How much do you spend per week on your "deals"?

[Quasimodo]

I'd really like as much input as possible here, because I'm finding that I can't really afford my CVS/RiteAid/Walgreens/Loss Leader habit--and my dh makes plenty of money! I really think that I may be settling for prices that are too high or something, because last week I spent something like $100 stocking up and this week if I go, I'll spend the same with only about $33 of that going toward things I would have actually bought on my grocery list this week (better prices of course).

I can afford to pay about $500/month for groceries, and I pretty much need $400 to just pay for food. I know that will probably get better as I stock my fridge/pantry. I also can and preserve veggies and fruits, make my own jam, bread (sometimes), cook much of what we eat from scratch, etc. We have a family of 4--2 adults, 1 17yo boy and 1 10yo girl. I would like this amount to lower, but it's been a tough thing to accomplish with picky kids. I'm ok with how it is, but I really would like to fit my stocking up into the budget. How do you all do it? I am thinking that y'all must get a lot of stuff free to make that many trips to the store *points to "how many times to do you go to the store" thread*.

:thanks7:in advance for your input!

[heyaheather]

I'd say stick to one drug store or at least one drug store a week. You really don't need to do all three. Pretty much Rite Aid should have you stocked on HAB if you have a stockpile going already.

Then concentrate more on your food stockpiling. Read the threads about sales cycles. That will help you know when to stock up on certain items. Even if you can't stock up on your kids faves at the cheapest price, stock up when they go on sale at the best price you can. Think out of the box as well. If you can find a generic MIR, like some of the Bud MIR's off salty snacks, use those to buy the faves you can't get for close to free.

HTH

[Quasimodo]

Thanks Heather. May I ask---tho I've been couponing for years, I'm still new to THIS kind of couponing--what does HAB and MIR mean?

Thanks!

Keep the ideas comin' people! I really need the help!

[alarosalpn]

I'm new to couponing. I've been doing this for about a month now. The way I do it is... I look through 3-4 grocery store flyers. I have index cards that I write down what the sale is and what coupon I have that matches... When I'm done going through all the flyers it's usually narrowed down to 2 stores that I will go to.
The drug stores I have only done Walgreens and CVS. Again, I look through their flyers, write down what I see that is a good deal. I usually end up going to one or the other but do occasionally go to both. Getting different things at each store.
I used to make a weekly menu and shop from that. Now that I am couponing, I get what's on sale at really good prices and then make menus from what I have..
Once you get the hang of it you will have goal prices. I won't pay a dime for toothpaste. I won't pay more than $0.30 for salad dressing, $0.50 for shampoo or conditioner, usually get my toothbrushes free also. I get enough to last until the next sale that I have coupons for.
I hope I am making sense.
I get multiples of coupons just by asking people for their leftovers. If there are really good coupons in the paper, I go and buy a few. My CVS only charges $0.75 for the sunday paper!
My grocery budget was always $100/wk. I tend to spend less than that now but will spend up to $100/wk. I coupon until my budget is done for the week or I don't have anymore coupons for the weeks sale. If I find something that ends up being free after the coupon, I use all the coupons I have for that product.
I will stop there. I can go on forever. feel free to ask me any questions. I'm not as good as alot of others on this board but I feel I do pretty well. :)

[Quasimodo]

Man! How do you pay such low prices for your stuff, alarosalpn???? Let me tell you what my goal prices are for each of the things you listed:

toothpaste - $1-$1.50
salad dressing - $1
shampoo - $1-2
toothbrushes - $1-1.50

How are you getting those deals with newspaper coupons? The deals aren't that good here or something......

What am I doing wrong?

[mcatwood]

The only time I will "stockpile" an item is if it is FREE or super cheap!! I don't buy just because something is on sale...unless we NEED it. My menu is developed based on what I have in my fridge that needs to be used, what I have in my stockpile and what is on sale. I have been playing the drugstore games for a while so I have been able to use items that were moneymakers to build my drugstore FREE money (ECB's at CVS and GC's at WAGS and Rite Aid) When I first started couponing I bought stuff that I didn't need and now I know what we need and focus my energy on that. I still sometimes have to buy stuff we don't need to get the deals but I can always find someone who can use it. I do buy stuff for the sole purpose of donation when my coupons match up--I believe that what goes around comes around!

I currently average $20 per week out of pocket which is typically at least $200+ value of items pre coupons. I have learned that almost everything goes on sale! Sometimes you have to wait for that super deal to come along. When that deal hits--that is when you buy! I know when you are just starting out you feel like you have to get your stockpile as big as you can as fast as you can--but there is no hurry! There will always be another sale or another deal! If you are on this site regularly you will be able to tell what the super hot deals are! That is when you jump on a deal and stock up!

Challenge yourself and see what you can accomplish--sometimes a challenge makes it more fun :wavehi: Just because your Dh makes the money doesn't mean you have to spend it all on consumables! My Dh made enough to support me spending $300/wk on groceries last year but now that I spend almost nothing-- I have more money to SAVE and spend on things we WANT to buy!

The stuff you listed is typically FREE stuff! I have not paid for any of those in quite a while!
Toothpaste is free regularly at the drugstores (right now at CVS)
Salad Dressing is Free right now at Publix (Kraft is BOGO use the $1.50/1) or super cheap at Walmart--I think it is less than $.10 with the $1.50/1 Kraft
Shampoo is free or super cheap at the drugstores on a regular basis. check the threads I believe there is some for around $.50 at wither CVS or WAGS this week!
Toothbrushes will be free too--unless you need all of this stuff right now you have time to wait and get it when it is free.

[Quasimodo]

Wow--awesome info! Thank you!

Isn't it difficult tho to stockpile coupons when they expire in just a few months? Are the cycles really that frequent?

[mcatwood]

Wow--awesome info! Thank you!

Isn't it difficult tho to stockpile coupons when they expire in just a few months? Are the cycles really that frequent?

Yes--there are deals to be had every week!! You will start to see that some of the same coupons seem to repeat...it is the rare coupons that can make for some of the super deals. The hot deals are really random but there is usually still at least one hot deal that I get excited about every week:BigHand:

Start slow --unless you need to make a BIG change in you spending right now...just do some reading in the threads for your stores and you will start learning how to save.

[mommyto3angels]

I do not want to steal your thread but I have a question: we do anything that we do not use fluoride toothpaste.
So I have to pay $ 5 and more for a tube. Are there any deals on nonfluoride toothpaste that you women know?Thanx

[heyaheather]

Thanks Heather. May I ask---tho I've been couponing for years, I'm still new to THIS kind of couponing--what does HAB and MIR mean?

Thanks!

Keep the ideas comin' people! I really need the help!

HAB=Health and Beauty
MIR=Mail In Rebate

[gingerszabo]

I do not want to steal your thread but I have a question: we do anything that we do not use fluoride toothpaste.
So I have to pay $ 5 and more for a tube. Are there any deals on nonfluoride toothpaste that you women know?Thanx

I think I'd rather just use baking soda, or not use anything at all on my brush(just make sure to thoroughly brush:whistle67:) rather than pay $5 a tube.

[PennyRewards]

.....I can afford to pay about $500/month for groceries.....We have a family of 4....

Wow, I wish our family of four (2 adults, an almost 13-year old boy, a 10-1/2 year old daughter) could afford that much in groceries. We have to try and keep it to about $50-60 a week! I don't know what we are going to do when the kids are home for the summer and don't get free breakfast and free lunch any longer.

Sorry I kind of hi-jacked your thread ...

[robyn812]

So I have to pay $ 5 and more for a tube. Are there any deals on nonfluoride toothpaste that you women know?Thanx

Is Toms of Maine flouride free? I believe it may be. It was a good deal at CVS a few weeks ago. Probably 1ou 1/2 price of what you are currently spending. Natural Dentist or something like that is either on sale this week or next at CVS.

As for stockpiling, start slow.

Purchase the items you need for the week and pick 1-2 deals that are really great and you have multiple q's for and stockpile those items. Set aside say $10 extra or more if you can afford to for stockpiling items.
Really "hot" coupons come out every few months. Purchase extra papers, trade or purchase extras on ebay or coupon sites and really stockpile those items. Ex. Electrosol tabs free after $2.50 q's in January, Kraft salad dressing free to $.10 each after $1.50 q's last week.
Read boards and watch sales cycles to determine when items are really worth stockpiling. Usually sales cycles are 8-12 weeks depending on your area of country. If you use something every week and you know that it will be that long before it goes on sale again purchase 12 of them using q's (usually this makes entire purchase cheaper than if you were to purchase 2-3 of them at regualar, full price when you need it)
Never buy just because its cheap if it costs anything unless you need the item. Only buy if you do not need it if after q's and RR, EB or rebate it makes the item free or MM.
Using these tips you should be able to reduce you monthly food budget by about $25-50 or more per month until you are at a point of just maintaining stockpile items.

Hope this helps.:smile77:

[hcwhcw]

I do not want to steal your thread but I have a question: we do anything that we do not use fluoride toothpaste.
So I have to pay $ 5 and more for a tube. Are there any deals on nonfluoride toothpaste that you women know?Thanx

mommyto3angels, You should post a separate thread for your question, maybe in the Deal Seeker forum. That way, more people with an interest in your question will actually see it, and hopefully, some of them will post with useful info for you. If and when you post that thread, it would probably help people to answer if you state which brands of fluoride-free toothpaste you currently use and what stores are in your area.

I don't want to further hijack the OP's thread, so I'll just say one last thing about this, and only because PPs already mentioned Tom's of Maine toothpastes and baking soda. I was just looking at the Tom's of Maine Web site recently, and I remember there is a section specifically listing which of their toothpastes don't contain fluoride. So, you might want to check that out. As for the baking soda suggestion, I've seen homemade recipes out there that I think also include glycerin and something else. You could try googling for them.

Re OP's questions, I don't really have much to add. I think heyaheather, alarosalpn, mcatwood, and robyn812 all gave good info there. :-)

I am curious to know how much people are spending each week on their deals, in actual cash out of pocket. Not factoring in ECBs, RRs, OYNO, rebates, etc., none of those future credits.

mcatwood, Is $20 a week your pre-ECB/RR/OYNO/MIRs OOP? Is it just for drugstore items, i.e., HBA? What about food, groceries? Or food-wise, are you mostly living off of your stockpile right now?

Is $20/week what other people are spending in pre-ECB/RR/OYNO/MIRs OOP?

[Quasimodo]

Ahh, that makes much more sense, Heather! Thanks!

[phoenyxstarr]

I actually spend approximately $50/week on stockpile/sale items. I know how much it is b/c its my child support payment. Most weeks, I make 1 trip to Wal-Mart & Albertson's, on Saturday. I make a list, matching up my coupons to get as much as possible for as little OOP as possible. I do the same with all my stores though. I only shop 4 stores, Walgreen's, United, Wal-mart, & Albertson's.

[aimeemarie]

I am struggling with this issue as well. The idea for me is to spend less of our grocery budget because that is what we need right now. Oftentimes I am stocking up on quite a bit, and I know I am saving money...but it feels like we aren't seeing that money being saved. What I did last month was to take one week "off" of big grocery shopping. I did need milk, fruit, bread, lunchmeat and cheese but all our dinners I made from what I already had. That really did help our budget. You just can't get all the deals all of the time. And I've promised to not buy anything, no matter how cheap, that I don't actually need. It's got to be something I will HAVE to buy at some point! So I've been trying to be pretty picky about what deals I do at Wags. (We only have Wags so I guess that is good for me!)

[mcatwood]

mcatwood, Is $20 a week your pre-ECB/RR/OYNO/MIRs OOP? Is it just for drugstore items, i.e., HBA? What about food, groceries? Or food-wise, are you mostly living off of your stockpile right now?

Is $20/week what other people are spending in pre-ECB/RR/OYNO/MIRs OOP?

I average $20/week cash OOP for all groceries, H&B, baby needs, cleaning, etc... although I may only spend $20/wk I average $200-$300 in product value!

I do not include toys, clothing, DVD's or our weekly restaurant visit in this amount--those are pulled from either my clothing budget or entertainment budget.

This is the easiest way for me to track spending. I maintain about 30-40 ECB's that I roll, a good amount on my gift cards to CVS, WAGS & Rite Aid--so I don't include any spending (or gains) from my "play money"--that would just be too hard to truly calculate. If I am earning MIR's $$ --I do not subtract that from my OOP but consider that a perk. I do have a HUGE stockpile and so I don't NEED alot. I try to maintain a variety of about 20-30 lbs of meats in my freezer--so most of my weekly OOP is adding to my stockpile and weekly produce. Basically I find great deals and buy then:BigHand:

[tmsmalley]

What a lot of people do is specifically budget for stockpile. So, say you can afford $500 a month and you need $400 of that for your every day food items. That means you've got $100 a month for stockpiling.

So, when you go to the store, you get what groceries you need up to your $400 amount, then you get "great deals" up to your $100 limit. When you hit that $100, you stop. As you build your stockpile and your coupon collection, what you need for groceries should go down, allowing you to move more money over to stockpiling (say in a couple months you now have $150 to play with). Pretty soon your grocery costs should be pretty low, just things like bread, milk, eggs and meat and the rest should be great deals and the two together should be less than you were spending by a big amount.

And you don't have to go to the store a million times a week. I go once every week or every other week even. If you have that kind of time, great, but if you don't (or don't want to), you don't have to. In my experience, the more times you go to the store, the more likely you are to spend more money (that may be just me though) :)


Tess