Newbie Advice

Customers often send me private messages about the struggles they face making and keeping a grocery budget.  One customer is a new home owner, in her early 20's.  She's shopping and buying groceries for the first time this year.  There were a few things she mentioned that struck me as easy to fix.  Here are some of the suggestions I made to her. 

One of the things she told me she was doing, was to go to the store, grab a circular and start shopping.  She was not looking ahead!  I almost always take a place at the week to come before getting into the store.  It's free!  It saves money!  It's Easy!  All anyone needs to do is look at the upcoming sale week online.  As a matter of fact, you're online right now, so you can do it now.  All the weekly circulars, Penny Pinchers and Web Specials (items not advertised in print), are available on the My County Market site.

The second thing she was doing was not splitting up her budget into three parts.  1/3 of her budget should be for Instant gratification!  1/3 for Meal planning specials, and 1/3 for longer term pantry staples.  This allows her to build a base of foods for less money, and have that resource for providing inexpensive meals in the future 90 days.  This is very important to saving money.  Plan for up to 13 weeks, aka 90 days of budget friendly meals that YOUR family will like.  If you see a key ingredient on sale, and there is a coupon for it, buy multiples to get you through that time period.  For example, if you see Rotel tomatoes, and you love making a chili with that brand, buy it when it's $.79 not when it's $1.19 each.  You will buy 8 for this period, and save $3.20 on just that one item.  By the time you do this with all of your favorite 80 products, you will save $240 in a 90 day period, or $960 in a year. That is just on your pantry staples of favorite foods.

The third topic we discussed is how to save money on those high dollar, instant gratification items.  We talked about how buying your favorite brand frozen pizza weekly at full price and really inflate your budget.  Let's say for example, you love having a Screamin's Sicilian pizza in the freezer for Screamin' Sicilian website, ask for a coupon by mail, and look for additional easy to pick up coupons from newspapers and online clipping sites.  Then when it's on sale for $4.99, and she has a stock of $1 on 1 coupons, she can pick up 6 of them for $3.99 each.  Wow!  She'd save $12 just on pizza for 6 weeks.  She could use that $12 saved in her budget to fill her pantry with budget groceries like rice, beans, canned goods, frozen vegetables, broth, seasonings, and baking mix.  All of a sudden she is filling up her long term, and satisfying her instant gratification needs at the same time.

when you just don't feel like cooking.  It's normally $5.99.  Yes, it' less than ordering pizza, but it's also a high dollar "Luxury" grocery to coupon shoppers.  I advised my daughter to plan for the next sale.  To plan she needs to get coupons from the

Finally, she said her budget for two 20+ somethings, for a month was $200. I find that most coupon and budget friendly folks can make it on $20 per person, per week.  So she is going to shoot for $160 next month.  It may take some time to build that pantry base and really get there, but I think she can do it and will find she has MORE money in her budget for salty snacks, frozen treats, and a splurge here and there in the meat department.

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All internet coupon print limits are subjective. At the time of this email coupons were available for print. If the daily or weekly print limit has been reached, the coupon will be automatically pulled from the websites. You can try to print again tomorrow. All coupons listed are not available in our stores. We list them so you can order or find them to save you money. Check with clipping services, trade boards, or ebay to find coupons not in your store. It is our intent to help you find as many savings opportunities as possible. Enjoy!

Coupon savings are all about seeing a deal, and making a meal.  That's why you will see a two week run of the County Market coupon booklet.  It is designed to allow all coupon shoppers, either the weekly or bi-weekly shopper an opportunity to redeem those meal inspiring products.
Starting March 26, we have several Penny Pinchers that inspire meal planning.  Some of the best coupons in this booklet include the following:

1.  Farmland Bacon.  On sale for $3.79 you get a full 16 oz package of bacon. Yes, FULL.  Many brand bacon packages are less than 16 oz. Here you get one pound to use for any bacon inspired meal.  Chicken carbonara, with a matching Penny Pincher from Barilla pasta for only $.88, or Brinner with Essential Everyday crescent rolls $1.29 and Ore Ida frozen potatoes for $1.99 and you've got two good meals. 

2.  Navel Oranges.  In the Penny Pincher book you get 3 lb for $1.99.  Oranges go great in salads.  Fix a fresh spring salad with sale priced chicken, and tossed navel oranges.  Add a bit of Land O Frost lunch meat for $1.79, and sprinkle in some Kraft shredded cheese for only $1.59. 

3.  Barilla Pasta.  You can pick among many types of pasta for only $.88 each.  Penne and Kraft cheese make an excellent pasta bake, or toss an angel hair pasta noodle into a skillet for a quick and easy produce sale led skillet dinner.  There is a limit of 4 on Barilla.  This would be a good time to LOOK ahead to the next two week Penny Pincher window and plan out your next pasta based meals like, $1.99 Johnsonville spicy sausage and pasta skillet, or combo with Philadelphia cream cheese for $1.49 and bake your pasta dish with a creamy sauce with PP Grape tomatoes for $1.49, sale priced peppers and mushrooms.

One of the very best ways to save money, is to utilize the meal planning created inside the Penny Pincher coupon booklet each month at County Market.

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All internet coupon print limits are subjective. At the time of this email coupons were available for print. If the daily or weekly print limit has been reached, the coupon will be automatically pulled from the websites. You can try to print again tomorrow. All coupons listed are not available in our stores. We list them so you can order or find them to save you money. Check with clipping services, trade boards, or ebay to find coupons not in your store. It is our intent to help you find as many savings opportunities as possible. Enjoy!

Get Creative with Your Pantry

Part of thrifty shopping means grabbing deals when they are on sale and you have coupons.  That might mean buying multiples of your family favorites to use in future weeks.  Your meal planning can be as advanced as 4 months from now.  As we save more, we accumulate more discounted groceries that are shelf stable.  That means you need to find creative spaces for storing all your surplus goods.

1. Under the Beds. Use pull out boxes to push storage foods under the beds, or under large couches or chairs.

2. Use the backs of closets.  You may need in the front of your closet, but the back portion is rarely used.

3. Over the door organizers.  The back of the bedroom door is not seen by too many people and can easily hold supplies.

4. Under your table.  Yep, people place small drop down shelves under the kitchen table to hold a few things.  The center of the table can host a 8” shelf by 5” depth without interfering with knees or chairs.

5. Beneath the Stairs.  Stair drawers are becoming very popular for storage. 

6. Above Drop Ceilings.  I’m always hoping to find a stash of cash in the ceiling, but odds are more in favor of canned goods.

7. Look higher on the walls!  Can you add a cabinet closer to the ceiling?  Or a shelf that runs high in a pantry or closet?  If you do not need to get up there often, higher spaces are great for storage.

8. Inside furniture.   My family room couches have tons of space under the seats, and there is even a support beam already in place. 

9. In bags, suitcases and unused purses.  We all have bags in the closet, use them to store your extra goods.

10.  Under floorboard storage is fantastic for hidden storage.  You can also add bungee cords to basement floor boards and store goods overhead. 

11. In Smaller Packages.  So many products are half box! Can you unbox some goods and combine into one package?

12. Above the Refrigerator.  This is an excellent place for back up paper goods.  Plates, napkins, towels and even disposable baking pans.

13. In a Tidier Pantry. Take it all out and reorganize!  You will have extra space for a few nuggets.

14. Above the Cupboards.  I store cookie jars on top my cabinets, and in a pinch, a few canned goods.

15. In the Corners.  We all have a couple corners just sitting there.  Use 5 gallon food buckets or freebie deli buckets (my favorite since they are free).

16. On Bookshelves. Put some casters on the bottom of a bookshelf and you can place several thrift store book cases right up next to one another.  Any extra closet space, basement space or attic area can hold a lot of storage when you place them on casters.

17. In Space Bags. Put lightweight foods inside large comforter bags, or purchase Space bags. These are great for storing stocks of chips, or bagged products.

18. Under the Sink.  If you can add a shelf to your cabinet, you can double your storage capacity.  If you’re in a pinch and don’t have shelf organizers, a board on top of a couple boxes will do.

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All internet coupon print limits are subjective. At the time of this email coupons were available for print. If the daily or weekly print limit has been reached, the coupon will be automatically pulled from the websites. You can try to print again tomorrow. All coupons listed are not available in our stores. We list them so you can order or find them to save you money. Check with clipping services, trade boards, or ebay to find coupons not in your store. It is our intent to help you find as many savings opportunities as possible. Enjoy!

Super Bowl Savings Can Be HUGE

There are particular weeks in our savings cycle that can give us huge savings.  One of those weeks is Super Bowl week.  Even if you are not a fan of football, you have to be a fan of all the snack deals.  You can find all kinds of salty snack, meat, beverage, and party essentials deeply discounted for the big day. Here are 4 places you need to search to stack up your savings:

1.  Sale Ad-Yes the Sale ad at County Market will be filled with Frito Lay, Pepsi, Nabisco, and Keebler deals.  Check here first to get a good idea of what your main stock up snacks will be for the coming weeks.  County Market is offering $5 back on any combination purchase of $25 in combined Frito Lay and Pepsi products. ALL PRODUCTS are on sale in addition to the buy and get offer.

2.  Look for immediate coupons and rebates attached to products.  I found Miller had a bottled water offer, Frito has a Free dip with chip purchase, and Pepsi had coupons attached to their products.  These coupons can be added to the "Buy and Get" offers mentioned in the sale ad. You can bring your own coupons from home, purchased online, or look for coupons in stores.

3.  Look for additional offers on apps.  Ibotta has $1.50 on Mountain Dew and Frito Lay combination.  Yes, it is an additional $1.50 to your pocket in addition to the above deals.  Fetch Rewards also has credit when you purchase providing points that will later be translated to dollars.

4.  File a rebate!  There are more beer rebates for Super Bowl than another time of the year.  Look for Heineken, Corona, Budweiser, and Miller.  They have good rebates on many groceries. Keep in mind states like Missouri are no beer purchase required to redeem the rebate.  Yes, again, this is additional money paid by mailing your receipt after purchase.

If you combine all these offers, you will pay less than 40% for your purchase. Think about $10 instead of $25!  That's a huge savings on top name brand items.




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All internet coupon print limits are subjective. At the time of this email coupons were available for print. If the daily or weekly print limit has been reached, the coupon will be automatically pulled from the websites. You can try to print again tomorrow. All coupons listed are not available in our stores. We list them so you can order or find them to save you money. Check with clipping services, trade boards, or ebay to find coupons not in your store. It is our intent to help you find as many savings opportunities as possible. Enjoy!

Can YOU save $1000 this year on groceries?

How much money do you think the average coupon shopper saves in a year?  Would it surprise you that it's more than $1000?  Most coupon shoppers slowly build up a surplus of shelf stable groceries, and splurge on prime choice vegetables and meats.  Coupon shoppers always have full cabinets and fridge drawers of top name brand foods.  Coupons, spend less than average shoppers at the grocery store.  The question, then becomes, could YOU become a coupon shopper and save over $1000?


This is the first and most important step.  A coupon shopper never pays full price.  They will wait until the items they want are on sale.  They buy produce when it's in season, and stop cabinets up with multiple when there is a sale. This allows for extra room in every weekly budget to buy the fresh items that are often viewed as high dollar groceries.  Always looking at the sale list and using coupons is the only thing you must do to save $1000.

Couponers collect coupons from any sources. This process is referred to as building your coupon stash.  You can get newspaper coupons from workplaces who do not use Sunday papers, or from neighbors or friends.  You can also buy Sunday inserts from coupon suppliers online.  You can pick up tear pad coupons and hang tag coupon in stores.  It's easy and free!  This allows you to have many savings options at your fingertips when each new sale ad comes out weekly.

You can also save a lot of money by utilizing digital coupons through your home computer or phone app.  These deals are offered by manufacturers through the County Market website and app. You can save a lot of money each and every week.  You can also earn small amounts through apps like Ibotta, Honey, Shopkick, Fetch Rewards, and more.  Many have you scan your receipt after you checkout for points. These points are then added until you reach a redemption level.

As you learn to coupon shop, you can connect with other savers through County Market Coupon News Facebook page.  You'll get weekly updates on Coupon match ups, tips, and unadvertised deals. Most like minded savers like to share their experiences with others for encouragement.  Join us, and save MORE than $1000 this year.



Come visit at County Market Coupon News on Facebook

Visit County Market Coupon News Cookin w Coupons's profile on Pinterest

All internet coupon print limits are subjective. At the time of this email coupons were available for print. If the daily or weekly print limit has been reached, the coupon will be automatically pulled from the websites. You can try to print again tomorrow. All coupons listed are not available in our stores. We list them so you can order or find them to save you money. Check with clipping services, trade boards, or ebay to find coupons not in your store. It is our intent to help you find as many savings opportunities as possible. Enjoy!

2 Best Apps Online for Saving Money

Are you clicking?  You should be.  This program is changing shopping.  It's easy, no scissors necessary.  Once you have the My County Market App rolling, add Ibotta to your shopping clicks.  It's a nationwide rebate program when you can clip even more offers that you paid on Paypal.  It also works with your max card so no hassles for you.  Just see their offers, click and get money. 

 This past weekend I was looking for deals on my phone and found the best deals on My County Market App.  I picked up several dollars with just a simple click.  Prairie Farms butter Quarters, Ragu spaghetti sauce, and Little Debbie donuts.  You get the idea.  It's a simple app to use.  You get offers on products you normally buy, and several items you can consider buying.  Click the ones you want and they are automatically applied to your max card. To get rolling with extra app coupons follow these steps:

1.  Download the My County Market App onto your phone. 

2.  It will ask you to confirm your email and Max card.  You can just snap a pic of your max card when it asks you for it.  Be sure these are correct!  It's how they ties to your max card shopping.
3.  Click some offers and have them in your virtual wallet.
4.  Shop at the store and pick up the items in your virtual shopping list.
5.  Get money!  As you buy things, then scan your max card it automatically will post to your account.  Next time you shop, you'll have $dollars off your order to redeem from your phone.

It's really easy to do.  I love the fact that I can pick up name brand coupons that are not available on coupons.com or smartsource, like Pepsi, Frito Lay, Campbells, and County Market store brand staples.


Special Hack:  Yes, you can double up on Digital offers and printed coupons.  If you have a newspaper or at home printed coupon, most will scan in addition to the digital coupon.  You can definitely double dip on the Ibotta rebates and paper coupons.

I picked up $10 just for signing up with Ibotta on my phone.  Boom!  Direct to my paypal account. Did you know that sometimes the Ibotta offers match Penny Pinchers?  This week, Little Debbie has a donuts offer that matches the Penny Pincher.  It's a double win. 

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For additions Print N Save Coupons:

Print N Save Section of this Blog

Coupons.com

Smartsource.com
Redplum.com 
County Market
 

Come visit at County Market Coupon News on Facebook

Visit County Market Coupon News Cookin w Coupons's profile on Pinterest

All internet coupon print limits are subjective. At the time of this email coupons were available for print. If the daily or weekly print limit has been reached, the coupon will be automatically pulled from the websites. You can try to print again tomorrow. All coupons listed are not available in our stores. We list them so you can order or find them to save you money. Check with clipping services, trade boards, or ebay to find coupons not in your store. It is our intent to help you find as many savings opportunities as possible. Enjoy!

18 Must Visit Links for 2019

When you are wanting to save money, you need a full coupon stash.  Here are the top 18 sites where you can print out good quality coupons.  These sites may have 1000 coupons available on Monday, but by Thursday, all have been redeemed.  These sites should be kept on your computer in an easy to find location so you can frequently and regularly hit them for savings.  I like to keep a monthly reminder near the 1st of each month to print coupons.  

Lysol coupons

Campbell's Printable coupon

Prairie Farms Printable coupon

Pillsbury coupons

 PG  printables 

Coupons.com 

Arm and Hammer Printable coupon

Betty Crocker coupons

Mambo Sprouts

Kellogg's Printable coupon

Kimberly Clark's Pick Up The Values

Apps you can use to save money (Yes, I have used these personally, and they work).  These four apps I use regularly to earn cash to my PayPal account or for Amazon gift cards.  They don't make up a  ton of money, but every once in a while it's nice to get $10 gift card.  in 2018, I redeemed just under $100 from these apps, with no additional purchases.  I just scanned receipts after I decided to buy.  On Honey, I use it to price compare.  On Black Friday alone, I saved $300 as it showed me where the items I was buying were on sale for less money.  I was very pleased with this app. 

Ibotta app for rebates

My County Market App

Fetch Rewards

ShopKick

Honey


As always, there are pages that are designed to help you stay on target with your grocery goals.  Please take a minute to visit each of these pages, and LIKE the pages on facebook.  You'll get Coupon hacks all year long that can save hundreds. 

My County Market

County Market Coupon News Facebook page

My County Market Facebook Page

Visit County Market Coupon News Cookin w Coupons's profile on Pinterest

All internet coupon print limits are subjective. At the time of this email coupons were available for print. If the daily or weekly print limit has been reached, the coupon will be automatically pulled from the websites. You can try to print again tomorrow. All coupons listed are not available in our stores. We list them so you can order or find them to save you money. Check with clipping services, trade boards, or ebay to find coupons not in your store. It is our intent to help you find as many savings opportunities as possible. Enjoy!