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Leta
Lovin' The Homestead
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I am happy to run down my method, but please be aware of a some disclaimers: one, I am still learning and by no means an expert; two, my method is relatively unconventional, because I do so much DIY.
I think the second thing applies to more people here than it does in the general population, but I still feel like I should discuss it.
There is a giant list of stuff that I am not going to get, *even if it is free*. A great deal of it is food, but even more of it is non-food. People are amused sometimes when I explain that we just would not ever eat commercial canned soup, marinara sauce, or jam, because we make and can all that stuff ourselves. Same thing with yogurt- I make the best yogurt you've ever had (really, I'll take the Pepsi challenge on this) so even if I could get yogurt for free, I'm not going to. We are on a 1/10 acre lot in the city, so no livestock, sadly, but I don't buy ultra cheap milk, eggs, or meat. Our eggs are from a local farm and cost $3/doz, ditto cow and goat milk which cost $7-$10/gal, we get meat from a variety of sources depending on the type, but for beef, venison, chicken, goat, lamb, and pork, we know our farmers and DH does his own cuts and makes his own sausage and salumi. We do order bacon in bulk, thru a restaurant (we are friends with the owners) that is made from U.P. pigs and processed locally. None of this the cheapest, but if I have a choice, I am not going to feed my family commercial animal products at any price. I make soft cheeses, but I'll shop around for butter and hard cheeses because, sadly, I don't have much of a choice when it comes to those items. We also forage and garden intensively, so that takes care of a big chunk of frozen/canned/pickled fruits and veggies. We shop in season at the farmer's market, order SHARE for produce in the winter, and make all of our condiments except sriracha and mustard. We buy popcorn, yogurt cultures, wheat berries, rolled oats, white flour, brown rice, cooking oils, dry beans/pulses and spices in bulk. I don't buy baked goods (except hot dog buns), cold cereal, chips, or crackers.
So, back on topic, non food- I make moisturizer, sunblock, soap/shave/shampoo bars, conditioner/hair rinse (leave in and wash out versions), toner, facewash, deodorant, bug repellant, laundry soap, stain pretreat, fabric softener, dishwasher soap, glass cleaner, all purpose cleaner, furniture cleaner, and scouring powder. We have a zillion cloth things that really cut down on our paper use- bum wipes, Shmop w/many heads, hankies, washcloths, microfiber towels for cleaning. I have bought metal straws, bamboo ear cleaners (cuts way down on but does not eliminate QTips), serged minkee circles (to use like cotton pads when you are wiping your face or bug bite with witch hazel), a 1950s era safety razor (10 double edged blades can be had for $1, one side of each blade lasts about 5 shaves, so 1c/shave), I have stopped buying toothpaste and just use baking soda, use peroxide for mouthwash, use aloe as my shave and hair gel, use heating fuel wood pellets for cat litter (we have a pellet stove, so these are around anyway), bought some floursack towels (cuts way down on but does not completely eliminate cheesecloth use), gave up plastic wrap, bought a stapleless stapler, only get 1 envelope/stamp at a time, as needed, when I go to the P.O. once I discovered I could upload pictures to grandmas right on the Walmart and Walgreens websites!, and stopped buying cotton pads and nail polish remover altogether when I converted to water based, removes-with-rubbing-alcohol Honeybee Gardens nail polish. We buy giant rolls of tinfoil in bulk. I buy makeup, soapmaking supplies, aloe, sunscreen minerals, and a few other toiletry ingredients online.
We also are in the process of setting up a welding CO2 tank + tire air chuck carbonator to make our own carbonated drinks.
So, as those long winded paragraphs indicate, the number of things I actually use coupons for is far smaller than the number of coupons out there. Again, even if it's free, I don't want SLS in my toothpaste, aluminum in my deodorant, or toulene in my nailpolish, so I'll stick with my methods.
The non-food coupons I use are on primarily on first aid supplies/OTC meds, office/art supplies, ziplocs, Magic Erasers, canning supplies, pet food, and paper goods. Food coupons I use are primarily cheese, juice (fruit and veg), salt, sugar/Stevia, mustard, sugarless gum, coffee/tea, pectin, green/black olives and other fruit/veg (canned or fresh) that we can't grow here. I also use coupons for things like auto parts, services, and durable goods.
Because I don't use a wide variety of coupons, I don't bother getting the paper. I go to the "Sunday Coupon Preview" website, usually on Fridays, and I take notes on anything I might use. (It helps to know the lingo, at first when you look at these, it looks like Greek.)
Then I go to eBay or A Full Cup and look around to try to find multiples of the coupons I want. For example, I knew I would use the crap out of "$1.50 off two Magic Erao thsers" Qs, so I spent $2.50 and ordered 10 of them. (A single Sunday paper here costs $3.50, so this is cost effective.) Then, I hang on to the Qs.
The single biggest thing that people don't understand about coupons is that they only work well when they are combined with a sale or a store coupon. This is because the coupon discount comes from the manufacturer, and the store coupon or sale discount comes from the store. This is called "stacking", and it's how you get things cheaper than generics, at a deep discount, or free.
Like magic, about a week before the expiration date of the manufacturer coupon, all the stores will had Magic Erasers on sale. A box of two cost $1.50. After coupons, I was getting 2 boxes (4 Magic Erasers) for $1.50, or 43c/each. Normally, a box of 2 Magic Erasers costs $2, so each one is $1. So 43c each is almost a 60% discount. I bought 20 boxes of Magic Erasers, spent $18.40 (including tax and cost of the coupons + shipping) and got 40 Magic Erasers, which will last me at least a couple of years. (Yeah, my house is old and my kids are gross, so I go thru a lot of these.)
We are coming up to harvest season, so this is the time to be on the lookout for good coupons AND sales for ziploc bags, canning stuff, and school supplies. At the holidays, you will want to stock up on baking supplies, because that will be their lowest price all year.
I use a blog called Yooper Savings, because it lists all the weekly sales for stores in my area. She does a good job of matching the coupons that have come out ithe past couple months to the current sales. If there is an internet printable coupon that matches a sale, she'll link to it. A website called the Krazy Coupon Lady has a whole section of regional blogs, so you can find one that applies to you. This way, I don't have to go a whole bunch of store websites to look at their circulars, or go and find the physical circular in the case of the independent markets that don't have websites.
I know a bunch of people who just looovvvee Walgreens. I don't. It's in a very inconvenient location (for me) and has a convoluted coupon policy. Target and Walmart are both okay- they are 15 miles from my house, so I don't go there much, certainly not every week. My favorite store is Family Dollar, because they are already very cheap, they run sales and have store Qs regularly, they have a very straightforward coupon policy, they accept internet printables, and, best of all, they are within walking distance of my house. So shopping there is the backbone of my non-food strategy. If I was within walking distance of Target or Walgreens, I might feel differently- you have to tailor your strategies to your situation.
I did make a special trip to Target last week because they had some unbeatable stuff: their store brand witch hazel and peroxide were on sale, plus they had store internet printable coupons for " 75c off any Up&Up first aid item", so I got the witch hazel for 74c and the peroxide for free. They also had Nexcare band aids on clearance, and I had two nexcare manufacturer Qs, so I got four boxes of band aids for $1. I needed some pure DEET to get us through berry picking, and they had a 9 oz container of Deep Woods Off on sale for $7 (normally $10), plus a store printable Q for $1 off, and I had a manufacturer Q for $2 off, so I paid $4 for a $10 item. They also had Stride gum on sale, two 3 packs for $4, plus internet printable store Qs for $1 off two 3 packs, so I got 6 packs of gum for $3, or 50c each, when their normal retail is $1.25 each. They also had Ziploc storage box of 50 quarts and 40 gallons on sale for $2.50 each with a internet printable store Q for $1 off two boxes, and I had a manufacturer internet printable Q for $1 off two boxes, so I got 90 freezer ziplocs for $3.
To recap, I paid $12.26 (including tax) and got:
16 oz. peroxide
16 oz. witch hazel
4 boxes (80 count) band aids
6 packs (120 sticks) gum
9 oz. Off
90 ziplocs
The normal retail on this stuff is about $35, so I saved over 60%. Obviously, this is not what all we are going to need and use this week. This is what was cheap, so I will stash it away until we do need it, and that day will come, of course.
My favorite way to get toothbrushes and floss free/cheap is to find internet printables for Reach brand products. They are usually for $1 off. I take them to Family Dollar, where Reach items, including large floss, are usually priced $1.00- $1.25. So I might pay as much as .25c for something, but often it's free. I can go in with $2 and know that I will be able to get year's worth of toothbrushes and floss, which is pretty cool.
Sorry if this was too long, I hope it helps!
I think the second thing applies to more people here than it does in the general population, but I still feel like I should discuss it.
There is a giant list of stuff that I am not going to get, *even if it is free*. A great deal of it is food, but even more of it is non-food. People are amused sometimes when I explain that we just would not ever eat commercial canned soup, marinara sauce, or jam, because we make and can all that stuff ourselves. Same thing with yogurt- I make the best yogurt you've ever had (really, I'll take the Pepsi challenge on this) so even if I could get yogurt for free, I'm not going to. We are on a 1/10 acre lot in the city, so no livestock, sadly, but I don't buy ultra cheap milk, eggs, or meat. Our eggs are from a local farm and cost $3/doz, ditto cow and goat milk which cost $7-$10/gal, we get meat from a variety of sources depending on the type, but for beef, venison, chicken, goat, lamb, and pork, we know our farmers and DH does his own cuts and makes his own sausage and salumi. We do order bacon in bulk, thru a restaurant (we are friends with the owners) that is made from U.P. pigs and processed locally. None of this the cheapest, but if I have a choice, I am not going to feed my family commercial animal products at any price. I make soft cheeses, but I'll shop around for butter and hard cheeses because, sadly, I don't have much of a choice when it comes to those items. We also forage and garden intensively, so that takes care of a big chunk of frozen/canned/pickled fruits and veggies. We shop in season at the farmer's market, order SHARE for produce in the winter, and make all of our condiments except sriracha and mustard. We buy popcorn, yogurt cultures, wheat berries, rolled oats, white flour, brown rice, cooking oils, dry beans/pulses and spices in bulk. I don't buy baked goods (except hot dog buns), cold cereal, chips, or crackers.
So, back on topic, non food- I make moisturizer, sunblock, soap/shave/shampoo bars, conditioner/hair rinse (leave in and wash out versions), toner, facewash, deodorant, bug repellant, laundry soap, stain pretreat, fabric softener, dishwasher soap, glass cleaner, all purpose cleaner, furniture cleaner, and scouring powder. We have a zillion cloth things that really cut down on our paper use- bum wipes, Shmop w/many heads, hankies, washcloths, microfiber towels for cleaning. I have bought metal straws, bamboo ear cleaners (cuts way down on but does not eliminate QTips), serged minkee circles (to use like cotton pads when you are wiping your face or bug bite with witch hazel), a 1950s era safety razor (10 double edged blades can be had for $1, one side of each blade lasts about 5 shaves, so 1c/shave), I have stopped buying toothpaste and just use baking soda, use peroxide for mouthwash, use aloe as my shave and hair gel, use heating fuel wood pellets for cat litter (we have a pellet stove, so these are around anyway), bought some floursack towels (cuts way down on but does not completely eliminate cheesecloth use), gave up plastic wrap, bought a stapleless stapler, only get 1 envelope/stamp at a time, as needed, when I go to the P.O. once I discovered I could upload pictures to grandmas right on the Walmart and Walgreens websites!, and stopped buying cotton pads and nail polish remover altogether when I converted to water based, removes-with-rubbing-alcohol Honeybee Gardens nail polish. We buy giant rolls of tinfoil in bulk. I buy makeup, soapmaking supplies, aloe, sunscreen minerals, and a few other toiletry ingredients online.
We also are in the process of setting up a welding CO2 tank + tire air chuck carbonator to make our own carbonated drinks.
So, as those long winded paragraphs indicate, the number of things I actually use coupons for is far smaller than the number of coupons out there. Again, even if it's free, I don't want SLS in my toothpaste, aluminum in my deodorant, or toulene in my nailpolish, so I'll stick with my methods.
The non-food coupons I use are on primarily on first aid supplies/OTC meds, office/art supplies, ziplocs, Magic Erasers, canning supplies, pet food, and paper goods. Food coupons I use are primarily cheese, juice (fruit and veg), salt, sugar/Stevia, mustard, sugarless gum, coffee/tea, pectin, green/black olives and other fruit/veg (canned or fresh) that we can't grow here. I also use coupons for things like auto parts, services, and durable goods.
Because I don't use a wide variety of coupons, I don't bother getting the paper. I go to the "Sunday Coupon Preview" website, usually on Fridays, and I take notes on anything I might use. (It helps to know the lingo, at first when you look at these, it looks like Greek.)
Then I go to eBay or A Full Cup and look around to try to find multiples of the coupons I want. For example, I knew I would use the crap out of "$1.50 off two Magic Erao thsers" Qs, so I spent $2.50 and ordered 10 of them. (A single Sunday paper here costs $3.50, so this is cost effective.) Then, I hang on to the Qs.
The single biggest thing that people don't understand about coupons is that they only work well when they are combined with a sale or a store coupon. This is because the coupon discount comes from the manufacturer, and the store coupon or sale discount comes from the store. This is called "stacking", and it's how you get things cheaper than generics, at a deep discount, or free.
Like magic, about a week before the expiration date of the manufacturer coupon, all the stores will had Magic Erasers on sale. A box of two cost $1.50. After coupons, I was getting 2 boxes (4 Magic Erasers) for $1.50, or 43c/each. Normally, a box of 2 Magic Erasers costs $2, so each one is $1. So 43c each is almost a 60% discount. I bought 20 boxes of Magic Erasers, spent $18.40 (including tax and cost of the coupons + shipping) and got 40 Magic Erasers, which will last me at least a couple of years. (Yeah, my house is old and my kids are gross, so I go thru a lot of these.)
We are coming up to harvest season, so this is the time to be on the lookout for good coupons AND sales for ziploc bags, canning stuff, and school supplies. At the holidays, you will want to stock up on baking supplies, because that will be their lowest price all year.
I use a blog called Yooper Savings, because it lists all the weekly sales for stores in my area. She does a good job of matching the coupons that have come out ithe past couple months to the current sales. If there is an internet printable coupon that matches a sale, she'll link to it. A website called the Krazy Coupon Lady has a whole section of regional blogs, so you can find one that applies to you. This way, I don't have to go a whole bunch of store websites to look at their circulars, or go and find the physical circular in the case of the independent markets that don't have websites.
I know a bunch of people who just looovvvee Walgreens. I don't. It's in a very inconvenient location (for me) and has a convoluted coupon policy. Target and Walmart are both okay- they are 15 miles from my house, so I don't go there much, certainly not every week. My favorite store is Family Dollar, because they are already very cheap, they run sales and have store Qs regularly, they have a very straightforward coupon policy, they accept internet printables, and, best of all, they are within walking distance of my house. So shopping there is the backbone of my non-food strategy. If I was within walking distance of Target or Walgreens, I might feel differently- you have to tailor your strategies to your situation.
I did make a special trip to Target last week because they had some unbeatable stuff: their store brand witch hazel and peroxide were on sale, plus they had store internet printable coupons for " 75c off any Up&Up first aid item", so I got the witch hazel for 74c and the peroxide for free. They also had Nexcare band aids on clearance, and I had two nexcare manufacturer Qs, so I got four boxes of band aids for $1. I needed some pure DEET to get us through berry picking, and they had a 9 oz container of Deep Woods Off on sale for $7 (normally $10), plus a store printable Q for $1 off, and I had a manufacturer Q for $2 off, so I paid $4 for a $10 item. They also had Stride gum on sale, two 3 packs for $4, plus internet printable store Qs for $1 off two 3 packs, so I got 6 packs of gum for $3, or 50c each, when their normal retail is $1.25 each. They also had Ziploc storage box of 50 quarts and 40 gallons on sale for $2.50 each with a internet printable store Q for $1 off two boxes, and I had a manufacturer internet printable Q for $1 off two boxes, so I got 90 freezer ziplocs for $3.
To recap, I paid $12.26 (including tax) and got:
16 oz. peroxide
16 oz. witch hazel
4 boxes (80 count) band aids
6 packs (120 sticks) gum
9 oz. Off
90 ziplocs
The normal retail on this stuff is about $35, so I saved over 60%. Obviously, this is not what all we are going to need and use this week. This is what was cheap, so I will stash it away until we do need it, and that day will come, of course.
My favorite way to get toothbrushes and floss free/cheap is to find internet printables for Reach brand products. They are usually for $1 off. I take them to Family Dollar, where Reach items, including large floss, are usually priced $1.00- $1.25. So I might pay as much as .25c for something, but often it's free. I can go in with $2 and know that I will be able to get year's worth of toothbrushes and floss, which is pretty cool.
Sorry if this was too long, I hope it helps!
LOVE lock-n-lock ) container that I use, but have only use in the fridge. 
