My Mom called me and told me she tried this today so of course, knowing I had several tubes of toothpaste that were expired I had to go try it!

If your headlights are yellowed try this – it was an AMAZING difference!

I used expired toothpaste (not gel- paste)

Simply use an old rag to rub the paste into the headlight cover.  Rub for about 30 seconds to a minute. I used circular motions.

Rinse off immediately. (do NOT let it dry on there or you will be scrubbing!)

Reveal MUCH cleaner and clearer headlight covers!

Compare that FREE toothpaste (’cause we always get free toothpaste with coupons & sales) to this  $20.09 kit being sold on Amazon!

 

I get asked often if I would go shopping with new couponers (and even my family!) my answer is always that my shopping trips are boring- it’s the preparation that is key!

The reason why is that I plan my trips out before I ever head to the store- I plan it out item by item and usually am within 50¢ of my out of pocket total!

Here’s an example.  Today I went to Lowe’s Foods to purchase this:

(10) Old Orchard B2G3 $2.59 each Using (2) $1/2 coupons = $8.36
(3) Hagen Daz 14 oz B2G1 free $3.33 each used ($2/1, $1/1 and $2/1)= $1.66
(1) Hagen Daz 3.6 oz $1.50 (used FREE Q)= $0.00
(3) Meal Deals $5.99 each used (3) .75/1 Johnsonville, (3) 35¢ Egglands Best Eggs, (1) 40¢/3 Pillsbury = $10.57
Using (7) $3 Catalinas (from the HOT lightbulb deal)

My Pre-coupon total should have been $36.49.

My total came out to $39.82 before tax.  Something was wrong.  So before I handed over my coupons we figured out what the difference was: $3.33.  What cost $3.33?  The Haagen Dazs.  So the Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal wasn’t working so they manually gave me the 3rd for free!

Now I handed over my coupons.  My Pretax Total should have been -.41 plus tax

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My children had their checkups at the pediatrician the other day and I noticed a basket near the receptionists desk FULL of brochures and little trial sized samples.  I asked the receptionist about them and she told me to take as many as I wanted because they have boxes of those types of things in the closet.

I ended up leaving with a few booklets of Lysol coupons, a few samples of band aids, Neosporin and a few other odds and ends.

Then my daughter needed to have some teeth pulled to make room for braces (*sigh*) and there too was a basket of coupons and samples!  Not including the bag they gave her when she left with a toothbrush, paste, coupons and more!

So my tip is: Keep your eyes open in the medical offices you visit- many times representatives of these companies give them free samples and coupons to share with their patients!

 

Here are a few of my favorite Thrifty Tips that I have posted:

How to get back on the wagon….

Catalina Coupon didn’t print…what to do!

PSA: Check your freezer

Reader Question: Printing PDF coupons

Toilet Paper: Whats a good price?

Lets Talk Meat

Dealing with an anti-coupon cashier

Reader Question: Walmart is cheaper right?

Saving Money: Think County!

Save Money: Cut it yourself!

 

 

In each store there are often hundreds, thousands of products.  In addition, there are hundreds and hundreds of shoppers taking items off shelves and putting them back on.   Things get moved around and items are sometimes placed in the wrong portion of the shelf. Then the item you think is $3 rings up $6 at the register.
So I wanted to show an example of how to check that the item you think you are buying is correct as well as the price that you believe you are paying is the price you will be charged.

Each product has a UPC barcode- what the store scans at the register.The last 5 numbers of that code are often what you are looking to match on the shelf tag.  Look on the shelf tag to match those numbers to ensure that you have the correct item!

Many stores have scan guarantees- if the item rings up higher than the shelf price you may get it free! (Check with your store for their scan guarantee).  With items like toothpaste where there may be 15 different varieties of “Colgate” its really important to be sure that the item you think you are buying is the item marked on the shelf!

I get a lot of questions about where is a certain coupon and I do NOT mind answering them- but sometimes I have to sleep or play with my kids and can’t answer you right away and I know you want to find that coupon to take to the store!

The simplest way to find out where a coupon may be is the Coupon Database. It is managed by a third party that I contract with to allow me to put it out there for all of us to use for FREE!

It is available through the link at the top of MoolaSavingMom.com (see where it says Q Database)? or here

You can also access it directly from the Moola Saving Mom.com tool bar (a free tool). It allows you to reach the homepage of MSM, the Facebook page, search MSM and search the database (see the white box with the blue search icon). You can also reach the top printable sites through it as well!

How often do you use the Coupon Database?

Sometimes I buy things my family will never use (like tuna) or I buy a few of a product my family does not like.  Instead of letting them go to waste on my pantry shelves they go into our donation box.  We keep a box (or sometimes a paper bag) in our pantry.

When I do my monthly review of our pantry stock I put anything that is within 30 days of expiring goes into the box unless I will use it that week.  Sometimes items don’t even make it onto my pantry shelves- they are purchased with the sole intention of donating to our local food pantry.

While Ramen Noodles, canned peas and corn are always appreciated at the food banks- they get A LOT of them.  Think of other items you can pick up really cheap (dried beans, dressing, condiments, etc).  Some often rarely thought of items to donate include:

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Oh my!  I sat down today to update my weekly Tuesday Totals post with my purchases from yesterday and this morning and I’ve already spent over $95 this week!  My normal weekly budget is only $55!  I started hyperventilating until I realized I had a “cushion”.  Each week that I am under budget I roll that into my next week’s budget so while I went over this week’s normal budget I didn’t go completely over budget because I still have about $21 left from that roll over amount.

The reason I went way over budget was mostly due to an amazing deal at Toys R Us on Diapers. I ended up getting 11 boxes of diapers,2 boxes of wipes and 4 bottles for $62.32.  That’s the equivalent of 22 jumbo packs- I couldn’t pass that deal up with only 7 weeks until my 4th child is expected to arrive.

Going over budget by this much is pretty rare for me because I have a “mature” stockpile.  I don’t actually need anything each week- I just get the good deals and any fresh foods (veggies, fruit) that we want.

But if you have a stockpile at the toddler stage (or don’t even have a stockpile) and find yourself going over budget week after week some of these links to previous posts may help!

Setting a Stockpile Budget

Setting & Sticking to a Budget

How to get back on the Coupon Wagon

Setting a Household Budget

I spoke with an MSM friend today and she said that life had gotten crazy and she’d been living off her stockpile and paying full price (or close to it) for the things her family needs…How do I start again was her question:

Just like any lifestyle- if you fall off the wagon- jump back on.

If you have the “coupon skills” you’re already a good part of the way there. So you need to jump back on. Hopefully you’ve been getting your Sunday coupons even if you haven’t been using them. If so- jump back in. Look at the matchups for the current week and start back in.

Now- remember not to go overboard. It’s almost like you are a “newbie” couponer- don’t chase the savings. Seeking that high percentage of savings can be euphoric but will cost you in the long run. Seek to reduce your SPENDING not increase your SAVINGS.

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With some HOT Catalina offers at Food Lion and Walgreens this week I’ve gotten several emails and questions about what to do if a Catalina doesn’t print.  Here are my top tips to a successful Catalina Deal!
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