Friday, April 24, 2009

Frequently Asked Questions


What is Grocery Smarts?
Many shoppers who want to save money at the grocery store spend hours scouring over the ads and digging through piles of coupons to find what matches up. Grocery Smarts puts an end to all of that craziness and simply matches local store ads to current coupons (found in the Sunday paper) in an easy to use list. The list is updated each week as new ads are released and even links you instantly to any online printable coupons that are out there. Using an easy "5 Star" rating system, the list even tells you which deals are the BEST deals! And, the greatest part about these lists is they are free! Free for anyone to use, anytime... and you don't even have to register or fork over your email address to use the service. Nice, huh?

How can I learn how to use the lists?
The best way to learn how to use the store lists is to attend a class. If you haven't ever been invited to one, consider hosting your own! In-home classes work the best, so grab your friends and family to attend and contact me to book one anytime!

What's a class like?
Classes generally last about an hour (depending on how chatty the ladies get). In that time, I teach you the benefits of shopping the sales, show you how to do it, and give you recommendations on how to stay organized. It's not complicated or difficult to learn because the list does all the hard work for you.

How much time will I have to spend clipping coupons?
Virtually none! Seriously, the Grocery Smarts big wigs came up with literally a "5 minute" method that'll keep you organized, yet not feeling overwhelmed. You only cut what you need, when you need it!

Is it really worth it?
It is for me (and lots of my friends and family)! I've been couponing for a while now and my budget has never looked so great and my pantry has never been so full. My favorite part about shopping this way is I actually get to buy nicer brands. No more generics for me... nothing beats a name brand item when it's on sale and has a coupon to boot! Plus, my hubby praises me for my trophy receipts (the ones where I save more than I spent)!

So... What's the catch?
Several other similar online shopping services charge users a monthly membership fee to access their coupon matching service. However, in an effort to be a head above the rest, the founders of Grocery Smarts didn’t think charging a monthly fee to families who are trying to save money made any sense at all. They started thinking outside the box and realized that regardless of what service you use, in order to shop smart and to do it right, you need multiple sets of coupons from the Sunday paper. They thought, "Why charge a fee to the user… when the newspaper sits right in the middle directly benefiting from the concept we teach?" So, the Grocery Smarts big wigs presented their concept to the Review Journal. They quickly realized that when we teach our classes, we naturally refer new subscribers to the paper. So, you can imagine how quickly they jumped on the opportunity to open their market up to moms like us who typically wouldn't be getting the paper at all.

So here's the long and short of it... At the class, I teach you the concept of shopping smart and show you how you can use the website to save money at the store. And, because having the right amount of coupons (1 set for each person in your household) is such a key part of saving big, it makes sense for me to hook you up with the papers you need at the class. I offer the Review Journal at amazing prices to anyone not currently taking the paper, plus can get you up to 4 more additional Sunday papers delivered to your door for less than a buck each! And that's why the class is free... I make money based on how many new subscriptions I turn into the Review Journal. So, I guess we can all thank them for stepping up, getting involved and helping Grocery Smarts keep the classes and website FREE for everyone!

(thanks to Colette - my GS guru for this post info)

Beef Back Ribs

I have been promising recipes for ya, so here's the first one. Last week beef back ribs were on sale so of course I scooped some up in a sale frenzy and when I got home I realized that I had NO idea how to fix them. After a quick email to my very-talented-food-guru brother-in-law for some help.... he sent me this yummy recipe:

Dry rub:
2 tablespoons of each of the following ingredients: salt, sugar, brown sugar, ground cumin, chili powder, ground black pepper, 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper, 1/4 cup paprika.

Mix all ingredients together, rub over ribs (I just sprinkled it in a Ziploc bag and mushed it over the meat cause I don't like touchin' the stuff - worked pretty well). Let sit for at least 4 hours, best if overnight in zip top bag in fridge. Place on rack in roasting pan, place a bit of water in the bottom of pan (make sure it doesn't get dry) cover with aluminum foil. Place in 250 degree oven for at least 3 hours, until meat shrinks back significantly from bone. Should almost fall off the bone, but not quite. About 15 minutes before you think they are done, remove foil and baste with your favorite BBQ sauce. We love to serve this with a bunch of fresh green beans that have been sauteed in about a stick of butter.

NOTE: This was really tasty, but my kiddies weren't too thrilled - it had a bit of a kick to it, so next time I may cut back on the chili and cayenne pepper.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Walgreens Rewards Program

So, FYI for those of you have been hearing about the rumors regarding the Walgreens Rewards Program.... I emailed them to see if the rumors were true. This is the response I received:

Thank you for contacting us regarding our recent decision to evaluate the EasySaver program in its current form. Walgreens is always looking into the future. For this reason, we are looking at ways to revamp the rebate program to assist us in proceeding in an exciting direction. Although change is always intimidating we feel that it is time to develop a new loyalty program so we can offer our consumers new and improved services. You will continue to find the EasySaver Catalog in our stores through the April promotion. Please look for future advertisement regarding our new programs to come. We appreciate your patience during this transition and hope you will allow us the opportunity to continue servicing your drug store needs.

Thank you,
Lisa Rainwater
Supervisor
Rebate and Vendor Programs

I guess we will just wait and see what happens in the next month or so....

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Vons Promo - Catalina


Vons has a GREAT Catalina promo going on until May 5th that you DON'T want to miss!!
I thought I would do a little post about it and explain how a Catalina works....

The promo is buy $30 worth of participating items (see an extensive list here - minus the prices I'm afraid) and receive a $10 voucher for your next purchase.

A few tips... #1 the $30 is PRE coupon price and #2 your next purchase can be immediately following your first! You collect the Catalina from the first transaction and add it to the coupons on your next one. That is what we like to call "rolling" transactions. Technically, this is an advanced technique, but if you have been coupon-ing for a bit it will be a piece of cake!!

Good luck & let me know how you do!! You could see your savings in my Grocery Gallery!

** For more Advanced tips, book a class with at least 12 new moms and you will receive a $20 gift card as well as an invitation for you and a friend to my Advanced Class**

Planet Walgreens

I know this is kinda last minute, but hey, Walgreens is open 24 hours so you still have tons of time!!

Click HERE to get a coupon for 15% off items at Walgreens AND a FREE reusable bag (cause you know we are saving the planet this week)!!

Also, did you get your FREE shaving cream yet?

Skintimate Shave Cream & Edge Shaving Gel are both on sale for $2.99 AND you get a $2.99 Register Reward for your next purchase! Don't need any shaving gel?? There are always opportunities to give the away for hygiene kits or the gel works GREAT for practicing spelling words with your kiddies! Just let them smear a bunch on your table & use their finger to practice their words... or younger siblings can practice shapes! Such a fun tactile way of learning! Have a great week!!

p.s. don't forget that the new week's came out today - check out http://www.grocerysmarts.com/ and enter passcode g89cjm to see the deals for this week!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Friday, April 17, 2009

Free Glasses @ Target

(I got this in an email and thought I would pass it along - you will want to check with Target before running down there)
In case you have a child or know of someone who does (ages 12 and under), they can get a FREE pair of eyeglasses from Target:

Target is doing a special promotion for their optical service. It could end any time but will definitely end no later than April 29th. Children 12 and under can get a free pair of glasses.

They need to bring in a valid prescription for glasses from their doctor and Target will let the child pick from about 40 different frames. They will place their best lenses in the frames which are non-glare and scratch resistant and normally sell for $200.00. There are no income guidelines. Any child 12 or under is eligible.

You can find stores with optical departments at Target.com to confirm they are participating before making a trip to their store.

Please pass this information on to anyone who can benefit from this promotional offer. If you know someone with lost or broken glasses please share this information with them ASAP, as the promotion could end at any time. They would like families to come in as soon as they can.

Feel free to forward this information to others!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

B1G1

I was peeking at this weeks grocery ads and saw several Buy One Get One Free items. These are potentially GREAT deals. Did you know one of the best tricks about couponing is you can use 2 coupons on those 2 items you are picking up - even though one is already FREE!!! Why? The B1G1 is a store promotion & you can stack a store promo or coupon with a manufacturers coupon on one item.

A good example is the several store coupons in the Albertson's ad this week. Double check the Alphabetical Coupon Index to find any additional coupons you can stack with those to get the biggest savings possible.

CVS Whoo hoo!!


So, here is my GREAT CVS run late last night (you have to hunt for them, but there are 24 hour CVS stores out there).

I got $94.65 worth of products
CVS Savings - $20.34
ECBs Earned - $24.97
Coupons - $17.75

Out of Pocket $31.59

I did 3 transactions and rolled the ECBs. Don't know what I'm talking about? Does that sound like a foreign language to you? Have a coupon class with at least 12 new moms and you will get an invite to an advanced coupon class where I can teach you these few tricks and much much more!

BIG Week!!


Remeber my post from last week about getting DOUBLE inserts this week!! Well, here they are!! 2 SmartSource that came in the paper, 1 RedPlum, 1 Unilever, and 1 P&G that came in my junk mail.

If you are still wondering if it's worth it to get the paper, I went through and added up all the coupons that I would use. Here's how it broke down:

SmartSource - $22.10 in each, times 5 is $110.50!
RedPlum - $13.40
Unilever - $9.25
P&G - $27.80

GRAND TOTAL - $160.95

Even if I only ended up using half of them that's still an extra $80.48 that I would have normally spent out of pocket for things I have to get anyway. Not bad at all considering I only pay $4.75 a week for my 5 papers!!

Call me if you are ready to book a class or order your discounted papers so you too can take advantage of these HUGE savings!!

Note to those of you already getting the paper: our cost for a double insert week? we will not be getting any insets this Easter Sunday - the coupon gurus take holidays off too. For a complete schedule of coupons, click HERE.

Have a SUPER WEEK!!!


Wednesday, April 1, 2009

POST Cereal Deal


I just received this from a fellow couponer and thought I would pass this along... I also posted it on Pinching Your Pennies... This is exactly the kind of things that make that site so great! Thanks Tonya!!


Hey Jen,I'm sure you already know about the POST cereal deal at Albertsons, but I thought your readers might be interested in knowing that you get a $5.00 Catalina [this is like a cash voucher you use on your next transaction] when you buy 5 boxes of Post Cereal, the great news is that this Catalina rolls. I also found out after my first trip to Albertsons today that the ad says the price is $1.57 when you buy two, BUT I noticed on my receipt that I was charged $1.57/box and then I got an additional $1.00/2 boxes off which comes out to $1.07/box + the $5.00 catalina on 5!

There are $2.00 off 1 box of Trail Mix Crunch on the Post web page [click HERE for coupon - don't forget to print it twice]. My cashier scanned them, no problem so I actually made money on the Trail Mix Crunch. In the ad it only lists a few cereals but It seemed like all the post cereals had tags in front of them. ANYWAY, sorry this is so long, but I hope a lot of people can take advantage of this great cereal deal! Thanks again for all the tips and the newspaper deal the other day.

Smith's Case Lot Sale


So, I was really disappointed when I heard that Smith's was doing the true case lot sale where you have to buy a full case to get the discounts and you can't use coupons... What a bummer!! HOWEVER, word on the street is they WILL let you purchase individual items and you CAN use coupons! That's great news because there are some great deals there....

Disclaimer: It may be on a store-by-store basis, so you may want to check your market first to see if they are allowing this.

Good luck!! Let me see what you picked up & you can be one of the first to enter my Grocery Gallery!!

Uh, Oh....

I am freaking out!!! One of my favorite coupon-ing sites http://www.iheartcvs.com/ was shut down by the FBI (check it out). Yikes!! What could be so wrong with showing us the ads weeks in advance?? Is there some kind of copyright law about that? Should I feel guilty about looking and planning my CVS trips? Are the printable coupons still good??? Oh, I may loose some sleep on this one....







April Fools!!!

The gal who does this site "got" us regulars when she posted that the site had been shut down - I seriously got 2 phone calls this afternoon from panicked shoppers. I was all intent on researching FBI protocol for coupons when I clicked on the link she gave and up popped a cute a large "APRIL FOOLS DAY"! Can I just say that was a little cruel but VERY funny!!

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