Shopping tips and tricks

Handy Hints To Save You Even More Money When You Shop & Dine! Check out eBay.com for department store coupons other people have received and no longer need. There are auction listings from such department stores as Macy’s, JC Penney, & Khol’s that are selling for a fraction of their dollar value. Buy as many as you can then stack them with your flyer coupons to get even a deeper discount! For those of you that have department store credit cards, and pay your bill on time & shop at the store often, you can receive certain perks. Such as, points, a head’s up on special saving days, coupon booklets and in some cases, freebies! Did you know that you can buy discounted gift cards? At platicjungle.com; cardpool.com; and giftcardgranny.com, you can buy gift cards for less than their face value. Stack that with an in-store coupon and get even more savings! An added bonus these sites offer, is a buy back program, where they will pay you for your unused/unwanted gift cards! Many stores offer markdown days. Google the store name and “sale schedule” to find out what day’s your favorite store slashes prices on their goods. Make a special list of their schedule on your computer, to help plan your shopping trip and save some of your hard earned cash! Three easy tips you should do before you go shopping: look over your weekly store ads for specials, check your coupons for possible sale matches, and go online to see if your local store offers special coupons or discounts that you can stack on top of the special to save more money; check out recipe.com for local listings. Looking for a store that offers double coupons? On grocerycouponguide.com; you’ll find a list of all stores that offer double coupons, (day/time restrictions may apply), to help you get the deepest discount available! Most stores offer a discounted section in various departments in their store. Look for manager special’s, (often marked by a brightly colored sticker), in the produce, meat and dairy sections. Most meat can be frozen up to a year, eggs are good up to 5 weeks, cheese and yogurt are easily freezable, vegetables can be trimmed & cleaned of imperfections and frozen (in most cases), until needed. Dented vegetable cans, open boxes and discontinued items can usually be found as well. Open the dented can, inspect the goods and freeze. (I recently did this with corn and beans) Boxed goods can be transferred to air tight containers and zipper storage bags; be sure to include what the food is and how to prepare it. Most store sales are on a 12-week cycle, so bulk up on dry goods that you know you will use when they are on sale to save yourself money in the long run by not having to get it at regular price later. Most non-perishables last 3 months or more in the pantry, properly stored of course! Another way you can save before going to the store is checking out thegrocerygame.com; a popular website that matches coupons to advertised and unadvertised sales at your local store! Take the extra time to ‘like’ or follow your favorite brand on fb and twitter to get more savings and coupons! To save money the next time you want eat out, check out bulk/warehouse stores (Sam’s/Costco) for cut-rate gift cards on your favorite restaurant. Periodically, the restaurant gift cards will change, but you can save 20% or more by purchasing them there than you would somewhere else. Visit the restaurant website and sign up for their email and often times you can get special coupons that you can stack on top of the gift card to save even more! Check your receipt after eating out and you may find a coupon or discount for your next visit. At restaurant.com, put in your zip code or the restaurant’s zip code to find coupons for pennies on the dollar. In one instance a shopper purchased a $25 coupon (off a $35 meal) for only $10! They also offer a holiday season program, “Feed It Forward”, where you can send $10 gift certificates to your friends for free!