Boogity, Boogity, Boogity- Let's Go Racing Boys!

On Sunday, Tyler and I had the awesome opportunity to go to the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at TALLADEGA!! We have always wanted to go to a NASCAR race! We had so much fun and it definitely was an experience. There are some die hard race fans out there!

Me and my hubby

Favorite driver!

The view from our seats

But, let me tell you, thank goodness for ear plugs! Tyler brought some with him and I was so thankful he did. I knew the race cars were loud, but not that loud. And, when the cars rush by your seat you can feel the wind brush your face. You'll also end up with particles of rubber on your face too! But, its all worth it.

I definitely want to go back to Talladega again!

A day at the park.....

A day at Tannehill State Park with my hubby

Tannehill is such a great place to take your family and pets. Tyler and I went a few weeks ago after church and we hiked 3 miles! Definitely in pain after that workout!

Free ice cream on May 10th!

Mark your calendars for May 10th!

Haagen-Dazs shops all over the country are offering free ice cream on May 10, 2011 from 4-8 PM.

The offer includes one single scoop cup or cone.

Purex Complete Crystals Softener for 99 cents

This week at Target you can get Purex Complete Crystals Softener for 99 cents a bottle!

By using a $1 off coupon for Purex crystal softener at Target.com and using a $2 off coupon for the softener found in the RP (Redplum) coupon insert from 3/13/2011, you can get an entire bottle for 99 cents.

What a great deal on fabric softener!

FYI: Target.com is a great place to find competitor store coupons. Just look for the coupons section on the bottom of Target's home page.

Tip # 6: Drugstore Savings

A lot of drugstores out there have savings programs available. I follow the CVS Pharmacy weekly ads because there's a CVS less than 5 minutes from my house. But, places like Rite Aid and Walgreens have great in-store savings week to week.

I know that at Rite Aid and CVS you have to sign-up for a card, while at Walgreens you don't need one.

Drugstores such as these will offer reward amounts for certain items each week. You can use these reward dollars on your next purchases. Using these with coupons helps you save even more money!

At first it's difficult to get into the whole rewards program thing. You will have to spend some money in order to get those rewards. But, with those reward vouchers and coupons you'll eventually only have to pay small amounts of money out of your own pocket.

This past week at CVS Pharmacy I paid $14.15 out of pocket and saved $61.56.

That's the best I ever done at CVS!

Tip # 5: Begin creating your stockpile

In order to get the most "bang for your buck" you have to watch the grocery store ads and see which items are at their lowest prices. When you use a coupon with this low-price item, you can get it really cheap!

At this point, you would want to stock-up on the item. Now, you only need to buy enough to last you 6-8 weeks, 10 weeks at the most. Grocery store items are typically on a sale every 6-8 weeks.

On the blog I follow, SouthernSavers.com, the writer will tell you which items are great stockpile items!

After a while, you'll have a nice stockpile of meats, groceries, toiletries, and cleaning products as well. I can tell you that I will never have to pay full price for things like detergent, toothpaste, and deodorant.

If any of you watched Extreme Couponing last week on TLC, you do not need to buy 70 bottles of mustard just because you can get it for .39 cents a bottle. Seriously, how much mustard will you go through in 10 weeks?

Tip # 4: Coupon & Savings Blogs

With the use of coupons increasing dramatically, there are a lot of websites and blogs out there that inform readers about great deals at various stores.

I personally follow, Southern Savers . Jenny at Southern Savers does a great job of listing all of the items on sale at a store that week and she tells you the coupons that match-up with that item. It makes it so easy!

Southern Savers follow grocery stores mainly in the south: Publix, Winn Dixie, HEB, Bi-Lo, Kroger, etc.

She also tells you about great deals at drugstores such as CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, and Rite Aid.

Here are some other great websites to follow:

i heart publix

the krazy coupon lady

Stay tuned for my great savings at CVS Pharmacy this week!

Tip # 3: Organize your coupons

So, there are a few different ways for you to organize your coupons.

# 1: A coupon binder or box

When I first started couponing, I spent a couple of hours every Sunday afternoon cutting out all of my coupons. I stored mine in a smaller accordion file box. But, over time it took up a lot of time for me to find the coupons I needed for the upcoming ad, so I switched my coupon organization method.

A lot of people store their coupons in a coupon binder. They use baseball card sleeves to keep their coupons in. They will also sort coupons according to categories such as dairy and frozen food.

Or, some people keep all of their clipped coupons in a box bigger than a recipe card box. They sort their coupons according categories.

# 2 Whole Insert filing method

This is the method I am currently using to sort my coupons. How it works:

When I get an insert from the Sunday newspaper I mark it as RP(Redplum) or SS (Smart Source) and whatever the date is.

I keep all of my inserts in file folders according to the month. For example, all of my inserts from the month of March are in a folder called March 2011. This makes it a lot easier for me when its time to go to the grocery store. I will print my shopping list with the coupon matchups. My shopping list will say for example, $1/2 items found in SS 1/02. So, I just go to that insert and clip the coupon.

It saves time for me and my busy schedule.

Need more tips understanding coupon organization? Here are some links:

http://www.southernsavers.com/2010/12/how-to-organize-your-coupons-part-1/

http://www.southernsavers.com/2010/12/how-to-organize-your-coupons-part-2/

Southern Savers is the website I follow for the weekly ads. Jenny does a great job of finding the deals and coupons each week!

Tip # 2: Online Coupons

There are many great sources to get FREE printable coupons. The internet is just another outlet to help you save money.

Manufacturers are going through Facebook to offer free coupons as well. Products such as Tide and Schick Intuition razors will offer you a free coupon if you "Like" them on Facebook.

Here are some of the websites I check for printable coupons:

www.coupons.com

www.redplum.com

www.smartsource.com

There is a limit of how many prints there are available for each coupon. So, if you see a coupon you like you'll want to get it then. These websites start over with a new set of coupons each month.

Stay tuned for Tip #3!

God bless