Clothing Allowance vs Back to School Shopping

When I was a teenager I moved from my mom's house in Virginia Beach, VA to my dad's house in Pensacola, FL. My stepfather was in the military and scheduled to transfer again and I was tired of moving. I had already changed schools 8 times and I was about to begin high school. I wanted to stay in one school my entire four years of high school so my two younger brothers and I moved in with my dad and stepmother the summer before my 9th grade year.

My mom and dad are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to finances. My mom is not wise with money - she gets what she wants when she wants it no matter what the cost - therefore she struggles all the time. My dad is what you would call a "cheapskate" but he has a lot to show for himself.

When we went to live with my dad many years ago we all had to get used to a new way of life. He and my stepmom now had three children in their home full-time instead of just during the summer months. They were self-employed and had to do a major overhaul of their finances I am sure. All I know is we never did without. All of our needs were provided for - and we learned some valuable financial lessons along the way.
During this time of year, when back-to-school shopping sales are rampant, I am always reminded of what my dad did for me during high school. They never took me "Back-to-School" clothes shopping like a lot of families do. He gave me a monthly clothes allowance of $25.00 all year long. That was it - $300.00 - that was my clothes allowance for the year. I received extra clothes as gifts for my birthday and Christmas but other than that I had to make that $300.00 stretch the best way I knew how. It didn't take me long to find out what great bargains could be found at yard sales and the flea market! I also never found the urge to splurge on designer duds - I would have had to save for months for that!

I passed this lesson on to my own daughters and I'm still working on Dakota. The girls never got into the pricey name brand designer clothes - preferring to purchase more outfits by paying less for each piece. Even now the first rack they head for in a store is the clearance or sales rack.

Unfortunately, Dakota is a little more influenced by my mom's "buy whatever you want, whenever you want" mentality so he is more on the spoiled side...I'm the cheapskate in his eyes - but that's okay. I tell him "you'll appreciate these lessons one day, just like I appreciate them now." Thanks dad!

Saving on Groceries

Someone asked me yesterday about my CVS savings and if I saved at the grocery store as well as I do at CVS and Walgreen's. Over the last 2 months of shopping at the drugstores I have discovered I am actually spending less time in the grocery store.

I am able to purchase about 40% of what we eat at the drugstores - and I combine my coupons with their weekly specials AND in-store coupons as well as use CVS Extra Care Bucks to control my out-of-pocket expense. About the only thing I am purchasing at the grocery store these days is around the outer edges of the store (meats, produce, dairy, frozen food.)

How to get the BEST Grocery Savings:
I mentioned once before that Winn-Dixie is my favorite place to shop.
Meats
Every week they run different BOGOF (buy one get one free) specials on their meat. I don't ever purchase any meat unless it is drastically reduced (manager's special because it's close to expiration) or it's BOGOF.
For example, in this week's ad the meat BOGOF specials are:

• Boneless Top Round London Broil
• Center Cut Boneless Pork Chops
• Split Chicken Breasts

So I will only stock up on these meats this week and once I actually get to the store and see what other Manager Special's there happen to be I might pick up some great deals on those as well. If not, then this will be it for this week.

Produce
I don't have any local Farmer's Markets close to me so I have to purchase my produce at the grocery store. I very rarely find coupons for produce, although I have been able to find a few for pre-packaged salads (which I happen to love!)
In this week's ad the produce specials I'll be picking up are these:

• 2 lb bag carrots - .99 - probably grab a couple of these since we love carrots
• cucumbers - 2/$1
• 3 lb bag tangerines - 2/$4 (only need 1 bag of these)
• Romaine lettuce - .99/bunch
• Broccoli - 2 heads/$3.00
• Dole classic salads (bagged) - 2/$4.00 - have a coupon for this to save $1.00
• Cantaloupe - .99 (these are at Albertson's this week for 2/$2.99)
  
• Strawberries - 2/$5.00

Now at Walgreen's this week they have boxes of Post cereal on sale for $2.00 and I have coupons for $1.00 and $2.00 off some of these so I'll either pay $1.00 or these will be free. Some other food specials I'm going to take advantage of today (especially with the coupon $5.00 off $20.00 purchase):

• Planters Trail Mix (limit 3) $1.00 bag
• Pringles Stix 2/$5 (have 2 coupons for .30 off each)
• Ravioli $1.00 (same price at Winn-Dixie - but will pay for it with Register Rewards)
• Oscar Mayer Ham & Kraft Singles Cheese 2/$4 (will use RR to pay for it)

I actually have a ton of stuff I have been wanting to purchase this week at Walgreen's. I had my deals all worked out and my coupons paperclipped together but I never had the time to get by the store. Now I praise God that I didn't have the time! Because I can use that $5/$20 coupon today!

Grocery Shopping

How do you shop for groceries? Do you shop once a month, every two weeks, or do you make several weekly runs to the store only when you need certain items?

I used to like to shop every two weeks when my husband got paid. Now I try to shop weekly on a Wednesday or Thursday AFTER the new grocery store sales ads have come out and before the stores get real crowded before the weekend. Sometimes if I am out on Monday mornings I will pop into stores to see if they've reduced their meats from the weekend - you can generally catch some great sales on Monday mornings - but Monday is often my day to catch up on computer work/bookwork from the weekend so it's not often I'm out doing errands anymore.

I discontinued our newspaper subscription several months ago when I realized we could read all the news online for free and since we are trying to cut corners everywhere this would be a great place to start. At first I missed things like my grocery circulars and coupons, etc but I quickly found out that by going to my favorite store's website and signing up with them they now email me their weekly ad! We do still purchase the Sunday paper from the newstand because I can get my coupons and it's nice to have that big thick Sunday paper to lay around and read on our lazy Sunday afternoons after church - when I don't even think about turning on the computer!

Okay, so I like to shop at Winn-Dixie. I get my Winn-Dixie ad emailed to me and I click on the ad and it opens up in my browser. I quickly flip through it and add items to "my basket". (I can look through my coupons I have on hand either while I am making my list or check my list against my coupons after I have printed it out - I look at my coupons so much I have a pretty good idea of what coupons I have and what I don't have.)

When I'm done with that I can review my list or go ahead and print it out. This is the best part because after I have printed out my list and checked to see what coupons I have to match the items on my list, if I don't have a coupon for a certain item then I go online to Google and type in "that item coupon" or the name of the company and find a coupon to match that item!
I have been doing this for over a month now and I am amazed at the great coupons I've found that I can just print out online from these companies!

Here's a for instance. I decided I wanted to purchase some Tennessee Pride Sausage which is on sale this week 2 rolls for $5.00 but I didn't have a coupon for it. So I googled "Tennessee Pride Sausage" and it took me to this website where I found this coupon for $1.00 off 2 rolls of Tennessee Pride Sausage. So now I'm paying 2/$4.00.

I've been doing this for the last month and I am really impressed with how much money I've been able to save on our grocery bill. I'll know better at the end of the month after I have tracked this WHOLE month if I have cut our grocery/food expenses down...but as of right now I'm on the right track!

Walgreen's Deals 3/2 - 3/8

I hit my 3 favorite stores Monday night - Walgreen's, CVS and Winn-Dixie.
Here's the deals for Walgreen's.

They have a deal where you earn $12.00 in RR (register rewards which can be used like cash on your next purchase) for purchasing these select items:
Buy 3/$10.00 or 6/$20.00
Body Wash

• Old Spice
• Olay Botanical or Ribbons
• Zest

Antiperspirant/Deodorant or Body Spray

• Secret Platinum
• Old Spice Red Zone
• Gillette
• Tag

Pantene, Herbal Essence, or Aussie Hair Care

• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Stylers

So I purchased 2 sets of 6 items and I had coupons for almost everything I purchased - all my coupons were from the Sunday coupon inserts out of the newspaper.

1st Purchase
Herbal Essence Shampoo
Pantene Conditioner
Zest Body Wash
Olay Body Wash
Gillette deodorant
Gillette deodorant
Coupons took off $4.00 of the $20.00; Out of pocket = 16.00 plus tax; earned 12.00 RR

2nd purchase
Zest Body Wash
Herbal Essence Conditioner
Old Spice Body Wash
Gillette Deodorant
Herbal Essence Shampoo
Herbal Essence Conditioner
Coupons took off 6.33 (had a Buy 2 get 1 Free for Herbal Essences coupon)
Used 8.00 RR (wouldn't let me use all 12.00 of RR for some reason?)
Out of pocket 5.67 + tax

3rd Purchase
Skim milk - on sale 3.49
(2) Fruity Pebbles cereal - on sale 1.99 + used coupon $1.00 off 2
(3) packs of 12 rolls Angel Soft toilet paper (in store coupon 3/$8.00)
Used 4.00 RR left over from above purchase
Out of pocket 11.07

Total out of pocket on this trip = 32.74
Recap of what I brought home:
3 packs of 12-rolls toilet paper
2 boxes of cereal
1 gallon milk
2 Herbal Essence Shampoos
2 Herbal Essence Conditioners
3 Gillette Deodorants
2 Zest Body Wash
1 Old Spice Body Wash
1 Pantene Conditioner

Definitely not as great as CVS - but still better than paying FULL price for all of this.

CVS deals for the week of March 2nd-8th

Some of you may be wondering why I keep posting these "deals"...(speaking specifically to my daughter here since she called me yesterday and I told her I was working on writing this post about my "deals of the week" and she asked why I keep putting them on here)...it's because I have several people who read my blog and are trying to learn how to do this type of shopping and this is an example for them to follow. So bear with me as I lay it all out for those few people. This will be something I continue to do each week. If you aren't interested, you can always skip these posts.

1st purchase
4 Colgate toothpastes - $2.99 each; used coupons for $1.00 off and $1.50 off.
2 Bounce Lint Rollers - 2/$7.00; used coupons for $1.00 off
I printed off the Lint roller coupons twice because I was buying 2. The toothpaste coupons say you can only use one per household and it puts your name on the coupon so I suggest only printing off one each of those.

Your purchase will now be over $15.00 so you can use this coupon - get $5.00 off every $15.00 purchase. Go here to find out how to get these coupons.

For each toothpaste I earned 2.99 in EB (extra bucks) 4x2.99 =11.96
For the lint rollers I earned 2.00 EB

Out of pocket 9.46 + tax; earned 13.96 EB

2nd purchase
Phenom Razor 9.99 - 4.00 coupon from 2/10 Proctor&Gamble insert in Sunday's paper
Embrace Razor 9.99 - 4.00 coupon from 3/2 P&G insert
Mach 3 Razor 7.99 - 3.00 coupon from 3/2 P&G insert
Dawn dishwashing soap .97 - .25 coupon from P&G insert
(2) Cascade gel dishwasher 2/5.00 - (2) .50 coupons from P&G insert

I earned 6.00 EB for Phenom Razor
I earned 6.00 EB for Embrace Razor
I earned 5.00 EB for Mach 3 Razor

Used another $5.00 off/ $15.00 coupon
Used EB from purchase #1 = $13.96

Out of pocket 3.51; earned $17.00 EB

3rd purchase
Febreeze Noticeables Starter Kit - 3.00 off coupon from 3/2 P&G insert
Febreeze candle - 1.00 off coupon from 3/2 P&G insert
Glade Wisp Flameless Candle - $5.00 off coupon
Glade Wisp Flameless Candle - $5.00 off coupon
Tide Detergent - .50 off coupon
CVS moisurizing lotion

I earned $5.00 EB for my 2 Febreeze purchases
I earned $4.00 EB for my Glade Wisp purchases

Used another $5.00 off/$15.00 purchase coupon
Used EB from purchase #2 = 17.00

Out of pocket 8.24; earned $9.00 EB

So I spent a total out of pocket of $22.00 at CVS and I have $9.00 EB to use on my next trip!!

My stockpile is beginning to grow - in recap, this is what I got for 22.00:
4 Colgate Toothpastes
2 Bounce Lint Rollers
Phenom Razor
Embrace Razor
Mach 3 Disposable razors (set of 3)
Dawn dishwashing soap
2 - Cascade dishwasher detergent
Febreeze Noticeables Starter Kit
Febreeze Candle
2 - Glade Wisp Flameless Candles
Tide Detergent
CVS Moisturizing Lotion

Addicted to Shopping!

I have been a shopping fool lately BUT not in the sense you might imagine. I am getting so addicted to FRUGAL shopping!! It has been time consuming because I am learning the ropes, so to speak, but I am trusting the more I do this the easier it will become.

This past Sunday I pulled out the sales flyers for CVS, Walgreen's, Target and Walmart and the coupons from my Sunday paper and I spent the last couple of days perusing these ads/flyers as well as The Coupon Mom's website for her free weekly list of coupon savings at these stores. The thing I like about her website is you can choose what you want from her list and just print off only what you want for each store...which I did - for Walgreens, CVS, Winn-Dixie and Walmart.

Thursday is my day to run errands because I take Dakota to his homeschool park play day - (we hang out with other homeschoolers all afternoon and just play) but yesterday one of his friends came home with us so I only hit Walmart on the way home. I didn't want to bore them by stopping at the other 3 places because I knew they wanted to get home and play.

After Greg got home from work last night I went back out to the other 3 stores. I ordinarily wouldn't do this because the gas usage would probably offset any savings but I actually was looking forward to some "alone" time in the stores to just leisurely peruse the aisles and since all three stores are in the same vicinity I didn't think it would be too bad to do it this time.

First Stop - Walgreen's - Total spent out of pocket $16.37

1. Purchased 2 boxes cereal & 2 boxes Quaker Chewy Granola Bars - 4/$10.00
   Received $4.00 register rewards (used as cash for my next purchase) - Paid $10.38
2. Purchased 2 packs of Charmin Toilet Paper (6 rolls/pk) - 2/$5.00 with coupon; potting soil - .99 w/ coupon; 2 - 6 pks water 2.49 (Buy one get one free) Used my $4.00 RR from previous purchase so paid $5.99
   

Next Stop - CVS - Total spent out of pocket $25.18

1. Gillette Phenom Razor - $9.99 - 4.00 coupon earned $6.00 extra bucks (EB) Paid 6.74
2. Revlon eyeliner & eye shadow - used 6.00 EB; earned 10.00 EB Paid 17.18
3. 4 bags of Nestle Easter candy (4/$10.00) - used 10.00 EB; Earned 5.00 EB; Paid 0.00
4. 2 Degree deoderant (men & women's) on sale for 1.99 & had coupon for 1.00 off; M&M's - buy one get one free + coupon for 1.00 off; used 5.00 EB....they would have owed me change and they couldn't do that so I grabbed a chapstick and told cashier to just ring that up so total paid 1.26
   

Between WalMart and Winn-Dixie where I purchased food my totals came up to 89.00 before coupons; after coupons I paid a combined total of $74.00.

This is so exciting because I normally spend anywhere from $200.00-260.00 when I go grocery shopping but yesterday's total was only $115.55!!!

Frugal Shopping

I have been following a couple of bloggers lately who do a lot of shopping at CVS and Walgreen's. They save a lot of money by shopping there and using the various customer rewards programs offered by the two stores. If you haven't signed up for CVS' Customer ExtraCare reward card you can do that here. It's free and you earn Extra Value Bucks (EVB) on many purchases made throughout the store. These EVB can be used just like regular cash. When used with other coupons and discounts you can purchase many items for deeply discounted prices or FREE!

Walgreen's has a monthly Easy Saver Rebate program you can participate in. They publish a monthly Rebate flyer which you can pick up at the front of the store for Free or view it online and once you've made all your purchases, you complete the form and mail it back to them and they will send you a Walgreen's gift card with all the rebate money you earned on there. This Rebate flyer is also full of coupons which are different from the weekly ads Walgreen's puts out.

I went to CVS last night to pick up a few things we needed and this is how my purchases went (I was very pleased with what I got for my money!):

2 bags of M&M's: 2/$4.00 received 2 EVB
also used coupon $1.00/2 bags so actually paid $1.50 per bag + received 2 EVB

Purchase $10 of these items get $5 EVB
Irish Spring Body Wash 3.99
Softsoap 3.99
Toothpaste 2/5.00
Used 2.00 coupon so paid $11.00 + received $5 EVB

Lysol Neutra Air on sale 2/$5.00 and used coupon Buy one, get one free - register deducted the regular price of $2.99 instead of sale price; Advil was 6.99 and received 2.00 EVB so total price paid for this was $9.00 + received 2.00 EVB

Now I have a total of 9 EVB and I used those on the personal hygiene products which cost 12.58 total so after applying my $9.00 EVB I paid $3.58 cash.

Total cash paid for this trip $26.58

I am pleased with this first trip because had I purchased all of these items at another store I would have paid much more than this. I hope to collect more coupons and refine this "art of frugal" shopping this year.