Shopping at Farmer's

Why I like Farmer's

Sadly, we do not have some of the awesome stores that I read a lot of the bloggers using for their couponing. We used to have a Harris Teeter in Hupps Mill (anyone a member of the cookie club when he or she was a kid?), and there used to be a Kroger in Danville, but no longer. The closest Kroger is in Martinsville. I find this very unfortunate, because if you combined some of Kroger's 10/10 deals with coupons, and the fact that Kroger doubles coupons...well it would have been nice.

However, we do have a Farmer's Foods. There is one in Hupps Mill (where Harris Teeter and the cookie club used to be years ago!) and I know there is one in Danville because we drove by it the other day, but I can't remember where exactly.

Farmer's is great because they double coupons up to a dollar. So, a coupon for fifty cents off a product will magically become one dollar off. A coupon for seventy-five cents becomes a dollar off as well. Now, all of Farmer's prices aren't comparable to Walmart; many things are cheaper at Walmart, except for what's on sale.

I had a GREAT shopping trip at Farmer's last week. They were running a promotion on General Mills products (Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Green Giant, Pillsbury). Once you spent $25 on select products, you received $10 coupon off your next order.  Most of the products on the list were things I buy anyway, AND things I had coupons for. My initial price was $56, and then with coupons, it went down to $30. After that, I received the $10 off, so my out of pocket cost was thirty dollars, but overall, it cost me only 20. Here is what I got:



I didn't save my receipt, so I can't go through all of the deals with you sadly, but here is one example:
The Totino's pizza rolls were on sale for 2.99 each. At Walmart, they are a little over $3 each regular price. I had a coupon for 40 cents off of two, but since I was at Farmer's, it was really 80 cents. I got both bags for 5.20, and then that five dollars went towards my 25 dollar total. I actually overspent by about three dollars because I would have made my twenty-five dollar quota without the brownie mix. I didn't have a coupon for that, but it was on sale for 1.29, which is a good price, and I didn't want to come up short and miss the $10 back promotion, which would have ruined the whole deal. I like to keep cake mixes on hand anyway to surprise my students, or in case we get invited to something and I need to take a dessert. Or you know, in case we want to eat brownies, because they are delicious.

Soup's On at Farmer's This Week!
I got the sale paper today, and nothing is super exciting for me, except that the Campbell's Select Harvest soups are on sale for 1.29. This is about thirty cents cheaper than Walmart, and I have a lot of soup coupons because we eat a lot of soup, and it's canned, so it keeps for a while.

The best coupon I have for that is a fifty cents off two coupon, which will double to a dollar at Farmer's. So, I will get two cans for 1.58, or .79 each, which is a great deal considering they are usually 1.50 at Walmart. I have a few more coupons with one dollar off three, etc. The one dollar off three coupons will make them 2.87 for three, and .95 each. Another coupon has 1.50 off of three cans, which would make them 2.37 for the three, and .79 each. If I use all three of these coupons, I can get eight cans of soup for 6.82.

But wait, there's more! I still have the $10 off coupon from last week, so I would get all eight cans of soup for ZERO out of pocket.

Too much math? Tell me about it, and I'm an English major! But that's a good example of how combining coupon policies with sales can really save you money.

Other deals...
They have the Starkist 5.5 0z cans with vegetables and peppers on sale for 1.29, and if you get the Sunday paper, there was a coupon for fifty cents off any one can. Double this at Farmer's, and I can try it out for .29.
Pasta and Rice a Roni 10/$10 (I REALLY want to find a coupon for this one, but no luck yet!)
Pet Ice Cream   $2.50 each, plus 1.00 off coupon from Sunday paper, would make it 1.50
Quaker Instant Oatmeal 2.50 each (you may have a coupon for this, but I don't seem to have one)
Emerald Breakfast to go: 2.79 plus there is a coupon on redplum.com for 1.10 off, making it 1.69
Various cereals (Capn Crunch, Honey Grahams, etc) 2.50 each
Hanover pretzels $1.25
Aunt Jemima Pancakes 2.50
Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce: 10/$10


More good things about Farmer's...

You do need a card to get the deals, but you don't have to fill out a single form. You just say, I would like a card, and they hand one to you. The store also has the Smart Source coupon machines throughout the store for additional coupons, which is exciting. The one in Hupps Mill has a CVS in the same shopping center, so you can do your couponing in one stop. AND, Farmer's has a Redbox machine, which I love on movie night. You cannot beat one dollar a night, and often there are codes for a free movie.

In fact, Wednesday night I see a nice cozy dinner of hot soup and a good movie! Dinner for two and a movie for one dollar out of pocket!

Good luck, and happy saving! :)

Couponing 101

A very brief lesson on couponing

Coupons are great, and they will save you money however you use them, as long as you use them to purchase foods and items you use. Spending two dollars and using a coupon for a dollar off doesn't really save you money if the item collects dust for three months because you don't like the product.

If you want to save LOTS of money by couponing, it will take a little research. As I get older, I realize that nothing is ever truly free, and anything worth having or doing takes a bit of work. The way the people on television saves lots of money is by combining coupons with in store deals and other benefits. You have to be on your toes to do this correctly because you have to know whether the milk on sale at Food Lion is cheaper than WalMart's regular price. You will also need to organize your coupons and take some time to find, clip, and organize them. You also cannot go to just one store and buy all of your items if you want to take maximum advantage of the sales because different stores have different prices, sales, and coupon policies.

For example, I have a 50 cents off coupon for Cambell's Chunky soup. The canned soup is on sale, let's pretend, at Farmer's Foods for 1.50 a can. That is the same price as it is at Walmart, but I'm still going to buy it at Farmer's. Why? Because Farmer's doubles coupons up to $1, so my 50 cent coupon is worth a dollar at Farmer's, and only half that at Walmart.

Ideally, to really save money over time, you will also need a place to stockpile your stuff. If you find a deal where you can get deodorant for a quarter, then you will want to buy enough to use until you can find another great sale (usually six months to a year). You can also use your stockpile to donate to canned food drives, etc. Though you won't need this in the beginning, eventually you'll want to to maximize your savings.

Some stores have other great benefits: Register Rewards (Walgreens) and Extra Care Bucks (CVS). These items will give you a coupon for a certain amount of money off your next purchase, and you can use that money on anything. Plus, you can still use coupons!

For example, CVS was running a deal on tampons. A package of them was 6.79, but you received 6.79 in Extra Care Bucks to use on your next order. However, I also had a coupon for $1 off those same tampons, so I only had to pay 5.79 for them, thus getting free tampons and a giftcard for a dollar more than I paid for them. They, in effect, paid me $1 to take the tampons out of the store.

Where do I find coupons?
The best place is the Sunday paper. Other places include http://www.coupons.com/, http://www.redplum.com/, http://www.smartsource.com/, All You magazine (available at Walmart), and the websites of various products. I really like the Betty Crocker website. Sometimes you can find coupons actually on the products (called peelies) that you can use on your next purchase, or on this one.

How do I organize my coupons?

There are several ways to organize your coupons, and really anything that keeps them together for you would constitute as an organization system. Some of the coupons websites I frequent suggest buying a binder and those protective sleeves people use for baseball cards. I had an empty photo album around the house, so I use that, because it was free.


My friend Courtney uses one of the small expandable file things that are made for coupons and organizes hers that way. Other people use an envelope.

I like to keep everything in the binder and then pull the coupons and put them into a plastic baggie when I plan out a shopping trip.

So, why do stores give things away for free? Is couponing ethical?

I am adding this because whenever I read posts or YouTube videos by couponers, I see a lot critical responses and questions on this topic.

No one really loses from couponing. Most of the coupons are manufacturer coupons. A big company, like say, Betty Crocker, decides to put out coupons to increase sales or promote an item. They only release so many coupons, so they have already budgeted to reimburse retail stores, say, one million dollars from one million coupons. So the big company do not lose anything. In fact, the coupons have enticed shoppers to buy a product, a product the company probably still made some money on, and a product the consumer may buy again at a later date.

The retail companies, like WalMart, Food Lion, etc, do not lose from coupons because the company, like Betty Crocker, reimburses them for the coupon, plus eight cents processing fee. Even if I took one thousand dollars worth of coupons to WalMart, it doesn't hurt WalMart because Betty Crocker will pay them back, and Betty Crocker had already budgeted to spend this money.

The people on Extreme Couponing order multiple Sunday papers, get papers from family members, and go through the recycling bin to get multiples of coupons. They are only using coupons that other people wouldn't use anyway, because remember there is a limited number of any coupon.

Helping Others...

There are many things you can do with your stockpile and excess items to help others. You can donate to any type of homeless shelter, women's shelter, disaster relief, canned food drive, etc. Many animal shelters need litter, food, and treats, all of which can be purchased with coupons. You can send care packages overseas to our soldiers through Adopt a Soldier programs. You can also mail your expired coupons to military bases, where they can use expired coupons for up to six months. I am going to start stocking up on toothbrushes and toothpaste to put in my Operation Christmas Child boxes this year.

Learning from the masters...

I am such a coupon novice. I started this blog to let people know about deals in the area, but I felt I needed to added a tutorial for those who are also new to couponing. To learn more, check out some of my favorite websites, and feel free to share yours!


The Krazy Coupon Lady
A Frugal Chick
Southern Savers
My Coupon Teacher

I suppose this didn't seem so brief, but I read a lot of blogs, websites, and watched many YouTube videos to give you that overview. My Coupon Teacher has a great step by step plan to learn how to coupon, and The Krazy Coupon Lady website gives you more specific information about individual store's policies.

Good luck, and happy saving!