Shopping Advice

I'm not a coupon clipper. I have, on occasion, tried to master the habit and discipline but typically find that most items advertised in coupons are items I tend to avoid purchasing because, well frankly, they're over-priced to begin with, and tend to be "junk" food (crackers, granola bars, frozen entrees, etc). I am a "make-it-from-scratch" homemaker. And more often than not the generic items are cheaper.

However...my sister hooked me up with a blog called moneysavingmom.com. This woman gives decent advice for shopping, links to coupons, who's got what on sale and how to save money in general. Last week she mentioned a new site called alice.com. This is a new on-line grocery store. And if there's a coupon out there alice will link the coupon to the item for you, so, no clipping, no matching what you need to a coupon in some throw-away-flyer.

If you have a head for remembering how much stuff costs at your grocery store (I shop almost exclusively at Walmart and Aldi) you can quickly compare alice's prices to yours. Oftentimes I found alice's prices to be the same or a wee bit less. Now here's the kicker ---- there's no shipping!!!! And you can place your items on a memory list so alice will remind you when a particular cleaning product or shampoo is most likely running low.

With my sign-up I was given a $10 gift certificate (to be used when you spend at least $50). So I placed my first order on Monday. Here's what I ordered and how much it cost:

12 rolls Scott toilet paper (because my Walmart is no longer carrying the 12 rolls, only the 4 and this is the best toilet paper out there)....$9.85

Clorox toilet cleaner.....$1.94 with $.50 off coupon....$1.44 ($1.97 at Walmart)

Palmolive Dish soup....$3.02

Clorox Cleaner....$2.85 with $.50 off coupon....$2.35 ($3.16 at Walmart)

Suave Brunette Shampoo....$1.86 with $1 off coupon....$.86 ($1.97 at Walmart)

Suave Brunette Conditioner....$1.86 with $1 off coupon....$.86 ($1.97 at Walmart)

Revlon Permanent hair color....$3.29

Suave moisturizer....#1.97 with $.50 off coupon....$1.47 ($1.88 at Walmart)

Covergirl high volume mascara....$5.84 with $1 off coupon....$4.84 ($6.18 at Walmart)

Airborne pink grapefruit....$4.74 with $1 off coupon....$3.74 ($6.54 at Walmart)

As you can see most of the prices at Alice.com were less than Walmart, plus I cashed in my $10 gift certificate. I'd say I made out pretty well. I placed my order on Monday and received it on Wednesday so I am especially impressed with the free shipping. I'm happy with this find. I will be using it again.