MAJOR Savings by Stacking Coupons

Quick Couponing 101 lesson: Stacking Coupons

Stacking refers to using TWO coupons on ONE item.  Find out your store's coupon policy on this.  My grocery store will accept ONE store coupon (issued by the store) and ONE manufacturer coupon (issued by the manufacturer) on EACH item.  Some stores limit you to a certain number of times you can do this or will only allow you to purchase a certain number of the items at the special pricing with coupon. 

Stacking store and manufacturer coupons along with a SALE is when you get deep savings of 70%-100%.

Here is what stacking did for me tonight:

Yep.  I paid $1.44 out of pocket (OOP) for nearly $50 of groceries.

Here is how I did it:

6 boxes of Fiber One cereal on sale for 2/$5

(only two kind work for this scenario--Raisin and Caramel)

Use 6 $2/1 any GM cereal (also on back page of weekly ad)

Used 6 $.75/1 Fiber One from the 1/1 SS

Overage $1.50 on 6 boxes after coupons

2 Phazyme $3.49 each

Used 1 $5/2 Publix coupon--Green Advantage Flyer starting 1/28

Used 2 Printable coupons: $2/1 Phazyme MQ

Overage $2.02 

2 Sominex $3.29 each

Used 1 $5/2 Publix coupon--Green Advantage Flyer starting 1/28

Used 2 Printable coupons: $2/1 Sominex MQ

Overage $2.42

2 Gallons of milk $3.79 each

$1.44 OOP for $48 of groceries

97% Savings!!! (Definitely a personal best)

Just to give you a REALISTIC perspective on this as well, I will add this to my weekly shopping totals from earlier this week.  

My total OOP was $105

Savings: $213

Retail: $318 of groceries/cleaning products/produce/health and beauty/paper and plastic/pet food

77% savings for the week!

This is largely a food bank donation.  We will keep 2 boxes of cereal and the milks and donate the rest to our local food bank.  They are always so appreciative and I am happy to support their efforts to help the community.

Say it with me "Stacking is my friend!"

Find out how you can stack coupons at your local grocery store too.  Knowing the coupon policy is going to be your FIRST key to saving money.

Questions?  I love to help you learn how to save MOMumentally!

5 Savvy Saving Secrets Every Couponer Needs to Know

Welcome Tatertots and Jello Readers!
Thanks for visiting MOMumental Savings!


So you can coupon!  Great!  But how can you take it a step further? I have 5 ways you can shrink that spending budget even more!

1.  How to save $10-$15 every trip by clipping ONE coupon.


I use the coupons in my local weekly grocery ads that frequently come out for $5 off a $30 purchase or $5 off a $50 purchase.  Since I get multiple newspapers, I have several of these coupons.  By simply splitting my groceries into 2-3 separate orders, I can use one of these coupons on each order! My grocery store also accepts competitor coupons from other stores so I bought several of these books for $10 each.  Each coupon book has FOUR $5 off a $30 purchase, so I actually MADE $10 for every book I bought! You might find similar coupons in your local Entertainment book as well.  When you do, buy in multiple so you can use these coupons often!

2. How to save money on meat:

I buy my meat in BULK! There are nationwide events currently listed for 40lbs of chicken breasts, ground beef and even bacon!  I recently bought the 40lbs of 93% lean ground beef and it has been AMAZING. So easy to pull out of the fridge and brown up for a meal! 
The price is great too! If you don't need all of it, split it with a neighbor or friend! Either way, you will have meat and can shop the grocery sales for all your other needs! ;-) This saves me money twice: 1) I don't have to buy (higher priced) meat at my local grocery store weekly and 2) When we are in a pinch for dinner, I ALWAYS have something in the freezer I can defrost and through in a recipe instead of having to go out to get food!

3. How to save money on Newspapers:


I subscribe here in Orlando through the Simple Truth Foundation (a non-profit that assists in connecting people to food banks) because they SUBSIDIZE my subscription! YEP! For every subscription you order, you get a $10 Publix gift card!! Each 13 week Wed-Sun subscription is around $24, plus $10 back! That's just about $1 a week. And seriously, if you can't afford $1 a week per paper, then you need to "hang up the scissors" as Fran the Coupon Man says. I completely agree.

And if you aren't local to Orlando, call your local paper and see what deals they offer for couponers! The saying is true: "You never know until you ask!



If you want to get "fiscally fit" for 2012, click on the link to the left to subscribe and start saving on your papers too!!!

4. How to save money outside of the grocery stores:

Make the most of online coupons, in store specials and store loyalty cards--then wait for a sale!!!


This week I bought:

• 2 Wii games for the kids
• 3 Easy Bake oven mixes and 1 cake pan
• an Orange Glow mop
• a pack of boys size 4 underwear
• superglue
• Sally Hansen Salon Effects
• and a dozen PERSONALIZED golf balls 

Coupons used:


• $10 Best Buy rewards (Reward zone card) used on two Wii games marked down to $14.99 each (originally $29.99)

• $5 any purchase at Toys R Us (Rewards R Us email coupon)

• $5 Rebate peelie on Orange Glow mop

• Sally Hanson nail art marked down half price in the Clearance section at Target


• $10 off $25 purchase at Dick's Sporting Goods

• Free shipping and golf ball personalization (in store special) at Dick's ($17 value)


Total retail value was around $90 and I paid just $50 after rebates and coupons!  Not too shabby for retail shopping!

The strategies of grocery store couponing really can be applied to everywhere you shop!! Collecting coupons, waiting for a sale and then paying attention while you SHOP!

MOMumental Savings Tip: I love the website Retailmenot.com to look up coupon codes and printable coupons for retail stores!

5. How to save money on non-sale grocery items you need to buy, but don't have coupons for?

Here is the secret: The Coupon Database.

Go to your favorite coupon matchup website and look for a section called "Coupon Database."  Once you click on it, you will be taken to a search engine type of page where you type in the name of the product you need coupons for.

  

For me it can sometimes be as generic as "sausage" and it the database pulls up every sausage related coupon of many different brands.  Other times, I might type in "Jimmy Dean" because I am looking for a brand-specific coupon for sausage.  Many times there are NO coupons for the things I am looking for! Oh well!  Other times, I might be able to print or clip as much as $5 worth of coupons for things that I NEED, even if they aren't on sale.  (And yes, that happens!!!).

So there you go!  5 MOMumental Savings tips to help you save even more!

Do you follow me on Facebook?  You should! 

 It makes me feel important.  ;-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Target Look-out Alert!

The holiday Target Toy Coupon books have been spotted according to CommonSensewithMoney.....
We will get to this in a couple of weeks, but at Target, you can combine a Manufacturer Coupon WITH a store coupon (called "stacking" your coupons).  So be on the lookout for this store coupon book, store sales on these items AND manufacturer coupons.  The coupons in this booklet expire on 11/25.
I think there are some Leapfrog coupons out there?  I will try to find them and post the matchups for you here. I used some back in September at the Toys R us, Buy 2, get 1 Event.
The Coupons in this booklet include:

$20 off Tonka Scoot ‘N Scoop
$5 off Wow Wee Alive Minis Interactive Cub
50% off Tub Full of Games (Disney or Nick)
50% off Kids’ Game What’s in Ned’s Head or Gassy Gus
$20 off Fisher-Price Little People Discovery Airport
$10 off LeapFrog Alphabet Pal
$5 off Nerf N-Strike Vulcan Blaster
$10 off Hasbro Toy Montey Rex or Bounce Back Racer
$10 off Fisher-Price Handy Manny Workshop
$5 off Thomas & Friends (Various)
$10 Circo Train Table
FREE 3 3.75 GI Joe Action Figures WYB
GI Joe PIT Mobile Headquarters
$5 off Ben 10 Alien Force Creation Challenge
$5 off CrashFX Flying Airplane
$20 off D-Rex Interactive Dinosaur
$10 off Air Hogs Radio-Control Switch Blade
$1 off Energizer Batteries or Flashlight
$10 off Fisher-Price Trio King’s Castle (Combine with $5/1 manufacturer coupon)
$5 off Lego Toy (Various)
$10 off Disney Musical Keyboard Vanity
$5 off Easy-Bake Oven
$10 off Caring Corners Happy Home
$10 off FurReal Lulu My Cuddlin’ Kitty
$5 Barbie (Various)
$3 off Creativity for Kids Jewelry Boutique
FREE Our Generation Delux Doll Outfit WYB
Our Generation Delux Doll
$8 off Baby Alive Whoopsie Doo Doll
$25 off Playwonder Dollhouse
$20 off Step2 Lifestyle New Traditions Kitchen
$10 off Magic Reveal Chef’s Oven
$5 off LeapFrog My Puppy Pal Scout or Violet
$10 off Fisher-Price Play My Way Play Center
$20 off Playwonder Kitchen Center
$5 off VTech Bugsby Reading System
$5 off Super Why Touch & Learn Super Duper Computer
$10 LeapFrog Zippity Learning System
$10 LeapFrog Tag Reading System
FREE Monopoly Deal or Scrabble Slam Card Game WYB
Monopoly City or Scrabble Delux Diamond Edition
20% off Eric Carle Game
$5 off following Hasbro Games

-Scatterpillar Scramble  (Combine with $4/1 manufacturer coupon)
-Connect 4 SpongeBob
-Operation SpongeBob
-Clue Secret & Spies (Combine with $5/1 manufacturer coupon)
- Guess Who? Extra
- Pictureka Flipper (Combine with $5/1 manufacturer coupon)
- Giraffalaff Limbo (Combine with $4/1 manufacturer coupon)
- Sorry SpongeBob
- Guesstures (Combine with $5/1 manufacturer coupon)

$10 off w/purchase of 2 Wii/DS Games
$10 off w/purchase of 2 Xbox 360 Games
$10 off w/purchase of 2 PS3/PSP Games
$10 off Bike (Various)
$10 off EA Sports (Various)
$10 Game Table (Various)
20% off Scooter or Pocket Rocket
$5 Nerf Raider

No Raincheck please--Food freebies

So KFC is offering another free grilled chicken offer.  After trying the free Oprah Chicken giveaway (and ensuing KFC disaster) I wonder what will happen this time?  One thing is for sure--I will be there for free chicken again!!

Barnes and Noble has some more coupons available including a free Kid's Hot chocolate and cookie.  YUM.

Sale on Lego Advent Calendars

I love advent calendars and I get one every year.  My daughter is just starting to get into them.  I had my eye on this Lego one, but it was spendy.  Now I will have to get one today or tomorrow after the fabulous deal they have at Borders.
The Calendars are on sale for $29.99, plus go here for a 30% off coupon.
Final cost for the calendar is just $20.99!!!
As always, thanks to Hip2Save.

Week 1 Lesson 2: Where to find Coupons

Week 1 Lesson 2: Where to find Coupons

Yes there are plenty of places to find coupons besides the Sunday paper!

     A. Printable Coupons

     B. E-Coupons

     C. All You magazine et. al.

     D. Mailers, peelies, blinkies, etc...

    
A.  Printable Coupons:
Red Plum
Coupons.com (use my Coupon bar in the top right corner to access these!)
Snackpicks--you have to register to get access to these
Simple and Delicious
A tip: Hitting the "back" button will allow you to print another copy of the coupons, but all computers are limited to two prints per computer.
For Target store coupons I like the Target Coupon Generator on afullcup.com
For coupons you missed in the Sunday paper, you can order them from The Coupon Clippers or on Ebay.  I like this so I can buy large quantities of coupons for items I know we eat most frequently


B. E-coupons
Did you know you can load coupons onto you store cards, no clipping required?
Check these sites to see if you store participates in these programs!
Cellfire
Shortcuts
P&G esaver


C. All You magazine et. al.
All You is a great magazine sold exclusively at Walmart that has between $60-$80 worth of coupons in each issue.  There are also pretty good deals on a one year subscription over on Amazon from time to time.
Parents magazine also has coupons in it (though not as many as All You). I recently had an issues that included a $1.50 coupon for Tide Stain Release AND a 20% off coupon for Gymboree.  


D. Many times free samples will also come with a coupon for a future purchase--just another reason to sign up for some freebies!  And keep your eyes open in the stores for CNP's (Coupons near product) in the form of peelies and blinkies.


Bet you never knew there were so many places to find coupons huh?


Last but not least I have to include one of my favorite online-only coupon sites, Retailmenot.com.  This site includes codes for online ordering for thousands of products.  Many times you can combine codes to get a percent off, free shipping AND an added freebie.  Before you order ANYTHING else online, check Retailmenot first for coupon codes to enter before you checkout.

More coupon booklets

Just like I mentioned last week about McDonald's coupon booklets, two other fast food restaurants have come out with $1 coupon booklets!

• Burger King's booklets include 8 coupons for FREE value sized fries.  The coupons are valid 10/1-12/31!
• Wendy's $1 coupon booklets include 10 coupons for a FREE Jr. Frosty valid from 11/1-02/01/10!!

What great stocking stuffers or Advent gifts!
As always, I encourage you to call you local store to see if they are participating before you make a special trip.

Mall deals

There are a couple of deals to be had at the mall!

Bath and Body works has a coupon for a free travel sized item with any purchase. Good through Oct 7th.

Through tomorrow if you join Victoria's Secret Pink nation, you can get 10 pairs of panties for only $25!  That is a STEAL for Victoria's Secret underwear!

New Mcdonald's $1 Halloween Coupon Booklet!

These come out only a few times a year (and I must admit I have been known to buy them even BEFORE I had kids!) and I'm so happy they are BACK!

For a limited time, McDonald's is selling coupon books that include coupons for (4) free apple dippers, (4) free small cones and (4) free milk jugs or apple juice boxes. The best part? The entire book is just $1.

These are a great alternative to handing out the traditional Halloween candy bars. I might grab a few books for my daughter's Boo Bash at her school this year.

Okay, so maybe I'll keep one for me too.

Thanks, It's Hip to Save!