Reader Jaime left me the following question in the comments section of a post:

Mercedes, since you have a growing family (and new baby), what do you consider “buy it” prices for diapers?

Jaime I believe that there are a couple of scenarios to consider before establishing your own buy it price for diapers:

1) You do not have a stockpile of diapers and need the diapers ASAP.  When you have not built up a stockpile of diapers and are in need of diapers right now, your price to pay for diapers is a bit higher.  Angie at Baby Cheapskate who has been tracking diaper prices for a few years has determined her price to buy for diapers size 3 at $0.22 per diaper.  This is just a standard pricing she has established to be able to make comparisons among pack sizes.  This price roughly translate into paying a bit over $7 per pack.  I believe that’s a fair price to pay IF you do not have a diaper stockpile and need diapers ASAP.

2)  You would like to start building a stockpile and have time to build one, as in you are currently pregnant and have months until you need the diapers.  In this case you have the time to build up your stockpile and can work the diaper sales to your advantage.  In this case I think that paying a price of between $4-$5 per jumbo pack of diaper to build your stockpile is a pretty good deal.  Do these sales come around often?  yes, they do.  For example, right now you can get Pampers diapers for around this price at Rite Aid.  Next week you will be able to get Huggies at this price at Walgreens and some grocery stores have been running catalina promotions on Pampers products as well (Spend $20 get a $5 catalina back).  You just need to keep an eye for these sales and that’s why I am here for you.

A couple of things to remember about getting a good diaper bargain:

1)  The first thing to know is that brand loyalty goes out the window.  You buy the best deal available at the moment.  If you must remain brand loyal then also be willing to pay a bit more sometimes or rock every diaper deal for the brand of your preference.  This brings me to the next point.

2)  When the bargain deal is available you need to take advantage of it.  That means that you will probably have to have the resources to buy more than a couple of packs.  But at a bargain price you may spend on two packs what you would normally spend on one.  You need to have on hand more than one like manufacturer diaper coupon.  In this case turn to Coupon Clipping services to get multiples of the coupons you need.

I have been buying diapers at rock bottom prices for three years now.  What I am sharing is what I have experienced in that time period.  I am also sharing my experience in tracking the sales and sharing them on this blog.  But ultimately you need to determine what your rock bottom price is with the variables that apply to your  particular case.

So, those are my thoughts on buy it diaper prices.  How and where have you found you get the best diaper deals?

Most of us have been there: filled with excitement while looking at the store receipt that says: “You save 80% off your purchase today.”  However, week after week goes by and our bank accounts are not going up by the same percentage.  This is a question I see asked often:  How do I translate the savings my grocery receipt shows into money in my savings account?  The answer resides in yourSELF.

SELF-Discipline

Let’s face it, most of us lack it.  Personally I can’t trust myself to make sure I stash the $100 I am supposed to have leftover from my budget at the end of the month into my savings account.  Chances are very good that I will find “something” to spend it on.  This is why I rely on automatic savings.  Instead of saving left over money from my budget, I put away money as soon as a paycheck hits my account and live on the leftover money.  Backwards thinking huh?  This is also the fastest way to start living below your means because you learn to live on less than what you make and save money.  So, how do yo get there?  You do it in baby steps.  Start with an amount you feel you won’t miss at all or only a little bit.  Start with $25 or $50 every paycheck.  The secret is to start.  Then you move on to the next step.

SELF-Motivation

Once you have created the habit of putting aside a set amount of money every paycheck, challenge yourself!  Start with $25 but don’t keep that amount forever.  Push yourself to even higher amounts.  Challenge yourself to start saving for multiple purposes: emergency fund, retirement, college savings, car fund, etc.

I am a bargain shopper. But I use coupons and shop bargains not just so that I can say “Look, I saved 70% or $x.xx, my receipt says so”  I am a bargain shopper so that I can say: “Look I saved $xx my bank account says so.”  If you have been looking for a way to translate your coupon savings  into actual savings in your bank account I highly encourage you to give automatic savings a try.  Start small but challenge yourself big.

I don’t know if it’s just me but I have noticed that a lot of merchants are heavily promoting after Christmas sales this year. It seems they are trying to appeal to our desire to save money during this economic situation by promoting day after Christmas discounts. But don’t be fooled they are still trying to get you to spend. Here are some things you may want to consider before you hit these “sales”:

• Don’t get sucked in the “clearance” game. At some point or another I have fallen for this one: “what if I don’t need it? It’s XX% off!” Only to buy something that sits collecting dust and never gets used. Talk about a serious waste of money. So yes, maybe the item is 75% off but if you don’t need it then you are just wasting your money. Think once and then think again if this item you are thinking of buying really is something you will use. If it isn’t then keep your money in your pocket.
• Hold on until the greater discounts. The truth is chances are that you may be able to find the same items that are on discount at 50% when they go on deeper discount at 75-90%. As much as I am really looking forward to shop the clearance sales (because I am, don’t get me wrong), I am waiting until they hit 75% off. This is mostly because the only thing I really need is wrapping paper and I know chances are pretty good that there will still be left over when the discount is 75%.
• Watch the register. Make sure you are getting the advertised sales discount. It can happen that a store has not marked down all of their items and even though you think you are getting a higher discount, you may be actually getting a lower one. Don’t trust what a sign or sticker may say, scan items for prices if the store has price scanners or make sure the price at the register is the right one.
• Check expiration dates: This is particularly important if you are thinking on stocking up on food that has been packaged for the holidays or food that you can only find during the holidays. Make sure to check the dates and that you get only enough to be used by that date.
• Check return policies. Many stores don’t allow returns on clearance items. Find out what the store’s policy is and consider this when you purchase something.

Have fun bargain hunting but make sure you don’t waste your money.

Originally posted 12/26/2008.

Yay! Halloween is over, let the real fun begin: Clearance Shopping! Halloween Clearance is not only limited to costumes and candy. Basically any item that has Halloween theme on it should go on clearance. Here are some things to be on the lookout for if you shop at a store like Target that carries a wide variety of Holiday Themed products:

* Paper Napkins
* Food storage like Ziploc bags or containers
* Paper Plates
* Puffs
* Orange and black plastic totes
* Clothes: check across the store for slippers, underwear, etc.
* Storage bags and containers
* Halloween Themed

Some more tips for shopping:

• Always price check (spot the closest price scanner to you). Don’t trust the price tag on the item. You may be surprised by a lower price.

• Don’t limit your search to the clearance section. Some times it takes time to get everything moved to that special section so you may miss out from some bargain.

• If you live in a very populated area, chances are that a lot of items won’t hit deep discounts. Because there’s more demand chances are people will buy items at lower discount rates of say 30-50% instead of waiting for 75-90% off. Keep this in mind if you really have an eye on something.

• Don’t be upset if you don’t find the same clearance items or discounts others are finding. Some stores are slower in marking down their stock and others may not mark them down at all but box up the items and send them back to the main warehouse.

I hope to find some really cheap costumes for my kids later this week. The ones I picked up for them last year have been a great source of entertainment all year long. Plus I didn’t have to buy any costumes this year as they wore what I bought for them at 75% off.

Share your clearance hunting tips or finds with us. Happy hunting!

There have been a lot of blog entries I have wanted to share with you over the past weeks.  Here’s a sample of a few I thought you would enjoy:

• Getting tired of using coupons and chasing deals?  Jenny over at Southern Savers has some smart tips for dealing with the Burn Out.  I also wanted to add from my own experience, that at the beginning is easy and exciting to chase every deal.  However, after sometime you realize you have enough of what you family needs and this allows you to take it easy after a while.  I have been a serious couponer for two years and I can tell you that during the last few months I have taken it easy. I am able to cherry pick deals and set limits as to what deals I need/want to chase and which ones I don’t.  So, if you are starting to feel a little burnt out on this whole deal chasing thing, evaluate your own situation and determine if you really really need to go to the store for those better than free Glade candles or not.

• Here’s another blog entry related to frugal living burn out.  Dana’s husband asks you to consider your investment in time when engaging in frugal activities: Frugal Ain’t Cheap over at Frugal in VA.

• Are you loving all of those high value printable coupons? but not loving how much money you are spending on printer ink?  Check out this entry from Shellie with tips on how to print coupons on the cheap.

• Did you know there was a canned pumpkin shortage?  Well, don’t let that spoil your baking season.  Jennifer from Getting Ahead shares the solution to the Great Pumpkin Shortage.

• A lot of stores are making the switch and encouraging shoppers to bring their own reuable bags.  If you still find yourself with plastic grocery bags, check out these 20 Creative Uses for Grocery Bags from Coupon Sherpa.

Enjoy!

The Caregivers Marketplace is a rebate program that allows people to get back $0.75 per jumbo pack of Huggies diapers or Pull Ups they buy.  In the past I have mentioned this program very often when there’s been Huggies diaper deals.  I have gotten several emails and comments from readers wondering if the Caregivers Marketplace would still honor the rebate on the jumbo packs even though the size pack sizes have changed in the last few months.

Last night I got the most discouraging email from reader Jen:

You’ve probably already heard but in case you haven’t – Caregivers Marketplace is NOT at this time reimbursing for the new pack sizes for Huggies. They recently changed, for example size 3 went from 40 to 36 in the pack. This was my first experience with Caregivers Marketplace and I am EXTREMELY disappointed. I submitted for a $16.50 rebate and only got back $5.25! I called and found out the pack size change is the reason – because the counts that are listed on the rebate form are different now from what is available in stores and what I bought. The customer service rep explained to me that they’re working to try to resolve the problem but at this time there is nothing she could do for me and that they would not go back and reimburse me even after it gets worked out. Ugh! So I guess I would recommend not submitting anything to Caregivers until after this issue gets worked out, and hopefully it will.

Have you had the same experience as Jen?  Please leave a comment with your concerns under this post.  I will contact Caregivers Marketplace and share the comments.  Hopefully, we can get an answer soon on when this situation will be resolved so we can start submitting receipts again.  For now, if you have not submitted your receipts for this rebate it seems holding off for that is the thing to do.

Many of us are just starting to enjoy the summer, yet back-to-school sales are in full swing right now. As a child, back-to-school shopping was always a fun time for me. I remember the excitement of getting all new notebooks, pens, pencils and more. Since I wore a uniform, my family didn’t have to worry about shopping for a lot of back-to-school clothes. But for a growing child, there were always shirts, shoes or other items to replace.

This is the first year I will be sending one of my children to school. Though my son is only four years old and 4K only meets half days, I’ve slowly but surely realized the expense of sending children to school. The experience will be different from my own as he will not be wearing a uniform and I have no previous school gear. So I have been researching ways to save money and developed a strategy to make sure I shop back-to-school for less:

School Supplies and Gear

Fortunately, many office supply stores, big box stores and even drug stores recognize that back-to-school shopping is a major event for most families. These stores hold a lot of sales and special discounts, so I plan to start my shopping early. Most back-to-school sales actually begin right now, in July, with stores fighting hard for your business, so shop around for competitive prices on school supplies. Perhaps the best money saving tip will be to only buy what is needed. All those fun and cute extras can quickly bust any budget.
One thing I don’t intend to skimp on is a quality back pack, for this I intend to go for value. Instead of spending money on a cheap backpack I will replace mid-year, investing in quality is the way to go. I also plan to take advantage of in-store or online coupons and discounts to help stretch my dollars.

School Clothes

My strategy for saving on back-to-school clothes is to shop late and wait for deeper discounts later in the fall. Seek bargain clothes at the outlet stores, consignment shops, and garage sales to save big.

One final tip: find out whether your state offers sales tax holidays. Shopping for big ticket items on the right day can help you save on sales taxes. This table by the Federation of Tax Administrators lists states and dates when sales tax holidays are offered.

Back-to-school shopping doesn’t need to bust your family’s budget. With a bit of smart and timely shopping you can make it a fun experience for you and your children.

Lots of us are gearing up for school – an exciting, fun and sometimes, hectic time. Hallmark has put together this great resource to help you calm the butterflies and build your kids’ confidence. Just for joining the conversation you’ll be entered to win $500. Check it out.

This conversation and upcoming $100 Gift Card giveaway sponsored by Hallmark.

These summer vacationing at home is what most families can afford to do.  Unfortunately, as most of you moms with one children or more can testify, staying at home usually means more cooking, more messes and more chores in general.  Why must the satisfaction of cleaning your home have to last so little?  According to a recent Clorox survey, over 60 percent of the Moms surveyed reported an increase in cleaning around the house as their families now spend more time at home. Cleaning my home is NOT how I want to spend this summer.  Mom Central got together with the MommyDocs and came up with a list of Five Tips for Summer Staycations to keep your family safe and your house cleaner during the summer months this year:

Staying Safe at BBQs. According to a recent survey, 70 percent of Moms are cooking more at home and many are likely switching up their meal routine with an outdoor BBQ. Make sure your kids have a safe BBQ experience by keeping them away from the flames and any sharp knives. Also, don’t forget to check that your child’s hamburger is fully cooked. Always keep a thermometer on hand to be sure all food has reached the appropriate inside temperature.

Keep the Pool Cool and Clean. If your kids love to spend hot afternoons in kiddie pools, you know the importance of cleaning the pool area. Dump out water after each session, and keep the pool clean by disinfecting it with a solution of ¾ cup bleach* to one gallon of water. Don’t forget to rinse well and dry thoroughly after each cleaning (never leave any water in the pool). Be sure to always supervise children when they are in or around any water.

(* Always remember to read and follow precautions and usage directions before using cleaning products)

Staying Healthy and Hydrated. Spending time in the heat means kids will be more prone to becoming dehydrated. Remind kids to take frequent rest/drink breaks in the shade when playing outside and try to avoid activity during peak sun hours. Encourage fluids before, during, and after outside activities.

Having Peace of Mind at Playgrounds. Sometimes just getting out of the house is the best way to keep it clean, but before letting kids loose at the playground, ensure the safety of the equipment. Swing seats and slides can really heat up in the sun – test them out before your kids hop on to avoid burns. Be sure the playground surface is composed of a soft material to help prevent injury. All playground equipment should be routinely checked for any broken or loose parts. As always, adult supervision is a must at all times!

Saving on Spills. Spending extra time around the house, especially with kids, often means more spills to clean up. Synthetic sponges and kitchen cloths can start to smell and carry bacteria, but you don’t have to toss them out after a few uses. One option to reduce bacteria is to sanitize sponges and dishrags by soaking them in a bleach solution (¾ cup of bleach* to a gallon of water) for 5 minutes in the sink. Don’t forget to rinse and dry when done. A wet sponge can also be microwaved to get rid of bacteria.

(* Always remember to read and follow precautions and usage directions before using cleaning products)

Looking to make some money from home?  One easy way I have found to do this is by participating in market research studies.  I was introduced to Focus Forward, a company that does this, via the blog Money Saving Methods.  If you have not checked out Money Saving Methods yet, Carrie, the owner, shares not only money saving offers but mostly money making opportunities.

Yesterday she  shared about the following studies currently available:

• Nationwide College Students Study – $50

• Nationwide Women’s Produce Study – $150

• 1 Week Health Study Journal – $350

• Nationwide Men & Women Craft Study – $50

• $125 Nationwide Study for Creative Thinkers

• $150 New York City Study on Cell Phones

If you are interested in learning more about these studies or think you may qualify for any of them check out Carrie’s posts here and here.  You will find all of the information to become a member of Focus Forward and how to sign up for these studies.

Do you Ebate?  Well, if you don’t I have a deal for you too good to pass on.  If you already use Ebates, this deal is also for you. Ebates is currently offering $5 for every friend you refer and starts using their service.  Not only will you get $5 but so will your friend.  On top of that, if you refer more than three friends, YOU and YOUR Friends will get $10 each instead of only $5.

But to get your referral fee, you need to get your friends to start using their service.  The great news is that right now there’s an easy and practically free way to get started on Ebates.  As I blogged last week, JCPenney is offering $10 off $10 or more purchase code.  What you can do if you are new to Ebates, and what you can share with your friends you would like to refer is:

Sign up for Ebates. Once you are signed up, select JCPenney as the first place you will shop online. When you are in the JCPenney website, select an item or items close to $10 in value.  Use the code GR8DAD to deduct $10 at checkout.  You will need to pay shipping which starts at $4.50 BUT, that’s easily covered by the Ebates Referral Fee.  Basically you are getting your JCPenney purchase for free, the referral fee covers the shipping and because you shopped through Ebates you will get 4% back on your purchase from Ebates.

I think that’s a pretty good deal and I want to thank Crystal, the Money Saving Mom, for spelling it out so well for us.  Want to learn more about Ebates and how it works?  Check out my initial post about it here.