Do you know exactly what is in your pantry, in your cupboards and in the freezer?
Are you finding that you have more than a year's worth of free toothpaste in the bathroom, but you're running out of mouthwash because you forgot to buy enough?
This week's challenge is to take stock of your stockpile and make sure you are using your real estate wisely... make a list of items you have more than enough of... things that are maintaining and items that you could (with the right sale and coupons) use more of...
It's also a great time to spring clean and send some canned goods and toiletries you aren't going to use up to those who are less fortunate than you! Food banks and shelters can always use our extras and freebies we thought we'd love... do you really need 6 large containers of rolled oats?
Don't forget to watch for items that may be coming close to their best before dates!
Showing posts with label couponing101. Show all posts
Showing posts with label couponing101. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
It doesn't pay to throwaway...
I know that I preach the value of stockpiling and buying copious quantities of things when they come on sale... but it pays to remember - you won't eat what's expired and if you throw it away, you throw away your money too!
I was inspired to write this reminder today by a blog post I found on my Sunday bloggy travels.. You know it's bad when the velveeta's expired from the blog The Bormann Twins which I found through The SITSGirls...
It brings up three important points to remember in our couponning frenzy -
1. Buy what you know you will use in a given period of time ... if you know that your cereal is on a 3 month sale rotation, only buy what you will use in those 3 months give or take... (This is where your price book/grocery records can come in handy... one of my friends T also marks each box of cereal with the date she bought it and then the date she opens it, so she can track her usage!)
2. Even if you have a coupon, if you don't have a need- don't buy it... the only exception to this rule are freebies and money makers - and those you should donate right away if you are not going to use them!
3. Keep your pantry/fridge organized and do a monthly inventory... check all the expiry dates on everything - including the velveeta, condiments and even the pantry items - especially things like pancake mix and cake mixes etc... if the expiry date is within a month or two, use it up - or donate it!
That's this week's challenge to everyone - take a peek in your pantry, cupboards and fridge and find the stuff that is already staledated or going out... and do something about it! I'll have a check in on Sunday next week to see what everyone has unearthed...
***I also want to stress the health and safety of keeping your items fresh - here is a link to some excellent advice on food and expiry dates
**** and don't forget to stop by Acting Balanced today for a yummy recipe - it's MMMmonday!
I was inspired to write this reminder today by a blog post I found on my Sunday bloggy travels.. You know it's bad when the velveeta's expired from the blog The Bormann Twins which I found through The SITSGirls...
It brings up three important points to remember in our couponning frenzy -
1. Buy what you know you will use in a given period of time ... if you know that your cereal is on a 3 month sale rotation, only buy what you will use in those 3 months give or take... (This is where your price book/grocery records can come in handy... one of my friends T also marks each box of cereal with the date she bought it and then the date she opens it, so she can track her usage!)
2. Even if you have a coupon, if you don't have a need- don't buy it... the only exception to this rule are freebies and money makers - and those you should donate right away if you are not going to use them!
3. Keep your pantry/fridge organized and do a monthly inventory... check all the expiry dates on everything - including the velveeta, condiments and even the pantry items - especially things like pancake mix and cake mixes etc... if the expiry date is within a month or two, use it up - or donate it!
That's this week's challenge to everyone - take a peek in your pantry, cupboards and fridge and find the stuff that is already staledated or going out... and do something about it! I'll have a check in on Sunday next week to see what everyone has unearthed...
***I also want to stress the health and safety of keeping your items fresh - here is a link to some excellent advice on food and expiry dates
**** and don't forget to stop by Acting Balanced today for a yummy recipe - it's MMMmonday!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Coupon Exchange Idea!
One of my friends from Moms Club has introduced me to great way to do a continuing coupon exchange with your friends!
All you need is:
A few other couponers
1 gallon size freezer bag per person
1 index card per person
something else for each person to take their swapped coupons home!
A bag or box to keep the bags in, and another bag or envelope for expired coupons to send to the troops...
How it works:
Each person brings their coupons to trade in their freezer bag and writes their name at the top of an index card and slips it in the bag. You pass your bag to the next person and they write their name onto the index card and then go through the bag to take what they need...
This continues until everyone has gone through all the bags and taken what they need.. the coupons are then combined into one bag until the next time... invite more people to the table and they can start with the new coupon bags, but also go through any of the previous bag to find needed coupons... if you've already gone through you won't have to again... that's what the index cards are for - to make sure you know what bags you don't need to look through...
A couple of tips:
As you look through each bag -if you are first - pull any already expired coupons and set them aside for the Coupons for Troops program
If you are last - if there are coupons that will expire before you meet again, pull those too and put them into the expired coupons.
Our group has been meeting periodically - at other events or just getting together for lunch and passing the bags around :)
Do you participate in coupon exchanges? How do you organize them?
All you need is:
A few other couponers
1 gallon size freezer bag per person
1 index card per person
something else for each person to take their swapped coupons home!
A bag or box to keep the bags in, and another bag or envelope for expired coupons to send to the troops...
How it works:
Each person brings their coupons to trade in their freezer bag and writes their name at the top of an index card and slips it in the bag. You pass your bag to the next person and they write their name onto the index card and then go through the bag to take what they need...
This continues until everyone has gone through all the bags and taken what they need.. the coupons are then combined into one bag until the next time... invite more people to the table and they can start with the new coupon bags, but also go through any of the previous bag to find needed coupons... if you've already gone through you won't have to again... that's what the index cards are for - to make sure you know what bags you don't need to look through...
A couple of tips:
As you look through each bag -if you are first - pull any already expired coupons and set them aside for the Coupons for Troops program
If you are last - if there are coupons that will expire before you meet again, pull those too and put them into the expired coupons.
Our group has been meeting periodically - at other events or just getting together for lunch and passing the bags around :)
Do you participate in coupon exchanges? How do you organize them?
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Printable Coupons tip!
For some of you this is probably already a no brainer, but as I'm wandering the grocery store, I am always surprised to see how many people print their internet coupons in color!! What a waste of $$ - so today's tip is not only to make sure the default setting on your printer is black and white (or grayscale) when printing coupons, but to also take the default setting for paper/quality to draft or better yet - fast draft!
Where do you change your settings- in windows you can do the following:
Open up your default printer and there will be three tabs - printer, document and view
Choose printer then choose PRINTING PREFERENCES
Each printer will have different windows that open, but just click on the tabs until you find the print quality and color settings and then accept them...
This will decrease your cartridge use significantly and allow you to get many more impressions per cartridge!
Why leave money on the paper when a good enough print will work?
Where do you change your settings- in windows you can do the following:
Open up your default printer and there will be three tabs - printer, document and view
Choose printer then choose PRINTING PREFERENCES
Each printer will have different windows that open, but just click on the tabs until you find the print quality and color settings and then accept them...
This will decrease your cartridge use significantly and allow you to get many more impressions per cartridge!
Why leave money on the paper when a good enough print will work?
Monday, March 1, 2010
Coupon Hunting Tip
Did you know that there are sometimes more internet printables out there than you see on any given page?
Smartsource.com and Coupons.com ask for your Zip Code to do targeted couponning - but allow you to change your zip constantly..
Today, I was browsing other couponnning sites and noticed that no matter what I did, I wasn't seeing the Huggies and Pull Ups coupons they said were on Coupons.com... so I started playing with zips...
and found some new coupons I hadn't seen before at 30303 - including the elusive diaper coupons...
H.
(PS Sorry for those who have already read this on Acting Balanced... I accidently posted there first...)
Smartsource.com and Coupons.com ask for your Zip Code to do targeted couponning - but allow you to change your zip constantly..
Today, I was browsing other couponnning sites and noticed that no matter what I did, I wasn't seeing the Huggies and Pull Ups coupons they said were on Coupons.com... so I started playing with zips...
and found some new coupons I hadn't seen before at 30303 - including the elusive diaper coupons...
H.
(PS Sorry for those who have already read this on Acting Balanced... I accidently posted there first...)
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