Valentine’s Day Candy Coupon

It’s only 3 weeks until Valentine’s Day! Here’s a printable coupon to give you a head start.

Don’t Buy When You Can Rent… Lego Sets?!

Yep, it’s real! You can RENT Legos instead of spending a fortune buying the newest Lego sets.

Rent LEGO® Sets $9.99/month – up to $75 value. Lost a piece? They won’t charge. Clean and sanitized. Free shipping both ways!

Thrifty Tip: Buy In Bulk

I have been a bulk shopper for a while now. However, most of my “bulk” shopping had meant buying oatmeal, rice, flax, and beans from the bulk bins at my local grocery store. That way, I was getting a better deal and controlling exactly how much I wanted to buy with each purchase. I also purchased larger containers/jars of organic coconut oil and honey online, where I could get better deals. Recently, though, our family took bulk buying to a whole new level.

Bulk section at grocery store: Herbs

I used to buy bulk herbs on occasion when I only needed a little bit or when I couldn’t find a jar of what I wanted. When I started buying organic spices, I bought large bags online or generic store brands. Then, once when one of my favorite generic organic brands was out of bay leaves (in a jar), I bought some from that store’s bulk spices section… and have never gone back. I can pay about $0.60 for what costs $3.99 in a jar! Can you believe that?! That’s crazy savings! I just use put the newly bought spices into my old glass jars. Buy your spices in bulk!

Cooperatives

Co-ops have become more popular over the years. Although buying through a co-op doesn’t guarantee savings (know your price points!), you can score if you buy the right stuff. What I look for are items that we already eat with a long shelf life. Here are the categories of items that make it worth being part of a co-op.

Grains. The best deal I can get on organic rolled oats at our local grocery stores is $1.49 per pound. Once in a while, I can get them on sale. But, even then, I can’t get them for the price I can get them with the co-op. If I purchase 25lbs, I can get the oats for $0.90 per pound. Obviously, deals vary from one co-op to another, but you get the idea!

Beans. It’s the same idea with beans. We love black beans and decided to get a 25lb bag of organic black beans at $1.48/lb. That’s unheard of for organic black beans.

Potatoes. How about 20lbs of organic Russet potatoes for $8.00?! Yes, I know! You just can’t get those kinds of deals at your local grocery stores!

Where do you buy your bulk foods?

Ways To Save More At Amazon

I love shopping at Amazon. And I thought that I was getting the best savings and deals possible. But, I learned a few things about saving money that I thought I’d share with you!

Getting Refunds. You might be surprised at all the different ways you can get refunds or cash back by shopping at Amazon!

• Get cash back after a purchase. One of the things I love (and sometimes hate) about Amazon is how quickly prices can change. I try to keep an eye on my favorite items (by keeping them in the ‘Saved Items’ in my shopping cart) so that I can take advantage of prices when they are low. However, once in a while, after you make your purchase, the price may drop on that item. If it does, you can request a refund for the price difference (as long as it is within about 7 days from the date of your purchase).
• Get cash back by price matching on televisions and cell phones. If you buy a television or cell phone and see a better price on the same item, Amazon will refund you the price difference. You’ll just have to make sure that you email Amazon within 24 hours of the purchase or call them within 14 days of shipping.
• Get a refund or replacement for items that arrive broken without having to ship them back. Just call Amazon and tell a customer service representative what happened and they will ship you a replacement immediately.

Get upgraded shipping if your package is delayed. If it has been 3 or 4 days since you placed your order and you notice that it hasn’t shipped yet, contact customer service. They will likely either expedite the shipping or create a new order and have it shipped next-day delivery.

Keep track of price changes at CamelCamelCamel.com. You can get notifications when prices drop on your favorite Amazon products. You can also see a price history on those items. That’ll give you a gauge as to what’s a good deal for that particular item.

Are you an Amazon shopper?

Tons of New Printable Coupons!

You can never have too many coupons! Good thing, because this is a really long list of new printable coupons. (Be sure to click “read more” to see the whole list!)

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When Being Thrifty Is Actually Costly

Have you ever found that in your attempt to save money, you actually ended up spending more? I have. Here are a few tips to help make sure that being frugal doesn’t end up being more costly for you and your family.

1. Clipping Coupons. I used to clip a lot of coupons. I had a huge binder and had them all organized into categories. However, I found myself clipping coupons for items I didn’t usually buy at the chance that “just in case” there might be a deal I couldn’t refuse. Well, nine times out of ten, I just threw all those coupons out when they expired. The time it took to clip, organize, and then pull out and throw out all those coupons every month was a complete waste of time. As a matter of fact, I eventually stopped getting the newspaper because I found that I could save time and money by focusing on getting the best deals on what we actually buy every month.

2. Making Healthy Choices. If you have ever seen the show Extreme Couponing, then you know that you can get your groceries for dirt cheap if you fill your cart with processed junk food. You can also get better deals at some fast food restaurants than you can making dinner from scratch at home. But, at what cost? Our food choices represent some kind of investment into our long-term health. Of course, we can (and always will) make exceptions. However, because the choices we make about what we put into our bodies will stay with us, those exceptions should truly be exceptions.

3. Getting Poor Quality Bargains. I’ve had many regrets about “great deals” I’ve gotten in the past. You get clothes or shoes at a thrift shop or at next to nothing prices only to have to replace them after a month or two. Then, you get out and get a better quality pair of shoes or pants, which would have cost you less if you hadn’t initially purchased the poor quality items.

How has being “thrifty” actually cost you?

$10 off $10+ JCPenney Coupon!

Sign up for JCPenney Text Alerts HERE and they’ll give you a $10 off $10 Purchase Coupon!

New Grocery Coupons!

Save on your next grocery store trip with these printable coupons!