Friday in Hopkins County

Happy Friday everyone.  Be sure to keep one ear on the weather throughout the day; it could get ugly out there.  Just a last, quick post this morning to say a big THANKYOU to Ms. Tonya and the Hanson Elementary School Family Resource Center!  I had a great time talking with you all about coupons last night!  I even got a great tip from one attendee who says she purchases her meet in bulk, as in a whole cow!  I'd never thought about doing that, but I may have to make a visit to Hampton's soon! 

If you're not familiar with the Family Resource Centers in our county schools, well, I just have to say they are packed with amazing and wonderful individuals who care to their very core about our children and families!  If you haven't found a place to donate your Coupon for Change items, find the nearest Family Resource Center and start dropping off your donatables today!  Have a good weekend (and stay safe) everyone!

It's a Great Week to Save in Hopkins County!

Happy Wednesday y'all!  This starts a great week of savings in Hopkins County!  I love the Gimme $5 event Market Place has been running about once a month for the past several months.  The sale starting today has some really great deals so be sure to checkout the coupon matchup!  And don't miss the matchup for several good coupon deals at Food Giant and Sureway this week!  And I'm super happy to share another Coupon for Change list with you!  Oh yeah, today is a Double Coupon day at Kmart, too!  Enjoy!

Coupon Snob Recommends Comfort Baby Products

I tend to overlook baby deals since my kiddos were just finishing up the "pull-ups" phase last year as I began couponing.  It kind of feels like I've lost my baby shopping abilities now that I no longer have to stroll the diaper and formula ilses!  And oh how I wish I had been couponing for the past six years!  The money I could have saved on diapers alone!  Any hoo, if you have bambinos, you may want to check out a recent post from The Coupon Snob where she reviews the Comforts baby products from Kroger.  I never used them, but I like how she recommends them based on performance and price!  (I did try store-brand pullups a few times and never thought they were as good as the real thing).  And, I like even more that Kroger offers eCoupons for the Comforts Brand!

Are You Prepared for Mother Nature?

No one can better prepare for an emergency than a couponer can!  Right?  And all Hopkins Countians recall the ice storm of the century.   So, I am happy to recommend a blog post titled "Averting Disaster" by the uber-cute couple behind the blog Young House Love.  I hope their post will help and inspire you to get your Emergecy Plan started!

Happy Monday Morning

Happy President's Day, everybody!  It's starting out to be a good week!  First, I am slowly returning to the land of the living after fighting a head cold all last week!  And, Kroger is having week two of the Daytona 500 Mega Event.  And, Dollar General is having a save $5 day this Saturday; oh how I love that $5 off coupon!  And don't forget, we can double coupons on Wednesday and Saturday at Kmart!  Have a great week!

Would You Make Your Own Liquid Hand Soap?

I came across this very interesting photo on Pinterest and couldn't resist reading the blog post on How to Make Liquid Hand Soap from a Bar of Soap.  You can find this clever tutorial on The Famer's Nest blog.

Would you make your own liquid hand soap?  I'd seriously consider it if Dial doesn't release a coupon soon!  Last year, there were several 35-cent off coupons that coincided with a 10 for $10 sale at Kroger.  The coupon doubled making each liquid hand soap the low, low price of 30-cents.  I stocked up but my supply is dwindling!

So, it couldn't have been better timing to find this "make your own" tutorial.  I'm not about to pay $4.99 for a bar of any kind of soap so I'll have to try this with something more economical.  And I know the tutorial says you can find liquid glycerin just about anywhere, but we live in rural America so I'll believe it when I find it! 

QR Explained

Someone asked me recently about those little black and white boxes that are popping up in all sorts of places. 

Places like coupon inserts and advertisements. 

See the one there on the left, below the Treat Your Sweets picture?  Well, after a little googling, I have learned that those little black and white boxes are what you call a QR Code. 

QR Codes are "quick links" or "hot links" to web pages.  I read that scanning the code saves you the time it would take to type out the web address (I didn't say I thought it was completely locgical!).  I type pretty fast, so I think I could beat the QR Reader, but I still think these things are neat.  And I think we're going to see them popping up more and more often! 

It works like a barcode but you use your iPhone (or Android?)  instead of a cash register.  You'll need to find a QR Reader ap for your phone, I loaded a free one just to see how it worked.  Basically you open the QR Reader and hold it above the QR Code so that it "scans" the picture.  Then, as if by magic, your phone will pull up the webpage encrypted into the code.  I just gotta say I think it's a totally cool thing!  Of course, the big marketing firms are using the data as a marketing tool, but it's still really cool!  And the great thing is that you can scan it right off this computer screen (unless you're reading this on your phone!).  I have already scanned the above code a dozen times, but I tried it again just to be sure it will work and it did!  Have fun!

NBC: Teen Grabs Wheel, Saves School Bus

I know this isn't coupon related, but in this day and age, I like hearing about the good things people are doing.  I heard this story on the radio driving my daughter to school yesterday and I had to grab a tissue.  It's no secret, I get all emotional about "rescue 911" scenarios.

I want to introduce you to Graceann Rumor from Pennsylavnia.  She's seventeen, she's a high school student, and she's a hero.  Graceann steered her school bus to safety after the driver collapsed and the bus veered into on coming traffic.  I don't know if she's a super smart girl, if she has a fabulous moral fiber, or a really great driver's ed teacher; but that girl is a hero!  You can read all about it on NBC 10 Philadelphia. 

Congrats South Middle Dance & Cheer!

Just a quick Congratulations to South Middle Dance and Cheer squads for winning the competition today!  All of the performances were wonderful; great job!  I think my favorite part had to be seeing all of the squads come together in a sort of "flash mob" while the judges tallied the scores.  Kudos to the South Dad for fully supporting his "south" end of the county!

USPS: Stamps increase to 45-cents

It's not exactly a coupon thing, but you can save 20-cents per book if you purchase your stamps today instead of waiting until next week! 

That's right, postage rates will rise by one-cent tomorrow (1/22). 

I love the post office and the luxury of getting mail delivered to my house so I'm not upset by this 1-cent increase.  The last increase was in 2009, so the USPS should be way down on the list of things to complain about!

No Kid Hungry Picture and Quiz

While we're taking a look around the blog, I'd like to point out another new-ish addition I have made on the right side bar.  It's a magazine ad for No Kid Hungry that I saved from a magazine and scanned into the computer.  When I first saw the ad, the "Don't Ignore The Signs" slogan really made an impression on me.  It makes me think of the Back Pack Program which I have talked about before.  You can click the picture which should open the website in a new window.  You can also take the No Kid Hungry Quiz.  I got 3 out of 5 correct. 

Have you noticed the Labels list?

Since we're having a snow day and everyone is still asleep this morning, I wanted to take a sec to direct you to a new-ish feature on the Hopkins County Couponer: Labels.  I had been seeing labels or tags on other websites and blogs and for the life of me couldn't figure out how to add them to this blog.  Then, one day, while looking for another gadget to post, I saw "labels" in the list of choices.  I swear blogger just added it, because surely I hadn't been overlooking it all the other times!  Any hoo, I have added it to the left hand side, right below the "subscribe by email" box.  It's kind of like a quick search of things I commonly blog about. 

Labels, what are they?  In a nutshell, when I make a post about something I can assign a label to it.  I try to be specific when I assign the labels: store names, insert names, topics.  I also like seeing the number of posts that I've made for a specific topic or store.  As of this morning, I have made 5 posts and labeled them "Couponer's CAN".  If you click "Couponer's CAN" all of the items should be related to my favorite saying:  Couponer's CAN make a difference, one donation at at time. 

I just started adding Labels so my older posts are label-less.  But, if you want to find that post from last week about Kmart (or whatever), just click the Kmart label on the left and you'll get to a list of Kmart related posts!  You may also notice the "Random" label for all the posts that just don't fit in anywhere else!  And, for beginning couponers, you may want to take a look at "Know How".  This is a series of posts I made for a Couponing Workshop at the Southside Family Resource Center.  I hope you find labels helpful!

No School Friday, Hello Long Weekend

In case you didn't get the call, there is NO SCHOOL in Hopkins County Today!  Friday, January 13th.  Our first official Snow Day for the 2011-2012 school year and it is on Friday the 13th!  If that's not a sign to stay home, I just don't know what is!  If you have to get out and about today, please drive safely!

Check out the "Click-able" Sunday Coupon Preview List

I began couponing exactly a year ago this month.  So, I was a little curious about last year's coupons when I started seeing the 2012 Sunday Coupon Previews each week.  So, I went to Sunday Coupon Preview and realized that the yearly insert schedule is just a list and you can't click on the dates to go to the list of coupons.  Did that sentence make any sense?  To make a long story even longer, if you want to find a past list of coupons, you have to search the SCP website and it didn't make me very happy.

So, I have added a "tab" on the Hopkins County Couponer called "Insert Schedule" where you will find the 2012 list with "click-able" links that I plan to update as the information is available.  You can also use the 2011 Sunday Coupon Preview link to get to a "click-able" list of last year's coupons, which I'm also updating each week!  This is especially helpful if you're curious about coupon values from last year.  You'll hear from time to time that coupon values are decreasing because of TLC's Extreme Couponing.

If you're just getting started and you think you have to buy 10 newspapers this week to get that great toothpaste or cereal or makeup or whatever coupon, be sure to take a stroll through some of the 2011 coupon lists.  You'll begin to see the same coupons make appearances on a very regular basis.  You really don't need to buy 10 newspapers each week.  If it's a coupon you really like, try using a Coupon Clipping Service.  Just google "coupon clipping service" and you'll be bombarded with search results!  About 427,000 to be exact. 

I hope you'll find these lists as helpful as I do!

This year's schedule of inserts: 2012 Sunday Coupon Preview.
A look back at last year's coupons: 2011 Sunday Coupon Preview.

Got my Shutterfly order!

Remember my post earlier this week about the Shutterfly certificates I received in my kiddos school picture packets?  Well, I used both $20 certificates on Monday and received my prints in the mail yesterday (Thursday)!  I knew they would be glossy, which I'm not a big fan of for larger prints, but I think the print quality is just as good as the Lifetouch prints!  Getting the order in three days is just plain amazing!  If you got a certificate, don't let it expire!  I did have to do two checkouts to use both certificates, but it was worth it!

Did You Order Your Child's School Pictures?

Just a reminder, if you ordered your child's school pictures this past fall, you may have gotten a $20 credit to use online at Shutterfly.  I got a certificate in both of my kiddos packets!  Use it before you lose it, because the offer expires January 31st!  I've never used Shutterfly's service, so we'll see how it holds up!

I was able to use both $20 credits, but I had to do two separate checkouts for the discount to apply.  Each order totalled $2.64 after Tax and Shipping.  So, I can look forward to receiving a total of 4-8x10s, 4-5x7s, and 40-Wallets for the incredibly low price of $5.28!  Plus, I earned 50-free 4x6 prints for signing up with Shutterfly as a new customer!

The Case of The Missing Sale Ads

Just a quick post to ask if anyone else has noticed a lot of missing sale ads in the Sunday papers?  It's been weeks since I picked up a Sunday paper and found all of our local sale ads.  I always expect missing coupons and inserts, but I know the papers have had all of the sale ads in the past!  Yeah, I know I can view the ads online, but I guess I'm old fashioned.  I just need to actually flip the pages and circle things as I go.

Bounce Care Coupon Booklet

Be sure to request your $10 Bounce Care Coupon Booklet! 
Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery!

Have Trouble with Barcodes?

I came across two blog posts this week regarding issues we all have with our printable coupons printing without barcodes or with strange looking barcodes.  Check out what Cuckoo for Coupon Deals and Hip2Save have to say about these issues!  There is nothing more annoying than a coupon that prints without a barcode!  Am I right?

Stocking Up v. Hoarding

I think I had an epiphany this morning.  I realized there is a clear and defined difference between Stocking Up and Hoarding!  If you "stock up" on items that you and your family use, you are simply stocking up.  If you are purchasing items that you and your family will (most likely) never use, you are hoarding.  Now, if you won't allow anyone to touch the stock up items, you've crossed the line into hoarding! 

I guess I can consider myself a recovered hoarder.  In the beginning, I would purchase anything that was free/cheap.  A year later, I only purchase things my family can use or things I can donate or give away.  I started purging items a couple months ago and have managed to give away a great deal of things that I had hoarded.  There are still areas where I can do a little trimming, but for the most part, my stock consists of things we'll use.  Giving things away has been a very rewarding exercise for me, I highly recommend it!