I've done the math, and it's worth it. Huh? The lowly Sunday newspaper -- at least ours is. I review each of the weekly sales fliers, which for us includes Safeway, CVS, Walgreens, K-Mart and Target. We also get the Smart Shopper coupon flier. I try to add some of the sale items when I do my normal shopping routine. On average, I can save $10 to $20 on items I would normally purchase by combining coupons or taking advantage of special offers. Example: we have a large dog. I usually have several bags of dry kibble in reserve. I save my $1 off coupon and use it when Target has the product on special, particularly the 'buy two, get a $5 gift card.' They have the lowest price in town, by about $3 a bag to start, so combined with the other offers, it gets down to less than $1 per pound for good quality dog food. At the rate we feed, that's about 75 cents a day and it adds another bag tot he doggy preparedness larder.
Another plus are the K-Mart prescription coupons. (Target occasionally has something similar) There are two available currently. One is for new prescriptions -- a $10 gift card for each. The other is for transferred prescriptions at $20 each. Last time I used these for my annual renewals, I ended up with $60 in gift cards for K-Mart. With them I bought extra toilet paper, 2 large Folger's instant coffees, several crystal light orange drinks (for use now and storage -- to break the monotony of water), 2 bags of sugar, a hand-crank no-batteries LED lantern (about $19), etc. Get the picture? If you need the prescriptions anyway, why not make them work toward your preparedness?
So, if you do not already subscribe to a local newspaper, check out a copy at a local store this Sunday. See what is in there and whether it could make a difference for your preparedness.
