While I was out and about shuttling kiddos to and from sporting practices today, I stopped at OFFIC DEPOT to pick up on some of their fabulous deals for Back-to-School supplies this week!



Here's the deals I grabbed today:

I came across this article and thought I would share it with my readers.  Deborah reviews the coupon policies and rules for 3 of the major crafting stores and explains the best way to maximize your savings using multiple coupons per transaction.  YES!  Coupons can even save you money on your crafting hobbies too!!!

Frugal Crafter: Coupon Tips for the Craft Store Triumvirate

I was very happy to learn that Michaels has recently improved its coupon policies, so I thought I'd review the policies of the Craft Store Triumvirate (Michaels, JoAnn Fabric & Crafts, and Hobby Lobby) and share my findings with y'all!
I interviewed managers from three local B&M's ("Brick & Mortar"= physical store). I was told these policies below are corporate-wide and should apply nation-wide, but if your local store disagrees, contact the corporate HQ and see what's up.
Michaels & JoAnn Fabric & CraftsSince these two stores now have almost identical policies, I've combined them with exceptions listed in red.
Accepted coupons. Michaels, JoAnn Fabric & Crafts, Hobby Lobby.
Accepted format. Print media, Internet download, smart phone, store-issued.
Frequency. One uniquely-barcoded coupon per competitor per day per customer.

Read More...via Frugal Crafter: Coupon Tips for the Craft Store Triumvirate - Society of Stampaholics:

To really save money with coupons, you have to change your way of thinking about coupons and how you shop.  Clipping a few coupons here and there off of the things that you want to buy will not net you very much of a savings. In fact, I would say that it isn't hardly worth the effort.  Instead, what I will tell you to do is rethink how you purchase the weekly items for your family.  You should be planning your weekly shopping and purchasing from only the things on sale and with a coupon and buy LOTS of it. Not as a hoarder, but to have a pantry stockpile of usable items for your family that were purchased at the lowest possible price so you don't have to pay full price if you happen to run out of an item before the next time it goes on sale.  For example, if you found a fantastic deal on shampoo and only bought one or two and then needed to purchase more at full cost or without a coupon because you ran out.  What have you really saved? 
Read more...

EXTREME Couponing Tip:

You will want multiple coupons to use when a product is at a rock bottom price. I recommend investing in multiple copies of the Sunday paper when it's a good coupon insert week. I personally purchase 7 papers (1 for each member of my family, living in my home) and sometimes up to 10 papers. At first, I thought it was crazy to spend money to save money, but I have cut our family grocery budget down to 50% of what we used to spend! (That includes deducting the extra for additional Sunday papers!) Some weeks I will save upwards of 75%! THAT is a worth while investment!

My biggest pet peeve with the newest surge of "extreme" couponers out there now is that shelves are totally cleared of products on day one of the sales!!! DON'T be that person!!!  Purchase enough for YOUR immediate family and short term needs. There is no reason to have 80 tubes of toothpaste or 40 boxes of Kellogg's!

(Tip:  If you do happen to "need" that many, get to know your store's manager and arrange for a special order of the products if you are planning on making an extra ordinarily large purchase!)

Many stores will accommodate special orders and would really appreciate NOT having to be product police to make sure that their shelves are not emptied on day one of a sale!

Please, be kind and leave some behind!

Smart Source

$3 off Bic Disposable Razors
$3/1 Tylenol Precise
$1/1 Ken's Marinade
$1/1 Smart Balance Spreadable Butter & Canola Oil Blend
$1/1 al fresco All Natural Chicken Sausage
$1/1 Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
$1/1 A-1 Steak Sauce
$1/1 Stayfree Product
$1/1 Mitchum Deodorant
$1/1 Yardley Shower Gel or Bars
$0.55/1 Kraft or Cracker Barrel Natural Cheese Slices
$0.75/1 Arm & Hammer Toothpaste
$0.75/1 Pepperidge Farm Cookies
$0.60/1 Pepperidge Farm Baked Natural Snacks
$1/2 Ken's Salad Dressing
$1/2 Cheerios
$1/2 Classico Pasta Sauce
$1/2 Sun Drop Soda 2 liter
$1/2 Kraft BBQ Sauce
$1/2 Ziploc Brand Bags