Don't MESS with my coupons!

Three weeks ago I requested a coupon book from "Home Made Simple" which included over $30 worth of coupons for household brands including Swiffer, Cascade, Mr. Clean, Febreeze, Dawn and others (Request yours at http://www.startsampling.com/). I waited for it to arrive with great anticipation. (I'm planning to buy a Swiffer vac, and I'm letting the dirt collect on my floor to give it an accurate trial when it arrives...) I was excited to find it waiting in my mailbox last Thursday, but my excitement turned to dismay when I observed that both seals had been broken and all the inside pages of the booklet ripped out, leaving only one 75cent coupon for Mr. Clean. "N0. Way." They only send one of those to each household--I can't just request another one! I looked on the website, and there doesn't appear to be a way to report not receiving your copy. I immediately called my mom to ask if she'd received her booklet, because we requested them on the same day. Lo and behold, her copy had suffered the same fate. Now, we both live in the same neighborhood, and our mailboxes are not curbside but rather centrally located locked boxes. I drove to the post office and told them I needed to report some stolen mail. I brought my sad, torn booklet with me. The postmaster came out to receive the report. After all, this is not just about a few stolen coupons: who knows what else I haven't received? And my private information is included in much of my mail, such as credit card statements and bank statements. What if those are tampered with? Apparently, the Post Office has an agent assigned to investigate such reports, and he is going to speak to me on Monday.
This all goes to show that if you want to see me get angry, just try to MESS with MY COUPONS!! :)

Food Lion trip, 5/28/09

I went to Food Lion today, hunting for 10 cent items to use on the Food Lion Private Brand Super Sale (see previous post). I didn't find any, but I do have one idea: in the 5/27/09 Food Lion Shoppers Companion email, there was a coupon for $1.00 Food Lion brand nuts. I used it successfully to buy 2 packs of 2/$1 roasted peanuts, and got them for free! If you printed enough coupons, and bought enough nuts (it would take 20 packages and 10 coupons to get a $5 coupon) the deal would be free! Not sure it would work though---maybe I'll give it a shot over the weekend and let you know.
As for the rest of my trip today, I spent $34.42 and saved $25.27, $9.00 in coupons. I used only coupons from this week and last week's Shoppers Companion. My favorite coupon gave me a free reusable shopping bag when I bought $5 worth of produce. For my Food Lion brand frenzy, I bought yogurt for 12/$5, canned vegetables for $.69, 2 packages of 6 frozen ground beef patties for $3.99 (used a coupon for $1 off $5 Butcher's Brand beef) , and various other items. I got a $6 coupon for use on my next shopping trip.
It's been a very long time since I shopped at Food Lion--probably 12 years. Back then, I lived in North Carolina (the location of their headquarters), and there was a Food Lion on every corner. I only shoppped there because it was convenient, but I preferred Harris Teeter (also a North Carolina corp.). The Food Lion I visited today is in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the biggest, nicest Food Lion I've ever seen. However, I'm still taking my coupon to Publix.
I did find a bunch of good coupons at the customer service desk, some in a book called "Home and Earth," which included:

• $.50 off a mega roll of Scott Naturals paper towels
• $3.00 off a Brita pitcher or replacement filters
• $1.00 off a bottle of Clorox Anywhere
• $1.00 off a 4-pack of Scott Naturals bath tissue
• $.55 off Sunchips
• $.55 off Tostitos salsa

and a booklet called "Sweet Deals" which included:

• $.50 off Sara Lee Bites dessert
• $.50 off Bagelfuls
• $.50 off Cool Whip
• $1.00 off Blue Bunny Ice Cream
• $.35 off Pet Ice Cream Sandwiches
• $1.00 off any 2 Nestle Push-ups or Lil'Drums
• $.50 off 2 Edward's Ala Mode or Pie Slices

as well as various tear pads with coupons for the following:

• $1.00 off Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers when you buy 2 H.C. soups
• $1.00 off Food Lion Sugar when you buy 5 packs of unsweetened Kool-Aid
• $1.00 off 2 Stouffers Corner Bistro
• $1.00 off Kraft shredded cheese
• $2.00 off Kraft Mayo or Miracle Whip

Set Up a Coupon Swap

I had a great time with two friends of mine this morning. We met for a combined play date and coupon swap! While the little ones played together, we pulled out our coupons and Couponizers. First, we passed around some about-to-expire coupons. I did this because the month is ending in just a few days, and I figure that if I haven't used it by now, maybe someone else can! Then we flipped through our unclipped SmartSource and RedPlum flyers from the newspaper, and offered any thing we didn't think we could use. I brought all my diaper coupons and handed them off, because my kids are both potty trained. Someone else gave me her children's Zyrtec coupons, because both of my kids have allergies. Everybody found something they could use. It was not only a practical activity, it was a social one. We chatted, drank coffee and nibbled on fruit and muffins. It's so much fun, we've made it a weekly activity. I encourage any of my fellow couponers out there to do the same!

Honor American Soldiers by Using Coupons!

Today is Memorial Day: a day when we honor the men and women who fought and died for our country.
This patriotic holiday has me thinking: how can we use our super couponing skills to help others, specifically the men and women of the armed forces? The answer is to take those freebies and over-stockpiled items from your shelves, and send them to soldiers in the line of duty via http://www.anysoldier.com/. Any Soldier is a non-profit organization that connects servicemen and women around the world with stateside citizens who send them care packages. On Any Soldier's website, you can search the "wish lists" of soldiers and find out how to send them the items they need, which range from cotton socks and antiperspirant to Skittles and beef jerky.
There are so many bargains out there, giving can be painless, even in this economy. I mean, how many Speed Sticks can you use? Here are a few examples of free or nearly free items you can get this week:

CVS

Speedstick Pro, $3.99 (earns $3.99 ECBs)

Colgate Total toothpaste, 2.99 - $1 coupon online (earns $2 ECBs)

Beef Jerky, $5.99 B1G1, $1 peelable coupons on some packages

Walgreen's

Reach toothbrushes, 2/$5 - B1G1 coupon 4/26 RedPlum (earns $3 RRs)

Adidas deodorant $1.99, use $1 Adidas coupon from 4/5 RedPlum

These are just examples; every week, you can find offers like these. Share the love!

Couponizers are here!

My Couponizer order arrived last night, and I'm so excited! The Couponizer is the best coupon organizer ever, in my opinion. It looks like a spiral ring notebook, rather than a plastic file folder. Some of the things I like about it are:

• It has more categories (13) than most plastic coupon filers, so I don't have 9 million coupons in the "grocery" slot.
• It holds way more than the average coupon filer.
• It is well organized. In the front is a pocket for "coupons for this shopping trip" and one marked "checkout." When the item goes in my cart, the coupon moves from the first pocket to the second, making checkout that much easier.
• It has pockets for my customer reward cards, so they're all in one place.
• It has a pocket near the front for "Coupons to Expire This Month." That helps me make sure I use them in time!
• In the back, there's a pocket for my rewards (Extra Care Bucks and Register Rewards), so they're right there when I'm ready to use them.
• In the very back, there's a "Couptracker" for recording my savings.
• It comes with a plastic carrying bag, a cute little pair of scissors and a "CoupStacker." The CoupStacker is a fold-out sheet of paper with a square marked out for each category, corresponding to the categories in the Couponizer. On Sundays, I can clip all my coupons, sort them on the CoupStacker and slip them into the correct pocket in record time.

Couponizers are $20, but I know it will pay for itself by helping me use my coupons more effectively and efficiently, before they expire! I'm a Couponizer Coach, so if you want to order one, check out their website and tell them Shelley sent you!

New coupons at Publix

I found a new coupon flyer at the front of Publix yesterday. It's green, and it says, "SUMMER IS HERE!" There's some good stuff inside, totaling $6 in savings. Included are: $3 off Kingsford/Matchlight, $1 off KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce, $1 off Hidden Valley dressing, $1 off any Glad food storage and $1 off Glad trash bags. The great thing about this flyer is using in conjunction with the $6.00 pork coupon from http://www.gatherroundthegrill.com/coupon.php
The coupon gives you $6 off pork when you buy a bag of Kingsford charcoal and a bottle of KC masterpiece barbecue sauce.