Freebies I'll Be Looking For This Week!

It's late Tuesday night. That means the new grocery ads are coming out! I love seeing what I can get for free or just pennies each week.

A few items I'll be stockpiling for FREE this week are:

Dole canned pineapple (Publix)
Philadelphia Cream Cheese (Bi-Lo)
Zantac 8 count (Publix)

And freebies I hope to get thanks to last week's rainchecks:

Playtex gloves (Bi-Lo)
Endust Free (Bi-Lo)

As always I am looking forward to getting the mystery penny item from Publix on Sunday or Monday. Also, I am hoping to score some Vanity Fair napkins for just 9 cents a package at Publix.

Those are the most frugal deals I see, but not the ONLY great deals by any means! Should be a great week!

I am planning on posting a picture of all the week's freebies each Monday. I'll include the Publix penny item as well since one cent is as close to free as you can get. Actually, maybe I should include anything 10 cents and under in my picture.

Stay tuned!

Free Sample of Stacy's Pita Chips

Go here to get a sample of Stacy's Pita Chips. I keep hearing how good these are, so I am glad to have a chance to try them for free!

Fantastic Giveaway at Southern Savers

One of my favorite blogs BY FAR is Southern Savers. Jenny helps me every week, whether she realizes it or not. I stalk her on Wednesday mornings just waiting for her to get that Publix list up with all the sales and coupon matches. And she never disappoints. One of the reasons I appreciate her so much is that she even includes links to all the printable coupons to go with the sales as well. Do you know how time consuming that must be?

Well, right now she is hosting a giveaway for TWO $50 gift cards to a grocery store that she covers on her blog. The winners will be asked to report back to her (with a photo!) and let her know just how far they were able to stretch that gift card.

It's really a fantastic giveaway. If you want to enter, go here for the guidelines. Good luck!

Organizing Coupons

A few years ago I began collecting coupons. For a long time all I needed was a small index card box and just a few categories. However, now I am buying multiple papers each week as well as collecting coupons from other sources, especially online. I outgrew my little box.

My new system is one that I have copied from so many other couponers...both online and real life friends. It is a huge binder with a zipper around it. Coupons are placed into baseball card collector pages and filed by category. I LOVE this. I can see all my coupons and it is SO MUCH EASIER to take along with me.

Here are the categories I use, but different people use different categories. Whatever makes the most sense to you is fine.

• Baby
• Baking
• Beverages
• Bread
• Candy/Gum
• Canned Goods (not soup)
• Cereal
• Cleaning Supplies
• Condiments
• Dairy
• Deodorant
• Feminine Products
• Frozen foods
• Granola and Cereal Bars
• Laundry and Dishes
• Make Up
• Meat
• Medicine
• Miscellaneous Food
• Miscellaneous Toiletries
• Razors/Shaving
• Paper and Plastic Products
• Pasta and Rice
• Restaurants
• Rose (our dog)
• Snacks
• Soaps and Shampoos
• Sauces and Salad Dressing
• Soup
• Toothpaste/Oral Care
• Non Food items (things like light bulbs and Ziploc bags go here)
• Vitamins

Bi-Lo January 14-20, 2009

I'm not at the level of being one of those bloggers that can post all the good deals at all the big stores yet. So I am going to stick with simply sharing my game plan for the stores where I shop. I have not been a Bi-Lo shopper in the past, but after following Southern Savers for a few weeks, it appears they have great deals. So here is my plan for this week at Bi-Lo.

Applejacks:
Buy 3 on sale for $1.43 each.
Use 3 coupons for $1 each
Applejacks .43 each for a total of 1.29

Doritos:
Buy one @ 3.99, get two free

Ocean Spray Juice 46 oz:
Buy one on sale for $2
Use 1 coupons for .55, which will be doubled
Cost: 90 cents

Coke 2 liters:
Buy 3 @ $1 each
Cost: $3

Green Giant Frozen Boxed Vegetables:
Buy 4 on sale for .90 each
Use 2 coupons for .50 off 2, which will be doubled
Veggies .40 each for a total of 1.60

Heartland Pasta: (This will be free plus overage!)
Buy 5 on sale @ .75 each
Use 5 coupons for .55, which will be doubled
Make .35 on each box = 1.75 profit to me!

Lipton Tea Bags:
On sale for $1.50
Use 1 coupon for .50, which will be doubled
Buy one for .50


This is my plan for now. I may add some Dole fruit bowls (for about 1.65 each) to my shopping list as well. I'll post the results after I actually shop. If this plan works, I should spend between $8.50 and $11.75 for all that I listed. Wow!

Trying Something New

I just spent 2 hours cutting coupons. And I spent hours yesterday matching coupons and sales at stores as well as menu planning. I am attempting a more frugal lifestyle for 2009 and this blog is my place to document my successes and failures (I hope there won't be many of those.) I am pretty new at this kind of shopping so this will be a learning experience for me! Can't wait to see how I do!