Some freebies to start with...

Here's a few quick current freebies and goodies:

Free Lean Cuisine

Free Thinsations Sample and Coupon

50 Free Photo Prints

BOGO Mousse

Saving Money Conclusion

Here's what I do....

• I rarely purchase things that are not on sale! My grocery bill would probably be double what it is if I didn't do this! Of course, there are many items that do not go on sale, but for the things that do--why pay more? 
• I try to be wise about using my coupons. If I am not going to use the item or it is not something we regularly purchase, I will pass the coupon onto someone else. The goal here is to save money; so if I am buying things just because I have a coupon, in the end, I am going to be spending more! If I have a high value coupon that will make something free or nearly free with a coupon, I will buy it to use as a gift or to donate.
• I price match at No Frills or Walmart. This allows me to make fewer trips out, but still lets me catch all the sales that I am looking for (and I'm saving gas by making only one stop!). Bring the flyer that you are matching from to the cashier when you are checking out; they must have the flyer to complete the transaction for you.
• For gifts, I will shop ahead! This past year, I was finished almost all of my Christmas shopping before October. During the year, I buy things I know the recipient(s) will love, so I don't have a large chuck of money going out in December and so that maybe I can catch the items on sale! I also use points or gift cards to puchase gifts. 
• I keep track of our spending. Not only does it help me see where we might be spending too much, but it's a neat thing to look back on in the future.
• I don't keep anything I'm not happy with. This is a big one! If you have bought something and once you get home you aren't happy with it or simply don't want it, return it! Anything you are not going to enjoy or use is a waste of money. Even if you can only get store credit, at least you don't have a pair of pants sitting in your closet that will never be worn. 

Some phrases you may come across while "couponing:"

•  “Stacking”—Using two or more coupons on a single items. Coupons must have different UPC codes. There are no stores in Ontario that allow you to stack coupons.
• “One per purchase”—this means that you can use one coupon for each item you have purchased. If you are buying three pizzas, that’s three coupons.
• “One per transaction”—No matter how many of the item you are buying, you can only use one coupon for the order.

• “SCOP” or “Scanning Code of Practice”-- The SCOP is a voluntary code that most stores in Canada participate in. If a product under $10 scans at more than the price on the shelf, this item is free for you. If it is over $10, then $10 is subtracted from the item's price. This occurs for the first of each incorrect item, and the rest are adjusted to be the correct price. You usually have to point this out to the cashier, so watch the prices as they are rung in.

 

Saving Money Part 2

Part 2:

Pay attention and be prepared. If you pay attention to your weekly sales flyers you will have a great advantage! Find a store that price matches and go there for all your shopping. With the competitor’s flyers, the store will match their sale prices. This saves you a trip! I price match at No Frills or Walmart, and will often be matching from 2-3 other stores in one trip. Remember that you can use coupons on these items as well. Take out all the coupons that you plan on using during your trip before you go to the store. This saves you fumbling at the till for that one that you "know is there somewhere!"

Should you buy in bulk? Buying in bulk can save you lots of money, but you have to use your math! That twelve pack of pasta sauce at Costco may seem like a good deal, but is it cheaper thqan buying twelve individual cans when they are on sale? As you start to pay attention to sale prices, you'll notice that not every bulk purchase is the better deal in the long run.

What is the unit price? It can be very hard to figure out the cheaper item to purchase when there are so many different sizes! When you are trying to find out which of two (or five!) items is the best one for you in terms of price, be on the look out for the unit price. The unit price will be the price per oz, ml, piece, etc. It will usually be located somewhere on the shelf price tag for the item (see the picture). The unit price is very helpful when you are looking at a bulk purchase as well. I was shopping for mayonaise a few weeks ago and since we always seem to run out (I know, I know! I need to stock up!), I wanted to buy the bigger size. However, the price per unit was about 75% MORE for the larger item! It was cheaper for me to get two normal sized jars, rather than the bigger bulk jar.

Savings Sites

The internet is one of the biggest resources when trying to save money with coupons and sales. Here are some sites I enjoy:

Think Coupons -- This is a listing of all the online or printable coupons out at the time.
Save.ca, Brandsaver (Proctor and Gamble), Gocoupons, Websaver --Your selected coupons are sent to you in the mail.

Smartcanucks -- Huge community with daily blog postings on good deals, savings, and coupons. This is a site to check daily! Also, there are “coupon trains” you can join to come across a variety of new coupons from other areas. Some links for that site: Current Printable Coupons, Freebies and Samples

I get all my coupons online, in the mail, in the flyers, and through trades.

Saving Money---Intermission!

Let's take a break from saving money to focus on a cool website to help you earn some FREE money!

Swagbucks! Seriously, sign up for this site right away! I have made $85 in Amazon gift cards through this site. It is a websearch and toolbar that gives you points for searching online. I earn about 25-35 points a day, and 450 points is a $5 Amazon gift card. I have made it my home page and have installed the toolbar, and when I want to go to a website I just do a search for it rather than type in the url. There are a ton of prize selections on the site and you also get points for any referrals (1 point for each of theirs up to 1000). You can also earn points by watching videos, doing polls, or completing offers; but I don't have time to sit and do all of that and the search toolbar works good enough for me.

Click on the banner below to start now!

Saving Money Part 1

Several people have been asking me for shopping and saving tips, so here they are!

Part 1:

Shop the sales and stock up! For instance, Campbell’s condensed soup often comes on sale for .44 or .59 a can; the regular price is .99. Stock up on sale rather than paying regular price when you run out. Keep a stock of items you will use and try to pay attention to the expiration dates. There are a lot of things that you can freeze as well. I never buy cheese regular price, but will buy 6-8 bricks on sale and freeze until we need them. This will last us until the next time it is on sale.  Toilet paper is another good thing to stock up on. It is on sale quite often, but is very expensive regular price. Some things that I do not buy if they are not on sale: shampoo/conditioner, toothpaste, TP, detergent, pasta, cereal, hamburger, soup, bread, pop, cake mizes, icing, and spaghetti sauce.

Use your coupons on sale items. This is where you can get the biggest bang for your buck! I often get things for free or almost free when using my coupons on sale items. Going back to the Campbell’s soup illustration, there is a coupon floating around right now for $1 off when you buy 3 cans. If I use this when the soup is on sale for .44 (like it is this week!), I will pay only .32 for 3 cans. If I use it when the soup is regular price, I would pay 1.97 for 3 cans.