Hobby Lobby 40% off 1 Item

I loove when Hobby Lobby does their 40% off 1 item coupons!!  I plan to cruise on over to grab some more baseball card sheets for my ever expanding coupon binder.  Hurry and get yours this one expires on February 4, 2012!

http://hobbylobby.com/facebook/coupon.cfm?ref=nf

What is Happening at JCPenney's??

Well, rumor has it that JCPenney is reinventing itself when it comes to it's crazy sales.  I don't know if I can handle not seeing constant sale signs and wondering if their items are never NOT on sale!  Among many of their changes, items are now rounded up to the next dollar so no more $.99!!  It will be fun to watch an d see what happens!  Check out the link below for more deets:

http://www.emissourian.com/news/national/article_833954ec-4773-11e1-b051-0019bb2963f4.html

CVS Deals for January 22-28

Wow!  Looks like some great deals on Colgate, L'oreal Hair Products, Revlon (money maker),Covergirl, and more!  Check out the couponcounselor.com's post below:

http://www.couponcounselor.com/2012/01/cvs-weekly-ad-122-128.html

Super $1 or Less Deals are Everywhere!!

There are soo many different blogs out there that price check items to see where you can find the cheapest deals. One of my favorites is saveathomemommy.com

She does a really great job in the following post pulling out the $1 or less items on several major stores all in one post!!

http://www.saveathomemommy.com/2012/01/this-weeks-1-under-drug-store-deals-5/

Whoohoo! Thanks for the matchups saveathomemommy!!

Homemade Play-Do Recipe

TheFrugalGirls.Com have a really great homemade playdough recipe out! It is super cheap to make!

http://thefrugalgirls.com/2010/10/homemade-playdough-recipe.html

It is almost always cheaper to make stuff at home than to buy it!! This is a great example :)

Free eCookbook!

It's been awhile since I have posted about free stuff! Here is a great Healthy Cooking eCookbook to download. It's a PDF file and the recipes look yummy!!

http://www.favediets.com/Editors-Picks/How-to-Cook-Quickly-The-26-Best-Fast-Healthy-Dinner-Recipes-Free-eCookbook#

Walgreens Deals Week January 15-21

Is it time already for Walgreens Deals?? Yes...yes it is! Here is a great list by PennyPinchingMom

http://www.pennypinchinmom.com/2012/01/walgreens-weekly-matchups-115-121/

Sunday Coupon Preview 1-15

Well the last couple of weeks have been fun with the HUGE amount of coups that have come out, but it's back to reality. Here is the list for the 1 Smart Source due out tomorrow.

http://www.sundaycouponpreview.com/

Hy-Vee Match Ups 1-11 to 1-17

Here are some sites for Hy-Vee coupon Match-ups for this week!

http://forthemommas.com/category/store-deals/hyvee

http://www.pennypinchinmom.com/2012/01/hyvee-weekly-matchups-111-117/

Also, don't forget that couponmom.com has great Hy-Vee matchups but you do need to sign in!

**Don't forget the Super Friday 13th 12 hour sale for Ragu @ $.99 and many more huge deals!

Fareway Deals 1-11 to 1-17

I do my own coupon match ups based on several different blogs and flipping through the Ad but here are a couple blogs to compare:

http://afewshortcuts.com/2012/01/short-cut-savings-fareway-1102011/

http://themillennialhousewife.com/2012/01/10/fareway-deals-11112-through-11712/

My favorite deals:

Folgers Coffee 10.3-11.3 oz - $3.99
$0.25/1 Folgers Coffee, exp. 1/15/12 (RP 12/04/11 R) or

$1/2 Folgers Coffee, exp. 1/15/12 (RP 12/04/11)

Get $4 off your shopping order when you purchase any 10 General Mills items.

In Ad Coupon

Purex Laundry Detergent (50oz) – $1.99 with Fareway In Ad Coupon

Large Eggs (one dz) – $0.49 each with Fareway Coupon

Russett Potatoes (15lb bag) – $3.88 each

Bananas – 3lb for $1.00

Fareway Beef or Chicken Broth – 2/$1

Butter Kernel Green Beans or Corn – 2/$1

You don't need that many coupons this week!!

Free Starbucks Coffee!

Starbucks is doing free tasting Thursday, January 12-Saturday, January 14! They are saying that you will get something free to take home with you. Could be coffee, could be coupons...who knows?? But, free coffee tasting sounds fabulous!!

Here are the deets: http://roast.starbucks.com/en-us/

Back to Basics: Clipping Coups and Organizing Tips

I looove RainingHotCoupons.Com the creator does a really great job organizing everything dealing with coupons. Check out the link below for a super video on clipping tips and read below the video for tons of organizing tips!! If you love it (like me) grab her free app for your iphone!!

http://www.raininghotcoupons.com/coupon-101/organizingclipping/

Coupon Organizing!!

I have posted many times on how to organize your coupons. There are tons of different methods to use and I have used several. Currently, I am using the binder method and LOVED this video by Hip2Save.Com
Enjoy!

http://hip2save.com/2011/03/07/coffee-with-collin-coupon-organization-part-2/

Shall We Make A Budget??

We can find great deals and coupon until the cows come home (yep I'm in the Mid-West) but it won't serve any purpose unless we have a budget. You can budget any period of time you like, say 1 year towards a winter vacation or week to week. Because my husband and I are both college professors, I have several budgets that I use.

1. The Big Picture Budget: This is our House Saving budget set out for 3 years.
2. The Mid-Size Budget: This is our semester to semester budget since our income changes pretty dramatically through out the course of the year.
3. Monthly Budget: Month to Month break down of every debt and every credit.

It's really just one overall budget, but I tweek it at the beginning of each month and each semester.

Here is a great piece I found at coupongeek.net that did a great job of walking you through getting a budget started and different ways to put one together. I am still crunching my January and Spring Semester numbers to make sure they fit into our 3 year plan, but hope to be done within the next day or so.

http://www.coupongeek.net/2012/01/time-to-plan-creating-a-2012-budget.html

There are lots of other great blogs with good advice on budgets, I particularly like this one because it is written by a mother of 2 young children who stays at home with them.

Good luck with your budget!!

Back to Basics: Rainbow Foods

Rainbow Foods can't be found everywhere, but you can't swing a cat without hitting one in Minneapolis. You know its true people. Since I don't have a Rainbow Foods in my state I've not ever taken a peek at what they offer, but I have a new coupon partner in crime so now is the time to look into this regional grocer.

After checking out several blogs and Rainbow Foods website (which is kind of crappy), I have decided to combine the information as best as I can here.

Basics of Their Policies:

1. You can double up to 5 $1 coupons on a required $25 spent (before coupons) so you can save $10 on $25 Wednesdays and Saturdays. *This is super excited for me because no stores double where I am** Note that you can double any coupon where the bar code starts with a '5'

2. No expired coupons accepted.

3. Can use a Rainbow Store Coupon AND a manufacturer coupon on the same item for extra savings.

4. Internet coupons are allowed (although exactly what can be used is a bit controversial) but the concenus seems to be you can't use any B1G1 or Free coupons.

5. Can only use a coupon that is equal to or less than the item purchased no overages given.

6. If you use your own bags you receive a $.05 reduction per bag.

7. You can not use two coupons with B1G1, in other words, if you have a B1G1 you can't use another coupon on your free item.

For a relatively complete policy check out the link here: http://www.weusecoupons.com/upload/copps-rainbow-foods/111006-coupon-policy-roundys-stores-copps-rainbow-foods-pick-n-save.html

I tried to find the coupon policy on the home site with no luck. But the above link is pretty good, although you can't take it with you to show the cashier.

Let's talk about the Roundy's Card. This is completely alien to me but from what I gather, you can use this awesome card when you shop and your dollars give you credit on gas and there are some deals where you have to have a Roundy's Card in order to get the savings. This little card can save you some Big Bucks, but its explanation is best left to someone who knows so check out the following link for the do's and don'ts with the in's and out's for this card:

http://www.creativecouponing.com/getting-started/rainbow-foods-101/

Now that you've got the basics, here is a great link to the weekly deals so you can match your coupons up with the sales and print out your list:

http://www.pocketyourdollars.com/2012/01/rainbow-foods-copps-pick-n-save-coupon-matchup-12-1712/

Well, there you have it Rainbow Foods in a nutshell. Happy Shopping!!

Let's Get Back To It!!

It has been too long since I have posted and now that the Holidays are over it is time to buckle down and return to pinching those pennies until they scream!

Let's start at the beginning and get back to basics.

Walgreens is a great place to start when you are just getting into couponing. There are tons of sites dedicated just to Walgreens Deals and Match-Ups.

Here is a great link to understanding the basics of shopping at Walgreens:

http://dealseekingmom.com/tag/walgreens-how-to/

Keep in mind if you are just starting, that is may all seem pretty overwhelming, but stay with it and it will become second nature!