Contacting Companies for Coupons

I have seen this on a few blogs. Contacting companies and receiving coupons from them. I have gone back and forth on trying this and have decided it does not take much of my time to send a quick email to a company we use and letting them know how we like their product. You could even mention a problem with a product from a company if you need to. I am starting today with Zatarains. A friend of ours makes terrific jambalaya and I wanted to learn how he made it. One day he showed me-he used the Zatarain's as a base, added chicken and smoked sausage (or even some crawdad :). It's easy, fast and fills up my big family quick! So, I decided ot write them and let them know how much we enjoy your product.

Couponing to Disney is where I first saw this idea. She does a 5 A Day and gives suggestions of companies to contact. She also gives a great tutorial on how best to contact the companies-how to make it personal, but not overly personal.

Also, here is a terrific list of some companies you might use and a quick link to each of them. That is where I found the Zatarain's link and decided to make it my first company.

I will try another company tomorrow. I will not try a new company everyday, but would like to get to atleast 3 a week. I will post later on to let you know how it is going. Perhaps a few freebies, or maybe just some good money-off coupons. But, to spend a few minutes of my time (honestly, that is all that email to Zatarains took) is worth it to see how this works out.

Aren't Coupons Just for Junk Food?

I get asked this question all the time! You won't believe how often I get asked this :) If you coupon and share about your experience, I bet you have been asked this too. Or, I get told that there are better deals at Aldi. Yes, I know that as well :) I think there is a taboo that comes with people's thoughts on couponers-they must be buying only name brands all the time, they must be spending more than if they would just buy store brands, it has to be all junk or processed foods...
The only 'junk' or processed foods in my cabinet or freezer/fridge from this last shopping trip are-

snack packs for my husband's lunches (which I save right there when he takes a lunch instead of buying)-bought these with a coupon and it equals out to about 25 cents per package and will last him about 3 weeks.

frozen item-bought with coupon and it cost me only $1-this will be a quick dinner for DH one night when he doesn't want to eat leftovers-lol! He is not a leftover sort of guy unless I disguise it.

another frozen item-bought with coupon and it cost a $1-another quickie dinner for DH.

mac and cheese-store brand that I bought with a rancheck issued for a sale from 2 weeks ago. Quick meal for a busy night accompanied by good veggies and a protein.

Now, I know I have other processed things-these are just a couple deals I wanted to share. But I do have far more healthy things in my kitchen than processed. Yes, some were bought at Aldi, but some were bought using coupons and getting better deals from other stores with those coupons.

Frozen peas-used a coupons from Coupons.com and got the peas for 75 cents. These will last us a few meals.

Dish soap-big bottle, used coupon from Coupons.com and got it for 78 cents. This should last me over a month!

soy candles-free with coupon from a previous Sunday insert-and they smell so lovely!! Will be nice to light up when the cooler weather comes in :)

seasoning salt-also a coupon from Coupons.com-msg free and it cost me only 36 cents-almost free :)

Basically-what I am trying to say is that coupons are out there for things you need or want-they are not just for cakes, frostings, junk foods, etc... And you can find some good deals. My trip to one store saved me about $2-not alot, but combine that with my trip to Walmart and I saved about 25% or more on my total shopping trip this paycheck! We have a budget of about $300-$350 each paycheck (depending on what I might need to stock up on or what we may be out of that particular week) and this time around, I kept my bill under $300. To be a bit more precise, it was right around $286-and that was with a special trip to Reasor's last night to pick up some sodas on sale for Labor Day and  for my DH's lunches. I am stocked up on ground beef for probably the whole month. I have a whole chicken that will make one meal this paycheck and a soup later on when the weather is a bit cooler. I have preformed burgers from Aldi for Labor Day cookout and some will be left over for another meal or quick dinner for DH. I even was able to buy a couple items for when the Holidays come-Im trying to stock up now so money will not be so tight during those times :)

Junk food-nope! Not even close! No good deals-hey, free candles are fun (and if there are no scents you might like-how about adding them into a present for a friend-or use it in a gift basket ;), and it is always a blast to buy items for less than a $1 or for almost free!! It does take time to learn all this coupon stuff when you start out, but it does add up! I estimated if I save even $20 per paycheck-paid bi-weekly-I can save us $520/year! That could make a nice family vacation for us! Or, it could be put aside into an emergency fund. Right now, it is blessing us to make it paycheck to paycheck :) Eventually, I hope to tuck away atleast half of what I save and keep it for a goal-like Christmas, a family trip, whatever we can decide on :)

Need Help with Beginning Couponing?

I hear so often people saying using coupons does not work for them. They never find good deals, there are only coupons out there for processed foods, etc. But, learning about couponing is the first step to saving money. I am about in the middle of this learning process, as I don't save huge percentages off my bill. But, I have a goal to keep learning how the great coupon divas do it, so I do my research and keep clipping or printing :)

There are many blogs out there, as well as forums, that really help me with this. But, to start off, here are some good sites that give you info on how to get started. You can take the time, little by little each day to read through them-get the basics and start trying on your own. This is how I started out. How much do I save on an average trip? Probably about 15-20% of my bill--not too bad. Last trip to Walmart, I saved more than that. But, if I had hit one of our stores that double coupons up to $1, I could have saved even more! Probably about 50% of my bill. But, that store is a bit out of my way, and I had already done my shopping for the two weeks when I found out about the deals...

One important thing, no matter if you use coupons or not, is being sure of your prices at different stores. I do know there are things at Aldi that are less than most other stores. But, I know Aldi's prices pretty well by heart now and if I see a sale at another store, I can tell if it will be a good deal or not. This also helps with my couponing. Also, don't use a coupon just because you have it-unless it is a new product you want to try, or you know it is a good deal. I will often wait for deals to use certain coupons-like, say, for cereals.

Here are some good sites to check out. Also, keep an eye open on those blogs I have listed to the right-these ladies search out the good deals and share them with their readers. They have really helped me save and I bet they can help you too!

Coupon Basics

Dollar Stretcher: Using Coupons

Dollar Stretcher: Coupon Article Section

How to Coupon Effectively

Coupons

The Simple Dollar: Coupons

Loving the Kraft and Kellog's Coupons!

I hit Walmart yesterday and used my coupons I had printed out the other day :) Our Walmart (and perhaps all of them) have certain Kellogg's cereals marked down-MiniWheats, MiniWheats Lil Bites, Raisin Bran, and one other I cannot remember :) They are $2 a box, and I had $1 off coupons. Great deal! Then, I used my Kraft BBQ sauce coupons to buy 2 bottles of BBQ sauce that were 98 cents each. My coupons were for $1-so I got them free and had an extra 4 cents taken off-it adds up ;) Used my $1 off Kraft salad dressing-made that 58 cents. I had a coupons for Kraft Mayo--not marked down, but the cost of it with coupon made it less than Aldi's mayo, so I bought it to have on hand. $1.50 off 2 coupon for Oscar Mayer hot dogs-could have saved more here, but I bought DH some cheese dogs($2.50) and one pack of the meat dogs ($1.50). Next time I will purchase the 2 packs of all meat and save about 20 cents over the other hot dogs I usually buy.

There were other savings, but all-in-all, I saved over $12. Not a huge savings compared to some of those lovely coupon divas I admire so much, but it thrilled me :)

I even got a complement on my coupon notebook-thrilled me :) I was temtped to tell the lady all about it, but the store was crazy and I was really ready to leave :)

Reminder-Check Those Coupons!!

Take some time this week to go through all your coupons-take out the old and expired ones and throw them away, send to someone who might be able to use them (I have heard our soldiers can use them in commissaries-not too sure on this, so you might ask around) or recycle them :)

Couponing

Im so excited today! I get to tell some Homeschool moms about how I use my coupons :) I imagine some will already know the methods I use, or have seen them before, but it doesn't hurt to maybe learn something new, or get refreshed :)


I have shown you all the notebooking method I use. It has really helped me keep track of my coupons much better. The ones I am not sure I will use I still hold onto.

Here is my method:

Every Sunday, I go through my Sunday paper and look through the coupons. I immediately cut out the coupons I know I will use-toothpaste, hair products, certain pain relievers, etc...things that my family will use everyday, almost, and I would like to save money on. When I am done with those coupon sections, I fold them in half (fold the top over the bottom, so to speak). Then, I take those sections (keep that Sunday's sections folded together-will explain why in a minute) and place them into an accordion file which I have labeled for each month of the year. Also, to help keep things a bit simple and less bulky, while I am looking through those coupon sections, I pull out those ads that are in there-you know, the ones for the shoes, the lil adorable baby dolls, jewelry, etc and throw them away. I do not need them, I do not use them and they will just take up too much room :) Yes, I know, it's just paper, but enough of those can take up too much valuable coupon space ;)
Now, why do I fold each week's coupon sections up together? And, why do I save them? Well, I fold them together because it makes it easier to locate each week, within that month, and I can find coupons for those deals these wonderful bloggers post about later on! On the side of pretty much each coupon section, in teeny-tiny print are the dates :) If I keep these sections together by date, it makes it much easier than trying to read each section for their date! I also started, since this past weekend, writing the dates on the outside too!! In BIG numbers-lol!! Now, I can see the dates quickly. So, when some wonderful, amazing blogger share Such and such is on sale at This and That Place and I can use So and So coupon from Supersaver (usually listed as SS on the blogs) or Red Plum (listed as RP), etc...I can go to that month's coupon section in my accordion file, pull out that week's coupon section and go right to that particular coupon section to find my coupon-I put it in my notebook under the area that is for use this week and add that to my shopping list-with the word coupon written beside it so I do not forget ;)
This has helped me. Last time, I once again saved over $10 at Walmart. Not a whole lot, but what can you do with an extra $10? That could be at least 5 days of lunches for my kids-or perhaps 2 dinners for my whole family (with frugal recipes of course ;) It can be almost a half tank of gas for our Durango. Or, maybe even a treat for myself-like a new shirt or something :) But, I often like knowing that money is in our bank account for other uses ;)
So, sorry for this coupon review--I know I have talked about it before, but maybe there is a new reader who might like it! And, please, keep an eye out on the blogs listed in the frugal section--you will find some wonderful ladies who really have searched for great deals using the coupons! You won't be sorry!!

Shopping Notebook Pictures

Here ya go...This is the front-basic lil binder from Walmart (or any other store :)

This is the inside-front...This particular notebook has two pockets in the front and back insides of the binder. I like this better than the ones with the single pocket. It allows more places to put things like my pen, my coupon cutting scissors, and any other things I might need. I also like to keep calendars for the current month and the next to keep up with planning meals, special days or even keeping track of paydays.

Here is my paper-pretty basic here-lol! This is where I write my list (on the right paper) and make my menu for the two weeks (on the left paper). I accidentally purchased a small notebook than my first one. My old notebook was a 2 inch binder. This new one is 1 1/2 in. Not a big deal, but I did discover that the 70 ct notebook I use to plan in was too big to fit in the new binder. I like to use the 70 ct notebook because it holds the paper and I don't lose pages. I often like to refer back to previous menus to keep track of what we have eaten recently and mix things up a bit. I am noticing, even already, that just using paper (notebook paper or, as I did, ripping the pages out of my 70 ct notebook) can leave you with weak pages as you go along with your planning down the road. So, if you plan to do this, I highly suggest at least a 2 inch binder...This allows you a good amount of room to hold your paper and your plastic trading card pages...

Below is a picture of the sort of trading cards pages I bought. Each page has nine pockets. I only use the front of each page-this, to me, makes it less hard to pull out a coupon that I do not intend to come out...does that make sense? If I put the coupons back to back in the pockets, I might accidentally pull out the other coupon when I am only intending to get the one on top...
And, lastly, here is a picture of one of my coupon pages-sort of a close up to show how I just slide the coupons into the pocket...Coupon won't fit? Fold it a bit to make it fit. Some coupons, even when folded, are a bit long...that's ok, place them into a pocket within the 2nd or 3rd rows. Doing this means they will not hang out of your binder and get ruined. I was worried the coupons would not go in and out easily, but after my big coupon shopping trip to Walmart yesterday, I have to say I was very pleased with my new set up :)