Crusading On.....

Payday has arrived and our cupboards are quite bare so I've been researching the last two days for great deals.  Although I have acquired lots of coupons since I started this blog its sometimes still not enough, and somehow I still have a hard time buying stuff I don't need, even if it is free, but I'm learning.....

I'm learning that as I mentinoed before, this is time consuming.  I've found many great sites that take the guess work and time involved in saving.  These sites break down the deals for you by store, and share other special offers.  I may have mentioned some in a previous blog but here are some sites that are really really worth your time taking a look at:
http://www.thethriftymama.com/
http://www.moneysavingmadness.com/
http://www.livingrichwithcoupons.com/
http://stlmommy.com/
http://www.passionforsavings.com/

I have found coupons.com to be the best coupon site, there are several others but most offer the same coupons.  Sometimes you can find different coupons by entering different zip codes like 90210.  I have several times wanted a coupon for a specific item and hit up google often leading me right to the coupon I wanted, or at least to sites like the ones I mentioned above.

If I haven't mentioned it already its best to get a free email account like yahoo to manage all the deals you may be signing up for so as not to overcrowd your ususal email inbox.

Another tip I found it is best to save your coupon books whole and not clip them, I saw this on a video clip from a true coupon saver, you know one of those that can buy $400 worth of stuff for under $1.  A lot of the sites I've been checking mention coupons that were available in a particular coupon flyer on a particular date, so I have also found it helpful to label my coupons with the date of the paper they came in.  Then you can clip the coupons as you need them.

I have asked my parents to save the coupons they don't use for me, so I can have many sets of each coupon book, this is how you obtain real savings.

I'm ready to start off on a saving adventure tonight, and looking forward to a deal at Rite Aid where Dove deodorant is on sale for 2 for $4 and I have two $2 off 1 coupons which means I'll be stocking up on deodorant for FREE.  I don't need deodorant right now, but FREE is FREE, and eventually I'll need it.  I'll report more later on the other deals I get tonight.

Last week I did take a trip to Target and came accross some pretty good deals, of course it would have been best to mention this deals in this blog BEFORE the sale was over, but I will mention it in the hopes that its at least some inspiration and proof of the savings available out there. 

Last week Target had Huggies and Pampers diapers on sale for $19.99, if you bought two you received a $5 Target gift card.  I had two huggies manufactuers coupons, one for $2 and one for $3 and printed off a target web coupon for $2.50 (remember you can use target coupons along with the manufacturer's coupon). So I saved $7.50 right off not to mention the $5 Target gift card I got for free.  This was also the deal with baby wipes, I didn't have as good of coupons, only $1.25 worth, but the wipes were on sale and I got the $5 Target gift card, and I'm not going to have to buy wipes for a long time.  My receipt states I saved a total of $22.75 on these four items.

I purchased the wipes and diapers in one order and purchased the remainder of my goods in a second order, so I could use the $10 in Target cards I just got immediately.  I found a Target web coupon for kraft cheese that was on sale and combined it with coupons I already had and found online and wound up paying only 75 cents each for a package of shredded cheese that is over $2 in the grocery store.  I also found a coupon on target.com for $1 off a vaseline lotion, combined with the manufacturers coupon I clipped for $1 off I purchased a hand lotion really cheap, and I'm going to do it again this week, we all know how much our bodies are craving lotion this time of year.  I saved on several other items including dishwasher tabs by combining manufacturers coupons with target coupons.

I really recommend if you're going to start this process to start with Rite Aid and Target, they have some of the best deals combined with their online coupons, which can be used in combination with the manufacturers coupons.

I think if you at least get your hands on some coupon books and check out the sites I mentioned above you'll be able to snag yourself some great deals, even without tons of time involved, and though you may never be the one who can purchase hundreds of dollars of items for next to nothing (and be perfectly okay with that!), you'll be a saver, and hey free deodorant is free deodorant! 

Let me know what great deals you snagged this week!