Archives for August 2010

Printable Coupons 101

08/27/2010 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Not a fan of clipping coupons, or simply want a way to print them instead? Most coupons offered in the Sunday papers are also available online, usually for the duration of a month. There are a few major websites to check out:

Coupons.com is available
right here at AFM!

Red Plum

Smart Source

All of these sites will require you to do two things. First, you’ll be asked to enter your zip code. This simply ensures that you are getting coupons to products available in your area. You are, of course, free to type in other zip codes, to see if other relevant coupons show up for you.

Second, you be asked to install a printer program. In a nutshell, you cannot print coupons without this program. There are limits to how many of each printable coupon you may print, so this program allows the site to keep track of how many of each coupon you have printed. Usually, you can print each coupon twice. When you’ve reached your limit on a coupon, it’ll usually be moved to the back of the list, and it will say that you’ve reached your limit.

Not to fret, though. Most coupons that continue for more than one month will “reset” after a certain amount of time. (Usually one month.)

The major thing you need to know about online coupons: Do not MAKE COPIES of your printable coupons!!! Doing so is fraudulent, AND it brings the entire couponing community one step closer to not being able to use printable coupons. Fraudulent coupons hurt everyone: the manufacturer, the store, AND the consumer. So let’s keep this simple: just don’t do it!

On a side note, digital coupons are on the rise. They can be attached to your shoppers’ loyalty card, or even pulled up on your phone these days. It is virtually impossible (to my knowledge) to make fraudulent digital coupons — at least for the average coupon-savvy Mommy. ;o)

Now, go and print, print, print, so you can save, save, save!

Keep on saving! :o)
--Barbara
**Remember, y'all, this post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Filed Under: printable coupons Tagged With: evergreen

Marking the Bittersweet End of a Decade

08/26/2010 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

The end of August has always proven a little bittersweet for me. A new school year begins at this time. As a nerdy student, and later as a teacher, I greatly anticipated the excitement and wonder that a new school year held. However, a new school year means summer is coming to a close. Summer has always been my favorite time of the year, filled with whimsy and carefree wonder.

Also at the end of August is the beginning of a new college football season. Okay, this is just plain sweet. Nothing bitter about this, unless the Dawgs are off to a bad start.

As August winds down, there are more personal ramifications for me, as my birthday comes at this time of year. Perhaps most of us still enjoy that childlike wonder and excitement in the idea of our birthday. However, as we accumulate more and more birthdays, many see them as just another slap-in-the-face reminder that we are getting older, and-infact- have more good years behind us than in front of us. (I’m not saying I’m *there* yet…. Yet.)

And so, today, as I start a new decade of my life, I lament on these last ten years, also known as My Twenties. Yep, that’s right: I’m turning 30, y’all.Looking back, even from my early teens I began looking forward (counting down) to The Next Big Thing, whether it be getting a driver’s license, graduating high school, becoming an adult, starting college, moving out on my own, being (legally) old enough to purchase and consume alcohol, finishing my undergrad, starting a “real” job, or getting married ……just to name a few. With each new milestone accrued, I felt perhaps a smidge bigger, then quickly proceeded to The Next Countdown.

This is a habit I happily spilled in to my twenties, and kept up for quite a while.And then one day, the countdowns ceased. While pregnant with my first (and so far only) child and thinking aloud about how I only had only four more months to go, I got the best advise from a co-worker. “Don’t wish your life away,” she said. The realization I made at that moment was how I’ve spent the better part of a decade and a half anticipating The Next Big Thing, and not focusing so much on the wonderful present.

And then my daughter was born.

These last 17 months have proven that time both flies and crawls, all at once, and it certainly doesn’t STOP while you search for The Next Big Thing. With her arrival, I saw how every little second, every little giggly, smooth-skinned, cuddly moment was valuable and rather fleeting. With her, I have watched a little person transform from a little lump, desperately trying to clasp her hands together while she let out sweet little “waaaaahs”, to a walking (er, running!), chattery little girl, who has become her own person -both goofy and independent and rather intelligent, in such a short span of time!
So, I no longer look so hard for The Next Big Thing. I know, at this point in my life, they are always lurking right around the corner. I am trying to enjoy as much of The Now Things. And all The Little Things.

While I spent much of my teens and twenties wishing my life away, looking always ahead, and not truly soaking up the thrills of the here and now; I have learned in a short span -the last nugget of my twenties- to slow down, and enjoy the moments as they come. The Big Things will come and go. It’s The Little Things that make your day-to-day life really worthwhile.

I do look at today as one of The Big Things. After all, turning thirty is nothing to sneeze at, nor is it something over which to panic. (…..right…..?) As this August winds down, I DO still find myself enjoying and anticipating the Big Things, but also lapping up the sweet little day-to-day moments I have with my amazing daughter and fantastic husband.

Am I happy about turning thirty? Honestly, no. It feels like such a big leap. Up until today, I could remark that, “well, at least I’m still in my twenties.” Maybe I’ll try out a new one: at least I’m in my early, early, early thirties. (Hmm, I’ll have to give it more thought…..) I find myself kicking and screaming in protest of the demise of my twenties. In any case, I am trying to make sense of it all, and embrace the change, and embrace this fantastic life.

So, while -for some- April is the cruelest month, August’s demise will always feel a little bittersweet to me.

And I leave you with this awesome meme, for no reason other than because I can:

You may also like:

Birthday Freebies

A Message from My Daughter

Tangled Hair, Starting Kindergarten, and Doing-It-All

Filed Under: random ramblings

Ripping the Band Aid

08/20/2010 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

I’m just going to go ahead and put the blog out there for you all to see and judge and snub….. I’m too much of a perfectionist, and if I wait until all is just so, it may never be out there….. So, here goes!

**Just be kind, and remember that it is a MAJOR work in progress at the moment.**

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Looking Beyond Gimmicks in Sales

08/18/2010 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Okay, here’s where I’m probably going to stray from the herd a bit, as I see many fellow Money-Saving-Mommy-Bloggers posting to the contrary here… But I strongly feel that what’s being done in most instances is purely a marketing ploy to (duh!) get you in to their store, and to (double duh!) buy their products! The current marketing trend is to advertise for “free”, very cheap deals, or even “money-makers” when paired with coupons.

Guess what, though? I’ve fallen for it plenty of times.

You’ll see it in the sales circulars on Sundays, mostly for drug stores. And each one calls it something a little different: Walgreen’s “Register Rewards”, CVS’s “Extra Care Bucks”, Rite Aid’s “Up Rewards”, and even Target with their “free gift card” offers. I refer to them generically as “store bucks”, going forth.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that these are bad, awful things that should be banned from existence. However, it’s the way in which they are USED to lure you in to their store, and then to buy more stuff. You, as the consumer, have to be careful and SAVVY when utilizing such deals!

For instance, let’s say one of the drug stores advertises a sale on toothpaste for $3.99 a tube. (Gasp! I would NEVER pay that much for such a product!) The gimmick is that they’ll give you $3.99 in their store bucks if you buy the toothpaste, thus, making it “free”. Ha ha! There’s the kicker: it’s NOT free. You still have to fork over $3.99 plus tax for the purchase up front. Remember: the store bucks are for later purchases!

To me, something is free if you pay nothing for it up front, or get your purchase price back in cash, NOT store cash!

But let’s take this $3.99 toothpaste, and make it worth your while. Add a $1 coupon to this deal. Now you’re spending $2.99 and getting $3.99 in store cash. (Many MoneySavingBlogs will call this a “money-maker” deal, since you’re getting back more than your spending.) That makes it a little better. Also, rarely will a coupon alter the amount you get in store cash.

Now, let’s say you have another item, coupons in hand, to purchase at that store. -er, let’s say ….diapers. These diapers are on sale for $8.99. After purchasing the toothpaste, you then purchase the diapers in a separate transaction, and your savings will start to add up. That’s $8.99 minus the $3.99 in store cash, and let’s throw in a $2 coupon. You’ve just bought a pack of diapers for $3! Not bad.

My point with the store cash is that you have to ask yourself if there are other items you would purchase at this store. Keep in mind, too, that most store cash has an expiration date. So, my advice is to plan very carefully if you wish to utilize a sale involving store cash, and try to use the store cash within the same visit, if possible. Let the cashier know that you’ll be making multiple transactions, and carefully plan the order in which you make your transactions to maximize your store cash.

Pssst! Guess what? Enough people are either unaware of the store cash, don’t care about it, or forget about it and let it expire — that’s partly how the stores make their money off of these gimmicks! This is why I stress the importance of trying to use the store cash within the same visit, or keeping the expiration date ingrained in your mind!

In sum, store cash is not a totally evil idea. It’s great if you can use it to your advantage, keeping the following guidelines in mind:

plan your purchases carefully,
make multiple, separate transactions to maximize that store cash,
always throw in coupons, when applicable (did I really have to say that, though?),
try to utilize the store cash within the same store visit, or at least be mindful of its expiration date,
And finally, ALWAYS ask yourself if this is a product you would purchase otherwise, without the lure of the sale.