Coupon Reference Guide

I have been getting a lot of readers telling me that they love the couponing entries so I've decided to put together a little reference entry for you guys to help make your couponing  more streamlined, enjoyable experience#minusFrustration.  I have the links in this entry to help you guys out#Finally!.  I have went to some of the sites so I can give you an idea as to what they are and what to expect when you go to them.

Coupon sites:

1-Retail Me Not
     This site has grocery coupons along with deals/coupon codes for restaurants, clothing stores, etc.
      http://www.retailmenot.com/s/t/printable/coupon

2-Coupons.com
     This is my most used site.  It is a printable coupon site, very easy to use.
     http://www.coupons.com/

3-Deal Seeking Mom
     This site has a lil bit of everything.  It has coupons, restaurant deals, tips on being frugal, & more!!!
      http://www.dealseekingmom.com/

4-CouponMom.com
    This was actually the site that I first went on to learn about couponing once I got interested.  It shows you more places to get coupons and even has a section that goes into more detail about how to coupon#couponDatabaseTab
    http://www.couponmom.com/

Some good apps are:

1-Mega Coupon Calculator
   OMG! I love this app! With this app you put in the item and how much it costs.  Then you put in your coupon.  It actually computes how much you will be paying, INCLUDING YOUR STATE TAX!

2-Extreme Coupon Finder by ABC Solutions
   This app actually has stores already loaded into it and will tell you the deals and if there are any coupons that can go with it.  It also computes the cost for you, but on this one it doesn't put in the state tax.  Plus, it tells you where to find the coupons.

3-Grocery IQ
   This is the app I use the most because I do a lot of my couponing via cell phone.  This app is associated  with coupons.com.  It will allow you to go on there and clip your coupons.  After you clip your coupons        then you can email it to yourself.  Once they are emailed you just go to a computer that prints, open that        email, and print your coupons.  EASY!

Since I have a Samsung phone,so I get all of these apps from the google play store.  Unfortunatly, I'm not sure if it's on the Apple version of the google play store.  My best guess is that they do so check it out#OHYEA.  All of the apps are free so that is awesome#awesomePossum.  There are versions of these apps that you can upgrade and pay for if you so choose to.

Now if you are like me you look on these coupon sites and they have all this lingo/abbreviations that you are not familiar with#my1stBlogEntry #lol.  Below is a link that tells you what all the lingo/abbreviations mean.

http://dealseekingmom.com/Coupon-Lingo-Quick-Reference-Guide/

Now remember you can contact your favorite companies and let them know how much you like their product and they do one of two things.  They will either send you a sample or send you a coupon.  Either way it's awesome#wordOfTheDay.  If you have Netflix and you need some inspiration with couponing they do have the show Extreme Couponing by TLC on there.  I know once I'm done here, I will be turning it on#ThankYouNetflix. 

Thank you everyone for your feedback and keep reading and I'll keep them coming!!!!

Til Next Time...

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~W@$HM~

Couponing Part 2

After speaking to Milwaukee's coupon queen I have come to realize that I do have it!#HaveWhat? I have the know how to do this extreme couponing! I'm slowly yet surly getting there.  Like I stated in Couponing part 1, you look for the deals in the stores and you match them with the manufacturer coupons that you get from online, mailbox, directly from the manufacturer,  or newspaper insert.#easy

What I have found with the newspaper insert is that you have to buy a crazy amount of newspapers to get a crazy amount of them#lol When I say crazy, I mean CRAZY.  The coupon queen buys about $400-$500 worth of newspapers per month!  Now she buys stuff she doesn't even need but every month she has a 'rummage' sale and sales everything.  She told me that she usually makes no less than $3000/month doing that.  So of course, her newspaper investment of $400-$500 is nothing.  I honeslty don't want to do that as great as the money sounds.  I have two boys and pretty soon they are going to be eating me out of house and home.  I'd rather have my stock pile for my family, teach others how to, and help my church with donations#CouponMinistry???#Hmmm.

I have been getting a lot of questions about couponing.  The main two are:

1-Where do you get your coupons?
2-Can you match manufacturer's coupons with store coupons?

I will definitely answer these two questions.

1-I get my coupons from the paper but mainly on coupon sites#google and print them off.  The main one I get my coupons from is coupon.com.  They have an app so you can pick your coupons and email them to yourself, so you can print them off later.

2-Simply, yes.  The only thing with store coupons they have a limit on how many you can use, unlike a majority of manufacturers coupons.

Now here are some tips I found helpful.
1- Download stores apps so you have their circulars
2-When at checkout pay attention to how your coupons are being rung up because most times the cashier don't. #savingsLost
3-ALWAYS ALWAYS ALLLLLWAAAAYS check your reciept after because if something didn't ring up right you can go to the customer service desk and get your money.
4- Don't just look to grocery stores for couponing.  Look at pharmacy stores #walgreens#cvs and department stores #kmart#target
5-Use coupons on smaller packages because you will get more.  They make you think your getting a better deal with the big one but when couponing it's not always the best value.
6-Have a system of clipping and storing your coupons because just stuffing them in a folder is a mess and time consuming.
7-Always plan your trip to the store and stick to your list. 

Well I hope I'm helping with what I've found out about couponing.  Like I always say, if I find out more I'll share.  Please share your savings with me! I love to hear about how much people have saved by couponing.

Til Next Time...
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~W@$HM~

Cars: The Ultimate Experience

It’s like when I got my first car.  My parents and I went half on a white Buick century.  I felt I was getting a deal because it was only $800 #should’veKnown.  The moment of truth #soMyDadSaid is when we took it to the emissions place #whenTheyWereGovernmentRan and my car was getting an emissions test.  This was telling us whether or not I would be coming out of a lot of money to fix the darn thing or not.  Of course I was shooting for it to pass the emissions test and then I could just  drive it but #withMyLuck it didn’t.  It cost like $800 bucks to fix it.  Now when you think about it you only pay $800 for the car and now it’s another $800 isn’t that bad so really you only put in $1600 for the entire car and you know everything that is wrong with it.  Thank God my Aunt Denise gave me the $800.  The car got fixed and everything was great until my boyfriend #atTheTime drove my car into a city bus #WithUsInItMayIadd.  All the boyfriends I had from 18 on seemed to crash my cars#Hmmm.  You think I would learn but I didn’t#lol#sad. But anyway that Buick taught me a lot about cars.  The main one was get a car that doesn’t have a lot wrong with it or anything wrong with it at all because having to get your car fixed sucks something terrible.

I have the misfortune of having my car from a buy here pay here place.  The advertise that they “come to the rescue” but really they are the scum of the earth.  When I went to get a car from them the finance guy said this, this ACTUALLY CAME OUT HIS MOUTH!, “Are you going to pay me?! Because we give THESE people help all the time and they don’t pay.  My day is full of collection calls.”  Now everyone I told was like, “I would’ve been like EXUUUUUUUUUSE ME I KNOW YOU DIDN’T JUST SAY THAT TO ME.”  But when you’re in a tight squeeze where the other car you have doesn’t have a transmission that works and they are the only place to give you a car loan with $100 bucks down your reaction is gonna be different #runOnSentence#Maybe#anyway.  Anyway I got the car from this place and the guy called me EVERY WEEK about the payment until he realized that I paid on time and put me on autopay.  I even made double payments because of their mistake on several occasions.  I saw that as ok, because that just meant that I would be able to get away from these slave drivers sooner.  I think my car loan is up in June or July of this year #hooray!

I have a 2005 Chevy.  It’s not new but it’s not super old either.  I’ve had it going on 4yrs.  My car has been a freaking champ! I’ve gone out of town, rippin’ and running, doing errands, etc etc.  It’s over 150,000 miles and runs great haven’t had any real big “car trouble” out of it.  It does this theft system thing where the theft system is malfunctioning.  If I get in the car a different way or open a different door then it will pop on and I have to wait for 10 min before it will start.  #whispering The car thinks someone is trying to steal it because its owner#ieME doesn’t get in the car that way#duh!  Other than the theft system,  it’s a great car, but guess what? #what? As of Sunday this mother sucker decided not to start!#audience#Owwwwwww.  It’s been below zero here in Wisconsin over the past couple of days.  So I don’t know why I didn’t put the heat in the gas tank when I got gas.  For those who are not familiar with winter woes, heat is something that you pour in your gas tank when you get gas so your gas doesn’t freeze.  So when I went to start the car to go to church on Sunday it didn’t start.  We’ve had numerous people come and look at it.  I still think it’s the gas freezing, but as a woman talking about cars, no one listens#lol.  So my poor Chevy is out there, lonely, undriven, non-functional, sad really.  I look out the window and it’s just a big snow covered eye sore.  We are going to do some more trouble shooting tomorrow and hopefully that sucka will vroom back to life.  J

Don’t car trouble always come when you least need it?!  It’s like its waiting for the most opportune moment to be like you know what? Bump this job I QUIT!!! Its crazy! There is usually a silver lining when you do have trouble.  Sometimes you know someone who will help you.  You don’t have to pay for labor #inMyCase. Something makes you try to think on the bright side of things.  But you do something every time that you have car trouble #what’s That?  You always think back to what you could’ve done to prevent all of that from even happening#winterizing#lol.

Til Next Time…

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~WS@HM~

Crack VS GameFly

I'm what you call a gamer wife.  No it's not the wife of a gamer. I AM A FEMALE GAMER#cellPhoneGamer#playstation#Wii. My husband is a gamer#blackOps#madden. My oldest child is a gamer#legoGames.  I don't doubt that my baby will be a gamer too once he's able to play#babyGamer. 

No#IknowWhatYoureThinking Im not a lazy parent.  My parents aren't lazy parents. Video games do for me what alcohol,drugs,& cigs do for addicts#aBitExtremeIknow it gives me an out.  But instead of killing myself Im just buying games.#crackVsGameFly. In high school I was ALWAYS frustrated so after I would do my chores I would go in my room and play grand theft auto#GTA BABY!  Beating people on the street taking their money and doing missions where I had to shoot people really allowed me to release my frustration.   The fact that Grand Theft Auto is a great game helped too#lol

I remember like 3 or 4 years ago there was a thing on the news about video games actually being addiciting and people trying to say it was a problem like crack is a problem#getReal.  They were even saying that people need to go to REHAB!!! To me that's like saying if you enjoy going to the movies a lot, then you have a 'movie problem'#eyeroll. Do these people have nothing else to do but to make stuff up?  Its called Hollywood. Go get a job there and your creativity can be paid for.  Don't sit up here being 'experts' making stuff up#forReal.

There is a downside#toMeAnyway of kids playing some video games all the time.  If they play too many their imagination seems to start going away.  I noticed when my 6 yr old would be told he can't play video games he would decide to go to sleep#lol I asked him why doesn't he play with his toys but he just looked at me uninterested.   That made me concerned so I cut his video game time down.  So now as he watches his dvds in his room he plays with his train set and hotwheels set.  He is being creative again and he isn't being just SHOWN imaginary things but making them up himself.

As an adult, waiting to be called to work, I got nothing but time and MY imagination. ...well my imagination is not on trial here sooooo #lol video games is an escape really.  I actually used to want to be an animator.  I was going to go to the Art Institute here in Milwaukee but I had no time to go to classes.  I had to go to work and they didn't offer a lot of classes online.  This was before I got married. Why not do it now? I got different dreams now :) Plus I figure it's like the story of the Mississippi man#dont know it?

The story of the MISSISSIPPI MAN begins when this man was a boy.  He loved going to the Mississippi river and sit and watch the boats on the river.  He always told himself that he when he grew up that he was going to be a captian of one of those boats.  Well the boy grew into that man and did just that, he became captian of a boat.  As captain of his own vessel he thought back to when he was a little boy looking over the river.  He wished he had never became captain because the river lost its magic now.  He now knew the dangers and how to read the river for potential rocks.  In his youth all he knew was the water not the danger.  He wished he could go back to the time when all there was was water.

So when it comes to animation I would rather take my kids to see it than to make it.  So I'm  not like that Mississippi man who lost the wonder of it all because he learned it.  There are other ways my kids can be proud of me :)  Cuz I have other dreams.

So video games#backToWhatIwasTalkingAbout are just entertaining not addicting and harmful to your body like drugs#inMyOpinion.  What do you think?  Comment below :)

Well...
Til Next Time...
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~W$@HM~

It's My Bloggin Life!

I DONT CARE WHAT NO ONE THINK OF ME!!I DO WHAT I WANT!....Why am I yellin?#gladYouAsked Because people who say this ALL the time always seem to be yellin.  It's nice that some people say that but I find people who make a big point to say this all the time do care.  Or I maybe wrong #riiiiiiiiiight#lol#jk I've always thought that we all care to a certian degree about what a certian group of people think of us.

I figure this because when we are kids you want the approval of adults.  Then as you grow up you want the approval of your friends.   I remember when I was a freshmen in high school fubu was real big.  At the time it was the fat albert fubu jerseys that were popular.  I wanted to wear some fat albert!!! So I went to a store that sells name brands for cheap. So you know what that means?#ImGuessingYoureGonnaTellMe I was able to buy a yellow fat albert jersey.  I was super excited to wear it on that following monday!!! So I wore that and some silver metallic jeans#thoseJeansWereIn@TheTime#ShutUp I was looking good! Went to school and EVERYONE was impressed with my outfit. It was a good day and in high school I didn't get many of those.  My older sister and I had lockers 4 lockers apart. So after school she came up to me and told me everyone loved my outfit and was wondering what I was wearing the next day...

THE NEXT DAY?!?!! WHAT IM GOING TO WEAR?!?!! I DONT HAVE ANY MORE NEW CLOTHES!!!!!  So I went home and tried to put a "new" outfit together.  I was stressin out#teenageTrouble.  Of course I get to school in some dressy dress up school clothes outfit but it didnt have the same effect.  I got those "I knew she didn't have anymore clothes" looks.  I felt disappointed in myself for caring what these teen torturers thought of me.  I did that a lot until my senior year when I pretty much fell out with everyone n I was just counting down the days until graduation.

Another way #iThink people try and prove that they don't care is thru language....bad language.lol. ok did anyone have this? In middle school EVERYONE seems to be cussing and cool for doing so?#No?#wellMineDid Im a PK#Preacher'sKid so everyone who would cuss would not cuss around me because of it.  This made me feel bad lol I wanted them to be cool around me so then id be cool#byAssociation...#Rofl I remember when I did try to cuss around my friends #lol diiiiiiiiiidn't sound as cool as the others.  I might as well been Bobby's mom on Bobby's world#90skidshow#google it. So after making a fool of myself I did what my mom does#listening...I make words up...I say GOT DOGGIT,Sugarsnippers, cheese n rice!!!!  I still to this day talk like this#yeeeeea#inRealLife

Ooooh man dating! #cringe you dated a guy or gal and your parents didn't like them.  I'm one of those people if my parents told me something and I did the opposite.  So when the look of disapproval appeared I was instantly trying to prove them wrong#Ha! Buuuuuuuut in the end they were right to not approve#lol#ohWell

I went thru more experiences but they all taught me that I'm happiest when I go with MY choice and not people's expectations.   When I got a wig with red in it#seePicBelow I loved it! You couldn't tell me I wasn't looking good. When I got my lip ring and nose ring...when I got my tattoos. ..I don't regret them because it makes me more me to me.  When I decided to stop pleasing certian people n live my life I was so much happier#beYourself

Til next time..
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~W$@HM~

Sick Midwest Kids

Well it's that time of the year#okWhatJanuary?  Flu season! I think like 15 people died from the flu here in Wisconsin and three of them#unfortunatly were expectant mothers#:(#soSad So now you have this big bad flu#bustOutUrEmergenC! I'm not too worried about tho#vitamens#lysol#WashHands

I have 2 kids now and worrying about them getting sick is natural.But sometimes you can be all preventive then they go outside without a hat OOOOOOOONE TIIIIIIIIIIIIIME and BOOM they get sick.  Do you have to go to work?#Not2day! Hope you got sick time or occurances left....Got plans for the weekend?#Nope It is all about getting that kid better.

Or I'll give you a better one.  Your kid fakes sick#SumMaMaB Get the cough going and crying cuz they wanna sell it#smh Chris did his lil act the other day.  He put on his best performance yet.  My husband fell for it lol.  I tried to tell him lol.

I wonder if kids have a secret society like kids next door where they have board meetings about faking sick.  Maybe they get the memos in those weird cartoon network cartoons.  Is it me or has these cartoons come out of left field#weird like Uncle Grandpa#GoodMorning#watchTheShowUllGetIt.

***Walking in a big auditorium*** This meeting of Kids Nation is now in session.  As you know we aren't having the snow days we anticipated#commotion I know I know but we do have a solution!#silence the fake sick act is now....ACTIVATED!!!!!!#FSA#CHEERS!!!!

So parents be on the look out for the FSA!!!#TeamParents

★★Til Next Time...
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~W$@HM~

Couponing Part 1

I have been asked to blog about my couponing so here we go! My first coupon trip my bill was $68 after discounts and coupons it was $38. It's actually more exciting than it sounds lol When I first got introduced to couponing my big sis April had just watched a bunch of episodes of extreme couponing.  She started to clip and use them.  She saved money but nothing compared to the people on the show.

For those who don't know extreme couponing is this show on tlc about these women who have freaking MASTERED using coupons#CouponGurus.  They have stock piles of food in their homes.  It's very inspiring cuz they make it look easy.  It's#toMe is an art form#lol.  These women have $400 grocery bills reduced to under $50 or less!  If you haven't and you have Netflix I HIGHLY recommend you watch it.  It's not only addicting but it pushes you to try this.

Ok so my sister stopped couponing because the savings she was getting wasn't worth the time that she was putting into it#dontBlameHer.  My husband and I watched the marathon spring2013 and were determined to do this and get the same savings as these women did.   We are saving for a house and had a kid on the way so it was definitely worth trying.  I started to coupon but then I got sick and dropped it. Until I saw that the show was on Netflix and being at home,I figured if I watch a crazy amount of this show it will click.  Guess what people#wht? I caught on!!!

Ok this is where we get right to it#boutTime! Now on the show they always went to stores that had a savers card.  With the savers card you save even more because of the stores deals.  The idea is to match coupons with the deals that they have going in the stores#veryImportant#writeDown.  Also remember the rule of thumb is if u want more savings you need to have 1 coupon PER ITEM.  So if you want to save on two of the same item you need a coupon for each. 

Now where do you get these coupons?#gladUasked You can get them in that horrid junk mail that tries to sell you checks and figurines that you get once a week or is currently filling up a drawer in your house#likeMe.the main ones are red plum and P&G..Another way is buying Sunday's paper...most people buy more than one so you get multiple coupons.  The last way I know how to get coupons is to go on coupon.com and print your coupons off.  With printing coupons you need to make sure the coupon is not faded or warped in anyway because the stores will not take it...so make sure your ink isn't empty..

Ok#on2TheExample let's say that the store has a sale on Progresso soups. The sale is 4/$4 with the store card and you have a manufacturers coupon for $0.50 off just ONE CAN.  Say that previous sunday you bought only 2 papers because you're just starting out.  You now have 2 coupons for $0.50 off the soup.  You can get even more of a discount on 2 cans of soup because you have 2 coupons.  Remember you save per item, per coupon#unless otherwise specified on the coupon..so your savings on the soup is $1.00#inTotal and instead of paying $4 for 4 cans of soup you are paying $3.  That is just one example.

Another important thing you need to do is to check the store's coupon policy.  Most stores have it on their websites...Some don't.   I went to a store that didn't and asked the lady their coupon policy and she looked at me super strange and said "why....what are you trying to do" like couponing is illegal or something lol.  The worst thing is to be at the register, planning on paying a certain amount, and you can't because of the stores coupon policy.

Now that you are couponing it's a good idea to plan your shopping trip.  Having a list of what you are getting, if you have a coupon for it, your projected savings. There are coupon websites that have these templates.  I don't use them because I do a excel spreadsheet#forNow. I even went as far as getting a store map so I wouldn't be in the store all day.

The sites that I have visited are couponmom.com & coupons.com...there are a bunch of coupons sites you can go to.  When I find another one I'll definitely let you guys know.

Now there is a coupon queen right here in my town and I'm lucky enough to have her work with my husband.  We are going to take her out to eat so she can share what we didn't get off the show.  She has shown reciepts of $300-$400 and she paid less than $20 on all of them and thata in storea like kmart and target!!! When I get this info I will give you Couponing Part 2. If you have questions leave them in the comment section below :)

Til Next Time...

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~W$@HM~