Monday, August 10, 2009

Anytime, Anywhere

Those of you that follow me here may know that at the inception of this blog I was living in the Boston area and enjoyed doubled coupons and amazing deals. I spent several months when I first started finding some great resources that really helped me to capitalize on my savings. There are myriads of blogs out there for all different regions of the country where people share the deals they find. I spent quite a lot of time compiling my own little file of blogs for my region. This work paid off and seriously diminished the amount of time and work that I had to expend in order to yield high savings. I don't know how many times I have heard that the savings I had been enjoying there (in Boston) were just non-existent in other parts of the country. Since then, I have moved to Utah and have realized that deals can be had here too. I have been absent from this blog for a bit because I have been trying to track down some resources that could help me to be more successful here in Utah-land. It is like a treasure hunt in some ways and I have been excited about my finds.

I have realized that I can still take advantage of Walgreens and Rite Aid for my non-grocery items. It has been disappointing to see that Walgreens has completely gotten rid of their rebate program and only offers their register reward program these days, however with a little planning the deals are there and can be capitalized upon.

I have also been thrilled to find that Staples has a rebate program similar to Rite Aid. Simply purchase a rebate item and enter your receipt on their website. You receive a rebate check and can frequently get items for free that way. What rock have I been living under? Their deals leading up to the beginning of school have been amazing and they have been offering free after rebate items almost every week for the last month. In my humble opinion, every parent that has children in the overtaxed school systems should take advantage of these free items and donate the items to schools if they don't need them. Our poor teachers often spend their own meager dollars to support their classrooms. Even if you don't have children, get the free items for your own home office. I hate having to pay full price for paper, pens, erasers etc. They even have a label maker this week for free that gets me almost giddy inside. If I didn't have one of these already, I could almost succumb. I LOVE labeling things. Ha--neurotic, I know.

The grocery stores here as a general rule are a lot cheaper than the ones in Boston. For example, I pay $2 for milk here instead of the regular $2.50. The prices here across the board are cheaper. In addition, my local Albertsons and Smiths have frequently had Catalina deals. I am still trying to figure out whether the catalina deal requirements are based on pre-sale or sale prices. My re-education is a work in progress. Most stores do not offer, as far as I can tell, standard doubling of coupons. That was a bit disappointing, but I believe the savings will still be big if I take advantage of the sales and catalina deals. Anywho. I recently discovered a website called Utah Deal Diva. She offers a ton of information for the Utah couponer.
I would love to know what sites you have found that are helpful to you! Feel free to share. Happy Shopping. TTFN!

4 comments:

Molly said...

I use savvyshopperdeals.com, sheshopssmart.blogspot.com, and pinchingyourpennies.com. I've never heard of the deal diva, but I'm excited to check it out!

MARCIA said...

Welcome to Utah! There is a blogger by the name of Kuuipo and she has a blog called A Sweet Sale at asweetsale.blogspot.com and she has great post and finds. She can help you even order newspapers. Check her blog out its awesome.

Anonymous said...

glad you're back, enjoyed reading your blog and was wondering where you went!

Naomi Carmen Witcher said...

where in utah are you? we live in syracuse. i have heard most people check out pinchingyourpennies.com. they compile a list of all the deals in all the stores that week and make it easy for you to print out a shopping list and find coupons etc. let me know what you think of them. you seem to have a talent for finding a great deal!