Freebies, Great Money Saving Tips

This week is a slow shopping week. This is actually great for those of you who are new to coupon using and trying to save money. It will not be overwhelming for you as you learn. Once you get the taste of getting items for free, you will most certainly be hooked.

Patch wants to help your family save money. We do not endorse hoarding or extreme coupon using habits. We encourage you to buy extra when you can of the items that your family will use, but we do not encourage buying everything that a store has just because you can get it for free. Be polite, and save some for other shoppers. This rule applies with blinkie coupons in front of products as well. Take some, but please do not empty the machine of the coupons.

With this week being a slow week to shop, I encourage you to get some extra coupons and get organized. There are a couple of ways that you can save with coupons. You can use the binder method. When you see printable coupons that you will use and newspaper coupons that you will use, you get them right away and file them in your binder. Use baseball card sleeves for easy viewing. Separate the sections by category and bring the binder with you whenever you shop. You will never be without a coupon you need. But, this method is time consuming and does require a few hours a week, at the minimum. The other way is to keep the newspaper coupons in a file folder with the date that they came written on the outside. When you see an item on Patch that you want, you will see the date that it was in the newspaper and you will be able to grab it in just a matter of seconds. When you want to print coupons, you will do it when you are ready to hit the store. This takes up just a few minutes per week. The downside here is that you may see unadvertised or clearance deals and you will not have the coupons for them or you will go to print coupons at the last minute and the coupon is no longer available. Either way is an effective way to save money at the market depending on how much time you have.

Another way to save on groceries is to plan out your menu for the week. If your dishes require vegetables, try to incorporate the same ones throughout the week to avoid leftovers. This same idea applies with meats. A great way to use up leftovers is by making soup. Turkey and chicken meat can be tossed in together with some broth and a wide variety of vegetables and pasta for delicious cost effective soup. using similiar ingredients and avoiding waste will save your family money in the long run.

Here are the best deals that I have seen so far at this week.

Tabasco Sauce is a great buy at 43 cents each when you combine the sale with teh coupon from the Sept. 18 newspaper.

Pepsi Max two-liter bottles are around 55 cents each when you combine the sale with the coupon from the Oct. 2 newspaper. You may have a blinkie coupon from recent weeks if you picked them up from the soda aisles at Kroger or Publix.

Sierra Mist is around 60 cents a bottle for the two-liter size when you combine the sale with the coupons from the Oct. 2 newspaper.

Kraft or Sargento Cheese is on sale for two for $5. Use the coupons in the newspaper from Sept. 24 or Oct. 9 for an even better cheese deal.

Pillsbury Cinnamom Rolls are on sale for $1. Use the coupons from the Sept. 11 newspaper or print them here and get them even cheaper.

Totinos Pizza Rolls are well under a dollar each when you combine the printable coupon one here.

Mentos Gum is 45 cents each when you combine the sale with the coupons from the Oct. 9 newspaper.

Colgate Triple Action Toothbrushes are on sale for $1.25. Use the coupon in the Oct. 2 newspaper and pay 45 cents each.

Gillette Body Wash is 99 cents after the coupon from the Oct. 2 newspaper and sale price.

Suave Hair Care products are on sale again this week. Combine this low price with the coupon from the newspaper from Oct. 2 and get a great deal.

Target has the following freebies and great deals this week.

Satin Care Shave Gel is in the travel section for 99 cents. Use the coupon from the Oct. 16 newspaper and get it for free.

Dove Hair Care products are included in the Unilever promotion this week that offers a $5 gift card when you buy select items. There were Dove coupons in the newspaper on Oct. 2.

Vaseline lotion is also part of this deal. Look for coupons right on the bottle for $1 off of each. 

Target also has a deal running this week where shoppers can get $1 off of Method dish soap when they buy select method products. There are coupons for other Method products at the Target website that are Target store coupons. This means that they can be combined with the Method newspaper manufacturer coupons from Sept. 18 newspapers for some excellent deals.

Curell lotion is free when you combine the sale price with the promotion offering you gift cards and the coupons from the Oct. 9 newspaper.

When you buy 10 Vitaminwater or Smartwater drinks, you will get a $5 gift card. This drops the price of these down to 50 cents each which is an excellent deal.

has the following free items this week.

Listerine Pocket Pals and Reach toothbrushes are $2.99 and shoppers will get $2 back in Registers Rewards when they buy them. Use the coupons from the newspaper from Oct. 9, Sept. 11 or July 31 for free or almost free items. If you get the magazine called All you, there were also coupons in the July issue.

Bayer aspirins is 99 cents with the coupon that is in their ad this week. Combine this with the coupon from the Sept. 11 newspaper and they are free.

If you are looking for the best deals at Publix this week, see Patch article. Their sale runs Thursday through Wednesday each week.