Restaurant.com is 90% Off Today Only!

If you are looking for discounts on dining, Restaurant.com is the place to find them.  Today only, Restaurant.com is 90% off when you use the coupon code WOW at checkout.  Their $25 certificates are just $1.50!  Check out the restaurants participating in your area.  Read the fine print as their may be a minimum purchase or other restrictions.  Also, remember to check for ratings on the restaurants of your choice before purchasing the certificates.  Happy saving!

Shopping at Randalls

I routinely find some of the best deals at Randalls so it is one of my favorite places to shop.  To get the biggest bang for your buck it is essential to sign up for a Randalls reward card.  Once you have your card, go to www.randalls.com and create a user account.  Having a user account makes it possible for you to load coupons from coupons.com directly onto your card.  Coupons loaded onto your card are "e-coupons" and loading as many as you can at www.shortcuts.com, www.cellfire.com and www.pgesaver.com will keep your grocery bill under control.  The great thing about the loadable sites is they often have some of the same e-coupons.  So after loading your card you might find that two of the sites had a .50 coupon for Cheerios.  When you buy one box of Cheerios, many times both e-coupons will be applied to the box giving you additional savings.  I always receive multiple discounts on an item using e-coupons at my store.  Each Randalls store treats e-coupons differently so buy a few items and see if your store is as generous with their discounts as mine. 

After you've loaded your coupons, gather your paper coupons.  To find specific coupons you may need check out www.hotcouponworld.com.  They have a very nice coupon database.  If there is a coupon for an item you plan to purchase, they will have information regarding where to find it there.  Paper coupons can be used with e-coupons to lower the price of an item further.  For example, the cheerios have already had two e-coupons applied but you can also apply a paper manufacturer coupon as well. You  can now buy the 1 box of Cheerios for $2.00 less than the sale price using all of the discounts.  As I mentioned earlier, Randalls stores vary in how much of a discount they will give for a coupon.  My store triples any paper coupon with a value of .39 or less and doubles any paper coupon with a value of .50 or less.  Check your local Randalls to see what discount is applied to paper coupons. 

Randalls puts out multiple store coupons every week.  These store "super" coupons can be found in their fliers and can be stacked with your manufacturer coupons to receive additional savings.  For instance, if they have a .50 Cheerio coupon, you can use it with your manufacturer coupon and receive a total of $2.50 off your box of Cheerios!  You can see how couponing can turn into a great money saving game!

My purchase at Randalls tonight illustrates some of these steps.
2 loaves of Nature's Own at 2/$4 - .1.50 (2 paper coupons) = $2.50
1 McCann's Oatmeal at $3.59 - $1 (e-coupon) -$1 (paper coupon) = $1.59
2 Bush's Chili Beans for $2 - $1 (paper coupon) = $1
Total:  $5.09      60% savings!

 

How to Get the Biggest Bang For Your Buck at Target

Target has some great sales but if  you know how to use your coupons you can achieve even greater savings.  When shopping at Target, you can stack a manufacturer's coupon with a Target coupon for the same item and double your savings. 
Where do  you find Target coupons?  Coupons can be printed them from Target's website or you may receive them in the mail.  Sometimes there are a few in the coupon inserts in the newspaper and occasionally some will print out as a catalina at the store.  Catalinas are coupons which are given to you with your receipt. 

The following transaction is an example of saving by stacking coupons.
Huggies diapers big pack - $19.99 (receive a $5 Target gift card when you buy 2)
$19.99 x 2 = $39.98 - $6 Huggies coupon (1st box) = 33.98 - $1 Huggies coupon (2nd box) = 32.98
$32.98 - $5 off of 2 boxes (Target coupon) = $27.98
Spent $27.98 and received $5 gift card!

There are a few good deals at Target this week that require only printable coupons.

Market Pantry French Bread
Use $1/1 Market Pantry or Archer Farms Bakery Purchase *
Final Price = $0.29/ea
Kraft Cheese (blocks or shreds) - $2/ea
Use $5/5 Kraft Cheese or Dairy Products
Final Price = $1/ea WYB 5
  
*FYI...Should you decide to buy two of the loaves, you can only use 1 Target coupon for like items per transaction.  You have to buy the second loaf in another transaction and apply your second coupon.  

Fan Mail Pays Off!

Do you buy products that rarely have coupons?  I love Nature Valley and Oroweat specialty bread.  However, it is rare that I can actually get my hands on any coupons for these products and I am not fond of spending $4 for a small loaf of bread!  Writing your favorite companies and letting them know you are a fan can pay off!  I wrote Oroweat and Huggies and received the coupons you see pictured within a week of writing.  I would say Huggies definitely out did themselves!  I see a free pack of diapers in my future and some yummy bread!  Try it!

Free Admission on Museum Day - September 25th

If you are looking for something fun to do Saturday, you may want to check out the museums in your area.  Smithsonian Magazine is having their 6th annual Museum Day.  Check out smithsonianmag.com and print your free pass for two and find participating museums in your area.

Saving With Groupon at Dewberry Farms

If you haven't signed up with Groupon, you should check it out.  They have "deal of the day" discounts to various local attractions and restaurants.  Today's deal is half price tickets to Dewberry Farms.  They regularly charge $12 for admission.  I'm so excited about this deal because we were planning a visit to Dewberry Farms.  I know my little one will love all the activities she can do there and I'll love the savings!

Randalls Scrubbing Bubbles and Hefty Deal

I've been hearing that Randalls is having a great sale on certain cleaning products.  I stopped by today to see what I could find.  The promotion they are running is buy $15 of specific cleaning products and get $5 off your next order.  You can only receive one $5 coupon per transaction so if you want to do the same deal more than once you have to do multiple transactions.  Scrubbing Bubbles and Hefty trash bags are two of the products included in the deal.  There is another promotion running now for Scrubbing Bubbles as well.  Buy 2 get $2 off your next order.  This catalina can run several times in one transaction. 

My first transaction:
4 Scrubbing Bubbles at $2.50 each = $10.00
$10.00 - (2) $2/2 coupons*= $6
Receive 2/$2 OYNO (for buying 4 Scrubbing Bubbles) = $4 OYNO
To get a better deal buy 6 Scrubbing Bubbles and receive an additional $7 OYNO

Second transaction:
3 Hefty trash bags at $5.99 each = $17.97
$17.97 - (3) $2/1 coupons* = $11.97 -$4 OYNO (prev. order) = $7.97
Receive $5 OYNO

* All coupons can be found in booklets on display in the store.  I found the booklets in the health and beauty aisles.  

Changing My Stars...With a Plan

Credit cards... We can't live with them and unfortunately it seems there are times we can't live without them.  When polled, Americans say that debt is the most taboo subject and as a result it is estimated that 80% of Americans are in debt.  Living beyond our means and without a plan creates stress.  It's time for a debt revolution!

I recently discovered some interesting statistics on www.creditcards.com.  Regarding debt in the US, they estimated that the average credit card debt per household to be $15,788.  That is only credit card debt and doesn't include car and any other debts a household might incur.  An interesting side note is the three cities that were the biggest over spenders in 2009 are Miami, Tampa and Los Angeles.  This is one time that I am happy to be below average!!  I know how easy it is to get into debt.  Life happens and many times I am caught off balance (no pun intended).  But once again we are making a concerted effort to get out of debt and by attending Financial Peace University we plan to STAY OUT!  The best antidote for life's  unexpected and costly bumps is planning and saving.  Dave Ramsey lays out 7 baby steps in his course to get your finances back on track.  After just one class, and one baby step down, the future already looks brighter.  If you can follow these steps,  you will "live like no one else so you can give like no one else".  Now that sounds like a plan to me!