Hello AFC'ers! Welcome to May! We hope you're enjoying a beautiful spring! No matter what you kind of deals you're searching for, whether it be spring cleaning supplies, grilling essentials, or other goodies for the upcoming summer season, you can find them all at AFC! Pull up a chair, and take some time to check out your local
store forums today. We can all benefit from finding a good deal! See you on the boards!
What's on Sale this Month?
May is the month for celebrations, and along with celebrations come some great sales! As Cinco de Mayo approaches, expect to find tortillas, rice, and salsa featured in your store fliers. Seasonal produce is also a great bargain this time of year. Look for low prices on strawberries, asparagus, raspberries, avocadoes, vidalia onions, and new potatoes, just to name a few! With Mother's Day, Memorial Day, and graduation celebrations just around the corner, there will also be some great deals on grilling meats, condiments, chips, baked beans, and buns. Now is a good time to stock up your pantry and freezer with these warmer weather staples! And don't forget to look for other picnic and outdoor necessities, such as insect repellant, paper products, and sunscreen on sale. There are sure to be some good deals and great coupons coming out for the approaching summer season!
Member News You Won What?
Congratulations to many recent winners! mommymarci won an Ipod. msattforsavings was the round one winner in AFC's Hot Bling contest. kperez won $300!
The Stork has Visited...
Best wishes to DiannC, who is expecting her second baby! Congratulations to sar1 and ccsmith97 who both welcomed new baby girls recently!
In Other News...
feeding9's son joined the army. mclady1 paid off her car. ERHMomma is moving into a new home!
Tips for Members
In an effort to bring you the best deals in the most efficient format, we have been reevaluating every aspect of AFC. Many of you may have noticed some recent changes to the boards, such as the removal of the Shopping List link from the Tools Menu. You can now find all of the information needed in your store forum. Look for weekly sales match-ups, good deal alerts, and free/cheap threads in the store forums that you visit, and please jump in and post your finds too! We think this change will help everyone find what they're looking for more quickly, and it will give you a more comprehensive listing of the great deals available every week.
We are also welcoming Forum Leaders to the AFC team! Many of these members were previously Shopping List Assistants for the store forums, and we are excited to have them take on this new role! Forum Leaders will help keep your store forums organized and filled with the best deal info! You can check out a list of our new FLs
here. Be sure to give them a warm welcome and thanks for volunteering to help out! If your favorite store forum does not have an assigned FL, please consider helping out! Our goal is to have one FL for every store forum. We will be posting more details on how to apply very soon in
AFC News.
Please remember that if you see something on the boards that is questionable, whether it suggests impromper coupon use, is against AFC policy, or may be spam, we encourage you to click on the "Report" button and let us know! The "Report" button can be found in the bottom right-hand corner of any post. This is the fastest way to notify the mod/admin team of any issues. Please be assured that we take time to read each and every report that is made and follow-up accordingly. Sometimes, a report does not require any action, so if you report something and have questions about what is being done to address it, please follow-up with us in
Contact Us.
Hot Deals and Contests
Hot Bling Round 2 is now underway! If you haven't played yet, take a few minutes to read about it
here. We hope you'll join in the fun!
Have you checked out
Hot Deals lately? We have seen a lot of free coupon offers on Facebook and high value printable coupons offered lately! These deals are very limited and go quickly, so make sure you check the Hot Deals forum daily. Don't miss out!
Threads You Don't Want to Miss
Wow! We have welcomed thousands of new members recently, and we're thrilled that so many people have joined us. Many of our newest members are also new to couponing, and there's a lot to learn when just starting out. Don't let it overwhelm you! We encourage you to start slowly, and focus in on one or two stores that you shop at most frequently. Once you get familiar with your stores' policies and build up a supply of coupons, it will be much easier. You can find some more helpful hints in this wonderful
article by
nomadicpixie. She offers some great information on how to get started. Check it out, and share what you've learned along the way too!
Many couponers routinely get certain grocery and HBA items for free/cheap when matching store sales and coupons! Check out this
thread to see which items people are buying for very little or no cost! It can give you some idea of what deals are out there, and you can add your finds too!
Member Spotlight
Congratulations to
isavealot5, the winner of our Awesome AFC'er Award for May! Here's what she has to say about AFC:
1. Tell us a little about yourself! How long have you been a member of AFC?
I'm in my late thirties and have a 4 yr old son. My husband works for the City of New York and thinks highly of my couponing habits. Whatever means that we can save money, to build a nice college fund for our son, he's all for it. I have been a member of AFC since Feb 2008..so 3 years now.
2. What is you favorite feature of AFC?
The Good Deal Alerts in each forum. I shop at several stores and when I see the GDA thread..makes my shopping trip(s) more enjoyable.
3. How has AFC changed your shopping habits?
AFC taught me that it's not impossible to save $$ even in the worst of economy. We are a one income family, living in one of the most expensive cities in the US, but I still get to buy items for my family without sacrificing quality.
4. What is you favorite store to shop? What stores are the most coupon friendly? What stores have the best sales/prices?
Lately, it's Pathmark because of their recent promo of Tripling Coupons. I've never saved so much in a single shopping trip!
I find the Rite Aid stores in my area as coupon friendly and since the introduction of their UP Rewards program..I find them having the best sales.
5. What is your favorite thing to stockpile and why?
Boxes of cereal..and thanks to Pathmark, I have a quite impressive stockpile to boot. Long shelf life and not a big space eater. Now if I have ample stockpile area..toilet paper & paper towels.
6. How do you get coupons and how do you keep them organized?
Here in our neighborhood, usually on Fridays, there are coupons/flyers in-a-bag left on front stoops or lobbies of buildings and I grab a bag (or 2 or 3 *wink). I have friends, neighbors, even relatives from out of state send me coupons. I also get them from buying Sunday papers. I keep them organized by using an accordion type binder (just a small one).
7. What advice do you have for a new couponer?
As I was once a new couponer before, I would greatly advise to "enjoy" couponing. There would be some hit or miss trips but every shopping trip using coupons is an experience. I learned from my past miss trips (and mind you there were a lot), but once I got the hang of couponing..there was no turning back.
8.
What advice do you have someone new to AFC?
There is more one can benefit from joining AFC than just learning how to coupon/save money. There a lot of features the site has to offer. Parenting forum, Let's play doctor thread and Cook's corner are just to mention a few. I have even met a lot of amazing friends here. So ask questions and don't be shy befriending a lot of us here. It's nice to earn a lot of savings from couponing and earn friends along the way too.
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