We’ve all seen them on the daytime talk shows, between commercials for medical assistant schools and mesothelioma lawyers…the *coupon queens*. They show you how they can buy $200 worth of stuff, but only pay something like $50 for it all.

Maybe these people have access to better coupons than I do.  Honestly, the coupons that come in the Sunday papers are mostly for junk that I would never buy anyway.  I’m talking about stuff like name-brand cereals, over-processed, over-priced items, and kid/baby products that we have absolutely no need for.

I know about online coupons, but in my personal experience, many stores around here will not accept them.  So it’s just a waste of paper and ink to print some of these out.  The only ones I bother with are the ones that are given out on individual store websites…for example, you can print coupons at Shaw’s website,but you can only use them at Shaw’s.

Even if I get a coupon for a product that I might consider buying, I often find it is cheaper to just buy the generic store brand.  Cereal is a great example of this.  Around here, a box of brand name raisin bran goes for about five bucks.  A dollar off coupon reduces that to four bucks.  The stores here tend not to double coupons any more, and those that do won’t double anything  over a dollar, anyway.

But I can buy a same-size box of store-brand raisin bran for about $2.50.  Most store-brand items are just as good as the more expensive name brands.  So the only way it would be worth it to use the coupon is if the name-brand raisin bran went on sale for no higher than $3.50.  Then, it would cost the same as the store brand.

Something that you almost NEVER see coupons for are fresh, unadulterated foods such as meat, fish, and produce.  This is mostly what we buy.  Yes, you can find a coupon for a can of Spam, and that would make it cheaper than a pound of fresh ground beef.  For one thing, I hate Spam, and for another, that stuff is LOADED with salt, which Mike isn’t supposed to have too much of.

So we just buy whatever fresh stuff is in season and on sale.  Locally-grown if possible.  Yes, you can buy peaches imported from Chile in the middle of the winter, but they are way cheaper if you just choose to eat peaches when they are in season where you live.

All of this is just my own experience.  Individual results may vary.

Michaels has finally gotten with the program and has been offering their 40% coupons via email.  You used to only be able to get them if you bought the Sunday paper.  But, as you may have heard, newspapers aren’t doing very well, more people are getting their news from TV and online.  Both A.C. Moore and Joann’s have been sending email coupons to their subscribers for years now; Michaels has only started this within the past six months or so.  I’m very happy about this because we stopped getting the paper completely.

Here is the latest Michaels coupon.  It is good through Saturday, March 14.

And here are a bunch of Joann coupons, for various types of items.  These can be used either in-store or online.

Happy crafty bargain hunting!

In the sale flyer, I see that they have the Cricut machine form $129. This is the original one, not the new, bigger Expression machine. I don’t know if I will get one or not…for one thing, I don’t know where I would put it. And you can’t use the store coupons to buy the cartridges.

I don’t know…I might cave in and buy one.

Here is the printable A.C. Moore store coupon for the week of October 11-17: Clicky for 40% off!

In other news you can use…there is this wicked cool site called TheJungleStore.com that has all sorts of cool stuff, all related to animals in some way. You gotta go and check out the great animal jewelry they have over there!  Of course, my favorite animal is the cat, and they have plenty of cat-related jewelry.  But they have so many other animals represented there as well…you are sure to find your favorite!

The prices are VERY affordable, as well.  With the holiday gift-giving season upon us, it’s certainly not to early to start shopping now.  I personally prefer to shop online, especially during the busy pre-Christmas period.   I ate most stores and malls at any time of year, but it’s always a trazillion times worse after Toikey Day.  Save yourself the hassle, and shop online!

Happy shopping!

Happy shopping and crafting!

It’s mostly Halloween stuff on sale there this week.  But for stampers, they’re also having a 30% off sale on all Ranger stamping products.  This includes the Tim Holtz stuff…Distress inks, alcohol inks, embossing powders, etc.

Happy shopping!

Here is the link to the current coupon.  40% off on one item, please read the coupon for restrictions.  Good until Wednesday, September 26.  On Thursday there will be a new one, which I will post when I get it.

Happy craft shopping!

Two Joann coupons available right now…40% off any one item (read exceptions on coupon, please) from now until October 11.  The other one is 50% off one item (same restrictions apply), good from October 5-October 8.

You can’t use both at the same time, so get someone to come with you and go through another line to use the second coupon (I usually get Mike to do that for me…I hand him something and the coupon, and tell him to go pay)…or just make a second trip another day.

Clicky for coupon goodness!