To get your Mira hair oil rebate, go to http://www.growhairoil.com and click on the post that says “Receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card for Purchasing Mira Hair Oil Via GrowHairOil.com!” You can submit for a $10 Amazon.com e-gift card simply for purchasing through their website. Not a bad deal!

(This post is the second of the original “Store Savings”” section of the 100 Ways to Save Money ebook. Read other sections: )

Some stores offer a discount if the item you buy scans in at the wrong price.   If you notice an error after you’ve made your purchase, take it to the customer service desk.  Even if the difference is only a few cents higher, it is worth the effort if the store will give you the product for free or at a large discount.

I always get a little giddy when I see an item ring up incorrectly because I know I’ll be able to get it for free!  It’s a fun way to save money when you least expect it.  I estimate I’ve received over $50 in free merchandise over the years thanks to scan-right guarantees.  One caveat:  Some stores won’t honor the scan-right guarantee on clearance items, especially since clearance prices aren’t always updated in the pricing system right away.  Even so, it doesn’t hurt to ask if the guarantee applies.

Here are a few stores that offer scan-right guarantees:

• Kroger (my personal favorite)
• Hyvee
• Walmart (only some stores; be sure to ask)
• Food Lion
• Lowe’s Foods

Most stores will have the scan-right guarantee posted by the register if they do have it.  Also, regardless of the store, scan-right guarantees are not valid on cigarettes or alcohol.

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(This post is the second of the original “Store Savings”” section of the 100 Ways to Save Money ebook. Read other sections: )

This tip is a quick one, but is one of the great ways to save money!

Stores want you to spend most of your money on the higher priced items, so they place those products at eye level so you see them first.   You’ll typically find the better deals at the tops and bottoms of the shelves.

Save money by looking above and below eye level

Remember, stores want to make money for themselves first and foremost.  Think like a marketer and you’ll quickly desensitize yourself to their marketing tactics!

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(This post is the first of the original “Store Savings”” section of the 100 Ways to Save Money ebook. Read other sections: )

Does your store have a savings card that is scanned before each of your purchases? If so, sign up for it and carry it with you at all times. (Most will go on your key ring.) I am shocked by the number of people who either don’t sign up for these programs or don’t bring their cards with them.

For stores with savings cards, the sales prices listed in the circulars are almost always for people who scan their card with the transaction. A lot of times, the “regular” price for those who do not use their card is an inflated price and the “special” price for those who do use their card is the normal price. If you don’t use your card, you’ll end up spending much more money.

If you have a card and forget to bring it along, the store will often let you use a “courtesy card” to get the sales price. However, this is not something you want to do frequently as many cards reward you for your purchases.

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Want FREE local printable coupons?

This is my absolute favorite site at the moment for free printable coupons!

I am finding a lot of awesome money-savers there.  Be sure to check it out by clicking the image to the left or by visiting this link.

They have coupons from:

• Breyers
• Hormel Foods
• Tropicana
• Oreo
• Ragu
• Kraft
• Ritz
• Motz

… just to name a few!  I love printable coupons because you can frequently find brands that aren’t available in the local coupon circulars.  I’ve done some of my best deals with printable coupons.

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(This post is the fifth of the original “Money Saving 101″ section of the 100 Ways to Save Money ebook. Read other sections: Part I: Make a List, Part II: Be Aware of Sales Cycles, Part III: Keep a Price Book, Part IV: Check Per Unit Pricing.)

Stockpiling is a fantastic way to save money because you’ll have many products you need readily available to you.

“I don’t have any extra room,” you might say. If you have any free space in your home whatsoever, you have room. You can tuck stockpiled items under beds or furniture, high up in cabinets, or in that dusty little corner of the garage (after you remove the dust, of course!).

It also helps to remove items from their packages, if possible. Ten boxes of aspirin take up a lot more room than ten bottles. (You can go even further by opening the bottles and consolidating the contents – you can usually fit two or three bottles of aspirin into only one after you take out all of the cotton.)

In addition, don’t discount the idea of outdoor storage. I have a great deck box out on my balcony that I use to store toilet paper, paper towels, muffin mix, razors, and more. It easily keeps out the elements, plus I make sure to keep everything safely tucked away inside plastic bags. I’ve never had a problem yet and it helps lighten the stockpile load inside of my home.

“My friends or family might think it’s tacky” is something else I hear people say.

First – trust me, they won’t think it’s tacky once you tell them that you got it all for free (or close to it). And if they do, offer them some of your extras every once in awhile. People quickly shut their mouths when offered freebies they’re usually wasting their money on!

Second – there are easy ways to hide your stockpile if you’re worried about people’s comments. If you put your stockpile items in boxes and store them in the garage, who’s going to know what they are? You can also stack items and cover them with decorative fabric or hide them under furniture (just don’t have the relatives around when you’re pulling toothpaste out from under your couch.)

If you have the space and you don’t care about people seeing it (you shouldn’t!), consider setting up a shelving unit. You can get inexpensive metal shelves from Target or Walmart that will hold a lot of your stockpile. These go great in the garage, laundry room, or closet.

If you don’t have the space for standing shelves, consider shelving that you can attach to your ceiling. These work well in places where you don’t have the floor room to stack your stockpile, but do have some extra room on the ceiling.

Over-the-door shoe holders work well for holding small stockpile items. They usually have around 20 plastic sleeves that will hold plenty of toothpaste, deodorant, toothbrushes, shaving cream, and more. They only cost a few dollars and I’ve frequently found them on clearance. Think of all of the doors you have in your house – that’s a lot of storage room!

Plastic containers in all shapes and sizes are helpful to group similar items and to keep things tidy.

Remember to always rotate your stockpile. Even things like toothpaste and medicine expire, so it’s a good idea to keep items expiring soonest near the top (or front) of your stockpile. I like to check everything out once every month to make sure I’m using the items expiring soonest.

If you are stockpiling a lot of food products, you might want to look into a second freezer if you have the room. Here is a link to Food Storage Guidelines for Consumers on the Virginia Tech website: http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/foods/348-960/348-960.html. It lists many common products along with their pantry, refrigerator, and freezer storage times.

I also recommend keeping an inventory of your stockpile. You can easily set up a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (or a free alternative at http://www.openoffice.org.) that lists the product’s category, name, quantity, and expiration date. You can also add the location if you stockpile in multiple places. Update your sheet whenever you bring home new items. This will keep you from scrambling to find the last bottle of your Nexxus shampoo or the refills for your Venus razor.

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(This post is part of the original “Money Saving 101″ section of the 100 Ways to Save Money ebook. Read other sections: Part I: Make a List, Part II: Be Aware of Sales Cycles, Part III: Keep a Price Book, Part IV: Check Per Unit Pricing.), Part V: Stockpile, Stockpile, Stockpile!

You’re at the grocery store and see a small size of your favorite cereal for $2.99. You’re about to pick it up when you see a huge box for $5.99. What do you do?

Maybe you go for the small box because you don’t think you should spend the extra three dollars. Or maybe you go for the big box because you certainly get much more cereal for only three dollars more!

In this situation, you must check the shelf price tag. Most stores will provide the per unit price (usually in ounces for cereal). Sometimes the smaller box has the lower per unit price and sometimes the larger box does. Do not mistake a large quantity for a better deal. Sometimes it is, but sometimes you are being fooled. (Note: if you have a coupon for the product, make sure to factor this into the unit price.)

If the larger box is a better deal and you are worried about storage, invest in some tightly sealed plastic storage containers to store the extra cereal. It may seem like a hassle at first, but you will save a lot of money in the long run.

By the way, if your store doesn’t have a per unit price, just pull out your calculator and calculate it yourself. Yes, your calculator. I use the calculator on my cell phone, but you could also bring a small pocket-sized calculator. I also never shop without a pen or pencil and a small notepad – it makes figuring out deals much easier.

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To track the sales cycles, you’ll want to start something called a price book. You can do this in a notebook or use a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel or Open Office (free!). The main goal of a price book is to track the prices of products during particular weeks at different stores.

The easiest way to do this is to use the sales circulars that you receive weekly from the stores (grocery, drug, super) in your area. When you receive the circulars, record the date, product, store, size, and price of each item you are tracking. It’s nice to do this in a spreadsheet program because you can then easily calculate the unit price (e.g., a 20 oz. bottle of shampoo for $3.98 is approximately 20¢ per ounce). The unit price will make it easier to compare when you have products of varying sizes (which can often be misleading).

If you want, you can also record non-circular prices by visiting the store. This is helpful when you’re first starting out because you can get a general idea of how a product’s price varies from store to store.

You can then use your price book to determine which store has the lowest price and also see what pricing patterns arise. You can make up rules such as “If Product X drops below Y dollars, I will buy it” to prevent overspending. It’s pretty amazing how much prices for certain items can fluctuate within a few weeks!

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(This post is part of the original “Money Saving 101″ section of the 100 Ways to Save Money ebook. Read other sections: Part I: Make a List, Part II: Be Aware of Sales Cycles, Part III: Keep a Price Book, Part IV: Check Per Unit Pricing.), Part V: Stockpile, Stockpile, Stockpile!

Something important to recognize when trying to save money is that stores cycle their sale products. Certain items are more likely to go on sale during certain times of the year (e.g., ice cream during the summer months) and some items go on sale at regular intervals (e.g., some stores will put Pepsi on sale once every six weeks).

There is also a pattern to when manufacturers release coupons. Some manufacturers like to keep a steady flow of coupons for certain products at all times and will release a new coupon just as the old one expires. Other products may only have coupons for certain times of the year (ever notice the increase in candy coupons around Halloween?).

You don’t need to know these cycles in order to save at the store, but it will help you maximize your savings. It can be disappointing to think you got a great deal on something and then find out that the price dropped only two weeks later.

You can be a casual tracker or a detailed tracker. If you are just starting out or have limited time, you can just track the products that you use most frequently. If you have more time, you can start to track other products that you would use if the price were right (and by using this method, you’ll be able to find out when the price is best!).

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When you’re first starting out saving money with coupons, rebates, and other deals, it’s a good idea to sit down with a pen and paper and make a list of all of the products you frequently purchase. Think food, toiletries, household items, baby items, and pet care items. In addition to your list of most frequently purchased items, write down the answers to the following questions (don’t worry if your answers overlap!):

• What kinds of items do you spend the most money on?

• What do you find yourself buying for any price at the last moment because you ran out and have no choice?

• What do you rarely buy but wish you could afford more often?

• What do you never buy but would buy if the price were right?

• What items are you brand loyal to (meaning you will only use a particular brand)?

• What items do you buy regardless of brand?

• How much do you spend monthly on groceries? Household items? Toiletries? (and so on – feel free to combine categories or create new categories)

• How much would you like to spend on each of the categories defined above?

This might sound like a tedious exercise, but it will help you get a better picture of what your spending habits are like and how far you have to go.

The items that you buy most frequently and those that you buy at any price because you’ve suddenly run out are items that you will want to stockpile (more on that in another post).

When I need toothpaste, shampoo, razors, tuna, oatmeal, soap, or many other products, I usually don’t go run to the closest store and pick up whatever I can find. I just open a drawer or a cabinet and pull out a brand new one.

This not only saves me time, but it also saves me a lot of money. I stockpile items when I find a good deal. This prevents me from running out and buying the item when it’s not on sale.

The items that you rarely buy or never buy because they are too expensive are also items you’ll want to keep an eye on when shopping for deals. Sometimes you can match coupons or rebates to higher-priced items and end up with things you wouldn’t normally splurge on. If I had to pay full price for decorative candles and nice smelling room sprays, I’d probably never buy them. However, thanks to some great deals I’ve received over the years, my home is now nicely decorated with many of these products. I’ve also learned to shop the mark-down section of my local stores for reduced price merchandise that I can combine with coupons. Sometimes stores clear out certain types of products because they have been discontinued. This is a great opportunity for good deals!

Regarding the products you are brand loyal to… well, that may or may not change. I’ve found that I am a lot less brand loyal than I used to be because I’ve been able to try out a lot of other brands because I get good deals on them. I actually use fewer off-brand products now than I used to before I started saving money with coupons. Off-brand products don’t have coupons, but name-brand products do, so I usually end up getting a better price with name-brand products. It’s fun to know that all of the great name-brand products I use were purchased for pennies on the dollar.

Use your current spending and your goal spending as a guide to see how far you need to go. There is a learning curve to coupon savings and deals. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t meet your goal within a month or two. Stick with it! You will improve over time as you find more good deals. Some of the biggest savings come when you are able to dig into stockpile items at a time when you’d normally go out and spend whatever it took to get the product.

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