I did one of these several months ago and we had a bunch of great questions! Since then, there are almost 3 times as many of you reading this site and from the emails I get, you are full of questions! I also know that there are MANY "newbies" to couponing (I even finally got my sister excited about using coupons...and THAT was a major coup!)
So here we go! Ask me your couponing questions, questions about switching to a cash envelope system, frugal living or anything else (within reason), and I'll answer your question as a reply in the comments.
Note: if there are any questions that are a bit more complicated, I may choose to answer them as a separate post this week, but will let you know that.
The only thing I I ask is that you read any other questions already asked first to avoid repeats!
Hilary
Question- I try to save money as much as possible and that includes printing coupons off the Internet a lot now. However, so many of these coupons are just a few inches long and I end up wasting an entire sheet of paper! I've finally gotten smart and starting flipping the paper around in the printer to try and get two on a sheet, but is there anything else I can do? Ink and paper are so expensive! Thanks!
Mindi
I hate that as much as you do and I also "flip" the page.
The only other thing that I can suggest is to print your coupons in Black & White (but check with your store managers first to make sure that the MANAGER, not the cashier, isn't going to give you a problem with B&W coupons). Black ink is usually cheaper than color!
Heather
I recently bought some ink refills off of eBay and refilled my HP cartridges. For twenty bucks I have enough ink to refill my black and color cartridges about 36 times. I've haven't been too keen on trying it for fear that I would ruin the cartridge or make a huge mess. On a scale of 1 - 10 the mess factor was about a 2. I forgot to grab gloves but what little ink I got on my hands washed off within five hours.
Supposedly Staples is having a sale on their computer paper right now. They are trying to get rid of the paper in old packaging. I belong to a couponing forum (www.afullcup.com) and some of the ladies there watch the sales and wait for the big office stores to put their paper on sale for $1/pack. Keep your eyes open because one woman specifically mentioned buying in bulk last Easter and it's almost time for her to restock again. She's like me, an avid couponer and home schooling mom so ink and computer paper go through our hands like buttah. Only not as tasty. 🙂
HTH
karen
hi I was wondering if you know of any blogs highlighting deals in the lancaster area? you are the closest to my area that I've found, so far all the other blogs I read are in other states. I don't have a acme, kroger or publix near here. any suggestions would be much appreciated! thanks
Mindi
If you check out http://www.BeCentsAble.net, you should find the largest list of grocery store bloggers on the Internets. Just navigate to the Grocery Gathering page and scroll down to see if your local stores are listed.
What grocery stores do they have in Lancaster? Do they have Weis? If so, their ads are very similar to Giant (the one I do) since they are owned by the same company.
Likewise, Acme is part of the Albertson's family, so if you have an Albertsons-owned-store near you, the ad should be very similar as well!
Kelly
Yeah! I'll go first since I just sent you a question yesterday.
In summary: Do you use a price book? When posting your deals how do you know when to use the coupons or wait for the lowest price sale? My first two trips to the Acme were very successful using your list. Thanks!
Kelly
Mindi
I don't keep a price book any longer, but that is just because I do it so much that I know what the lowest price is! If you are just starting out, you might want to keep one until you start to remember what is a "good price" for the items that you buy.
And remember - just because it is in the ad, it doesn't mean that it is a good deal!
For instance, I see Chex Mix advertised at $2 all the time....but experience tells me that if I just wait a few weeks, it will probably be $1 or $1.25 soon. I just wait for it to hit that price (and use my $.50 coupon that gets doubled) to buy it!
Kelly
My next question is when do you put it on your list of deals? Only when the price is the lowest or just whenever a coupon matches up with a sale?
This will just help me in knowing how to approach the list, which is incredibly helpful either way.
My mom was shocked at the store yesterday when I spent $45 and saved $75. I laughed and told her I was just getting started. :o)
I have no idea why I didn't get around to doing this sooner. I made up my coupon book yesterday and she pointed out I just spent $14 to hold my coupons but I said I would make that up in no time and already have.
Mindi
I think that I just start remembering the lowest price and what falls in to my "what I am willing to pay" bracket.
For instance, I WILL NOT pay more than $1.25 for cereal. So if I see a deal in the ad that makes a box of cereal $2, then I usually don't list it in my posts, because I consider $2 expensive for cereal!
Julie
I'm new to shopping at Giant, and have a question regarding those advertised deals that state you must buy 4or 5 additional or lesser quantities at ? price...for instance in the Sunday circular you can get Birds Eye veggies 5/$4 "Must Buy 5 Additional or lesser quantities at .99 each" so I have to buy 10 pkgs all together?
Mindi
Ok - here's the deal...
If you wanted to just buy 4 bags, it would be $3.95 ($.99 x 4)
If you want to buy 5 bags, you get the 5 for $4 price
If you want to buy 6 bags, you pay $4.99 (1 "deal" and an additional bag at $.99
HOWEVER, most times at Giant you can "double the deal"...so you could buy 10 bags for $8...it just has to be in multiples of 5
AND - if the second time it doesn't give you the discount, just march over to the CS desk and ask them. If they tell you that you can only do one deal per transaction, simply return those 5 bags and rebuy them (although you saying that you are going to do this will usually have them giving you a refund too bring what you paid down to the "deal price")
Celia
Oh that is a good one as I am about to head to Giant.
Have you ever considered posting recipes highlighting special sales?
Because I found a good deal on pork but had no idea what to do with it. I have been considering posting my grocery list on my blog with my menu and recipes for the week. Sometimes I fall back on stuff that is not the best price because I know what to do with it. Also, have you ever successfully frozen cold cuts?
Mindi
well - I am working on a "Save Your hambone" post for Thursday!
I will try to do more recipe posts...it's just every time I think about it we are halfway through eating the food, which is not the best time to take a picture 😉
I freeze cold cuts and cheese all the time! If you buy them from the deli counter, just "double bag" them in ziploc bags. Pre-packaged meats & cheeses can be thrown in the freezer "as-is"
Laura
Hi,
I am from the Lancaster area, and have not shopped at Giant, but think I am going to start. So I was wondering if Giant is having a BOGO deal, do I need to buy 2 or 4 of that item to use a coupon off of 2 items? At Weis, you would have to buy 4 of that item to be able to use the coupon, because you can't use a coupon on a free item. Also, did I miss the list for the items on sale at Giant this week?
Thanks for all your hard work! Laura
Mindi
Yep - you can use a $1/2 on a BOGO sale with no problem at Giant!
I've even used BOGO coupons on a BOGO deal to get both items free at Giant.
The Giant post was late this week, but it's up now!
And you're welcome! 😉
Celia
I am back from Giant and did fabulous! It was 103.06 before coupons and 55.41 after! I wanted to do victory lap.
Another woman came over to me while I was picking out meat and showed me this computer/scanner where you swipe your Giant card and it shows you coupons that are totally different from the ones in the circular or newspaper. I had no idea it even existed. I got a dollar off my ten dollar meat purchase than was already B1G1 for the keilbasa and 1.99 per pound chicken. She told me that Giant does not advertise the machine any more. In my store it was across from the butcher's window.
Mindi
I think you are talking about the price checker/scanners that Giant has? Have you been getting good coupons from them, because I stopped bothering with them a long time ago (I kept getting $5/25 for flowers and catering trays!) Good to know that they are giving out decent ones again!
Heather
Acme - When purchasing items from their 10 for $10 sales do you have to purchase 10 items? I know that any other time if it's 2 for $5.00 you must purchase two otherwise you'll get charged the full price.
Thanks. 🙂
Mindi
NOOOOOO! Unless the ad says "must buy 10" (or has any "must buy x" wording), you can just get 1 item and pay $1! That's the same at all grocery stores and a trick that they hope you don't realize. They are trying to "psych you out" to get you buying 10 items so that they can move some stock!
Heather
Interesting. Thanks for the answer! I meant to ask when I checked out last week but forgot about it. I was thrown off when I grabbed the wrong brand of cake mix and my coupon didn't match because of that. My SO acted like an ape in the store and it took all I had to grab the cake mix as he stomped away pushing the cart at about 25 mph.
Anyway, sorry for rambling. Thanks again for answering my question. It's good to know that I'm not locked into buying a bunch of crap I really don't want! 🙂
Shannon
Does Giant count your manufacturers coupons towards you gas rewards. There is always a difference between what I paid and what my rewards are (to my advantage) and it's usually close to what I used in coupons. So I just wanted to know for sure. Also I miss your Giant blog when you don't shop there. You are the only one on becentsable.net grocery gathering at this time that does one of the stores in my area. I was wondering if the weeks you didn't go there if you could do a short blog where readers could comment and list there best deals.
Mindi
No - you get the money for your gas rewards from your coupons.
However, you don't get the doubled value of the coupon (just the single). Also, milk doesn't count towards your gas rewards, nor do gift cards, lottery or tobacco purchases.
I do the Giant post every week, even though I rarely shop there any longer....sometimes I am just a little late. The post just went up and this is only the 2nd or 3rd time I was this late. I really do try to get it up by Sunday, but sometimes life just interferes 😉
Pamela
I am new to the site...and absolutely Love it! Could you explain what some of these abbreviations mean? such as: use the $1 from the 4/5 SS..what does ss mean..I've also seen P&G and RP...sorry if this is a stupid question.
Kristine
Not a stupid question at all!
$1 from the 4/5 SS would mean: Use the $1 coupon found in the April 5th Smart Source (one of the coupon inserts in the Sunday paper).
P&G is Proctor and Gamble. They have an insert in the Sunday paper usually once per month
RP is Red Plum. Another insert in the Sunday paper.
Other abbreviations I can think of:
BOGO: Buy One Get One
WYB: When you buy
$1/2: would mean $1 off the purchase of two
OYNO: On your next order
Mindi
thanks Kristine! you got to it before I did!
Just a mention: I also have a "New? Start Here!" page (see the navigation bar at the top) with links to most of the "Coupon 101" questions, including a "Coupon Lingo" post
Mindi
SS = SmartSource insert
RP = RedPlum insert
P&G = Proctor & Gamble
These are the names of the 3 major coupon inserts in the paper each week
Kim
My question is this... can you return items at Giant? I ask because I tried to use a BOGO internet coupon today and they wouldn't take it. I wanted to tell the cashier to take the juice off my order, but she was already so irritated with me (I guess it was because I had coupons?) that I didn't want to make her any angrier. Now I'm stuck with two bottles of juice I didn't even really want (not if I had to pay 2.50 for each of them, anyway, and won't be the one to get to drink them) and am wondering how painful it would be to just take them back the next time I'm there.
Mindi
Yes - you can absolutely return items at Giant!
I can understand you not wanting to further irritate the cashier (unless she was rude to you, in which case, IMO, all bets are off), but I would have walked straight from the cashier to the CS desk and returned them!
Amy
Love your blog - here's my question: do you get any hints of Giant's weekly specials ahead of time? More specifically, do you have a read on when they will offer $1 doublers, or triplers? Thanks!