Atlanta Al "The Crazy Coupon Dad"

Thank you Shari Baker!!!!

2010-03-21T18:53:00.000-04:00

Shari,

Thank you for helping me get 24 free cheeses from Kroger yesterday! Shari called me on Friday evening excited about a Kraft "blinkie" coupon. There was a Save $2 on 2 Kraft Cheeses. So, yesterday while on errands, we stopped by a few Publix grocery stores collecting some of these coupons. With Kroger's March Madness sale, if you purchased 8 cheeses, they were .99 each. With the coupon save $2 off with purchase of 2 cheeses, we loaded up! I don't think we'll need cheese for a long time, it freezes really well!

Thanks for passing along the Thrifty deal Shari. Yes, it is a rush when you get a deal like this.....

Alan

March Madness Thank you Kroger!! .19 each

2010-03-21T18:47:00.002-04:00

Chocolate Cheerios!!!! Free Box Received with over $20 in coupons!

2010-03-06T07:52:00.000-05:00

Chocolate Cheerios

NEW! Chocolate Cheerios cereal is a perfect balance of the whole grain goodness of Cheerios and delicious chocolate taste

Chocolate Cheerios is made with real cocoa and is a heart-healthy choice for your whole family.

Find it in the cereal aisle next to other great-tasting Cheerios varieties.

A touch of delicious chocolate taste in every bite!

Great Article from the Wall Street Journal

2010-02-14T22:05:00.000-05:00

Doing the Math on Coupons

Brett Arends

Thursday, February 11, 2010 Buzz up!249 votes

More from

Coupons Gain New Market on Cellphones

at WSJ.com

Coupons Are Hot. Clipping Is Not.

at WSJ.com

Inside the New World of Airline Coupons

at WSJ.com

This article is part of a series related to being Financially Fit

They're back in fashion, with good reason: An hour spent cutting and clipping can yield about $100 in savings.

Clipping coupons hardly sounds like the subject of high finance -- or even medium finance.

Save a dollar on cat food, some detergent or a couple of boxes of cereal. Who can be bothered? Who has the time?

A growing number of people, it turns out. And they're shrewder than it may at first appear.

The Great American Coupon is making a big comeback -- thanks to the Great American Recession.

We redeemed some 3.3 billion coupons last year -- a remarkable 27 percent leap from 2008, and the first year-on-year increase in 17 years, according to a report issued at the end of January by Inmar, a coupon-processing agent. (Online coupon use skyrocketed -- companies issued twice as many as in 2008, but redemptions rose 360 percent.) The big upturn took off in October 2008, just after Lehman went belly up.

At first blush you can see why coupons fell out of fashion for so long -- and why so many consumers still ignore them.

You have to make time to visit a coupon Web site or collect the flyers from your mailbox, the supermarket or newspaper inserts. You need to sort through to find the ones you want, cut them out, stick them in your purse or wallet -- and remember to use them when you are at the cash register and you are trying to remember whether you bought everything on your shopping list and where you parked the car.

Average saving per coupon: Just $1.44, according to the Inmar report.

But let's treat this low finance topic for a moment the way we treat high finance. Let's subject it to the same math.

How long does it actually take to clip and use a coupon? Certainly the more you use, the less overall time you will spend per coupon, because so many of the costs -- getting flyers, sorting coupons and so on -- are generalized. Let's assume you spend a minute per coupon.

Saving $1.44 for a minute's effort is the equivalent of saving $14.40 for 10 minutes'.

Hourly rate: $86.40.

Maybe this would be as good a time as any to point out that the typical American working stiff -- those lucky enough to have jobs right now -- climbs out of bed each morning, goes through the miseries of commuting and endures the daily grind at the workplace for about $20 an hour.

Furthermore, money saved comes with an additional benefit. Unlike the money you earn at work, it is tax free. No payroll taxes. No federal or state income tax.

If your marginal tax rate were, say, 20 percent, you would have to earn $108 before tax to take home $86.40. If your marginal tax rate were 30 percent, you'd have to earn $123.

Very few of us ever do this kind of math, because we tend to treat low finance differently from high finance, and small sums differently from big ones. No wonder, even today, 99 percent of coupons are thrown away unused.

Yet finance isn't a separate topic from the rest of our personal lives. For all of us, our scarcest resource is time. Putting the right value on it, and putting it to the most productive use, is a financial challenge, as well as a personal one.

And the individual amounts of money may seem small, but they prove the old adage about tiny acorns and mighty oaks. Someone who saves $25 a week will save $100 a month, and $1,200 a year. Over a lifetime that can easily grow to $100,000 or more -- even after accounting for inflation.

If motivation is an issue, the next time you find yourself facing a stack of coupon booklets and flyers don't ask yourself if you can be bothered. Try asking yourself if you'd like to earn more than $100 an hour for a job you can do, at home, while sitting on the sofa watching TV.

It is going to be a Heluva Superbowl

2010-02-07T17:29:00.000-05:00

I was thrilled that Publix had Heluva Dips at $1 each. With the .50 coupon being doubled, I purchased two dips for free! The cashier yesterday looked at me in disbelief that I paid only $5.61 for two 32 ounces of College Inn Broth, two packs of Spearmint Orbit gum, two dips, and two packages of bacon. Total Savings $17.54!!!!!! I think it is going to be a great game!!!!

Welcome Brookstone II readers

2010-02-07T17:22:00.002-05:00

Kimberly,

Thanks for the great article in the Brookstone II newsletter. I hope to meet some great new friends and neighbors in the Brookstone II area. I hope we can save some money together and have fun!

Kroger!!!!!!

2010-01-30T22:15:00.000-05:00

I am very annoyed and irritated at Kroger. They changed their coupon policy without notice. So for those of you that go, be prepared to only be allowed to use two internet printed coupons, and no Publix competitor coupons! Bummer for them, I will just go to Publix now.

Back with a Vengeance! With over 73% saved!

2010-01-15T21:36:00.000-05:00

What I love about this week, is that everyone wins!

The Dogs now benefit from couponing with their treats!

The Girls get to snack on their favorite goldfish flavors and granola bars that were $1 each!

Jennifer gets to eat soup for lunch at school with buy one get one free Progresso!

And Al can even take out the trash indefinitely for the year!

And oh by the way, if you need a cough drop for your cold, swing on by, we've got you covered! The cough drops were all free!

Regular Retail Price 1.99 Atlanta Al "The Crazy Coupon Dad" Price .74!!!

2010-01-04T20:50:00.000-05:00

And Jen gets to do the dishes!!!! I purchased 3 Sunday papers this weekend and had the fourth as part of home delivery. In this week's Walgreens Ad, there was a coupon for .99 cents for the Palmolive. I stacked the store coupon with a manufacturers coupon and paid .74 each. I saved 64% on the detergent and will make sure that Jennifer has soft hands! Win Win! Just kidding Jen, I will make sure I do my share of the dishes too!

What Can you do with all of the couponing cereal?

2010-01-01T18:57:00.002-05:00

You can make "Al's What Can I Find in the Pantry Snack Mix" to enjoy while watching football! Beats stirring chex mix every 15 minutes in the oven! What snack mix can you create from your pantry?

What I appreciate!

2010-01-01T17:41:00.000-05:00

I very much appreciate individuals like the creators of http://www.iheartpublix.com/ or http://www.savingyourcents.net/, and http://www.couponingtodisney.com/. These three individuals have helped change my grocery shopping habits! I may even be one of their only male readers, but I am so happy to follow their guidance and advice.

Thanks ladies and Happy New Year 2010!

A Featured Article

2009-12-30T15:56:00.002-05:00

In the very near future, I will be sharing couponing tricks and techniques in our local neighborhood newsletter. Looking forward to sharing new ideas and making new friends in the neighborhood.

Al

All of the Betty Crockers were free!!!!

2009-12-26T14:08:00.000-05:00

I lived off of Black Beans in South America! Funny how I still like them after eating them at every single meal. What I liked about this transaction was that the Green Beans ended up being really cheap. My daughter calls them "Metal Beans".

A couple of great shopping trips!

2009-12-26T13:54:00.009-05:00

Wandered down the aisles of Publix and found some additional great deals today! I even gave away some other cookies for the girls' piano teacher and to the bagger and cashier of my order that are not pictured! Each green package has a total of 24 cookies per pack and can be frozen up to 2 months after the expiration date. What I also love is that there a box tops for education, so my daughter's elementary school also will benefit from this transaction.

A Wonderful West Coast Site

2009-12-15T22:16:00.002-05:00

I have been very fortunate to gain information from this website. Athriftymom.com. Check it out if you live on the west coast!

I saved over 70% before 8:00 AM with this shopping spree

2009-12-14T21:12:00.000-05:00

Another Publix Run this evening! Spent $12.81 Saved $31.54!!!

2009-12-14T21:09:00.000-05:00

Spent $26.23 Saved 44.58!!!! Publix is the best!

2009-12-14T21:06:00.000-05:00

Welcome to My Blog

2009-12-13T21:02:00.002-05:00

Welcome to The Crazy Coupon Dad's Website!!! I hope I can help you save some money and I hope you can help me save some too!

Buy your Sunday Papers so we can get started. This past weekend, I purchased three papers and had one delivered to the house. Tomorrow I start the adventure by going to Publix!