Persnickety Sam

How can a free bag of high-end cat food equate to a $400 bill and a dousing in fecal matter? Let me explain…

Ten days ago, I received a complimentary coupon for a free bag of one of a few brands of high end cat food. Being such a lover of coupons, and wanting to alter my cats’ diets to a fish based from a poultry based food, I visited a local feed store and received an $18 bag of food for FREE. I was so proud of myself for having used a coupon for such an expensive item. All three of my cats seemed to enjoy the new kibble; especially my highly sensitive cat who barfs at the drop of a hat. With the barfing seemingly minimized throughout the trial run, I thought that I had found a good alternative to a lower cost food.

Of course sometimes things that seem to good to be true, turn out to be just that. My highly sensitive cat apparently wasn’t able to digest the new kibble. A trip to the vet showed he wasn’t able to pass it through his system. A few enemas later and roughly a $400 visit to the vet, I ended up in the bathroom with him; both of us covered in his feces. “Just LOVELY!” I thought. All because of a free offer of cat food.

Now, of course, I’m not a vet. Maybe I should have slowly introduced the new food, especially since two of my cats are in their elderly years. Perhaps the problem was with the way I changed out the food and not the free bag of food itself. But then again, I would have been stuck trying to hunt down coupons to help pay for  more expensive pet food from here on out.  So at this point maybe it’s best that I’m going back to my less expensive food (unfortunately at the expensive of my poor Sam’s digestive system!) Now that I’ve resolved the food issue, hopefully I won’t be visiting the vet again any time soon.

Have you had experiences where FREE really wasn’t free?

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday. He wanted to do something fun to help remind him that he’s only getting *younger*. Since the last few days have been scorching hot, a blazing 100+ degrees, a water park seemed like the perfect activity to quench our thrill-seeking ways and cool us off. However, neither one of us are huge amusement park visitors. We also don’t dare spend full price when we do attend one of the many parks in SoCal. The coupon hunt was on.

Some tips for hunting down extreme savings:

• Check out the deals online at the vendor’s site. I’ve found some terrific coupons directly from the vendor themselves.
• Check the World Wide Web. On top of vendor savings, many times coupon codes are floating around cyber-space that offer better deals than what the vendor has to offer.
• Keep an eye out for coupons at grocery stores and fast-food restaurants. Often times amusement parks offer deep discount coupons at select retailers.
• Look closely at your soda can. Again, amusement parks are looking to lure people in by offering terrific coupons on all kinds of food and drink items.
• Save coupons you receive when exiting the park. In my experience, as you exit a theme park, attendants hand you a few coupons to encourage you to come again. Not only can you use the deeply discounted coupons for yourself, you can resell them to try and recoup your funds.

We ended up finding a terrific deal on a Coca-Cola can, a $10 savings per person. It beat out the $5.00 savings we found online and the $7.00 savings Taco Bell was sporting. The soda can was a bit of a fluke, however. We visited our local, friendly 7-11 and asked the cashier if they had any Coca-Cola cans with coupons. The cashier was kind enough to go into the back room and find a few cans that were set aside for just this type of request. Instead of paying $29.99 a person, the coupons entitled us to a ticket for $19.99 a person (a $20 savings!)

My best advice is to get in the theme park as cheap as you can, because as soon as you are admitted, that’s where you really feel the burning of your wallet! I will definitely be reselling my park coupons to help pay for my husband’s day of fun in the sun.

99-cents only

To reduce the amount I spend on my groceries and household items, I’ve started shopping at the 99-cent store. Of course I can’t buy everything there, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by a few items, such as shaving gel. However, many times, I arrive only to be greatly disappointed by the items on hand, the wilted and bruised produce (you read that correctly, a few of our stores here carry groceries), and the lack of brand-name items. Yet, I’ve realized there is a trick to obtaining the best quality items for only 99-cents: Call to find out what days they receive their deliveries!

It turns out that Tuesdays and Fridays are the best days to shop at my local 99-cent store because those are the days they receive their shipment of goods. So, Tuesday morning I headed over to my local store (now that I’m on summer break, I can do this in the morning!) Not only was I pleasantly surprised by their food goods, their produce was fresh and they had a large variety of fruits, veggies, and breads. Fresh strawberries and blueberries were stocked for only 99-cents, in contrast to my local grocery store where they are selling for $2.49 to $3.99 a pack. They also had name-brand items such as cases of Sparklett’s bottled water, a case of 30 individual bottles for $2.49! I also noticed an increase in shoppers, the ones that I’m sure are savvy to the 99-cent store delivery schedule.

This strategy, of calling to find out a store’s delivery day, got me thinking about how it could be beneficial for scoping out other retailers such as Cost Plus, Ross, even Goodwill. If the best quality items and the most variety of any item happens on a delivery day, then wouldn’t it be beneficial to call a favorite store and ask them about their delivery days? I know that from here on out I’ll be calling my favorite stores to find out when they can expect their next delivery. I’ll become one of those regular shoppers who appear on delivery days along with the little old ladies who learned this trick years ago!

Do you shop at the 99-cent store or discount stores? Do you call ahead to find out when they receive deliveries?

Our coupons save us money!

One area of finances that I’m getting good at reducing is my grocery budget. I’ve been diligent about making sure I have a coupon for most of the items I purchase, use my club rewards card, and purchase items on sale. Utilizing all three strategies to reduce my bill, I’ve cut my grocery bill by 1/3. I’m not one for clipping coupons, so I’ve been using eBay to purchase really large dollar off coupons and my club card coupons I receive every 3 months. Here are a few coupons I’ve purchased online that were worth the small price I paid:

• $10 off Iams coupons: I purchase a bag of cat food every three weeks for my 3 lovable furr-balls. With a $10.00 off coupon and with the cat food on sale, I purchased 5 bags of cat food for $18.00. I don’t know where these eBay sellers find these coupons, but they are great!
• $3.00 off World’s Best Cat Litter: I’m sure you see a trend here, saving money on pet items! This litter is the best, it is corn-based and completely biodegradable. On sale for $6.99 plus my $3.00 off coupon, I bought 4 bags for $16.00!
• $1.00 off any two Gatorades: My husband’s favorite drink, on sale for .89 cents plus his $1.00 off coupon, he purchased 10 Gatorades for $3.90.

The remaining coupons I use are based on my quarterly grocery purchases from my local grocery store, Ralphs. Ralphs has a great rewards program, earn $1.00 reward for every 100 points (or $100.00 spent). I also earn 5 points for every reusable bag I bring, which usually equates to 25 points. In a three month period, I usually spend between $750 – $1,000 on groceries. So, when I receive my rewards coupon there is usually a $10.00 off coupon towards any purchase. It’s a great incentive to keep me shopping at Ralphs!

It’s a good feeling to walk out of the grocery store spending less than $14.00 for 25 items, and seeing a savings of $21.88 at the bottom of a receipt. Now if only I could apply this kind of savings to my utility bills, I’d be golden!

Looking to save money on groceries, I’ve been clipping coupons and purchasing items on sale. Last night, I ran to the grocery store to catch up on my weekly shopping. My local grocery store is currently under construction, so many of their items are deeply discounted to encourage shoppers to remain loyal during their rearranging of aisles. I purchased a total of 60 grocery items for an average of $1.15 per item, and it wasn’t just packets of Kool-Aid!

I started out with coupons totaling $17.00 in savings;  I  had a pile of Gatorade coupons, a dollar off Jennie-O ground turkey coupon, and a dollar off any cereal coupon. I also had a $10 off grocery store coupon if I spent more than $25.00 (more incentives to keep shopping during their construction phase). Because I made a point to only purchase items that were on sale, many of the items I purchased were reduced in price by 30% or more. My grocery list is always pretty consistent:

• cereal
• oranges
• Gatorade
• bread
• Jennie-O ground turkey
• Easy Mac
• applesauce
• Pepperidge Farms Goldfish crackers
• beer
• canned spaghetti-o’s and ravioli
• chili
• pudding cups
• diet soda

Okay, so I’m not a model for healthy eating, but these items aren’t too bad if you don’t count the carbs! During checkout, I noticed my bill shrinking dollar by dollar. Reviewing my receipt showed I saved a total of $62.00, that’s almost the amount I ended up spending. My grocery items cover a week of breakfast, lunches, and a few dinners using the ground turkey.

My coupon organizer has also been helpful during shopping. As I check off my grocery list, I quickly look through my categories to see if  I have a coupon for a similar item. If I do, I move it to the front of the pouch so I don’t forget to give it to the cashier during the checkout process. This has helped me use those soon to expire coupons. I find I’m not throwing away expired coupons as often. If I can continue saving money on groceries, I will find more money for savings! Now if only I could save money on my utilities I’d be golden.