I have gotten several FREE item coupons this week and I thought I would share some ideas on how you can maximize these great coupons.  I know it is so easy to want to run to the store and pick up your free item right away but check out the ideas below on how you can stretch that one free item into more.

• Use your FREE item coupon along with a BOGO FREE sale at the store or store coupon.  This gets you 2 items for free instead of one.
• Use your FREE item coupon along with a BOGO 50% off sale to get one free and the second at half price.
• Use your FREE item coupon along with a store promotion that requires you to spend a certain amount or buy a certain amount of items in order to get a reward or discount.  The price of the item should count toward the spending limit and still get you your reward. 
  *Make sure to note if the requirements for the promotion are before or after coupons to be sure this will work.
• If the store coupon policy allows, use your FREE item coupon with a BOGO FREE manufacturer coupon to get 2 for free.

I want to share with you guys some tips to help you save and make using coupons as easy as possible.  One super easy trick is to have a spam email account.  Many of the online coupons require registration.  You may or may not want to hear from that company again.  If you don’t, set up a free email account from www.hotmail.com, www.yahoo.com or www.gmail.com.  This way, you can use this account when you register and you don’t fill up your personal email account with offers you are not interested in.

Here is a great new resource you will want to check out.  I get questions all the time about how long to keep coupons and now there is a resource to answer just that!  Originally started as an excel spreadsheet, Coupon Cleanout lets you search by state to see what inserts are safe to discard. There is even information on what to do with your expired coupons.  Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

Check out the guest post that I did over on BakersfieldMom.com yesterday.  I sold the site to the Bakersfield.com network but I will be working with them as a guest blogger.  They are really working to get the site off the ground and make it an awesome place for moms in Bakersfield.  Check out my article and let me know what you think!

OK, so for some time now, I have been going bonkers each week doing the Vons and Albertsons lists and trying to get them formatted into a printable list for you to be able to use.  I think having the function is great but wait till you take a look at the new one!  It is soooooo much easier on my end for sure and you will love all the features for you.  There are still a few little changes to be made but overall, I love it.  Here is how to best use this option:

1. Scroll through the Vons or Albertsons list, clicking any items that you want to add to your shopping list.  As you do, you will see them added to the list in the small box in the bottom right of your screen.  The ones you have chosen will also go grey. 
2. At any time, you can click the “My List” tab to see what you have added.
3. Consider adding items to your list in the order they are in your store.  This will save you even more time in the store.
4. After you have selected all of the items on the list that you want to purchase, click the Print button.  It will bring up a new screen just like the one pictured below.
5. You will then be able to add your own items to the list!  I think this is an awesome feature.  This way, you can have everything all on one list.  There is even a section to put notes to yourself like “watch for coupon booklet near dairy section”.
6. Make sure to print your list before moving on to another store or page so you don’t lose everything!

So what do you think?  Have you tried it yet?

With all the changes on Facebook lately, you may have noticed that you are no longer seeing all the posts from the Save At Home Mommy Facebook page or many others.  There is a way to change your settings and make sure that you are getting all the updates and not missing out on deals.

1. Log in to your Facebook account
2. Look up at the top to the right of the words “News Feed” and click on “Most Recent”
3. After you click on it, there will be an arrow next to it to reveal a drop down menu.  Click on the arrow and then click on “Edit Options” on the bottom.
    
4. Click on the arrow to reveal the drop down next to “Show posts from:” and then click on “All of your friends and pages”.  Then click “Save”
   

Now you will see updates from everyone that is your friend and all the pages you follow.  You can return to this same page to block any pages or people that you don’t want to see updates from:)  I hope this helps you receive all the latest deals and thanks to the ladies at my seminar last night for letting me know this needed to be fixed!!

As our SAHM Budget Challenge marches on into week 2, I wanted to talk a little bit about stockpiling and how that is the basis for really saving money and keeping your out of pocket spending low.  Watch the video below for the basics and then read the answers to some FAQ’s further down!

1.  Where do you keep your stockpile?

I am very blessed to have a house with tons of huge closets!  The designer must have been a woman!  Before we moved into this house though, I used the space under my bed, extra cabinets in the laundry room and made some shelves in our garage.  Walk through your house and check the closets and everywhere you can think of for empty space.  Use boxes or milk crates to expand extra high or deep shelves to get more out of them, or use them to make shelving in the garage.  You can also find inexpensive shelving options online or in stores to add shelving to empty areas.

2.  How do you keep up with what is in your stockpile?

Because I have plenty of space, my stockpile is very visible.  This allows me to see everything and not have to keep a list.  Some people keep an excel spreadsheet or just a paper log to keep up with what is in theirs.  Whatever works for you to not let anything go to waste and know when you are getting low on an item.  

3.  What items do you stockpile?

I answered this a little in the video above but besides pantry items, you can freeze cheese and tortillas, premade pie crusts, lunch meat, meats and others.  Coffee creamer has a very long refrigerator life as well.

4.  How do you get all the coupons to be able to buy multiple of each deal and stock up?

I personally get one of our local papers delivered at a great rate monthly.  I then subscribe to MadCoupons.net and split it with a friend.  This gives me up to 6 copies of each newspaper coupon each week.  Other ideas include asking friends and family to save you their coupons if they don’t use them or purchase them from ebay or other coupon clipping services.  You could also go dumpster diving if you are so inclined:)

Hopefully this will get you started and give you the tools you need to get a budget started for your family.  Stay tuned for more helpful videos and all the details of the Save At Home Mommy Budget Challenge to come.