Who DOESN'T want to save money? Anybody? Anyone?? Anyone???

I have an awesome friend, Teresa. She is a Bitching Betty Freakin' Crocker like myself, and also works some SERIOUS money saving magic... I am amazed every freakin time she tells me about a deal she scored or how much she saved at the store... She is going to be writing posts for me on this subject... So check back often. No joke- she is AMAZING. Here is her first piece:

Money is tight in our house, as I am sure it is in most American houses these days.  Budgets have been re-evaluated and pennies are being pinched tighter than ever.

I have developed some ways to save money on groceries, household item, baby goods and even pet food.

Some things I have learned:

ALWAYS clip coupons, check bulk prices (often times the smaller stuff is cheaper per unit AND you can usually get the smaller items FREE with coupons), make food homemade when at all possible, you pay for convenience!

*Coupon clipping – Always, always, always use them, for everything.  Most people will clip for the products they use or products they that are familiar.  Usually these products are name brand and even with the coupon cost more than their store brand equals.  The best deals come with combining a sale and a coupon.  For example, Walgreens is a great place to start.  They often have FREE items and you can make money on them using a coupon.  Last week, a popular children’s flu medication was on sale for $8.99.  That was already 50% off the normal price.  But Walgreens was also giving a $9 Register Reward, to be used like cash on your next visit, making the item free.  But if you had the coupon from the Sunday paper, you also saved $2.  I purchased mine for $8.99, used the $2 off coupon and paid $7.15 with tax.  I then got $9 to use on my next purchase.  I made $1.85 on that sale.  So I used it for my next set of deals.  Walgreens also had Huggies for $6.99 a package, down from the regular $11.99 price tag.  Great savings right there!  BUT…  I also had a $3.00 off two packs coupon.  Total was $13.98, minus my $3 was $10.98.  I used my $9 reward and paid only $1.98 plus tax for TWO jumbo packs of Huggies!

Here is the way I have deemed best for myself.  I hit either the Dollar Tree or Menards for the Sunday paper, you can get it for only $1 there!  I buy 3-4 each week and pull out the coupons.  Look for SmartSource, RedPlum and typically a third insert will be a Proctor & Gamble or General Mills variety.  Write in black marker the date of the Sunday they were purchased and file them.  Sales and coupons do not typically run the same week.  I did this for a solid month before even attempting a super coupon trick.  I then made a list of what I needed in my house.  I looked at the sales papers and ONLY chose what was on sale.  Some items fell off my list and were replaced by other on sale items.  After finalizing my list, I went on to check the coupons and made some great bargains.  My family of five people, one of which is in diapers, and a dog, typically spends $50 a week on groceries, household items and pet needs.

Look for not only sales and coupons but for the deals that give you rewards back at the register to use on your next purchase!

I will touch on some other money saving deals and ideas in my next clip J
                            Teresa Galvan-Krofta