What is a Catalina??

I received 3 almost identical emails in the last week. All 3 asked in some form or another "What is a Catalina?"  I bet others might be wondering also.

Catalinas (aka Cats) are the coupons that print at the register with your grocery receipt.  They get their name from the company, Catalina, who manufacturers the printers.  Catalinas are generated based on something you've purchased. The cats you get may be one of 3 things.

First is a coupon for a dollar amount on your next order (OYNO.) They are like cash off your next purchase.  They may have restrictions like $1.00 off your next deli purchase or $2.00 off your next frozen food purchase.  The best kind though are a dollar amount off you next purchase of anything.  With or without restrictions, these are store coupons and only good at any location of the store where they printed.

Second is a coupon for an amount off a specific item .... much like the coupons in the newspaper. These are often for a competitor brand of something you bought. They may have the logo of the store where they printed. If they say "Manufacturer's Coupon" then they can be used at any store that accepts coupons. Some cashiers may question them though if you use them at a store other than where they printed.

Photo From Mommy Snacks

Third is an advertisement for an upcoming catalina offer.  These will tell you that during a specific date range if you buy 1 of product A get $ off next purchase: Buy 2, Get $$ off or Buy 3 Get $$$ for example.

As far as knowing what cats to expect and when to expect them .... There's no always or never answer. Of course you would know about an upcoming catalina if you get one of the upcoming advertisements. I try to post about one's that I get .... so send me info about any you get.  In some cases there will be a shelf tag advertising the catalina and/or it will be in the store ad.  Mommy Snacks updates pages for current catalina deals at both Kroger and Meijer. Some catalinas are offered at both stores but sometimes it's just one or the other. Oh of course other stores near you may have catalinas too. Kroger and Meijer are the main stores in my area.

Meijer also offers their own version of a catalina.  These are sponsored by Meijer instead of the manufacturer.  They call them Custom Coupons.  They print the same way catalinas do.  Watch the back of Meijer's ad for a list of these.  They're there sometimes and sometimes not.

Getting a catalina can just be a surprise too... nice surprise of course!

When expecting a catalina I always go to a cashier instead of a self check out.   Especially at my local Meijer but sometimes at Kroger too, often the catalina machines are either out of paper or just not working.  When you do use a self checkout, watch for catalinas left behind by other customers.  I once found a $2.00 OYNO hanging from the printer.

Sometimes store employees are aware of catalina offers (like the one's in the store ad or that have shelf tags) but sometimes they may know nothing about it.  If you don't get an expected catalina, Customer Service will take care of you if it is a catalina they know about.  Call Catalina at 1-888-826-8766 if the store is unaware of a catalina deal that failed to print.  They are very helpful and in most cases will send catalina to you by mail.

Let me know if I missed something here.  And send me info about any upcoming catalina offers you get so I can pass it on!

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Subscribe to Feeds - What does that mean??

I need start with a BIG APOLOGY! I have been encouraging you to sign up to receive Saving Bits and Pieces RSS Feeds.  The link is at the end of each post, it's in the sidebar too.  But until now I didn't fully comprehend what I was suggesting you do!

Now I do and WOW!!!

If read blogs like I do did, you go from site to site to find out if there are new things posted.  How many blogs do you read?  How many times a day do you go to them? I have my Favorite Blogs bookmarked.  Several times a day (for the last 2 years) I would click from site to site.  Not anymore!  I just subscribed to the RSS Feeds for each of those sites and now I get to see any new posts from each site all in one place.  I'm using Google Reader .... there are others to choose from though.

It works like this (or at least this is the way I understand it)....  My Google Reader shows a list of all the sites that I have subscribed to.  As Feeds (or posts) are published on those sites, they show up as unread posts in the Home Section of Google Reader.  That means that on one page I can see any and all new posts from all of my favorite blogs.  I like that I can Star things I want to save to go back to.  No more time spent clicking from site to site to check to see if there are any new posts.

Subscribe my Feeds and those of your other favorite sites and make your blog reading that much faster and easier!!

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How Did I Get Here?? Part 3

Photo Credit:  My Husband while in Colorado

Read Part One & Part Two.....

 Ever since the email my friend forwarded from her friend, blog reading has become something I do daily ... okay really I check many blogs multiple times a day. Friends started asking me if there were any good deals each week. My husband often shared my savings stories like the time I bought 15 1lb packages of lunch meat because it was such a great deal. (It freezes well by the way.) For a short time I used messages on Facebook to share grocery saving ideas with several friends. I was asked at the YMCA I work at very part-time to do a coupon class for members (hasn't happened yet but hopefully it will soon.) All of these things plus my LOVE of the computer and internet made starting this blog the next natural step.

Helping others learn from what I've learned while learning from them too is very important to me. I wouldn't give up being a stay at home mom for anything right now. The only thing I miss about going to work having a job is the satisfaction of receiving a paycheck and pats on the back for a job well done. I can't measure, not yet at least, how well I do my job at home. I can measure how much money I save on the things we already buy. I can in some terms measure how I can help others save money too. Your comments and feedback are the pats on the back that tell me I'm doing a good job.

So that's where I am today! I wanted to write this to say that no matter where you are in your savings journey you can get to where you want to be. Saving, learning and teaching is very rewarding!

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How Did I Get Here?? Part 2

Photo Credit:  My Husband while in Colorado

Part One is Here....

So we went from two incomes to one and I was excited to be pregnant with our third child..... 

Our eating out habits had to change. My grocery shopping habits had to change too. I started looking through the grocery ads delivered to my drive-way that previously never made it out of the bag. I struggled with whether to grocery shop by the ad for just what we needed to get through the week or buying extra of the items on sale. For a few years, I would see what main dish ideas I could come up with based on the items on sale. I shopped just for the items we needed to make those meals. But I didn't know if the price I was paying really was the best price or just the item the store decided to put in the ad. Plus I had to do big complete shopping trips every week.

Two years ago a good friend of mine (also a stay at home mom in a single income family) forwarded me an email that she had received from a friend. It had links to a couple of money saving blogs. A Blog?? What's that? I have never heard of a blog then. I was curious and started reading them daily. I learned about and joined a website called The Grocery Game. I could log in and see a complete list of items on sale at the stores of my choice along with coupon match-ups. But what was even better for me was that those lists are color coded. One color for items that were a good price if I needed the item right then and a second color for items that were at their rockbottom best price ie stock up worthy and a third color for items that would be FREE. The Grocery Game service is free for the first 4 weeks. After that the membership price is based on how many store's lists you want to see. I was a member of the Grocery Game for about 6 months. I learned a lot about pricing, matching coupons with sales and that store's tend to run sales in 12 week cycles. I decided that I had learned enough do it on my own (and with the help of lots of blogs that I read.) I do know some people who have had memberships for years and wouldn't go without it.

Starting my stockpile was the next step. It started with Health & Beauty Items. At first my family laughed as the toothpastes, toothbrushes, bottles of shampoo, bars of soap and bottles of body wash piled up in a tub in our basement. I had no idea that there were so many deals to be had at CVS and Walgreen's. CVS has an Extra Care Program that pays you in Extra Care Bucks (ECB's) on different items weekly. The ECB's are $$ off coupons on your next purchase. Walgreen's offer Register Rewards, $$ off coupons on your next purchase too. Both paired with coupons means FREE and very inexpensive items .... and sometimes means money makers too! I'll go into more detail about CVS and Walgreen's in a future post.

From there I started adding groceries to my stockpile. In March of 2008, my husband started a new job and much to our surprise he found out at the job interview that his office would be at home. Quickly he framed out an office in our unfinished basement and added a wall to create a laundry room too. Shelves were built in the laundry room to make room for the stockpile that had my kitchen cabinets filled to the brim.

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How Did I Get Here?? Part 1

Photo Credit:  My Husband while in Colorado

It's a New Year and with that it's time for my hubby and I to sit down and talk about our goals for 2010.  I've been thinking about Budget/Financial Goals, Blogging Goals and Family Goals.  As I consider these I can't help but think ....   "How did I get where I am today?"   Sure I have a lot to learn.  I want to keep learning how to add to our household savings.  I want to get better at grocery savings, meal planning, blogging and especially family time.  But before I share my goals (since we haven't found taken the time to really talk about them) I wanted to share a little about where I started and how I ended up where I am today.

For the first 6 years I was married (and my first 4 years as a mom), I worked full time.  We had the paper delivered but cutting and using the coupons in it never occurred to me.  I grocery shopped without a list just buying whatever sounded good.  I had no idea what a good price was for the items I was buying.  We ate out a lot!  Sure it was just easier after working all day but also when cooking at home we were always missing one or more ingredients for the dinners that we decided to make.  Meal Planning....never gave it any thought!  (Oh the money we could have now if I knew then what I know now!)

So fast forward to 6 years ago....  Now married for 6 years and the mom of 2 boys, my very supportive husband and I made the decision for me to be a stay at home mom.  Could we really cut our income by my full time salary??  It was scary and exciting and overwhelming and just what I had always wanted to do!  We knew the money I was spending to work ... lunches out with co-workers, gas to and from my office, clothes and pantyhose ... could be cut out easily.  We knew we wanted baby #3 and that childcare was going to get more expensive.  (We didn't know he would come just 10 months later.)

Our eating out habits had to change. My grocery shopping habits had to change too. 

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My Coupon Binder Categories

My Coupon Binder is a work in progress that I add to and change every so often.  The one change I made most in the beginning ... and sometimes now ... was to the my list of categories. I've heard from two of you who are going to put together your own binders ... and I hope that others may try it too.  I thought it might be helpful to share the categories I am using now.  Obviously these would be just somewhere for you to start as we all buy different things and shop in different ways.  So if you are interested click Here to go to Google Docs to see my list of categories.  I told you that I'm a little biased with my system but truly this list of categories could be a starting point even if you're going to use a different method too.

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Coupon Organization....Where to Put Them??

I can't believe one month has gone by since I started this blog and I am just now getting to this post.  It has been on my To Do List for weeks before the blog was actually up and running.  I guess I can blame it on the holidays.

Anyway....Here it is...

We've covered many of the places to get coupons.  The Newspaper, Online Printables, Store Displays were first.  Next came Ebay.  Then Store Coupons.  So now it's time to talk about what to do once you have all of these pieces of paper laying around in piles.

There are many different ways to sort and organize coupons.  What works for some may not work for others.  What used to work for me doesn't work as well anymore and what I do now is always being tweaked to work better.

So let's start where I started ... end with what I do now ... and add a few other ideas in the middle.

My first idea was a recipe box with index cards as dividers.  I had each index card labeled with a category and then put them in the box in alphabetical order.  The Pro for this system was the filing time.  I would cut my coupons, stack them by category and easily stick the stack in the proper place and I was done.  For me the Cons were greater than the Pros.  I would have to pull stacks from each category to thumb through the coupons to see what I had when planning my trips and when shopping.  Pulling the expired coupons wasn't fun either since once again I had to go through each stack one by one.  Lastly, keeping the stacks organized so that identical or at least similar coupons were together wasn't easy either.


A method that works for some but that I haven't tried is filing the whole inserts by date.  I'm quite sure the Pro of this way is not having to cut, sort and file coupons.  I've not tried this though because the Con seems to me that it would be hard to know where to find the coupons for the things you need.  I know that there are sources to search for available coupons by product name.  I am not very brand loyal though so often I'm searching for coupons for a product type not just a name brand.


I've seen some people at the grocery store with an envelope full of coupons.  Once again the Pro has to be the filing time. Cutting them and sticking them in an envelope wouldn't take much time.  I think the Con would be finding what you want when you need it.

Here's what I do now....I am a little biased!  This works great for me but like I said at the beginning of this post what works for some may not work for others.  I have a 3 ring binder with baseball trading card pages inside.  I have 4 sections ... Food Items, Household Items, Health and Beauty Items and also a section for restaurant coupons.  I cut coupons, stack them by category and put them one by one into the baseball card pages.

The Pro for this way is I can easily see what coupons I have.  I use the binder when planning my grocery trips and while shopping.  I put it up front my grocery cart and can easily find the coupons I want to use.  At first I tried pulling all the coupons I planned to use in a shopping trip before heading to the store.  Inevitably there would be coupons pulled that I didn't end up using though if there was an item out of stock or if I found a different brand of the same item that cost less.  Now wait to pull the coupons as I put the corresponding item in my cart.  Cleaning out expired coupons is easy too.  I make sure the expiration date is visible and once a month I flip through the pages pulling all that are expired.  The Con for this way is the time it takes to put the coupons in the binder. Just like with my recipe box system, I cut coupons and sort them by category.  It is time consuming then to put the coupons into the binder pages.  Some need to be folded to fit.  I do all my coupon cutting, sorting, filing and clean out expireds while sitting in front of the TV.  It really doesn't take much time once I get started.

I've had a few different binders.  I really like the one I am using now.  It closes all the way around with a zipper ... and I wouldn't suggest anything else if you decide to try this system.  My binder has several pockets inside.  I keep my grocery store ads in one and scissors and a pen in another. I use spiral notebook when making my grocery lists and keep it in my binder.  

How do you sort, file, store and use coupons??  Do you use one of the ways I've mentioned here?  Let me know how your way works for you.  I'll add other ideas to this post ... just leave me a comment.  The most important thing is to find what works for you!  You'll be amazed at the savings you will see if using coupons isn't something you are already doing.

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Printable Coupons!!

Save Money. Print Free Coupons Anytime. Click Here

I'm excited to have just added the Coupons.com box in the far right column. You can click on it to go directly to Coupons.com to find lots of available coupons. The best part is that you can print them from your own computer. There are 183 coupons available today! Print what you what because they do sometimes reach print limits.

Back to Getting Started...More Coupon Sources

I've had so much fun this past week posting about deals and learning quite a bit about the behind the scenes of the world of blogging! It's time though to get back to the Getting Started posts I started last week.

Ebay, the Newspaper and Internet aren't the only sources for coupons.

Stores like Kroger, Meijer and Target have their own store coupons that .... get this .... can be stacked with manufacturer's coupons for even greater savings. That means that if you have a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupon for the same item, you can use both!!


Kroger mails out coupons on a regular basis (I've not tracked just how often but I think it's monthly maybe.) Sometimes they come in the form of a magazine ... like the one pictured here that I received last week. It contains both store and manufacturer coupons. Kroger also sends out other coupons that come in an envelope. These also contain both store and manufacturer's coupons. The best part is that usually a few of the store coupons are for FREE items.


Meijer offers printable store coupons online at Meijer Mealbox.
In the box on the right side of the Meijer Mealbox screen is a tab labeled Specials (just underneath the logo show here and the box that says type ingredient here.) Click on the Specials tab and you will be taken to a list of available Mealbox Coupons that can be printed as many time as you want. They do though only print one per page. Save paper by going to Hot Coupon World's Meijer Coupon Generator. From there you can enter the number of each coupon you want to print and they will print several to a page.


Target offers online printable coupons too. They have just changed things quite a bit lately so hopefully I have the details correct. There is a list of available printable coupons here. the catch is that you won't know whether the coupon is a store coupon or manufacturer's coupon until you print it. Target's coupons can only be printed twice per computer.


Another coupon source are known as Catalinas. You know those coupons that the cashier hands you with your receipt? They are named after the company who provides this type of promotion for many stores. Sometimes a Catalina is manufacturer's coupon. Sometimes it's an On Your Next Order (OYNO) coupon. Catalina promotions aren't usually advertised deals. So blogs like this are the best place to find out about them. One word of caution.....for whatever reason... it's been my experience that the Catalina printers at the self checkout lanes don't work. If you're expecting a Catalina to print, don't use self checkout.

Start using all these sources to find the coupons to help you save on the things you already buy!

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My Favorite Way to Get Coupons

My favorite coupon source....especially for the best of the best stockpile worthy items....is Ebay. Yes there are actually people who sell their time (I guess you're not allowed to sell the coupons themselves) to find, cut, sort and mail coupons.

Remember yesterday when I said that I bought 22 jars of peanut butter? I ordered 20 peanut butter coupons on Ebay for $1.50 plus the $.47 stamp. They were for $.50 off one jar. Kroger and Meijer double coupons so I paid $1.97 and saved $20 on peanut butter!

Each week I look through the grocery ads that are delivered on Saturday (you know the one's that are left in the driveway or hanging on the mailbox) to see what's going to be on sale the next week. Then on Sunday I match up any coupons I have with the sale items, make a list of the items I want to add to my stockpile and search Ebay for the coupons I want to buy. I always order them on Sunday or Monday morning at the latest. All but one time, I've received them before the end of the week.

The listings on Ebay can be either an auction format or Buy It Now. I choose the Buy It Now so I know that the coupons will be on their way to me asap.

Coupons!!

Stockpiling only makes sense when you can get things for rock bottom prices. Grocery store sales alone help. Coupons alone help. But pair up a great sale along with coupons and that is when you'll truly reach the best price! So where do can you get coupons?

The first and most known place is the Sunday paper. There can be anywhere from one coupon insert all the way up to 4 inserts in the Sunday paper. (Tip: Except Holiday weekends when there are none) You can go out each Sunday morning to buy a paper, have it delivered to your house or ask neighbors who may not use coupons for theirs.

I'll let you in on something I found out. If you live in my area...Greater Cincinnati...there is a great way to save on the delivery of the Sunday paper. Follow me for a second before I get to the good part. First go here to subscribe to the Bethel Journal. Bethel is on the East side of Cincinnati and you can get their community paper mailed to you weekly on Thursday's for $18 a year if you live in Clermont County or $20 a year if not. Now here's the good part .... an annual subscription to the Bethel Journal includes the delivery of the Sunday Enquirer at no extra charge! I know several people who have several subscriptions to get several sets of coupons.

Another great source for coupons that is being used more and more frequently is the internet. Did you know that you can print coupons right from your own computer? Some of my favorite sites are:
www.coupons.com
www.SmartSource.com
www.RedPlum.com
I know there are others. I'll add more as I think of them.

Store displays are another place to find coupons. Some may be in booklets, maybe with recipes, while others are in "blinkie" machines attached to the front of store shelves. (Some have a red light that blinks hence the name "blinkie") Watch for them as you grocery shop.

Watch for and request free samples of the things you use. The samples usually come with coupons for that same item!

I think I'll save my favorite coupons source for my next post.....I think it's worth a post all of it's own!

Stockpiling

Stockpiling. What is it? How do you do it?

First let me ask you a question… When you run out of grocery item, will that same item be on sale at the grocery store? Maybe…but probably not. So if you run out of several things around the same time will they all be on sale when you need them? Definitely not!

A great way to save lots of money is by knowing what you use regularly and what their rock bottom prices are. Stock up when a sale and coupons get you to that price. That way when you run out of something in your kitchen you head to your stockpile instead of the store. I’ve learned that most stores run their sale items in 12 week cycles. So a good rule of thumb to start with would know how much of an item you will use in 12 weeks.

Peanut butter is a major staple in our house. Not too long ago Meijer had a great sale AND there were coupons out for the same brand that was on sale. I bought several jars… actually I bought 22 jars.I paid less than a quarter a jar. That’s my stock up price! (Okay I know you’re probably wondering where I came up with 22 coupons? Stay Tuned…the answer is part of my next post)

After many months of stockpiling, my grocery lists consist mostly of things that I don’t need now but will sometime soon. It would be easy to go all out and go way over your grocery budget. Maybe add two next week or the week after that. Before you know it you will have accumulated such a stockpile that you’ll mostly be buying things only at their rock bottom prices.

So the next question is where are you going to put it all? It takes space to store the things you stock up on. Where can you add some shelves? Laundry room, basement or garage maybe? I know someone who uses shallow tubs with lids and keeps her stockpile under her bed. I have shelves in my laundry room. When we first put them in I was sure they created plenty of room. Well as you can see now they’re full!



Things to do...

• Make a list of the things you buy regularly
• Add the best price for those items to the list
• Designate/Create a space to store your stockpile
• Watch sales and coupons to stock up at the price on your list