With our tough economic times, families are really trying to cut back on their monthly budgets to help out with their budgets. One of the best ways to save money is with your weekly grocery shopping, while this can be time consuming in the long run you can save a serious amount of money that can be put to better use somewhere else in your monthly budget. Remember before you start making out your grocery lists that you can seriously cut down on your grocery bill by only buying what your family will consume throughout the week and no extras. Make a menu for your family listing all the ingredients you need to purchase and stick to your lists, by cutting out the extras and the impulse buys your family can save up to $40 per grocery trip. Add that up and within a month
Couponing 101: Teaching Your Children To Start Saving Money
Most children these days do not understand the concept of saving or earning money. This has never been a major priority in their lives, or a necessary way of living for them. But as parents, it is absolutely crucial that you teach your children the importance of saving their earned money.
Before beginning to teach your children how to save money, you want to make sure they are old enough to understand the concept of saving money for items that they want or need. Your child should also be able to understand how they can save their money to invest in things, and learn money management.
Below are some tips to help you teach your children how to save their money:
* Once your child is old enough to count money and understand how much they are counting, this is a perfect time to start teaching them the real meaning of money. This is also a wonderful time to start a piggy bank and to start allowing your child to earn money for chores they do around the house.
* A great way to start their interest in saving money is to establish a chart on their wall with a goal for a certain toy that they want to purchase. Each time they put away money into their piggy bank for that item they mark off on the chart how much they just saved or invested for that toy that they really want. By using the chart and implementing them to save their money you are starting to show them how to save their money, and how rewarding it is purchase the item they want with money they earned by doing chores.
* Divide their allowances. This is a great trick that we use in my family, when handing out allowances to my children we made sure they put some money away for their savings piggy bank, some money away in their toy piggy bank and some money they could keep to use on items when we went shopping as a family. By not giving your child their entire allowance in one lump sum you are teaching your child to manage their money and to save and invest. Friends of mine have even gone further by dividing their children
Couponing 101: Terms And Abbreviations
There are soo many terms and abbreviations that it can seem overwhelming especially if you join a message board looking for coupons and freebies. I have compiled a list below to help you learn and understand the coupon lingo.
AC = After Coupon
ACTUALS = The actual item as opposed to a coupon for it (an item from your stockpile)
ADDIE = Address
AR = After Rebate
BIL = Brother-in-law
BLINKIES – instore smartsource coupon dispensed near product, usually from red blinking box
BOGO or B1G1F = Buy one get one free
BOLO = Be On the Lookout
BTFE = Box Tops for Education
BTW = By the way
B&M – Brick & Mortar, as opposed to an online store
CAT or Catalina = coupon dispensed at register after purchase, usually has a red border
CBAD = Chef Boyardee
CLFE = Campbell’s Labels for Education
CO = cents off coupon
COH = Cut Out Hunger
CRT = Cash register tape
CYE = Check your email
DB = The HotCouponWorld database
DCRT = Dated cash register tape
DCRTC = Dated cash register tape with the price circled
DD = Dear Daughter
DH = Dear husband
DIL = Daughter-in-law
DS = Dear Son
DW = Dear Wife
DND = Do Not Double (the coupon is not supposed to be doubled)
DOUBLE COUPON = coupon that a grocery store doubles in value
ECB – CVS Extra Care Bucks earned for purchases
ENVIE = Envelope
EPOP = Each pay own postage (trading term)
ESR = EasySaver Rebate (Walgreens Monthy Rebate)
ETA = Edited to add
FAR = Free After Rebate
FIL = Father-in-law
FLIP = Food Lion Internet Printable
FREE ITEM COUPON = A coupon that allows you to get the product completely free
FSOT = For Sale or Trade
GDA = Good Deal Alert
GG = Grocery Game
HBA = The health and beauty aid section in the grocery store
HCW = Hot Coupon World
HDA = Hot Deal Alert or Home Delivered Ad
HL = Have list
HT or HGT = Hang tags for refunds or coupons hanging on a product
HTH = Hope this / that helps
IMO = In My Opinion
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
ISO = In Search Of
IDSO = In Desperate Search Of
IVC = Walgreen’s Instant Value Coupon ( Found in the monthy EasySaver Catalog )
IVDSO = In Very Desperate Search Of
IP = Internet Printable
JMHO = Just My Humble Opinion
KWIM = Know what I mean?
LFE = Campbell’s Labels for Education
LMK = Let Me Know
MIL = Mother-in-law
MIR = Mail In Rebate
NAZ = Name, address, zip code
NED = No expiration date
NP = No problem
NBPN = No Beer Purchase Necessary
NWPN = No wine purchase necessary
OAS = a coupon that is good on one purchase, any size
OOP = Out of Pocket
OOS = Out of Stock
OP = Original Poster; Author of a thread
OSI = On a single item
OYNO = On your next order
OT = Off Topic
P&G = Proctor & Gamble Sunday supplement coupons
PEELIE = coupon that you peel off the package
PITA = Pain in the ***
PLMK = Please Let Me Know
PM = Private Message
POP = Proof of purchase
PP = purchase price
PPHF = Paypal handling fee
PSA = Prices Starting At or Public Service Announcement
Q or QUALIFIER = The POP required for a refund offer that is physically taken from that package
RAOK = Random act of kindness
RC = Raincheck
RP = Red Plum Sunday Supplement Coupons
RR = Register Rewards
SAHM = Stay At Home Mom
SAHW = Say At Home WIfe
SASE = Self Addressed Stamped Envelope
SCR = Rite Aid Single Check Rebate
SD = Store Display
SF = Store form
SIL = Son or sister in law
SMP = Specially Marked Packages
SS = Smart Source or Sunday Supplement coupons
STACKING = Some stores allow the use of more than one coupon per item, IF the coupon itself does not restrict such usage.
SUPER DOUBLES or DOUBLES = coupons that are doubled $1 + in value (ie, a $1 coupon = $2, etc)
TEAR PAD = A pad of refund forms or coupons found hanging from a store shelf or display
TIA = Thanks in advance
TMF = Try Me Free
TRIPLE COUPON = a coupon that a grocery store triples in value
TYVM = Thank you very much
V = Valassis Sunday supplement coupons
WINE TAG = coupon, usually for $ off any meat, cheese or produce.
WL = wishlist
WPN = Wine purchase necessary
WSL = while supplies last
WT = winetag
WYB = When You Buy
YGEM = You’ve got a email
YGPM = You’ve got a private message!
YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary= success of the attempt may vary at your store
YVW = Your very welcome
Couponing 101: Tips For Trading Coupons
Tips of the Trade of Couponing:
1. Take your grocery lists and stick to it
2. Do not buy items from the end caps if possible a lot of times they mark these as
Couponing 101: Saving BIG With CVS And Rebates
CVS Your Friendly COUPON STORE:
If you have been in the coupon community for long then you have probably heard people rave about two BIG stores when it comes to HUGE Savings and friendly towards couponers! CVS and Walgreens! Here I will give you a brief overview of the CVS system and how you can use it to really save your family a bundle! First off CVS offers a customer card called
Couponing 101: Understanding Supermarkets Tricks
Have you ever just stopped the grocery store on your way home from work because you just need four items for your family
Couponing 101: Starting Your Stockpile
How do I get my Stockpile Going?
There are several ways to get stockpiles of coupons and you use any of the methods that I suggest below and see which ones work the best for you. First off there three kinds of Sunday Inserts in your Sunday Papers there is the Proctor and Gamble (P & G) this is not usually in every Sunday paper but usually once a month. Then the two staple are Valassis (V) and Smart Source (SS) There are also great sites that can you tell on the Thursday before what coupons are going to be coming out on Sunday! The site I use most often is Taylortown Preview, they will have the latest coupons posted usually by noon on Thursday before they come out.
* Like most people you can subscribe to your local paper or a lot of my friends will ONLY Get a subscription the Sunday edition of the paper simply to get the coupons. You can also grab a couple of papers from your local store, gas station or newsstand.
* You can go in the evenings and see if stores or gas stations that still have Sunday Papers left will sell you the rest of the papers to you at a discount so you can get a nice stockpile of that week
Couponing 101: Organizing And Storing Your Coupons
Find your Local Store Ads:
In my area our grocery store ads come in the Mail on Tuesday
Couponing 101: Stockpiling And Organizing Your Groceries
Couponing 101-Stockpiling & Organizing Your Groceries
Now when stockpiling please keep in mind that you need to have room in your home for these items. You can store non perishables in closets or in the basements, and perishable items make sure you have a large freezer to help you out. The idea is eventually your house is going to be stockpiled with all of your goodies that it will make your grocery shopping a lot easier because then you will only be shopping for items you can get good deals on not items you need because you are already stockpiled. And don
Home Coupon Organization
Before you begin.
Couponing does take some time. The amount of time it takes, though, can be minimized if you have the best organizing system. Sometimes creating the best system for you will take a bit of trial and error. Once you design and utilize a functional system, stick to it.
Find an area in your home that can be used for your couponing. You will need a lot of space to store a filing system, clip coupons and organize your shopping trips. A corner of your office, garage, basement or area in your dinning should provide amble space. You should find an area that is comfortable for you with as few distractions as possible. If you want to incorporate the whole family into the process an area in the family room would work well.
You will need to set up a system to keep all of your coupons organized. If you’re already a thrifty couponer then you already have a good idea of what your needs are. If you’re still not sure if couponing is right for you, you should start small with a recipe box so you can test the waters before you jump in with both feet.
When you find your recipe box is to small to handle the amounts of coupons you clip, then you will know it is time to move onto an expanding folder or portable binder.
Expanding folders or a file system can be used to store your clipped coupons. If you are computer savvy you could set up a file system on your computer that will keep track of your various coupons and locations. Your files and folders should be organized. Your style of organization will depend on how your search for specific coupons will fit your style. Do you want to file for brand types or general categories such as dairy, canned, meats, produce ect…? Think about the system you will find easy to navigate at a moment’s notice.
Now that you have a good idea what you will need to get your coupon area set up in your home, your a next tool is a nice 3 ring zippered binder to store your coupons for the grocery store trip. A 3 ring binder is portable and can be carried with you where ever you go. The bigger the binder the more coupons it will hold. You will want to make sure you are getting one that is well designed and durable so it will hold up during your organization process and the shopping trips. A 3 ring binder fits nicely in the shopping cart and when organized correctly can be easily navigated. You may also consider purchasing extra packets of the clear double sided coupon sleeve pages just so you never run out. You can purchase them at Amazon in 3, 6 or 9 pockets per page.
The binder itself should be organized clearly and efficiently. You don’t want to be caught unable to find a specific coupon that you know you have ‘somewhere’ during the shopping process. You may want to consider purchasing tabbed dividers and coordinating them with color coded shopping lists to make navigation easy. The colored tabbed dividers will help you keep the coupons together in specialized sections. When you come upon a daily or in-store special that wasn’t advertised you will be able to flip directly to the section and find a suitable coupon.
Your binder should also have room to carry a pen, calculator and notepad. If your binder doesn’t include a zippered pocket to store these items you can purchase one online or at your local department store. If you have kids you will know how handy these can be.
Once you have a system in place the rest will fall in place. Remember, this is the time of trial and error and you can re-organize and perfect as you go.