Frugal Tips and Tricks

This week’s question comes from Robin:

I’m hosting Thanksgiving for my family this year. It’s 14 people and I’m really stressed because of how expensive it is! How can I save money and still host a nice dinner?

This is a problem I’m sure many of you face. And if you aren’t facing it for Thanksgiving this year, you may need help hosting Christmas.

Here are some ideas to help you out:

1. Ask people to bring something. You don’t have to do everything yourself. Ask your guests to bring a side dish. This might start a new tradition for your family and future hosts will likely be grateful. Having out of town guests? Have them bring things that travel well like pies, bread or drinks.

2. Shop the sales. Many Thanksgiving items are made with canned goods and baking supplies that keep for a while. You can often find canned vegetables, boxed stuffing and canned pumpkin on sale at different times during the year. You can also puree pumpkin and freeze it for when you’re ready. Whole cranberries freeze well too.

3. Make things from scratch. It seems much easier to buy the sides pre-made but this really increases the cost. To help reduce your stress level, you can make lots of things in advance. Green bean casserole can be assembled ahead of time. Just sprinkle the onion on and bake on Thanksgiving. Bread can be made and frozen in advance as well to ease the load. Many pies can also be made ahead.

4. Keep it simple. The more ingredients in each dish, the more expensive your dinner will be. Keep it simple. There’s no need to be extravagant. There are tons of great recipes out there that call for minimal ingredients and still turn out delicious. Some of my favorite sites: Foodie Daddy, Tammy’s Recipes and $5 Dinners.

5. Decorate with items on hand. Use greenery and other items from your yard to decorate the table. You can also have your kids make the place cards. Just have them write the person’s name and draw why they are thankful for that person. Your family will love it. Plus it will keep your kids busy while you’re cooking!

Do you have any great ideas for Robin? Please share.

Have a question you’d like answered in You Asked? Submit it HERE.

This week’s question comes from Hailey:

I don’t understand the eCoupons you talk about. Do they double? Can I use them multiple times?

eCoupons are a great tool to save additional money. Just to give you a little introduction, there are 3 main eCoupon sites: Cellfire, PG eSaver and Shortcuts.

About the Sites

• PG eSaver is a site only for Proctor and Gamble products. These coupons refresh every month.
• Cellfire is a site for a variety of products. These coupons refresh every 2 weeks. You only have two weeks to load the coupons to your card but you have the entire month to use them.
• Shortcuts is similar to Cellfire in that they have a variety of products. New coupons seem to be available fairly often, usually every two weeks and they typically last for 2 months.

About the Coupons
The eCoupons are single use. This means they can only be used one time on one product. Once you’ve used them, they disappear from your list. They also don’t double. The value on the coupon is the value that will come off at the register.

The good thing about them is that you can stack them with manufacturer coupons. If there’s a coupon for $1/2 boxes of Chex cereal loaded onto your card and you find a $1 printable coupon, then you can use them both to get $2 off. This is a great way to really maximize your savings.

Also, it may vary by stores but often Shortcuts and Cellfire coupons will come off for the same item. Use the manufacturer coupon too and that’s like using 3 coupons on one product. Find a store coupon and it’s like using 4. It really can add up to a great deal. So even though they are single use, you can often use them to get a free items.

How to Get the Coupons
These coupons are only available to load if your store participates in the program. Right now Safeway and Kroger family stores are the most common, though if you have a loyalty card for another store you may want to check. They are working on adding new stores and you could always contact them and try to get them to add your store. When you go through the registration process, you will be asked for your store card number. Make sure you enter it correctly so the coupons get attached to your card.

Once you’re set up, you just click the button to add the coupon to your card. It’s pretty easy. Shortcuts has a 100 coupon limit so you may need to be a little discerning in the coupons you load. Once a coupon is loaded it can’t be deleted until it is used. So if you won’t be purchasing a product, you may not want to load the coupon.

How do I Know it Worked?
Usually on your receipt immediately under the item, you’ll see manufacturer ecoupon listed and the amount. I’ve occasionally seen them reflected at the bottom of the receipt. If you don’t see them, then it didn’t work. Call the respective eCoupon company and find out why. If you purchased the right products, they will reimburse you for the coupons that didn’t work.

Do you have any additional eCoupon tips for Hailey?

Have a question you’d like answered in You Asked? Submit it HERE.

This week’s question comes from Sarah:

I see a lot of your posts correspond with coupons for processed and convenience foods like Pop Tarts, granola bars and frozen things. I try to feed my family fresh, all natural products. How can I save money on these kinds of things?

I understand that while many people appreciate the free granola bars and frozen veggies, other readers may not find these appealing. Natural and Organic coupons are becoming more prevalent. Here are some good sites you may want to bookmark.

• Delicious Living
• Eating Well
• Food For Life (not for all areas)
• Health E Savers
• Horizon Organic
• Kiwi
• Mambo Sprouts
• Nature’s Oasis
• Organic Valley Coupons
• Stonyfield Farms

Also, keep your eyes peeled. I’ve posted about BOGO egg coupons and produce coupons and various milk coupons in the past. When you have the opportunity to print these, print as many as you can. See if you can match them with a good sale and freeze what you don’t use. I know you can’t freeze eggs but you can make up a bunch of waffles with them and freeze those. Then you have a quick easy breakfast that was made with healthy fresh ingredients.

Occassionally I find big money making opportunities like the Joint Juice promo a while ago. Take advantage of these. You may not drink Joint Juice but I bet you could donate it or give to a neighbor. Then you can use the profit you made from buying it to put towards fresh produce and meat or other products that are difficult to find on sale. Like the eggs above, if you can’t freeze the items, cook them into something that you can use and freeze it for later.

Finally, be sure you maximize your savings in other areas like toiletries. If you are getting your toothpaste, laundry detergent and shampoo on a deep discount, you’ll have more of your grocery budget to spend on the fresh natural products that are pricey.

It is possible to eat healthy, natural products on a budget. It may take some work on your part but you can save money doing so.

Have you had success buying fresh, natural products for less? Please share your tips for success with Sarah.

Have a question you’d like answered in You Asked? Submit it HERE.

This week’s question comes from Tiffani:

Sometimes when I’m trying to print a coupon it keeps asking me to install the coupon printer. I know I have it installed and it just keeps asking me. What am I doing wrong?

I agree, it is frustrating when your coupons won’t print. There are two things you can try:

1. Many times there are different links for Firefox and Internet Explorer users. I try to list both links but sometimes I miss one or don’t realize there are separate ones. Look at the link and you should be able to see if you are using the right link for your browser.

Here is an example of an IE link:
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=qjihabv31143565&bt=wi&o=59273&c=BI&p=q1zS0NDU

Here is an example of a FF link:
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=qjihabv31143565&bt=wg&o=59273&c=BI&p=q1zS0NDU

Sometimes instead of a “wi” you’ll see a “vi.” If you’re using Firefox, just change it to “vg”

2. Another way I’ve had success is to install the coupon printer in your secondary browser. If you use Internet Explorer, try installing it in Firefox. Then restart your computer and see if that works.

Do you have any more printing tips for Tiffani? Please share.

Have a question you’d like answered in You Asked? Submit it HERE.

This week’s question comes from Amy:

I keep hearing about Alice.com and how you can get great deals. Is it really that great? How does it work?

Alice.com is a great site. It’s especially great for people who don’t like to clip coupons. A few things about it:

• Shipping is always free
• There are lots of clip-free coupons available that automatically come off. You can only use one like coupon per item.
• There is a 6-item minimum order, unless it’s your first time. Then you only have to order one item.
• When you sign up HERE, you’ll get a $10 credit once you’ve purchased $50 worth of products.

It really is as easy as it sounds. There are some good deals on the site, especially considering you don’t have to leave your house. However, everything you see isn’t the best deal. But I plan on highlighting the best deals I see each week.

This week here are a few of the good deals:

• Kotex Pantiliners (22ct) – $.41
• Schick Razors (5ct) – $1.77
• Dove Invisible Solid – $.97
• Tag Body Spray – $2.29
• Suave Invisible Solid – $.98
• KY Personal Lubricant – $2.08
• Bounty Basic Single Roll – $.59

Again, go HERE to sign up and get started to earning that $10 credit. I fully intend to use mine on stamps to help offset the cost of our Christmas cards!

Do you have any more Alice.com tips for Amy? See a great deal I missed? Please share.

Have a question you’d like answered in You Asked? Submit it HERE.

This week’s question comes from Lynette:

Often you list Register Rewards and Catalina coupons on your Walgreens and Randalls posts. What do I do when these don’t print? At CVS they can just print them for me but Walgreens and Randalls won’t do that. What can I do?

This is a great question and I often get comments from readers frustrated because their coupons didn’t print. Register Rewards are also Catalina coupons just like the Randalls ones are. You can also get these same Catalina coupons at Kroger and other grocery stores.

Unlike CVS, the individual stores cannot reprint a coupon that doesn’t print on a Catalina machine. But this doesn’t mean that you don’t have options if it doesn’t print. All you need to do is call Catalina. Every time I have done this the customer service operators have been kind and helpful.

Before you call, have your receipt in from of you. They’ll ask you information from your receipt like the store location, phone number and date of the shop.

Then call them at 1-888-826-8766 and choose option 3. Once you’ve spoken with the representative you’ll need to scan in your receipt and email it to Catalina. If you don’t have scanning capabilities, the Catalina rep will tell you how to mail it in.

Then just wait for the coupon to arrive via mail. I have never had a coupon not arrive. They are very reliable.

This is my experience in calling Catalina. Do you have any additional tips to offer Lynette?

Have a question you’d like answered in You Asked? Submit it HERE.

This week’s question comes from Abby:

With all the Internet coupons I feel like I’m really using up my printer ink. Those little cartridges are so expensive to replace. It almost doesn’t make printing the coupons worth it! Do you know of any way I can save money on ink cartridges?

I agree, ink cartridges are certainly expensive. But there are some techniques you can try to help save on the ink you currently have. And I have some money saving tips on how you can replace them for less.

First, change your printer settings. Go to your computer’s Control Panel. Select the printers icon. Your default printer will be listed with a check mark next to it.

Right click on the printer icon and go to the properties. All printers are different but you should be able to edit the printing preferences. The ink saving features are usually on the “Advanced” tab.

Be sure you select the lowest resolution, quick-print, or “draft” setting. This uses the least amount of ink and does not affect the scanning ability of the coupon.

If your black and white cartridge is separate from your color cartridge, you can opt to print everything in black and white. Then you’ll rarely need to replace the costlier color cartridges.

Once you are out of ink, there are a number of money saving options.

1. Walgreens refills ink cartridges. The black and white are priced around $10. Occasionally you will find an in-ad coupon to make them cheaper. Plus, you can always pay with Register Rewards!

You can also refill them at Office Max Costco and other stores.

2. Use the Staples cartridge recycling program. Not only will you be helping the environment but you’ll also get $3 per cartridge. The $3 is a Staples reward so you must have a Staples Reward Card.

3. Invest in a Laser Printer. Laser printers use toner, not ink. And with all the modern technology, they’ve really come down in price. You can likely find a decent one for around $100. I’m not saying run out and buy one, but when you are in the market for a new printer, a laser printer would be an excellent investment. Toner cartridges generally last 3000-5000 prints. That’s a lot of printed coupons!

Do you have any more ink saving tips for Abby? Please share.

Have a question you’d like answered in You Asked? Submit it HERE.

This week’s question comes from Crystal:

What’s the deal with buying coupons? Where do I go to buy them? How much does it cost?

Buying coupons can be an excellent way to increase your savings. It’s a great way to get coupons that were regional and not in your newspaper. The key to remember here is to include the cost of the coupons into the price of your item. You’ll want to make sure you’re still getting a good deal once you factor in the coupon costs. That said, there are two different ways to buy coupons and benefits to both options. 

Coupon Clipping Services – I often purchase coupons from Coupon Master and Coupon Clippers. When you select individual coupons from one of these services, they typically have a minumum order of three and occasionally have a maximum limit set on the number you can order of each individual coupon. The coupons vary in price but usually cost around $.10-$.12 each. There is also a minimum purchase order of about $3. Then you will pay shipping and handling. These services are great if you want a few copies of lots of different coupons.

eBay- I often purchase coupons from eBay too. This is a good option if you want lots of a single coupon. eBay coupons are usually come in quantities of 10, 15 or 20. You can choose coupons with the “Buy Me Now” feature to get them quickly. Or if you have time before you need them, you can bid on them and try to get a lower price. Just be sure you account for the shipping costs when you’re trying to decide between two sellers. The advertised price for one seller might seem more expensive but if they offer free shipping, if could end up being cheaper.

Regardless who you order from, it generally takes about four days to receive the coupons once you’ve paid for them. So if you need them for a sale right away, be sure you order them in time!

Do you have any more coupon buying tips for Crystal? Please share.

Have a question you’d like answered in You Asked? Submit it HERE.

I mentioned last week HERE that you will see some new features here at SWS. Today I’m happy to welcome you to the new “You Asked” Feature.

Each Tuesday afternoon, I’ll be tackling your questions about all things frugal. Have a question you’d like answered? Just go HERE to submit it. Now on to today’s question:

How much should I pay for certain items? How do I know when to stock up on something?

That is a great question especially since stockpiling is one of the keys to cutting your grocery budget. Go HERE to read my Stockpiling 101 post if you are new to stockpiling.

I have my own set of stockpile stock-up prices. But, these can vary by region and situation. My prices may not be realistic for you but they can be a jumping off point for you to start thinking about you own list. Here are a few of the ones I’m on the lookout for most often:

Stockup Prices
Bar Soap – $.25/bar
Body Wash – $1
Brownie and Cake Mix  – $.50
Canned Veggies – $.50
Cereal – $1
Cheese – $1.50
Cleaning Products – $1
Condiments – $.50
Cookies/Crackers – $1
Deodorant – $.50
Diapers – $.18-$.24/diaper (depending on size)
Dishwasher Detergent – $1
Face Wash – $1
Frozen Veggies – $.50
Granola Bars – $.75
Juice – $1
Laundry Detergent  – $.08 per load ($2.50 for 32 loads)
Paper Towels – $3.50
Razors – $1
Razor Blades – $2
Shampoo – $1
Soft Drinks (12pk) – $2.25
Toilet Paper – $3.50
Wipes – $.01/wipe

Things I Never Pay For
Dishwashing Soap
Hand Soap
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste

Hey all you veteran stockpilers out there: Do you have any stockpiling tips or price points you think would be helpful? Please share!

This concludes the first edition of You Asked. Have a question you’d like answered? Ask me HERE.