Friday, June 24, 2011 - Stain Removal

Hello to my new followers and Welcome!

I always keep an old toothbrush in the laundry room along with liquid Tide and a bottle of Clorox Clean-Up. If the stain is on a white fabric I spray a little Clorox Clean Up onto the toothbrush and scrub out the stain and immediately wash the item. Since Clorox Clean-Up is not straight bleach I don't worry about bleaching out the item or spilling bleach all over ( I am a bit clumsy). If the stain is on color fabric I do the same technique with Tide. Don't dry your item if the stain didn't come out, just repeat the process. Drying will set and make it more difficult to remove.

Wednesday, June 23 - Using High Dollar Coupons for Items You Don't Use or Want

Keeping an eye on the coupons you clip is very important, READ READ READ your coupons, if a coupon is marked ANY item there there is usually a trial size or inexpensive size that can be FREE or even give you "overage." You CAN NOT get money back when you use coupons, so apply overage to other items you have coupons for and get them basically FREE!

OK, I know this sounds crazy buying things you don't use or want but, read how it works in a deal I just did at Walmart:

Coupon:  $2 off ANY Dial Men's Lotion or Body Wash Trial size dial lotion .97 at Walmart
9 coupons on hand (2 from newspaper purchase, 1 from free driveway tossed "flat paper" and 6 from the recycle bins around my neighborhood, yes I know but they were sitting on top unopened!)
Cost of lotions $8.73 minus Coupons $18 = overage to use on that transaction $9.27
I bought milk, candy, cake mix, popcorn - things we use often!

Don't waste, donate the items you don't use to shelters!

Monday, June 20, 2011 - Collecting Coupons

Most people know you can get coupons from the Sunday paper (also the Sunday paper that comes out Saturday). But did you know you can get printable coupons online? Visit smartsource.com and Redplum.com once a week to print valuable coupons to build your coupon binder. Another great trick is to make sure you collect every neighborhood paper that is thrown on your driveway. Keep a pair of small sissors in your purse and when you are waiting in a doctors office clip the coupons that are in the magazine. And more more trick, open a special e-mail account to sign up for all your favorite brand newsletters and LIKE them on Facebook, and don't forget to e-mail them and request coupons.

Sunday, June 19 - Building a Coupon Binder

Use a 3-ring zipper binder, add about 40 dividers and include a divider for every drug and grocery/super store in your area (alpha order). Use scrapebook/photobook holders (Walmart 10 pgs for $2) or baseball holder pages to hold coupons. Clip all coupons from every Sunday paper (check the free papers tossed into your driveway also) and place in correct section. Bring your coupon binder everywhere or keep in your car trunk. You never know when you will end up in a store and see your favorite product on super sale and with that coupon you have you can get one or maybe 6 for FREE! Go through and purge your binder of expired coupons once a week.

June 18, 2011 - Coupons

Maximize saving and time in the stores.
Buy a Sunday paper on Saturday and match up the coupons to the sales and plan your shopping trip before Sunday. You can also use a coupon/sale matchup site like http://www.couponmom.com/.