Harford Coupon Mom

Shopping at CVS

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:11:00 +0000

Last night I checked out the new CVS in Havre De Grace. I love it! The cahier and manager were very helpful and the store was well stocked.

Earlier this week they sent out a coupon flyer that included: $5 off a $15 purchase; Free CVS product (up to $3); Free 2-liter Coke product. They also were selling BubbleBee Tuna for .49 cents. That is an amazing price.

My plan was to buy:

4 Colgate toothbrushes @ $2.99 each

1 Strawberry Colgate toothpaste for $2.99

2 Gillette deodorants (sale/coupon)

2 Gillette Men’s Body wash (sale/coupon)

10 cans Bumble Bee Tuna (sale)

1 -2 liter of Diet Coke

1 – 3 pack of CVS Paper towels

Then use the Following Coupons:

$5 off $15 purchase

Free 2-liter Coke product

Free CVS product

1 -$1 off Colgate 360 toothbrush

2- B1G1 Gillette

Extra Care Bucks:

$2 for the Colgate toothpaste

$5 for the Colgate toothbrushes.

I saved $17.98 with coupons; $10.16 with sale prices, and I get $7 off my next purchase. So I can keep $35.14 of my money this month. I spent about $25.

It was really hard not to bring in my coupon binder and pick up all the great deals that I saw. Remember it’s only a great deal if it’s something you would have bought anyway.

Restaurants.com and Torinos Restaurant in Bel Air Md

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:08:00 +0000

Last night my husband, daughter and I had dinner at Torinos Restaurant in BelAir. This was the first time we have used a Restaurant.com gift certificate. The waitress was so nice and we were seated right away in a booth with a TV.

Torinos is a sports bar and grill/Take out/Restaurant. They serve everything from burgers to Crab Cakes and they have a children menu. I like how they have the seating arranged so that the dining area and the bar are separated but if you are sports minded you can still watch the game at your table. We aren’t a sports minded couple but our daughter got a kick out of a TV in the booth.

I had the Fettuccini Alfredo with grilled chicken and it was so creamy. It was hard to not pig out but I was strong and asked for a box. Anyway I doubt I would have been able to eat the entire plate in one sitting. Everyone enjoyed their food and we topped it off with Chocolate layer cake. Oh my, I just don’t have the words. It was good.

The bathrooms were very clean and my daughter loved the mirror so much she wanted my husband to go look at it. Yeah, I’m sure that would have gone over well.

I would definitely recommend eating at this restaurant. The prices were comparable to the larger chain restaurants like Apple Bee’s or Chili’s but we were able to use a Restaurant.com gift certificate. I only paid $3 for the certificate so I was able to take off $22 from my bill. That’s a good deal. Also I always tip my waitress at least 18% which is a requirement of using the certificate. I may be cheap but I’ve waited tables in my life.

Thank you Torinos for a very lovely dinner. You will be seeing us again.

ShopRite and Weis for Week of 1/17- 1/23/10

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:39:00 +0000

Total Spent at WEIS: $27.57 (-4.53 sale)

Total Spent at ShopRite: $ 76.65; saved $108.25.

I used a total of $59.21 in coupons and saved $49.04 in sales prices. I also got $25 off my next shopping trip (1- $10, 3- $5) and a $10 rebate form from P&G.

Organizing this took some time to do, about an hour and a half. One of the blogs I read matches up ShopRite sales and coupons for me. I print off her list. Then I went to the ShopRite website and made up my shopping list for the week. The trip to WEIS was a quickie stop for salad greens and fruits. I can’t wait for Spring when my garden goes in or actually when things start coming out of it. Anyhow, I got the coupons out of my binder and I was good to go. The list with coupons went in the car and that was that. Quick and easy. It probably wouldn’t have even taken and hour and a half except that I was being slow.

This weekend I’m going to cook up a BIG family dinner with the ham I picked up for $9.69 and some of the side dishes and frozen vegetables I picked up that were on sale/with a coupon. Basically I’m going to make dinner for 6 plus leftovers for less than $15. That makes me happy. Besides saving money I want to spend more time with my family so this really works out for me.

Happy shopping!

Eve

Debt, Digging my way out. Getting Started

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:06:00 +0000

Like many families in our country, my husband and I are in DEBT. Not as much as some but enough that I have to work in order to pay credit card bills. So much of our debt came from not knowing where our money went. We would budget but then things happen and well that’s what the credit cards were for. Well last year we stopped using the credit cards. We kept paying on them but we never got anywhere. We owe roughly the same amount now as we did a year ago.

Here’s the thing, I know how to save money and I’m usually the one who buys all the things we “need”. It’s hard to not spend especially if I can get a great deal. This weekend my husband and I will be sitting down to write out our budget for 2010. He is convinced that we will never pay off our debt and I want to show him how we not only will do it, but do it in less than two years.

So interneties wish me luck!

Eve

Shoprite

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:29:00 +0000

Spent: $128.12 Saved $139.60. That's a 52% saving!!!

I am a very happy shopper. It took me about 3 hours to pour over my coupons from the past month, go over the ShopRite circular and then cut out the coupons I wanted to use. It usually doesn't take that long but I haven't been keeping up with my coupon book. It was a mess.

The hardest part was having to put away all the groceries.

2010

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:23:00 +0000

Welcome to a new year!

In the past I have been basically reinventing the wheel so for 2010 I’m not going to do that. I will post the links to the fine people who match up coupons with sales for us. They provide a wonderful service and save me tons of money! I will make note of great deals so that you my readers can save money too.

My resolution for 2010 is to end it if not debt free, than as close to that as I can get. I fell off the coupon band wagon but I’m back on as of this week. Mostly we needed to use up our stockpile but now my cupboards are looking bare and I’m getting tired of shelling out $150 or more every week at the store.

Let’s see how much I can shave off my monthly food bill!

Eve

Why I started this web page.

Sun, 31 May 2009 16:35:00 +0000

Every time I go grocery shopping, other shoppers stop me. They want to look at and ask me about my bright red coupon binder. Inside are my coupons sorted by brand name. The next question I always get is, "How long do you spend sorting and cutting coupons?".

Unbeleivably I only spend an hour a week cutting coupons, making my shopping list and menu for the week. Just by having a list and using coupons I have saved my family a lot of money. I also spend less time in the store because I go in, get what I need and get out.

When I was ready to take the next step and combine my coupons with store sales, my savings took off. Using other web sites that combine sales and coupons I have added another hour to my weekly organizing time.It is so worth the time because I save 20% to 80% off every shopping trip.

For months I've been wishing that Harford County had a coupon mom. Someone who would list the newspaper coupons along with the current sale items in the stores.I would save so much time!

Two weeks ago, fate intervened. A young mother was in tears because she didn't have enough money to cover her groceries. She saw me looking at her and approached me. I could have reached into my pocket and handed her the $20 she needed and walked away feeling proud of myself.

There but for the grace of God go I.

I wanted to do more, so I opened up my coupon binder and the store circular. Instead of rolling her eyes as my family tends to do, she got really excited.

We ended up putting back half of the items in her cart, and filling it up with food. She walked out of the store with more food and didn't need my $20. It was a great feeling to see her walk out of the store with her head up feeling proud.

Ever since then, I've been thinking about this. Sometimes you have to be the person that you are looking for.

Update: 1/24/10

I probobly spend more than the hour to two a week cutting, sorting, making shopping lists than I did a year ago. I also save a lot more becase I send in rebats, read more blogs about couponing, meet with other coupon minded people to share. Sometimes is gets too much. Last fall, I stopped. By December the food costs were killing our budget. Plus it irks me when I look at the bank statement and see that grocery added up to more than $900 for 1 month. This year, I'm going to take breaks. I love couponing but is like a part time job. I'm going to treat it like one. I'm working to keep some of my money.

A year ago I was saving between 30% and 52% spending 1 to 2 1/2 hours a week off my grocery bills. This year I added about an hour to that time and I save 48% to 60% and sometimes more. We eat very well and I cook up healthy well balanced meals.

I'm also keeping track this year and using rebates. I'm looking forward to how well this part time job pays off. I don't know of any other that pays as well.