Expiration Dates!!

I just glanced at the Albertson's and Smith's lists and wanted to encourage you to watch the expiration dates! There are quite a few coupons that expire this weekend so make sure you don't procrastinate too long and then you are unable to use the coupon!

Last Chance to earn $10.00 in FREE GROCERIES!!

If you have been thinking about hosting a class but have been sitting on the fence about it then it is time to hop off and give me a call! You have until tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. to call and book a class to earn $10.00 in FREE GROCERIES just for hosting a class then once you host the class and get 8 NEW ladies (or gents) there you will earn an ADDITIONAL $20.00 in FREE GROCERIES!!! Plus if you don't get the paper already and decide to sign up for the papers from me you have the potential of earning another $20.00 IN FREE GROCERIES!! That is a total possibility of earning $50.00 in FREE GROCERIES!! So don't delay and give me a call now to book a class for October!!

Home Phone: 702-362-8959
Cell Phone - 702-353-0330

$45.00 at Albertsons - not too shabby!

So I totally scored at Albertson's this week and bought 10 boxes of poptarts (the 12 ct size) 10 boxes of nutrigrain bars, 10 packages of Keebler cookies (my guilty pleasure) and 10 boxes of Rice Krispie treats for a grand total of $45.00!! I saved 122.00 just by shopping the sale and using coupons. Plus for those of you who received the Kellog's insert there is a rebate form where if you purchase 10 kellogg's products then you can recieve a $10 rebate so I will be mailing that in and it will be like I bought all of those delicious treats for $35.00 - can't complain about that!

A word on stars

If you have ever looked at a Grocery Smarts list you have noticed that next to each item there are stars. The stars are a rating system and help you to know if an item is an amazing deal, a great deal, an average deal or a not so great deal. I have several people lately ask me how I decide my shopping list and if I ever buy 3 star items, so I decided to do a post on this.

When I first started using the Grocery Smarts website I would buy 3, 4, and 5 star items because my cupboards were bare at the time. When it came to buying 4 or 5 star items I would always buy enough to last me 12 weeks and sometimes even more. However when it came to buying a 3 star item I would buy the items I needed but I wouldn't stock up on them at the price they were listed at. The reason I didn't stock up was because I didn't want to use all of my coupons for that item at a 3 star price and then have it go on sale at a 4 or 5 star rating two weeks later and then I wouldn't have any coupons to buy it with. Plus how much of a bummer would it be if I bought 4 packs of yogurt at an o.k. price and then the following week they were a killer price? I would have been very upset.

After about three months of consistently shopping at Smith's and Albertson's and getting my cupboards to the point where I felt like we were stocked up on all of the items we use on a daily basis I then started shopping only 4 or 5 star items - however - I still occassionally will buy 3 star items if I need them, I just rarely need to do that at this point.

One last thought on star ratings. Star ratings are based on the bottom line price so if you don't have the coupon it drops a star rating and if you aren't buying enough items to qualify for a promotion then the star rating drops as well. This is why I go to coupons by dede and stock up on inserts that I don't receive in the mail (P&G and Red Plum) so I have the coupons I need when they go on sale.

I hope this helps clarify any questions you might have had about shopping based on star ratings. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to email me or call me.

Email: tkmiller81002@yahoo.com
Phone: 702-362-8959

Add more to your savings

Have you ever been out to the store and found a killer deal that you wanted to spread the word on but didn't know how to spread the word? Or was there an error on a list and you wanted to let the listmaker know but wasn't sure how to get ahold of them? Are you ever unsure about where a coupon is or how to maximize your savings? Well if you have ever been in this situation then just head on over to the pinching your pennies website and feel free to post and share any tips or questions you might have about couponing and deals in Vegas. This is a great way to share with others your great finds and clarify any questions about the lists you might have. I encourage all of my readers to add this website to their arsenal. So don't be shy and head on over to pyp to see what's happening!

More Campbell's soups

If you checked the inserts in todays paper you would have seen that there are more Campbell's soup coupons. Because the lists are only made once a week these new coupons won't be on the Albertsons lists but you can still clip them and use them to get a ton of great soups for cheap - plus it even had some chunky campbell's soup coupons in there! Check them out and give me a call if you need help figuring out the best way to save the most. I am definitely going to be making another trip to Albertsons by Tuesday so I can pick up some more soups and some V8 Splashes that were sold out the other day!

I scored at Albertsons!!!

I am back Ladies and Gents! I have a teething infant and a potty training 3 yr old right now so I apologize for the lack of posts this week. My goal is to post at least every other day and that was my intention on Sunday but teething babies make it hard to get anything accomplished. But I am back and what a great way to update the blog than with an AWESOME trip to my favorite store . . . Albertsons!!
I bought about 75 items (not counting each individual diaper but the pack as a whole) for 86.30 today, which averages out to be $1.15 per item. Now you tell me where you can buy a big box of pull-ups for $1.15??? I saved about 154.10 for a total of 64% savings!!

How did I do this transaction? I went on the grocerysmarts website last night and made my list. I then printed out and clipped any coupons I was going to use (which I had a ton of!!) then this morning I loaded up the teething infant with my list in my purse and went shopping. From the time I walked into the store till I walked out was about 45 minutes so not bad for all the great items I bought. I also tried the self checkout since I did 4 different transactions and rolled my rewards into the next transaction. If you have never tried the self checkout I highly recommend it. I received awesome customer service by three different employees - they even helped ring up all of my soups so I didn't have to do each one individually! They were so impressed with my savings I handed over my information so they could start saving as well! I love great shopping trips and what a way to start the weekend!

How did you do at Albertsons this week? Leave a comment with your spent/saved and other great tidbits you discovered while shopping this week!

Just an idea

Do you have tons of cake mixes and canned frosting in your pantry like I do? Buying cake mixes and frostings are seriously one of my biggest weaknesses! Well, I have always wanted to learn how to decorate cupcakes and cakes super cute - but if any of you have tried to pipe canned frosting onto anything you know that it is pretty difficult, because it doesn't set right and it isn't firm enough to do much with except to spread it across the top then add some sprinkles and there you go.

So the other morning I didn't have anything planned so I decided to bake! And since I was baking I decided to experiment with the canned frosting and cupcakes. I googled how to firm up canned frosting and I learned a new trick from the Wilton's cake decorating website. Apparently if you mix 1 can of frosting and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar then chill for about 10 minutes or longer (I chilled it while the cupcakes were baking) you can achieve the same result as if you had made the homemade frosting that cake decorators use. So I tried it and the result turned out amazing!!! I had so much fun frosting all the cupcakes and then even more fun eating them! The picture above is an actual cupcake I made and was super delicious. Oh and when you a buy a can of frosting for about .50 yo can afford to experiment and mess around with it to see how it all turns out.

So give it a try and send me your pics. I will then do a posting of everyone's cupcakes! Have fun
baking!!!

How do I buy cake frosting for only .50/can I use the grocerysmarts website and have multiple papers delivered to me every Sunday. Give me a call and I will teach you how!

Wow . . . 3 of them!!!

I hope you didn't throw your ads away before you noticed that there were THREE inserts in the papers today!! There were 2 smart sources and 1 General Mills. I love the way I organize my coupons because I don't have to clip any of the coupons and sort them at all! I just flip through the ads, pull out the inserts and another ads that catch my eye, write today's date on it, then file the whole insert, uncut, into my coupon binder! I love that it takes me less than ten minutes to put my coupons away!!!

Hey! Where's the lists?

If you logged on to Grocery Smarts this morning and noticed that the Albertson's and Smith's lists were missing it is because they are slightly delayed in making the lists due to the holiday on Monday . . . so don't freak out and be patient. The lists should be up later today.

Oh and by the way . . . Smith's is having their fall annual caselot sale so watch the ratings and the prices! Also make sure you check expiration dates - it would be a real bummer to buy a case full of something that would expire before you could use it all!

Yesterday I went to Albertson's and used my coupon doublers to pick up some much needed chicken nuggets and yogurt. They also had hamburger on sale for a pretty good price and a coupon for 4 cokes for $9.00. My goal was to spend no more than $30.00 and I did! I bought all of this for 25.41 and saved 50.96 for a total of 67% saved!! I love saving more than I spend!!!

Why do you?

I would like to start adding other couponers stories onto this blog to help show people how couponing can help improve their lives so I would like for you to send me an email with your story about why you coupon, how you came across couponing and what your best spent/saved scenario is. My email is: tkmiller81002@yahoo.com

Hey! Where's the Smart Source?

If you opened up your newspapers today and didn't find any smart sources that's because it is a holiday weekend and there are never inserts on a holiday weekend.

I'm thinking Smith's is my spot for this week

I just took a quick look at the lists and after browsing the four and five star items for the week I am thinking I am going to be shopping at Smith's for a few of the needs - like sunny D for 1.00, apple juice for 1.00, soda 4 for 10.00. If you know me and my family we love to drink a wide variety of beverages (minus alcohol) so whenever I can get juices and sodas for cheap I am there! I will probably stop by Albertsons for their great capri sun deal but it looks like this week is going to be a great week for me to spend very little on groceries and a whole lot on new clothes! I love being to the point where I can look at a sale and say, "Do I really need that or am I stocked up enough that I only have to spend maybe 50.00 this week on groceries and put the rest to fun?" If you follow what you learn and my classes and get the right amount of papers then after a few months you will be able to do the same!

Do you need papers? I can give a KILLER deal on SUNDAY ONLY papers so give me a call and I can get you set up - you don't have to come to a class to order papers I can fill the order over the phone with a credit card! So if you want to start saving like I do call me!! 362-8959