Thursday, January 29, 2009

This weekend

I am leaving this afternoon for FL. My brother bought a truck there and we need to drive it back. Hopefully we are back by Sunday sometime.

Please pray for our safety on the roads as a major ice storm has swept thru the mid section of the country and we need to cross that section!!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Gap and J Crew Final Sale

Gap has added a section to their website that has great prices! The draw back is that sizes and colors are limited, and you can't return or exchange the items.

http://www.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=45604

J Crew also has a section like this. Their prices are higher, but the quality is better.
Extra 30% off Code: EXTRA30

http://www.jcrew.com/AST/Navigation/Sale.jsp

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Cub Foods week of 1/25

One of the advantages of getting an Early Edition of the Star Trib on Saturday is being able to see Cub Foods ad.

I have found that typically, Super Targets have better prices on food than Cub, but with the cpns at hand this week, I am thinking Cub will come out fine.

The List:
4 pks hormel pork: $10 x 4 = $40 - 2 BOGO's in Cub ad = $20
1 lb 85% lean hamburger: $1.68 (cub cpn in the ad)
1 Daisy sour cream: $.68 (cub cpn in the ad)
6 cans Cub diced tomatoes: $4.08 (cub cpn in ad, limit 6 per cpn)
6 cans Cub kidney beans: $4.08 (cub cpn in the ad, limit 6 per cpn)
3 boxes wheat thins: $2 x 3 = $6 - $2/2 mfg in ss insert = $4
1 kraft shredded cheese: $2.22 - 2.22 (free cub mfg cpn wyb (when you buy) wheat thins in ad)
2 Deans Dip: $1.50 x 2 = $3.00 - $1/2 mfg in ss insert = $2
4 Freschetta frozen pizzas: $3.90 x 4 = $15.60 - $7.79 (cub bogo in ad) = $7.79
4 kraft shredded cheese: $2.22 x 4 = $8.88 (no cpns, but we need cheese)
1 heinz ketchup: $2.19 (no cpns)
1 5lb bag spuds: $4.29 (guess at price, no cpns)
3 lbs Braeburn Apples: $1.00/lb x 3 = $3.00
------------------------------------------
Total Before Cpns: $100.22
Total After Cpns: $53.13
Savings: 53%

I did use 1 $10/$100 gas coupon in this order.
Also, I added in all the bogo items to get me to $100.22.
Once everything on the belt is scanned, you have to hand over the $10/$100 FIRST. Otherwise, your total will be too low for it to work. Then proceed with your remaining cpns.

This was done with just using this weeks inserts and the Cub ad. My real run will vary from it, as I have many inserts here to choose cpns from.

Best of Luck!!

Abbrevations

Yes, believe it or not, there is coupon lingo!!

Here is what I will be using:
cpn: coupon
mfg: manufacturer
tgt cpn: target coupon
SS: smart source insert (in the Sunday paper)
RP: red plum insert (in the Sunday paper)
BOGO: buy one get one free
CAT: catalina coupon (prints at the register)
BC: before coupon total
AC: after coupon total
wyb: when you buy

Stores:
WM: WalMart
WAGS: Walgreens

I am getting ready to post my Cub list, but it is going to take a while. Check back later tonight for it!!!

Cub $10/$100 coupon

If you haven't already, head on over to Holiday Gas Station and put 12 gallons of gas in your vehicle. You have to pay inside, but they will give you a $10/$100 coupon for at Cub.

That is 10% off just for getting gas, which you need anyways!!!

I have looked at the ad that starts tomorrow, and there are a lot of good buys. I will put together my list tonight and post it.

But now, I need to head out and finish up my Sobe Water gift card deal at Target. Brrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and the furnace went out this morning. Lovely.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Coupons: Lesson 2

Many stores put out Store Coupons. Store coupons will usually have the stores name on them and will only work at that store.

Target is one of the stores that does this. If you go to their website, and scroll way to the bottom, you will see a link that says "Grocery Coupons". From there, you can print these coupons. They change coupons every 2 weeks.

There are a few ways to go about printing these coupons.
1) Print right at home from the Target website
2) Print at the kiosks in the stores (saves you paper)
3) Print at home from a coupon generator.

A coupon generator is a site that you can print full sheets of coupons from. So instead of using one piece of paper per coupon, you can get a page with five or more.

I like this one:
http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/view.php?pg=cpngenerator
http://www.afullcup.com is another one.

So, you have your store coupons printed. Now what??

Well, at Target, you can combine one store coupon and one mfg coupon per item. It allows you to use two coupons total per item.

Right now, Target has Ocean Spray Juice (64 oz) price cut for $1.99. There is a $1/1 mfg coupon out there and a $1/1 Target coupon on the website.

$1.99 store price
-$1.00 mfg coupon
-$1.00 target coupon
----------------
.01 overage

The $1/1 mfg coupons were in an insert a few weeks back, and are available on Ebay.

Another Target deal:
Sobe Life Water is Buy 10 for $10, get a $5 gift card. There are .50/1 hangtag coupons on the bottles.

$10.00
-$ 5.00 (.50/1 x 10) mfg cpns
-----------
$5.00 OOP (out of pocket) plus a $5 gift card for the first ten bottles.

Use that $5 gift card on your next ten, and they are free.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Southern Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Coleslaw

The Goods:
- Pork shoulder roast
- white vinegar
- apple cider vinegar
- salt
- pepper
- paprika
- italian seasoning
- onion
- sugar
- buns

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place pork roast in a roaster or deep glass baking dish.
Mix salt, pepper, paprika, italian seasoning, together and dry rub the roast. By changing the spices, you can change the flavor of the final product.
Cover the roaster or dish with tin foil, poking a few holes for steam to escape.
Bake at 350 until the pork is done. It will vary based on the size of the roast.

Once the roast is done, set it to the side to cool for a bit. In the meantime, mix up the sauce!
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp white sugar
Wisk this up. If you want it spicy, add a few dashes of hot sauce.

Shred the pork.
Pour the sauce over the pork and reheat.

Serve on buns with coleslaw as a side, or, with coleslaw on the sandwich for something different!

* If you find that the sauce isn't keeping the meat moist enough, go ahead and pour in a bit more vinegar. No need to mix up another batch of sauce, I just pour some more vinegar in.

ColeSlaw:
1/2 head cabbage
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp white sugar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Shred cabbage.
Mix together the vinegars, sugar, and pepper flakes.

Pour mixture over the cabbage and stir.
Cool in fridge until the meat is done.

Lessons learned on this recipe:
1) Do not set the bowl of coleslaw on the deck when it is 10 degrees out. It will freeze, and it will be gross.
2) Do not use the coleslaw bagged mixes at the store. A head of cabbage works better.
3) This meat freezes really well. Once thawed though, you may need to make some more sauce to go on top of it.
4) Roasts look small in the baking dishes. But once shredded, it really is a lot of meat!

Coupon Sources

Everytime I am in the stores, the cashiers or the customers behind me in line, are asking where I get my coupons.

There are 3 types of coupons.
1) Manufacturer coupons from the inserts in the paper
2) Store coupons (read Good at Target only, etc)
4) Manufacturer coupons from the internet

Most people get their coupons from the Sunday papers (or the Early Edition on Saturday) and think that is the only place to get coupons. The truth of it is, coupons are big business. When looking for coupons, there are a few options.

Ebay:
What?? I can BUY coupons?
For sure!!! Go to Ebay right now and type in the name of a product, followed but "coupons". Most sellers on Ebay sell in lots of 10 or 20 like coupons. You are paying for their time to collect the coupons, not the coupons themselves.

Right, but is it worth it?
It can be. Just run the numbers. For example, we have a cat. Our cat needs food. The food he eats is $4.00 a bag at WalMart, $4.49 at Target. Recently, there were $3/1 (read as $3 off 1 bag) coupons in the Sunday inserts. I did a quick search and found a seller that was selling lots of 20 for $2 plus $1 shipping. I paid a total of $3 to save $60 on an item that I need to buy anyways. To me, that is worth it. I will buy it and toss it in a tote to use as needed.

Clippers:
What they are:

There are a number of coupon clipping sites out there. Depending on the site, you can buy whole, complete inserts, just like you see in the paper on Sunday, or you can order individual coupons.

When to use a clipper:
I use clippers when I am looking for a coupon that I don't want 10 or 20 of. Sometimes, I just don't need that many of an item. It is rare though!!!
I also use clippers when I am looking for a bunch of complete inserts. Some weeks the whole insert has great coupons in it for items I use. I then use a clipper for inserts.

Internet Coupons:
Not all stores accept IP's (internet printed) coupons. They are generally "bricks" coupons, which means that each IP address can only print 2 coupons. It is a way of limiting the coupons. However, it also means that they are usually higher value than just the insert coupons.


-----------------
How do I decide if I should use a clipping service or Ebay?
I generally start with Ebay. But, I like to buy in bulk numbers, so that is why it works for me. Plus, if there are 4 or 5 different coupons that I am looking for, I can look for a seller that is in a neighboring state and order everything from them. Most sellers offer a shipping discount if you order multiple items from them. Plus, the closer the better. Sales are typically only a week long, so time is important.

Prices on Ebay and the clippers are generally very similiar on the "hot" coupons. The higher value the coupon, the more it will cost to buy one.

I do use the clippers if I see a sale on an item at a store that takes expired coupons. It is very hard to find expireds on Ebay, but there are some clippers that keep them instock. Cub Foods currently takes expireds, so if they are running a killer sale, my business goes to the clippers.

What happens to a coupon once it is redeemed?:
Once that coupon is redeemed, it goes to the back cash office and is then sent onto the clearing house. The coupons are tallied and the stores are reimbursed by the manufacturers for the coupons that they turn in. For every coupon that a store redeems, they are reimbursed the face value PLUS .08. So, if they turn in a $2 coupon, they actually get paid $2.08 from the manufacturer. It doesn't seem like a big profit, until you start running the numbers.

Lets say, just for kicks, that a store takes in 1000 coupons a week.
1000
x .08
------
$80.00/week

$80.00
x 52 (number of weeks per yr)
--------
$4160/year

Still not impressed? Then let's look at the number and apply it to a Big Box chain that has approx 1600 stores nationwide.

1600 x $4160 = $6,656,000 in pure profit for just taking coupons. Now is it worth it? It most definantly is!!!

----------------------
Sources: (My favorites)
Ebay: www.ebay.com

The Coupon Clippers (sells individually clipped coupons): www.thecouponclippers.com

The Coupon Masters: www.thecouponmaster.com

Coupons by Dede (sells clipped coupons, complete inserts, and expireds): www.coupondede.com

IP Coupons:
www.coupons.com

www.couponbug.com
www.smartsource.com

---------------------
Some tidbits:
3 out of 4 Americans use coupons.
$300B (yes billion) worth of coupons are printed by mfg'rs each year.
1% of those coupons are redeemed

---------------------
Okkie dokkie. That is a good lesson for tonight.
Questions? Please ask!!!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Tractors for Sale

Ya all didn't believe me did you!?!??!!

Linky:
http://www.usfarmer.com/equipment/search_results.htm?customerid=12119&slnid=1

Target Toy Clearance

Targets bi-annual toy reset is currently going on. What this means, is that a lot of the toys get marked down to 75% off. A great time to stock up for Christmas or birthday presents!!

Now, not all of the toys are 75% off. When in the clearance section, you will find some at 30% off, some at 50% off, and some at 75% off. If there is a toy in particular that you are interested in, be sure to scan it at the scanners in the aisles. Many times, they are marked incorrectly.

The rumor is, that some stores that aren't moving the toys will actually be marking toys to 90% off tomorrow morning. This is unheard of in the Target way of doing things. Typically, the only items to go 90% off are the holiday items (Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc).

What if you miss out this time around?
No biggie. There is also a toy reset done in July.

Welcome!!

Welcome to the new blog!

What will you find here?
Oh, a little bit of everything. It could be shopping tips, deals, or couponing ideas. It could be pictures of our adventures. You may even see a tractor for sale!!!