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Well it's been awhile since I've had worthwhile lessons to share, but over the recent holidays I have come across quite a few learning opportunities, so I thought I would share with you...
What I have learned.
1. Keep track of your stockpile, never think because you have a bunch of a particular item that you are safe! Over the holidays I have managed to run out my frozen milk stockpile as well as my multiple jars of Prego Spaghetti Sauce. Not to mention I was this close to running out of bread, of which I try to have at least 4 in the freezer at any one time.
2. Pick a squeal point. When it comes to holiday shopping, it's a fine line you have to walk between getting the best deal and losing the deal entirely. I found out the hard way when I watched a kitchen aid stand mixer go from 189 to 209 to 229 and finally (I thought) settling at 249. I know you are not supposed to chase a stock as it goes up, but let's be realistic here, if you were chasing a stock that was rising from 10 and you bought it at 15 and it stopped at 60 you'd still think you got a good deal. This is where a price log comes in handy (not that I would have thought to be tracking kitchen aid mixers) because no more than a week after I finally got my dream mixer the price went down again back to 229! It could just have easily not. What have I learned? You need to decide how much you are willing to pay and be willing to wait for it or not get the item at all. Tracking the price of an item only serves to heighten the fear and anxiety that maybe the item will not go down any further. Pick a squeal point, how much you are willing to pay and stick to it! Sometimes it hurts not to get the thing you really want, but sometimes the price tag stings just a bit more.
3. Price matching is your best friend! As I mentioned here, I managed to avoid nearly all the Black Friday Chaos by arming myself with everyone else's ads and walking into Walmart well after the door buster madness had thinned out. Turns out I could have done even better had I been paying attention and gone back out the day after Christmas,which I had made a point not to do. I discovered at MNTK that you can make even more money by using price adjustments. Definitely something to keep in mind next year.
Showing posts with label What I Have Learned. Show all posts
Showing posts with label What I Have Learned. Show all posts
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Thursday, August 21, 2008
What I have learned...Pride, is it worth it?
Well I did it again. I went to a store with a very clearly laid out plan of what I was going to get and how. I had my coupons neatly gathered in order and I even brought scissors so that I could cut them out in the car ahead of time (and thus reduce the likelihood of losing them in the car). Alas this is yet another in the line of cautionary tales I share with you here.
I'm sure you remember my time savers post. Well I'm ashamed to say I broke just about every rule I learned from that! I went to do the Walgreens Deal I learned about at Money Saving Mom. I printed out my Cheerios coupons, got a 4th All You magazine (I already had 3), got 2 ES rebate booklets and proceeded to shop. Everything was priced differently than posted on various blogs!
The Cheerios was 3.79 instead of $1.99, the hemorrhoid travel wipes was 4.79 instead of $3.99 and the Jell-o was .79 cents instead of .39! I had seriously considered called ahead because I have on far too many occasions gone to a store just for the free item, only to find that either the item wasn't there at all or the price was different enough to make the trip a waste of time! But, I figured everybody was going to do that deal, it's too good to pass up, so asking about the Jello or Wheat Thins might just get me flak from the store personnel. Don't ask me why I let that stop me, but I did.
So what did I learn in my first ever foray into Walgreens' Easy Saver world?
Double check your source! If someone says something is a certain price, find it yourself as well. Now that you know what you are looking for, you should be able to find it much easier. Confirm the price, get the source for the official price and don't be afraid to question the tag on the shelf if the price doesn't match! What's the worst that can happen? They tell you, that you are wrong? Better to confirm the price is not what you thought then have to run back into the store once you find out the price is indeed as advertised, just not on the shelf. Of course you could always call ahead and save yourself the hassle of driving out for possibly nothing, but I would suggest that you only confirm prices on the "deal breaker" items. For instance, I went there for the Wheat Thins Deal (the Cheerios was merely icing). Had I known the Jell-o was more than twice the price listed for the deal (which it might not be, just mislabeled), I might not have gone down there. Then again, maybe the Cheerios would have been enough, who knows.
edit: Turns out the .39 cents was based on a coupon in their weekly flyer, guess next time I will have to check the ad myself to make sure I don't need a coupon for anything!
That's it for this installment of What I Have Learned...tune in next time. It's a new town with new stores, there's bound to be a learning curve!
I'm sure you remember my time savers post. Well I'm ashamed to say I broke just about every rule I learned from that! I went to do the Walgreens Deal I learned about at Money Saving Mom. I printed out my Cheerios coupons, got a 4th All You magazine (I already had 3), got 2 ES rebate booklets and proceeded to shop. Everything was priced differently than posted on various blogs!
The Cheerios was 3.79 instead of $1.99, the hemorrhoid travel wipes was 4.79 instead of $3.99 and the Jell-o was .79 cents instead of .39! I had seriously considered called ahead because I have on far too many occasions gone to a store just for the free item, only to find that either the item wasn't there at all or the price was different enough to make the trip a waste of time! But, I figured everybody was going to do that deal, it's too good to pass up, so asking about the Jello or Wheat Thins might just get me flak from the store personnel. Don't ask me why I let that stop me, but I did.
So what did I learn in my first ever foray into Walgreens' Easy Saver world?
Double check your source! If someone says something is a certain price, find it yourself as well. Now that you know what you are looking for, you should be able to find it much easier. Confirm the price, get the source for the official price and don't be afraid to question the tag on the shelf if the price doesn't match! What's the worst that can happen? They tell you, that you are wrong? Better to confirm the price is not what you thought then have to run back into the store once you find out the price is indeed as advertised, just not on the shelf. Of course you could always call ahead and save yourself the hassle of driving out for possibly nothing, but I would suggest that you only confirm prices on the "deal breaker" items. For instance, I went there for the Wheat Thins Deal (the Cheerios was merely icing). Had I known the Jell-o was more than twice the price listed for the deal (which it might not be, just mislabeled), I might not have gone down there. Then again, maybe the Cheerios would have been enough, who knows.
edit: Turns out the .39 cents was based on a coupon in their weekly flyer, guess next time I will have to check the ad myself to make sure I don't need a coupon for anything!
That's it for this installment of What I Have Learned...tune in next time. It's a new town with new stores, there's bound to be a learning curve!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
What I Have Learned. (The Moving Edition)
Well I am almost through the worst move in history! Or at least our history of 11 moves in 9 years. Day one, our packers failed to pack everything they needed, including computer equipment and even an entire drawer! I caught the drawer but missed the rest. Day two, our movers forgot a number of our items, after having me sign off that they were all taken, but not before doing substantial damage to our home! Day three and four were uneventful as we drove our two cars cross country and back to our new home. Day 5 we bought a 5 day cooler, filled it ice and food that would survive. Then we rested and waited for our second week to begin.
Day 6 Hubby went back to work out of state and my youngest and I were left to cool our heels, living out of a cooler until our fridge with the rest of our stuff arrived. It should have been on Day 5, and then again on Day 6. Day 7 I got a delivery time and then halfway through the day with no sign of them, I was informed that they would not be coming that day either. Day 8 they finally arrived and spent the day unloading my stuff. Day 9 should be the end of my moving fiasco as unpackers should have us mostly set up then.
Here's what I have learned during all this...
1. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! In 11 moves we have never had a problem and it may have allowed us to become complacent. For all future moves (and with our life that's a very real likelihood) I plan to be just as aware and vigilant as I was in the 2nd or 3rd move, because lets face it you never know what you have to be worried about in your first move.
2. Never sign ANYTHING before you read it! Seems simple enough right? I mean who wouldn't read what they are given before signing it, but when you get page after page after of forms to sign nobody wants to give you enough time to read it. These pages come at the end of a usually very long day, either buying a car or in this case confirming that everything they said was packed, loaded etc is in fact the case. Which leads me to my next piece of wisdom...
3. Check, check, double check and then check again! This seems to be somewhat of an issue with me, as you may have noticed during my Summer Savings Marathon debacle . In the case of moving, had I not checked every single drawer I would have missed an entire drawer filled with important papers. Even when I ran through my house repeatedly checking all around, inside and out, somehow I still managed to miss some items, that even after the 5th time of keeping things from being left behind, I somehow didn't catch before the truck left. And on that note...
4. If you can't remember to check every single nook and cranny, how can you expect someone else to? I'm not sure what a person (or at least me) has to do to ensure every nook and cranny is left empty, but next time around I think I will make note of each area to confirm they have been gone through. Open every cupboard, drawer and closet. If you are too short to see inside a given cupboard or onto a shelf, get a stool or ask the person you are dealing with to look for you and confirm nothing is left. In my case, I would probably create my own form for them to sign affirming that they checked and state that an area I can't see inside is clear, but I've had a really bad move! I'm sure you can trust your movers in general, but for me I'm gonna be a bit on the paranoid side.
5. Be sure and tip your waiters! Or in my case movers. Most people wouldn't have tipped their loaders after the problems and damage that occurred, me I did. I was pretty bothered by that fact as day after day went by without my stuff with more and more problems being uncovered, but when they did show up, it paid off after all. I had a number of items that were previously in the house and needed to be moved to other parts of the house before the new items could be placed and because they had good feelings towards me, I was able to get them to move those items, even though they could have easily refused. On that note...
6. You can catch more flies with honey...or in this case pizza. Ahh pizza, is there anything a person won't do? In the middle of the move, I ordered pizza for me and my household and included the movers in the order. The appreciation felt from them as a result helped to smooth over little things like, they had put our huge filing cabinet on the wrong floor as well as placing our secondary freezer in the wrong location, both of which had to be remedied. By the end of the day, I started to apologize for them having to fix so many things (even though they were wrong) and the reply was "Hey you bought us pizza we're happy to make things right." But even when everyone is trying to do a good job and make things right...
7. No matter how hard you try, there are things that will go wrong. I checked all the beds and found they were not fully put together, I checked our outside equipment and found the same. I walked the house every square inch examining the walls, doors, floors, everything. I triple checked the crib in the very end and fortunately discovered before they left that it was put together backwards and couldn't be latched. A problem that would not have been able to be resolved that night and would have cost my little girl her bed for yet another night. Even after checking everything I thought I needed to it wasn't enough. My husband and I spent the entire night searching for various critical things that should have been labeled clearly, but weren't, including our bedding box (the one packed last thing of the moving day so you could have blankets to sleep on up until your things are taken), as well as my husband's riding suit and helmet for his motorcycle.
8. Take a deep breath...Realize you did the best you could, that things are going to go badly, sometimes worse than most. Get your house in order, unpack, and get to know the area around you. There is always something new to experience in a new town, new friends to make, new places to go. Breath deep and accept that even if things may have gone wrong, it will eventually be over. You will get over it and some day soon this will be the place you call home. In the end, at least you have some great stories to tell!
My moving experience is not quite over yet, so if I learn anything else along the way I'll be sure to pop in and share that too :)
Day 6 Hubby went back to work out of state and my youngest and I were left to cool our heels, living out of a cooler until our fridge with the rest of our stuff arrived. It should have been on Day 5, and then again on Day 6. Day 7 I got a delivery time and then halfway through the day with no sign of them, I was informed that they would not be coming that day either. Day 8 they finally arrived and spent the day unloading my stuff. Day 9 should be the end of my moving fiasco as unpackers should have us mostly set up then.
Here's what I have learned during all this...
1. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! In 11 moves we have never had a problem and it may have allowed us to become complacent. For all future moves (and with our life that's a very real likelihood) I plan to be just as aware and vigilant as I was in the 2nd or 3rd move, because lets face it you never know what you have to be worried about in your first move.
2. Never sign ANYTHING before you read it! Seems simple enough right? I mean who wouldn't read what they are given before signing it, but when you get page after page after of forms to sign nobody wants to give you enough time to read it. These pages come at the end of a usually very long day, either buying a car or in this case confirming that everything they said was packed, loaded etc is in fact the case. Which leads me to my next piece of wisdom...
3. Check, check, double check and then check again! This seems to be somewhat of an issue with me, as you may have noticed during my Summer Savings Marathon debacle . In the case of moving, had I not checked every single drawer I would have missed an entire drawer filled with important papers. Even when I ran through my house repeatedly checking all around, inside and out, somehow I still managed to miss some items, that even after the 5th time of keeping things from being left behind, I somehow didn't catch before the truck left. And on that note...
4. If you can't remember to check every single nook and cranny, how can you expect someone else to? I'm not sure what a person (or at least me) has to do to ensure every nook and cranny is left empty, but next time around I think I will make note of each area to confirm they have been gone through. Open every cupboard, drawer and closet. If you are too short to see inside a given cupboard or onto a shelf, get a stool or ask the person you are dealing with to look for you and confirm nothing is left. In my case, I would probably create my own form for them to sign affirming that they checked and state that an area I can't see inside is clear, but I've had a really bad move! I'm sure you can trust your movers in general, but for me I'm gonna be a bit on the paranoid side.
5. Be sure and tip your waiters! Or in my case movers. Most people wouldn't have tipped their loaders after the problems and damage that occurred, me I did. I was pretty bothered by that fact as day after day went by without my stuff with more and more problems being uncovered, but when they did show up, it paid off after all. I had a number of items that were previously in the house and needed to be moved to other parts of the house before the new items could be placed and because they had good feelings towards me, I was able to get them to move those items, even though they could have easily refused. On that note...
6. You can catch more flies with honey...or in this case pizza. Ahh pizza, is there anything a person won't do? In the middle of the move, I ordered pizza for me and my household and included the movers in the order. The appreciation felt from them as a result helped to smooth over little things like, they had put our huge filing cabinet on the wrong floor as well as placing our secondary freezer in the wrong location, both of which had to be remedied. By the end of the day, I started to apologize for them having to fix so many things (even though they were wrong) and the reply was "Hey you bought us pizza we're happy to make things right." But even when everyone is trying to do a good job and make things right...
7. No matter how hard you try, there are things that will go wrong. I checked all the beds and found they were not fully put together, I checked our outside equipment and found the same. I walked the house every square inch examining the walls, doors, floors, everything. I triple checked the crib in the very end and fortunately discovered before they left that it was put together backwards and couldn't be latched. A problem that would not have been able to be resolved that night and would have cost my little girl her bed for yet another night. Even after checking everything I thought I needed to it wasn't enough. My husband and I spent the entire night searching for various critical things that should have been labeled clearly, but weren't, including our bedding box (the one packed last thing of the moving day so you could have blankets to sleep on up until your things are taken), as well as my husband's riding suit and helmet for his motorcycle.
8. Take a deep breath...Realize you did the best you could, that things are going to go badly, sometimes worse than most. Get your house in order, unpack, and get to know the area around you. There is always something new to experience in a new town, new friends to make, new places to go. Breath deep and accept that even if things may have gone wrong, it will eventually be over. You will get over it and some day soon this will be the place you call home. In the end, at least you have some great stories to tell!
My moving experience is not quite over yet, so if I learn anything else along the way I'll be sure to pop in and share that too :)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Summer Marathon Savings (what I have learned)
Well I got inspired by the Safeway (or in my case Vons and Pavilions) Summer Savings Marathon (thanks MMM) and I decided to give it a shot. I spent a ton of time researching products and matching up coupons, made my list and headed off to the store with all three kids in tow.
In my first trip I bought:
after coupons 42.42
I received a $10 savings award.
Here is what I learned on this trip:
Check, check, double and TRIPLE check! Apparently making a detailed list and matching coupons and repeatedly counting the items in my cart wasn't enough. After checking out I only got $10. I assumed the error was on their end, because this particular Vons was woefully unprepared for this promotion. I had to ask no less than 3 separate people where the summer savings brochure/coupon booklet was. Ultimately I had to show them the picture in their weekly flyer and even then there was only one available. No one was aware of any master list and my poor checker was eventually asked to go down the isles matching each item n the list. The first item? Tava, which I know from my fellow bloggers is on the list. So that was the end of that, if I couldn't convince them that items I knew were on the list were there, nor could I even convince them there was a list, it was time to go home. I was frustrated, but still polite and once they tried to remove an item I knew was valid, I told her nicely that I would take it up with corporate and would no longer take up any of her time. I went home and called 1877-SAFEWAY, can you believe they didn't have a master list either? They told me that the computer handles it all automatically and the stores have no list or need for a list (and yet somehow items get left off) but they told me they would check in on it and get back to me. Meanwhile I rechecked again all my items off the master list and found that yes, every one f them matched. The corporate office called back with a number to talk to about the savings marathon (which I now pass onto you all), I thanked them and while I prepared to call that number I confirmed fully that I had purchased the required items and required number of items. And it was during this last count of the items spread out neatly to photograph for the blog, that I had the disheartening realization that while every item was on the list, I was in fact missing one of them. I have no idea how I managed to lose track but in the end it was a $10 mistake. Live and learn.
For those who are interested in the contact information I have it below. I'm sure we will all be running into further issues with this marathon, I had yet another issue the next trip I made to a Pavilions this time, I joked to my husband that the reason it's called a marathon is because by the time you finally GET the coupon and get out of the store you feel like you ran a marathon! Here is the #1-888-826-8766
In my first trip I bought:
- 2 4 pks of Tava Sparkling Beverage
- 2 bags of Chex Mix (dark chocolate and turtle)
- 2 Boxes of Cheez-Its
- 2 Boxes Jolly Time Popcorn (100 calorie and Kettle corn)
- 4 Planters Peanuts used 4 $3/1 coupons
- 12 Kool-Aid packets .25 each
- 1 box Kelloggs Poptarts and 3 boxes Frosted Mini Wheats
- 2 6pk 20 oz bottles of Diet Coke
- 1 Viva Paper Towels and 1 Cottenelle Toilet Paper
- 4 Kleenex Tissues
- 1 Chinet Plates
- 1 Chinet Bowls
after coupons 42.42
I received a $10 savings award.
Here is what I learned on this trip:
Check, check, double and TRIPLE check! Apparently making a detailed list and matching coupons and repeatedly counting the items in my cart wasn't enough. After checking out I only got $10. I assumed the error was on their end, because this particular Vons was woefully unprepared for this promotion. I had to ask no less than 3 separate people where the summer savings brochure/coupon booklet was. Ultimately I had to show them the picture in their weekly flyer and even then there was only one available. No one was aware of any master list and my poor checker was eventually asked to go down the isles matching each item n the list. The first item? Tava, which I know from my fellow bloggers is on the list. So that was the end of that, if I couldn't convince them that items I knew were on the list were there, nor could I even convince them there was a list, it was time to go home. I was frustrated, but still polite and once they tried to remove an item I knew was valid, I told her nicely that I would take it up with corporate and would no longer take up any of her time. I went home and called 1877-SAFEWAY, can you believe they didn't have a master list either? They told me that the computer handles it all automatically and the stores have no list or need for a list (and yet somehow items get left off) but they told me they would check in on it and get back to me. Meanwhile I rechecked again all my items off the master list and found that yes, every one f them matched. The corporate office called back with a number to talk to about the savings marathon (which I now pass onto you all), I thanked them and while I prepared to call that number I confirmed fully that I had purchased the required items and required number of items. And it was during this last count of the items spread out neatly to photograph for the blog, that I had the disheartening realization that while every item was on the list, I was in fact missing one of them. I have no idea how I managed to lose track but in the end it was a $10 mistake. Live and learn.
For those who are interested in the contact information I have it below. I'm sure we will all be running into further issues with this marathon, I had yet another issue the next trip I made to a Pavilions this time, I joked to my husband that the reason it's called a marathon is because by the time you finally GET the coupon and get out of the store you feel like you ran a marathon! Here is the #1-888-826-8766
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
What I Have Learned. (The Stockpile)
Normally this post goes out on a Sunday, but I'm running a bit behind. It's been a couple weeks and as promised in the cautionary tale that is my struggle to save money with all the rest of you out there, I have some more things to share that I have learned along the way.
This collection doesn't really have a topic that ties them together, if it did I suppose it would be "The Perils of Stocking up too well" So we'll go with that one. We'll start with the inns and outs that I have found.
1. Stocking up on milk is not as easy as it sounds. With the rising milk prices it's no wonder that people want to stock up on milk. Freezing milk is one of the first things I heard of on a frugal tips website for how to save money on groceries. For my family I have 2 (now 3) big cereal eaters. We're talking 3 or more bowls. Even with significant rationing measures put in place I go through a gallon of regular milk (1% or 2%) and one of whole milk (just for my daughter).
The stores that have the "buy 2 gallons and get them both for so much cheaper than a single gallon alone" ads don't allow for a household that buys 2 gallons of milk but only buys 1 gallon of each, so when a deal comes along (for instance 2 1/2 gallons for 3 dollars with no limit) I stock up like crazy and even pick up rain checks if they don't have enough to accommodate my purchasing desires.
When you freeze milk it will expand so pour out about 4 oz (I used a baby bottle) before you put it in the freezer. Make sure you have no less than 3 days worth of milk defrosted when you get your next bottle out of the freezer or you will end up with either no milk or icicles within your milk. Just like everything else, partially defrosted liquid is very strong and if you use what isn't frozen what you will end up with when you finally defrost the rest is something we like to call at my house "milk water" not tasty. Also you want to watch your defrosted milk carefully. I have run into one of my bottles of whole milk curdling before even a week was up. Believe me if you can get a really good deal freezing your milk is a great idea, but it does require some forethought.
2. Printer ink is expensive and coupons use a lot of it. I mentioned before here that it's very important to think through your coupon printing needs, but as I have now gone through 2 color cartridges in the 3 months since I have started using them, it bears repeating. Only print out the coupons you know you will actually use. Save all PDFs until you plan to use them if you are unsure. Try to make a note of 'bricks" or other straight to your printer IPs (internet printable coupons) and check them against sales you plan to take advantage of. If you know u will use the coupon sale or no sale by all means print it, but if you are unsure don't waste the ink. Make a note (maybe notepad or word doc) of the link and save it until you are going to use it. I guess there is a possibility it could run out if there is a limit but the chances of that are less likely than those of you printing a "maybe" coupon and never using it or having it expire before you get the chance. IPs are very colorful and they don't have to be. Modify your printer settings so that it only prints in black and white or grayscale. This way your color lasts longer, of course your black will run out faster than normal but at least this way your ink should remain balanced. Set aside a portion of your coupon savings to accommodate your ink and paper cost, and be sure to compare prices. I found two cartridges of both color and black ink for less than the price of 1 combo pack at the manufacture website here They recycle cartridges and you earn points for each empty one you turn into them, which can then be turned into credits to buy more. Not a bad deal.
If you, like me tend to use IPs a lot then check out this post about how to handle uninformed or difficult cashiers here thanks MKTK.
On the flip side my last piece of learned advice...
3. Gas and Milk, never go below a 1/4 of a tank/bottle. On that note, never allow any required staple to run down to empty. My kids are huge cereal eaters (as mentioned above) and due to a number of circumstances I allowed the last of our milk to be used up after breakfast this morning. Not a huge deal, but one that needed to be fixed before the next morning. I checked the deals at all the grocery stores and the only one that looked to be worth it was 2 gallons at 6.19 (a full .50 up from the usual buy 2 get them for so much less deals from every other week). I bit the bullet and paid the 6.19 for the milk and a few other things, got home, found the weekly flyers and discovered that if I had just waited a single day, there is a 2 gallons of milk for 3.19 starting tomorrow! Yet another lesson learned. Don't get stuck paying any price for something you need, always leave yourself a buffer to seek out the best deal.
Stay tuned, the more I do this the more I learn what not to do and I pass that information along to you dear readers!
This collection doesn't really have a topic that ties them together, if it did I suppose it would be "The Perils of Stocking up too well" So we'll go with that one. We'll start with the inns and outs that I have found.
1. Stocking up on milk is not as easy as it sounds. With the rising milk prices it's no wonder that people want to stock up on milk. Freezing milk is one of the first things I heard of on a frugal tips website for how to save money on groceries. For my family I have 2 (now 3) big cereal eaters. We're talking 3 or more bowls. Even with significant rationing measures put in place I go through a gallon of regular milk (1% or 2%) and one of whole milk (just for my daughter).
The stores that have the "buy 2 gallons and get them both for so much cheaper than a single gallon alone" ads don't allow for a household that buys 2 gallons of milk but only buys 1 gallon of each, so when a deal comes along (for instance 2 1/2 gallons for 3 dollars with no limit) I stock up like crazy and even pick up rain checks if they don't have enough to accommodate my purchasing desires.
When you freeze milk it will expand so pour out about 4 oz (I used a baby bottle) before you put it in the freezer. Make sure you have no less than 3 days worth of milk defrosted when you get your next bottle out of the freezer or you will end up with either no milk or icicles within your milk. Just like everything else, partially defrosted liquid is very strong and if you use what isn't frozen what you will end up with when you finally defrost the rest is something we like to call at my house "milk water" not tasty. Also you want to watch your defrosted milk carefully. I have run into one of my bottles of whole milk curdling before even a week was up. Believe me if you can get a really good deal freezing your milk is a great idea, but it does require some forethought.
2. Printer ink is expensive and coupons use a lot of it. I mentioned before here that it's very important to think through your coupon printing needs, but as I have now gone through 2 color cartridges in the 3 months since I have started using them, it bears repeating. Only print out the coupons you know you will actually use. Save all PDFs until you plan to use them if you are unsure. Try to make a note of 'bricks" or other straight to your printer IPs (internet printable coupons) and check them against sales you plan to take advantage of. If you know u will use the coupon sale or no sale by all means print it, but if you are unsure don't waste the ink. Make a note (maybe notepad or word doc) of the link and save it until you are going to use it. I guess there is a possibility it could run out if there is a limit but the chances of that are less likely than those of you printing a "maybe" coupon and never using it or having it expire before you get the chance. IPs are very colorful and they don't have to be. Modify your printer settings so that it only prints in black and white or grayscale. This way your color lasts longer, of course your black will run out faster than normal but at least this way your ink should remain balanced. Set aside a portion of your coupon savings to accommodate your ink and paper cost, and be sure to compare prices. I found two cartridges of both color and black ink for less than the price of 1 combo pack at the manufacture website here They recycle cartridges and you earn points for each empty one you turn into them, which can then be turned into credits to buy more. Not a bad deal.
If you, like me tend to use IPs a lot then check out this post about how to handle uninformed or difficult cashiers here thanks MKTK.
On the flip side my last piece of learned advice...
3. Gas and Milk, never go below a 1/4 of a tank/bottle. On that note, never allow any required staple to run down to empty. My kids are huge cereal eaters (as mentioned above) and due to a number of circumstances I allowed the last of our milk to be used up after breakfast this morning. Not a huge deal, but one that needed to be fixed before the next morning. I checked the deals at all the grocery stores and the only one that looked to be worth it was 2 gallons at 6.19 (a full .50 up from the usual buy 2 get them for so much less deals from every other week). I bit the bullet and paid the 6.19 for the milk and a few other things, got home, found the weekly flyers and discovered that if I had just waited a single day, there is a 2 gallons of milk for 3.19 starting tomorrow! Yet another lesson learned. Don't get stuck paying any price for something you need, always leave yourself a buffer to seek out the best deal.
Stay tuned, the more I do this the more I learn what not to do and I pass that information along to you dear readers!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
What I've Learned (Time Savers)
Well it's been a month since I started so I think it's time for another installment of "What I have Learned". I have been using the techniques and methods used on the various sites intended to help all us frugally inept people learn to save. A few of the ones I visit more often are:Money Saving Mom, BeCentsAble , The New Frugal Mom, and Be Thrifty Like Us. Sometimes I am proud of myself, sometimes, not to much. After a 2 day shopping spree (see my Grocery challenge). I emerged with a great haul, but feeling like I wasted a lot of time, so I have decide to write about some things that have cost me quite a bit of time and money.
1. Never go someplace just for the FREE item, unless you are willing to buy it at full price or with just the coupon discount.
I went to Target for the Free Butt Paste travel pack (after $1 coupon), after 30 minutes wandering the store on both the "grocery" side (we have no Super Targets in CA) and the baby side, I was still unable to find them and ended up leaving the store empty handed. I went to Walmart in search for the Free Honey Bunches of Oats (after $2 coupon), after checking all the end caps and the cereal isle backwards and forwards, I was only able to find Regular Honey Bunches of Oats (the coupon was for chocolate) and at $2.96, so not free and not available at that. Fortunately, this time around I actually had a purpose to be there so it wasn't a complete waste of a trip. Not so with two trips to CVS and a couple more to Target. My Target trips included, but not limited to the Free Lipton To Go packets (after $1 coupon), that particular venture took me to two Targets before I found one that would do the deal. I did get $19 worth in the end and a $5 gift card from corporate for my troubles at the first Target, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Most of the time, however those trips ended up being a waste of gas and time. Which leads me to the next thing I have learned...
2. Call Ahead.
If the deal is too good to pass up and there is only one item you are looking for. Call the store and confirm the availability and or price. When I ran into a dead end with the first Target store I made sure to call the other store to confirm that the coupon was indeed accepted, and I even called corporate to make sure that I wasn't running into a running trend. Now I doubt that phone calls to that extent are necessary, but every one of those wasted trips could have been avoided had I taken the few minutes to call ahead. Of course that brings me to the next thing I have learned.
3. Write it all down.
The need for organization keeps popping up. Every day I scan my RSS feeds for my various sites and I get a list of places to visit and deals to keep in mind. I star the priority posts and I make a mental note of the things I should pay attention to and plan to return later. I clip my coupons and set them aside to make sure I have them when I go on my trips. Notice a running theme here? No matter how well I think I have it all planned out, I don't make notes as I am reading and so inevitably I miss something. If I wrote things down ahead of time (not just right before running out the door) I would be better prepared and not waste so much time running all over for that elusive bargain. I would have all my coupons carefully laid out and I would never get to the register (or in some cases the store) without having the particular coupons I needed ready and available! I can recall almost every trip has been afflicted with some hassle that could have been avoided. The next thing I have learned is a result of some of those problems that arose.
4. Always check the receipt.
This goes beyond the obvious checking of the price at the end, though that is, of course always very good advice. I have also discovered that during a complicated order, by which I mean request that involves the use of coupons or anything "made to order", not only should you check the receipt but you should also confirm that your order went through as expected. After filling an order incorrectly in the Albertsons deli, the person behind the counter fixed it by providing me with an item twice the price of the one I ordered. Had this exchange not taken so long, I would have double checked the slip on the deli meat and caught this mistake before getting home. If I had confirmed after a 3 times failed exchange at CVS that the cashier had re-scanned my card, I wouldn't have been short changed my ECBs for my 2 SoBes. AND had my husband checked the carry-out pizza order he would have noticed the lack of bread sticks (which were later delivered to us). Fortunately each of these events, after a phone call has been or will be rectified. The only one I have fully lost out on (as a result of my lack of organization) is the CVS ECBs because, as I mentioned above, I arrived at the store without the receipt and with the price of gas going home and coming back was in no way worth the single ECB.
So what am I going to do from now on?
1. Never go someplace just for the FREE item, unless you are willing to buy it at full price or with just the coupon discount.
I went to Target for the Free Butt Paste travel pack (after $1 coupon), after 30 minutes wandering the store on both the "grocery" side (we have no Super Targets in CA) and the baby side, I was still unable to find them and ended up leaving the store empty handed. I went to Walmart in search for the Free Honey Bunches of Oats (after $2 coupon), after checking all the end caps and the cereal isle backwards and forwards, I was only able to find Regular Honey Bunches of Oats (the coupon was for chocolate) and at $2.96, so not free and not available at that. Fortunately, this time around I actually had a purpose to be there so it wasn't a complete waste of a trip. Not so with two trips to CVS and a couple more to Target. My Target trips included, but not limited to the Free Lipton To Go packets (after $1 coupon), that particular venture took me to two Targets before I found one that would do the deal. I did get $19 worth in the end and a $5 gift card from corporate for my troubles at the first Target, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Most of the time, however those trips ended up being a waste of gas and time. Which leads me to the next thing I have learned...
2. Call Ahead.
If the deal is too good to pass up and there is only one item you are looking for. Call the store and confirm the availability and or price. When I ran into a dead end with the first Target store I made sure to call the other store to confirm that the coupon was indeed accepted, and I even called corporate to make sure that I wasn't running into a running trend. Now I doubt that phone calls to that extent are necessary, but every one of those wasted trips could have been avoided had I taken the few minutes to call ahead. Of course that brings me to the next thing I have learned.
3. Write it all down.
The need for organization keeps popping up. Every day I scan my RSS feeds for my various sites and I get a list of places to visit and deals to keep in mind. I star the priority posts and I make a mental note of the things I should pay attention to and plan to return later. I clip my coupons and set them aside to make sure I have them when I go on my trips. Notice a running theme here? No matter how well I think I have it all planned out, I don't make notes as I am reading and so inevitably I miss something. If I wrote things down ahead of time (not just right before running out the door) I would be better prepared and not waste so much time running all over for that elusive bargain. I would have all my coupons carefully laid out and I would never get to the register (or in some cases the store) without having the particular coupons I needed ready and available! I can recall almost every trip has been afflicted with some hassle that could have been avoided. The next thing I have learned is a result of some of those problems that arose.
4. Always check the receipt.
This goes beyond the obvious checking of the price at the end, though that is, of course always very good advice. I have also discovered that during a complicated order, by which I mean request that involves the use of coupons or anything "made to order", not only should you check the receipt but you should also confirm that your order went through as expected. After filling an order incorrectly in the Albertsons deli, the person behind the counter fixed it by providing me with an item twice the price of the one I ordered. Had this exchange not taken so long, I would have double checked the slip on the deli meat and caught this mistake before getting home. If I had confirmed after a 3 times failed exchange at CVS that the cashier had re-scanned my card, I wouldn't have been short changed my ECBs for my 2 SoBes. AND had my husband checked the carry-out pizza order he would have noticed the lack of bread sticks (which were later delivered to us). Fortunately each of these events, after a phone call has been or will be rectified. The only one I have fully lost out on (as a result of my lack of organization) is the CVS ECBs because, as I mentioned above, I arrived at the store without the receipt and with the price of gas going home and coming back was in no way worth the single ECB.
So what am I going to do from now on?
- I'm going to keep a notepad and pen by my computer at all times and write down any deals I see or ideas I come up with based on information I see on my various blogs.
- I'm going to use that notepad to write down the # of the stores I plan to visit and highlight the items that are my main reason for going so I can call about the special items I am looking for (no more than 2 items per store for the call...I don't need to waste their time either).
- I'm going to see just how long it takes to get to each of the stores on my list and determine if the deals I am looking for are worth the cost in time and gas.
- I'm going to get one of those coupon accordion folders, or if I don't have one of those I will at least put each store's coupons in a sandwich baggie, it really doesn't matter as long as when I get to the counter I am not digging for them. People really hate that.
- If I can save time getting my coupons ready for the cashier, maybe I can afford the time to check the items being scanned and ensure that I never get short changed on my receipt or an item I didn't ask for. Well I can try to limit the amount of times that happens.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
What I have learned...
I'm new to this whole saving money as a rule thing, and having read a TON of saving blogs, I have come to a few conclusions. You have to spend money to FULLY benefit from the various sales and ESPECIALLY the CVS game...which I am very interested in becoming proficient at. I am new to an area that actually has CVS and I have been watching all the CVS related blogs.
So it turns out that the "beginner's suggestions, while VERY beneficial ALSO required you to have been receiving the Sunday paper, presumably to get the coupons to save money, months prior to the time the CVS deal came into place. Which brings me to the first thing i have learned:
1. Online coupons alone just don't cut it.
You definitely need to get the Sunday paper to get those coupons that will be important weeks or months down the road. It doesn't work to just start up and expect to get the same deals all the others are getting, because you need to have been getting the coupons (and saving them) for months, in some cases. For instance; The CVS deal that is all the rage right now involves the Contour Meter @ $14.99 which has the ability to earn you 14.99 in ECB (easy care bucks). So you have the opportunity to get the Contour Meter for free! Great right? Well even better would be not having to spend the 14.99 in the first place OOP (out of pocket) and STILL get the ECBs. Well guess what, if you had been doing this before just now and had been getting the Sunday paper way back in 3-16 you MIGHT have had the coupon for the Contour Meter for $30/1 and since CVS apparently brings that coupon down to 14.99/1 you would only spend 1 dollar and you'd get 14.99 back in ECBs. Notice I said, MIGHT have this coupon...which brings me to the next thing I learned:
2. NOTHING is useless.
Let's say I HAD been doing the savings stuff earlier on and gotten the paper on that fateful Sunday in March. Now I did the coupon clipping not once but twice previously. I cut out the coupons and place them into two categories: Stuff I need (cereal, bread, cheese, the things that are devoured in my house) and Stuff I may decide to get but don't necessarily NEED (extra toothpaste, toothbrushes, paper towels, diapers, chocolate, stockup stuff. Ok so I NEED chocolate, but this is the extra stuff I don't normally buy). The rest go straight into the trash. I am a horrible pack rat. So now that I have laid down the law with coupons, if it doesn't fit in those two categories it gets thrown away, no ifs ands or buts (cuz believe me I'd find some), why on EARTH would I have hung onto a Glucose checker when I am not diabetic? I need to take EVERY opportunity that I have to throw things away and not ask myself, "Do I REALLY have no chance of ever wanting this? I don't want it to come back and be needed later." I stopped asking that question because it took far too much time out of WAY too much time already spent figuring out the first two categories, and of course I also need to go back over each and every single one and write the date of the paper it was found in on it. I found out that one the hard way. Which brings me to the next thing I learned:
3. Organization is NOT an option!
In each of the MANY sites of far more experienced savers than myself there is a method of determining which sales are at which stores and which coupon from which date will allow you to best benefit from that particular sale. I started with http://www.grocerygame.com. I started out just picking up the Sunday paper from vendors but that turned out to be a waste of time as oftentimes the paper would be LONG gone by the time I went out to get it, and no WAY was I getting up and out the door before 9am on a Sunday! So I opted to get it delivered. Would you believe that you STILL have to get up fairly early or Sunday papers will "walk" away from your driveway??? That's another something I learned, but it could just be my bad luck so not worth it's own number. Once I got the paper acquiring factor taken care of and clipped my coupons I discovered the hard way that once you remove the coupons from it's paper, you no longer have any indication which date it came on. So always make sure you date each and every one.
Now let's go back to the CVS coupon for the Contour Meter. So we've established that I can't throw ANYTHING away after all because you never know when that useless coupon might come in handy. So what do you do now? Well I decided to go all out in the hopes that my efforts to save money won't COST me more in money and time then I could ever possibly save. I wanted something that could hold the coupons in a clear pocket or sleeve so that the coupons that didn't fall into the previous two categories could be set aside one in each pocket (unless of course there are duplicate coupons for the same item). I started out looking for photo album pages but that proved costly and ineffective for what I wanted to accomplish. Finally I typed in "coupon organizers" into Google and I learned something else.
4. If you thought of it, chances are someone else has as well, and marketed it.
For the obsessive, neurotic person like me who needs the PERFECT coupon organizing system, it's out there, in many many different forms. If you don't know which one is best for you go here first http://tipnut.com/coupon-organizer-system/ I had previously done the coupon organizer in it's basic form, an accordion style little pouch. http://www.crgibson.com/default.aspx?page=2&categoryid=9&subcategoryid=54&subsubcategoryid=54&productid=qco-3714
there is also a slightly different style available here http://www.organize-it-online.com/itm_couponorg.html?cmpid=froogle It does the job if you are just bringing a few coupons to the store and don't have a bunch of categories or stores you are using them for. For me, I had my two categories and then my 3 grocery stores and if I was going shopping I moved the appropriate coupon to the store I was going to visit that day. At any rate, the coupon organizer worked OK for what I was doing at the time, but now I strive to be one of those 40 or less a week grocery shoppers and coming down from what I used to spend a week this is going to take some REAL work! So I kept looking and came across the following sites. http://www.momsaves.com/buildityourself.html has a wonderful site that shows you step by step how to do EXACTLY what it was I am planning to do. On the other hand if you can't get beyond your perfectionism and need a tried and true guaranteed organizing system you can go here http://mrsascouponorganizer.com/. As for me I ordered the clear vinyl pockets mentioned in the do it yourself site and I am hoping that I can do this myself. If not there is always Mrs. A's to fall back on. Whatever your system, I suggest that you have a section for individual stores as one thing the grocery game DID teach me was to get rain checks every chance you can. Which brings me to another thing I have learned and the last in this post:
5. If you never ask, you'll never know.
Always get rain checks. When dealing with an unbelievable deal, the items have often been picked clean from all the other savers getting there before you. Most stores will give you rain checks and the best part is, they will usually let YOU decide how many of the item you had wanted to get and thus you can get more at the discounted price than maybe you would have gotten the first time around. If you can't find an item ask someone to find it for you. This proved incredibly beneficial today as I faced a too good to be true ad that was so confusing it took two store associates to clarify and confirm that it was in fact just that good a deal. Of course in the end it WAS too good to be true, because the particular item that was an option in the ad wasn't actually IN the store. I confirmed this with the store manager who informed me that his store didn't actually carry the item. He did, however offer to call the distribution center and find out if they ever would carry it. He came back and informed me that it was a brand new product and that the distribution center would be shipping all possible variations of the item and they would be in his store available for the previously mentioned deal by Saturday!
For those of you who are curious, the store in question is my local Albertsons and the deal I am referring to was 10/10 powerade 32 oz or their new flavored water powerade zero (a revamp of the powerade options I am told) followed by an additional 5 free if you buy all 10 of them! After my adventures there this morning you can bet I will be back for that deal, and probably many times after that, their customer service is far better than I have ever seen anywhere else!
So it turns out that the "beginner's suggestions, while VERY beneficial ALSO required you to have been receiving the Sunday paper, presumably to get the coupons to save money, months prior to the time the CVS deal came into place. Which brings me to the first thing i have learned:
1. Online coupons alone just don't cut it.
You definitely need to get the Sunday paper to get those coupons that will be important weeks or months down the road. It doesn't work to just start up and expect to get the same deals all the others are getting, because you need to have been getting the coupons (and saving them) for months, in some cases. For instance; The CVS deal that is all the rage right now involves the Contour Meter @ $14.99 which has the ability to earn you 14.99 in ECB (easy care bucks). So you have the opportunity to get the Contour Meter for free! Great right? Well even better would be not having to spend the 14.99 in the first place OOP (out of pocket) and STILL get the ECBs. Well guess what, if you had been doing this before just now and had been getting the Sunday paper way back in 3-16 you MIGHT have had the coupon for the Contour Meter for $30/1 and since CVS apparently brings that coupon down to 14.99/1 you would only spend 1 dollar and you'd get 14.99 back in ECBs. Notice I said, MIGHT have this coupon...which brings me to the next thing I learned:
2. NOTHING is useless.
Let's say I HAD been doing the savings stuff earlier on and gotten the paper on that fateful Sunday in March. Now I did the coupon clipping not once but twice previously. I cut out the coupons and place them into two categories: Stuff I need (cereal, bread, cheese, the things that are devoured in my house) and Stuff I may decide to get but don't necessarily NEED (extra toothpaste, toothbrushes, paper towels, diapers, chocolate, stockup stuff. Ok so I NEED chocolate, but this is the extra stuff I don't normally buy). The rest go straight into the trash. I am a horrible pack rat. So now that I have laid down the law with coupons, if it doesn't fit in those two categories it gets thrown away, no ifs ands or buts (cuz believe me I'd find some), why on EARTH would I have hung onto a Glucose checker when I am not diabetic? I need to take EVERY opportunity that I have to throw things away and not ask myself, "Do I REALLY have no chance of ever wanting this? I don't want it to come back and be needed later." I stopped asking that question because it took far too much time out of WAY too much time already spent figuring out the first two categories, and of course I also need to go back over each and every single one and write the date of the paper it was found in on it. I found out that one the hard way. Which brings me to the next thing I learned:
3. Organization is NOT an option!
In each of the MANY sites of far more experienced savers than myself there is a method of determining which sales are at which stores and which coupon from which date will allow you to best benefit from that particular sale. I started with http://www.grocerygame.com. I started out just picking up the Sunday paper from vendors but that turned out to be a waste of time as oftentimes the paper would be LONG gone by the time I went out to get it, and no WAY was I getting up and out the door before 9am on a Sunday! So I opted to get it delivered. Would you believe that you STILL have to get up fairly early or Sunday papers will "walk" away from your driveway??? That's another something I learned, but it could just be my bad luck so not worth it's own number. Once I got the paper acquiring factor taken care of and clipped my coupons I discovered the hard way that once you remove the coupons from it's paper, you no longer have any indication which date it came on. So always make sure you date each and every one.
Now let's go back to the CVS coupon for the Contour Meter. So we've established that I can't throw ANYTHING away after all because you never know when that useless coupon might come in handy. So what do you do now? Well I decided to go all out in the hopes that my efforts to save money won't COST me more in money and time then I could ever possibly save. I wanted something that could hold the coupons in a clear pocket or sleeve so that the coupons that didn't fall into the previous two categories could be set aside one in each pocket (unless of course there are duplicate coupons for the same item). I started out looking for photo album pages but that proved costly and ineffective for what I wanted to accomplish. Finally I typed in "coupon organizers" into Google and I learned something else.
4. If you thought of it, chances are someone else has as well, and marketed it.
For the obsessive, neurotic person like me who needs the PERFECT coupon organizing system, it's out there, in many many different forms. If you don't know which one is best for you go here first http://tipnut.com/coupon-organizer-system/ I had previously done the coupon organizer in it's basic form, an accordion style little pouch. http://www.crgibson.com/default.aspx?page=2&categoryid=9&subcategoryid=54&subsubcategoryid=54&productid=qco-3714
there is also a slightly different style available here http://www.organize-it-online.com/itm_couponorg.html?cmpid=froogle It does the job if you are just bringing a few coupons to the store and don't have a bunch of categories or stores you are using them for. For me, I had my two categories and then my 3 grocery stores and if I was going shopping I moved the appropriate coupon to the store I was going to visit that day. At any rate, the coupon organizer worked OK for what I was doing at the time, but now I strive to be one of those 40 or less a week grocery shoppers and coming down from what I used to spend a week this is going to take some REAL work! So I kept looking and came across the following sites. http://www.momsaves.com/buildityourself.html has a wonderful site that shows you step by step how to do EXACTLY what it was I am planning to do. On the other hand if you can't get beyond your perfectionism and need a tried and true guaranteed organizing system you can go here http://mrsascouponorganizer.com/. As for me I ordered the clear vinyl pockets mentioned in the do it yourself site and I am hoping that I can do this myself. If not there is always Mrs. A's to fall back on. Whatever your system, I suggest that you have a section for individual stores as one thing the grocery game DID teach me was to get rain checks every chance you can. Which brings me to another thing I have learned and the last in this post:
5. If you never ask, you'll never know.
Always get rain checks. When dealing with an unbelievable deal, the items have often been picked clean from all the other savers getting there before you. Most stores will give you rain checks and the best part is, they will usually let YOU decide how many of the item you had wanted to get and thus you can get more at the discounted price than maybe you would have gotten the first time around. If you can't find an item ask someone to find it for you. This proved incredibly beneficial today as I faced a too good to be true ad that was so confusing it took two store associates to clarify and confirm that it was in fact just that good a deal. Of course in the end it WAS too good to be true, because the particular item that was an option in the ad wasn't actually IN the store. I confirmed this with the store manager who informed me that his store didn't actually carry the item. He did, however offer to call the distribution center and find out if they ever would carry it. He came back and informed me that it was a brand new product and that the distribution center would be shipping all possible variations of the item and they would be in his store available for the previously mentioned deal by Saturday!
For those of you who are curious, the store in question is my local Albertsons and the deal I am referring to was 10/10 powerade 32 oz or their new flavored water powerade zero (a revamp of the powerade options I am told) followed by an additional 5 free if you buy all 10 of them! After my adventures there this morning you can bet I will be back for that deal, and probably many times after that, their customer service is far better than I have ever seen anywhere else!
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