Coupons 101 - Finding Coupons

Before I started hunting for good deals, I thought a paper subscription was worthless.  But now I find that there are many great coupons that can only be found in the Sunday paper.  Once every few weeks, Proctor & Gambel put out the P&G Brandsaver, which saves me on toothpaste (Crest), toothbrushes (Oral-B) and on many other P&G items.  I immediately see the cost savings in a Sunday-only subscription since the coupons I see are for items I will use.

But some people may not be able to justify a paper, so I wanted to share a few sites where you can print coupons from home.  But before I start listing, there are a few things to know.

• Never pay a site to download coupons.  This has SCAM written all over it.
• Don't think that just because a site says "free coupons" means that it is legit or safe.

OK.  So now that the ground rules are covered, here are a few sites that will help you supplement your Sunday paper (or get you coupons without a paper).

• Coupons.com - coupon printer download required (but it is safe)
• Red Plum
• Smartsource
• Krazy Coupon Lady
• Target - look for coupon link at very bottom of page
• Facebook - many companies are on FB and have promotions all the time.  I often encourage people to create a whole new profile to avoid mixing couponing and personal accounts.
• Twitter - I have received many great updates/coupons from stores like CVS just because I follow their posts on Twitter.  CVS is great at this as I often receive free drinks and $4/$5 off coupons there.

Another option is to pay a coupon service for specific coupons.  Try this service if this is something you want to try.

Finally, there is nothing wrong with asking a friend or family member for coupons.  If they not going to use the coupons, let them know you will recycle the paper for them.  Some people don't use coupons.  That is fine.  But let them know that you would love to use their coupons.  A friend also informed me that some stores, like Dollar General here in Newburgh, often have leftover Sunday papers on Monday.  They are often marked down to pennies (or free) since the new paper is out.  As your local retailers if they have left over papers on Monday.  If so, you may be able to recycle the papers for them and get numerous copies for free (or an agreement with the store manager to get a deep discount). 

Be creative.  There is no one single way to find coupons.  Let me know if you strike gold.

Coupons 101 - When to Avoid Bulk

There are times to avoid buying in bulk and times to do it (and I do not mean "stocking up, as with toilet paper... which I must admit I do). 

AVOID

• I have always been amazed why people pay a membership fee to places likes Sams.  I never understood why someone had to pay so much to save $.05/oz on ketchup - but you had to buy 500oz at once to get the savings.  So I say ditch the warehouse clubs.  thekrazycouponlady.com has a great explaination why warehouse clubs are horrible here.
• I have explained to numerous people that buying a 64oz bottle of pasta sauce may save me $.05/ounce over the 12oz jar.  However, if I have a coupon that gets the 12oz bottle to near nothing, why pay more OOP?  In my opinion, the point of couponing is to reduce your OOP spending.  You may be saving $.05/ounce but you have to pay $2 more just to get the savings.

GO FOR IT

• Grocery stores often have stations where customers can fill a bag with items (for example with nuts) and pay by the pound.  I have read on many sites that this can be a huge cost savings for customers.  Just make sure you compare before you load up a bag.

Coupons 101 - Buy On Sale

One of the easiest ways to maximize savings at any store is to buy items when they are on sale.  However, coupons come out every week.  There is always a temptation to run out and buy something just because you have a coupon.  The great thing about coupons is that the expiration date for many of them are weeks out.  So holding on to a coupon till there is a sale is very possible.  This simple practice can help maximize your savings.

Example: A few weeks ago there was a $.50 off any Act II Popcorn product.  Through "coupon collecting" from family members, I was able to get (8) coupons.  There are several sizes at my local Schnucks grocery, a 3-pack retailsfor $1.60 and a 6-pack is normally priced at $3.00.  Though I love popcorn, I held on to these coupons for a few weeks until I noticed that the grocery put Act II 3-pack on the 10/$10 sale.  I purchased (8) 3-pack Act-II boxes (normal retail $12.80; sale price $8.00) and used all (8) coupons in the transaction.  My OOP dropped to $4.00 ($.50/box or $.17/bag).  I love popcorn, but I especially love cheap popcorn.

Here are a few other ways to make sure you take advantage of sale prices.

• Many retailers run specials like 10/$10 (10 items for $10).  Many people believe you have to buy 10 items to get the same price, but in fact, many retailers use this to encourage shoppers to buy more items.  At many local retailers, this simply means that all items listed in the 10/$10 are priced at $1 each during that sale week.
• Take advantage of ad-matching.  Retailers like Walmart are becoming more agressive at matching sales as they are now matching B1G1 sales (new Walmart ad-match policy here).  Many retailers want your business, even if that means they have to match a competitor.
• Use coupons on sale items!  Just because it is on sale doesn't mean that you can't use coupons.  If you are able to stack coupons it will be like a bonus.  Many of the free items I get are sale items stacked with coupons.

Organic Couponing

Last week someone told me that coupons will only get you junk products.  "There are never healthy-stuff coupons."  While there are many coupons for candy and frozen foods, and these number of coupons outpace the number of fresh veggies/fruits coupons, one can still find good coupons for healthier lifestyles.

• Last night I found a site called Organic Deals.  This site is dedicated to couponing just for organic foods and items.
• Seventh Generation has a commuinity site where users can get coupons, news and Seventh Generation products just for trading in products.
• Whole Foods has a coupon site.  This site prints both manufacturer and store coupons.

Some organic groceries are accepting coupons more and more (some are even offering store coupons to stack with manufacturer coupons).  Have a favorite organic store?  Ask management what their coupon policy is.

Even if there are fewer coupons for these items in the Sunday paper, they are still out there.  Like any other couponer, one just has to look.

Good luck on organic shopping.  Happy Earth Day!

Coupons 101 - Store Cash (CVS & Extra Care Bucks)

ECB Example

Unlike Walgreens, CVS uses a loyalty card called Extra Care Card.  This card is free and takes seconds to sign-up.  If you do not already have a card, you can sign-up here.  The Extra Care Card allows shoppers to get discounts as advertised in the ad as well as the store cash back offers, Extra Care Bucks (ECBs).  There are a few things one has to consider

• Like Wags' RR, CVS' ECBs are offered when certain items are purchased or a certain dollar amount is reached in purchases.  Unlike RR, not all of the purchases have to be made in a single transaction.  For example, CVS ran a promotion where if you purchased $10 worth of Mar's Easter candy products you would receive $3 in ECBs.  One can buy a candy on Sunday and another on Monday and so on until the dollar amount to earn the ECB is reached.  This ability is helpful if you have only so many coupons to use in a given day.  You can spread the purchases out as needed over the course of the sale period.
• Unlike Wags' RR, ECBs can be used on purchasing the same item over without penalty.  For example, someone buys Crest last week and receive $2 in ECBs.  That $2 ECB can be used toward Crest again this week.
• CVS also does not have a coupon-to-item limit like Wags.  You are able to use multiple ECBs and coupons on your transaction, even if you have more coupons/ECBs than items.
• Since purcahses are tracked with a loyalty card, CVS keeps totals on how many items are purchased.  Often limits are placed on sale items. Make sure that you are not purchasing more items than limits.
• CVS gives extra ECBs for purchases based on total spending.  2% of all purchases are returned to you at the beginning of each quarter.  With couponing, this can really add up without much OOP for you.
• For every 2 prescriptions filled at CVS, you get $1 ECB.

Want to be green?  For $.99 you can buy a Green Tag from CVS.  Put this on a reuseable bag and shop CVS.  For every 4 transactions you make, CVS gives you $1 back in ECBs.  Today (4/23/11) is the last day CVS is also giving $1 back in ECBs just for the purchase of a Green Tag.  So that means you get the tag for free rigth off the bat and still get the $1 back for every four trips to CVS.  Just in the last few weeks I have already earned $4 from this program (not to mention how many plastic trees I saved from the plastic forests).

Good luck!

Coupons 101 - Store Cash (Walgreens & Register Rewards)

I used to believe that the local pharmacy stores, Walgreens (Wags) and CVS, were a waste of time.  I would always buy my items at Target and walked out happy.  I was surprised to learn that I was missing out after all these years.  But after couponing for awhile, I learned that these stores run great sales that, when coupled with coupons and store cash offers, become a bargin store.

Register Reward Examples

Wags offers Register Rewards, RR.  These store coupons can be used on any future transaction as a dollar off coupon (yes, they are a coupon).  Note that a "future transaction" means any purchase right after the one just done.  This means that you can turn around and use the RR on a purchase right there while at the store.  Some of the RR deals may include "buy X-number of items and receive a RR" or "buy $N worth of this product/brand and receive a RR."

Being a coupon, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• The number of items being purchased has to be equal to or greater than the number of coupons being used.  Since RR are a coupon, it has to be counted when doing this math.  Note that Wags counts some multiple item coupons (e.g. $1/2 items) as multiple coupons.  For example, if your purchase 2 candies with a coupon that is $.50/2 candies, you may be using one coupon but Wags counts as two since it applies to 2 items.  Finding out that your total items is under the amount of coupons/RR being used?  Solution: Throw in some filler items (those cheap little items that are under $.40 found throughout the checkout area).  The only exception to this rule is when you are buying a single item.  Then you are able to use (2) coupons.
•  RR can be used on any future purchase.  But if it is used on the same item (and sometimes same brand) any new RR will not print.
• For example, let's assume Colgate Total toothpaste is on sale for $3.  When you purchase, you will receive a $3 RR.  This makes the item essentially free.  But if you take that $3 RR and purchase more Colgate toothpaste, a second RR for $3 will not print.  Solution: Alternate the use of RR.  If you have a RR for buying deodorant the same week, use that RR to buy the toothpaste (then you can use the Colgate RR to buy the deodorant.
• RR deals often have a limit of 1 RR/transaction.  This means you cannot buy 2 toothpastes (based on example above) and receive $6 in RR.  Only 1 $3 RR will print in this example.

RR are as good as cash.  So use these to bring down your total OOP (out-of-pocket) expenses to a manageable amount.  When you use a comination of coupons, RR and Wag coupons, there are great deals to be had.

Good luck and happy couponing!



Coupons 101 - Stacking coupons

After reading the previous post, I thought, "Maybe I should have started with the basics."  But I was so happy about paying $.56 for (2) toothbrushes, (2) Mello-Yellows, a full-size hand sanitizer and a body brush that I forgot all about the basics. So let's get back to the basics.  The first concept, stacking coupons, is discussed below.

Stack Coupons

Retailers who offer store coupons (locally CVS, Target, Walgreen's) will accept 1 manufacturer and 1 store coupon for each item.  This often means big savings.  For example, Target currently has 5-count Zyrtec allergy medicine for $5.29 regular price.  Target has a store coupon for $4 off any Zyrtec item.  $1.29 is a great deal.  But combine with a $2 off manufacturer coupon (found here: https://www.zyrtec.com/zna/offer) and all of a sudden you have free allergy medicine.

Things are a little more complicated when you a coupon offers a certain dollar amount multiple items.  Let's imagine there we want cereal that retails at $3/box. We will say there is a Target coupon that offers $1 off two Kellogg's cereals and a manufacturer coupon for $1.50 off three Kellogg cereals.  We can use both coupons, yes.  But what is the best way to use these?

• We can buy (1) at $3 ($3/box)
• We can buy (2) and use the Target coupon and pay $5 ($2.50/box)
• We can buy (3) and use the Target coupon AND manufacturer coupon and pay $6.50 ($9 - $1.50 manufacturer coupon - $1 Target coupon for ($2.16/box)

Note that we could not use the Target coupon until we reached the item amount (2) boxes of cereal.  We also could not use the manufacturer coupon until we reached the minimum there (3).  But once we met the minimum amount of items, we could stack and use both and save 28% per box.  Some coupons will allow you to use more than one per transaction (look for phrase like "One coupon per transaction" - if not there, you may be able to use more than 1 coupon in a single transaction).  If this is the case, you can buy larger quantities and drive your per item cost down lower.  Keep in mind, while you save more per item, your OOP may increase.

Where do you find store coupons?  Walgreen's puts out several coupon books (Infant Care, Seasonal Beauty Guide and monthly coupon magazine - all of which are free and located either at the front of the store or at the beauty counter), CVS has the "magic coupon machine" where Extra Care cards can be scanned and coupons printed and Target has a very nice coupon site (go to Target.com and on the bottom there is a coupon link).  There are many other retailers that offer store coupons, so don't be afraid to ask the customer service counter.

Coupon stacking is very important to save money.  But combining with other deals, like weekly sales, is also important.  In the next post I will demonstrate how store cash-back offers can save you OOP dollars.

B1G1 Strategy

So I heard someone say that couponing is ok, but you really do not save a ton of money.  Well, that is not really true.  Sure, $.35 here and $.25 there doesn't add up too much, but there are a few ways to save BIG using smart couponing skills.  So let's focus on a simple one: Buy-One-Get-One, B1G1.

There are two different B1G1 sales: Coupon and Sales.  Below I will overview how to take advantage of both and save more than a few pennies.

Manufacturer B1G1 coupons are really nice to keep.  One thing to keep in mind, is that though the coupon requires one item be purchased, the discount actually only applies to the second item.  Because the manufacturer coupon applies to only one of the two items, another manufacturer coupon can be applied to the first item (another manufacturer B1G1 excluded).  For example, at CVS this week I found Oral-B 3D White toothbrushes on sale for $3.50.  Who doesn't need toothbrushes, but I cringe thinking I once paid that price for oral care.  So I could use one B1G1 coupon and get (2) for $3.50.  I effectively cut my price to $1.75 each.  So that is a good deal, right?  Nope, I want to get them cheaper.  So I combined this B1G1 coupon with a $2 manufacturer coupon from the P&G Brandsaver from the Sunday paper a few weeks ago.  So now I got (2) Oral-B toothbrushes that retail for $7.00 for $1.50 ($.75 each).  If you watch the ads, sometimes CVS runs a $1 back in Extra Care Bucks, ECB, if you buy a toothbrush.  So that means that if this sale was going on now I would have earned $1-2 in ECBs for this purchase.  Unfortunately, there was no sale on these toothbrushes this week or next, but I went ahead and bought the toothbrushes at 20% what they retail at.

Store coupons are great.  But I rarely see a B1G1 store coupon. Walgreens and CVS, however, often run B1G1 sales.  Since these are store sales, they can be stacked with manufacturer coupons.  So, even though it was not the case, let's pretend the toothbrush sale was a B1G1 CVS sale for B1 @ $3.50 G1 @$3.50 free.  So the effective price is already at $1.75 each.  Killer deal?  No.  Stack this coupon with the manufacturer B1G1 coupon and get $3.50 off the purchase.  Wait.  I was already going to pay $3.50 for (2) toothbrushes and now this manufacturer coupon is going to take another $3.50 off?  Yes!  That means both are free (well, you will pay taxes).  But what a deal!  Free toothbrushes!  When you have storage space and can get items you will use for free, stock up on as many as you can get.

Remember, stacking coupons is allowed in all major retailers.  That means you can use 1 store and 1 manufacturer coupon for each item.  I'll talk more about that later.  But hopefully this post helps explain how a B1G1 coupon/sale can really pay off.

Good luck shopping!

First Post Always A Challenge

So I figured that this whole email thing can get kind of confusing.  I tend to rant and ramble and before long, everything makes sense in my head but people stare at me thinking "What the hell just happened?"  So I figured that i would setup this blog to help those who want to learn how to be frugal be it and those who don't care to not get my emails anymore.

So those who read, I will do my best to teach some of the coupon tactics, tell you about different deals I find and share some different links.  Let me know if there is anything that you want me to help with.
-Juan