[ms_courtney]

Hi all, I've just discovered AFC's forums and I'm full of questions. Where do you get these deals?!? I've managed to get some good deals on feminine supplies and deodorant but bodywash, lotion, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner all seem to cost at least 2 bucks a piece. Toothpaste is a drag because only the most expensive brands seem to have coupons out. And lip balm! OMG that's so overpriced!

Food seems difficult because it goes bad and I don't eat a lot of processed goods. I do have yogurt and pasta and cereal building up but what about fresh foods and quality meats? What kind of healthy food do you feed your families for cheap? Are there cycles to the huge blowout sales? What should I be looking for now that summer is ending?

I have time and space but not a lot of spare money to devote to this project - I really want to get a 6 to 12 month stockpile for nonperishables. Maybe 6 months to a year for food.

[nikiz]

One way to get meat right now is at Target, they have the Sutton and dodge steak q out for $1 off, I go to my target and look for any pack that has a peelie on it for any amount off that day(Smallest package) and combine with the Target q (on generator now)I have gotten many many lbs of steaks, and roasts that way for free to $1. If you use ground beef, you can always grind and freeze almost any cut.
Also make sure you are checking your store flyers for bogo sales, and if possible combine w/manu. q.'s. Remember, you can freeze , and can many fresh fruits, and vegetables, so if you see a tremendous buy on them stock up and freeze, or can if you can for later! HTH

[OttoFamily]

I'm new too and have the same questions. I'm hoping to save enough from using coupons to be able to afford BETTER quality foods... but the coupons are mostly for processed food (cheeze its, frozen breakfast foods, etc). So any information on how to save on fresh meat, fruits, veggies would be awesome!!!!

[JaimeDae]

Originally Posted by OttoFamily

I'm new too and have the same questions. I'm hoping to save enough from using coupons to be able to afford BETTER quality foods... but the coupons are mostly for processed food (cheeze its, frozen breakfast foods, etc). So any information on how to save on fresh meat, fruits, veggies would be awesome!!!!

For foods on occasion grocery stores will have OYNO Catalinas. Meaning if you purchase a certain combination of items you may get for example $5 Off Your Next Order. This is a helpful way to get items that don't normally have coupons available at a cheaper rate.

I also find it helpful writing letters of praise to the companies of items you use. Often they'll mail you back coupons that you wouldn't find in your local newspaper.

[JaimeDae]

Originally Posted by ms_courtney

Hi all, I've just discovered AFC's forums and I'm full of questions. Where do you get these deals?!? I've managed to get some good deals on feminine supplies and deodorant but bodywash, lotion, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner all seem to cost at least 2 bucks a piece. Toothpaste is a drag because only the most expensive brands seem to have coupons out. And lip balm! OMG that's so overpriced!

Food seems difficult because it goes bad and I don't eat a lot of processed goods. I do have yogurt and pasta and cereal building up but what about fresh foods and quality meats? What kind of healthy food do you feed your families for cheap? Are there cycles to the huge blowout sales? What should I be looking for now that summer is ending?

I have time and space but not a lot of spare money to devote to this project - I really want to get a 6 to 12 month stockpile for nonperishables. Maybe 6 months to a year for food.

Where do you live? This might help others find great deals for you.

Toothpaste seems easy. Regularly by me regular colgate, crest, or Aquafresh will go on sale for $1.00 and you can usually find coupons that will make this free.

Good Luck!

[tratra]

Originally Posted by ms_courtney

Hi all, I've just discovered AFC's forums and I'm full of questions. Where do you get these deals?!? I've managed to get some good deals on feminine supplies and deodorant but bodywash, lotion, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner all seem to cost at least 2 bucks a piece. Toothpaste is a drag because only the most expensive brands seem to have coupons out. And lip balm! OMG that's so overpriced!

I use the deals at Walgreens to get these items for free or nearly free. If you have them in your area, you can save a lot by taking advantage of their register rewards offers.
Rite Aid and CVS have good deals regularly too, but I haven't tried them yet.

Grocery stores sometimes have good deals when you pair coupons and their sale prices.
For example, recently at Kroger, you could get 4 Herbal Essences hair products for $2 when you paired a BOGO coupon with a $4 off 4 items sale they were having.

Originally Posted by ms_courtney

Food seems difficult because it goes bad and I don't eat a lot of processed goods. I do have yogurt and pasta and cereal building up but what about fresh foods and quality meats? What kind of healthy food do you feed your families for cheap? Are there cycles to the huge blowout sales? What should I be looking for now that summer is ending?

I don't find a lot of fresh veggie or meat coupons. What I do is apply the savings on all the items I CAN buy with coupons to the purchase of fresh veggies and meat. If I used to spend $100 for groceries without Qs and get limited fresh items because of their higher cost, now I can use coupons to buy $150-200 worth of groceries for that $100 or less, and get better quality foods with the savings.

So if your budget is $50 a week for all groceries and you knock out the non-perishables with coupons, you still have most of the $50 to use for the fresh foods you want to buy.

[ms_courtney]

Originally Posted by JaimeDae

Where do you live? This might help others find great deals for you.

Toothpaste seems easy. Regularly by me regular colgate, crest, or Aquafresh will go on sale for $1.00 and you can usually find coupons that will make this free.

Good Luck!

I'm in N. Texas. I wish I could find Colgate and Crest for a dollar, whoa...the closest I come is going to Dollar General and using my high value coupons on their 2-3 dollar tubes. I'll have to rethink that strategy, obviously!

Thank you ALL so much for your replies. I've never seen a Target coupon for anything but candy or Kotex (and thank heaven for those). I'll try to get the best deals on my nonperishables and use those savings on fresh foods. Thank you all again!

[JaimeDae]

Originally Posted by ms_courtney

I'm in N. Texas. I wish I could find Colgate and Crest for a dollar, whoa...the closest I come is going to Dollar General and using my high value coupons on their 2-3 dollar tubes. I'll have to rethink that strategy, obviously!

Thank you ALL so much for your replies. I've never seen a Target coupon for anything but candy or Kotex (and thank heaven for those). I'll try to get the best deals on my nonperishables and use those savings on fresh foods. Thank you all again!

What local grocery stores do you have? I would try visiting the AFC Forums for those stores, I'm sure you'll find some great deals!

[nene0784]

i persoanlly cant find good deals on meats and veggies and fruit so the money that i save buying other stuff i 'splurge' on meats and stuff. I don't mind paying 1.00 lb for beef and then walking out of CVS with toothpaste they paid me to take out. works for us. I hope that helps some.

[JaimeDae]

I also find coupons such as buy 2 kraft save 2 off produce, or mail in rebates.

[schmidt00]

MY best bet on meats are just watching and waiting. I survey the meat dept each time I go through the store and see what DATE the premium meats are going to hit their "sell by" date. That is also the "freeze by" date and not necessarily the "going BAD" by date. On THAT date the meats will reduce down to 50% of the cost and if you have a coupon waiting on top of that you can get a GREAT deal. Take for example KROGER.

This week I had been watching 90% lean ground beef and its sell by date was 8/27. It is normally 2.39 a lb. Yesterday on the sell by date... it went to $1.39 a lb AND I had a Kroger coupon for $3 off any meat dept purchase of $15 or more. AFter coupon my meat worked out to about $1.20 a lb for SUPER supremo lean ground beef! Not bad for chili making season coming up! Even better is the fact that it was in the 1 lb packs! I don't even have to repackage!

Last month I had 8 of the Buy 3 Kraft Items and get $3 off Chicken. I combined it with a chicken sale at Meijer and used 50 cent boxes of mac n cheese. If I had REALLY been thinking I would have stacked it with FREE salad dressing but I didn't think that far.

Most of my vegetables I buy frozen. I think they are a much better deal than canned veges. I have a friend who TRADES her stockpile to local farmers for fresh veges at the farmer's market but she is superwoman. I have never gotten that good! Breads - I have found coupons for wonder bread, Aunt Millies, Kroger brand etc... so they ARE out there. Breads freeze also.

I HEAR that all of the baking supplies come around on sale during the holidays so I am waiting as this is my first holiday couponing. We shall see

[noellebrow]

WE are lucky to have a local market and if we buy chicken/meat in bulk it is most often cheaper than any sale I find. It might be worth exploring what bulk offers exist in your area (assuming you have the room to freeze in bulk). You might also explore a small garden to save on fresh produce. I am the world's worst gardener, but every year I try again! If you have the room and success, you could grow quite a garden and can your home grown produce.

[kmeiding]

There are a few coupons out there for meat and produce but they aren't easy to find. I like the beer rebates where you don't have to buy beer. I have one that I need to send in right now where you buy more than $10 of grilling supplies (includes steak) and they send you $10. You can check the beer section in your grocery store for them. I haven't found any good ones yet but I trade for them on here. I also try to buy fruits on sale and if they start getting too ripe before I can eat them, then they go in the freezer for smoothies.

[brook6]

I am seeing more Qs on fresh chicken lately...Tyson, Pilgrim's Pride, Springer Farm, Perdue

produce is the hard one, but you can buy the seasonal sales and do pretty well there

saving on h&b, paper, cleaners leaves more for the 'better' foods

you may see posts on here for $100 of stuff for 50¢ and they have no real food, but by doing that they still have money for the meat, produce items with no Qs

[JaimeDae]

Originally Posted by kmeiding

There are a few coupons out there for meat and produce but they aren't easy to find. I like the beer rebates where you don't have to buy beer. I have one that I need to send in right now where you buy more than $10 of grilling supplies (includes steak) and they send you $10. You can check the beer section in your grocery store for them. I haven't found any good ones yet but I trade for them on here. I also try to buy fruits on sale and if they start getting too ripe before I can eat them, then they go in the freezer for smoothies.

The beer rebates are AWESOME!

[renedlb]

I am new and will have lots of questions as I start this process. Thanks for all the good ideas.

Rene'

[1217topher]

Dont forget to price match. I use my Aldi's ad all of the time at local groceries stores to get a good price on produce. Aldi's will frequently have 0.39/lb bananas and 0.99/lb grapes. If nothing else, saves you from having to run all over town.

[ms_courtney]

(bump)

Okay y'all will be proud - Colgate was on sale 2 for 3.00 and I used two dollar off coupons so I FINALLY got toothpaste for less than a dollar. Go me!

I also discovered the manager's specials in the meat department. Most of the stuff I've seen is red meat, which I always considered a luxury. I have two lovely steaks in my freezer now that both cost less than 3 bucks.

I guess I'm bumping the thread to find out what's about to go on sale now that we're moving into fall. I'm looking for bargains on baking suppies (everyone is getting cookies this year!), canned soup, and cold and flu meds. What else will be stock-worthy this fall?