Articles for Coupons & Savings

I wanted to continue with the series on learning how to effectively use coupons.  Many of you may have seen the new television series called Extreme Couponing and I just wanted to share a little about my perspective on what a not so extreme person might expect to save at the store each week and what kind of time investment is required to get those savings.

First I do want to let you know the shoppers on those shows are doing Extreme trips.  I personally don’t feel it is a realistic portrayal of what you can expect to save week after week.  For one thing, many of the stores on the show broke their own coupon policies for the sake of sensationalism.  A normal coupon shopper would most likely not be able to duplicate those transactions because most stores will not allow overage, many have limits on the number of items and coupons you can purchase and so on.

Many of us do not have double coupons in our areas so that also limits the amount of savings.  Finally, the reason some of those shoppers were able to get the transactions so low was by using free item coupons obtained from various sources, catalina coupons from prior trips, and in one case they even used a gift card to partially pay.  You also didn’t see the cost of the coupons added back into the final total and many of the shoppers did spend money to purchase coupons.

One last thing to consider is taxes vary by state as well.  I saw a show where one shopper had something like 70 liters of soda.  In California, the tax on the soda alone would have been $7.00 which can really cut into your savings.  Another episode showed a shopper purchasing $236 in headache medicine.  In my area, even if those items were free with coupons I would still be stuck paying $18.94 in sales tax on those products.  My weekly grocery budget is $50 so that would be a big chunk of my budget to purchase headache medication alone.

So while the savings are impressive, I just want to be sure people aren’t feeling defeated because they can’t save 93-98% week after week at the stores.

So I am going to walk you through what I personally feel is realistic.  You will of course want to adjust this to suit the needs of your family.

::Time Investment.

I don’t have a ton of time to dedicate to coupons.  I would rather trade off a deal here and there and spend more time with my family and friends.  Some of the couponers on that show spend 30-70 hours per week on couponing.  I can’t even imagine that sort of time investment myself.

I spend roughly 90 minutes a week.  Now that includes doing my menu plan and shopping list which takes the majority of the time.  I do not personally use a coupon binder because I don’t have the time to commit to maintaining it and I don’t want to carry it around with me.  I just have a small pouch that I keep some coupons in and then I cut the rest that I need when I am planning my shopping trips.  Yes, I do miss out on some deals by not having lots of coupons with me but I look at it as a trade off on missing the occasional deal versus saving myself a considerable amount of time.

So I suppose you might want to consider determining how much time you want to commit each week to using coupons.  If you have a razor thin budget or a very large family to shop for or you are interested in really going gangbusters with donations, you will probably need to invest a little more time.

::Storage Space.

Another thing to consider about stocking up on products is how much storage space you are willing to dedicate. I don’t like to have a lot of things myself so I just have a few small baskets under the sink in the bathroom that hold the toiletries. A small pantry in the kitchen that holds all our food and cupboards in the laundry room that hold cleaning products. I have found those small spaces allow me to keep enough products on hand for our family. But again if you live in an extreme climate or have a large family you might need to purchase storage shelving and dedicate space to your products. Remember it is still a time investment to manage all that stuff, to keep rotating products out, to find creative recipes to use the items etc…

The one thing I do have is a small freezer in the garage.  Mine was $100 at Home Depot and I feel it was a good investment because it allows me to purchase extra proteins in particular when they are on sale.

::Give Me the Bottom Line.

And now for the bottom line about what you can realistically save from week to week.  I try to save 50%-70% each week.  Obviously it is possible to save significantly more- take one of the Shop for Free lists to your store and you can save 100% on your bill!

What I have found is that many new couponers get very caught up in how much they save.  Many people want to come out of the gates saving 96% or more.  While that is possible, I think you might also consider the quality of what you are purchasing.  We do see coupons for produce, dairy items, meats etc… but not enough coupons to get those products for free week after week.  So if you want to purchase a lot of fresh items for your family each week, the savings are significantly lower.   To save 90%+ on quality meats and seafood, produce and dairy items is simply not realistic.

To be honest I really don’t even notice the percentage of savings on my bill each week.  I tend to focus more on what I purchased and how far I stretched our budget.  One of my favorite deals recently was Horizon Organic milk for $3.49 (regularly $6).  That is only a 42% savings but let me tell you I was more excited about that deal than coming home with 10 bags of free pouches of cookie mix.  (Although a cookie might have made that milk taste even better….)

So in general, I have found that a small time investment each week allows me to save a significant amount of money for our family.  I have found that you can absolutely save money regardless of your diet or your location.  While you might not walk out of the store week after week with a cart of groceries for pennies on the dollar, I do believe it is very realistic to save at least 50% on high quality items.

One argument I do hear frequently is that coupons are just for junk food.  I have to tell you that is a very valid argument.  I see a lot more coupons for cookies, processed foods, candy and other stuff that might not always be the best choice.  I can tell you that coupons for organic, gluten free, non toxic, and natural items are becoming more and more prevalent and the only way we will continue to see these types of coupons is by redeeming them!

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Now I’d love to hear what you guys think.  What is your average savings each week?   How much time do you invest to get those savings?

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The next part of the extreme couponing series that I wanted to discuss is understanding coupon matchups.  We talked about how to start accumulating coupons yesterday and I think this is step #2.

I do matchups for several national chains every week like CVS, Target, Walmart and Walgreens.  I also do regional grocery store matchups for stores like Safeway and for stores that are not in my area (like Kroger, Publix, Giant Eagle, Meijer etc..) I will post some highlights and point you toward a person that does a good job with coupon matchups.

So what does coupon matchup mean exactly?  Well it means that I look at the weekly circular each store puts out and I match up the best prices with coupons that are available.  That is how you are going to find the very best deals on products- not by using those coupons the minute they come out but by holding onto them until you find a great sale to go along with it.

I do not matchup every single item in a weekly circular- most of the time the products featured in a sales flyer are at a good price but not always.  If my personal buy price for lunchmeat is $2.00 or less and Safeway features lunchmeat for $4.99 that week with no coupons- well it is wasting everyone’s time to point that deal out.

So if you are looking at matchups that I post you can feel comfortable that I think most of those items are a good price.

This is what a normal coupon matchup might l0ok like:

Jello Temptations $1.99
Use $0.60/1 Jell-O Refrigerated Snack, exp. 5-3-11 (SS 04/03/11)
or Use $1/1 Jell-O Temptations printable
Final price: as low as .99

So the example above first lists the item- in this case Jello- and the price the store has it on sale for.  The next thing listed is the coupons available for that item.  The first coupon is listed as the value of the coupon ($.60), the expiration date of the coupon and finally where you can find it.  In the example, the coupon location is listed as       (SS 04/03/11)- so that means you need to go find your pile of coupons and look for the SmartSource insert from the Sunday paper dated 4/3 to get the coupon.  It also tells you the expiration- so we have awhile before this particular coupon expires but imagine the date was 4/10 instead.  Well that tells you that you need to go and purchase this item on the 10th or before.  The majority of stores will not accept expired coupons so you may need to plan an early trip to the store.

The second coupon is listed as $1/1 Jello Temptations printable.  You should see the word printable as well as a link.  You can click that link and it should take you directly to the coupon to print it out.  So you have two sources for coupons to get a deal on this product- in this case the better coupon is the one that can be printed out so do that and the price you will pay for Jello is $.99.

So the next question is- well what is a SmartSource insert? Each week your paper will have coupon inserts from different companies.  Usually you will find a RedPlum and a SmartSource insert and occasionally Proctor and Gamble will offer inserts as well as General Mills.  We abbreviate these companies like this:

• SmartSource= SS
• RedPlum = RP
• General Mills= GM
• Proctor and Gamble= P&G

So the picture above is an example of what coupon inserts might look like.  You can see right at the top they have listed either SmartSource or RedPlum as the company that distributed the coupons.  You can also check the spine of the insert which will have the date and the name of the insert.

So what happens if you don’t have those inserts?  Maybe they were before you started couponing or maybe you didn’t get the paper that week.  You are kind of out of luck unless you decide to try and buy coupons.

You can either go to Clipping Services or Ebay and purchase coupons.  Typically you will pay about .10 per coupon and they have different costs for shipping as well as minimum purchase costs.  I would encourage you to be very careful when purchasing coupons.  For Ebay sellers it is very important to read the seller’s ratings so you aren’t buying fraudulent coupons.  For the clipping services make sure you understand the timeline they have to send you the coupons- you want to make sure you actually get them in time for the sale.

Two clipping services I can recommend are:

• Coupons be DeDe
• and The Coupon Clippers

Now, the drugstores work a little differently than grocery stores because you have loyalty programs in place.  Here is an example of what a CVS coupon matchup might look like:

Zantac 24 or 30 ct $8.99
Get $3.00 ECB (limit 1)
Use $5/1 Zantac coupon
Final Price: .99

So what does that all mean? Well we know the first line is what the store has advertised the product at. We can also see the link to a printable coupon for $5 off this product.  Then you see a note about a $3 ECB and the final price is listed at .99.  So does that mean you grab the $5 coupon and you will go to CVS and pay $.99?  No it does not.  What that means is that you will pay $8.99 for the item- give them your $5 coupon.  Now your total is $3.99- you pay that plus any tax in your area.  The cashier will give you back $3.00 in ECBs.

All three of the drugstores have loyalty programs- +Up Rewards at Rite Aid, ECBs at CVS and Register Rewards at Walgreens.  You can think of this basically as monopoly money.  This monopoly money can be used to purchase almost anything you want in the store. The idea is that you start off drugstore shopping by paying a small amount in cash for an item you might need- in the case about $4 for Zantac.  You now have $3 in CVS money (ECBs) that you can tuck away and use for more items that week or for something on sale the following week.  The idea is to keep using the monopoly money that you get on another item that generates money and then another item that generates money and so on.  That way you are getting things week after week after week for very little money.

Now with the drugstores you do want to be aware of limits.  In the example above I listed the limit as 1.  That means you may purchase a total of 1 and any other Zantac you purchase will not generate the ECB reward.  The limits are usually listed in the weekly sales ad, in my coupon matchups or on the sale tag in the store.

So that is the basics of understanding what these matchups mean.

A few notes:

You will want to pay attention to the dates the sales are available.  The vast majority of stores will run a one week sale- so for the national chains it is typically Sunday- Saturday.  Grocery stores are all over the place, in my city most stores have new ads that run from Wednesday-Tuesday- but every area will be different.  If I can’t make it to that store during the 7 days the ad is running you will most likely miss out on that deal.

One other note is that it is very important to look at the circular in your area before you shop.  Even in ads that run nationally, like Target ads, there can be a few small differences.  Another example is Rite Aid, the ad for residents of California can have a few differences from the ad for Iowa.  So you can go online to look at the circular for your city or you will likely get them in your newspaper just to double check.

You can read about the loyalty programs at all three of the drugstores here.

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I know there are lots of people excited about using coupons thanks in part to the new reality TV show called Extreme Couponing.  I know this little world can seem very overwhelming at first and I am getting lots of questions about where on Earth you can begin if you are new to using coupons.

I will have a series for you to learn the ins and outs of coupons from the very beginning.  I am hoping this is easy to digest information that will have you saving big before you know it.

I should tell you that the show features people that are… well Extreme.  I do not typically shop like the people showcased on the show nor do my children sleep in the bathtub so I can make more room to store my deodorant collection.  I personally have a very reasonable pantry and we have very little space actually dedicated to the products that I buy or get for free.

So there is absolutely a comfortable middle ground for those that still want to be able to park the cars in the garage and don’t have 30 hours a week to cut coupons.  I hope this series I am putting together will be beneficial to those of you that are interested in simply finding easy and fast ways to save a little money. There should be ideas and tips for those of you that really want to go big as well- I encourage you to find the place that makes you comfortable and works for your family.

Soooo.. are you ready?!  Let’s get started!

I personally look at using coupons as just one very easy way to put extra money in the bank.  I have three newspaper subscriptions that come to my home and I spend roughly 90 minutes a week total on coupons- organizing, printing, planning my shopping trips and our menu for the week etc.. I spend another 2 hours or so actually shopping each week.

I typically save at least 50% on my grocery bills- so I look at it is an extra 90 minutes per week and I probably save at least $300 or more per month.   If I had more spare time, I am sure I could save even more.

One important thing I want to mention, is that coupons are not just for people on tight budgets or with limited incomes.  The average coupon shopper has a household income of $70,000+.  Using coupons doesn’t mean you can not afford to pay for groceries, it is just a smart way to save a little on something you need so you can put the money back in the bank or splurge on something you want!

So if you are interested in getting started learning how to effectively use coupons, the very first thing we need to do is get our hands on some coupons!

I  like to suggest starting very small and working your way up.  I do not recommend running out and buying 20 copies of the newspaper- because let me tell you this can be incredibly time consuming.  I like to suggest people start small and get comfortable and then figure out what is going to be manageable to you.

So there are two primary ways to get coupons- the first is the Sunday paper.

The common perception of Sunday paper coupons is to flip through them and if something appeals to you, rip the coupon out and throw the rest away.  The next time you head to the store grab that coupon you tore out and use it and you just saved yourself .50!

WRONG!

What you want to do now is collecting those Sunday paper coupons.  I happen to get 3 subscriptions at my house (so 3 inserts each week) and I will leave it to you to decide how many you would like.  Once you get those babies you can flip through and see what looks appealing- I usually cut about 10% of them out.  Then I tuck them away in my little pouch and I wait for the right time to use it to get the biggest bang for my buck.  The rest of the coupons, I toss in a basket in my closet.  (And we can talk more about fabulous ways to organize all your coupons later.  For now I’d like to start with the simplest things you can do to get rolling.)

Now you want to hold onto those coupons because you never know when they will come in handy.  Some of them will expire in 30 days and some might not expire for an entire year.  So just hold onto them.

So that is your first order of business, you really want to start researching the newspapers in your area.  I would recommend checking out the papers in your city on both Saturday and Sunday- some areas have inserts available a day early and maybe you can get that paper a little cheaper.  I recommend flipping through the papers because one paper in the same city might have double the amount of coupons as another paper.  So it is important to really look and see what is available.  Once you get that sorted out, you will want to track down the best price you can get.  If you are paying $1.50-5.00 per paper each week, well that cuts into your savings.  I pay $20 per year for my subscription- so .38 per Sunday newspaper.  You might check Dollar Stores, call the subscription desk, ask friends- whatever you can do to track down the best price available on the newspaper in your area.  (You can also check Discounted Newspaper Subscriptions and see what they offer.)  You can absolutely get multiple copies of the newspaper sent to your home.  Before you get crazy though ordering tons of subscriptions, I really suggest using coupons for awhile so you can see what you will really need.  I know some sites will recommend getting 10 or more papers a week and I can tell you there is 0 chance I personally could manage that many coupons and I have been doing this for years.

Job # 2 will be to start collecting internet coupons. I post them all the time- the first time you print from most coupon sources like coupons.com, smart source or red plum, they will require that you download a coupon printer.  Each coupon will have a unique barcode so that is why you need the download.  If you install the software once you should not have to do it again.  I think as you start getting more experience you will recognize the coupons you want to print ASAP.  I will usually tell you if I think it is a hot coupon as well.  So this is homework #2.  Internet coupons are a great resource, so if you have a printer you will want to be ready to start printing away as coupons come up!  The really good ones can be gone very quickly- most coupons will have a certain limit on how many total can be printed and you don’t want to miss out.

Two important notes on printables:

1. You can usually get 2 copies of the coupon by using your back bar to go back and the coupon should spool a second time.  Don’t cheat yourself out of your second copy by forgetting to do that.

2. Sadly, you can usually only get those 2 coupons per computer that you have.  If you want extras, you either need access to more computers or you need to sweet talk a friend into printing coupons for you.  It is absolutely never, ever OK to photocopy coupons.  That is actually a crime and please don’t ever put yourself in a situation to get in trouble.

So those are the primary ways to score coupons, you might also start keeping an eye out at the grocery store because you will start to see coupons can be found everywhere!  Sometimes you see little machines that spit out coupons- if it is a product you can use grab one or two of the coupons and just tuck it away.  You might also be on the lookout for little booklets in your stores that have coupons.  Safeway, Publix and Kroger often have great coupon booklets available.  (And there is such a thing as coupon karma so again 2 or maybe 3 booklets is plenty- no reason to take the entire stack.)

The very last step, is you will want to start understanding the coupon policies for your stores.  Each person will have a slightly different experience and it is important you are aware of policies that might prevent you from getting great deals.  You can go to the web site of your store (such as www.Safeway.com) and look for the coupon policy or you can just ask at customer service in your store.  Remember those policies can change at any time so be sure you check back every few months for updates.

So that is part 1.  You are already on the way to starting to score great deals!  Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below.  There is really a lot to learn so again I am hoping to just take this one step at a time and hopefully it turns into a fun and easy way to start saving big at the grocery store!

… You can continue along with this series by clicking the articles below:

• Extreme Couponing: Understanding coupon matchups
• Extreme Couponing: Ready for Action
• Extreme Couponing: Determining a Realistic Savings Plan
• Extreme Couponing: Understanding Buy One Get One Free Coupons
• Extreme Couponing: Organizing Your Coupons
• Extreme Couponing: Free Item Coupons!
• Extreme Couponing: Creating a Pricebook
• Extreme Couponing: Using the Coupon Database

and you can get even more information from the Where to Begin section or if you prefer to watch videos, scroll down here to see topics like price matching and organizing coupon binders.

Finally, you can subscribe to my free newsletter to get daily updates on all sorts of freebies, online deals, coupon deals and more!

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I have been getting lots of requests for tips on how to organize coupons.  Here are a few methods you can check out and see what works for you.  If you are brand new to using coupons, I always recommend you do it for a few weeks before you invest a lot of time or money.  It is nice to really see how much time you have to dedicate to this first because this can become very time consuming!

OPTION #1: CHEAP AND EASY.

This is the method I use almost exactly.

I have a small makeup bag that I use- it has color coded envelopes inside that are labeled meat, produce, dairy, baby etc…  I only cut coupons on Sundays that I am pretty sure I will use- say diaper coupons or coupons for eggs or high value toothpaste coupons etc… I file those away when I can in each envelope and the makeup bag is usually in my purse. You can probably get a small expanding envelope like this and accomplish the same thing.

When the time comes to do my shopping, I make my list and then I actually go back and cut the coupons I need for the week.  In my opinion, this is the least time consuming method but you will miss out on deals from time to time by not cutting tons of coupons.  For me, I would rather miss a coupon here or there than spend hours each week managing a complicated system.

PROS: Very simple, easy to manage, inexpensive, less cumbersome, small time investment.
CONS: You will not have every coupon available to you at all times so you may miss out on random deals you find in store.

For the inserts, I have two storage bins that I put them in.  I put the most recent on the top and I toss them quarterly.  One box is for SS inserts and the other for RP and P&G.  There are times that the coupons have not yet expired and I miss out because I tossed them.  But again for me it is all about the least amount of maintenance possible.  So I’d rather miss a $1 coupon here and there than have to manage piles and piles of coupon inserts.

Some people will organize the inserts by date in a file box. That is even better than my method but it does take a few extra minutes to label the files and put the inserts away.  Also you will have the investment of buying the file box and folders etc..

You can watch a video to see exactly how this works here.

OPTION #2: MORE COUPONS.

The binder method is really popular for couponers. You can take a ton of coupons with you everywhere and this might be a good option for those of you that do massive trips, like to buy large quantities of products, get a lot of newspaper subscriptions etc…

You can purchase a zippered binder just about anywhere and most people use baseball trading card inserts inside.  Some people like to organize their coupons in categories- such as meats, produce, health and beauty supplies, cleaning supplies etc.. and some like to organize alphabetically.

I believe the majority of people that use coupon binders tend to cut a lot of coupons each week and file them in the binder.  If you decide this is the right method for you, keep in mind that you do need to stay on top of expired coupons.  So this method is going to be much more time consuming.

PROS: Lots more coupons readily available when you shop, coupons are easily accessible.
CONS: Considerably more time consuming and bulky to carry around.

You can see a video on exactly how to organize a coupon binder here.

What method do you use to organize your coupons?

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