Liz 2.0

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Anyone else excited about Amazon’s first Prime Day!  I’m already a prime member and LOVE it…just ask my UPS driver .

Apparently the mega online retailer didn’t want to wait until black friday to have great sales so they made their own holiday Prime Day! 

If you’re not already a prime member or if you want to find out more check out this link:

Mark your calendars for July 15th!!  Tell me what do you have on your wishlist?

• upcoming Georgia State Park events
• ways to save at Georgia State Parks
• where to stay at Georgia State Parks
• and win prizes!

Lucky participants will win a Friends of Georgia State Parks Family Membership, a $75 value!

• 2 Annual Park Passes (good for two people/vehicles in your family for one year)
• Free Golf or Camping
• Overnight Stay Discount
• Retail Shop Discount
• Annual Historic Site Passes
• SAM Shortline Discounts

So last week I hosted our homeschool group’s Happy Hearts Day party. We’re a small little group so it was fun making things extra special for the kiddos. Over all I think it was a great success. Our scheduling worked out that the party itself happened after Valentine’s Day so I was able to take advantage of after holiday clearance at Target and get all my goodies at 50% off.  I can’t think of a party I’ve thrown where I haven’t gotten most of the goodies at Target on clearance.  It is fun to check things out and see how I might repurpose different items into decorations, goodie baskets, or crafts.

The party pretty much happened around my son’s massive train table.  I love how versatile that thing is well worth the effort dh, grandpa, grandma and myself put into it!  I used a plastic table cloth to cover up the kiddo’s wall decals and to make the space a bit more festive.

One of my favorite projects was making the cinnamon candy bouquet as part of the centerpiece for the table. Using plastic skewers saved from a fruit bouquet, I stuck 3 candy hearts per stick and did about 12 of them to fill up my little vase.  A great decorating but a treat too!  Speaking of treats one of the moms and girls made homemade candy dots that were super yummy I couldn’t stop eating them!

I had purchased the hand towels last year and used to cover the box under the tissue paper flowers and as a centerpiece on the table.  The Shower curtain (also purchased last year) worked great covering the Ikea Expedit 5x5 bookcase and made for a terrific back drop for taking a group picture with their craft. If you’re a Target clearance shopper too you’ll notice the heart garland I made using the felt ornaments from the Christmas clearance.

The craft was inspired by a classic craft all of us moms remembered making when we were in elementary school little heart people.  I liked this craft as it challenged the kids to try a new technique of the paper folding, and it had some familiar parts using the glue stick and coloring with markers. Each kid seemed confident and excited with how their valentine’s day craft turned out.  I had all the strips cut and hearts punched the crafting time consisted of the assembly and paper folding. I really recommend this craft for this age group 5-6. I especially love getting all the discounted craft supplies after the holidays I’ve really built up a good supply for our homeschool crafting projects.

We didn’t just eat candy and craft. I had a five minute teaching of a scripture and the kids and I discussed love and how we show our friends how we love them (by hugging). Through out the party the kids had little worksheets and activities that were education based and Valentine themed so they were exercising their minds as well as having great fellowship with one another. One of activities that we did which was not included in the Valentine’s Day Printable Pack was to graph their candies. I made a quick graph with the possible colors and they sorted their heart candy by color and wrote down how many of each color they had in their goodie basket. Although the party wasn’t super long it did require the kids to stay focused and tuned in which all three did a great job! I was super impressed and proud of each one of them.

I had the moms bring lunch for the kids which relieved some pressure on me but also guaranteed each kid had something they would eat and meet their specific needs. After lunch the kids each got to decorate 2 cupcakes. One to eat at the party and one to take home in their little containers (another target find).

After the party time the kids did get time to play in our play kitchen and play a couple games as a group. The sun had come out and dried up the back yard pretty well so they got to go outside and expend lots of energy running around playing in our backyard pirate ship.

Over all I think things went really well I know my kiddo got super blessed and I too had a “happy heart” to be able to host and put this little party together.

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North "Poll!" You'll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!

Okay I’ve posted once on Zaycon Foods and so far I’ve made a couple yummy chicken recipes.  If you’re on my mailing list then you might have received an email from me today encouraging you to get a free account and see what is coming to your area.

I just received an email that Florida and Georgia peeps will be able to order their cases starting tomorrow. If you’re in those states see below for the list of pick up locations. The 40lb cases will sell for $67.60 + Tax.  ($1.69/lb).

If you haven’t already signed up I must encourage you to sign up already!! I’ve been given the opportunity to host a giveaway for a $65 Zaycon Foods Credit!! If you win you will almost get a case for free. Zaycon Foods  on their facebook page had shared they will be in 48 states delivering chicken this fall. So if you’re not in Florida or Georgia no worries just be patient a little longer. (In the rare chance you’re not in their delivery area the winner will get a $30 check to purchase chicken at your local grocery store)

Now go over to Zaycon Foods and register using my referral link:
https://www.zayconfoods.com/refer/zf35532

Delivery Locations for Florida & Georgia
FLORIDA

I was recently given the opportunity to try out a new company in our area by getting 40 pounds of their chicken for free. I’m always looking for ways to save my family money and usually with coupons I’m saving money on other items so that I can afford to bring fresh meats into our meals.

I definitely jumped at the opportunity to try out Zaycon Foods.  I received 40 pounds of fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts bagged and boxed.

Zaycon cuts out the store markup, the processing, and packaging that is typically involved in getting the farm fresh product to the grocery. They are able to offer the product in bulk and at a substantially lower cost per pound to us! Their chicken typically sells for ~$1.49 – $1.79/lb. Seriously?? Have you purchased chicken at that cost any time in the last 5 years???? They sell much more than just chicken too!

Yes I had to put in a bit of work to get the savings all I had to do was break it down a bit further by trimming excess fat and splitting the 2 chicken breast into individual portions.  I also wanted to get the meat packaged into meal sized portions and into our freezer.  The prep time involved in processing all the chicken was about 1 1/2 hours. I can tell you I am no butcher—HA I really didn’t know what I was doing, and I’m not sure if I had the “right” knives, but I made it work! It did get a little tedious but I couldn’t complain because I kept reminding myself of the tremendous savings. Even my husband helped out and couldn’t stop commenting on how amazing the deal was.

My freezer is happily stocked with yummy chicken!:

On a side note I LOVE my FoodSaver!!

To maximize the savings Zaycon foods only sells by the case and delivers a truckload to your area! They will email you with the details of an event and you can purchase / reserve your case then be ready to pick it up on that day.

Maybe a case is too much for your family to handle…think about signing up and buying a case with one or two of your neighbors. Another great use might be to host a fundraiser dinner for your school team or favorite charity organization?

So far I’ve had the opportunity to try the chicken and it was delicious! Zaycon offers other fresh meats and various fruits. I am definitely excited to see what events will be coming to our area in the future.

Another cool aspect of the company is they do offer referral incentives! So if you’re interested in signing up please follow this link: https://www.zayconfoods.com/refer/zf35532  and tell them that Elizabeth McCoy sent you.  Registration is FREE and there is NO OBLIGATION to purchase anything (but I definitely think you should!)

Are you as excited about the opportunity to save money as I am?? Check out their site and let me know what you think!

Have you heard of Mypoints.com?? It is a pretty cool rewards site that you earn points towards gift cards. 

I’ve been a member since 2008 and have redeemed my points for multiple gift cards. MyPoints offers many different ways to earn points, here are a few of the ways I’ve earned points.

• Online Shopping
  If you’re already a big online shopper then you’ll love being a MyPoints member.  Many of the top merchants like Barnes & Nobles, Walmart, Dell, Apple are included and you can earn up to 10 points per dollar spent!!
• Marketing Emails
  Daily you will receive multiple emails from different companies. The companies usually offer a great deal through these emails which if you take advantage of the deal you’ll get lots of points. However if the deal doesn’t interest you, no problem, MyPoints offers you 5 points just for clicking through and not taking the deal.

The easiest way to earn points is by clicking through the advertisement emails that MyPoints sends me. If you’re like me and get tons of email every day you’ll want to make use of your email’s filtering. I filter all the MyPoints emails to one folder and take time everyday or every other day to go through the emails and click through to get my 5 points. If you do it all at once instead of as each email comes in it is much less over whelming.

 

• Coupons
  You know I’m a huge couponer, and MyPoints.com offers printable coupons and you can earn points for printing & redeeming them. For every coupon printed you get 10 points. Plus earn 25 Bonus Points when you print and redeem any 10 or more coupons.com, SmartSource.com or save and redeem any 10 or more Cellfire.com coupons in a month.  I certainly do meet that second requirement each month.
• Referrals
  And this is why I’m writing this blog post. I can earn points for referring friends as well as if they shop/earn points.  Right now there is a deal going on, if I refer you and you make a purchase of $20 or more we both get 750 points. That’s a pretty good deal.
• Toolbar/Web Searches
  I’ve recently downloaded the toolbar and have been using the mypoints search engine for searches which after a certain number of searches I will earn points. That’s pretty easy as I do searches quite frequently.

There are lots of other ways to earn points and eventually redeem them for gift cards, the above are the main ways that I earn points.  If you’re interested in being referred let me know I’ll send you a referral email.  It’s super easy to earn points and for a little bit of effort on your part you’ll be redeeming gift cards for “free” money in no time.

As you may or may not know the Atlanta area got hit with 6 inches of snow and then ice on top of that, the city pretty much shut down for 4 complete days.  We had a hard time getting out of the neighborhood until Friday.

So as a result my shopping either didn’t happen or I pushed my Publix trip into the next week (YAY for Publix sales ending midweek!!) This week was a pretty slow week and I didn’t get out to the store except to Kroger yesterday after our trip to the chiropractor.

That being said I did manage to spend my budget! I scored a tremendous deal on paper towels at Staples the final price was approximately 50 cents per roll!! I had to order 90 rolls….that might be my whole year’s supply (we’ll see), they certainly were cheaper than any Costco sale price.  Recently I had a meeting in the household communicating how we needed to conserve our paper towel usage as I didn’t want to pay the $1+ per roll to Costco anytime soon and we were running low. God really blessed us with this deal.

I spent $55.90 and saved an average of 52.20%

How did you do this week? Were you snowed in like me? I’m gearing up tonight putting together my massive shopping list for next week. I should have quite the long list for next week. Including a bunch of free items too!!

My husband and I worked out a new budget this year since I’m now happily staying at home with the kiddo (soon to be kiddos). My main focus of course is the grocery and household portion of the budget.  We set a goal of $50 per week or $200 per month.  We set this goal based on postings and averages shared by Michelle at I Heart Publix.  Michelle’s site is my absolute favorite for weekly match ups and info on the hottest coupon deals.  She has a sister site called I Heart Kroger and I Heart Saving Money

This was my first week shopping with my new goal. I’m super proud of myself for getting so close to our goal. 

I spent $58.25 and saved an average of 72.93%!!

Currently I shop for up to 3 households plus we try and get food for donations throughout the year. Here is a look at what we purchased during the week including all the stores we visited.

I hope to post my weekly totals a bit more timely in the future.  We will see how things go once the baby gets here. I’m not sure how much shopping I will be doing. Or how successful I will be with two kids in tow.

Happy Couponing!!

Being down to a one income household my family and I are always looking for ways to save money.  One of the first areas to be cut was our entertainment budget inside that category was my hobbies. So I have to look for ways to scrap for free or nearly free. I wanted to share with you a few things that I do to save money when it comes to my digital scrapbooking.

1. Use, Re-use, and Use it Again…(and Again)

Make the kits you have go further. That's one of the fantastic things about digital scrapbook kits is that they can be used an endless number of times.

2. Sale Items & Freebies!

This is the best deal I've heard of in a long while at my favorite digital scrapbooking site, they offer a weekly freebie with a purchase in the store.  They also offer an Item of the Week at only 99 cents! So if you were to just purchase the 99 cent item each week and getting the new freebie. You'd be getting 2 digital scrapbook items for .50 each!! That is just an incredible steal!!!

There are lots of freebies available on the web just Google free digital scrapbook kits and you'll find a ton of sites offering freebies of all kinds and themes, etc. I must mention that the quality of graphics offered for free are not always the greatest. Be aware of what you're downloading and where it is coming from.  Keep your anti virus software up-to-date. 

Also when you start downloading digital scrapbook freebies from all over the web you will find that each designer packages things differently.  Be prepared to spend a little extra time organizing. The little bit of extra work and effort is worth it when you can find some high quality digital scrapbook freebies.

My favorite Font sites are: dafont.com (freebies) | DSP Font Collection | LetteringDelights

3. Sign up for Mailing Lists, Blogs, Sties and become Facebook Fans too!

Many designers and digital scrapbook stores have blogs and newsletters.  Sign up and subscribe to these as often there are freebies only subscribers can receive.  Digital Scrapbook Place has a tremendous monthly newsletter that has 2 freebies in it each month.  Also DSP designers have their own blogs where they will often offer up freebies! The new big thing is to be a fan on Facebook. It certainly is worth doing all of the above to maximize the opportunity to snag great freebies when they are offered.

Sometimes just for signing up at a digital scrapbooking site you get access to whole galleries full of freebies with out any purchase!

Here are some of the blogs I subscribe to that offer freebies on a pretty regular basis: Tina Chambers | Bethany (wordart)| Nicole Young | Lindsay Jane (templates)| Robyn Gough

4. Join in on Challenges, and Contests

Digital Scrapbook designers at DSP run scheduled challenges where if you purchase items and complete layouts with those items you get rewarded with a freebie.  Again there is typically a purchase required, and the freebie then offsets a bit of the cost of the initial purchase.

Also at Penscrappers they offer a monthly contest that includes a freebie for contestants to work with to make them eligible to win prizes.

5. Apply for Creative Team Positions

Many of your favorite designers have creative teams. These people usually get free or deeply discounted products when the commit to completing x amount of layouts per month week, etc. Every designer has their own requirements. This is not an option for everyone but perhaps it is for you.  You can learn more about DSP's Creative team The Digital Elite Team here.

6. Using Coupons

You know I absolutely love coupons and there are lot sites out there that give you coupon codes and heads up on great deals. One of my favorite is retailmenot.com I love double checking my favorite sites before I place online orders.

Digital Scrapbook Place Coupon Codes | Shutterfly Coupon Codes | Artscow Coupon Codes

7. Value Collections, Mega Kits & CD's

Try to find kits and collections that give you the most bang for your buck. Digital Scrapbooking sites offer value collections, Mega Kits and CDs that work out per item cheaper than purchasing the same items separately. The more that you get of coordinating items the further you can get in scrapbooking a whole album using one Megakit or one Value Collection. 

Typically in the one of these items you will get 2 to 10 times as much than you would in a standard digital scrapbook kit.

8. Clubs & Memberships

You can join pre paid digital scrapbooking clubs and member only areas that get you great deals too.  Some paid memberships get you access to member only areas of the site where freebies are shared or exclusive coupons.  At my favorite digital scrapbooking site you can join Club Digital, each month you get 2 page kits, a plopper/overlay, a template, alpha, word art, a font, and stamps, plus a money saving coupon.

9. Go Offline

Check your Local Retail Stores, Garage Sales, and Consignment Sales.

Recently I've found that the digital scrapbook supplies sold at Hobby Lobby stores have been on clearance.  You may find that other craft and hobby stores, even your local scrapbook store carries digital supplies.  You can also use their weekly discount coupons to get discounts of 40% or more. Watch for these items to go on clearance or on sale.

Check out office supply stores also I've found some scrapbook printer paper on clearance for $1.00 and have found other digiscrapping goodies on clearance as well. I've also found scrapbook software on clearance at these stores too!

In my area there is scrapbook consignment sale that goes on twice a year. The last couple times I've gone as a shopper and not a seller I've found many digital scrapbook supplies being sold at discount prices. I've also found literature, books, magazines, and how to manuals there as well.

Looking at the local level is going to require a bit more effort and maybe a little bit of luck but it is available to find great deals on digital scrapboook supplies offline

10. Design your own!

If you really want to save money on digital scrapbook supplies you can design your own.  There are many classes out there that teach you how to design digital scrapbook elements, kits, etc.  You can search you tube for specific techniques you want to learn, and check out sites that offer free scrapbooking tutorials.

The online learning sites I prefer are: Digital Scrapbook U | Eclectic Academy

Great Couponing Article on Internet Printables

Over the last few weeks when my sister and I have been out couponing we've seen lots of people shopping using coupons. Their carts seem to be emptier and their hands usually contain an shopping list and a fist full of coupons. They stand in the isle and weigh the cost of each item.  If that's not a sign of these difficult times then I don't know what is.

We've also heard that coupon policies at stores in our area have started to change. Stores are getting more restrictive and more skeptical.  One of the reasons for this is fraudulent coupon usage!  Sometimes people are just uneducated when it comes to coupons and use them fraudulently without really knowing or reading the fine print.

An easy way to accidentally be fraudulent with coupons is with Internet Printables (IPs). Please if you are using coupons you print from the internet please take a moment to read this article by Michelle @ I Heart Publix (one of my favorite couponing blogs) called Internet Printable Coupons.

The use of coupons fraudulently really hurts all of us couponers who try to play by the rules and get the deals legitimately. There certainly is room for all of us to get great deals using coupons appropriately.

Have a great day!!

Howdy All! I wanted to share with you a note from my friend Stephanie who is an Avon Sales Rep here in Georgia.  Not sure if any of you are interested or have any needs but she’s giving a big discount to local readers of Liz 2.0!!!  Of course those of you who are not local and definitely order as well through her website.

Enjoy the discount and your products!

Did you know that Avon products have been around since 1886? Did you know that the first Avon Sales Representative was a man? Did you know that I make the shopping experience for my customers fun and exciting? Well, now you do!  I provide excellent customer service to all of my customers, and I hope that in return, they will refer me to a friend or two. I would like for the shopping experience to be one that is pleasant and easy for the customer. I offer discounts, coupons, and free items as thank you gifts to my customers. It's also super easy to sign up and become a rep yourself. If you are interested, let me know. I'm always looking for others to join my team. I provide all of my team members with the same excellent service as I do my customers. I take great pride in my job.  If you'd like to learn more about Avon products, place an order, or have any particular questions, please feel free to contact me. 
I offer a 10% discount for first time buyers, and I also give fabulous discounts for referrals! (valid only on personal deliver) Call me, email me, visit my website :) There are many different ways to place an order.  You can visit my website www.youravon.com/schapagain, sign up, shop, and choose personal delivery.  I will place your order, and delivery your items to your door. You can also browse the latest brochures on my webpage.  Also, you can call me 404-312-4009 or email me stephaniechapagain@gmail.com.
For a limited time only, if you call and mention that you heard about me from Liz 2.0, I will give you 15% off of your order! Don't let this pass by. (Valid only with personal delivery) Again, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask!

I went to Publix last night (the last night of the sale) to pick up my deals for the week.  This is what I got five cartons of orange juice for .80 each! (I got a rain check b/c I bought them out). I got four 2 packs of smart balance for $1.40 each they were BOGO also but my coupon got me a free half gallon of milk with any smart balance product! So the milk was free or the milk and vegetable spread were .70 each!

I got a rain check on the oj because I need to purchase more of that (it doesn’t expire until May and I can freeze it). I’m excited that it is 50% less sugar. I also got a rain check for the TGI Friday Skillet meals as they were also BOGO @7.99 I have 2.00 off coupons which will make each bag $2!!

A truck should be making a delivery today so I’m headed back tonight.

I’m going this Saturday to Kroger and I’ll share the deals we score there with you.

Want to use coupons yourself?? Check out our Learn to Coupon section of the site!

If you live in the Atlanta Area you are welcome to join our weekly coupon group on Facebook:

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We had our first Duluth Coupon Group Meeting on Saturday and it was GREAT!  We were able to really help each other plan our grocery lists and also share coupons. I wanted to share some picture with you. I had brought all my coupons in the back of my van (they are still there).

I’ve got to find a more organized way to put them in the car. A shelf maybe???  Rosie and I were able to sort through them and put a bunch of weeks into the recycle bin.

Rosie and I went to Kroger too on Saturday and got some good deals with our coupons and found some food on clearance or “manager’s special”.

Here is our cart:

One of the really good deals were the Quaker Rice Cakes. They were on sale this week for $.99 with your Kroger card and we had a $1 off 1 coupon. So FREE! We each got 15+ bags.  I found a bunch of bread on clearance for less than $1.  There is also a great soda deal right now on Pepsi products. Three 12 packs for $9 then you get a Diet Pepsi for free.  Oh yeah and their $5 off promotion when you buy 10 qualifying items I got that deal twice.  A great trip to the store that’s for sure!

Have you saved any $$ this week on your groceries?  Hey if you’re interested in joining our coupon group join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=50204168489

See you next Saturday at 10:15 am!

MORE SAVINGS RELATED POSTS:

Thanks for tuning in everyone.  Sorry for the late post. I’ve been sick all weekend and haven’t felt up to sitting at the computer very long. We’ve got a little testimonial for you today from my friend Kim Liddiard. She’s taken off with this couponing and has completely made it her own. It’s exciting for me to be able to share deals and ideas and fellowship around another common interest (we also both LOVE digital scrapbooking).

 
Let me start off with... I blame it all on Liz!  I don't even remember how the subject came up, but she started telling me of the wonderful world of savings in the coupon world.  Well then, I just had to see it for myself. Being a Sam's Club shopper for close to $20 years and hardly even going to the local grocery store, I thought I was doing pretty good with our grocery spending.  It was funny, too, I always got the same things when I went with very little variation in our diet. Bulk would save me the many trips to the store and I could go a few weeks without having to shop again. With couponing, I am enjoying the thrill of the hunt to find new deals. I have always done this when shopping for anything else, including electronics... why not our food! My latest trip was only $83 and I saved $77 - a savings of about 45% on my bill... but that is not all! I got a $10 on your next order by paying attention to a frozen foods deal. Woot! You really ought to try it!  If you get hooked... do what I do... blame it all on Liz!

P.S. The school wants me to get a mom's group going that will show them how to save money on groceries and be more economically minded... Isn't that cool?!

I’d love to hear from more of you and your couponing experiences.  Oh and if you’d like to check out Kim’s digital scrapbook designs here blog is: http://thecreativepixel.com .

RELATED POSTS

• Sizzlin’ Savings: Children’s & Women’s Clothing
• Sizzlin' Savings Alert! $5 Crocs & Free Business Cards
• Sunday Savings: The Coupon Database

While looking through the weekly sale flyer do you ever ask yourself “Isn’t there a coupon for that?”. You kind of remember seeing something in all your coupon reviewing but now you have no clue where you saw it. 

OR

Maybe you have a need for something but you know that you won’t buy it unless you have a coupon, but you have no idea if there is a coupon for that item or even that store.

That is where the Coupon Database comes in.

For example, I notice in my sales flyer Fruit Roll-ups are BOGO I’m not sure if there is a coupon or not so I head to the database.

As I start to type in Fruit Roll-ups listings already begin to show:

Let’s Review the search options:

Value – You can specify the amount of the coupon ie. $1, $.35, etc

Source – Is where it came from, an insert, home mailer, blinkie, printable, etc.

Store – Name of the store

Category – Is the category of the item on the coupon. ie. Snacks, Refrigerated, Baby & Children, Frozen, Health & Beauty, etc.

Expired – You can choose to see the expired coupons should your stores accept expired coupons.

Now let’s look at how to read the results of your search in the Coupon Database.

  
At the end of each description you will find the location of where the coupon was found. In this example the coupon is found in the General Mills (GM) Insert issued 02-08-09.
The value box will indicate the dollar amount first then after the ‘/’ it will show you the quantity of product you must buy to make the coupon effective.  So for this first example you see that the coupon is one dollar off 3 boxes.

Notice our results above show many coupons.  You may have all the coupons listed or you may have 1, 2 or 0 of the coupons listed. The coupon database will let you know YES/NO there is a coupon and where it is found.  Depending on how you organize your coupons will determine how to locate the coupon in your stash.

I encourage you to go check out the Coupon Database, it is a tremendous FREE resource and will definitely aid you in your couponing endeavors.

RELATED POSTS

Sunday Savings: Couponing 101
Couponing 101: Know Your Stores
Couponing 101: Get Weekly Ads
Couponing 101: Get Coupons
Couponing 101: Stay Organized

Well this post is one day late but still good information.  You may have noticed in your paper this week that there were no coupon inserts. There are certain days in the year (usually weekends with holidays) that don’t get coupons.  Here is the 2009 Schedule:

January

1/4 - 2 Smart Source & 2 Red Plum
1/11 - Smart Source & Red Plum
1/18 – Smart Source & Red Plum
1/25 – Smart Source & Red Plum

February

2/1 — Smart Source, Red Plum, & Procter and Gamble
2/8 — Smart Source & Red Plum
2/15 – No Inserts scheduled
2/22 — Smart Source & Red Plum

March

3/1 — Smart Source, Red Plum, & Procter and Gamble
3/8 — Smart Source & Red Plum
3/15 — Smart Source & Red Plum
3/22 — Smart Source
3/29 — Smart Source & Red Plum

April

4/5 — 2 Smart Source, Red Plum, & Procter and Gamble
4/12 — No Inserts scheduled
4/19 — Smart Source & Red Plum
4/26 — Smart Source & Red Plum

May

5/3 — Smart Source & Red Plum
5/10 – Smart Source & Red Plum
5/17 — 2 Smart Source & Red Plum
5/24 — No Inserts scheduled
5/31 — Smart Source & Red Plum

June

6/7 — Smart Source, Red Plum, & Procter and Gamblee
6/14 — Smart Source
6/21 — Smart Source & Red Plum
6/28 — Smart Source & Red Plum

July

7/5 — Procter and Gamble
7/12 — Smart Source & Red Plum
7/19 — Smart Source
7/26 — Smart Source & Red Plum

August

8/2 — Smart Source, Red Plum, & Procter and Gamble
8/9 — Smart Source & Red Plum
8/16 — Smart Source & Red Plum
8/23 — Smart Source & Red Plum
8/30 — Smart Source & Red Plum

September

9/6 — Procter and Gamble
9/13 — Smart Source & 2 Red Plum
9/20 — Smart Source & Red Plum
9/27 — Smart Source & Red Plum

October

10/4 — Smart Source, Red Plum, & Procter and Gamble
10/11 — Smart Source & Red Plum
10/18 — Smart Source & Red Plum
10/25 — Smart Source & Red Plum

November

11/1 — Smart Source, Red Plum, & Procter and Gamble
11/8 — Smart Source & Red Plum
11/15 — Smart Source & Red Plum
11/22 — Smart Source
11/29 — No Inserts scheduled

December

12/6 — Smart Source, Red Plum, & Procter and Gamble
12/13 — Smart Source & Red Plum
12/20 — No Inserts scheduled
12/27 — No Inserts scheduled

PLEASE NOTE!!! Copied from HCW forum Announcements

RedPlum coupon inserts will no longer be in our newspapers in certain areas! Find out how you can help bring back the coupons!

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As of February 1st 2009, RedPlum coupon inserts have been discontinued in many newspapers throughout major US cities. The Valassis Corporation, which distributes the RedPlum, does not realize how this will affect consumers like us and our ability to donate to the needy, keep our own pantry filled, and a host of other reasons.
Valassis has responded by saying that consumers can "now print coupons from their website," but the problem is that many stores refuse to accept internet printed coupons & this will limit how many coupons we can get.
Please join HCW and other like-minded couponers from across the country fight this. Go to http://www.bringbackthecoupons.com/ and post a comment on how this will negatively affect you and your family.
*Also, be sure to let the advertisers who use RP to distribute their coupons just how unhappy this has made you. The BringBackTheCoupons site has a page featuring ALL RedPlum advertiser contact links and a form letter you can use to easily do this.
Follow this discussion further here on HCW at this thread: We're not getting RP inserts anymore!!??

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FYI – The Atlanta Area will not be affected by this.

Let me know if you discover if your area is loosing the Red Plum inserts.  I will update this post.

Step 5: Stockpiling
Stockpiling and couponing go hand in hand. If you can get an item really cheap that you will use, then why not get 10 of that item? You should only buy multiple of items that you have room to store and if they are non-perishable. I personally have at least 6-12 months supply of toilet paper, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, shaving cream, razors, paper towels, napkins, paper plates, cups, laundry detergent, dish soap, frozen foods and much more. Many of these items I’ve gotten for free or nearly free.

When stockpiling, be sure to remain organized and only buy what you have room to store. Also, be sure you only buy what your family can use. A family of 6 will need more toothpaste than a single person.

Courtesy of HCW member RosieG

Courtesy of HCW member stalkermagnet

Now that you are fully equipped with the supplies you need to coupon, go find some great deals!

When you find a good deal, you want to make sure you purchase a few of that item instead of just one. Why get a good deal now and then have to pay full price down the road. Your goal should be to purchase enough of the sale item to last you until the next time it goes on sale.

So, these mean you’ll be buying in higher quantities than you may be used to. It’s time to begin storing the items you purchase. Be sure to get be organized. Determine where you are going to store your goods.

I store my health & beauty items in my bathroom drawers & cabinets. I store the paper goods & laundry soap in the linen closet. The cleaning chemicals, dish soap, air freshener and trash bags all go under the kitchen sink. Food items go in the pantry. If I have to much of something, I store it in a file box and stack them neatly in my closet.

Once you’ve figured out where to store you items, you need to make sure you “maintain” your stock pile. When you purchase new items, put them in the back. This way the items in the front expire first. Periodically go through your food to check for expired items. Also, if you end up not liking something you purchased, go ahead and donate it.

Also, hotcouponworld has an entire forum dedicated to stockpiling. It’s a great forum because you can learn what you can and cannot freeze, as well as great organizational tips!

Helpful Links:

• Stockpiling Forum
• Can I freeze it?
• Stockpiling 101

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Liz here. I wanted to share with some pictures I’ve taken over the months of my stockpiles

Have you started stockpiling yet??  Share your pictures with us.  We’d love to hear of your saving victories!