FREE stuff

I found a new site today, Being Frugal is Fabulous. She said that tomorrow you can get Baskin-Robbins ice cream for .31 a scoop. For those of you in Aggieland, there is a Baskin Robbins next to the new Target.

Also, this link has links to sign up for free stuff. I just signed up for a free sample of Dove deodorant. I have used the same deodorant for 19 years but I'm willing to give it a try since it's free.

Wal-Mart has a free samples page here. Right now they are offering free Gain laundry detergent and samples of Good Nights pants.

Update on my coupon organization. I bought a little file folder and sorted all my coupons. I have a spreadsheet where I have over 300 items listed and I've been tracking prices at Wal-Mart, HEB, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, and Sam's. The list is going to take a LONG time to complete. I wish a friend out here in Aggieland could hit one of the stores for me. Anyway, each time I get a coupon, I write it down next to the item on the spreadsheet. It helps me know what I need to buy when planning my meals. For example, I have a lot of Pillsbury coupons. I plan on buying crescent rolls with a coupon and making Taco Ring. There is another coupon for Pillsbury pizza dough. I will add homemade pizza to my menu plan. Otherwise, I'll wait until an item goes on sale and then use the coupon on top of the sale.

I really wish I had time to go to CVS and Walgreens. I plan on taking advantage of all the "free" deals there this summer when I am not working.

Saving Money

I have added several links to my link list on the right. Please let me know if you find this info helpful!

More Ways to Save You Money

I know I haven't been myself lately. I haven't been blogging as much as I'd like to but there are a lot of crazy things going on right now and hopefully they will settle down in the next few weeks. I'm not sure yet if the topics are appropriate to tell the whole world on my blog so for now, I won't.

I have been getting the Sunday newspaper and clipping those coupons. Yep, they're tossed over on a storage tub next to my bed. Isn't that great? I plan on getting a binder to organize them as soon as life slows down just a little bit.

Meanwhile, I have thought of a few others ways that I save money:

Hobby Lobby- I never pay full price for anything over $1 at HL, which is my FAVORITE store by the way. I am on their email list and almost every other week, they have a 40% off coupon. I print off at least 2 and drag my husband in to buy whatever I need.

Bed, Bath, and Beyond- My 2nd favorite store mails out coupons all the time plus you can find them in some magazines like Better Homes & Gardens. These coupons have an expiration date but they will take them no matter how old they are AND, you can use all the coupons you have at one time.

Another grocery coupon blog: On the way back to work just a few minutes ago, KSBJ radio announced that a special guest was about to be on from Southwest Coupon Clipper. I rushed into my classroom and tried to listen online but KSBJ has been blocked for some reason. So I did a search and here is the link: Southwest Coupon Clipper Blog. I haven't had time to read much yey but the first article is about how it looked like a sale price of $4.50 for laundry detergent was a good deal but she got it for $1. So go check out her site and keep coming back here for more tips on saving money.

Tips on Saving Money

Earlier this month I posted this about my new infatuation with saving more money. I have always been pretty frugal. I don't usually buy trendy things because I know they'll be out of style soon and I can't justify spending money on something that I won't be using for very long.

Anyway, here is what I have found out about saving money:
*Kroger and H-E-B ads come out on Wednesday so maybe Wednesday should be the designated menu planning day.
*Kroger has a link to printing coupons where you download coupons to your shopper card. Hmm...interesting.
*Wal-Mart's ad is here, type in your zip
*Pillsbury offers great coupons
*Betty Crocker does too
*McCormick has recipes that "fit your budget" under $3
*Kraft has a section called Budget Wi$e
*When you use a coupon for BOGO, use 2 coupons, you are getting 2 products!
*Here's the link to Proctor & Gamble coupons
*Walgreens has a link to coupons on their site.
*Link to CVS and to their in-store coupons.
*Coupons.com
*Smartsource coupons
*Mycoupons.com


There are TONS of blogs out there about saving money.

You should never pay full price for paper products because there are always coupons out there.

Don't be afraid to ask other stores if they take competitors' coupons, it's not their money!

The biggest lesson I've learned is that this is a BIG, BIG project for me.

More to come.....

Right Up my OCD alley

Oh my goodness. I have already posted about my grocery shopping spreadsheet and I am happy to announce that for the most part, I shop at the best priced place in town, H-E-B. It is also the craziest place in town but that's life. I'd like to wear some football gear the next time I go in there.

Anyway, the local news has been highlighting saving money and comparison shopping. Last night's segment was on the main stores here in Aggieland: H-E-B, Kroger, Albertson's, and Wal-Mart which is in Bryan. H-E-B and Wal-Mart were within like 20 cents of each other and that's buying a bigger box of cereal at H-E-B because they didn't have the smaller box.

Monday on Dr. Phil, there was a woman who was helping a couple spend less at the grocery store. She has a blog that I just found and haven't had the time to really read yet. She had a fabulous binder where she organized all her coupons and weekly ads. She showed how to get tons of food for almost free. That's what I'm talkin' about! She takes the weekly ads with her and if she finds a price higher at the store she is in, she shows them the ad and gets a price match. She said there are some items that you should NEVER pay full price for: shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, cereal, pain medications, makeup, frozen vegetables, cheese, butter, soup, cleaning products, canned vegetables, pasta, pasta sauce, boxed foods and paper products. She explains, “They go on sale. They have coupons. There’s no reason to pay full price.”

What I learned from her is to plan your menus by what's on sale. I'm a great menu planner but I've never done that before. In order to do that, you must have time to look at the ads AND you must be familiar with prices. WHICH I AM NOT!

Since I already had my spreadsheet of foods I buy regularly, I decided to copy and paste those into a comparison shopping spreadsheet. The 2nd column is going to be the regular price at H-E-B. The 3rd column will be whatever prices I can find in the weekly ads. Then in the future, I'll know how much I can save if I wait for something to go on sale. The 3rd column will eventually be the price at Kroger. The 4th column will be the weekly ad price at Kroger. And so on.

It will take some time to fill in the prices but I think in the long run it will really pay off. Now, if I can figure out how to find coupons!