Yesterday, a lively discussion developed on the Albertsons weekly deal post discussing, among many things, the validity of the deals that are posting on FrugalLivingNW.com and some of your opinions on the blog as a whole. I have deleted the comments, not because I mind the discussion or don’t want it to be public, but because the post was getting bogged down with the debate and readers looking to discuss this week’s Albertsons deals were getting lost in the tons of threaded comments. To those who expressed your opinion, please know that I read and considered each one.
I would like to address some of the major points that were expressed in the discussion (I know most of you had no idea about said debate, but hopefully you will find some of the following educational):
UPDATE: I want to be clear that I was not offended at the conversation that occurred yesterday. I thought the comments were respectful and constructive. This post is my attempt to help everyone understand why you may find mistakes on this, or any, deal blog.
The deals we are posting are incorrect.
Yes, sometimes deals we post end up not working out. Part of strategic couponing is finding the “deal loophole” and it takes some creativity to come up with scenarios. Sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes what we think should work, doesn’t. If we only post the totally straightforward deals, then it’s going to get really boring and you won’t have the opportunity to save as much money. That’s the trade-off. The more risks you take, the more money you can save, and, unfortunately, the greater chance that a deal won’t work once you get to the store. It’s part of the game.
Side note: By “deal loophole” I do not mean shady, unethical deals. I mean deals that creatively use store sales, promotions and coupons to save as much money as possible.
Sometimes we share a deal that another Pacific Northwest blogger has discovered. We could verify the price in our store before sharing the deal, but we may not have a shopping trip planned so we depend on all of you to share if the deal is working or not. If we believe a deal to have a greater than, say, 5% chance of not working for you, we don’t post it.
Each of us working at FrugalLivingNW.com has multiple small children at home and running out to the store to verify the price of butter at Walmart this afternoon is most likely not going to happen. I believe that most of you would rather have timely deals posted with the small chance of them not working than not having the information at all.
The prices we post are incorrect.
The only prices we can absolutely confirm are those listed in your weekly ad. Every other price out there varies from store to store, from city to city and from region to region. This is especially true on Buy One, Get One FREE deals (BOGO). The sale is based on the regular price, which, again, varies by store. For instance, we know for sure that prices in Beaverton, Oregon Targets are typically 5-30% higher on some items than Targets on the eastside of Portland. A bottle of up & up Ibprofen at the Clackamas Target is $.99, while it may be $1.09 at the store closest to you.
Advertised prices also sometimes vary from region to region, which may account for some price inconsistencies at Safeway, Albertsons or Fred Meyer. For example, we use deals from Frugal Chic Living for Fred Meyer. Crystal is in Spokane and her ad may be a bit different than the Oregon or Puget Sound ad on a product or two, but Crystal is discovering deals and scenarios that far surpass anything I could come up with. I’ll take the chance that some prices will be a few cents different in my store to have scenarios that completely rock your Fred Meyer world.
The coupons we post are incorrect.
Each newspaper receives different Sunday coupon inserts which contain different coupons and for different values. In this Sunday’s paper, The Oregonian may receive a $1/1 Quaker cereal coupon, the Tacoma News Tribune may get a $.75/2 Quaker cereal coupon and the Salem Statesman-Journal may not get a Quaker cereal coupon at all. Manufacturers have limited marketing dollars and they release coupons in a way that they believe to help them best market the product. For this reason, we may list a coupon that you did not receive or the value may be different.
When we are aware of a coupon discrepancy, we do our best to share that with you, but we cannot list every coupon option because we don’t have each paper’s insert in our homes. There will be times when you have to figure that out yourself. You can also check the Northwest Regional Coupon Database to see if a coupon is in your newspaper (we post coupons for The Oregonian, Tacoma News Tribune, Seattle Time and Everett Herald). The database is not ideal, but hopefully it will aid in your research.
As for printable coupons, we do our best to make sure each link is working correctly and is correctly matched with the appropriate product. Sometimes a coupon will have reached the print limit by the time you try to print it and sometimes there are exclusions or specifics listed on the paper coupon that is not visible from the web. We do not print each and every coupon we post ourselves. That would be inefficient and wasteful for us as individuals.
If there is ever a discrepancy on a deal (a coupon is for a variety not on sale, for a different size, etc) and we post it, know that it is NOT intentional. Please don’t jump to the conclusion that we are encouraging unethical coupon usage. Just let us know in the comments, on Facebook or by email and we will fix the post as soon as we can.
The new site design sucks and is not user-friendly.
I certainly expect that some of you won’t like the look of the new design. That’s totally fine. I wanted to strangle the fools who changed the design on my Google Reader. Now I can’t even remember what it looked like before. Hopefully the new design will grow on you 
.
As for the user-friendly part, the site is pretty much the same — the links are in the same spot, the navigation bar text is the same, and the pages are still there (I promise, I have not moved the location of anything available with the previous design). It just looks different. There was a few weeks of kinks, and I so appreciate all of your patience while my designer worked them out.
If you have been looking for something in particular that you can no longer find, please email me to let me know. I’m certain there are things we overlooked and I will fix those problems lickety-split.
What I plan to change.
Lest you think I’m going to explain away every criticism…
I know that our Albertsons deals are not ideal for people in Oregon and SW Washington. It’s been a struggle for me for years. Please know that I am actively searching for a solution. I want FrugalLivingNW.com to be your go-to place for Albertsons deals in Oregon and SW Washington, and it takes a tremendous amount of work to do so. We are going to experiment with my contributors’ schedules to see if I can make this happen with our present situation, but it may take some time. Until then, please continue to comment with how deals are working for you so we can update our posts to benefit other readers.
While I work out the Albertsons situation, I have decided to free Kate up to focus more on Target deals. I know that many of you have a deep affection for the red & white bulls eye and we want to help you save even more on your Target couponing adventure. I am also working on my family’s schedule with my husband to allow me to jump back into sharing more local Walmart deals.
What you can do.
If there is something specifically you don’t like or would like to see changed, please email me with your feedback. It is most helpful if you can be as specific as possible. Telling me “You’re ugly” is a tough one to change. Goodness, I’m ugly. How do I start to fix that? Telling me “You have bushy eyebrows”? Now, I can do something about that.
While I do want each of you to love this site (who doesn’t want to be adored by all?), I know that it is impossible to please each of you all the time. You may want something added, deleted or modified that is too labor intensive or does not fit with the vision and direction of this blog. That being said, I do appreciate each FrugalLivingNW.com reader and I do not take your visits for granted.
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Class act, and just another confirmation why I adore what you are trying to do for my family and I. May blessing abound in your household!
Ditto! My family is just me and my dogs, but you have helped me to begin to save enough here and there to pay down some debt. Thank you!
Glad I missed the drama as well, Love your site and as I can see from all the comments there are many others who share my feelings! Keep up the great work, so many of us appreciate all your hard work so much!
I am not sure of the debate I can only get to your site before my own shopping trips, but I love you and have shared you with many people I know. I also have 2 small kids and while I do work I make very little and do it more to get out of the house. I am paying off 3 credit cards and a truck this month not entirely to this blog but din a large part due to the savings from this blog. Thank you so much !!!
Loved the way you handled all of this and LOVE LOVE LOVE the blog! Keep up the great work!!
To me its great to have a site to go to that is geared more to the NW and its stores. Your info is a lifesaver for many of us and saves (at least for me) so much time for me not having to do all the research and scouring of sites to find the best deals. However, humans being humans always seem to want more and seem to have a nasty tendency towards criticism instead of praise — or a “thank you for all you do” to bring us all this info.
While I realize you weren’t offended by the DEBATE, just be aware there are a bunch of us that are very appreciative for all you do and thank you for all your efforts…………..
I’m slowly adjusting to the new layout of the site. But this is still my first go to for albies deals. I don’t have one close but you guys usually catch those deals that make the drive worth it!
Well said. Your response was very gracious.
Just wanted to say how grateful I am of your Blog. I check daily & appreciate all your posts. Keep up the good work!
I am also grateful for your blog! Thank you so much for all the work you do for me! I use the Albertson’s match ups heavily, and I am in Oregon…They are awesome. We can’t expect everything to be exactly as stated unless we do the work ourselves…I didn’t see the debate, but I know that not everything will match exactly. Couponing is much easier for me with your blog!!
Ditto to the kudos. I am a webmaster and former affiliate marketer so I can really tell how much work you put into this site. Anyone saying anything but “thank you” does not get how hard it is to do what you are doing.
Angela, I just want to say how much admire your ability to keep your cool (and humor!) in stressful and upsetting situations. Well done. You’re my hero. Bravo!
A note to blog readers, remember that these aren’t just “coupon sites.” There are very, very real people running them. Please think twice before writing something online you wouldn’t tell a friend in real life. I run a blog and I will tell you, cruel comments have reduced me to tears before. It’s hard to not take things personal about what the site you pour your heart into.
And if you do have something constructive to say that happens to be off-topic from a particular post, there’s always email.
You are awesome and so is your team. Thank you for all you do and for being so straightforward, honest and genuine. Keep up the good work!
I LOVE your website. I appreciate all the time and energy you all put into finding deals I would NEVER be able to find myself due to time. Not to mention trying to match sales with coupons. I find that the new website is pretty much the same format and I have no difficulties finding anything on the website. THANK YOU again to all of you who spend your precious time and energy to help others save time, energy and money. Bless you guys!!
I love your humor & the site!! No, not every deal works out perfectly, but I know that your site is a HUGE resourch for me & I am greatful for it!! A lot of time & effort goes into this blog & if people can’t appreciate it, they can A) search out other blogs & B) get off their butts & find the deals themselves
Have a great weekend & keep up the good work!!!
I too missed the drama, kinda glad I did. But, I wanted to comment to say thank you and let you know that all of your hard work is much appreciated by my family and I. Since finding your site, you are my go-to for local, Portland metro deals. I know not every deal will work out every time, but I appreciate the 99% that do. I wouldn’t be saving as much for my family if I didn’t have FLNW… so, THANK YOU for all that you do!!!
i too missed the what ever it was , and i like others am glad i did you guys do a wonderful job and yes every deal isn’t going to work out. But i sincerely appreciate all that you guys do. Its hard work to save money and its hard work to a blog about it and everything else going on in your lives… Thank You and God Bless you all!!
I love and rely on your website. I’d be lost without it. I think people need to remember that your website is just a tool in a big toolbox to track down deals. It’s up to us as individuals to double-check the ads, coupons, prices in the stores, etc. to confirm that the specific deal will work. Thanks for all of your hard work!
I like the “tool in a big toolbox” thought. That’s good.
So grateful for all you’ve helped me to do for my family. Thank you!!!
I LOVE your site and I think people who don’t understand how things work on here don’t really understand the risks and constant change of couponing in general.
I wanted to say thank you for this amazing site also! I missed the drama and can’t believe there was any to start with. The service you and your team provide is VERY much appreciated.
THANK YOU FRUGALLIVINGNW!
You guys are awesome and I love this site. The effort you put into keeping us informed of deals and other frugal living information is a blessing to my life and the lives of others. I am not perfect and I don’t expect you to be either. You will hear no complaints out of me; rather, I am forever bragging about your site to anyone who will listen.
I am another that missed the Drama. No place for it here. These are suggestions on deals, you’re not always going to find them. I live in far northwest oregon, and have a really difficult time finding savings in our little town, so that said, I appreciate any help I can get. Your site is the best. Keep up the good work girls!
When I want drama I go over to my in law’s!
I love all the deals posted here, especially the albertsons ones. I, too, have 3 small kiddos to care for and am amazed at all that you are able to post about. I have no problem paying 9 whole cents for ibuprofen, prices are always going to vary. Keep up the excellent work!
Also missed the drama. I know deals vary, it took me a bit to get the hang of things. However, even from the get go I was saving soooo much because I used this site. Please know how much you are appreciated! Don’t ever stop! I don’t have the hours or the creativity to duplicate what you do.
Totally got into couponing because of this site. I learned so much and still learning by trial and error. I’m greatful for the time you spend giving us the potential deals out there. I tell my friends and family about your site all the time. Thanks for all you do!
I must have missed the drama, but your site is the best one for me in SW Washington. I really appreciated through all the Walgreens rewards card issues how you had info for the promo area and a comparison to other places. That was SO, SO helpful. I live a mile from Albertsons, 2 miles from Safeway and Walgreens, 4-5 miles (maybe?) from Fred Meyer and about the same distance from Winco and another Walgreens… so I LOVE being able to get on here, look at all the deals and map my route. I appreciate all the hardwork you all have done to bring us deals and don’t mind the discrepencies here or there as I know store prices vary. Thank you from the bottom of this mother’s heart!
Glad I missed all the drama. Well written, respectful, honest response. Another example of why you are my favorite blogger!
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