Our household goes through quite a few gallons of milk a week and if you are on a budget like we are, they you know Milk can be one of those expensive items especially since we rarely ever see coupons on it. That is why I want to share my little secret with you all it’s called your Store’s Milk Clearance Cycle!

You see just about every grocery store gets truck loads of milk in and most of the time they are unable to sell all the milk in time for it to get used so some stores discount their milk up to a week ahead of time in order to get rid of it. My favorite place to find clearance milk is at Smith’s which is my local Kroger Affiliated store.

When I started finding clearance milk I noticed there was a weekly cycle. Typically I am able to find milk on clearance on Tuesday evenings before the new ad starts that next morning. I always find my milk marked down to $1.99 and it’s included the Smith’s brand milk and the Mountain Dairy brand before.

So here are some tips:

1. Visit your local grocery store frequently (I suggest a Kroger affiliated store) and if needed, talk to a Manager and ask when milk may be marked on clearance.
2. Check back where the milk is located. I typically find clearance milk right next to the regular priced milk (as you can see in my image above).
3. Stock up on any clearance milk you find. You can actually even freeze milk to help it last longer.
4. Once you figure out your store’s milk clearance cycle, visit frequently so you can avoid paying full price on milk!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.

Coupon codes are words or strings of letters and numbers to provide discounts on purchases and shipping from online merchants. These coupons can be for dollars off a purchase of a certain amount or for percentages off an item’s price.  Coupon codes can save shoppers significant cash on every purchase.

Some stores use terms like promo or promotional code, discount code or even source code to refer to coupon codes. Some online stores let shoppers use more than one code on a purchase. When this happens, the coupons are called “stackable.” Usually, only one coupon code can be used per offer on the site. Other coupon codes might appear as links directly to the discounted item in the online shop. In those cases, the discount appears automatically in the checkout phase of the purchase.  You can get 100’s of active coupon codes from couponwind.com to save money instantly. They have more than 500 stores listed.

The redemption of a coupon or promotional code is easy. Once a shopper has selected their items, the items sit in the “shopping cart” on the order site. When the shopper is ready to check out and pay, they have a chance to review the order before paying. A box asking for a promotional code, discount code or coupon code is present on review or check out pages in the online store.

Enter a coupon code and the discount appears on the final checkout page. Read the fine print on the coupon regarding minimum purchase requirements, expiration dates, or other conditions of the coupon. If there does not appear to be a place to enter the coupon code, visit the site’s FAQ or customer service page. In most cases the information about where to put coupon codes will be there. As a last resort call the e-merchant and ask them how to use coupon codes on their site.

Sometimes shoppers can save even more money by finding a rebate code for their purchase, and combine this with the online shopping code. Always compare coupons and stores, since stores offer promotions at different times and on items that may be similar. Choose the coupon that saves the most money for each particular purchase. Free shipping codes are common but often not needed. Shopping sites frequently offer free shipping for purchases above a certain amount with no coupon required.

Coupon and discount codes have expiration dates, and e-tailers can cancel or modify coupons and discounts at any time. Always check the order page before finalizing an order, to ensure that the discount or promotional savings are listed. Do not place the order if the appropriate code does not appear. If a coupon does not appear to be working, search other coupon sites to find one that is valid.

Finding coupons online is easy. There are many coupon “aggregator” sites, which collect coupon and discount codes from many merchants. A simple search for “coupon code + (the item desired)” will net results for sites offering discount codes for that item. Search for “(merchant name) + coupon code” to get results for a specific online retailer. Some coupon sites let shoppers set up email alerts to alert them when coupons for their favorite merchants are posted online. Never pay for coupon codes from an online site. Reliable discount code sites do not require any registration or fees.

Be sure to visit Couponwind.com to find online coupon codes that can help you save money on your online shopping. You can also follow them on Facebook.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post and I was compensated for this publication.

Price Matching is a wonderful thing because it saves you money but do you ever wonder which stores are the best to price match at? If so, check out this post because I am going to discuss The 3 Best Places to Price Match At!

Note: This is post #2 in this series. You can access the first post: What is Price Matching? Here.

Target

Target is one of my favorite places to price match. Why? Simply because they make it easy and most the time the staff is more than happy to help. In addition to price matching you can also use coupons and stack those coupons using target coupons, cartwheel and manufacturer so you can really maximize your savings.

Helpful Tips for Price Matching Here:

1. Bring your ad: Target requires ad’s be present for the proof of the price.
2. Target does not accept price matching for online prices.
3. Price match items at the Customer Service desk.
4. Try to purchase regular priced merchandise at the registers then head to Customer Service to price match the rest of your items.

For more detailed information, you can access Target’s Price Matching Policy Here.

Toys R Us

Toys R Us is a fun place to visit. It’s also perfect for when you are shopping with little ones which is why it’s on my top 3 list. Toys R Us is great in that they will make competitor prices for identical products. Just like with Target, you can use Price Matching, Toys R Us coupons, and manufacturer coupons to maximize your savings. The difference is that they do in fact match prices to select online retailers including their own websites as long as the price is not an online only deal.

Helpful Tips for Price Matching Here:

1. Bring your current ad or web page image of the item you are price matching.
2. Price match items at the Customer Service desk.
3. Don’t forget to provide your Rewards Card to earn points on your purchase.

For more detailed information, you can access the Toys R Us Price Match Policy Here.

 Amazon

Amazon is not your traditional place to price match of course because it’s an online only retailer. However, when you can price match at Amazon you are guaranteeing you are receiving the best price and if you have an Amazon Prime Membership you can receive Free 2-Day Shipping on thousands of items. As an added bonus they do not charge sales tax which can help reduce your final bill at checkout.

So how do you do it at Amazon? 

1. Find an item at an online retailer that has a specific product cheaper than Amazon.
2. Head over to the Amazon Website and search for that identical item.
3. Scroll down to under the “Product Details” area until you see this:

                 4. Click on the “tell us about a lower price” link and provide the details. You will need to provide the price, the URL to the site where it is cheaper, the date you found it, and any shipping costs.

5.  Once you provide this information be sure to check back on the Amazon site within a few days. You should see the price lowered. If not you can always contact Amazon’s customer service.

Note: Although this isn’t the fastest way to price match it can save you money and it’s an added convenience of being able to do it from home.

Are you surprised that Walmart didn’t make the list?

Don’t get me wrong, Walmart is a great place to price match but it didn’t make my top 3 places to price match. The reason being is because over the years Walmart has made many changes due to those people that take advantage of using coupons fraudulently and price matching the wrong way. This in return has made it harder on those of us that are truthful. I find it difficult to find a happy cashier at Walmart that is willing to price match my items or take my coupons without hassle so I shop there less and less. That is why I listed the stores that I know are easier and happier to work with. This is my personal opinion but just wanted to share with you all.