WEEKLY COUPONS SAVINGS!

I put my coupons to good use this week and racked up some major savings!  Earlier in the week, I saved 53% off my grocery shopping at Gerbes.  Picked additional grocery items today and with only 2 coupons, still managed to score 27% off my purchases. 

Made out even better today at Walgreens.  On my first transaction I saved 27%, which is not great but not bad either.  On the second transaction, I bought 2 11.3 oz Folgers Classic Roast coffee, 4 Lays Stax potato chips 5.75 oz and one Oscar Mayer deli sliced ham 9 oz, for a grand total of $1.02.  For the first transaction, I matched coupons with sale items which also had register rewards.   I used the register rewards from the first transaction to pay for my second transaction, leaving me a balance due of $1.02.  Picked up their latest store coupon book while I was there and am looking forward to more great savings later in the month.

The money I save using coupons and the money I make from advertising on my blog and my Amazon store are all going toward my new investment plan.  I made a list of 60 dividend stocks I intend to purchase positions in over the next 2 to 3 years bringing my total annual dividend payments to at least one dividend per day.  It might sound overly ambitious, but I don't believe there is anything a person can't do, they simply have to figure out how they're going to do it.  Talk about cash flow, a dividend payment every day of the year sounds like ultimate cash flow to me :0).

HOW TO GET A 1250% RETURN INSTANTLY!

Racked up some great coupon savings at Walgreens this week!  I used register rewards from last week along with coupons on sale items.  I purchased personal care and grocery items which would normally retail for $30.65, for just $8.68 out of pocket.  From today's purchases I received $6.00 back in register rewards, making my actual cost $2.68, for a total savings of just over 91%!  I continued my savings spree at the grocery store, where I saved a handy 50% on food purchases.  I bought enough food at the store to make 6 meals for a total of $3.00 or 50 cents per meal! 

Picked up coupon booklets from my neighbor and a St. Louis Sunday paper to restock my coupon binder.  I spent $2 on the newspaper and got close to $100 in coupons!  Even if I only use 1/4th of the coupons I clip, what a phenomenal return on a $2 investment.  Wouldn't it be great if you could regularly do so well with stocks? 

This is why I get so excited about coupons.  If you spend $2 on a newspaper and get $25 in coupons that you actually use, that works out to a whopping 1250% return on your original investment!  What's even more amazing is that this is an instant 1250%, meaning if you repeated this each week just imagine what your annualized return would be.  The $2 per week would total $104 per year.  Multiply 52 weeks x $25 in usable coupons each week and you've managed to increase your original $104 buying power to $1300, or $108.33 per month on average.  

SUNDAY'S COUPON SAVINGS!!!

It was a banner day for coupons today!  Picked up 2 newspapers for $4.01 and got over $300 in coupons to restock my coupon binder.  Looking forward to a lot of great savings in the weeks to come :0). 

On my weekly trip to Walgreens I did two transactions.  The first transaction was for a new razor, eye drops and aspirin.  With coupons I saved a little over 60% on my first purchase.  For my second transaction I purchased grocery items including Bon Appetite meals, Pepsi 2 liters, toilet paper and paper towels.  With one register reward from the first transaction and 2 manufacturers coupons I saved over 90% on my second transaction, paying a total of $2.67 for my grocery/household items!  I ended up spending a total of $20 cash, however I also received $16 in register rewards to use on next weeks shopping trip. 

So although I spent $20, next week I'll get to spend $16 out of that $20 again on additional purchases.  With all the coupons from today's paper and $16 in register rewards, I'm really looking forward to next weeks ad!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe new year's eve and new years day!  Got my new year off to a great start by replenishing my supply of coupons from Sunday's inserts.  Picked up some bargains, including a new Kindle as a late Christmas gift, on my regular Sunday shopping trip.  In total I saved 50% off my bill with coupons and sale match ups, almost enough to pay for the Kindle.

Coupons do take time and effort, but are well worth it.  I spent about 4 hours Sunday clipping coupons and getting them organized.  But I estimate I'll save several hundred dollars in the next couple of months just from this past Sunday's coupons!  Not bad for a few hours work. 

MORE ADVENTURES IN EXTREME COUPONING!!!

Just got back from my weekly trip to Walgreens.  I bought $27 worth of merchandise for $8.60.  I used a $5 coupon matched with a sale on a Gillette Fusion razor system, normally $12.99, on sale for $9.99 with a $4 register reward.  With the manufacturers coupon, I paid $4.99 for the razor and got $4 back in register rewards.  For my second purchase I bought 2 bottles of my favorite laundry detergent, which was on sale buy one get one free.  The laundry soap was $6.99 a bottle, with the second bottle free.  Using the $4 register reward it made the total for both bottles $2.99 plus tax for a total of $3.22.  Less than half the price of one bottle of detergent!

So, for less than the sale price of the razor ($9.99), I got the razor and 2 bottles of laundry detergent.  The razor will make a nice Christmas gift and they don't have to know I only paid .99 cents for it ;0).

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Heading off to the family Thanksgiving Dinner, just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Had a great morning of early shopping at Walgreens.  They had some fantastic deals for Thanksgiving day and the Black Friday shopping weekend.  Was able to match coupons and sales to purchase $150.00 in merchandise, including a new blood pressure monitor and bath scales that I'd been wanting for a total of $45.00.  I ended my trip with a $6 register reward, so I got everything for $39.00 or a little less than the regular price of the blood pressure monitor.  Along with the scales and the monitor I also got an additional 14 personal care and household items.  Not a bad haul for the price of one blood pressure monitor.

EXTREME COUPONING

TLC's show "Extreme Couponing" has become one of my favorite shows.  I don't get to watch it at its' normal show time, so I catch up by watching the marathons on weekends.  Was truly inspired by the 16 year old from California who had filled his mother's garage with products after taking up couponing.  I personally only buy items I use or can share with family and friends, however, I can see the appeal of picking up any free items.

While my personal couponing habits would not qualify me for the show, I did save over 30% on this weeks grocery shopping and a whopping 60% on my Sunday morning trip to Walgreens!  Walgreens has become my favorite store by far.  I rarely go to Walmart, Kmart, Family Dollar or Dollar General anymore.  I get the majority of my personal care items, household cleaning products and some food items from Walgreens.  It's quick, easy and by matching coupons with sales and register rewards, it's next to impossible to beat their deals.  They also have some of the friendliest, most helpful staff members of any store I've ever shopped.  Keep up the good work Walgreens!!!

SAVED 50%+ SHOPPING AT WALGREENS!!!

My adventures in extreme couponing continue with today's shopping trip to Walgreens.  I matched coupons with advertised sales and register rewards for a savings of over 50%!  I purchased over $100 worth of merchandise including toothpaste, laundry detergent, lip balm, mouthwash, soft drinks, snack items, candy, coffee, kleenex, Aleve and Bayer aspirin and paid a little over $40 for everything.  My total savings was over $50 or over 50% of my purchase.  Making half of everything I purchased free!!!

I take Aleve (for arthritis) and Bayer low-dose aspirin (for my heart) on a regular basis.  Was extremely happy to get a 6 month supply of both at next to nothing!  When you're looking to trim a few bucks from your budget, you just can't beat coupons!

SAVED 41% ON MY GROCERY SHOPPING AT GERBES!

Didn't really need much in the way of groceries at home, but am planning to spend an extended weekend with friends at their Lake Ozark condo, so I picked snack and food items to take along on my trip.  For $18.26 I got: 2 boxes Cheez Its snack crackers 13 oz., 2 boxes Stouffers Stuffed Peppers, 1 bag fun size Baby Ruth candy bars, 1 bag fun size Butter Finger candy bars, 2/4pks. Yoplait Yogurt and 2 pkgs. Chips Ahoy cookies.  The peppers will make a nice dinner one night, saving some cash by not eating out.  The snack items will come in handy while we hang out and watch movies or play cards at the condo.  The regular retail price of items purchased:  $30.68.

SAVED 50% ON MY SUNDAY SHOPPING AT WALGREENS!!!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE SHOPPING AT WALGREENS?!!!  I'm sure I have.  Today was another great shopping experience there.  Even though it was one of their less spectacular ads, I was able to match up coupons with advertised sales and register rewards for a savings of a little over 50%!  What a deal.  I spent only $19.01 but I got Folgers coffee, 2 packs of bagels, 3 Carmex and 1 Blistex lip balm, Infusium shampoo, Colgate Pro Relief Sensitive toothpaste, 12 double roll pack of Angel Soft toilet paper and 2 cans of Comet cleanser with bleach.  Not a bad hall, will be a nice addition to my stockpile. 

The thing I love most about Walgreens is the great deals, but I also like shopping there because it is so convenient compared to the big box retailers.  No long lines, no hateful employees, no third degree over every coupon and no isles piled with freight.  Fast, friendly service, neat, clean and well stocked store!  Fantastic, keep up the good work!

Between Walgreens and the grocery stores (mostly Gerbes and Schnucks), I'm down to spending $40 or less per week even though I'm purchasing about 5 times as much in groceries!  It's all about matching the coupons with the sales. 

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

Well here it is, August 2nd, central Missouri continues to suffocate under sweltering heat, I'll sure be glad when the heat wave is over.  The heat in Washington saw some relief with the deal to raise the debt ceiling, although I wouldn't say it was a victory for either side or for the U.S. economy for that matter.  Be that at is may, most seasoned investors know that adverse market reactions to bad economic news make for great times to pick up bargains on good stocks.  So I'll be concentrating on adding to some of my positions while prices are down and looking for bargains on new additions to my portfolio.  I think I made a good decision to sell some stock last month and pay off high interest debt.  Not only did I free up cash flow, but I got out of the stocks before further declines and put the money to good use.

Collected some great dividend payments at the end of July and the first part of August, so I'm pretty happy about that.  My investment company added an FDIC insured account for parking cash as an option to their traditional money market account.  With the interest on the FDIC account being .5% compared to .01% for the money market account, I've moved my cash to the insured account to pick up some additional interest. 

While the stock market is not doing so well, I've been racking up bargains right and left with couponing.  Picked up $97 worth of merchandise at Walgreens Sunday for just $24 and saved another 67% on my weekly grocery shopping at Gerbes.  The only problem I'm having is finding anything I actually need.  I've built up such a stockpile of groceries, household and personal care items that my shopping lists are getting smaller and smaller.  The good thing about that is I'm able to wait for the very best deals.  Which means that my average savings are going up with each trip to the store.  When I started couponing, I was averaging a 20-25% savings each trip.  Now I routinely save 50-75% on my purchases, allowing me to keep more of my hard earned money. 

MORE ADVENTURES IN COUPONING! SMALLER STORES VERSUS BIG BOX RETAILERS

Have had a busy couple of weeks.  We've been short handed at work, so I've been picking up extra hours there.  Also sold off a few shares of non performing stocks and put the money to better use paying off some high interest debt.  I'm on schedule to have all my debt paid off by the end of next year, at the latest.  So I'm pretty happy about that.  As it is my free cash flow has increased dramatically from the debt payoffs. 

I've also been busy with my couponing.  In the 2 1/2 months I've been matching coupons with store sales I've managed to build a sizable stockpile of household and personal care products.  I now have enough surplus to help supply 3 additional households.  It really feels good to be able to assist others, something I could not afford much of before using coupons.

On my most recent trips to the grocery store I saved 40 and 42% off my grocery bill.  On my latest Sunday shopping trip to Walgreens I was able to purchase $115 worth of merchandise for $49 with the use manufacturers coupons.  Where shopping used to be a chore for me, I find now that I'm excited to go to the store.  Can't wait to see what kind of deals I'll find next!

One thing that has really surprised me is that I'm doing a lot less shopping at the big box retailers.  I always assumed they had the lowest prices overall.  While this is true of some of the items they carry, I've found that I'm getting much better deals at the grocery stores and Walgreens than I was getting by shopping Kmart, Walmart or Target.  I'm sure it depends on what you buy most, but in my case, I'm doing less and less shopping at the big discount stores and more of my shopping at the smaller establishments.  In my area, the customer service at the smaller stores blows the big boys out of the water.  I'm not sure why this is, but I find my shopping trips much more enjoyable in the smaller stores. 

SAVED 37.5% ON THIS WEEKS' GROCERY BILL!

My grocery budget for this week is $25 but I plan to purchase $40 in groceries.  I scanned the grocery store ads in Wednesdays' paper to see who was having the best sales on items I needed.  I decided to make all my purchases at the local Gerbes store.  This week the store is running a special:  if you buy 10 of any items from a large selection, you recieve $5 off.  I picked out 10 items I currently need, plus some stock up items, and prepared my shopping list.  I then matched up items on my list with the current coupons I have on hand.  I was able to find another $8 off with coupons.  They also have a special on one of the stock up items I'm buying, so if I buy 5 I'll get a catalina for $2 good towards my next in store purchase.  

So this trip I'll spend $25 out of pocket and I'll get another $15 in groceries free, for a total savings of 37.5%.  This does not include the frequent shopper's discount I'll get at the register when I use my shopper's card, so the total savings will most likely be higher than 37.5%, but even if that weren't the case I'm still getting a great deal.  The $15 I'm saving on this trip represents the entire cost of 2 bottles of Wisk laundry detergent, 2 large bottles of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice and a weeks supply of Yoplait yogurt, making them entirely free! 

MY BIGGEST SAVINGS TO DATE WITH COUPONS!

Sunday I made my weekly Walgreens trip and scored my largest savings to date.  I purchase $178 worth of merchandise for $56 in cash.  By taking advantage of advertised sales, manufacturers coupons and register rewards I was able to save around 70% overall.  I got several items entirely free with coupons and register rewards including 4 Dove Men Care body wash, 2 Sun laundry detergent (75 loads), 2 Dove Men Care deodorant, 2 Reach toothbrushes and 2 Colgate Total toothpaste.  Since I've already accumulated about a years worth of deodorant, body wash and bar soap and about 6 months worth of laundry detergent, I was able to give some of the surplus to family members to save them a little money as well. 

While it didn't have anything to do with coupons, I also got the best deal ever on a 27" LCD TV.  I've wanted one for a long time, but wanted to wait until the prices went down.  Since my televisions both work great, I didn't see any need to replace them right away, so I've held off buying.  As it turned out, the guy who rides to work with me bought a larger LCD and gave me his old one free of charge.  You just can't beat free!  I've decided to put my oldest television in the next yard sale and use the cash to purchase more items for my stockroom. 

SAVED 61% ON MY WALGREENS PURCHASES!!!

Got up early this morning, got my coupons clipped from the paper and made my weekly trip to Walgreens.  This trip I purchased several personal care items for my stockpile, soft drinks, pasta and miscellaneous items, which would normally have cost me $27.06.  With coupons, register rewards and advertised pricing I saved a total of $16.57 or a little over 61% off my total bill!

Not quite sure, but I think 61% might be the highest percentage off on any of my shopping trips so far.  Like I've said before, I may never get to 100%+ savings like some of the people on TLC, but if I can consistently save 30-75% off, I'll be extremely satisfied.  By far, the biggest savings for me is how little I eat out anymore.  I went from eating out 8 or more times per week to practically 0.  The food I fix at home is so much better than what I got at the restaurants.  It's healthier, tastier and a whole lot less expensive.

For more printable coupons, I have added links to Coupon Mom and Coupon Cabin on the MBCI link exchange section.  Happy Savings!!! 

SUNDAY SAVINGS OF OVER 50% AT WALGREENS!!!

Sunday, June 12, 2011:  Made my Sunday morning trip to Walgreens, which is rapidly becoming a ritual with me.  As long as I keep finding great deals, I'll keep going.  On today's trip I saved over 50% off my bill with sale items, store and manufacturer coupons and register rewards. 

I spent $29.12 out of pocket in two transactions.  I got a total in savings of $29.23 with $3.00 in register rewards to use towards future purchases.  On this trip I picked up snack items, soft drinks and coffee, body wash and bath soap, paper towels and facial tissue, lip balm, toothpaste and toothbrushes, bandages and antibiotic cream.  I bought multiples of each item, so I'm stocked up for quite a while.  Looking forward to next week's advertised specials from Walgreens!

One thing I've noticed since I've started couponing:  Even though I thought I'd never build up huge stockpiles of products, I have stocked up enough groceries, household and personal care items that I could go quite some time before having to buy anything else.  Which could come in very handy should some unexpected expenses, (like car repairs or trips to the doctor), pop up.  Even if that doesn't happen, having these items on hand allows me more time to build my coupon collection and look for big money saving deals.  I'm now beginning to see how the people on TLC's "Etreme Couponing" manage to get so much for so little.  But even if I never get to that point, I'm pretty happy about saving 25% to 50% on a regular basis.  It allows me to live a much better life while spending a lot less money. 

WEEK IN REVIEW

Been busy at work this week, not really sure why.  With school out and being past the first of the month, the restaurant business usually slows down, but not this time around.  Got in some extra hours, but the heat has really been getting to me. 

Added to my positions in PFF, AEA and CNP in my taxable portfolio and AFL in my IRA account.  Also made a cash deposit to my IRA to purchase shares of B&G Foods.  Earned some extra cash on Sendearnings.com, will be getting another check from them soon.  I'll be adding that to my regular investment account.  Stocks have had a turbulent week to say the least, but it's helped me pick up shares at a lower price, so I'm not entirely disappointed with that.  I'm looking for a few good months of lower prices to help build up my holdings.  Want to be in a good position when the market eventually starts to rebound, in the mean time I'll be happy to collect the dividends along the way.

Still learning as much as I can about "extreme couponing".  It fits in so well with my whole savings and investment plan and has already allowed me to increase monthly cash deposits to my accounts.  As I get better at saving on purchases, I'm planning to redirect all the savings towards income producing investments.

Read an interesting article on CNBC.com today about OPEC.  Ex CIA director, James Woolsey said, in order to be really secure the U.S. has to "break oil's monopoly over transportation and to break OPEC's monopoly over oil."  He makes the point that we are currently funding both sides of the war on terror by fueling the coffers of the very terrorists who seek to destroy the United States.  I've always thought the way to put a stop to terrorism is to take away the money, in other words find a replacement for imported oil.  Without the billions we spend on oil, funds for terrorism would soon dry up.  It can be done, we as a nation just have to make up our minds to do it.   

GREAT RESOURCE FOR LEARNING EXTREME COUPONING!

In one of my latest searches on couponing, I came across a great website to learn how to maximise your savings with coupons.  It's called The Krazy Coupon Lady and you can visit her website by clicking on the title of this post or by following the link on my link exchange.  I'm personally hooked on shopping at Walgreens and she has a fantastic video showing you how to get the best deals when shopping their sales.  If you're interested in saving money by couponing, this is one site you definitely don't want to miss!

MORE COUPON SAVINGS FROM SUNDAY PAPER!!!

The coupons from Sunday's paper and some of the new printable coupons from Sendearnings have netted me some fantastic deals today!  I used 2 manufacturers coupons from the paper and a register rewards coupon to pick up laundry soap and fabric softener for 60% off!  Also picked up an extra in store coupon booklet and got 33% off on Chex Mix and Bugles, making one bag free!  I found these sale items at Walgreens, where I also purchase AA batteries on sale and got a $1 register rewards coupon good on my next purchase.  Overall I saved a little over 50% on my Walgreens purchases!!!  Got some Nestle's Crunch candy bars almost free with double coupons at Gerbes.  Will be anxiously awaiting the grocery store sale ads on Wednesday to plan my latest shopping trip with my new stockpile of coupons.  I've got a grocery budget for the next 2 weeks of just $40, so I'll really have to stretch the dollars, but I've done well in the past few weeks and have quite a stock built up so I'm thinking it won't really be all that hard to stay within budget.  It would be great if I could do the two weeks on $20.  We'll see how it goes. 

One handy tip I've learned about couponing:  I use most of my $1 or over coupons at Walmart, since the local grocery stores do not double coupons over $1.  The coupons for less than a dollar I save to use at the grocery stores, where I'll get twice as much off my purchase through double coupons, which often makes it less expensive than purchasing the item at discount stores and just getting the face value of the coupon.  It doesn't always work out that way, so I before I use some coupons, I'll do a little price checking to see where I'll get the better deal. 

MORE COUPON MADNESS AT SCHNUCK'S 10 FOR $10 SALE!!!

Took advantage of Schnuck's 10 for $10 sale this week to stock up on some groceries!  I purchased a total of 32 items including hot dogs, lunch meat, frozen entrees, chimichangas, steak burritos, cole slaw, Healthy Choice soups, pasta sides, Crunch and Munch, salad mixes and salad dressings.  The grand total before discounts and coupons came to $59.39!  After store discounts on sale items, manufacturers coupons and store doubling on coupons, my final total was $33.81 for a total savings of $22.58!!!  That works out to around a 38% savings on my overall purchases.  Could have saved even more, but I didn't pay close enough attention on checkout and was overcharge by $1.90 and didn't get credit for one of my $1 coupons.  Still not too bad for a couple hours work....