Problems Printing Coupons in Different Browsers?

I got this email from a reader but before I could answer, she found out the solution and emailed me that as well.  I am sure that there are many who might have the same issue so I am including parts of her email and the solution below.  I hope this helps you be able to print more coupons!

Question: “I’m having trouble getting the bricks coupons to print from your links. What am I doing wrong? }  Help! I’m missing some decent coupons because I cannot, for the life of me, get these things to print.  I’ve already installed the coupon printer-several times now.. Ugh.  Any help or tips would be appreciated. Thanks so much”

Answer: “I just wanted to let you know I found the answer to my problem here:
(It’s from someone named Derek. Anyway, I’ve tried it and it’s worked so far! I am a Mac user and so that was an issue when I followed your links as well as some from other blogs.  I’m now printing like crazy! Awesome!  Thanks so much for all the hard work you do in researching and posting all the great deals”

So how can you fix them, here are the details:

There are two letters inside a Bricks coupon link that tell if you are on Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari on a Mac.  The original link code was determined by the browser the original person used when they copied the link.  You can change the 2 letters in the link to the letters that are correct for the browser you are using by using the choices below.  I have colored them blue so you can easily see them.

Internet Explorer on a PC:
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=qekofot7951146&bt=wi&o=54287&ci=1&c=GM&p=8dH6Da9X

or

http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=qekofot7951146&bt=vi&o=54287&ci=1&c=GM&p=8dH6Da9X

Firefox on a PC:
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=qekofot7951146&bt=vg&o=54287&ci=1&c=GM&p=8dH6Da9X

or

http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=qekofot7951146&bt=wg&o=54287&ci=1&c=GM&p=8dH6Da9X

Safari on a Mac:
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=qekofot7951146&bt=xs&o=54287&ci=1&c=GM&p=8dH6Da9X

Some have 2 options so you will have to try one and if it doesn’t work, try the other.

Thanks so much Sonja for the help!

Different Coupons in Newspaper Inserts

I get asked a lot why someone might not have a coupon that I have listed on one of my deals lists.  The answer is that coupons are very regional!  I might get a coupon in my town that doesn’t show up in yours.  It even varies by the part of town sometimes.  Sunday, for instance, many people reported getting a Kellogg’s insert that was not in my local paper.  My husband went out to get me some extra copies since there were so many good coupons yesterday, and graciously stopped to get me an LA Times as well.  The LA Times had the Kellogg’s insert and several other good coupons that were not in my paper.  Eventhough it is .50 more expensive, it is well worth it in the extra coupons available.

Why do I list coupons that I don’t even have?  Because I have readers all over the country and they might have it.  The next week, I might have a coupon that they don’t have so it evens out.  I know it can be a bummer when you get excited about a deal only to find that you don’t have that coupon.  One thing you can do is look on Ebay and see if anyone is selling them.  You would have to do it right away and make sure that they would arrive in time but it can be worth it for really good deals.  There are also coupon clipping services out there but my experience is that you usually have to order a minimum amount of coupons and it has never been worth my while.  Hope that helps!

Target’s New Price Matching Policy

I have see this on several sites but just got an email reminding me from our friend Barbara at ClipperGirl’sSavingsSpot.  Target has now unveiled its new price matching policy HERE.  Honestly, it seems like quite a hassle to me compared to how it worked when I used it at our old WalMart.  If you are going to do it, make sure you are prepared and I would recommend just checking out at customer service if possible to avoid a ton of confusion.  Here is a small snippet of how the policy works.  Comment below if you try this and let us all know how it works!

How Our Low Price Promise Works
Within seven days of purchase, guests can bring the actual printed competitor ad and a Target receipt of purchase of the same item to our in-store Guest Service area to receive a price adjustment. Photos/copies of advertisements or receipts will not be accepted.
In an effort to ensure that our checkout lanes are efficient and quick for our guests, we’ll handle price matches at our Guest Service desk. If a guest wants to do a price match in the checkout lane, our team members will ring up an item at the current price and then direct the guest to the Guest Service desk to do the price adjustment.
Price matching will apply to current, local print ads for in-store products only. Our price-match policy is not applicable to Target.com or other online ads. The following is a full list of exclusions:

• Target.com or online retail promotion

• Competitor’s Free Product

• Gift Cards

• Limited quantity items

• Open box or damaged

• Clearance or closeout

• Mail-in offers

• Services (warranties, assembly, etc.)

• Bundle offers

• Special order

• Sales-tax promotions

• Liquidation/going out of business

• Special financing

• Coupons

• Used or previously owned

• Display merchandise

• Pricing or typographical errors

• Club or loyalty

Get Extra Papers Today

I always have people ask me how many Sunday papers I get and how I get them. My theory is that I check the Sunday paper after it is delivered to my house and see what coupons are inside. If there are coupons that I know I will use, I will go get 3 extra at WalMart. They are only .97 each so as long as the coupons are more than .97, it is worth it. Sales come around often enough that I don’t ever feel the need for more than 4 coupons.

Today is one of those days for me! There is a $2.50 off Quantum Finish dishwasher tabs as well as several others that make it well worth my while to get the extras. Check your inserts and see what works for you!

How To Keep Up

Mom Faves- Vote for Me!

I just joined the coolest website called Mom Faves! It is a website for moms to go to find out all the best things from websites to recipes. You can vote on your faves and the highest votes get the most publicity! Go check it out and make sure to vote for Save At Home Mommy!

Making a Household Budget

I think setting a household budget is one of the first and easiest ways to help you start saving money. If you don’t know how much you are spending, how do you know if you are saving? There are several things I think are very important to setting up your family budget:

• Do it with your spouse if possible. It is important for you to both know what is going on. One person will probably gravitate towards actually paying the bills, but you should both set the budget and know where the money is going. This keeps one person from being “the spender” and the other “the enforcer”.
• Be honest about your spending. You might want to track your actual spending for a month before you try and set a budget. This will help you know what categories to include and what realistic limits you should set.
• Add a miscellaneous category. There will always be things that come up that don’t fit into a category and you don’t need to freak out if you have to get your ink cartridge filled to print more coupons!
• Stick to cash!! I know for some people it works to have a credit card and pay it off every month, but here is the deal. You still owe someone money and if you lost your job today or something major happened, you would still have that bill to pay. If you pay with cash, you owe no one and don’t have to worry about that bill. We have always used envelopes. We put our budgeted amounts of cash into envelopes marked for those categories. When the cash is gone, there is no more spending!
• Stay on top of your finances. Keep your checkbook balanced and keep up with your receipts!
• Base your budget on your pay schedule. If you get paid 2 times a month, pay your bills 2 times a month. That way you aren’t always wondering about bills or forgetting to pay one.
• Have a way to track your spending. This will help you see how much you are saving as well. You can get the Quicken Software for your home for as little as $25 HERE . This can help you build your budget, set up your bill pay schedule, balance your accounts and easily track and analyze your spending.
• Don’t get discouraged. If you overspend or get off track, it is not the end of the world. You are still doing better than you were before. Just get back on track as soon as you can and keep going. It is just like losing weight. One brownie doesn’t mean you trash your diet:)

One of the best resources my husband and I have found is Dave Ramsey. We have read several of his books, listened to his radio program and watched his teaching. His theories aren’t rocket science but they work. I even have the Dave Ramsey Designer Envelope System (wallet) that has the envelopes built right in it. I love it!! You can check out his website HERE and get free downloadable forms and help HERE (scroll down in the middle section to the bottom right)!

Back to the Getting Started guide

Talk to Me Tuesday- Only Buy What You Will Use!

Today’s post is in response to a question I get a lot:

Question: “Do you buy a lot of stuff that you don’t use when you follow all these sales and coupons?”

Answer: No, I don’t but it can be hard sometimes not too:) When I first started, I will admit that I bought a few too many bottles of Pledge and toothpaste. It can be so tempting when things are free or a great deal. The thing to remember is that the whole point of all this is to SAVE MONEY!! Even if things are a good deal, it is important that you only buy what your family needs. Building up your stockpile is important to keep you from overspending, just make sure your stockpile is full of things that you and your family will eat. You will not be able to buy everything your family needs on sale. There are times where I buy things that are not on sale and I don’t have a coupon for, I know gasp. The coupon and deal game has to work for you to help you save money. Focus on buying what you need and doing what you can to keep your out of pocket expense as low as possible.

Caregivers Marketplace

• Balmex
• Goldbond
• Goodnites
• Huggies and Little Swimmers-get a .75 rebate on each
• Pull-ups-.75 rebate
• Cortizone 10
• Cottonelle flushable wipes
• Oscal
• Citrucel
• Kaopectate
• Nature Made supplements
• Glucerna
• Ensure
• Many more!!

Make sure and check them out to start saving even more! Sign up and get started HERE!

Back to the Getting Started guide

Talk To Me Tuesdays-My Coupon Binder

Since my blog has gotten a little more on its feet and I have gotten more organized, I am going to start answering coupon and saving questions and providing you resources every Tuesday. If you have questions, email me through the link in the sidebar or post a comment and I will do my best to answer them! This week I decided to field a commonly asked question about how I clip and organize all my coupons!

Over the past months, my coupon organization system has gone through many changes!! I started off with a very small organizer with about 8 divisions, then a larger one with about 10, then an even larger one with 12 and finally when that would no longer close, my husband gave me this one for part of my Mother’s Day gift:) I had looked all over for something I liked and decided to combine a few ideas and make my own!

It is a 3-ring binder with a vinyl cover that zippers to keep everything safe inside!

The front has a little zipper pocket, perfect for my scissors and business cards.

Inside on the left, there is a little organizer with 3 sections that I have my Restaurant coupons, Coupon booklets and my Clothing, etc. store coupons. There is also a mesh zippered compartment for my calculator, pens and rewards cards. It came with 3 very handy hard plastic dividers that have small clear plastic envelopes on the front for my store coupons and club cards. I divided them into grocery, drugstores and Target since those are my 3 main shopping divisions. Each one can hold that weeks ad as well as my shopping list so everything is right where I need it. I often paperclip the coupons that I am going to use for that week at that store together and can clip them to the front of the divider.

Finally, there are 6 or 7 pages of clear plastic photo album inserts with 3 compartments in each one. I have them labeled by type of coupons I usually use such as free items, expire this week, give away, lunch meat/cheese, snacks, kids items and so forth. At the back I have a large clear envelope that velcros closed with coupons I have printed and would only use for a very good sale.

So far it has worked wonders for me. I feel more organized and things aren’t bulging out of my purse anymore. Everything is right where I can see it as I am walking around the store and there is no more fumbling around searching for things.

I often get asked if I clip all the coupons from each Sunday’s newspaper and the answer is no. That would take me forever and I would never use all those coupons. When I get the paper, I clip out coupons for items I know I use or that correspond to sales for that week. I then write the date on the front in marker and put it in a file box. I have a file in the front for the weekly ads then a file for Smart Source, Red Plum, P&G, others and magazines. I put the newest inserts in the front each week. This way, if I am looking for a coupon in the 3/15 SS I can pull out my SS file, flip to the one marked 3/15 and there it is! It may not be the best system, but it works for me. I keep the box in my entryway closet right next to my computer desk so I can pull it out easily whenever I am planning my trips for the week.

How do you organize your coupons? I would love to know, and even see pictures, and I am sure others would like your ideas as well! Also, feel free to ask any other questions about coupon organization or give me an idea for next week’s Talk To Me Tuesday! Post a comment or link below!

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