Karen Hellier

Freelance Writer, Coupon Lady, eBay Entrepreneur: Helping You Save Money and Work From Home

Saving Money

Save Money by Shopping the Back to School Sales

July 11, 2018 0 Comments

Back-to-School sales will save you money!

Back-to-School Sales are Starting Back-to-school sales already? Yes, they are already starting. I know some of you are thinking I might be crazy, but down here where I live in the South, some schools are starting at the end of July. And so  for those of us who love to save money, it’s time to gear up for some fun sales. As you probably already know, you can save money by shopping the back-to-school sales offered by a variety of different stores. But what if you don’t have kids, or your kids are grown and you don’t need stationery supplies? You can still save money on these types of supplies by purchasing them now and saving them for upcoming projects throughout the year. Or you just may need pens or paper to have around your house to get you through the next year. Buying now, and stocking up is the…
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Saving Money

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9 Ways Grocery Stores Get Customers to Spend More Money

July 4, 2018 4 Comments

Save money by not letting the grocery stores trick you into spending more money than you need to!

Grocery shopping can be pretty expensive for the average consumer. And it ends up being much more expensive for those shoppers who aren’t aware of some of the tricks grocery stores use to get people to spend more money once they are in the store. Here are nine tricks to watch out for so that you can keep more money in your pocket at the grocery store. Don’t Be Duped by End Cap Displays End cap displays are those sets of shelves at the end of every aisle in the grocery store. Some stores have sale items set up on these shelves to make it more convenient for customers to grab sale items. But beware that not all of those end caps have sale items on them. And not everything that is on the end cap is on sale. When I used to teach coupon classes in Connecticut, I used…
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Saving Money

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7 Reasons You Should Shop at Kroger

May 25, 2018 1 Comment

The Kroger Grocery Store in Jasper, GA

I have only recently become a shopper at Kroger. In fact, I had never even heard of Kroger until 2014. I grew up in New England and lived there for most of my life. In 2014 my husband and I moved to Georgia. I had been used to shopping at ShopRite, Stop and Shop and Big Y when I lived in Connecticut. My absolute favorite store was ShopRite because they had the least expensive prices and also great deals that matched coupons so I could often get free items with double coupons. When we moved down to Georgia I was SO disappointed in the grocery stores down South. There are no ShopRites in Georgia and the closest grocery stores to us are an IGa which is overpriced and ten minutes from us, or Walmart Superstore, Kroger and Ingles. All of these last three stores are twenty-five minutes from us. There is also…
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What I Got for Free in February and How You Can Get Free Stuff too

March 19, 2018 3 Comments

Items I got for free in February, 2018.

February was not as productive for me in terms as freebies as most other months because my husband and I were away for part of the month. We went to an annual conference that is held in Las Vegas for my husband’s business. Some of the freebies I got were from attending the conference and that is always fun to get freebies while traveling. A Free Donut from Dunkin Donuts The first item I will share with you is my trusty free donut from Dunkin Donuts. I share at least one free donut picture with you every month because, well, honestly, I LOVE Dunkin Donuts. I love the coffee as well as the donuts. I usually get one free donut each week when I go thrift store shopping for eBay, or bargain shopping at grocery stores with coupons. I found a Dunkin Donuts near the Golden Nugget hotel we stayed…
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Free Stuff, Saving Money

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Paying Attention and Getting Connected Will Help You Save Money

March 13, 2018 3 Comments

Save money by not letting the grocery stores trick you into spending more money than you need to!

A lot of people may be confused by the title of this blog post but this title has been rattling around in my head for awhile, calling me to write a blog post about these two things. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, in order to save money, you must constantly pay attention to ways to ways to save. And getting connected to others who are also trying to save money will also help you save money as well. 9 Ways Paying Attention Can Help You Save Money   Look at the back of your receipts to see if there are any advertisements on them that will help you save on a future purchase somewhere. Keep your eyes open for coupons and coupon booklets that will help you save money. 3) Join the websites Couponmom https://www.couponmom.com/ or Southernsavers http://www.southernsavers.com/ to see a list of all of the coupon deals that come…
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Save Money at Target: Shop The Clearance Sale Going on Right Now!

February 22, 2018 3 Comments

Great kids stuff not just for Valentine's Day!

I had so much fun shopping at Target yesterday that I just had to share it with all of you and to give you a heads up on the great sale going on at Target right now. I didn’t include the phrase Valentine’s Day in the title because although there are mostly Valentine’s Day items in the sale, there are plenty of items you can use year round, not just for Valentine’s Day. In the photo below, you can see all of the items I bought, except for one small package of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. The reason that’s not in the picture is that I had already given it to my husband who was at home working hard all day, while I was out having a ball bargain shopping. I figured he deserved a treat too! All of the items below cost me $29.56 (that includes tax) but I saved $88.62!…
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30 Things I Got For Free and How You Can Get Free Stuff Too

February 12, 2018 0 Comments

I got all of this, plus more, totally free in December and January!

I love getting things for free. Each time I get something for free, a little jolt of happiness runs through me. I know that may sound crazy, but it’s fun, isn’t hurting anyone, and makes me happy. I am tired of hearing people say,”Nothing is free these days.” There really are things you can get for free. You just have to look for them and pay attention. All of the items above are items I got for free over the past two months. I will break things down for you and explain how I got each of these items for free, and hopefully, this will start you on a journey of getting free items yourself. Free Donuts at Dunkin Donuts If you are age 50 or over you qualify to join AARP. If you follow me on Instagram you have probably seen many of the free donuts I have gotten….
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Free Stuff, Saving Money

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How Creating a Price Book Can Help You Save Money on Groceries

January 23, 2018 3 Comments

Using a simple notebook as a price book can save you tons of money at the grocery store! I created a comparison chart of grocery store prices and was amazed at the results!

I love to grocery shop! Yes, I know, from what I have heard I am in the minority here, but there’s always been something special to me about buying food to nourish my family. Once I discovered how to use coupons correctly, I became addicted to saving money at the grocery stores. So today I want to share with you the value of creating a “price book” which will help you save money on your groceries. What is a Price Book? What is a “price book” you may be asking? It’s simply a notebook in which you keep track of all of the items you and your family use regularly, and what the normal price is for those items are when they are NOT on sale, at every store you would consider shopping in. I always advocate that shoppers go to more than one store to take advantage of the…
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Save Money on Christmas Gifts: Start Shopping on December 26th

December 26, 2017 2 Comments

Shopping Christmas Clearance Sales on December 26th Can Lead to Great Savings!

Learning By Example My mom was a professional shopper. Okay, well not really, but she seemed to be a professional shopper to me when I was growing up! Every Christmas morning, the tree was surrounded by piles of presents. mostly for my brother and I. And I was always amazed at the number of wonderful gifts my mom had managed to give us for Christmas, and yet money was tight. As I grew older, she shared her secret with me: she shopped the sales all year long and put the gifts away for the next December 25th. And she started on December 26th each year. I learned from the best and I do the same thing. So on the morning of December 26th each year, I get up early, put my Christmas red and green clothes on, and head out to the stores to go Christmas shopping!  Not only do I find fantastic sales of…
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10 Inexpensive Birthday/Christmas Gifts Your Mother Will Love

December 21, 2017 0 Comments

Gifts for Mom don't have to be expensive

It’s almost Christmas, and maybe you have all of your Christmas shopping left to do. Or maybe you have most of your gifts done, but still haven’t found one for that very special woman on your list: your mother?! Well, today is your lucky day because I have created this list of great gifts any mother would love. And the best part is that these gifts are gifts from the heart and won’t cost you much money. This is a money saving blog after all! Because some of these gifts are a gift of service, you won’t actually be buying anything to wrap. But if you want some ideas to add to these gifts that your mom can unwrap, I have a list at the bottom of this post. Here’s your list of gifts your mother will love, not in any particular order: 1)Give Your Mother a Day Off:   …
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