My father's frugal wisdom

This is a day late, but thanks to this wise advice from my dad, I'll never be a dollar short. :)

Once, in high school, I came home from my retail job rejoicing over a shirt I bought for $.99. "What a deal!" I thought. "Just 99 cents! I saved about $15 buying this shirt on clearance."

But Dad looked at it from another perspective: "If you buy something you don't need, you didn't save $15. You wasted $.99."

His wise words dampened my spirit that day, but they have bolstered my bank account many a day since. One of the greatest keys to frugality and financial prosperity is self control. If you need it, buy it, and try to get it for a good price. But if you really don't need it, it'll never be a deal no matter what the price tag says.

Thanks, Dad.

Love a product? Want a coupon? Check the website.

By now you know matching coupons with sales is one of the best ways to stretch a dollar.

But what if you don't have a coupon for a favorite product? Before you give up your quest, do a online search to find a product's website. Often manufacturers will offer coupons on the product's page that aren't offered elsewhere.

Case in point: I recently blogged about deals involving Cottonelle bath tissue and Bagelfuls. I'd found good sales on those products, but wanted to find coupons to sweeten the deal. And did I! A Google search (well, a Swagbucks search actually, lol) for "Cottonelle and coupon" netted me the $.50 Cottonelle coupons. I knew there was a Bagelfuls coupon at coupons.com, but a similar search for "Bagelfuls and coupon" led me to Kraft's Bagelfuls page and ANOTHER $1 coupon.

Woot!

Bagelfuls = breakfast on the go

Bagelfuls are a godsend on mornings when I'm running late! Just pop them in the toaster oven or microwave, then head out the door.

But the price. At full price? Killer.

So stockpile them while they're on sale. In Wednesday's Lowe's Foods paper, there was a sheet of store coupons that are good for three weeks. The great thing about store coupons (at most stores) is that you can use them with a manufacturer's coupon for even bigger savings. That technique is called "stacking."

The Lowe's Foods store coupon is 2 boxes for $3. You can go to coupons.com and print $1 manufacturers coupons. Use the store and manufacturers coupon together, and you can get a box of Bagelfuls for $.50!

That's a price I'm willing to pay for convenience.

Here's another handy tip I learned from a friend: If you're worried about freezer space, just take the products out of the box. Trust me, the actual Bagelfuls don't need that big 'ole box. If you take the individually wrapped Baglefuls out of the box, put them in another bag and throw that bag in the freezer you'll be able to maximize your freezer space.

Stockpile Alert! - Cottonelle on sale at Harris Teeter

My mom used to always say you can never have enough toilet paper: You constantly use it, never want to run out of it and it never goes bad.

So when I find toilet paper for a good price, I stock up. And Harris Teeter has Cottonelle for a good price this week: a package of 12 double rolls or 24 single rolls for $5.99 (regular price is $10.99).

To make a good deal even better, print off these $.50 coupons from the Cottonelle website for extra savings! There were also coupons in a recent Sunday paper.

A good deal on chicken at Food Lion

Check out the Guiding Stars game on the Food Lion homepage.

Finish the game -- which helps you determine the nutritional value of certain groceries -- and you'll be rewarded with a $2 off coupon for Food Lion chicken breasts, tenders or snack wings (expires 6/16/09.) Or, you can be lazy and click the "skip the game" button to go straight to the coupon.

Be sure to match the coupon with this week's sale on split chicken breasts ($.97/lb) for a really good deal.

Chocolate Relief Act

Free doughnuts aren't the only sweet freebie around today.

It's Friday, which means Mars is giving away free coupons as part of its Chocolate Relief Act. Starting at 9 a.m until they run out, the maker of Twix, Dove, Three Musketeers, Snickers and other chocolaty goodies will offer 250,000 coupons for a free candy bar.

If you miss out on today's giveaway, don't worry. They're offering the deal every Friday through Sept. 25. Limit four coupons per household during the promotion; limit one coupon per email address each week.

Free doughnuts

What's better than Friday?

Nothing really. But there is a way to put some extra icing on the end of your workweek. Krispy Kreme is celebrating National Doughnut Day by giving away a free doughnut of your choosing to every customer who visits a store today (6/5).

Hum... do I want original glazed or lemon filled? Decisions, decisions...

Free and cheap summer family movies

If you're in the Triad region of North Carolina (Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem) and looking for something fun and frugal to do with the kids this summer, look no further.

Well, look one place further.

Amy at Goo Goo Buy Buy has compiled a list of local movie theaters that show free and/or discounted movies during the summer. It's a great resource. Some theaters show movies for free. Others offer the show, popcorn and a drink for a super low price. Either way, it's a great deal for some summer fun.

It's Sunday... should you get an extra paper or two?

One of the best ways to get coupons is to subscribe to your local Sunday newspaper. If you don't have a subscription, you can easily pick up a copy at a newstand or drug, grocery or convenience store.

But not all Sundays are equal: Some Sundays there'll be a bumper batch of coupons. On other Sundays (usually the ones before a major holiday) there will be famine in coupon land.

How you can tell if the coupons will be bountiful or bust? Check the Taylortown Coupon Preview. Taylortown publishes a schedule of which inserts are coming out on certain days. It's a great way to plan ahead.

A confession

Bad: Today is the last day of triples at Harris Teeter. It's also the first day I've stepped foot into Harris Teeter all week.

Worse: They were out of the free-with-coupon Wacky Mac. I forgot to ask for a rain check so I can still get it BOGO (buy one get one free) once they restock.

Redemption: I got two containers of garlic salt and a package of Mentos gum for $0.16. :)

Happy birthday to you!

The best gifts are free and there are plenty of merchants out there who want to give you free or discounted treats to honor your birthday.

I know. My birthday is in the spring and, about a week before my day, my inbox filled up with coupons for free or discounted meals. I ate well in March: free burgers, free milkshakes, free panini sandwiches, free ice cream, free coffee and more!

You can to. To find a comprehensive list of birthday offers, visit www.freebirthdaytreats.com. The vast majority of the time, all it takes is to sign up for these merchants' e-clubs. (Hint: Use a separate email account other than your primary account so you don't get flooded with spam. Try Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail for a free secondary account).

In addition, here are a few more birthday clubs that aren't listed: Moe's, Lonestar Steakhouse, Carolina Cafe and Bakery, Mimi's Cafe and Fuddruckers.

Coupon Class Wrapup

A warm thank you to everyone who turned out for my first coupon class! It was a pleasure meeting you all and chatting about ways to save money.

One of the suggestions brought up during the class was starting a local coupon swap. I think that's a great idea and plan to investigate it further. I'll be sure to post any and all updates here.

Happy saving everyone!