Stacking Coupons

Just in case some of you don't know, you can stack manufacturer coupons (like the ones you get in the Sunday newspaper), with store coupons. Just read the coupon to make sure they are not both manufacturer coupons. For example, a coupon may have a store logo on it, but may still be a manufacturer coupon, if this is the case, it will say, manufacturer coupon on it. Store coupons can be found in the paper, or sometime come in mailers to your house, or you can ask for them at customer service. There are usually less than a dozen, but when you stack them with a manufacturer coupon the savings can be great. This picture shows a mix of store coupons, manufacturer coupons, and stacking coupons. The total cost of all of this would have been almost $25, I spent a little less than $5. The Hunt's Pasta Sauce I used a store coupon for (.69), the Barilla Pasta I used a man. coupon and it was on sale at the store so I only paid .25 a box. The Kettle chips were on sale and I used a man coupon so they cost me .50 a bag, the Johnson's soap I used man. coupons so I paid .29, the Snickers I stacked the man. coupon with a store coupon so I paid .08 a piece. (I'm planning on sending these with Ryan to Africa in case he needs a little protein/sugar snack!) I got all of these at Fred Meyer.
A good idea is to keep an eye on how much things go on sale for and think about how much you're willing to pay for things so when something goes on sale you can decide if that's low enough price for you to pay or not. For example, I got a coupon for 8 oz shredded cheese, that would make it $2.50. This is an okay price, but I know that every other month or so, Albertsons has it on sale for $1, so I stock up on it at the $1 price. I have also learned that I can get toothpaste for free or at the most, .50, so I won't pay more than that. It helps to keep an eye on the sales and prices so when you see a sale, you know if it really is a good deal or not. Some people suggest keeping a price book, where you take a notebook shopping with you and write down the cost of the items that you normally buy. I'm not that organized. I just generally remember. After you have been shopping sales/coupons for a little while, you see that things tend to go in cycles and go with the seasons. Like, every March is frozen food month, so frozen food is on sale. It's almost spring, so spring cleaning supplies are going to be going on sale, baking supplies and cold medicines go on sale in the fall, bbq/picnic foods go on sale in the summer, etc.
Just some more fun money saving info for you!