Couponing this week

So this week, I had a couple small trips to the store for things that went on sale. The best trip was to Publix on Friday - I had two bags full of groceries - total before coupons was $31 and change, but went down to $11.15 - then I used my $10 Register Rewards from Walgreens (my Publix accepts them as competitor's coupons!) and I paid $1.15 out of pocket. This morning, we went back for the 1/2 price cereal sale - bought 2 boxes of Rice Krispies (used a $1 off 2 mfr coupon, and 2 store coupons for 55 cents off each box), then 2 boxes of Kellogg's Heart Smart Cereal for $1.99 e using 2 $1 off coupons....plus a double Sunday Atlanta Journal for coupons, and a donut for David - was $20.01 before coupons, after coupons & a $2 Register Reward I paid $5.91 out of pocket. So the kids are set for a while on cereal, and so am I! :o)

My best coupon tips ~

I check Southernsavers.com on a daily basis (several times, actually!) for freebies, coupons to print, and other good things.

I have the Sunday paper delivered, and also buy a double paper every weekend so I have 3 copies of the coupon inserts. There are some weeks I'll buy more if it is a really good week! :o)

I check CVS's cosmetic section often - they have a great clearance sale when they need to make room for new stuff. Combine 75% off with coupons and you can literally get makeup for $1 or much less! I snagged some $16 foundation for $2 a jar back in January this way, and some Loreal and Revlon eyeshadows for 24 cents each!

Use upromise coupons - they will deposit money from the coupon into savings for your kids, grandkids, a friend, you get to choose!

cellfire.com has ecoupons that can be loaded onto a KrogerPlus card to combine with mfr coupons.

My goal is to have a fully stocked pantry by the end of this year, so that I only have to shop once a week for dairy and fresh produce. Right now, I'm getting stocked up on medicines, toothpaste, and paper goods, as well as some canned items. It's going to take a while! Every 2 weeks I make 2 "big" trips to Publix and Kroger for each store's best deals with my coupons. Our budget is about $100 - $120 a week for groceries.

Always check out the printable coupon sites: I think the best ones are Allyou.com, Smartsource.com and Redplum.com - then print anything you might buy - because they all have a limited # that can print of each coupon and once they are gone, they are gone! I try to print a couple of each when it will let me, but you can usually only use one printed coupon at each store per day.

Can't think of much else to add, but I will add more to this as I think of things! Honestly, if you are in the South, Southernsavers.com is the BEST site for learning to be a coupon queen! I'm sure there are other good ones for each part of the country. And coupondivas.com is good too! :o)