The Saving Lifestyle
When the deals are good, STOCKPILE! I told you about my 10 tubes of toothpaste. That may seem absurd to you, but I don’t have to worry about buying toothpaste. If I see it for free, I’ll pick it up. I never have to pay $4 for a tube of toothpaste because we are almost out.
If you think stockpiling is absurd, I probably shouldn’t tell you about the 600 diapers in my garage, or the 15 packs of soft drinks in my basement. Oh, then there’s the 10 bottles of Juicy Juice, 5 bottles of Sunny D, 24 cans of fruit, 12 bottles of men’s body wash, 8 bottles of contact lens solution, 11 boxes of hamburger helper, 9 boxes of Betty Crocker potatoes….should I go on?
Before you turn me into the show Hoarders, what if I told you that I paid less for those 5 bottles of Sunny D than what you would pay for one if you walked into the store right now and bought it? What if I told you that the Hamburger Helper and Betty Crocker potatoes were all FREE?
If it’s something we use and has a very long shelf life, I’m going to buy as many as I can get when the price is at the lowest. This goes back to what I said about getting multiple copies of the Sunday paper. The Sunny D for example went on sale for $1 at Food Giant. I had 6 coupons for 25c. I used that coupon on double coupon day to get 50c off each of them. I got six bottles for $3 (that’s 50c each). It doesn’t make sense to just buy one when in a week or two you’ll be back at the store paying nearly $3 for another one.
Yes, this requires some strategic storing. But the savings are worth it. And grocery shopping no longer stresses me out. In fact, it’s kinda fun! :)
Make a price book. This helped me when I first started out. You can research online the best way to start your price book.
Join Store Loyalty Programs. CVS – Extra Care Card
Winn-Dixie – Reward Card and Baby Club
Publix – Baby Club, Preschool Pals and several seasonal magazines that you can sign up for online for FREE that have coupons in them
Learn about rebates. I get $20-$30 a month back in rebates. Often resulting in free products or even profits. If there is a $5 rebate offered on a $5 product and I have a $2 coupon, I still get $5 back from the rebate even though I only paid $3 for the product!
Sign up for free samples from companies. I have a “Friday Freebies” feature on my site where I list available free samples. Most of the time, the samples come with coupons for the product. You can get samples for laundry detergent, deodorant, body wash, toothpaste, cereal, snacks, OTC medications, diapers, baby formula, etc. etc. etc.
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