PYP Blog

If you are like me you try to have some cooking basics on hand. It's hard to make frugal meals or meal plan if you have nothing in the pantry. Additionally, I keep extra basics on hand for emergency purposes.


Canola oil is my oil of choice. Did you know that there are things you can do to make your oil last longer? Yes, there are!

1. Keep your oil in a cool place. Most olive oils and canola oils will stay good for around 7-9 months after opening if kept tightly closed and in regulated temperatures. A few times I have had oil go rancid before the expiration date. But that is rare since I use it quickly and as long as I keep it cool and in a dark place.

2. If at all possible, keep your oil away from light. Keeping it in a cupboard with a door, or even covering it with cloth if it is on an open shelf will help.

If your oil is rancid (smells bad and has an awful taste), don't cook with it. I know you can make soap with rancid oil but I haven't tried my hand at that.

Any tips from you?

Myth #1~ It takes too much time to clip and organize coupons. Yes, there are some coupon users who prefer to clip ALL their coupons and have them with them while shopping; however, Pinching Your Pennies has simplified the process. With detailed shopping lists for local stores, including a dated listing of each corresponding coupon to each sale item. Also, there is a sortable coupon list that tells you when each coupon was published. Together, this system takes about 95% of the drudgery out of couponing! And the best part is that Pinching Your Pennies is FREE and will always remain FREE!

All one needs to do is save your newspaper coupons each week, then when a HOT sale happens, you clip the noted coupons from a PYP list and save. With this system, I can prepare for a grocery shop in about 30 minutes, spend about 30-45 minutes in the store and save at least 50-60% each week. Most weeks more!

Myth #2~ I joined a paid website subscription or follow a little green self-proclaimed guru; therefore, the service must be superior. FALSE! No other website has much condensed information about couponing, is simple to follow, has the best supportive and ethical community on the net. Stick around and you will be a coupon pro in no time.

Myth #3~My family does NOT use the products that have grocery coupons. We don’t eat processed foods. It is not true that coupons are only available for processed junk food! In many instances, there are coupons available for dairy, eggs, milk, cheese, meats and even produce at times. (Just tonight, I saved $4 on fresh produce with grocery coupons!) See Horizon Organic Milk for coupons, for example.

Also, coupons are following food trends, so we are seeing more organic coupons. See Organic Valley for coupons on organic items that change monthly. Plus, there are TONS of coupons available for health, medicines, beauty, laundry soap, toilet paper and cleaning products. Household cleaning products ranked as the largest single coupon category distributed. (see link #1 below)

Myth #4~ It isn’t worth my time to use coupons to only save $ .25. Most of us would pick up a quarter IF found on the ground, and the truth is the average coupon is worth $1.18 in 2006 (see link #1 below). In 2006, food coupons had an average value of $ .82, while non-food had an average value of $1.42. Definitely money in my pocket to me!

Myth #5~ Why use grocery coupons? It is cheaper to buy store brands. Yes, there are times that a store brand item can be the better deal. This is especially true if you need the item and the comparable name brand is not on sale. However, I have never gotten store brand items for FREE! This happens all the time using grocery manufacturer’s coupons and combining store sales on name brands.

Myth #6~ To truly save money, I have to hit every store and every sale. Not so! Grocery sales at most stores cycle every 12 weeks and each store will see similar price points on many items. Simply pick your favorite store and shop there. If you do this and use the Pinching Your Pennies shopping methods (see Coupons 101 to get started), you will to see an increase in the quality AND quantity of food you are bringing into your house for the same or less than you previously were for MORE money by week 12.

Myth #7~ I don’t have time to coupon. Oh how false this is! Back when I started couponing 12 years ago, there weren’t great FREE sites like Pinching Your Pennies that does all the research for you. Never has couponing been so easy and a time saver. On average, I can get $200 worth of groceries for $75 or less. A CASH savings of $125 is worth my time of about 2 hours/week or around $65/hr. Most part-time jobs don’t pay that well and it is still a gameto see how much I can save, too.

Myth #8~ Only poor people use coupons. Just the opposite! Shoppers with household incomes of $150,000 per year or more tended to use coupons most frequently. (see link 2) And over 80% of grocery shoppers with household incomes between $50,000 to $75,000 use coupons. Obviously using coupons is a smart way to pinch pennies, for all of us!

Myth #9~ I can save just as much at Wal-Mart or a warehouse club (Costco or Sam’s Club) as I can using coupons. FALSE! I truly believe that many consumers shop at Wal-mart simply because it is easier and a habit. Wal-mart does NOT always offer the best prices, nor best quality food, espcially produce. Instead by shopping around town and supporting our local markets, we are creating competition amongst stores that keeps grocery prices lower, overall.

Myth #10~ To save anything substantial, I must get a newspaper subscription. While most coupons still come in the Sunday inserts (Smart Source, Red Plum & Proctor & Gamble), technology has enabled consumers to use Internet Printable (IP) coupons, check out coupons and store promotions to see real savings. For time tested ideas about this, check out Heidi's blog entry. But a newspaper is still a good idea. See here for multiple subscription rates/deals in Utah.

So if you are ready? Check out PYP’s forums for shopping lists, tips, strategies and ideas on how to stretch your food dollar. If you are new, be sure to check out Coupons 101. It is packed full of good information that will get you on your way.






Data cited from the following sites:
http://www.adscope.com/news/07192006.htm
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/print/?id=230074

Donating to one's local food bank or communtiy food pantry is easy through this prgram.

1. Simply place non-perishable food items in a grocery sack (many letter carriers already have providied these) by your mailbox on Sat. May 9th.
2. Your letter carrier will pick up your sack and others in your neighbhood to be delievered to your local food bank. Here they will stay in our to help feed our own.

To help out our local food banks and be sure that our postal carriers have something to pick up today, PYP's blog is having a little contest. SHARE YOUR STORIES! In the comment section today!

The best story of donation, whether funny, original, crazy or just heartfelt will be our winner. Usual PYP rules apply with a few more, incl:

*must be a PYP member with at least 25 posts
*the incident/story must be told here (Not forums) in the comment section of this blog entry
*no obscene language, profanity, tall tales, etc.
*story must be TRUE
*story must be from this year
*a team of judges made up from PYP food bank experts will be making the final call
*all decisions are final
*deadline for submission is Sunday 12 noon MDT

There will be 3 prizes (small but FUN!)

1st- $15 Target Gift card
2nd- $10 Albertsons Gift card
3rd- $5 Target Gift Card

Good luck and lets open our hearts and our usable food storage!

1. Don't go shopping on an empty stomach. Shop after you've eaten and you are less likely to pick those extra munchies or impulse items that sound good at the moment.
2. Don't go shopping with company. While not always possible (especially if you have small children), try to shop solo. You will be more likely to stick to your grocery list and not find extra goodies in your cart at checkout.
3. Don't always use a coupon. As an avid couponer, many find this advice surprising. However, unless I can combine a coupon with a sale or the coupon is for an item I need; I really am not saving money, but spending more of it.
4. Make a shopping list. This simple task can save you time in the store as well as money.
5. Plan your menus around what you already have in the pantry AND what is on sale this week. These two simple steps can save you more money in the long run. Need recipe ideas? Check out PYP's recipe forum!
6. Stock up on sale items until they are on sale again. This is one of the best ways to build up your food storage/stockpile. Then use the items til they are on sale again.
7. Use a pricebook to make decisions about what is a stock-up price. Pinching Your Pennies has a great pricebook from many volunteer couponers across the country, so this info is very reliable and golden.
8. Monitor what you actually use, NOT what you think you will use. This rule is especially true for perishables that cannot freeze. Deli meat, for example. If you regularly ask for one lb, but only eat half of it, only get 1/2 lb the following week.
9. Think nutritional value. Just because a box of granola bars is on sale for $1, remember that you can buy 6 bananas for that same $1. You get more nutritional value dollar for dollar in a side-by-side comparison.
10. Don't pay for convenience. Unless I have a coupon and a really great sale for a pre-packaged lunchbox item, I will buy the bulk size of snacks and place them in ziploc baggies for lunches.
11. Buy the cheaper cuts of meat. They cost less and are easy to cook, too. They can be a snap in the slow cooker.
12. Do it yourself. Skip buying the pre-cut veggies, the pre-bagged salads and pasta sauce with all the preservatives. Instead chop your own veggies, wash your own lettuce and make your own pasta sauce with 2 cans of Hunts diced tomatoes and fresh basil. You'll never go back to Ragu, again.
13. Buy the cheaper bulk of Ground Beef. Usually Ground Beef is cheaper in a larger butcher block, usually 5 lbs or more. Brown it all in one sitting or make meatballs or meatloafs and freeze in dinner size portions (I prefer 1/2 lb for my family of 5). You'll have one dinner step closer to being done and be saving money in the process.
14. Join your store's loyalty reward program (if they have one). Not only do you need a store loyalty card to receive the store's sale prices, but check out the store's website for additional coupons that can be loaded onto your loyalty reward card. Currently these e-coupons can be combined with paper manufacturer's coupons for double rewards.
15. Shop at stores that have double coupons IF available in your area. This tip is obvious, but not always a viable option. Instead, if you life in the LOND (land of no doubles), you need to work even harder to find the sale+coupon deals. Luckily for us, Pinching Your Pennies had done most of the work for us. Check out the deals in your state.

You've tried. You've talked til you are blue in the face. No matter how hard you've been trying to convert family/friends to your mindset of PYP shopping methods, they still refuse to believe. They refuse to believe that even without coupons they can build a food storage (stockpile) while saving 40%. YOU can still help them. Please share the following information with them.
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Food storage for $5/week for 2 people!

Each week take $5.00 and then buy the specified items for that week. Some weeks you will not use all of the $5.00, some weeks you may use more than $5.00. Plan to set aside $5.00 each week regardless. There are also a few weeks you will have nothing to buy, but set aside the money for those weeks as well.

By the end of the 52 weeks you will have 700 lbs. of wheat, 240 lbs. of sugar, 40 lbs. of powdered milk, 13 lbs. of salt, 10 lbs. of honey, 5 lbs. of peanut butter, 45 cans of tomato soup, 32 cans of mushroom soup, 15 cans of tuna fish, 10 boxes of macaroni and cheese, 500 aspirin, 730 multiple vitamins, 6 lbs. of dried yeast, and 6 lbs. of shortening.

This should sustain 2 people for 1 year.

Weekly Shopping List
1 ~ 2 cans tuna, 2 containers. salt, 1 lb. yeast
2 ~ 5 macaroni and cheese, 4 tomato soup
3 ~ 3 mushroom soup, 2� lbs. peanut butter
4 ~ 1 bottle multiple vitamins
5 ~ 4 tomato soup, 10 lbs. powdered milk
6 ~ 1 bottle aspirin (500 tablets)
7 ~ 100 lbs. wheat
8 ~ 5 lbs. powdered milk
9 ~ 5 lbs. honey, 1 lb yeast
10 ~ 4 cans tuna, 4 macaroni and cheese
11 ~ 10 lbs. sugar, 1 box salt
12 ~ 4 mushroom soup, 2 lbs. shortening
13 ~ 1 bottle multiple vitamins
14 ~ 100 lbs. wheat
15 ~ 1 box macaroni and cheese, 1 lb. yeast
16 ~ 5 lbs. honey
17 ~ 2 cans tuna, 4 cans tomato soup
18 ~ 10 lbs. sugar
19 ~ 100 lbs. wheat
20 ~ 20 lbs. sugar
21 ~ 10 lbs. powdered milk
22 ~ 1 can mushroom soup, 10 lbs. sugar
23 ~ 1 tuna, 4 tomato soup, 10 lbs. sugar
24 ~ 10 lbs sugar, 1 lb. yeast
25 ~ 2 tuna fish & 2 mushroom soup, 2 shortning
26 ~ 100 lbs. wheat
27 ~ 30 lbs. sugar, 1 lb. yeast
28 ~ 10 lbs. sugar
29 ~ 10 lbs. powdered milk
30 ~ 20 lbs. sugar
31 ~ 1 can tuna, 3 cans mushroom soup
32 ~ 1 tuna, 4 tomato soup, 2 lbs. Crisco
33 ~ 100 lbs. wheat
34 ~ 2 cans tuna, 1 box salt
35 ~ 10 lbs. powdered milk
36 ~ 20 lbs. sugar
37 ~ 4 cans tomato soup, 2 boxes salt
38 ~ nothing ~ replenish petty cash $5
39 ~ 100 lbs. wheat
40 ~ 10 lbs. powdered milk
41 ~ 30 lbs. sugar
42 ~ 2 tomato soup, 4 mushroom soup
43 ~ 2 cans tomato soup, 10 lbs. sugar
44 ~ nothing ~ replenish petty cash $5
45 ~ 10 lbs. powdered milk
46 ~ 4 tomato soup, 10 lbs powdered milk
47 ~ 10 lbs powdered milk
48 ~ 4 mushroom soup, 4 tomato soup
49 ~ 7 cans tomato soup
50 ~ 7 cans mushroom soup, 1 lb. yeast
51 ~ 20 lbs. sugar, 1 box salt
52 ~ nothing ~ replenish petty cash $5

Hopefully this will inspire others to start or replenish their food storage. Good luck!