Seasonal/Monthly Sale Cycles and When to buy Items: January

It is a start to a new year and our wallets are empty form spending over the holidays. Time to start stocking up and using coupons at the right times for that extra savings. Every month has predictable items that will go on sale.  We call these sale cycles.  I try to stock up on these items when they are at their cheapest to save money in the long run.

Here is what to look out for in the month of January to get the best savings. 

Produce/Food:
Bananas, Beets, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cucumbers, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Lemons, Mushrooms, Okra, Onions, Oranges, Pomegranate,  Potato, Rhubarb, Squash, Sweet potato, Tangerine, diet foods, diet drinks, hot beverages, tv dinners, oatmeal, soups, chilli's

Clearance Items:
Christmas and New Years items, red/green/silver/gold items(dinning ware and house hold items), calendars, candles, day timers and organizers, wrapping paper, cards

Clothing:
A lot of store have "white sales" in January so the best things to get are coats, boots, hats, mitts, scarves, sweaters

Household Items:
Many New Years resolutions call ofr organization so any type of organizing containers usually go on sale, lable makers, linens (white sales), towels and sheets

Personal Care:
Cold medications,cough drops, flu medication, nicotine related products (for those who want to quit for the new year), diet products and any weight loss or diet  food products

Other:
Gym memberships discounts, bicycles, electronics, houses, home gym equipment


If you are a couponer as well you will get some really great deals in January.  Save your coupons (as long as they don't expire first) for the right monthly sales to get the best bang for your buck!

Free subscription for Lego Magazine!!

  

 FREE 2 Year Subscription!!

I have two little boys and they are going to love this!!!!  A FREE 2 year magazine subscription to Lego!  All you have to do is click on the link and scroll down to the left hand side.  Click on free Magazine subscription and fill out your info and you will get your first magazine after about 6-8weeks. So simple and I love Freebies!!!!!!

http://club1.lego.com/en-US/legomagazine/default.aspx

FREE Leap Frog Tag Book

My oldest son recently turned 2 years old and we bought him a Leap Frog Tag Junior for his birthday with a few books.  I absolutely love this reading system!!!  It allows kids to read books with someone or alone and hear the words.  The easy to grip pen for toddlers is also good for motor skills.  We got it on sale for around $29.00 (reg $39.00) and got the books for half price!  The books are normally $12.00 each but there are sales often and they are worth every penny!  I recently found a link that will give you a FREE tag book!  http://www.leapfrog.com/en/freebook/splash.html
Just follow the steps and you will get a FREE one hopefully in time for Christmas! This is a great Christmas gift if you have a toddler!

My Favorite Rewards Programs for Freebies

For those of you that know me well know I love getting a great deal and I love earning rewards for freebies.  My favorite rewards program and the one that I think you get the most value from is the Shoppers Drug Mart rewards. If you shop at the right times and get the right products you will end up with a ton of free groceries!  Although its my favorite, it's no the only one out there for freebies!  I thought I would take the time to write about some of my favorite programs and how they work for you to get you your best shopping deals.

So lets start with my favorite!  The Shoppers Drug Mart Optimum Card.

The Shoppers Optimum card it free and you automatically collect 10 Shoppers Optimum Points for every dollar you spend including prescriptions.  It does not include items such as stamps, tobacco products, and gift cards that are not theirs and a few other items.  You get 10 points for every dollar you spend.  When yo have enough points, you can redeem them for cash off of your purchases.  The points system goes as follows...

8,000 points = $10 off
22,000 points = $30 off
38,000 points = $60 off
50,000 points = $85 off
95,000 points = $170 off

Most people would be tempted to redeem the points every time you reach the $10.00 mark but in my opinion that would be a waste of your points.  Shoppers Drug Mart often has bonus redemption events where you can redeem your points for more than the usual amounts.

50,000 points = $100 off (instead of the regular $85)
95,000 points = $200 off (instead of the regular $170)

I always wait for these events (they usually happen every couple of months) because you get the best value.  There is also usually a Mega bonus redemption day that will give you even better values.  This bonus redemption tends to happen one time a year close to Christmas.

It may sound like you need to spend a lot of money but you dont... you just have to be a smart shopper!  Here are some tips to get huge points for little money!

1. Buy a Shoppers Drug Mart gift card first.  Since you get points for buying a shoppers drug mart gift card, I buy one for the amount I would be spending in the store before hand and pay with it.  Buy doing his you double the points you will get.  For example, if you spend $50.00 you would get 500 points, but if you buy a $50.00 gift card first you get 500 points for the gift card and then another 500 points for spending the gift card worth $50.00 for a total of 1000 points!

2. Shop on bonus points days.  at least once a month Shoppers drug mart usually has bonus point days often 20x points.  They also have 10x and 15x points events or "spend $50 get 10,000 points".  If you wait to shop of those days, you will rack up the points pretty fast!

3. Sign up for the Shoppers Optimum credit card and use it for your purchases.  There is no annual fee and instead of earning 10 points for every dollar you spend you will earn 25 points for every dollar in purchases.  Also after your first purchase with the card you will earn 15,000 bonus points just for using it!

4. Use bonus points coupons or buy bonus points products.  If you sign up for the shoppers drug mart email newsletter or if you check their website weekly there are bonus points coupons that are available to print off.  These coupons require to to buy certain products or spend certain amounts and can be paired with regular coupons.  These coupons can be worth anywhere between 500 bonus points to 10,000 bonus points!  They also feature products in store that don't need a coupon and when you buy them you will get a specific number of bonus points. 
Click here to sign up!

Airmiles

AIR MILES reward miles can be collected from all types of companies across Canada, and there are lots of rewards to choose from.  You can earn everything from small household items to free flights!   Click here to see the rewards catalog!  To earn Airmiles, you need to swipe your airmiles card at participating sponsor stores and depending on their policy you will earn points towards free  items from the rewards catalog.  

To optimize your rewards, use a airmiles credit card by getting airmiles points for your purchases as well as using your credit card.(depending on the card there could be a yearly fee) If you sign up to their newsletter, they will send you bonus airmiles coupons and booklets either through email or in the mail.  To find a list of participating sponsor stores check out this link! For a list of all Participating Sponsors.




HBC Rewards

This is also a great program because you can use the HBC card at multiple stores.  You can use it at The Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters for all of your purchases including buying gift cards.  You will earn 50 Hbc rewards points for every dollar you spend at one of the stores listed above.

Just like many other programs, sign up for their newsletter and receive bonus point coupons.  You can redeem your bonus points for various household items, gift cards and you can even have them converted into Airmiles!  Plus, you earn an additional 50 Hbc Rewards points when you use your Hbc Rewards Card  with your Hbc mastercard. With the  Hbc MasterCard, you can earn Hbc Rewards points everywhere else you shop.

Click here to see the rewards catalog!
Click here to sign up!

Sobeys Club Card

If you shop at Sobeys you will earn 1 point per whole dollar spent there using your Club Sobeys card.  There are no fees and you can redeem your points for money towards your purchases. I like shopping at Sobeys personally because they have pretty good prices and they have a great coupon policy that they have recently updated to compete with larger stores!
Click here to see the rewards catalog!

There are some many cards out there that you can earn points, products or money with these are just a few of my favorites.  What are some of your favorites?

How Menu Planning Can Save You Money

The Basics of Menu Planning

a Step by Step Guide

Some people may think that menu planning only requires writing down what you want to eat for that week but to get the most value out of it, you need to do much more than that!  It doesn't take that much time (maybe 30-60mins a week) but it will save you lots of money on the long run.  I know how hard it can be to work a long day and then come home and have to make dinner for the whole family.  There have been days that I am just too tired to make anything and we order out.  Or maybe you don't have the time or energy to bring your lunch to work so you grab some fast food instead. This not only makes your monthly expenses bigger, but your waistline as well. Making a menu plan will avoid days like these. This isn't to say we never order in or go out, we just try to plan those days in our budget. 

Step 1- Take a look at your "Stockpile Store"  This is one of the benefits of having a stockpile.  Check out what you have and what your family might like that week.  We have a few staples that we almost always have every week for a meal.  Pasta or make your own pizzas are a couple of them.  I always make sure to have enough pasta and sauce and frozen shredded cheese on hand.

Step 2- Check out your sales fliers for what is on sale that week.  Know how to read your fliers because the cheapest items are usually on the front page. These items are referred to as “loss-leaders” which basically means that these items are priced the absolute lowest prices the store can go for the week.  Try to use some of those items in your menu planing to get the best bang for your buck. Make sure to check all of your fliers to get the best deals as well. Just because one place has something on sale doesn't make it the lowest prices overall.  Make sure to either shop at a few stores or price match your items. Also check fliers for weekly/monthly deals such as 10%Tuesdays or Seniors Day discounts for those of you that are older.  Shopping on those days will help your dollar stretch even further.

Step 3-  Go through your coupons  to see if any of your coupons match up with the products in the fliers. It is the best way to get the most value from your coupons and you can often get products for FREE or at very low prices.

Step 4- Start planning your menu according to the previous steps.  Breakfast is usually easy in our house. (oatmeal, cereal, pancakes, fruit shakes) Breakfast is usually easy meals on the go.  Lunch is also usually pretty easy.  We are big on soups, sandwiches, fruit and salads and we love leftovers.  Dinners are harder.  Since I stockpile freezer items I often take something from there if I need to fill a night.  Since we buy items that are on sale, we get to try new recipes all the time.  If I need help with some ideas I refer to my recipe book or do searches online.  

We don't always stick to our menu plan everyday but just having one to follow saves us money.  It make take some extra time when you first start but once you get the hang of it it is really quite easy!

Shoppers Drugmart Deals for Bonus Redemption

I headed out to Shoppers Drug Mart early this morning before the boys woke up to take advantage of the Bonus Redemption Days I had posted about earlier.  I had no issues using any of my coupons and made off with some really good deals. Check out some my the deals I got!


6x Boxes of baby food on SALE @ $3.33 each= $19.98 (Saved =$7.36)
3x Unsalted Butter on SALE @ 2.99 each= $8.97 (Saved= $1.48)
4x Lays Chips on SALE @ $1.99 each= $7.96 (Saved=$4.00)
3x Kraft Peanut Butter on SALE @ $2.49 each=$7.47 (Saved=$3.00)
4x Life Brand Kleenex on SALE @ $0.59 each= $2.36 (Saved=$1.60)
2x Scott Paper Towels on SALE @ $4.99 each= $9.98 -2x $2.00 coupons=$5.98 (Saved=$8.98)
3x Cascade Action Pacs on SALE @ $4.99 each=$14.97 -3x $1.50 coupons=$10.47 (Saved=$11.00)
1x Mr Noodles Case on SALE @ $2.99 each= $2.99 (saved =aprox $2.50)
8x Nature Valley bars on SALE @ $1.99 each=$15.92 -8x$1.00 coupons= $7.92 (Saved=$19.92)
2x Catelli Pasta on SALE @ $2.00 each=$4.00 -1x$1.00 coupon= $3.00 (Saved= 4.00)
1x Milk @ $5.49
2x Chow Mein @$1.59 each=$3.18
4x Cheese @$7.99 each=$31.96

Tax @ $2.36

Total = $119.67 - $100.00 Bonus Redemption =$19.67

Total Paid = $19.67

Total Saved = $163.04!!!!!!!!!!!

I also got a coupon for a free Oasis juice on each of the Nature Valley Bar boxes (worth about $16.00 total) and I got bonus points for the Scott paper towels.

SDM  regular points for visit= 310

SDM bnus product points for visit=2000 (paper towelsx 1000 points each)

SDM points earn on the $19.67 purchase was  2310 (that is the equivalent of me spending $230.00!!)

Shopper's Drug Mart Bonus Redemption Weekend

I am so excited the this weekend Oct 29 and 30th is Shoppers Drug Mart Bonus Redemption Weekend again!  It's not often that they hold 2 so close together!

50,000 points = $100 off your bill (an extra $15)
95,000 points = $200 off your bill (an extra $25)

Make sure you match up your coupons to the deals to get the biggest bang for your buck!

Check out a Shoppers Drug Mart near you for the deals!

Organizing your home

Project #1 Organize toys in living room

Since I have 2 kids under two years old it is important to be well organized.  Toys were never a huge issue before because we had mostly baby toys and we would bring them out when needed.  Now that my oldest son is turning 2 in November, toys have exploded all over my living room, the basement, the bedroom and even in the bathroom!  Toys and parts of toys are getting lost, puzzle pieces are misplaced and we have lego in just about every inch of our house! I have shelving units for some of them but I have decided to undergo the task of organizing the lot of them.  I also want to tech my oldest son Hunter that each toy has a place and the importance of cleaning up.  Over then next couple of weeks I will take pictures of just how I will accomplish this with "before and after".  If you have some of the same issue hopefully this will help you as well!

Step1- Gather all of the toys in the living room and put into groups.

Coupons

Why do people use coupons?

In my family of 4 plus 2 dogs, couponing is a way of life for us. Coupons are a way for to save money on products that you would already need and use.  I have saved hundreds of dollars off of my monthly grocery bills from couponing with not a lot of effort.  Shopping smart, being organized and using coupons will save your family money with little time and effort.

Where can I find coupons?

1. The most frequent place I find coupons is online Coupon Websites.  There are many free Canadian website out there that will send you coupons in the mail. Here are a few of my favorites that are reliable and have great coupons.
Websaver
P&G Brandsaver
gocoupons
Save.ca

2. Tearpads
In most groceries and drugstores you will find tear pads in almost every isle.  You may be tempted to grab the whole pad of them but good coupon etiquette is that you only take as many as you will need. I usually take about 5 because if it's something I really like I know I will use them.

3. Offers on Products
There are a lot of products that offer free coupons on the packaging.  A common one is cereal boxes.  Because companies makes multiple types of products, they often promote other products they sell on packaging.  Make sure to look in and on products you buy for special coupons.

4. Printable coupons
Many companies offer printable coupons online.  Sometimes you may need to sign up for the company's newsletter to get special coupons and promotions.  Another place to print coupons off of is websites like Smartcanucks . They have a list with the proper expiry dates listed.

5. Coupon Inserts
Every few weeks, you can find coupon inserts in your local newspaper. You can find Redplum every 4 weeks or so, Smart Source every 3 weeks or so and Brandsaver every 3-4 months.For those of you like me who like to save money by reading the paper online, I only buy the paper when I know these inserts will be in them.  I also ask friends and family who get the pare to hold onto them for me.

6. Coupon Trading: This is a great way to get coupons that have interest to you and get rid of ones that you don't need.  It is very popular in Canada and there are many website that offer it such as Smartcanucks If you want to start small you can trade with friends and family.

7. Contact the Companies
A few times a year I contact my favorite companies directly either through email or calling them and let them know that I enjoy their products and would send me coupons for their products.  Try not to do it too often usually 4 times a year works.  Even if they say no it doesn't take much time to ask and I have found that the coupons that they send directly are much better than any promotion. I have often got coupons for a FREE product!

8. Coupon Trains
Once you start couponing often, coupon trains are a great way to get coupons.  Coupon trains are not for the beginners though as they can be a bit complicated.  They are many websites out there that offer coupon trains. Make a post saying you would like to join a train. The person starting the train (conductor) will message you to get your address. They will send out an envelope with coupons and you basically take which ones you want but you need to replace them with ones of similar values that you won't need.  Each coupon train has it's own rules so you will need to join at the start of a train and get the guidelines for that train in the forum.

Good Luck and Happy Couponing!