no sunday paper

Because it is a holiday weekend there are no coupon insterts in this weeks sunday paper. Next sunday there will probably be also so I will try to fit in a shopping trip next week be for my presentation!

CVS & Rite Aid

I went to both CVS and Rite aid on my way from from my track meet today. I needed to pick up a few items for my mom and was able to get a few thing for myself using coupons that I didn't have the chance to use earlier in the week. I am too lazy to get up and get the receipts to post exactly how much I spent and saved during the trip but i spent around $10 on about $20 worth of items.

mentor meeting 15

during our meeting today Mr. Reising and I went over my shopping trip from this week then I showed him my outline for my presentation. We discussed ways to make my project interesting and engaging. We thought of a few things to add in besides just power point. On Tuesday I plan to bring in my presentation so I can show him before I do my run through presentation on Wednesday. Then we took some time and discussed my college summer work out packet for college. What did I get myself into!

outline

I went on the renissance bbq trip today which was really fun untill we had to leave early because of the the weather. We spent 8th and 9th period in lock down mood because of the servire thunderstorms.  I told that time to work on developing an outline for my presentation. When I got home I started an excel spread sheet of all my shopping trips detailing how much I've spent and saved. I have tons of work to do.

annotated bibliography

spent today working on my annotated bibliography more. I have all the sources properly cited and in alphabetical order so now I just have to finish writing the descriptions for most of them. It would have been smarter to do this throughout work on my project but hind sight is 20/20.

drug store shopping

I went to CVS and Walgreens and attempted to go to Rite Aid but it was closed by the time I got there. At walgreens I didnt find any of the items I had intended to by which was disappointing. My shopping at CVS made up for both of those disappointments. I got $27.24 worth of products for...... $0.12! :D I got 4 bottles of cranberry juice and 5 tubes of trial sized toothpaste! One of my best trips yet!

Carl Lewis Relays

 I left school early to go to Carl Lewis Relays for Track. I got home pretty late so I didnt get a chance to work on my project at all.

Kmart and the sunday paper

I never shop at Kmart but it is just around the corner from where I work so I decided to stop by on my way home. There weren't many deals but I was able to get a tube of lipstick for free! I tried to use another coupon that I had printed online but the cashier told me that the store did not except Internet printed manufacture's coupons. I was tired and didn't feel like questioning it so I just stuck to my free lipstick. When I got home I reviewed the coupon policy for Kmart and it says that they except Internet coupons as long as they have a scanable bar code. Maybe it was just that store? Maybe the cashier didn't know the policy? oh well. I picked up the sunday paper and it only included one smart source instert.

Target

I went to target today and was able to pick up a few things. I got nail polish remover, cotton balls, and ibuprofen. $ 2.81 worth of items for $0.34. A small trip but not bad. A savings of 88%

Beach!

Skipped school and went to the beach! A much needed break!

Mentor meeting 14

Mr. Reising reviewed everything that I did over the last week. Then we started to talk about my presentation and tossed around a few ideas regrading how to present all the information I have learned. I really don't have too much time to put everything and with senioritis and the crazy amount of things I have to do over the next few weeks this is going to be tough!

ughh

I am experiancing an extreme lack of motivaton. Senioritis!!! I spent class time today printing out a few coupons for next weeks deals. It looks like I will be able to get cranberry juice free at CVS (my family always drinks it!) I havent had my car all week because it is in the shop so I doubt I will be able to get back out to any stores this week.

receipts

I spent some time organizing the receipts from all of my shopping trips. I put them in order by date and at some point over the next week I will go through and total up the amount Ive spent and saved since I started this project. I also organized my coupon binder because it always seems to get messy after I go shopping.

Shopping !

today I went to both CVS and Target. During class I first signed out and went to the bank. When I got back I planned out my trips to both stores. Since I had already previewed the deals I didn't take me very long. Mrs. Sardo also gave me a few more inserts today but they were out of order and sort of messy so Ill have to take the time to go through them later. At CVS I planned to buy more protein bars, free body wash and toothpaste. My trip worked out perfectly. I picked up a few other items we needed and was able to bring the cost of the trip down from $26.14 to $9.55 with $2 ECB back for next week. At target I did awesome! I was disappoint because i printed out 3 coupons and left them in the printer at home so there were a few items I planned to get free that I wasn't able to. Despite that I was able to get $14.79 worth of beauty supplies for only $0.96! including 2 nail polishes, a nail clipper, tweezers, eyelashes, and travel size sunscreen! I think this was my best trip yet !

sunday paper

Happy Mothers day! I picked  up the Sunday paper and it had 3 inserts in it this week, a red plum, a smart source and a special proctor and gamble insert for mothers day! I considered not buying the paper and relaying on teachers to bring in more inserts but to avoid being suck with out the coupons I need I figured it would be best to go ahead and buy one.

grocery shopping

It really bothers me when my mom goes grocery shopping with out me and comes home with things that I have coupons for ! Since I have a busy schedule its hard for me to go to the store with her but if she gave me a list I would give her all the coupons she need to get the deals. She promised to start doing that or to start giving me the money and list to go shopping for her. Every time I look in the pantry or fridge I just think about how much money I could be saving us !

previews

I took a look at the previews for next weeks deals and there doesn't seem to be many good deals at all. There are barely any free things. Hopefully more deals will be added over the next few days. Since mother's day is this week that could be one of the reasons why there is a lack of deals.

mentor meeting 13

During our meeting today I told Mr. Reising about all the things I was able to get for free this week and about my plans to gather as many things for free to donate between now and my presentation. He urged me to take pictures of the things I buy so that I can put them into my presentation.

Target shopping

Stopped by target today and was able to get 4 travel size degree mens deodorant and 2 travel size coopertone sunscreens for free!

Contact!

Today I looked up target deals and plan to go sometime this week. I can get travel size degree mens deodorant, coppertone and bannaboat sun screen for free. I printed out 2 of each coupons so I can get 4 deodorants and 4 sunscreens! I talked to Chandler and she said that when ever I am ready she'll take me on base to donate any items I have!

CVS shopping

My mom stopped by Wawa this morning to see if the inserts were there but of course they weren't :( When I came into english today Mrs. Sardo gave me a whole bunch of insterts from this week's and last week's paper that teachers put in the lounge! yay! This afternoon I went to CVS and was able to get 6 Good n' Natuarl protien bars for free. There were on an unadvertised sale for 99 cents but each coupon took off $1.29 so I was able to use 5 coupons to get 6 for free. They didn't have the allegra 10ct so I wasn't able to get that. From now on anything I get for free I will donate !

no inserts :o

I got the sunday paper today and didn't check it as well as I normally do which was a mistake. I saw that some circulars were in it so i figured I didn't have to open it all the way up to look but I should have because I realized the inserts were missing once I got home. While I was at wawa I asked the cashier about getting the extra inserts. He told me he would tell the next shift and hopefully they would be there in the morning for me to pick them up! We'll see! My neighbor brought me two sets of inserts from this week plus one of the inserts from last weeks paper!

previews

Today I looked at the previews for this week's deals so I can shop early in the week. I plan to get allergy medicine and protien bars for free at CVS!

Mentor Meeting 12

There wasn't much to talk about since I didn't do much because of senior trip. While I was in the meeting Chandler came in and told me that the contact she origanal got for me to donate things on base was wrong so she's going to work on finding the right person to talk to.

annotated bibliography

Mrs. Sardo put a note in the teachers lounge for me so hopefully some teachers will bring in coupons for me! I went through my old posts today and made a list of all the resources I used that weren't already listed in my annotated bibliography. I'll work on it more and hopefully have it finalized by the end of next week.

no coupons=no deals

I checked out the deals for this week and there are none using coupons that I already have in my binder. I looked online at some coupon clipping websites and it is definitely not worth it to buy the inserts online. It will take a while for them to arrive so buy the time they get here the deal while have ended. not to mention it is extremely expensive. Ill just have to try to find them from people I know.

no newspaper

Senior trip was amazing! unfortunately my mom forgot to pick up the Sunday paper for me while I was gone :( I'm going to try to either fine someone who has it or to use a coupon clipping website to order coupons that I need from that paper to get good deals

Sample Presentations

today we spent time in class watching presentations from last year's WISE students. It was hopeful to get an idea of what it would be like and figure out what to expect. I hope I don't get too nervous during my presentation and that I have enough information to fill up the whole time. I also hope I can make interesting and fun enough to hold every one's attention. After senior trip Ill start to think about what I want to do from my presentation a little more in depth. (I'm really excited I don't have to journal over Senior trip. It will give my mind a little break! )

mentor meeting 11

I had a horrible day today starting with getting into a minor car accident :( Because of that me and Mr. Reising talked about it for alot of my meeting. He made me feel alot better but it still sucks that I'll have to pay for it. We disscuss my shopping trip to CVS, the new website I found (couponmom.com) and my plans to get as many free things as possible over the next few weeks.

Presentations :o

today we received the guidelines for our final presentations. We also went over good presentation skills and things to avoid. Its going to be alot of work to put it together but hopefully it will be easy to speak about my topic because its something I'm interested in. I feel like I have alot of work to get done between now and the presentation.

extra paper?

my mom noticed that there was a news paper in our drive way yesterday (which is weird because we don't subscribe) and brought into the house thinking that my grandma had subscribed (she lives with us). Turns out it wasn't hers... so I'm not sure why it was there (maybe a sample) but the coupon insert was inside so now i have two for this week!

Senior trip Shopping

I went on a shopping trip and used my coupons to buy all of the things I need for senior trip next weekend. (sunblock, shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, TONS of snacks). I spent about $45 on about $85 worth of items. Almost a savings of 50% on all the things I needed. I felt short of crazy carrying my huge coupon binder around the store haha! I purchased the items in 3 transactions. In the first one I forgot to hand the coupons to the cashier and to my surprise he just handed me $2 cash instead of going back to take it off the register. I found that very weird but I appreciated it. I also picked but the paper which only had one smart source insert in it.

busy day

extremely busy day. track meet at woodbury in the morning then class in center city Philadelphia!

mentor meeting 10

today during our meeting I showed Mr. Reising couponmom.com and told him about my plans to create care packages. While we were talking Chandler came in and thought it was a great idea. She was able to make a few calls to try to find contact information for a program that exists on base that sends care packages. She plans to get back to me next week with contact information for someone that I can contact directly.

what to put in a care package?

i looked at a few different websites today to try to determine what items are most needed/ wanted by soldiers when they recieve care packages. www.operationshoebox.com had the best list of suggested items to put into a care package. Although I could send packages through an organization like operation shoe box, I want to try to find a local program that send packages so that they go to soldiers from Fort Dix.

couponmom.com

why on earth am I just now finding out about this website!? couponmom.com has the weekly deals for every store I have ever heard of. It also gives you the deals that are available in your state! the lists of deals are organized in a way that is very easy to read and understand. It lists the original price, price after coupons, amount you need to buy to get the deal, which coupons to use, and the percent savings on each item. I wish I had know about this a long time ago!

charity?

today I tried to look up some charities that I might want to donate couponed items to. It took a little digging on google to find information for programs that help women in Burlington county. while researching that I decided that I would rather coupon for items to create care packages for soldiers. Being so close to the base and with so many of my friends having parents, brothers and friends who are over seas I think creating care packages is a good idea and its something I care about.

tax day freebies ?

While watching the new today I learned that every year on tax day some businesses offer freebies or discounts! A list of them can be found here: 6abc tax day freebies . I guess some free stuff could help relieve the tax day stress!

3 inserts

In todays sunday paper there were 2 Smart Source inserts and 1 Red Plum. There were not as many store circulars in the paper as there normally is, only the one for CVS. Not sure why that is

:)

spent all day in philly! spring break + senioritis = not wanting to do any work.

lifeguard training

spent $100 on lifeguard training.. and spent all day there..ugh

of course..

my mom went grocery shopping... with out me.... and with out the coupons... great -_-

shop rite deals

I took a closer look at the shop rite deals today. There were only a few that are worth getting. I went through my coupons and collected ones for items that we need in the house and plan to use them to cut the cost of the grocery bill down as much as possible.

mall shopping :)

Today I went shopping at the mall for the first time since I went Christmas shopping ! First my friend and I went to Plato's Closet and dropped off a bag of clothes that I hoped they would buy from me. Then we went to the mall. There weren't many good sales but at the same time there weren't alot of things that I wanted to buy. I got a few things and on the way home we stopped back at Plato's closet to see what items they choose to buy from me. They purchase everything expect for 2 items. They paid me $29 for 9 items that I was going to get rid of anyway!

lack of deals

this morning started to look at the deal match ups for this week (or lack of ). Since there were no inserts this week there all the deals are using coupons from previous weeks. There are not very many deals at all. The only store that seems to have some things worth getting is shop rite so I will look into the shop rite deals further and plan my trip there this week.

happy easter!

there are no coupon inserts this week because of the holiday !

no shopping this week

I looked at the deals for this week again since my shopping trip to walmart was a fail but since there were no other fantasic deals or anything we actually need and because I don't have time to go out today I'm going to wait until next week for another shopping trip.

major fail!

my shopping trip to walmart was a total fail:( I went late last night hoping to have a peaceful trip. First I went to pick up the allergy medicine and the whole shelf was empty. Problem is that the coupon expires on the 8th and since I won't have another chance to get to another walmart I will miss out on the deal. I wanted to get it from walmart because they pay you back for the overage which would have meant I could have made a total of $8 from buying the medicine. The shelf with the bandaids was also completely empty. Moral of the trip is to shop early in to week to make sure the selves are still stocked. I was able to get maybelline foundation regularly $8 for only $2, valasic relish for $0.50, and trial size aquafresh toothpaste for free.

mentor meeting 9

Mr. Reising encouraged me to use the break so get some extra work down on my project. He thinks it's a great idea to try to plan an event to raise money and collect coupons to donate things to charity. He also encouraged me to look up local charities in the area to decide where I would like to donate to.

Walmart shopping

I worked on planning a shopping trip to walmart today. I plan on buying
allegra allergy medicine
nexcare bandaids
valasic relish
maybelline foundation
The allergy medicine will be a $1 money maker! I have 8 coupons but since I can only use one per transation ill have to do 8 seperate transactions. Hopefully the cashier is nice :)

Organization

I organized all my coupons today. I separated the 4/1 inserts by each page so that all of the same coupons were together. I also used some scrap booking pages that I got from the dollar store to create an actual coupon binder. I labeled each page with a different category (food, detergent, pets, cleaning supplies, beauty, health, and air fresheners ). As my collection grows Ill split  some of the sections into more categories (like food into frozen, fresh and boxed). Hopefully it will make things easier to find.

yayayayayayayayay!

Today Mrs. Sardo presented me with a huge bag filled with coupons from yesterday's paper! There were 9 inserts! I spent all of 3rd period organizing the circulars (which was a pain in the butt but totally worth it). Having so many inserts will allow me to plan a shopping trip on a much larger scale than I've been doing. Thanks Mrs. Sardo!

$214 Worth

I picked up the Sunday paper on my way home from work. It included a Proctor and Gamble and a Smart Source insert.

Pageant!

Today I was up in Secaucus participating in a scholarship pageant! It was a ton of fun but not much of my thought went into coupons.

Fundraising and Donating

Next week I plan to look into different charities and start to decide where to donate, what items are needed and  what items can I buy the most of for the least amount of money. My initial thoughts are to choose some where local (within Burlington county) and it seems that health and beauty items are easiest to buy so I could donate those items to programs that benefit women. I also have to come up with a way to raise the money that I will use to buy the items. Ill look into everything over the next two weeks so that when I come back from spring break I can put a plan into action.

Mentor meeting 8

Since I will be on a field trip tomorrow I had my mentor meeting today. It we brief because Mr. Reising had something else to take care of but he seemed impressed by the amount of money I saved during my 2 shopping trips this week. We also began to discuss ideas of how I will use coupons to donate things to charity. Mrs. Sardo gave me the date for the next faculty meeting so I plan to email Mr. Wigley asking permission to attend and ask the staff to donate their coupon inserts.

response from the Krazy coupon lady!

The Krazy Coupon Lady emailed me back this weekend and today I spent some time reviewing her answers and checking out some of the links she posted. Her responces to the interview questions I sent last week are as followed:

The best way to find deals is to check out our store matchups. Each week we take the ad from several stores and match the sales up with the available coupons. We then post the information for you to use. You can view them by clicking "Find My Store" at the top of our home page. If you are looking for local deals that we don't cover, I would suggest going to Google and typing in the name of your closest city and something like "coupon blog".

There are several great stores to shop at. The BEST stores depend on what region you are in. I love Albertsons, Safeway and Publix. Drug stores like Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid also have great deals and you can often get free items.

We have created a stock up list with our rock bottom prices for most items you could think of. This includes our super cheap and free items. Click here for the link.

It's very important to have multiple copies of a coupon. This allows you to really stock up on an item when it's free or very cheap. Often newspaper offices will offer "couponer discounts". They will allow you to have several copies of the Sunday paper delivered to your house at a reduced rate. If there is a particular coupon you are looking for, you can purchase multiples from online clipping sites like thecouponclippers.com. You can also print coupons from the Internet. Check out our Printable Coupon Database where we have thousands of coupons listed for you to print from your computer. You can access it by clicking "Print Coupons" at the top of our home page.

Stores will usually have somewhat of a sale cycle. A certain kind of item will be on sale during a particular time of year. We have created a list of these cycles. You can view it here.

If you can devote 1-2 hours per week couponing, you should be able to save a lot of money! I generally save 75%-85% off my monthly grocery bill for my family of 5. As you can image, couponing has helped us tremendously to get in control of our finances and pay off debt. I will also purchase cheap or free items to give to shelters and food pantries in my area. You or others in your community could also accomplish those achievements for yourself, your family and those around you.

My number one tip would be to save your coupons for a sale. Clipping a coupon that is $0.25 off is not going to save you a large amount of money unless you combine that coupon with a great sale or promotion.

I would also like to mention that our book is a great tool that will be able to answer ALL of your couponing questions. It is available for purchase here. Good luck with your project and have a great weekend!

all you have to do is ask

In the section titled "all you have to do is ask" in the last lecture Randy describes a trip to Disney were 4 year old Dylan wanted to sit in the front car of the monorail and Randy's dismissed the idea thinking that they would never be allowed to. Randy walked up and asked and the conductor gladly let them sit down.

I think with my project I need to just ask. If a question pops into my head instead of just dismissing it and believing the answer is no I need to just ask. The worst that can happen is that the answer really is no. But with out asking I will never know and could miss out on a great opportunity or good information.

2nd shopping trip

Using the CVS circular that came in the sunday paper yesterday today I planned another shopping trip to CVS.
I purchased everything in one transaction.
I bought halls cough drops, jelly beans, snickers easter candy, whisk laudry detergent and bumble bee can tuna. The regular price for these items would have been 21.00. I used the 4 ECB from last week plus 4 coupons and paid 2.85 + tax and recieved 2.99 ECB back.
This trip was like paying $3.86 for  $ 21.00. Thats a savings of 81% !

sunday paper

I picked up the paper today and this week it includes a smart source and red plum insert plus a Hasbro insert with coupons for toys. A toys r us circular was also including and by combining sales at toys r us with coupons from the Hasbro insert you can get some good deals on toys for Easter presents !

Grocery Shopping

Lately my mom has been going grocery shopping with out me even though I continually ask her to wait until I can go with her so I can help her get the best deals. Today she gave me a list of items we needed such as snacks, juice and breakfast items. I looked through the coupons in my collection and picked out the items that we normally buy and combining them with sales in the weekly shop rite circular. Just by taking a half hour to do this I was able to cut the bill in half ! I purchased 65.16 of items at regular price for only 31.91 + tax using only 8 coupons combined with the store sales :)

Mentor Meeting 7

I took the day off from school today to catch up on my work and relax a little. But I did come in 9th period to have my mentor meeting. We went over the shopping trip I went on Wednesday. Mr. Reising seemed excited that I am finally getting out in the field instead of just sitting on the computer. In thinking about the types of items I was able to buy and which items seem to have the most  coupons in the Sunday paper, it seems that items or brands that are less popular seem to have the most coupons. New or promotional items also seem to have alot of coupons. So far it seems that health and beauty items are the easiest to buy at low cost.

Interview questions for the krazy coupon lady

I emailed the krazy coupon lady back  today with the following questions:)

• What is the best way to find local deals? Websites like yours are extremely helpful but not all the deals and coupons match up exactly to what is available in my area.
• Which stores are your favorites to shop at? Which allow for the best deals and the most savings?
• What types of items are easiest to get for free or at  an extremely low cost?
• What is the best way to gather coupons? What is the best way to get multiple coupons inserts from the Sunday paper without spending a lot of money?
• Are there certain times of the year/month better for finding sales and deals? if so when?
• What is a realistic margin of savings for someone who uses coupons regularly?
• In your opinion, in what ways can coupons be used to benefit myself and my community?
• What is your number one tip for anyone who is trying to use coupons?

Shopping!

Last night I received an email back from the krazy coupon lady! She said she would be happy to help and to send a reply email with my questions ! yay:)

I used the opportunity to sign out today to go to CVS and go shopping. Things turned out not exactly as planned but pretty close. Before I went I made sure I had a detailed list of what I planned to buy and what coupons I would use.
They did not have the crystal light individual drink packets so I was not able to get those.
I made my purchases in two transactions.
transaction 1

• biore face wash 7.99
• biore pore strips 8.29
• buy one get one free coupon up to $9 (cashier took $9 off )
• paid 7.28 +tax
• received 5extra care bucks

transaction 2

• 3 suave body wash 8.61 on sale 6.00
• suave lotion 3.49 on sale 3.00
• 3 suave deodorant 4.11 on sale 3.00
• bic razors 3.99
• buy 2 body wash get 1 free
• 2- .75 off deodorant
• 1.00 off lotion
• 3.00 off razors
• 5.00 ECB from 1st transaction
• paid 3.49 +tax
• received 4 ECB

trip toals

•  36.48 regular price total
• 15.77 sale price total
• paid 10.77 + tax
• 9ECB
• like paying 6.77
• total savings of 29.71
• 81% savings!

first shopping trip planning

I looked on thekrazycouponlady.com at the CVS weekly match ups and decided to plan my first shopping trip there. I plan on buying Suave body wash, deodorant and lotion all for $0.46 each, Biore face wash for $1.50 each and individual packets of crystal light drink mix 2 for free.
hopefully things will work out how I want and I won't run into too many issues.

while I was on the Krazy coupon lady website I filled out the contact form requesting an interview either on the phone or through email

finally some luck

Today I started off my afternoon with a free icetea from Dunkin Donuts :) Later I posted on facebook and asked if any one had any coupon interests from the Sunday paper that they would be willing to give me. Turns out my neighbor had more than one from the past three weeks! Tomorrow I will plan a mini trip so I can sign out and go on wednesday!

Free Fries !

Today on my way home from work I stopped at Burger King for free french fries! I heard of this deal on 6abc's deal of the day! I also picked up the Sunday paper but was disappointed to see it only had one Red Plum coupon insert in it.. I was expecting there to be a Smart Source also.

shopping trip fail

Last night I attempted to plan a small shopping trip to CVS using the coupon circular I had gotten in last weeks paper (which includes symbols to tell you which items have coupons available in recent Sunday papers ) and online resources. I search for online blogs that post weekly deals and tell you which coupons to use on which items. I encountered a ton of problems :

1. store sales and the coupons available vary from region to region, state to state and store to store so while online sources can be helpful they don't match up where I live
2. coupons needed to get current deals might have come from Sunday papers that came out weeks ago
3. printable online coupons have a limit to how many times they can be printed and run out very quickly for the big deals
4. to get the best deals you need more that one copy of the same coupon (by one get one free sale using two coupons, one for each item)
5. products with the best sales go out of stock fast
6. one missing item or miss calculation can throw off your whole trip

so with all that I decided to hold off on the shopping until I had a better handle on how to plan a successful trip. Hopefully  my friend will get me in touch with his mom soon so I can ask her about how she plans her "extreme" couponing trips.

Mentor Meeting 6

Today Mr. Reising and I went over all of the things I did this week. He suggested that I get out more and interview people. He also thought I should start to plan small shopping trips to get some experience. Later today I'll try to put a small trip together using the coupons I've collected over the past few weeks.

the last lecture - 2

we talked about our next section of reading for the last lecture today. I only read half of the section (whoops! totally slipped my mind) but Ill catch up later today. One of the things in the book that I can relate back to my project is the part where Jai puts dents in both of there cars and tries to hide it thinking that Randy will be mad, but it turns out he doesn't mind and doesn't even want to get the cars fixed. It is not worth getting upset over the small things that don't go your way. It is important to keep the big picture in mind and separate what really matters from what is not such a big deal.

Couponing Clipping

today I used my class time to cut out all of the coupons I had received in the past two Sunday papers. It took longer than I thought and was a little tedious. I then separated them into different categories including: food, medication, cleaning supplies, beauty, air fresheners (for some reason there's alot, enough to form their own categories) and misc. I need to find a good system to keep them organized so that they are easy to find and use. I have scrapbook pages that have pockets to put pictures in so ill try that and see if it works for me.

special guest

today Gabby came to visit our class. She talked to us about her experience in WISE two years ago, what she learned through out the process, her frustrations and how she is currently using the skills she learned. It was definitely cool to hear from someone who is been through the whole process. The project she is planning for going to Africa sounds completely awesome and it seems like alot of the skills she learned during WISE have helped her alot in the process. It was motivating encouraging and inspirational to hear from her.
( I also got the chance to ask her about the paper clips she always wears- something Ive wondered since my freshman year!)

double checking paper prices

I called Burlington County Times to double check the subscription prices and they were similar to what I found online but the lady told me they were as followed:
for 13 weeks:
Sunday only- $24.05
                  - $1.85 each
Thursday, Friday, Sunday- $26
                                    -$2 each
6 day- $45
        -$3.46 each
Mrs. Sardo also came up with a great idea today. I am going to create a flyer to put in the teachers lounge to see if there are any staff members who receive the Sunday paper and would be willing to donate their coupon inserts to me. I started to make a flyer but ran out of time in class so Ill work on this week.

it doesn't make sense..

Today I picked up the Burlington County Times on my way home from work. When I got home I searched online for subscription rates to see if it would be more convenient and cost effective to have the paper delivered. The news stand price is $1.50, to subscribe for 6 papers a week it cost $2.80, to get Thursday Friday and Sunday it cost $1.50, but to only get the Sunday paper each week it cost $1.75 (rates )... This makes no sense to me. Why would it be cheaper to subscribe for 3 papers a week than for just the Sunday paper and why would the subscription price for the Sunday paper be more than the news stand price? Since I have no interest in reading the paper and there are some weeks when I wont need to buy one Ill just continue to buy them from the store (unless of course i can find a way to get the coupons free).

6abc

Checked out the 6abc website today. It has great tips and local deals including a list of coupons that feature printable and online coupons of all types. There is also a saving-tip-of-the-day each day which seems to be really cool deals like free stuff. Credit is given to the site where the deal originally came from so I can use the links to check out those sites for more deals. Ill defiantly be checking the site often!

Mentor Meeting 5

Its hard to believe that Ive already been working on this project for 5 weeks. Today me and Mr. Reising talked about my frustrations with finding out about getting the coupon interests for free. It looks like i will have to contact the newspaper directly and maybe they will be able to tell me.  He suggested that I check out the 6abc website because they have a series about couponing.
Truthfully I did not spend as much time as I should have on my project this week.  I was so busy with work, other assignments and the crazy HSPA schedule. I'll need to spend extra time next week!

asking around

today I asked a few of my friends who work at various stores in the area to see if they could help me figure out what happens with the sunday papers at the end of the day.  I was told that at Rite Aid they get recollected and my friends who work at Wawa and Shop Rite told me that they would ask their managers and get back to me. Hopefully this will help me get some answers!

Updates

Today we all got to share a little bit about how our projects are going.  Since we had shortened class time we only got a few minutes each. It makes me happy to hear that I'm not the only one running into issues with things I at first thought would be simple. I think we all are running into similar problems and can relate. It seems that most of us are having trouble contacting people or getting people to respond to our questions. It is interesting to me how peoples original ideas are evolving and beginning to take shape. I am really excited to see where everything ends up.

The Last Lecture

Today Mrs. Sardo give us the book the The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Although I am usually not a fan of inspirational books I am intrested to see what I can learn from reading it.

Wawa

I tried to contact Wawa today. Of course what I thought would be simple once again wasn't. I went to the website contact page which offered the option of emailing or calling. I sent an email asking what they do with the Sunday papers that are unsold. (They only allowed a response of 160 characters so I couldn't go into alot of detail) Since I said that I would receive a response after 2 days I decided to call as well. I explained what my project was about and asked the same question. The response was the same as the one I received the later today in an email. It states "As we are held privately, our information is proprietary. And information that is shared  publicly on our website at www.wawa.com ". Basically they can't answer my question and they can't give me contact information for anyone that could. It looks like the only way I will be able to get in contact with the over night manager is if I go to Wawa in the middle of the night...

$274 worth!

I picked up the Burlington County Today for the coupons. On the top of the front page it says there are $274 worth of savings! When I was at the register I asked the cashier what they do with the left over sunday papers at the end of the day. She said that some are recollected but most are thrown away. She said I would have to contact the night shift manager to find out if I could have to coupon inserts that are left over. I guess I will be contacting him this week!

long dayy

longest day ever. I was out of the house at 8am and didn't come home until 11pm. I think this is the first day I didn't get a chance to even think about coupons. Although on the kitchen table my mom left me a Dunkin Donuts coupon for a free iced coffee every Monday for the next 10 weeks! yay!

Mentor Meeting 4

Today Mr. Reising and I discussed alot about what I researched this week regarding coupon circulars in the Sunday paper. We brainstormed ways to try to get the coupon inserts for free (ask friends/ neighbors who receive the paper, find out what the stores do with the paper at the end of the day). Next week I plan on starting to interview some store managers and people with experience. I also want to start to narrow down which sources online I will use to collect coupons.

too good to be true

I was doing a search to try to find local couponers and got distracted by these two articles: Alleged TLC Extreme Couponing Fraud, Extremecouponing Breaking Rules Again. Turns out that most of the shopping trips featured on the TLC extreme couponing show are not very realistic. The stores work with the couponers and allow them to bend the coupon polices in order to create the best deals imaginable. Some times the couponers even use coupons for items they are not meant for. Also you usually cant buy all the items they did in one transaction. You can still get amazing deals by couponing but what is featured on the show is exaggerated. I want to look into this a little bit more and maybe contact the show to ask about it.

no luck at the library

Today I used our first oppurtunity to sign out to go to the library. The people working there didn't seem too interested in helping me find any books. I did a search in the data base and only 2 books relating to couponing turned up. They were checked out. Not to mention they were written sometime in the 90's. I left empty handed. Nothing is easy.

timing is everything

A lot of blogs release previews of coupon circulars before they are released in the newspaper. Today while looking at one I noticed that some Sundays were missing. I was not sure if it was because the blog could not provide previews for that week or if it was because they did not exist. I did a google search and found an insert schedule that details which circulars come out and when. I didn't realize that some weeks there are no coupons at all (especially around the holidays) and some weeks there are more coupons than normal. The first week of the month generally has the most coupons. Knowing when the circulars are released will allow me to plan ahead and choose the best time to purchase the paper.

who has what ?

I spent alot of time in class today tryng to figure out what circulars were in each news paper in the area. I didnt have have like so I started writing down the contact information for a few papers so that I could call and hopefully find out. Luckly I stumbled upon a Blog that lead me to the wesited of the companys that rlease the circulars. I was able to search my zip code on the P&G and Red Plum websites to see which papers carry their circulars. I had to call News America Marketing to find out which ones carry the Smart Source circular. The lady who answered the phone did not seem to be very interested in what I was asking (she was carrying on another conversation with one of her coworkers while I was on the line) but she told me exactly what I needed to know

local paper in the area and their circulars:
Phildelphia Inquier - P&G, Smart Source
Burlington County Times - P&G, Red Plum, Smart Source
Trentonian -P&G, Red Plum, Smart Source
Trenton Times -Red Plum, Smart Source

Sunday Papers

Today I looked up what coupon circulars are in the Sunday paper (smart source, red plum, proctor and gamble, occasionally general mills). I was going to buy the paper until I realized that although I know what circulars exist not all papers have all of them.  So before I buy one I need to figure out which papers have the most coupon circulars. Of course this sounded easy but what I attempted to look it up of course it wasn’t.  Tomorrow I’ll spend time researching where I can find all of the circulars so next Sunday I can make the best choice on which paper to buy.

Surveys?

I was thinking it might be a good idea to survey people about their coupon use. It could help me to gain some information about people’s habits and lead me to find more effective ways to use coupons myself and to use them to benefit others. I could survey local families and even use it when interviewing store managers or other professionals to see what they have observed in peoples habits and find out what habits they have themselves.

Mentor Meeting 3

Today I had my 3^rd mentor meeting. I spent less time on my project this week than I would have liked to because I was so busy but hopefully next week I will be able to devote more time to it. We talked about my frustration with finding contact information for store managers. I thought it would be easy to find online but since it’s not I’m going to have to spend time calling the stores main lines and asking manager contact information or when the manager is available in store.  I have a list of all the phone numbers I just have to make time to make the phone calls (side note- I hate making phone calls). Since I printed out all of the coupon policies already I'm only going to contact the managers who I want to interview, at the stores I plan to shop at the most. Before I set up interviews I need to come up with the questions I want to ask.

talk it up!

I was casually talking with a friend about my project today and it turns out that their mom is an "extreme couponer"! She uses coupons to buy items that their family uses on a regular basis in order to save them money. Hopefully she will be willing to have an interview with me and maybe I could even get the chance to go on a shopping trip with her!

finding contact information

finding contact information for local store managers is proving to be alot harder than I originally thought. I looks like I am going to have to call each stores main phone number and ask for more information. I was hoping to ask the store managers directly for their stores coupon policies but instead I used the store websites to find them. It would be best to have to polices addressed to me from the manager incase any issues came up at check out but having a copy from the company website should be just fine. Below are links to the stores:
acme
Shop Rite
Rite Aid
Target
Wegmans
Walmart
CVS
Walgreens

people to interview

here are some people that I hope to get the chance to interview throughout this process..
store managers
local extreme couponers
couponers featured on "Extreme Couponing"
authors of blogs about couponing

location, location, location

I've decided that I'm going to focus on couponing at the following stores.They are the stores I generally like to shop at and they are not far from home:
Acme
Shop Rite
Rite Aid
Target
I will also contact the follow stores in case I find irresistible deals:
Walmart
Wegman's
CVS
Walgreens
 Over the next few days I will focus on contacting all of these stores to find out the details of their coupon policies.

-_-

Long days at work like today remind me of why I am doing this project. I work hard for my money and I want to get the most out of it! Couponing can help me make the most of what little money I make each week!

prom dress shopping:)

Today I went prom dress shopping with my mom and in an effort to keep the promise I made last week (http://justcrazyenoughtowork.blogspot.com/2012/02/this-is-promise.html ) I tried to find the best deal possible. The dress I fell in love with was beautiful but came at a cost of $380! (that's after a discount and before alterations! yikes!) So I continued shopping and was able to find a dress I liked at another store on sale for only $100 (originally $400!) ! Saving that money allows me to spend it on other things that are more useful or important. Plus, getting a good deal feels great:)

Mentor Meeting 2

Yesterday I had my second mentor meeting with Mr. Reising. We went over the letter that I posted yesterday intended for contacting store managers about coupon policies. I wanted to make sure that it expressed my project clearly and that it was professional. We also discussed a little about how I would gather all of the coupons (I need to think about that a little further).
Then Mr. Reising came up with a great idea: basically simulate an extreme couponing trip!
I would plan the trip, like those featured on the show "Extreme Couponing", set a goal ( ex. buy $1000 worth of goods for only $100), make a list, gather the coupons, go to the store and gather the items, have them rung up and see how close I come to my goal, but with out actually purchasing the items! I could use this as a practice run before having to be responsible for paying for the items. Practicing would also give me more experience to plan an even bigger and better actual shopping trip! Of course this type of thing would only work with the support and permission of the store manager!

asking for store policys

Today I developed a letter that I plan to send out requesting coupon policies from different stores in the areas. Tomorrow I will make a list of exactly which stores I plan to contact and their contact information. The questions within my letter came from thekrazycouponlady blog (http://thekrazycouponlady.com/2010/10/08/coupon-policies/)

To whom it may concern at ______________________,

My name is Clarissa Kelsey. I am currently a senior at Northern Burlington High School participating in a class called Senior Research Seminar. Senior Research Seminar is an individualized research project that extends beyond the classroom. In conducting research, students are required to secure a Northern Burlington staff member to serve as mentor, maintain a weekly journal, and develop their research. As a culminating experience, students present their findings to an evaluative panel of staff, students and community members. I have chosen the topic of “Extreme Couponing”. My goal is to learn how to effectively use coupons to benefit myself and my community. As part of my initial research I am trying to understand how coupons work and how to use them to their maximum potential in order to earn the best deals possible. Eventually I hope to plan shopping trips to purchase items for little to no cost. I’m looking forward to shopping in your store with coupons.  I am asking for your support in my project and would like to request a copy of your store’s coupon policy. Any additional information that you think would be useful in my research would also be greatly appreciated. Can you please clarify your policy and answer these questions?

·         What kinds of coupons do you accept? (manufacturer coupons, printable coupons, e-coupons on my loyalty card)

·         Do you offer store coupons?  Where may I find them?

·         May I use a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon on one item?

·         Do you exclude any coupons?  Ex: above $5 off, BOGO offers, coupons for free product?

·         Do you accept Internet Printable Coupons?  May I print them in black and white?

·         Do you match competitor prices or take competitor coupons?

·         What is your policy on overage: when the value of the coupon exceeds the value of the product?

·         If the coupon exceeds the item’s value, do you adjust the price of the coupon down? Ex: $1.00 off coupon on $0.97 cent product.

·         Do you limit the number of coupons I may use per transaction?

·         Do your employees understand “one coupon per purchase=one coupon per item”, not “one coupon per transaction”?

·         Does your store ever double or triple coupons?

·         Concerning Buy One Get One offers:  If your store runs a BOGO FREE promo, may I use 2 manufacturer coupons for the 2 products?  Or may I only use one?

·         Are individual stores allowed to impose their own rules or vary from this policy?

Please email your response at your earliest convenience. Thank you for taking the time to educate me on your store policies and for your support.  You can check out my research and progress on my blog: justcrazyenoughtowork.blogspot.com.

sale cycles

So sales go in a cycle? A few of the articles I have read mentioned that sales go in cycles of between 2 and 12 weeks. This means the same item will be the same price every few weeks. The amount of time between sales varies from store to store and item to item. When I tried to look up when sales occur online but was unsuccessful. Hopefully I'll be able to learn more by talking to store managers and looking at circulars. Being able to predict store sales would help me to use my coupons at a time when I can get the best deal possible.

catalinas??

Yesterday when I was researching I came across  the term catalina in one of the articles and had no idea what it was refering to so I decided to look it up today. Turns out it's the term for the little machine and the coupons it prints out on the end of your reciept at most grocery stores.  Surprizingly there is a method to their madness. Untill now I thought they were just junk and most of the time I would discard them but the truth is they can help you score some great deals.
 Catalina coupons are earned when you purchase select participating items. There is no comprehensive list of catalina deals but you can find some on http://www.couponnetwork.com/ and look for others in notices that print from the catalina machine. Catalina coupons can be earned a few different ways including, spending a certain amount of money on certain products, purchasing a certain number of a product, direct marketing from a company trying to get you to buy their product (triggered by your purchases). They can come in the form of a dollar amount offer your next order, a dollar amount off a specific product, or a special offer.  Most catalina coupons can only be used at the store where you earned them but some times manufacturers coupons will be printed which can be used anywhere.
I think catalinas will become very helpful for getting discounts on items that I can't find coupons for and for cutting down on my total cost because I will be able to earn dollar amounts off of my total purchase.
.......who knew that those coupons at the end of the reciept have a name and could actually be useful

manufacture vs. store

 there are two types of coupons..
manufacturer's coupons

•  are provided by the manufacture of the product
• the manufacturer reimburses the store for the value of the coupon
•  state "manufacturer coupon" some where on them
• have a remit address for the store to redeem them for reimbursement

store coupons

• are provided by specific stores
• the store pays for the value of the coupon
• state the name of the store on them and can only be used there

one of each type of coupon can be used together when buying an item but you may not use two manufacturer coupons or two store coupons on one item. You can also combine coupons with store sales to get the best deals

you should always go by the wording and fine print on the coupon not the picture. some coupons have exclusions or inclusions detailed in the writing.

each coupon has a unique serial number. manufactures and store may have a limited number of coupons available. you should never copy a coupon or print multiples of the same online coupon because it could prevent the store from getting reimbursed.

I am having a hard time finding information about the processing of coupons and how stores get reimbursed. I have gathered that the coupons are saved at the store then sent out to be sorted and counted at either a third party "clearing house" or the manufacturer. the store is then reimbursed for the value of the coupon, sometimes earning a few extra cents for processing fees.

truth is that how coupons are processed and handled beyond the store is not really relevant to my project... since I now have a basic understanding of the different types of coupons and how they work I can move on to researching store coupon policies. I think as I do more research about store policies I will come across more information about how coupons work...

just a thought...

no matter how good of a deal you get, if you spend money on some thing you dont need  or won't use, you aren't saving any money at all..

i heart platos closet

I went to the grab bag sale today. Everything you can fit in the bag for $10. All the clothes are the latest styles, name brand and gently used.
I got 3 pairs of jeans, a shirt, a jacket, a sweater, and a wallet! All for a total of $10.
Yay for a good deal!:)

http://www.platoscloset.com/

this is a promise...

I have decided that I will not buy anything that I do not have a coupon for or that is not on sale (unless absolutely necessary) for the rest of my project. It might become difficult and involve some extra research but I want to save as much money as possible.

mentor meeting 1

I had my first mentor meeting with Mr. Reising today.

Bottom line: I have a ton of research to do.

We discussed all of the things I need to look in to in order to get started. Over the next week or two I have a few goals that I want to accomplish:

• research coupons
• how do they work
•  different types
• coupon sources
•  create a letter and contact people who have experience
• store managers
• thekrazycouponlady
• coupon Suzy
• news channels consumer reports
• sign up for store rewards programs
• research store coupon policies

A long term question that needs to be answered is: Who can benefit from couponing?
A long term goal I have is to purchase as many items for as i can for as little money as I can.

I guess I better get to work…

thekrazycouponlady

Guide to all things couponing. Tips, Store policies, Formulas for deals- weekly deals, Coupon resources etc. Founded by Heather Wheeler and Joanie Demer who wrote the book “Pick another check out line, honey” and were featured on “extreme couponing” on tlc. I plan on exploring their website, reading their book and trying to get in contact with them to learn more.

thekrazycouponlady.com

"extreme couponing"

I found an article that gives a good overview of “extreme couponing”. It offers a few tips on how to get started and points to some resources for more tips and coupons.

Coffey, Laura T. “Extreme Couponing! How to Get $1,100 of Loot for $40.” TODAY.com. MSNBC, 4 June 2011. Web. 08 Feb. 2012. .http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42419291/ns/today-money/t/extreme-couponing-how-get-merchandise/

where to start...

Trying to find a starting point….
There are a few things that I need to research and understand before I decide what direction to take my project in:
· What is extreme couponing?
· Coupon sources/resources for finding deals
· Store coupon policies
· How do coupons work?/ different types
· Who can benefit from couponing (families, charities, organizations)
· What types of items can you get the best deals on

cross journaling..

During cross journaling I interviewed with Danielle and Kim. Both of them were very passionate about their ideas.

Kim is extremely excited about her project. Although she doesn’t her one specific idea that she wants to pursue, she has a lot of different things she is considering doing and she really wants to make a difference in our community. I admire her enthusiasm and passion for making a difference. I hope she doesn’t begin to doubt herself or become disappointed as she anticipates she will. But I can definitely relate to the idea of becoming frustrated during the process if everything doesn’t turn out exactly as planned.

Danielle was looking forward to the end of the process and the finished product. I definitely can relate to that. I cant wait to see what everyone in the class, as well as myself, can accomplish. I think her approach to her idea is very interesting and different. Not many people would think about studying the “social phenomenon” of their idea. Her concerns about not being able to find enough people or people helping for the “wrong reasons” then causing issues, are valid. That’s the nature of working with groups of people, and I think it will be one of the major things she will have to deal with throughout the process. I’m really excited to see what Danielle comes up with and hopefully I’ll be able to get involved!

It was easy to ask questions and get a good sense of their thoughts because they were eager to discuss them. Talking with them about their ideas made me even more excited about my own ideas. I can’t wait to get started.