Saddle Up the Savings

I am sorry I have not posted any updates lately. We just sold our home and are in the middle of moving to our new home closer to the stores I love to shop at..
Stay Tuned I will be updating as soon as I can get relocated and set up..
Thank you for your patients..

You can go here to see what inserts will be in the Sunday Papers.. There may be some regional differences..
You can log on here each week to see what is coming in the Sunday Newspaper..

I found it easier to learn one store at a time. So I will start with CVS as it is a Great Place to get all your medications personal care items, some foods and drinks along with seasonal items..
Let's start by learning about the ECB (Extra Care Bucks). At CVS you will need to get an Extra Care Card in order to obtain the greatest savings. You can either go to your local CVS and ask the sales representative for a card or you can sign up here

By now you should be saving coupons. Learning the Lingo. Hopefully have some form of organization system for keeping your coupons. It would help if you familiarize yourself with your stores coupon policy.. I have listed on the right side of this page some of the stores and their coupon policy. If your store is not listed you can often go to the stores website and find their coupon policy if not ask when you visit your store..
Now let's start putting those coupons to work and start saving you some money.
Shopping Lists
Shopping lists are important to help you get the things you need, keep yourself on a budget and gain the best savings. Avoiding spontaneous shopping or buying things that you don't need right now or can't get the best savings on. Now to begin with you may have no choice but to buy things you have to have but have no coupons for. That is ok as you get better and the longer you coupon the less this will happen.
By putting together a shopping list each week it will help save you time when looking at your circulars.
Planning your shopping trip
Before you head out to the store you will need to look at your shopping list and the store circulars to find the stores that have the items you will be shopping for. We will use Cereal for this scenario. Post Cereal is on your shopping list and is on sale this week at Publix BOGO (remember your lingo here BOGO is buy one get one free)these are the best sales as you can save the most money. Ok so Publix has Post Super Sugar Crisp cereal on sale for $3.99 BOGO. You have a coupon for a $1.00 off one Post Cereal. Now depending on your store policy You can use One $1.00/1 coupon for each box of cereal. So now your Super Sugar Crisp cereal that is on your list this week now went from $3.99 for 2 boxes to $1.99 for two boxes of cereal making each box $.99. Now I don't know about you but that is a good savings for me. I am able to get a brand name cereal that my family loves and normally would have cost me $3.99 each I can get it for $1 a box. Now what I like to do is buy as many boxes of this cereal as I can buy depending on the number of coupons I have. If you have 8 coupons that is 8 boxes of cereal. Now you may be saying but I am not going to eat 8 boxes of cereal this week, but will you eat 8 boxes of cereal in the next 6 weeks? If so then you buy those 8 boxes of cereal and for the next 6 weeks you do not have to buy more cereal you can spend next weeks budget on something else that is on sale. This helps you stock up on the items you use that is on sale each week and in no time you will have stock on your shelves you can use for several weeks while you continue to work on stocking up on other items you use, by the time younhave used up those 8 boxes of cereal you will have enough other items stocked up that you can then put cereal back on your list and restock it. Now one week during those 6 weeks Publix may have a super sale on Super Sugar Crisp Cereal that makes each box $.50 then go ahead and stock up on it you know you will use it and its at an even better deal put it on your shelf and once again you will have more weeks you will not need that item so it will allow you to buy other items you need. I hope this makes sense and you are able to see how stocking up really helps save you in the long run. If you have any questions about how to stock up and save please post your questions or e-mail me and I would be more than happy. Watch my posts as I will update with more ways to save you money at the store.
Have a Gr8T Day

Ok so now you got the coupons and you got the lingo now what? Now you have to find a way to organize your coupons.. There is nothing worse than having to search the car the office your purse or the kitchen for your coupons or even worse get to the store find a great deal and lo and behold you forgot your coupons at home.
Here are some suggestions you can use or you can come up with something that works better.
I prefer the binder for organizing your coupons as this is easiest to see your coupons when your in the store and come across a unadvertised sale or clearance sale.
Thank you Deal Fanatic for the great details

Here and here are some other options you can also use

Whatever option you choose you will see how much it helps you save more money by keeping those coupons orgainized..
If you have any questions or need any help please e-mail me or leave me a post and I would be happy to help you when you set up your organizer method
Have Fun

In order to coupon effectively you will need to know some coupon lingo.. Below are some terms that will be helpful to familiarize yourself with..
Sunday inserts:

P&G = Procter & Gamble Sunday insert
RP = Red Plum
SS = SmartSource
V = Valassis

When I post a deal I will say Lance Crackers $1.00/1 RP 2/3
This means Lance Crackers are one dollar off one found in the RP = Red Plum Sunday Paper Insert.
Below are other terms to help you understand the deals and what they mean

Coupon lingo:

$1/1, $1/2, etc. = One dollar off one item, one dollar off two items, etc.
2/$1, 3/$2, etc. = Two items for one dollar, three items for two dollars, etc.
BOGO = Buy one item get one item free
B2GO = Buy two items get one item free
Blinkies = Grocery/drugstore coupon dispensers with blinking lights
Cat = Catalina coupon, prints from a separate machine when your receipt prints
CRT = Cash register tape, usually used when referring to CVS coupons that print with receipt
ECBs = ExtraCare Bucks, CVS loyalty rewards system
ESRs = EasySaver Rebates, Walgreens monthly rebates program
FAR = Free after rebate
IPQ = Internet printable coupon
IVC = Instant Value Coupon, Walgreens’ store coupons found in ads and ESR booklet
MFR = Manufacturer
MIR = Mail-in rebate
OYNO = On your next order
OOP = Out of pocket
Peelie = Peel-off coupon found on product packaging
PSA = Prices starting at
RRs = Register Rewards, Walgreens’ Catalina coupons
SCR = Single Check Rebate, Rite Aid monthly rebates program
UPC = Universal Product Code, bar code on a product
WT = Wine tag, no alcohol purchase necessary to use these coupons
WYB = When you buy
YMMV = You mileage (or manager) may vary, some stores may allow you to do a deal, some may not.

For the Sunday insert Schedule click here Deal Seeking Mom has done a great job of listing the Sunday insert schedule so you will know when there are coupons and when there will not be coupons in the Sunday Paper.. If you have any questions about this post please contact me or post your question, as this is important to know in order to effectively learn to coupon..
Have Fun and watch for the next post to give you the next step to couponing.

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I am brand new to blogging so please be patient as I learn. I hope to bring you daily and weekly savings so please check back often to see what is new..