Double Coupons!
Several readers have e-mailed me about Kmart's announcement that it will double the face value of manufacturer's coupons, up to a total of $4 off each item. I checked with Kmart, and the company says the promotion is good through Dec. 6. Since "certain restrictions apply," it sounds like it would be a good idea to call the store you are thinking of shopping at for details. Many Kmart stores have food, so this could be a good opportunity to stock up on some highly discounted or even free food items. The folks at
stretchthatdollar.com already have compiled a list of how shoppers can do just that.
Buy Nothing Day
You may think of today as Black Friday - a day to shop until you drop - but a number of Utahns are celebrating Buy Nothing Day. The folks at Adbusters Media Foundation coined the term to raise awareness of the financial and environmental excesses surrounding the holidays. The group says this year, perhaps more than any other, the day is especially relevant.
“If you dig a little past the surface you’ll see that this financial meltdown is not about liquidity, toxic derivatives or unregulated markets, it’s really about culture,” said Adbusters Media Foundation co-founder Kalle Lasn in a statement. “It’s our culture of excess and meaningless consumption — the glorified spending and borrowing of the past decade that’s at the root of the crisis we now find ourselves in.”
Yet another store trying to get you to shop on Thanksgiving Day
Sporting goods retailer Sports Authority ran an advertisement in today's newspaper with a coupon that provides a 25 percent discount off an entire purchase on Thanksgiving Day only. There are several exclusions, but it appears as if much of the store's inventory is covered in the promotion.
Should you buy a Happenings coupon book?
I buy one or two Happenings coupon books each year. This year, I paid $20 to buy one from a local elementary school as part of a fund-raiser. You also can buy one online for $20 at
http://www.entertainment-savings-offers.com/. Are they worth the cost? It depends. In years past, I have saved more than the purchase price of a book in discounts on hotel rooms alone. I also used several retail and two-for-one restaurant coupons, totaling more than the purchase price. If you spend much time in another city, such as the summer months, it may also pay to buy one for that city or state as well.
Think you can't use two coupons?
Most of the time you can't use two coupons on the same item. But you often can use a "store" coupon and a "manufacturer's" coupon on the same product. It pays to ask. For example, I recently used a Walgreen's store coupon to get jars of almonds regularly priced at $3.49 each for $1.75 a piece. Then I used a 75-cents-off-two-jars manufacturer's coupon, driving down the cost of each jar of almonds to $1.37 a piece — a savings of nearly 61 percent off the regular price. Sometimes, using a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupon will get you the item for free.
Open an account, get $75
Banks occasionally offer freebies to get people to open accounts. U.S. Bank is offering a $75 bonus to those who open a checking account at a branch inside an Albertson's, Smith’s Food & Drug or SuperTarget store in Utah through Saturday. Certain rules apply to get the bonus, which is payable in the form of gift cards.
I took a stroll down the beer aisle
Penny-pinching readers have been urging me for weeks to visit the beer aisle of my local grocery store to discover the world of beer company rebates. Some shoppers say they save hundreds of dollars a year using these mail-in rebate programs, most of which require no purchase of beer at all to get $10 or more back on various food purchases. Rebate forms are available near beer displays. On my first visit this morning to a Smith's Food & Drug store in search of such a rebate, I quickly found a Budweiser promotion good for $15 back on on the purchase of a deli platter, ham or turkey that costs more than $25. No beer purchase required. Even better: I already have made the required food purchase a week ago, so all I have to do is fill out the form and send it along with my receipt to get a check.
Even more inexpensive or free entertainment
Several Salt Lake Tribune readers have e-mailed me about a great list of inexpensive or free holiday activities and events available on the web site
ParentsConnect. Although the site is geared toward families with children, there are plenty of activities and events on this list that could appeal to adults as well.
10 percent off at Utah-based companies
Buy Local First Utah, an organization of Utah-based enterprises, is staging a "Buy Local First Week" Nov. 29 through Dec. 6. Go
here for a 10 percent off coupon good at a number of Utah businesses.
Tightwad Reading Material
Several readers have inquired about some good books that focus on saving money and adopting a more fiscally responsible lifestyle.
Here are some of my favorites:
One of the most fascinating books I've read recently is "Green With Envy: A Whole New Way to Look at Financial Unhappiness," by Shira Boss. Read this book and you'll realize that your neighbor with the big house, shiny new car and endless wardrobe may not actually be flush with cash but may instead be swimming in debt.
The Tightwad Gazette series of three books were published more than 10 years ago, but they still have so much good, relevant information in them. I still use many of the money-saving tips and recipies in them.
You also may want to check out "Your Money Or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin and "The Circle of Simplicity" by Cecile Andrews. Both provide much inspiration to those trying to change the way they deal with their money.
Free admission at Tracy Aviary
Looking for a cheap way to entertain your out-of-town visitors? Tracy Aviary is offering free admission this Friday. The eight-acre bird sanctuary also will offer free admission the second Tuesday of December, January, February, March and April.
Can't wait until Black Friday?
A few retailers will open their doors on Thanksgiving Day, including Walgreens, which is trying to lure shoppers with a half price sale on a selection of toys originally marked $9.99. That's a better deal than last week, when the retailer had the same toys discounted only 40 percent. In recent years Walgreens has expanded its offering of toys and now carries a wide range of brand-name products. The national chain also offering a $1.99 battery sale on Thanksgiving Day as well. Stores generally will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow.
More stores offering layaway
Trying not to use your credit cards this holiday season? A number of retailers, such as Kmart, Burlington Coat Factory, have layaway programs. Read the fine print, though. Most retailers charge a nonrefundable fee of $5 to establish a layaway account, plus you'll pay an additional cancellation fee of $5 to $10 if you cancel your account or stop making payments. But compared with the cost of carrying a balance on a credit card, it can be a great deal.
Get a Clue
Ever wonder what information auto and homeowner's insurance companies have on file about you? Go to
http://www.choicetrust.com and get your C.L.U.E. report for free. Short for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, the report details information insurance companies share about you — information that can be used to set your rates. While you're at the site, take a look at all the other fee-based reports available. One report, the Home Seller's Disclosure Report, provides a history of insurance losses at a specific residence. This can be an important report for home buyers. Why? This is one way you can find out if the owner(s) of a property you're thinking of buying have made any claims for water damage, wind damage or other types of damage that you may want to know about before you buy.
Cheap (or free!) entertainment
You can entertain yourself and your kids for free if you're willing to take advantage of free admission days at a variety of Wasatch Front attractions. Utah's Hogle Zoo, for example, offers free admission the last Wednesday of November, December, January and February. The Utah Museum of Natural History offers free admission the first Monday of every month. The Utah Museum of Fine Arts has free admission the first Wednesday of each month. Most organizations offering free admission do so due to funding from Salt Lake County’s Zoo, Arts and Parks program. Red Butte Garden at the University of Utah offers several free-admission days per year. The next is a Holiday Open House & Art Fair, December 6 and 7. Information can be found
here. Occasionally shows and other entertainment are offered free and are listed at
http://www.slcozap.org/zapArts/html/generalinfo/freeEvents.html.
You can search for free and low-cost family-oriented entertainment at
http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com. Select the Salt Lake City site.
Get your converter box coupon
If you're one of the dwindling number of people with older analog televisions (like myself) who will need a converter to receive digital signals in February, don't forget the federal government is offering coupons to help defray the cost of the boxes. Households may be eligible for up to two $40 coupons that can be applied toward the cost of the boxes. Most boxes run $50 to $70 each at stores that carry electronics. Most people don't need the converters because they either have digital televisions or have cable or satellite service. I don't — I still have the same television set we got as a Christmas present in 1992. I'm too cheap to buy a new television and or pay for cable. So I requested a coupon and got a box for $15 ($55 minus the $40 coupon). I'm now receiving digital signals — and more channels than we've ever had before! For more information on the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program, visit
www.dtv2009.gov, or call 1-888-388-2009.
Take another look at CD rates
A number of banks and credit unions are offering some of the most attractive rates for certificates of deposit that I've seen in months. CDs provide an attractive way to park cash (and they are federally insured up to $250,000.) You don't need a ton of money to open a CD these days, as some financial institutions have lowered minimums to get more deposits. It pays to shop around, as rates and terms vary. If you see a really good rate advertised, ask your bank or credit union to match it.
Where do they get all those coupons?
Newspapers and magazines are great sources of coupons. So much so that a number of people I know order multiple copies of the Sunday paper so they are awash in coupons. Others depend on web sites, such as
www.smartsource.com and
www.coolsavings.com, where you can print grocery coupons for free. Kroger, the parent company of Smith's Food & Drug, also has a coupon-printing service in partnership with Procter & Gamble. But what about a new type of coupon site, such as
www.thecouponclippers.com, that offer coupons for a cost? These types of services pay for hundreds — even thousands — of newspapers each week just to get the coupons. They then sell the coupons for 8 cents to 20 cents per coupon. Why would anyone buy coupons? Isn't that missing the point of couponing? Not so, say some die hard coupon clippers. The advantage of using coupon-clipping services is that you get only the coupons you want, you can get 10 or even 20 of the same coupon with little effort and even after paying for the coupons, you still save money. Has anyone given this a try?
Get your credit report for free
Don't confuse any of the countless credit repair Web sites with the real thing. There's only one place to go to get a free copy of your credit report —
www.annualcreditreport.com. There are three main credit bureas nationally, and each one is required under law to provide you with one free copy each year. One way to do this is to order one free report from a different bureau every four months. For more information, go to the Federal Trade Commission's Web site,
http://www.ftc.gov/freereports.
"Special" sales abound
Check out this five-hour Saturday-only sale from arts and crafts chain Michael's
here. This retailer typically does not offer percentage discounts off sale items or off entire purchases. It does both this Saturday, only from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., for those with a printable coupon. Expect to see more deals like this offered by major retailers in the coming weeks.
Free Stuff
Practically every online classified site has a listing of "free" items these days. Another resource is
http://www.freecycle.org, although you have to be a registered member to gain access to the deals. You can get some great free stuff by using these sites. Our family's most recent finds: A nice exercise machine that had barely been used (now the question is, will I use it?) and a basketball standard.
Find some cheap gasoline
I filled up this week for $1.77 in Bluffdale — much less than the $4.05 I paid earlier this year for the same unleaded fuel. Pump prices vary a lot right now, so it pays to go to
www.utahgasprices.com or
www.saltlakegasprices.com before you fill up to see if there's a cheap fill-up spot near your home or office. On Thursday, unleaded was going for as little as $1.75 per gallon at a station in North Salt Lake. Interested in how Utah's prices stack up to the rest of the country? Go to the Web site of travel-services agency AAA,
http://www.fuelgaugereport.com. Click on "national average" or "state by state" averages for more information.
Free Gift Cards!
Target Stores, Rite Aid, Kmart and Walgreens are among retailers using free gift cards valued at $10 to $30 to encourage you to use their pharmacies. All four stores have been offering pharmacy coupons in recent weeks.
A number of Trib readers say they use several of these pharmacy bonus offers throughout the year and save the cards to buy gifts during the holidays.
Each retailer has different criteria to get the gift cards. Some require you to transfer a prescription from another pharmacy; others allow you to bring in a new prescription.
Pay attention to the fine print. Some retailers limit these freebies to one per household per six months or one per year. Target has the most liberal rules, generally limiting the bonus offers to one per prescription and the coupons are good for both new and transferred prescriptions.
One tip: If you're going to use multiple offers, keep good records of which pharmacy each prescription is located and when you took advantage of each bonus offer.
Disney Liquidation Sale Starts Soon
A liquidator of Disney merchandise based in California is coming to town for a sale that runs Nov. 23 through Jan. 11 in Midvale at 7220 S. Union Park Ave., Suite 114.
Merchandise from various Disney sources, including the theme parks, will be sold for as much as 85 percent off retail prices.
Asset Management & Sales used to operate a year-round store at the same location in Midvale, but closed it, in part because sales didn't meet expectations. With their former space still available, the company decided to return, but only for the holidays.
The sale will feature most anything you can buy at a Disney resort: Apparel, collectibles, pins, toys and a variety of other merchandise.
Cash in your coins
If you have a big jar of coins, you may want to check out this deal. Coinstar, the company that has coin-counting machines in grocery stores, is offering a promotion through Dec. 7 for those interested in converting their coins into a gift card. Not only is there no charge to count your coins with this promotion, but if you cash in $40 or more, you get a $10 holiday bonus. Cash in exactly $40, and you get a 25 percent return on your money. Not too bad. For details, go to the
Coinstar web site.
Great deals at grocery store grand openings
Grocery stores tend to have some really good deals during their grand openings, and the new Smith's Marketplace in Lehi is no exception.
I visited the store last night and stocked up on a variety of things, such as boxes of various General Mills cereals for $1 a box, Swiss Miss hot chocolate for 50 cents a box and Gatorade priced at three bottles for $1. I was able to drive down those prices even further, to as little as 20 cents per item, by using coupons.
The store is located at 1550 E. 3500 North in Lehi. The grand opening specials disappear at 11 p.m. tonight, I'm told.
The store was well-prepared late last night for the scores of bargain shoppers loading their carts with sale items. Employees were friendly and helpful, every sale item I wanted was in stock and lines moved quickly.
Buying high-tech gadgets?
A recent survey by
Consumer Reports shows that prices of electronics — like so many other products — can be negotiable. One-third of shoppers tried to negotiate the price of an electronics item within the past three years, and most said they were successful at getting a retailer to cut prices at least once for a savings of $50 or more. This holiday season, stores may be even more willing to make a deal, the magazine says. Here are some tips: Check prices in stores and online and consider skipping pricey extended warranties, because repair rates on electronics overall are low. And unlike other years, when retailers saved the best deals for closer to Christmas (or even after the holiday), many of the best deals are being offered now. If you're thinking of buying early, though, check to see if the retailer will make a price adjustment should the item sell for less later in the season. Many retailers will do so within 30 days.
Sign up on retail Web sites
It pays to sign up on the Web sites of all your favorite retailers. Many send printable coupons to those on their e-mail lists and alert them to special sales. After signing up at Old Navy's Web site, I recently got an e-mail about a special sale with door prizes. I went by one of their stores during the sale hours and won a $50 shopping spree. I recently signed up at ShopKo, and they e-mailed me a coupon for 20 percent off my total in-store purchase, including clearance and sale items.
More consumers trying to lay off credit cards
The average American household that carries a credit card balance is on the hook for $8,000 to $10,000, but a new poll conducted by the nonprofit advocacy group Consumer Action shows that many families are trying to reduce their reliance on credit. Nearly 70 percent said they will try to pay cash for purchases and try not to add to their debt loads over the next year. Some of these cutbacks could be out of necessity. Forty-five percent said they are more worried about being able to make their credit card payments this year than last. The organization has a variety of information about keeping your financial house in order at
http://www.consumer-action.org.
And I thought I had a lot of money-saving ideas
Need some inspiration to save money? Take a look at "
The Big List: 1,019 Ways to Save Money" on the web site My Two Dollars. It would be difficult
not to find some new money-saving ideas on this list, which is categorized by various topics, such as health care and food.
Report card perks
I took a group of first- and second-graders to Krispy Kreme in Layton over the weekend so each could claim their free box of six glazed doughnuts. The store provides free doughnuts to kids who bring in a "good" report card with passing grades. Children's apparel store Limited Too, which has a store in the Gateway shopping center in downtown Salt Lake City and four other Utah locations, offers girls who bring in a report card with passing grades a $5 discount off their purchase. Report cards must be brought into the store within 30 days.
Anyone know of any other report card perks?
Savers half-off sale
What's better than a sale? A sale at a thrift store. Thrift store chain Savers has its 50 percent off sale today, until 9 p.m. All used merchandise is half off the ticketed price. These sales are a great way to pick up brand-name shirts, pants, coats and shoes — especially for kids — at a tiny fraction of the retail price. They have several locations along the Wasatch Front. For a list of Utah locations, go to their
web site.
How much money are you wasting?
The National Endowment for Financial Education has launched
www.spendster.org, designed to enable people to share stories about how they have wasted money. The site also features calculators designed to help show how scores of unnecessary purchases over years can undermine your ability to save.
Don't dump those expired coupons
This is one of the best-kept secrets in couponing. Grocery stores don't accept expired manufacturer's coupons, but some restaurants, retailers and service providers, such as hair salons, do. It pays to ask, especially if you have a particularly good coupon. A restaurant manager recently said she would be happy to allow me use an expired coupon for dinner, and we also are patrons of a hair salon that for years has been letting us use expired coupons for children's cuts. As with any frugal endeavor, it pays to get to know store or restaurant managers. Explain to them you are on a budget and would like to save money any way you can. Managers are a powerful ally in frugal living because they have more power than you may think to help you save money.
The free food phenomenon
How hard is it, really, to get free (or nearly free) food at grocery stores? Some true experts at this game can be found at
http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com. The idea is to combine sales with coupons. It takes a bit of effort and time to get the coupons, many of which can be found online, and match them with the weekly specials offered at grocery stores, but the payoff can be big. My best deals recently were on granola bars priced at $1 per box. I had either 50 cent off or $1 off coupons for each of the boxes, which made the net cost per box 50 cents or free. I also stocked up on large boxes of brand-name breakfast cereal for $1 per box by buying them on sale and using coupons.
Cut your food bills with ad match
It's one of the best deals around for grocery shoppers, but many people still don't know about it. Many stores will match their competitors' advertised prices. Wal-Mart, for example, generally honors competitors' grocery ads. If you shop at Wal-Mart, bring the other ads and talk to the store manager to see what his or her policy is regarding ad-match, because there are exceptions, which may vary from store to store. If Wal-Mart is not your store, wherever you shop inquire about ad-matching, because it's catching on. Winegar's has advertised it will "meet or beat" competitor Dick's, which has locations in Bountiful and Centerville. (Winegar's is in Bountiful, Clearfield and Roy.)
Are women cutting back more than men?
A recent survey by
Consumer Reports shows that women are more likely than men to cut spending in a variety of areas, including restaurant meals, entertainment and home-related products and projects. As for holiday spending, among respondents, 63 percent of women planned to cut such spending versus 36 percent of men.
Being frugal is suddenly cool
Suddenly, it's cool to be cheap. Many major newspapers and magazines are extolling the virtues of being frugal, including
USA Today, which has a new Frugal Family Challenge series in which it tracks families trying cut back. The latest entry focuses on gasoline, can be found
here. Business Week recently explored the idea of "freecycling" — getting things for free — and dumpster diving for things people throw away. Read it
here.
Reader's Digest ran a feature about a family that tried not spending anything for a month. Check it out on their
web site.
Best holiday shopping deals in years
Retailers are bracing for what could be the worst holiday shopping season in decades, and that means great deals for shoppers. Already, this early in the season, most online merchants are offering free shipping promotions and other discounts. For a sample log on to such sites as
www.currentcodes.com;
www.keepcash.com;
www.ecouponcodes.com or
www.findsavings.com (there are countless more). These sites compile coupon "codes" that can be entered when checking out online. Try entering more than one code and see what happens. I recently ordered clothes online, and the retailer accepted a 10 percent off code AND a free shipping code that I used on clearance items that already had been deeply discounted.
Welcome to my new blog
We're all feeling the effects of the rising cost of everything, from food, health insurance and medical care to utilities and rents. Some of us also are feeling the pain of less income brought on by pay cuts, reduced commissions, fewer tips and even job losses.
The goal of this new blog is to provide ideas that can help you cope by stretching your money. Not everything you see will appeal to you, of course (I, for one, find the time-honored suggestion of re-using plastic wrap and aluminum foil utterly unappealing), but my hope is you will find suggestions that can help you and your family better make ends meet.
Many people find the idea of trying to save money overwhelming because they think they have to cut back in every area at once. They end up feeling deprived, but frugality doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing way of life. Try paying more attention to how
much you spend in just one area, such as food or clothing. Or make one change, such as bringing your lunch to work, going out to dinner less often or stopping by a thrift store.
Enlist the help of your spouse and children. Try to have a little fun. And if you find something that has worked well, please drop me a line at lesley@sltrib.com
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