THE GROCERY CHALLENGE

[constanz22]

Dec 30, 2010 9:46:01 GMT -5 @breezy said:

I think I am going to start with these items first, otherwise, I am afraid I will be buying a lot of junk food just because I have a coupon.

I am going to Walmart today to buy shower gel, laundry soap, and dish washing liquid - wish I had me some coupons!

breezy- Do you have a CVS? If so, you can get Tone body was this week for free! There is $1 coupon online. You can find it either by going to hotcouponworld and look in their database, or go to frugalsuz.blogspot.com and she has a link to it, too. It is 3.88, minus the $1 coupon, 2.88 and you get $3 Extra Bucks (EB's) back. You could then use your $3 toward laundry detergent and/or dishwashing liquid!

[mrslynch]

so, i'm still quite intimidated by all of you ladies and your coupon savvy but i'm going to jump in because of the tlc documentary. my husband and i watched it together last night. we had pretty much the same assessment as the rest of you--the first lady is out of her mind and might border on having hoarding tendancies. her husband is an extremely patient and supportive man and i hope she realizes that. the second and third lady were fairly reasonable (especially given their backstories) and the guy, well, i'm not sure what to think of him yet. but the show did prove the point that you can save a great deal of money using coupons. at the end of it, my husband even turned to me and asked if we could try doing something like that for a month. i, of course, agreed (with some stipulations like i will not buy something we will never, ever use just because it's a good sale/coupon). but what should i do to get started?

here's what i know i need to do: 1)check the stores' policies regarding internet coupons since the policy keeps changing. 2)sign up for some couponing forums and sites...which ones do you all suggest? 3)work out the kinks in the new system i've developed for remembering coupons (because really, what good are coupons if you forget them). 4)start a series on my blog detailing what i'm doing.

what am i missing? any advice, suggestions or thoughts for how to get started? what kind of savings should i expect in the first month?

[suziq38]

I watched part of the show on TLC and I know I am not as good as those people!

I have a question: Do any of you order coupons from a coupon company?
I would like to order about 6 flyers of the P and G for December.

What company still offers them?

I like this month's flyer.

Thanks.

[suziq38]

Don't be intimidated, Mrs. Lynch.
Welcome, and we know were are all here to learn.
I got to the point where I get most of the tips for free stuff on this message board.
Dancinmama and others just keep us going, LOL.
Sometimes, the famous Frugalsuz, stops by. Sher and her website have been a wealth of help and information for us.

I honestly can't keep up with it all (the saving money), but I do what I can for FREE.

For example: On TLC, Nathan was buying liquid hand soap for 30 cents each or so.
He bought 60, I think. I would have never done that. 30 cents X #60 is too much to pay for stuff that you can not consume. He said that he paid $18.00!!!
It is nice that he wanted to donate it, though.
The problem is that he may be having to pay sales tax on it, depending on where he lives.

I would not do that. If I really needed it, I would pay the 30 cents and buy 3, or I would wait until a sale came on for it at CVS and the coupon would help, but my bucks would pay for the remainder. Many times, there are $4.00 off of $20.00 coupons sent to my email that help out.

I just don't know how big his family and extended family is. There are 4 people in my family, and only two adults are living in our home (we are "empty nesters").

[suziq38]

Here are my favorite sites:
Coupon Mom.com
Hounding with Frugalsuz
Hot Coupon World ( a bit too much for beginners, but give it a try).
I heart CVS
Wild for WAGS
I heart Wags
I heart Rite Aid

[suziq38]

Mrs. Lynch,
Check on Frugalsuz's site for "How to organize coupons.
She has beautiful pictures. She claims that she got the idea from me, but I give her the credit because she organized the information so well. I love to borrow her "lesson" from time to time.

[suziq38]

As far as savings, You won't see as much the first month because you are stockpiling.
Stockpiling is buying free stuff or things that cost very little for the future.
I stockpile enough stuff for 6 months in advance or more.

You will see the savings in subsequent months, when you realize that you used to pay $3.00 or $4.00 for shampoo and $10.00 for a razor and now you are just going to the garage to get it and it cost you 50 cents or $1.00 because you stockpiled it.
I am at the point where I will only spend 25 cents for shampoo or FREE with my EB's fro CVS.

[suziq38]

I am going to the gym to exercise, then I am off to CVS because DH is golfing.

Bye for now!

[dancinmama]

Dec 30, 2010 10:28:29 GMT -5 pubbler said:

dancinmama - 30c is the rock bottom price for handsoap around here. I know that meijer/kroger will have the Softsoap/Dial on sale for $1 each & our Qs are always 35c/1. The only time I get free softsoap, is with a 50c/1 Softsoap Q from ALL YOU or the Colgate site.

I just didn't like the fact that he paid OOP for probably way more than he needed and the reason was that he "wouldn't have to ever WORRY about buying hand soap again". Maybe he has the $24 + tax to do it that way, but many people need that money these days for their gas tank or to pay bills. So if you can get them for $.30 OOP regularly, buy two or three and then wait for that opportunity when you can get them for that price AND you have CATS to spend on them so that you can create your stockpile for FREE.

For me, patience has been the key to building a stockpile of anything for FREE.

[jax]

My guy won't eat leftovers! He's got food issues.... It has to be freshly cooked, and as he puts it, "nice".

He travels a good bit for business so eats a lot of crappy restaurant/hotel food. Picky picky picky!

And I have a very small freezer, no deep freeze. May try to pick up a small one this year so I can buy more on sale and stockpile better.

Dec 29, 2010 15:37:41 GMT -5 FreeSalsa said:

Jax and Breezy:

My DBF likes the same kind of shopping. He gets in a mood for something and will go out and get it even if there is plenty of food already in the house. He recently spent $10 on an organic rotisserie chicken when there where already two whole chickens in the fridge. The problem was that they were not cooked yet. Could you try cooking everything on Sunday and then having stuff cooked, portioned out, and ready for the week so that it's in the fridge, ready to eat? I like the idea of making a chicken in the crock pot. Baking a chicken is easy but sometimes mine are dry too. I have seen coupons for rotisserie chickens and deli items, usually in from the Catalina machine after you buy something else. They also have plenty of coupons for bagged salads and such.

I'm new and still working on getting the organics. But there are sales and coupons and I've been shopping at Henry's which generally has at least one organic item on sale per week for 88 cents. I've also seen organic, cage-free eggs at Target for less than they would be at Whole Foods. JennysMom is really the organic guru so she can help with that too, if that's what you mean by your SO being picky about food.

[alphayankee]

I have a question: Do any of you order coupons from a coupon company?
I would like to order about 6 flyers of the P and G for December.

Suzi check out coupondede or ebay. Dede was selling them for $.65 each, but shipping will be over $5, so that makes it pricey. Ebay sellers may have more reasonable shipping rates, but be sure to check the listing to make sure it includes all the q's you want and is defined as a whole/uncut insert.

[dancinmama]

Dec 30, 2010 10:58:57 GMT -5 mrslynch said:

so, i'm still quite intimidated by all of you ladies and your coupon savvy but i'm going to jump in because of the tlc documentary. my husband and i watched it together last night. we had pretty much the same assessment as the rest of you--the first lady is out of her mind and might border on having hoarding tendancies. her husband is an extremely patient and supportive man and i hope she realizes that. the second and third lady were fairly reasonable (especially given their backstories) and the guy, well, i'm not sure what to think of him yet. but the show did prove the point that you can save a great deal of money using coupons. at the end of it, my husband even turned to me and asked if we could try doing something like that for a month. i, of course, agreed (with some stipulations like i will not buy something we will never, ever use just because it's a good sale/coupon). but what should i do to get started?

here's what i know i need to do: 1)check the stores' policies regarding internet coupons since the policy keeps changing. 2)sign up for some couponing forums and sites...which ones do you all suggest? 3)work out the kinks in the new system i've developed for remembering coupons (because really, what good are coupons if you forget them). 4)start a series on my blog detailing what i'm doing.

what am i missing? any advice, suggestions or thoughts for how to get started? what kind of savings should i expect in the first month?

mrslynch: WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME to the Grocery Challenge from me - dancinmama!!

I know this may all seem intimidating, but we'll help you through it. If you go to Pg. 3 of this thread, you will find a link for a copy of the Grocery Challenger's Handbook (Post #85 - thanks suzwantstobefree).

The FIRST thing you need to do before BUYING ANYTHING is to spend some time figuring out a cheap or free way to get coupon inserts. Ask family, friends, neighbors, or co-workers if they use them and if not, would they mind giving them to you. OR if you don't have the time to constantly collect Qs from them, you can buy them directly each Sunday at the news stands, or order them from a coupon site like Mad Coupons, or be brave like me and go to a privately owned liquor store, convenience store, or gas station and simply ASK if you can pull them from the unsold papers on Sunday nights. I donate A TON of stuff to our local food pantry and I think that's what brought them over to my side.

Anyway, you can't get ANYTHING for free without the coupons so that is STEP ONE.

Print the handbook and come back and ask as many questions as you need and (trust me) the gals on here are really friendly and will bend over backward to help you.

[tam2243]

The Krazy Coupon Lady has a Q & A up now in regards to her participation in last nights "Extreme Couponer" show. She is Joanie, the second woman featured on the show.

[pudgybunny]

Ok so we have the Oscillococcinum Childrens 6 pk on sale 1/2/11 at WAGS for $8.99 with $9 RR, and a $2 off mfg coupon out there, but does anyone know if the adult/original on sale as well? There is a $5 off in the Jan WAGs coupon book for the original! if so this could be a very very nice money maker!
or I wonder if the $5 off coupon would work on the childrens version…. oh man oh man that would be AWESOME!!!
Any help is appreciated for an excited newbie!

[breezy]

there is a handbook?
I have a lot to learn!

[missourimommy]

If you get emails from Kohls, check your email. I just got a coupon for 20% off thru Saturday. Guess I "need" to go shopping??

[missourimommy]

I believe I can forward the email to you if you would like. Please let me know. Off to clean. It's been nice having a week off, but it's going really fast!!

[pudgybunny]

dang... 20% off? I just went there and used my kohls cash.. hmm would they do an adjustment for that?

[mawmawandlovingit]

Dec 30, 2010 12:44:28 GMT -5 pudgybunny said:

dang... 20% off? I just went there and used my kohls cash.. hmm would they do an adjustment for that?

Kohl's cash always comes off before a discount. The only thing that you would get a discount on would be the overage after the Kohl's cash. For example: If you spent $20 and had $10 in Kohl's cash, you would only get the discount on $10 HTH!!

[tsm3012]

Target Holiday clearance is 75% off and you can use your coupons. Klennex holiday boxes rang up at 0.62, ziploc storage containers at 0.74, reynolds wrap 1.74, and ziploc bags 0.74 I used coups for all. Wrapping paper was about 0.62 cents a roll and a 3pk was 1.50. Gift bags med size 0.24 and cute gift tags w/ stuffed animal 0.75. Glade candles were also on clearance I didn't buy but they were $2ish. Burts Bees gift sets were clearanced and there are coups out there but they still weren't cheap enough for me.

I brought my kids with me and had them searching the discount area to match up coupons. They were having a blast.

[pudgybunny]

Thanks mawmawandlovingit good info to know and no I did not know that. ok i feel much better!

[frugalsuz]

Dec 30, 2010 10:17:38 GMT -5 @alphayankee said:

OH!!! I had to stop and do the math in my head.. He was buying 60 bottles of hand soap that were on sale 10/$10. He had a MQ that doubled to make each bottle 30-cents. All I could think of was "The gals on the board wouldn't pay 30-cents for a bottle of hand soap! That's still too much!"

Call me crazy, but that's exactly what I spend on hand soap.

You're crazy alpha. ;D I'm with you, I haven't gotten hand soap for free in ages. I usually used body wash instead, as long as its a "plain" one without beads or exfoliators or anything.

[FreeSalsa]

Dec 29, 2010 23:10:22 GMT -5 dancinmama said:

Dec 29, 2010 22:40:29 GMT -5 weaselfer said:

Oh, and one thing they really didn't go into. The first lady did not get all that for $50. It was $50 plus the $70 she spent to get the coupons. You really have to take that into account. Sometimes it is a deal breaker for me, especially if it will not be a "free" item that I am not going to use.

Very good point. In addition, you really should take into account the cost of gas and your time. I know that I do. I will not drive across town to get something that we do not need, even if it is "free".

I do get all of my coupons for free and although the days of getting 30+ sets of inserts are long gone, I think the liquor stores will let me pull for as long as they are in business. Sometimes I get as few as 4 sets of inserts and sometimes I get a dozen. I never know what will be left, but free is free.

And not to mention, she took a day off work to do all this shopping. I thought, is she nuts? You don't show up at the register with nine carts and expect to do them all in one order. My golly! Break them up by product. And when is that guy ever going to use 150 sticks of deodorant. I know they have a shelf life but not for 50 years! Come on. And I think he paid too much for the cereal, though it was great that he donated it. I liked the third woman the best. She was reasonable and shared her knowledge. I was waiting for her to be a coupon fairy and hand out coupons to those people in the store too but she didn't.

I don't see the reply button on the posts. Where is it again?

[dogmom]

I'm learning so much from the new posts my head is spinning! Thank you so much! I have a suggestion on obtaining coupon inserts that was posted on the old board, but, it works for me. Not free but cheaper than buying the newspaper at a news stand or... The Dollar Store in my area (maybe yours?) sells Sunday metro area newspapers for, yes, a dollar. After you checked to see what is available in the inserts on line, you can see if it is worth your while. It's worth the dollar for all the inserts, no tax... They are usually available Saturday late morning. I know it has been worth my while to do this.

I just thought I'd throw this back out there...

Oh, one thing, you taught me not to "cherry pick" my coupons.

MS "Dancinmomma", how is Mr Rocket? I'm really interested in your suggestions on reasonable dog treats and food.

[hatoo]

Hi all; just wanted to say belated Merry Christmas and early Happy New Year! I'm loving the energy on the new board and all the new posters!

[FreeSalsa]

Dec 30, 2010 11:43:10 GMT -5 @tam2243 said:

The Krazy Coupon Lady has a Q & A up now in regards to her participation in last nights "Extreme Couponer" show. She is Joanie, the second woman featured on the show.

Where can we find this?

[FreeSalsa]

Hello Newbies! It is a little intimidating at first but once you get the hang of it, it's easy! You will get out of it what you put into it. Not everyone has the same stores, deals, or store policies available to them so don't worry if you can't get what someone else is getting. START SLOWLY. Collect your free coupons and keep reading and then get one item at a time. Don't worry about these big deals buying multiple products until you get the hang of it. Soon you'll have more free toothpaste than you know what to do with.

ETA: I meant to say that the couponing can be intimidating. WE are not. We are very nice and glad to help you so read the handbook and ask away!

[vnot]

Hi everyone! Glad I found you all here!

I went to another RA in my area and the cashier was so nice and patient with my coupon usage! I think I've found my go to store--no matter that there's one that I can walk to within 2 min next to my apt. They take my coupons but some of the cashiers are so BLAH. At least I have choices!

I bought 10 Nivea Lip Cares, 4 Pantene, 2 Morton Sea Salt, 2 Tugaboos and in the end I only paid $0.26 and got $3.50 cash back because the cashier forgot to scan my last B1G1 Pantene coupon.

I only started couponing at RA in October but I'm about 75 pts from 10% and I have two days to get there!

[FreeSalsa]

I found it.
thekrazycouponlady.com/2010/12/29/tlc-extreme-couponingwould-you-ever-dumpster-dive-for-coupons/

[tam2243]

Freesalsa - Sorry for only half the info. I was trying to get out the door and make it to Wags before the roads got any worse. I had a rain check for ecotrin @ 2.00 and needed to buy 12 before my q's expire tomorrow.