How Do You Get Organized for Your Week of Deal Hunting?

[Anna Michele]

I usually write my list out on an envelope and put my coupons for those thing inside

I forgot i used to do this too before canada wide pming came into effect. I may have to do it again.


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[Silk]

You may find this site helpful, esp if you're looking for sales on specific grocery items:

www.salewhale.ca

Silk

[wimbly11]

Love Sale Whale

[sweet sparrow]

I find that after becoming a mom, finding useful tearpad coupons just doesn't happen unless you live in a city with under half a million people.

That and 10 PM shops are the new "normal" for the first year. In the second year, a good deal just isn't worth getting yourself out of the house for, and you start looking for "great deals. Even then, it has to be at a place that hands out raincheques because the shelf will likely be empty!

But if you have angel children who make it easy to shop, then none of this applies.

[jenniferandcorban]

I find that after becoming a mom, finding useful tearpad coupons just doesn't happen unless you live in a city with under half a million people.

That and 10 PM shops are the new "normal" for the first year. In the second year, a good deal just isn't worth getting yourself out of the house for, and you start looking for "great deals. Even then, it has to be at a place that hands out raincheques because the shelf will likely be empty!

But if you have angel children who make it easy to shop, then none of this applies.

That's where you join a coupon train...or start trading the ones you do get! My sister lives in a small town but they drive to bigger town 45 mins away that has everything! ! If I were her or you I would just hit up every store/walmart/ shop that has tear pads! Get as many as you can and then trade away the ones you won't use and get some you will!!! Then you have a stock pile for when you do make a big trip to stockpile, the groceries and the $!!!!

[sweet sparrow]

I think it all depends on the kind of baby you have. If your baby is having issues with weight gain and you need to BF every three hours or less, your chances aren't good. If your baby doesn't BF for the supposed 20 minutes it's supposed to take and actually hangs in there for 40 minutes, then change diaper, get baby dressed again, etc., that takes about an hour. Now you've got exactly two hours to get to the shops and get back before the baby's next feed. If it takes 15 minutes to get to one shop with coupons, that's minus 30 minutes. Now you have 1.5 hours left.

Wait, you need to get out of your mom clothes (pjs) and get dressed, maybe brush your hair and grab keys, phone, coupons, wallet, etc. Did you brush your teeth? Prep work, maybe 15 minutes, probably a lot more. Make sure DH knows where everything is before you run out the door. 1:15 remaining. Leave 15 minutes for checkout, if you're lucky, but probably 20 - 25 minutes in case you have a price check waiting to happen. Now it's down to less than an hour. Was there a traffic kerfluffle because you're a city dweller? Now it's way less than an hour.

Was there a list of things to buy instead of just getting coupons on the off chance that you might find something on that picked over board that someone might want? That coupon for $0.50 off Special K breakfast drink expiring in two months? Better grab four just in case. Of course there was that original shopping list you were meant to buy to feed your family of 3+. Run around grabbing produce, meat, dairy, essentials for the week, dodging carts, people, and obstacles. Where did the time go?

Arrive home 15 - 30 minutes late to find a frazzled and cranky DH with a baby that woke 30 minutes early, who's screaming her lungs out because Mommy dared to leave the house.

Now your next task is to find the time to scour the forums looking for coupon trains that you actually have matching WL items for from your collection of Metamucil, Vidal Sassoon styling products, and numerous processed foods. Get set up to BF LO in front of the computer screen. Didn't find any coupons that anyone else was looking for? Better luck next week!

Good luck typing out that trade list with LO asleep on your arm. If you can get around to doing a trade list, of course, after you did the laundry (for the family and yourself, then for baby), cooking (for the people on solid foods, and the baby who isn't), dishes, cleaning, and cleaning those cloth diapers. Oh yes, and you need to get proper sleep and shower too.

If you have any family around to look after the baby and a DH that's not working long distance for 12+ hours a day, I imagine it's a lot easier.

P.S. I don't think I've seen a coupon at WM in years!

P.P.S. This post wasn't in any way meant to be sarcastic towards anyone trying to be helpful, but there are some realities in new families that might not exist for other families - for instance, a baby that travels well!

***P.P.P.S. Ideally, you can get other moms who understand your situation and coupon and shop the deals for you and drop them off at your house. Return the favour when they become new moms and show them your shopping savvy.*** If you do find other couponing moms willing to do this for you, you've found your purple unicorn! Any couponers I knew would be way too far to do this for me.

[walkonby]

I think it all depends on the kind of baby you have. If your baby is having issues with weight gain and you need to BF every three hours or less, your chances aren't good. If your baby doesn't BF for the supposed 20 minutes it's supposed to take and actually hangs in there for 40 minutes, then change diaper, get baby dressed again, etc., that takes about an hour. Now you've got exactly two hours to get to the shops and get back before the baby's next feed. If it takes 15 minutes to get to one shop with coupons, that's minus 30 minutes. Now you have 1.5 hours left.

Wait, you need to get out of your mom clothes (pjs) and get dressed, maybe brush your hair and grab keys, phone, coupons, wallet, etc. Did you brush your teeth? Prep work, maybe 15 minutes, probably a lot more. Make sure DH knows where everything is before you run out the door. 1:15 remaining. Leave 15 minutes for checkout, if you're lucky, but probably 20 - 25 minutes in case you have a price check waiting to happen. Now it's down to less than an hour. Was there a traffic kerfluffle because you're a city dweller? Now it's way less than an hour.

Was there a list of things to buy instead of just getting coupons on the off chance that you might find something on that picked over board that someone might want? That coupon for $0.50 off Special K breakfast drink expiring in two months? Better grab four just in case. Of course there was that original shopping list you were meant to buy to feed your family of 3+. Run around grabbing produce, meat, dairy, essentials for the week, dodging carts, people, and obstacles. Where did the time go?

Arrive home 15 - 30 minutes late to find a frazzled and cranky DH with a baby that woke 30 minutes early, who's screaming her lungs out because Mommy dared to leave the house.

Now your next task is to find the time to scour the forums looking for coupon trains that you actually have matching WL items for from your collection of Metamucil, Vidal Sassoon styling products, and numerous processed foods. Get set up to BF LO in front of the computer screen. Didn't find any coupons that anyone else was looking for? Better luck next week!

Good luck typing out that trade list with LO asleep on your arm. If you can get around to doing a trade list, of course, after you did the laundry (for the family and yourself, then for baby), cooking (for the people on solid foods, and the baby who isn't), dishes, cleaning, and cleaning those cloth diapers. Oh yes, and you need to get proper sleep and shower too.

If you have any family around to look after the baby and a DH that's not working long distance for 12+ hours a day, I imagine it's a lot easier.

P.S. I don't think I've seen a coupon at WM in years!

P.P.S. This post wasn't in any way meant to be sarcastic towards anyone trying to be helpful, but there are some realities in new families that might not exist for other families - for instance, a baby that travels well!

***P.P.P.S. Ideally, you can get other moms who understand your situation and coupon and shop the deals for you and drop them off at your house. Return the favour when they become new moms and show them your shopping savvy.*** If you do find other couponing moms willing to do this for you, you've found your purple unicorn! Any couponers I knew would be way too far to do this for me.

I am chiming in and being a cheerleader for your honesty @sweet sparrow !! I never even knew much about couponing when I had my kids, mind you I was a FT working Mom and I did BF all 3 of the kids. Trying to imagine myself finding any extra time to research sales or finding and then applying coupons.....ha ha! Nope I would not have done it. Plus I did not drive back then so DH got the lot of us to and from the stores.
I know there may be parents that have things now that I did not ( computers, cell phones, great family support ) at the time, but you Mom's and Dad's that can navigate it all to get the great savings with PM-ing, sales, and coupons I applaud you all. It cannot be easy shopping with kids and trying to keep your concentration straight about what you went to the store for.
Sorry wimbly, hijacked the thread momentarily, ha ha carry on!!

[wimbly11]

I think it all depends on the kind of baby you have. If your baby is having issues with weight gain and you need to BF every three hours or less, your chances aren't good. If your baby doesn't BF for the supposed 20 minutes it's supposed to take and actually hangs in there for 40 minutes, then change diaper, get baby dressed again, etc., that takes about an hour. Now you've got exactly two hours to get to the shops and get back before the baby's next feed. If it takes 15 minutes to get to one shop with coupons, that's minus 30 minutes. Now you have 1.5 hours left.

Wait, you need to get out of your mom clothes (pjs) and get dressed, maybe brush your hair and grab keys, phone, coupons, wallet, etc. Did you brush your teeth? Prep work, maybe 15 minutes, probably a lot more. Make sure DH knows where everything is before you run out the door. 1:15 remaining. Leave 15 minutes for checkout, if you're lucky, but probably 20 - 25 minutes in case you have a price check waiting to happen. Now it's down to less than an hour. Was there a traffic kerfluffle because you're a city dweller? Now it's way less than an hour.

Was there a list of things to buy instead of just getting coupons on the off chance that you might find something on that picked over board that someone might want? That coupon for $0.50 off Special K breakfast drink expiring in two months? Better grab four just in case. Of course there was that original shopping list you were meant to buy to feed your family of 3+. Run around grabbing produce, meat, dairy, essentials for the week, dodging carts, people, and obstacles. Where did the time go?

Arrive home 15 - 30 minutes late to find a frazzled and cranky DH with a baby that woke 30 minutes early, who's screaming her lungs out because Mommy dared to leave the house.

Now your next task is to find the time to scour the forums looking for coupon trains that you actually have matching WL items for from your collection of Metamucil, Vidal Sassoon styling products, and numerous processed foods. Get set up to BF LO in front of the computer screen. Didn't find any coupons that anyone else was looking for? Better luck next week!

Good luck typing out that trade list with LO asleep on your arm. If you can get around to doing a trade list, of course, after you did the laundry (for the family and yourself, then for baby), cooking (for the people on solid foods, and the baby who isn't), dishes, cleaning, and cleaning those cloth diapers. Oh yes, and you need to get proper sleep and shower too.

If you have any family around to look after the baby and a DH that's not working long distance for 12+ hours a day, I imagine it's a lot easier.

P.S. I don't think I've seen a coupon at WM in years!

P.P.S. This post wasn't in any way meant to be sarcastic towards anyone trying to be helpful, but there are some realities in new families that might not exist for other families - for instance, a baby that travels well!

***P.P.P.S. Ideally, you can get other moms who understand your situation and coupon and shop the deals for you and drop them off at your house. Return the favour when they become new moms and show them your shopping savvy.*** If you do find other couponing moms willing to do this for you, you've found your purple unicorn! Any couponers I knew would be way too far to do this for me.

Oh I know what you mean! Now that Maddie is pushing 8 months, things are a little easier, and is why I'm able to find sometime to get back into this. Months ago, wouldn't be happening!! lol

[sweet sparrow]

Oh I know what you mean! Now that Maddie is pushing 8 months, things are a little easier, and is why I'm able to find sometime to get back into this. Months ago, wouldn't be happening!! lol

I only meant that you shouldn't beat yourself up over missing a deal here and there. You probably save more money with the LO making you stay home.

Eight months is pretty good! I think I described every weekend of LO's life until she was 14 months and I know several parents who had it much worse!

[wimbly11]

True, I am trying And I do think about that, days I don't drive DH into work and have the car (one care family) are days I stay home and spend nothing! Score!! lol I've been pretty focused on deal hunting, saving and debt repayment because we are on a mission to become debt free to have a better life for our family. I also REALLY want to be a stay at home mom, but with our debt that isn't possible. I'm hoping if we can eliminate it, perhaps I can stay home, or even find a position where I can work from home!

[GoddessDigi]

I got lucky with DD-
Zellers was still around, and until she was 9months, we lived literally next door. So, fed her, put her in the stroller, and I could PM and coupon, and hopefully back in the house with her before we needed another feed/changing.
Then, with DS and DD, either my MIL would come to our house and watch the kids while FIL drove us (DH didn't start driving until DS was a bit over a year), or we'd put DD in the stroller, DS in the carrier, and walk to WalMart (but DH was off on Friday's, back when flyers started on Friday's....lol).
Was hard...
So grateful for a car and now the kids are older. DS actually CRIES now on days we DON'T shop (very rare for us NOT to go out, even if it's just to walk around).

[frugallegemom]

You can do it! I got separated when I was 8 months pregnant with DS2 and had no car. He was, really clingy, really short-tempered (still is lol) and exclusively BF'd and I was a single mom since day one of his life... it was hard (especially with no family or close friends to help) but I trudged through it with no breaks. Still got things done I wanted to do or just needed to do.

Unless you don't have transit near by, don't let not having a car during the week stop you. Just take the bus or walk. It is great exercise walking around. The fresh air is great for little ones, as is the stimulation of seeing different sights everyday and it'd be good for you to have conversations with people... staying at home is a blessing but it can be isolating. Also if you plan your trips around nap times, they will probably sleep in the stroller. Especially if you ever go clothes shopping... so much more fun trying on clothes when baby is sleeping than it is when baby/tot is fussing in the change room.

I call my stroller the "grocery getter" - really can fit a lot of good stuff in the basket, bags tied to the handle and then a backpack... I do it all the time. I also have a bike trailer - indispensible. I get excercise, LO has fun biking with mom, oldest one has fun biking with mom and it fits a LOT of groceries in the back. I sometimes leave both the kids with dad now and just bike to the grocery store in she spring through fall... fits as much as a car's trunk does. Now that DS2 is a little older and we have a No Frills down the street, I sometimes let him walk there and bring a "granny cart" for my groceries. It gives him exercise... it's a short walk for me but his legs are barely as long as my arms so it's long for him and tuckers him out for me (yay! lol).

When youngest was 1.5 and younger (he is 2 going on 3 now), his sling, side carrier and backpack carrier were my friends. Left hands free to sweep, mop, do dishes, vacuum, use the computer while he slept or breastfed etc. Or I'd use his stroller in the house and rock him with one foot lol.

As for planning shops, I'd do them in chunks. Use price matching and rebate apps one day, mark up flyers the next, shop on another day etc. Who says you have to do it all at once? They say you eat an elephant one bite at a time...

Just do what you can. Get used to doing that. Then do a little more. It can be overwhelming at first just getting started but it won't always be. Eventually, you might find you don't rely so much on some systems and lists because you know deals better and prices just become second nature so you will know a deal when you see it or get faster at managing your coupons/apps because you get better at using them and it won't seem so hard. That just takes time. Personally, I bring my coupons everywhere most of the time. DS2 still uses a stroller so I just have my coupon binder strapped to the stroller. I see a price I like, I find my coupons and I buy it... no planning required!

If you're not so lucky as to have a grocery store near you - taking a taxi can still be cheaper in the long run - especially if your shops are well planned and your coupons and rebates align. Of course, this depends on how far away the store is and on how much money you've saved by PMing, using coupons and getting rebates. I only do this if I know I am still coming out way on top.

As for not finding tear pad coupons, join FB groups and trade. There's a great one I'm a member of - they don't trade coupons there, members there give them away in draws called "RACKS" or they do SASE's (self addressed stamped envelopes), or they match you up with a coupon buddy that has different stores than you do so you guys can swap together. I've gotten/get some very good ones for free there. I also give my surpluses away there since it's a really generous group. Also trading - one man's junk is another's treasure.

Just like how you eat that elephant above - you don't need to write off your trade list all at once. If anyone has seen mine, they'd know it's extensive! There is NO WAY I put that together in one stint! Ha, ha. I just added a few at a time until it was done. Now I only need to add or remove new ones/things I traded or expired and it takes much less time to do that.

And don't think you have to be the best couponer in the world getting the best deals and having the best shops ever! Whatever you do in the way of using coupons, using rebates, price matching or taking advantage of sales is saving money. It's not a competition. Don't stress about it. It should be fun even if it is something you need to do to save money.

[Anna Michele]

You can do it! I got separated when I was 8 months pregnant with DS2 and had no car. He was, really clingy, really short-tempered (still is lol) and exclusively BF'd and I was a single mom since day one of his life... it was hard (especially with no family or close friends to help) but I trudged through it with no breaks. Still got things done I wanted to do or just needed to do.

Unless you don't have transit near by, don't let not having a car during the week stop you. Just take the bus or walk. It is great exercise walking around. The fresh air is great for little ones, as is the stimulation of seeing different sights everyday and it'd be good for you to have conversations with people... staying at home is a blessing but it can be isolating. Also if you plan your trips around nap times, they will probably sleep in the stroller. Especially if you ever go clothes shopping... so much more fun trying on clothes when baby is sleeping than it is when baby/tot is fussing in the change room.

I call my stroller the "grocery getter" - really can fit a lot of good stuff in the basket, bags tied to the handle and then a backpack... I do it all the time. I also have a bike trailer - indispensible. I get excercise, LO has fun biking with mom, oldest one has fun biking with mom and it fits a LOT of groceries in the back. I sometimes leave both the kids with dad now and just bike to the grocery store in she spring through fall... fits as much as a car's trunk does. Now that DS2 is a little older and we have a No Frills down the street, I sometimes let him walk there and bring a "granny cart" for my groceries. It gives him exercise... it's a short walk for me but his legs are barely as long as my arms so it's long for him and tuckers him out for me (yay! lol).

When youngest was 1.5 and younger (he is 2 going on 3 now), his sling, side carrier and backpack carrier were my friends. Left hands free to sweep, mop, do dishes, vacuum, use the computer while he slept or breastfed etc. Or I'd use his stroller in the house and rock him with one foot lol.

As for planning shops, I'd do them in chunks. Use price matching and rebate apps one day, mark up flyers the next, shop on another day etc. Who says you have to do it all at once? They say you eat an elephant one bite at a time...

Just do what you can. Get used to doing that. Then do a little more. It can be overwhelming at first just getting started but it won't always be. Eventually, you might find you don't rely so much on some systems and lists because you know deals better and prices just become second nature so you will know a deal when you see it or get faster at managing your coupons/apps because you get better at using them and it won't seem so hard. That just takes time. Personally, I bring my coupons everywhere most of the time. DS2 still uses a stroller so I just have my coupon binder strapped to the stroller. I see a price I like, I find my coupons and I buy it... no planning required!

If you're not so lucky as to have a grocery store near you - taking a taxi can still be cheaper in the long run - especially if your shops are well planned and your coupons and rebates align. Of course, this depends on how far away the store is and on how much money you've saved by PMing, using coupons and getting rebates. I only do this if I know I am still coming out way on top.

As for not finding tear pad coupons, join FB groups and trade. There's a great one I'm a member of - they don't trade coupons there, members there give them away in draws called "RACKS" or they do SASE's (self addressed stamped envelopes), or they match you up with a coupon buddy that has different stores than you do so you guys can swap together. I've gotten/get some very good ones for free there. I also give my surpluses away there since it's a really generous group. Also trading - one man's junk is another's treasure.

Just like how you eat that elephant above - you don't need to write off your trade list all at once. If anyone has seen mine, they'd know it's extensive! There is NO WAY I put that together in one stint! Ha, ha. I just added a few at a time until it was done. Now I only need to add or remove new ones/things I traded or expired and it takes much less time to do that.

And don't think you have to be the best couponer in the world getting the best deals and having the best shops ever! Whatever you do in the way of using coupons, using rebates, price matching or taking advantage of sales is saving money. It's not a competition. Don't stress about it. It should be fun even if it is something you need to do to save money.

Very well said and lots of great tips thanks

Sent from my SM-G730W8 using Tapatalk

[wimbly11]

Great tips We're in the country, so no public transit and anything nearby to walk to for me unfortunately. So I plan my trips to town accordingly! But I'm slowing getting back into it, using nap time to browse flyers and make lists, organize coupons, update the budget, etc.

[KDivers]

I check out Smartcanuks!