I know I harp on newspapers a lot but I’m telling you the Sunday circulars are the easiest path to cost cutting fun. Recently the LA Times has run an advertisement in Orange County in their store bought papers for subscriptions. They will give you a year of Sunday papers for $0.19 a week. I got this deal for myself about a month ago and the total with tax was just over ten bucks. You would be insane to pass this up if you see the ad.
However there is a catch. While reading on the internet about his deal I found out that the subscription will automatically renew after the year is up. This is in the fine print on the ad, but who really reads the super tiny legalese at the bottom of ads? The trick here is that the renewal rate is at $2.50 a week for the Sunday paper. This is a terrible deal since you can buy a paper at the store for $0.75 or $1.50.
So if you take advantage of the deal mark your calendar and call up when the subscription is about to expire and threaten to cancel. Supposedly they will offer you a deal when you do this. If the deal is comparable to the in store price it is probably worth the convenience of getting it at your door.
If you forget about two months after the subscription expires you will see a bill on your card for about twenty bucks and then again every two months after that. Remember the paper is a tool for acquiring coupons. So the money you spend on it subtracts from the value of the coupons (since you need to get at least as much in coupons as the cost of the paper to not be losing ground).
While it is rarely hard to get $2.50 in coupons from the paper each week why spend that when you could the same circulars for $0.75 in the stores. That is a difference of $91 over the course of the year. You could keep that money in your pocket.
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Making Life a Little Less Expensive Every Week
Making Life a Little Less Expensive Every Week
Here in Orange County California we benefit from fierce competition in the grocery industry. Not only do they compete with each other (Albertsons, Ralphs, Stater Brothers, and Vons) they compete with various small market chains (Henry's, Sprouts, Trader Joe's, and a host of independent markets. In addition both Target and Walmart carry a limited, but well priced, selection of grocery staples. With so many choices it is easy to simply pick a store and hope you don't burn through your budget halfway through shopping. But, with a little effort and a little more driving, you can dramatically trim your grocery expenses. You can put the savings towards the ridiculous cost of housing.
Here in Orange County California we benefit from fierce competition in the grocery industry. Not only do they compete with each other (Albertsons, Ralphs, Stater Brothers, and Vons) they compete with various small market chains (Henry's, Sprouts, Trader Joe's, and a host of independent markets. In addition both Target and Walmart carry a limited, but well priced, selection of grocery staples. With so many choices it is easy to simply pick a store and hope you don't burn through your budget halfway through shopping. But, with a little effort and a little more driving, you can dramatically trim your grocery expenses. You can put the savings towards the ridiculous cost of housing.
Coupons
Making a Coupon Stockpile
The quickest source of coupons is the sunday paper. Each week there are anywhere from one to three coupon circulars (P&G Brandsaver, Red Plum, and Smart Source). The Sunday paper(Register or Times) costs $1.50.But they both also issue a weekend edition of their paper, which is remarkably similar, for 75 cents. I buy one of each (Register and Times) for a total cost of $1.50. This give two sets of coupons, which some weeks works out fantastically and some weeks not so good. But each paper has a diferent selection of ads (these vary from paper to paper and even from week to week).
Be sure to physically check the paper for coupon circulars since store-bought papers do not always get the same coupons as a home-delivered paper. The delivered paper may have three circulars this week but the one in the store could have one, two, three, or even zero coupons. So just be sure to check before you buy.
Alternately you can order subscriptions online. Though the Times wants $2.50 a week to deliver the Sunday paper. But a quick google search will often turn up deals or promo codes for a dollar a week. Recently in LA the Times was offering a year of Sundays for 19 cents a week.
The quickest source of coupons is the sunday paper. Each week there are anywhere from one to three coupon circulars (P&G Brandsaver, Red Plum, and Smart Source). The Sunday paper(Register or Times) costs $1.50.But they both also issue a weekend edition of their paper, which is remarkably similar, for 75 cents. I buy one of each (Register and Times) for a total cost of $1.50. This give two sets of coupons, which some weeks works out fantastically and some weeks not so good. But each paper has a diferent selection of ads (these vary from paper to paper and even from week to week).
Be sure to physically check the paper for coupon circulars since store-bought papers do not always get the same coupons as a home-delivered paper. The delivered paper may have three circulars this week but the one in the store could have one, two, three, or even zero coupons. So just be sure to check before you buy.
Alternately you can order subscriptions online. Though the Times wants $2.50 a week to deliver the Sunday paper. But a quick google search will often turn up deals or promo codes for a dollar a week. Recently in LA the Times was offering a year of Sundays for 19 cents a week.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
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