Moving forward!

Well, you're back to read some more, so that must mean you've done your homework and are ready to start working on Rule #2

Cheapskate's Rule #2
Free is good. Refuse to pay retail!

The store sign says our toothpaste we want to buy costs $2 a tube. As a consumer, we must pay $2 a tube, right? WRONG!!! The manufacturers of most name brand products put out coupons. (There are statistics I should put here, but I don't know them.) Let's say we have a $.50 coupon for our $2 toothpaste. That makes it $1.50, right? Wrong! If you use that coupon correctly, you'll take it to Kroger or another store that doubles coupons and get your toothpaste for $1. That has GOT to be the best deal ever! Saving 50% is awesome right?!? Right!! But you know what's better?? Saving 100%!!!  No, I'm not currently under the influence of medication. It can happen! For instance this week (7/11/2011) Kroger in my area has toothpaste on sale for $1.49. If you buy 10 participating items you get $.50 off...making them $.99. NOW use that coupon that doubles to $1 and....da da da daaaa! Free toothpaste!

See the beauty of timing?? By using our coupon at the right time, we scored free toothpaste!! Yay!! Go us! Now, here's the part where you must know how much your family uses. Free is great, and I love it, BUT there is a fine line between bargain gatherer and weird hoarder. Yes, I said it...HOARDER. I think a one year supply is a good guideline to use. The only exception of this that is allowed is for donations.We do not need to surround ourselves with 1000 tubes of toothpaste! I will get down off my soapbox for a few moments. :)

Ok, so we know how to get our free toothpaste with coupons. Now we need to know where to get the coupons! My personal favorite is the Morhead News. It comes out on Friday and is $.50 a copy. The Sunday paper, The Herald Leader, is $2 and has no more coupons than the $.50 paper. I also use online resources, but for now, we're gonna stick with the papers. We are at the mercy of the manufacturer as to when we will get the coupon in the newspaper, so don't be discouraged if you don't get the BEST deal ever on the first week. Once again we need to know what our family needs...should we buy 1 paper or 10? A rule of thumb I was once told is one paper for each family member. This, once again, is up to you to decide. You will slowly but surely find out where you feel comfortable with the amounts you need.

Homework time!!
Buy a Sunday paper, or other newspaper with coupon inserts. Look through it and decide if you use any of the items with coupons enough to purchase additional copies. If so, buy as many as you think you need.

Next, we'll go over how to "find" the deals.

Until then,

~Jess