How To Make Millions

It is officially the holiday season and we are all looking for some extra cash right? Well if you know me then you know that I am super, hmmm, what is a nicer word for cheap. Well, I guess I am super frugal. With five boys to feed, it is a must to stretch our dollars and it's a lot of fun too! It's kind of like a mission. Me vs. the store. I want to inspire and challenge all my non coupon clipping friends to save 40% off your grocery bill. It really isn't hard.

First off, you have to have the tools. Here are my ads (they come every Wednesday) and my coupon binder(not very cute but functional). Not pictured is a pen and notepad for your list. Now to do this you have to get a paper every Sunday and clip coupons of anything you might buy. I choose to organize my coupons in a binder but you don't have to. Use whatever is easiest for you.

Some things to remember

Always make a list and try not to stray
Try to go to the store within a couple days of the ads coming out to avoid missing the great deals
Walmart ad matches
Fry's triples coupons up to a dollar
Never go shopping hungry
Try to go shopping without the kids
Never ever pay full price for milk. It's on sale somewhere
You will be surprised at how many times you can get stuff for free with coupons
Most stores don't notice if your coupon is expired

Now you are ready to make your list. Go through the ads and find anything that looks like a good deal on something you need or could make a meal out of. I usually plan my meals around what is on sale. If there is a really good sale on something such as chicken or cereal (see above picture) or anything that you use a lot of in your household then plan on stocking up. Then go through your coupons and see if you have any for the items on sale. Put them with your list so you remember to use them once at the store.

In this case with the cereal, if you buy 6 the price was only $1 a piece. Then I had 2 coupons for Life cereal for 50 cents off. Fry's triples coupons up to a buck so I got $1 off for each coupon. So I got 6 boxes of cereal for $4. Not bad!

Here is my receipt for my last shopping trip. I whited out my payment info since I was recently a victim of identity theft and have learned to be very careful. This was a decent week with 47% off my bill.

Sometimes you just need a few things that are on sale at different stores. When that happens you can always go to Walmart with your ads and they will price match at checkout. Very handy. This does take some time but it will be worth it with all your savings, pretty soon it will just become a routine.

Good luck with your savings and let me know your success stories!

While we are learning about saving I have to tell you about this. If you have never heard of the Walgreens Easysaver you are missing out. Every month Walgreens puts out a new Easysaver flyer (above). In it there is always a few things you can get for free! FREE! It is by rebate but it is so easy and did I tell you it is free?

Just buy the items listed that are free by rebate. Make sure to save that receipt. Then go online to walgreens.com and click on the easysaver claim rebate button. You just enter in the receipt number on your receipt and you can choose to have a check mailed to you or have it put on a giftcard. If you choose a giftcard like I do then you get 10% more! They are paying you to take this stuff! Save the giftcard after you use it and next time you can just have your next rebate put on your old card so you don't have to wait for it to come in the mail. It never takes more than a week or two to get your rebate. Isn't that so awesome?

Every month I just use my giftcard to buy the new stuff and then it goes back onto my giftcard. Thank you mom for introducing me to this. I have gotten some really good stuff. This month is Almay mascara and this really expensive moisturizer.

I expect you all to be on your way to Walgreens right now to get your free stuff!

I expect that in fifty years I will probably have saved myself millions of dollars. Okay maybe that is a stretch.... or is it.