you to save big.

Take for example the Uncrustables, normally $3.09 per box.  The Lowe’s coupon made them $2.00 each.  I also had a coupon that allowed me to save 75¢ per box.  Because Lowe’s doubles manufacturer’s coupons up to 99¢, this saved me $1.50 per package.

So the final breakdown is:

  • $3.09 each (or about 77¢ per sandwich)
  • minus $1.09 for store coupon = $2 each
  • minus $1.50 for manufacturer coupon = 50¢ total for each box (or about 12.5¢ per sandwich)

If I’ve done my math correctly, that is an 84% savings on that item alone.  And yes, this is an item I will use.  They’re great for days when we’re running behind and can’t take time to put lunch together.  Normally I can’t afford them, but with coupon stacking I can buy a few boxes to keep for those rough mornings!

 
4 Comments

Posted in Couponing, Food/Recipes, Free Stuff, Money/Finances, Thrifty Thursday

 

Thrifty Thursday — Whole Chickens

13 Aug

Remember my post about making the whole chicken in the crockpot?  Well, I did as Susannah suggested and froze the leftover broth in ice cube trays and they’ve come in handy a couple of times now.  There wasn’t a ton, but what I did get has been delicious in things like rice and pasta dishes.  YUM!

And since a whole chicken is way too much for my family to eat at one meal (unless it’s tiny) we were treated to plenty of leftovers.  To date, I’ve:

  • used them in a chicken sandwich.
  • mixed them with leftover pasta (we ate all of the spaghetti sauce last night, but had extra cooked pasta) and diced tomatoes and a bit of Italian dressing for a super delicious and quick lunch.
  • put them in a quesadilla.

I think I finally finished them up today, but that was a fairly small chicken (less than 10 lbs) and I got an entire family meal out of it, as well as several lunches and some delicious stock that we’ve used in different meals.  With whole chickens being so inexpensive (I’ve seen them as low as $.69/lb, so the one we have would have been less than $7 at the store on sale.) this is a great way to stretch your food dollar but still include healthier meats like chicken in your diet.

Next time I see them on sale for $.69/lb I’m going to buy several and freeze them, then make one every couple of weeks so that we have stock and leftovers available regularly.  I think they’ll be a great Sunday dinner…just toss one in the crockpot before we leave for church, add some mashed potatoes or green beans, a salad, and some rolls, and we have a great meal on a day that is typically rather chaotic.  Plus some really versatile leftovers!

 
1 Comment

Posted in Food/Recipes, Thrifty Thursday

 

Thrifty Thursday — Consignment!

06 Aug

Until last fall, I held on to most of my baby and maternity clothes.  But then we found out baby #3 was a girl, I started to get rid of all of the things that I knew we wouldn’t use again.  The baby boy clothes that were outgrown, the maternity that I hope (plan?) to never wear again, and more.  I started by taking things to Kid 2 Kid in Apex.  They go through your items and you can choose cash back or store credit right then and there.  (Which is not technically consignment, but I’m not complaining.)  Of course cash is always going to be a little less, so I typically choose store credit.  They don’t take everything…they will only take items for the upcoming season that are in good shape and fairly new.  For example, though many of my oldest son’s clothes are still in good condition, they don’t take a lot of them because they’re several years old.  I always come home with a lot of clothes and had been trying to figure out how to get rid of them, when I heard about the Kid’s Exchange sale in Raleigh.  I talked a bit about that a couple of weeks ago, so I won’t rehash.  I’m anxiously awaiting my check and can’t wait to see how much I end up with!

The best part about this consignment business is that it funds my shopping expeditions for clothes for the kids.  And that money goes even further than it used to, because I no longer buy everything new.  I have been able to find some fabulous deals on very expensive name brand clothes.  It’s such a rush knowing that I paid less for a high dollar, well made, name brand dress in perfect condition than I would for a brand new dress from Walmart.  I do have some things I won’t buy used…underwear, shoes, and car seats to name a few.  The first 2 because of the personal ick factor, and the last one because of the safety factor.  Other than that, I’m willing to consider buying almost anything used.  And there are always exceptions, like the time we bought cleats for my oldest son at Kid 2 Kid.  I couldn’t stomach the cost of new ones, so when I found some the right size I just made myself deal with it.

Today, my Kid 2 Kid sale funded new shoes for the 2 little kids.  Which I actually got on sale because of a coupon I’d gotten from Office Max.  You can’t beat that with a stick!

 
2 Comments

Posted in Money/Finances, Parenting, Thrifty Thursday

 
Newer Entries »