Frugalicious

Friday Q&A: Making multiple transactions

2010-05-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

There was just one question this week and it was from Kathy. She asks about multiple transactions which I could take about 4 posts to talk about! Actually, I think I just decided what my next series will be: Making multiple transactions work without a lot of work. This is a great topic, and I really barely touch the surface here. So, Kathy, thank you!

Kathy asked: You mention doing three transactions at CVS. Do you make the first transaction, then the second, then the third without leaving the store? Or do you make the first transaction and leave the store and come right back in, or come back another day?

I am unsure which transaction you are talking about CVS. I typically do not make more than one transaction at CVS. This is because I go there often enough that I don’t need to spend my ECBs immediately. I can almost always spend them before they expire and I like to avoid the hassle of multiple transactions when possible. However, I know many people who will do multiple transactions at CVS. They will “roll” the ECBs they make in the first transaction by using them to pay for a second transaction. This is a very good idea if you don’t shop at CVS at least twice a month.

I do make multiple transactions at Riteaid. I do this because there is almost always a $ off $$ coupon available, so I split my purchases up so that I can use as many of those coupons as possible. For example, say I have two $5 off $25 coupons and one $3 off $15 coupon. If I plan to purchase $65ish in product, I will do two $25ish transactions, and one $15ish transaction. If I only did one transaction of $65, I would only be able to use one $5 off $25 coupon, but by splitting them up, I am able to use all three coupons and save $13 instead of just $5.

When doing multiple transactions, I usually do them all in one day. Occasionally, I will come back another day if I really need a lot of a product and don’t want to “clear the shelves.” I never do more than 3 transactions in a row at a drugstore or 2 at a grocery store. If I have more than 2-3 to do, I will put the first transactions in my car and then come back and perform the rest. The reason for this is to be polite to other customers and avoid frustrating the cashiers.

I hope that helps!

Friday Q&A: CVS Tip and Saving on Produce and Meat

2010-04-16T22:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Q&A Friday!
We had one question this week:

Rachel asked: I have a question about the ECB's at CVS. If they are running a promotion where it says you can get $5 ECB's for purchasing $15 worth of a certain brand, is the $15 before any coupons? For instance, say you had $6 in coupons which brought the total down to $9. Would you then have to go and purchase another $6 of the products to bring it back up to $15?

Yes, the required purchase amount at CVS is before coupons! That is part of what makes that store so great. So, in your example, you could purchase $15 in items and use $6 in coupons. You would only pay $9 at the register, but would still get $5 back in ECBs. So, your overall cost would be $4!!

Sometimes you can even use that idea to “make money.” Just last week, I used a $2 coupon on Complete Multipurpose contact solution that cost $8.99. But there was an $8.99 ECB on that item as well. So, I only paid $6.99, but I still got back $8.99 in ECBs!

Rachel also asked: I am wondering where or if you are able to find money for meats and/or produce or is it best to just try to stock up on these items when they are on sale? Thanks!

I find money for meat and produce in a few different ways:

I track the prices of meat and produce (as well as most everything else sold in the grocery store). Then, I plan my meals around whatever produce in on sale for a rock bottom price that week. So, say asparagus, broccoli and potatoes are on sale for their very lowest price one week. Well, guess what my family will be eating for sides at dinner that week? Yep, asparagus, broccoli and mashed / baked potatoes. I will be making my master price list available on the website in just a few weeks, so it will be easier for others to do this as well. In fact, if you live in So. Cal, each week you will have access to a list of everything on sale for a rock bottom price at 8 different stores!
I use coupons. Yes, there are occasionally coupons for produce, meat and dairy! When I find them, I will highlight them in my weekly coupon roundup. Another place to look is on each store’s website. Vons often has store coupons available for meat and produce.
I stock up on meat when it is on sale for a rock bottom price and store it in my freezer. I probably have a 3-6 mo supply of most meats in there. That way, I can “shop” from my freezer instead of the store each week. In this way, I never pay full price, or even an average sale price for my meat each week. I also store some produce in my freezer. Typically precut veggies for sauces and soups or fruit for smoothies.
I use the “overage” I get from situations like the one I mentioned above at CVS to help me pay for items like meat and produce that are expensive even when they are at their rock bottom price. This is why I actually spend the time buying items I don’t need. I donate the items to others and use the overage to help me lower my overall grocery budget. CVS and Riteaid are two of the best places to do this. Obviously that money doesn’t get applied directly to my produce / meat since I can’t buy those things at those stores. However, it does apply indirectly. I used that $2 in overage in my very next transaction at CVS to help pay for medicine for my kiddos. This means I spent $2 less on that medicine, which freed up an extra $2 in my overall grocery budget allowing me to buy more produce, meat, and fresh dairy.

Thanks for the questions Rachel! Anyone else?

Friday Q&A: "Rolling" CVS ECBs

2010-03-12T20:04:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Q&A Friday!

We had one question this week:

Karen asked: When shopping at CVS and earning ExtraCare Bucks, can I do multiple transactions in a row and just roll them over, or do I need to use them on a completely different shopping trip. This thought occurred to me today. I only needed to spend $13 to get $5.99 in ECB, but I only did one transaction and so pocketed the ECB for the next time, which I hope I'll remember I have them. What is your suggestion?

Great question! And yes, you can "roll" your ECBs. This is one of the things that makes them so great. There is no waiting like with a regular rebate! So, this last week, Oral B Crossaction toothbrushes were on sale for $4 with a $4 ECB. There was a limit of 2 ECBs. So, you could have done the following:

Transaction #1:

Buy one toothbrush: $4

Use $0.75 off coupon: $3.75 out of pocket

Get back $4 in ECBs

Transaction #2:

Buy a second toothbrush: $4
Buy any other item around $1 or so: $5

Use $0.75 off coupon: $4.25
Use $4 ECB from your first transaction: $0.25

Get back $4 in ECBs

This way, you leave the store with just $4 in ECBs instead of $8. This helps to ensure you are always able to use your ECBs since they do expire.

This would be another option:

Transaction #1:

Buy Two toothbrushes: $8

Use two $0.75 off coupons: $6.50 out of pocket

Get back $8 in ECBs

Transaction #2:

Buy $8 worth of other items on sale at a rock bottom price that week: $8

Use the $8 in ECBs you just received: FREE!

Friday Q&A: Riteaid's Coupon Policy and more

2010-02-26T21:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Q&A Friday!

We had two questions this week:

Joni asked: I believe you posted that Rite Aid will allow you to use a Riteaid coupon and a manufacturer's coupon on the same item. Does that go for the video coupons on Riteaid's site? I tried to use a Rite Aid video coupon and a manufacturer's coupon on J & J baby powder, but it was rejected. Thanks for clearing this up!!!

YES! You can use a Video Value coupon and a manufacturers coupon on the same item. That is clearly stated in Riteaid's Coupon policy.

You should have been able to use both of your coupons. I would suggest you either call or email customer service and report the issue or take a copy of their coupon policy with you next time you go to Riteaid. There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to use both. I do it almost every week. It does not hurt the store at all. They make the same amount of money either way.

Joni asked: I was thinking of a scenario that I saw on another blog. It was a buy one, get one for a cent. They bought two items, used two video coupons and two manufacturer coupons. Now, is that possible? Wouldn't that exceed the price of the penny item? What are your thoughts?

It depends on a few things:

1. How much the non - one cent item was. The register doesn't actually see the other item as $0.01. It sees (at least for coupon purposes) them both as equal to 1/2 the price of the full price item. (This is why it works to use buy one get one coupons on buy one get one sales) So, say the 1st item was priced at $3. The computer sees the first item as $1.50, and the second as $1.51. So, as long as the combined value of each set of coupons was not more than $1.50, you would be fine.

2. If you are buying other items. Say in the above example that the combined value of your coupons was $2. Well, they aren't going to give you back $0.50, but if you are buying other items (so your total purchase amount is over $2), it will occasionally come off of anyway. This depends on the cashier and isn't part of their policy, so don't plan on it, but it does happen often.

So, what happens otherwise? They usually just adjust the value of the coupon down. So, say you had $2 of coupons in the above example. They would just give you a credit for $1.50 instead. You would still be able to use your coupons, just not at their full value.

Q&A Friday: How I find deals, newspaper subscriptions, maximizing coupon usage and more!

2010-02-19T16:14:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Q&A Friday!

We had five questions this week:

Laura asked: What is a good source for cheap Sunday newspapers?

I get mine from discountednewspapers.com. Everytime I check, they seem to be the least expensive. However, their prices do vary day to day. I got a subscription through them for $0.25 a week a while back. That price is not currently available.

Julianne asked: I was wondering how many Sunday Newspapers you subscribe to? I've heard people talk about having anywhere from 2 to 6 subscriptions and was wondering what you recommend.

I have three newspaper subscriptions, and that has worked really well. I think even two would probably be fine, but I got the third subscription for just $12 a year, so I did it. A lot of people will recommend buying “one for each person in your family.” I don’t, and here is why: Most of the time I don’t want to (or can’t b/c of sale limits) buy more than 2-4 of any given item. In those cases, the 2-3 coupons I get from my papers are totally sufficient. When I do want to buy more than 2-4 of an item, I buy just the coupons I need from a coupon clipping service or on ebay. You can read more about that here.

I believe that in most cases this is the less expensive option. Right now it would cost about $75 a year for me to get another subscription and I would only be getting one more of each coupon. When I want "extra" coupons, I usually want 10 or more. Buying seven more subscriptions would cost A LOT.

I usually want “extra” coupons 4-5 times a month, and buying a set of 10 on ebay costs around $1-$3 each time. So I would spend about $100 over the course of an entire year, but I would get coupons I want and will use in sets of 10. Often I am using these coupons to get items for free or next to free. Since I will use every coupon I "buy," I will save more spending $100 on specific coupons than I would spending even more on multiple newspaper subscriptions filled with coupons I may not use.

Michelle asked: What are all your sources for finding these deals, aside from blogs?

Great question! Here is what I do to find all these deals:

I have a separate email (I always have) that I use when I sign up for free items, newsletters, coupons etc. I usually get over 100 emails in this count every day. So, each morning, I check this account for any deals that look like real deals. If I find some, I post them.
I do Google searches for "free coupons," "free food," "free fun," etc I verify the various things I find and if they seem valid, I post them.
I follow a lot of businesses on facebook and twitter. When they post deals or freebies that are of interest, I post them.
I follow about 10 other Frugal blogs in Google reader. If I feel I haven't found enough deals on any given day, I will read through the things they've posted. If I find something I like, I post it on Frugalicious with a link back to the original source.
I am an affiliate with many companies. This means the following:

They email me different sales/discounts that they are offering.
When I see a deal I think is "Frugalicious," I post it.
If you click on the link and buy something, I get paid a small (usually 1%-6%) portion of whatever you buy.

**PLEASE NOTE: This does not influence what I post. In fact, sometime I find deals that are better than what they've email me, so I will post them without my affiliate link. I get hundreds of deals each day from these companies, but only post them if I believe they are "Frugalicious. I will always post the best possible deal I can find. Also, Please do not let this influence what you buy in any way. If I post something you don't think is Frugalicious, don't buy it. If you know of a better deal, email me and I will adjust the post. You can read more about this in my disclosure policy.**

Shauna asked: I really like how you are posting your shopping trips - I enjoy looking at your loot. I did notice you bought a quite a few non 4/5 star (rock bottom priced) items, but I think they were 3 star items (all with coupons) - do you do this just as you need (like the yogurts) the items or do you have some magic theory?

**Note: All the actual items referenced here are from this shopping trip**

No, I don't have a magic theory. But here a few things / situations where I will buy something that isn't on sale for a rock bottom price:

There are a few things I would have on hand all the time if I could afford it (like the yogurts). However, I try not to buy these unless I have left over room in my $50 budget and / or I can combine a decent sale with a coupon.
There are things I need to use in a recipe that week that I just didn't have on hand (like the cooking wine). If after stocking up on all the rock bottom sales, I don't have enough left in our $50 budget, I just choose another recipe.
Sometime there things we need that work well with another deal to bring my total up for a $ off $$ coupon (like the paper towels). In this case, it really does make it a rock bottom deal. You can read more about wisely using $ off $$ coupons here.

This week worked out well in that there were a bunch of money makers (like the Olay and stuff at Riteaid & CVS) that allowed me to purchase other things we needed...which is why I actually went to so many stores.

Laura asked: I notice in some of your transactions that it looks like you use multiple coupons for the same item. Whenever I've tried this the register beeps and the cashier doesn't allow it because the coupon says "one coupon per transaction." How do you do it? For example, in your Feb. 13 ziploc purchase from Riteaid you used multiple coupons for the two boxes of Ziploc. Do some stores allow it and others do not? Can you use a "Riteaid only" coupon AND a manufacturer's coupon in the same transaction and that's how you do it?

Awesome question, and a very common one.

There are times when you can use more than one coupon on the same purchase. This happens when you have a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupon for the same item.

All coupons in the Riteaid ad are store coupons (even though some say manufacturer’s coupon) and should ring up fine. If they don’t, ask for a manager b/c it is in their coupon policy (I plan on posting it to the site soon). Riteaid also provides store coupons as part of their Video Values program and Wellness program.

For the grocery stores, some in-ad coupons are store coupons, others are manufacturer…but it will be noted on the coupon.

For CVS, they have store coupons that print on your receipt or when you scan your CVS card at a price scanner in the store.

The reason this works is because a store coupon is a discount the store is giving you. When you use it, the store makes less $ on that item. The manufacturer makes the same amount of money whether you use the store coupon or not.

On the other hand, a manufacturer's coupon is a discount being offered by the manufacturer. When you use it, the manufacturer makes less $ on that item b/c they have to reimburse the store. The store actually makes more money when you use a manufacturer's coupon b/c they will be reimbursed for the entire face value plus a handling fee.

So, if you have both types of coupons for the same item, you can use them both because two separate people are giving you a discount. The store doesn't make less money that they would have if you had only used the store coupon.

When combined with a good sale, this can be a great way to get things next to free, or even free.

Do you have a question you would like answered as part of Q&A Friday? Feel free to ask any question you may have. I had a bunch when I first started! Shopping this way has been a huge blessing in for my family, so much so that I feel a responsibility to help others learn to do the same. You can ask me questions by email or by submitting this form.

Was this helpful? Did you know you can get regular updates by email or in your favorite reader when we post new deals and tips? In addition, if you know someone else who may find this helpful, you can easily share it with them by clicking on a button below (not available if you are reading this by email or in a reader):

Q&A Friday: Where to Start?

2010-02-12T16:20:00.000-08:00

I only recieved one question for Q&A Friday this week, but it is a great one:

Joni asks: Any tips for someone just starting out in the 'stay at home mom and save money' game?

What a great question! I wish I'd had some tips when I was just starting this "game" a few years ago. It can be so overwhelming at first that many people give up easily. But, I promise, it is so rewarding once you get going. I believe this is especially so if you are a "stay at home mom." When not "working" (or not getting paid to work) we can feel very helpless when it comes to our family's financial situation. Learning to shop this way can help with that feeling b/c it is empowering: you learn that there is something you can do to lighten the load on whoever is working to support your family financially.

So here are a few tips to help keep you on the right track:

1. Make sure you understand the basic principles that make Frugalicious Shopping work. Once you do, you will have a much easier time applying them yourself in any situation. So, study up on just what Frugalicious Shopping is. Then, in order to solidify these ideas in your mind go check out a few recent examples where we have made this work:

Diapers for less than $0.02 a piece
13 items (including diapers) for just $2.93 (this is one you can do this week!)
$205 in kids clothes from Old Navy for just $83
Free Pillsbury at Food4Less (you can do this this week!)

2. Start Simple! Pick just one area of your budget (clothing, fun stuff, eating out etc) to apply Frugalicious Shopping principles to. Once you've become proficient in one area, you will have a much easier time applying the principles to the next.

3. Visit our blog often. We post tips and examples of how to get great deals as well as lots of actual deals. In fact, we typically post 10-20 deals a day! Many of these deals are time sensitive so you want to make sure you check in often. You can make this easier by subscribing by email or in a reader. Or, follow us on Facebook or Twitter!

4. Learn about just how to apply Frugalicious Shopping to your grocery shopping. While this is probably the most difficult part of Frugalicious Shopping, it is also the most rewarding. By combining sales, coupons and rebates to get great prices and then stocking up on things at those great prices, you can quickly cut your grocery bill by more than 50%. (I've cut mine by about 70%). This can save your family hundreds of dollars a month.

We have created a Getting Started Guide to help you learn how to change your grocery shopping habits. You should be able to find many of your answers there.

5. Don't be afraid to ask questions! This website is full of tutorials & lessons to help you learn the art of Frugalicious Shopping. I have tried to anticipate many of the questions you may have and make the answers easy to find. However, there will be things I've missed or questions that you simply can't find the answer to. Please feel free to ask any question you may have. Shopping this way has been a huge blessing in for my family, so much so that I feel a responsibility to help others learn to do the same. You can ask me questions by email or by submitting this form.

Was this helpful? Did you know you can get regular updates by email or in your favorite reader when we post new deals and tips? In addition, if you know someone else who may find this helpful, you can easily share it with them by clicking on a button below (not available if you are reading this by email or in a reader):

Q&A Friday

2010-02-05T22:06:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Q&A Friday!

Sorry this is so late today! It has been a busy day, and I just haven't gotten to it until now. I actually took an hour off to drink some hot cocoa, eat some popcorn and watch an old episode of NCIS...anyone else love that show? I don't watch much TV at all, but I really like that show. Anyway, it's just been one of those days. But on to this week's questions:

Reader Julie asked: I'd like to start getting the Sunday paper for the coupons, but I don't want to spend much. The subscription prices seem high. Any suggestions?

Great question! Paying for a subscription to the Sunday paper is one of the most cost effective ways to bring a lot of coupons into your home. Plus, they are easy to organize and track. Almost any blog/website you find will reference them when matching sales to coupons. So, even at full price, a subscription (or two or three) is usually well worth the cost. However, you can get discounted subscriptions. I've found the best place to go is: Discounted Newspapers.com. Depending on where you live, you may be able to get a subscription as low as $1 a week or so.

Reader lildarkside asked: Wouldn't selling coupons be illegal since the coupons clearly state on them that they cannot be sold, transferred, etc.?

Yes, Buying & Selling Coupons is illegal. However the two sites we link to on Frugalicious do not charge for the coupons. Instead they charge you for their time to find, clip and mail you the coupons. Most auctions on ebay will state the same thing, and if they do not, you should not buy from them.

Reader April asked: How long have you been shopping this way/blogging about it?

I started trying (very unsuccessfully at first...I should write a whole post about that sometime) to grocery shop with coupons about 5 years ago. But it wasn't until the summer of 2007 when we sold our home, quit our jobs, and moved to California so my husband could start law school, that I became really motivated to make it work for our family: I had twins about 2 weeks after Cory started school and he wasn't allowed to work that first year!

So, I worked hard to learn all the tricks and lingo (and there is a lot to learn!), and wrote a computer program to help me track sales. People started asking me to teach them how to save, so beginning in the summer of 2008, I started offering free tutorial and a free weekly email. Then, in March of 2009, we launched Frugalicious as a static website with just the tutorials and Weekly Tools, and in October of 2009 we added the blog.

How about all of you? How long have you been trying to be "Frugalicious?" What is your motivation?

And that's it for this week! Enjoy your weekend!

Do you have a question you would like answered on Q & A Friday? I'd love to hear from you! You can submit it by email or by filling out this form!