I use coupons when I can get them, but lately
Posted By: the stores seem to be givng out less. on 2008-04-27
In Reply to: Saw on Yahoo about stockpiling foods/staples in anticipation (sm) - SM
Safeway gives a few in its weekly mailings, Lucky practically ZERO. I've tried using the coupon websites, but don't like all the spam I get as a result. So I, too, look for what's on sale. I also double check the unit pricing, which gives a better idea of what is more of a bargain than something else. (i.e., ".31 cents per oz.", etc.) If I product I formerly bought a lot of (for example, granola bars) turn into "incredible shrinking products", which seem to get tinier each month, then I stop buying them. I figure, if you can eat an entire granola bar in one bite, it is no longer a granola BAR - it is a granola BITE! And I'm not gonna pay $4-5 bucks for a box of 6 "bars", when it takes all 6 to make you feel like you've eaten anything. A few years ago, a granola bar and some milk was a good on-the-go "breakfast" - now it's more of an on-the-go tidbit. And $5 for a box of Corn Flakes, where the level of cereal contained within the box is now hovering right at or below the halfway mark, and the rest is AIR? Forget it. Cereal has got to be the biggest gyp in the entire supermarket. Nowadays I pretty much just have oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. Used to eat a cup of yogurt, but those have shrunk drastically in size, as well.
I have to laugh that the Pres. thinks a one-time "economy booster" check of roughly $600 is going to be of much use in convincing people to spend more. It would only work for me if I got an extra $600 every month!
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Coupons
Clip coupons from your local newspaper or print them online. Also see if any of your local stores double coupons. Freds doubles coupons on Saturdays and Kroger always doubles coupons (up to a certain amount). If you can catch things on sale and double a coupon on it you can get stuff free a lot of times.
If you shop online, check the internet for coupon codes for the store before you check out. A lot of times you can get free shipping or a percentage off your purchase, especially for national chains like Best Buy, Toys R Us, Target, etc.
Check stores you normally wouldn't for common household products. I find good deals on household necessities (toilet paper, dishwasher detergent, etc) at our local farm supply store.
See if your power company offers real-time billing based on peak and off-peak times. It's not for everybody, but it could save you money if the off-peak hours are times that would be feasible for you to use the big appliances like the dryer or stove.
If you can't afford new windows, cover the ones you have with plastic. On the really cold nights I hang heavy blankets or towels over all the windows to help keep the heat in and avoid the cold air radiating from the window.
My grandparents used to shut off part of their house and just heat half of it. Of course, they were empty nesters and had more house than they needed, but it could still work for any rooms that aren't used that often. I have vents in my pantry and my closet that I shut off every winter. No sense in heating rooms I'm in for five seconds at a time.
Instead of cooking enough to eat for a day or two, make up a bunch and freeze some. I'll make enough BBQ or Italian beef to fill my crock pot or my roaster and keep enough out to eat for a day or two and freeze the rest. It saves a ton of time and saves power because instead of cooking 5 or 6 small batches you're just cooking one big one.
I have a thing that goes on the exhaust hose of my dryer to vent it into the house instead of blowing the heat outside in the winter. It also adds lots of moisture to the air. You can also just tie piece of pantyhose over the end of the hose, just make sure to keep the lint cleaned out of it.
I used to use coupons a lot
& had one of those little wallet things with tabs for organizing them. I haven't done that in years. Maybe I should get back to it.
There are 2 markets up here, a vons & a stater bros. Right across the street from one another. The vons is totally overpriced, especially since they did a makeover a couple of years ago & now are all quiche-y & gourmet-looking inside, to cater to the tourists from LA. The stater bros. is much more where the locals shop. I notice Stater Bros. really pushes its own brand; name brands are very expensive in that store. But the produce is always a lot cheaper than at vons.
I would use coupons more if FL doubled them sm
As it is, I will use them if it is something I normally buy, but most of the stuff I get is not stuff they have coupons for, or it is for a different brand that I don't like. Florida doesn't charge sales tax on groceries and we don't have state income tax, but we pay higher grocery prices on a lot of things for that reason. And as much as people hate Wal-Mart, that is where I do my shopping because it is affordable and the prices don't change from week to week because of sales ads, which is mostly bumping up prices on stuff so that you really aren't getting that much of a deal anyway.
Has anyone ever printed and used on-line coupons,
specifically for groceries? If so, can you recommend a free site? Thank you!
Oops - PC will take manufacturer's coupons, not those printed off various web sites. nm
m
Free Nestle Crunch Crisp bar (2000 coupons given out daily)
http://www.playinyourday.com/
We have a Price Chopper , WalMart and Aldis. PC and Aldis won't take coupons. sm
WalMart still does so far.
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