Big Yard Sale! Sewing Stuff & Primitives

It's time for a yard sale!

And no little Susie's dolls are not for sale. But I do have some nice prims for sale and some sewing things too, like some vintage embroidery transfers and some vintage printed animal panels to sew and stuff and some......... well just come and see. There are 2 albums on my Picture Trail. Sewing Items for Sale and Yard Sale, so come on over and see if you find anything you need. Yard Sale terms are listed in the albums. Hope we see you there. Just remember--little Susie is protective of her dollies.

How To Use Those Coupons

I'm back! We've been moved in for about a week or so now, but I've been busy, busy unpacking. I'm trying to get my sewing room unpacked and put back together and then I'll be hitting it with new pattern designs and handmades too, but in the meantime here is the last part of the couponing info for you all. Thank you to everyone who comes and visits and reads. I appreciate it!

------------------------------------------

How to Use Those Coupons

Ok, now that we have our coupons and they are all neatly organized into our coupon binders how do we best use them.

A coupon is good on average for about 6 weeks before it expires. The key is to save the coupon until the item comes on sale at the grocery store. Sale items have a cycle of approx every 4 weeks to every 12 weeks, so most likely sometime in the lifetime of your coupon it’s item will be on sale and that is the time to use it.

For instance I bought Ritz crackers for .99--the big box--not a little bitty box. They were regularly priced at 3.99 a box. On sale for 1.99 a box and my coupon was $2 off of 2 boxes, so that made them .99 each for a savings of 6.00!

Watch your grocery ads for in-store coupons and then use your manufacturer’s coupon along with the in-store coupon to save even more and yes the majority of stores do allow this. What they don’t allow is using 2 manufacturer’s coupons on the same item.

Combining your coupons with sales and or in-store coupons is called layering your coupons and that is how you will get the optimal amount of savings from them.

If you have a store in your area that does double or even triple coupons then you have a gold mine!

Watch your grocery ads and plan your menus around what is on sale and stock up on what is on sale. It does take a bit of doing in the beginning to get that stockpile going and you will most likely even spend a bit more, but it will eventually get to the point where you’ll have your own well stocked pantry to pull from.

Watch your grocery stores ads and find out if they come out on Sunday or Wednesday and make sure to buy the paper for that day.

Did you know that not all sale items are posted in the sale ads. This was news to me too. They simply do not have enough room to list everything, so this is where a Price Tracking Website comes in handy.

There are 2 that I like…..

Pinching Your Pennies and Coupon Mom

On both of these you can find your state and then a list of stores in your area. The website will have a full listing of the current grocery sales and it will show you if there is a coupon available--they also have a link for each item that will take you to an online coupon if there is one available--and it will break down your savings. This is a great tool to help you organize your shopping trip.

A few extra tips……

Look in the meat department for reduced priced meats. There is nothing wrong with these meats they are just at or near their last date to sell and they must be moved, so stores will discount them anywhere from a few dollars to 50% off. Take them home and freeze them and enjoy the savings.

Drop Shopping---Drop shopping is when someone has a coupon they don’t need and they leave it next to the item it belongs too. This is a good way to find a coupon you might use and it’s a good way to get rid of the coupons that you won’t be using.

Outdated coupons--Did you know that military bases and food banks can use coupons up to 6 months after they expire. First contact the military base or food bank of your choice to make sure that they participate in this and see what their requirements are. It’s a great way to dispose of your expired coupons and help others out at the same time.

Coupon Train--A Coupon Train is a group of people that exchange coupons with each other usually via snail mail. The basic rules are that once you have your group--you decide the size that you would like it to be--there is a Conductor and the Conductor starts the train by mailing a mass of clipped coupons--not expired to the first person on the list. Person #1 goes through the coupons and removes what she wants and then replaces at least the number of coupons that she took--adding more is even better and highly suggested. Then she mails the envelope full of coupons onto the next person and so forth and finally the Caboose will mail back to the Conductor who then pulls her coupons of choice and then everyone repeats the process over and over again. Also each person is responsible for checking for expired coupons and pulling those out of circulation. These groups can be done locally or cross country.

I hope everyone has enjoyed this as much as I have and has learned as much as well. I know I’ve learned a lot and I’m still learning, so make sure to Google for even more coupon sites and info and Happy Savings!

A Quick Note

Just a quick not to say I will be away for a short time as we make a move down the road, so I'll see ya'll soon to finish up the couponing info.

Coupons-Where to Find Them & What to do With Them

Where to find coupons

The best place to find coupons is still the Sunday paper. If you like the coupons in the Sunday paper make sure to either buy more Sunday papers—1 for each member of the family is suggested or ask family & friends for theirs if they don't use them or on Monday morning you can go to stores that sell newspapers and ask for their extras. There is a portion of the paper they have to return for credit, but the coupons are not in that portion. Note—you may not want extras of each weeks Sunday coupons, so make sure to check them out first.

Not all Sunday papers carry the same inserts, so if you have access to more than one Sunday paper check them all out.

There are several online sites where you can print coupons and they change on a regular basis. A few you might try are .....

Pinching Your Pennies

Coupons.com

Shop At Home.com

There are many, many of these sites out there so find the sites you like the best and use them. Make sure to sign up for their email alerts too.

NOTE—Not all grocery stores will accept computer generated coupons, so make sure to check the stores in your area first.

Go directly to the manufactures websites and check for their promotions. Watch to sign up for coupon booklets they will gladly send them to you for free!

Watch and search the web for more free coupon booklets.

Catalinas—these are coupons that are printed on the back of your cash register receipt. You never know what good deal you might find.

Blinkies—these are the coupons you see in the little plastic holders hanging off the shelves with the little blinking lights. You know the ones the kids love to keep pulling the coupons out of!

Coupon Trains—start or join a coupon train—more on this later.

Couponing Blogs—There are tons of couponing blogs out there. Find a few that you like and follow them. Two of my favorites are...

Deal Seeking Mom

Being Frugal is Fabulous

Again there are tons of these blogs out there, so search them out and find your favorites.

Organizing!

Now that you have all of these coupons clipped and in a huge pile what do you do with them? You organize them!

There are several different ways to organize your coupons and the easiest way I have found is by creating a Coupon Binder. I used this tutorial by Home of 5 and made myself a coupon binder. I couldn't find the same size sheets that she used, so I used the 4 X 6 and it works great.

I have also seen at least 3 other shoppers recently using these coupon binders and they were using baseball card sheets. I just preferred the bigger slots, so it's really up to you and what you like.

They say to save all of your coupons even if you think you won't use them, because you might find a deal that is just too good. What I do is I save the ones I'm not likely to use—not that I wouldn't mind using the item, it's just that I'm not likely going to spend the money on it—but I have found good enough deals that it was worth it. Of course there are those items you just will not use no matter what—pass those coupons on.

After you've made your coupon binder you might want to make a “Price Book”. I have not done this as of yet and I'm not sure if I will, but here are a couple of sites to explain what a Price Book is and a template to get you started.

What is a Price Book and How to make one

Printable Price Book Sheets

Next up....how to put these coupons to use....

Fun Mail!

I love when I get fun stuff in the mail! Here's a few things I've received recently.....

From Lili M all the way over in the beautiful Netherlands I received the most charming and wonderful heart box trimmed out in a darling vintage valentine and ruffled ribbon and then filled with enchanting little trinkets and treasures. There were little bitty delicate papers, tiles with my initials and my birthdate on them, lovely lace and charms.....it was so fun pulling out each little piece and seeing what it was. This was for the big OWOH giveaway and boy what fun! Thank You Lili! I just love it!

I also received a fun RAK in the mail from Kim Ingram. Kim sent me a beautiful vintage linen--I love vintage linens!, some wonderful smelling soap--that is a really cool big block shape and some yummy Yankee candles. The whole package smelled soooo good! It certainly was a surprise and a wonderful day brightener too. I can't wait to use the soap and light the candles and enjoy! Thank you so much Kim!

Now this one I received a few weeks ago as part of a Valentine ornie swap, but I thought I'd share it today. I absolutely love, love this gorgeous, pink, sparkly putz house by Linda Prutzman. It's my very first putz house--of what I hope becomes a nice sized collection, because I just love these. This one is actually a post office and has all kinds of wonderful details. The fence is made from stiffened vintage lace--how cool is that. And when you peek inside the door there is a little saying on the inside wall as well as an inside door, that you can't see in this photo. And it's all pink! I absolutely love it! Thank you Linda!

How To Start Couponing & Really Saving Money

I thought I'd brake this down, so it's not so long of a post. I'll try and post for the next couple of days to share what I've learned on how to coupon the most effectively.

How to start couponing and really saving money.

First you'll need to shop the ads and plan your purchases around what's on sale. Remember though—it's not a bargain if it's not something that you will use, so only buy the sale items that you will realistically use.

This does take some time, but the savings is worth the effort and after all as the wife and mother isn't this part of what we do. It's our job and if you'd like you could use the savings as your paycheck!

Instead of using a coupon on an item just because you have the coupon wait for the item to come on sale and then use the coupon for an even bigger savings and if you're lucky enough to be in an area where the grocery stores will double or triple your coupons then you've won the lottery!

Coupons on average are good for about 6 weeks. Items in the sale flyers on average have a sale cycle of about every 4 weeks, so your coupon should have it's optimum useage during it's lifetime. Just wait and watch.

By shopping the sales you will create a stockpile. Stockpiling is the key to really saving money. Buy items when they are at their lowest price, don't wait until you need them. By doing this you can save on average 50 to 70% on your grocery bill.

Those that save a lot don’t use a single coupon--they get multiples of that coupon and by multiples.

In the beginning stockpiling may actually cost you a bit more until you get your stock pile built up, but after that you can end up spending significantly less.

Yes, you will have to shop more than one store and no Wal-Mart is not always the cheapest. So you'll have to get accustomed to no store loyalty and no brand loyalty. However always double check these savings against the store brands and generic brands, because they may still be cheaper.

Make sure to get store discount/rewards cards. You can keep them on your keyring and they'll be easier to find and access. Many stores require that you have a store card in order to get their advertised savings. Not only that, but some stores will even download savings from their website to your store card and when they scan your card your stored savings will be deducted at the checkout.

Next up—Coupons—where to find them and what to do with them........

The Red Envelope Project

I like to try to keep my blog non-political, but sometimes something worth sharing comes along and this is one of those times.

If you disagree with President Obama's liberal views on abortion then please join me and other Americans in the Red Envelope Project by sending out a red envelope on March 31st to the White House.

Here's what to do.....

On the front of the envelope, address it to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington , D.C. 20500

On the back of the envelope, write the following message:

“This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion.It is empty because the life that was taken is now unable to be a part of our world.”


I originally found this on the Real Mom, Real Life blog and the below message is quoted from her blog......

"We will mail the envelopes out March 31st, 2009. Put it in the mail, and send it. Then forward this event to every one of your friends who you think would send one too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died [in the U.S.] before having a chance to live. It may seem that those who believe abortion is wrong are in a minority. It may seem like we have no voice and it's shameful to even bring it up. Let us show our President and the world that the voices of those of us who do not believe abortion is acceptable are not silent and must be heard. Together we can change the heart of The President and save the lives of millions of children."

Please feel free to use the Red Envelope banner above to post on your blogs if you wish and help spread the word, so we can fill the White House mail room full of red envelopes.

The idea of the Red Envelope Project is originally found HERE.