OK everyone is always asking how i'm saving all this money and to help them so i have started this to help i am also going to set up a class because hands on is the best way to learn.....
Ready to go from Coupon-Shy to Coupon-Savvy? I'm here to show you how! You’ve come to the right place to find cartloads of advice that will prepare you to become a certified Coupon Lady! Click around to learn the lingo, read answers to the most commonly asked questions & learn what Not to do before you make one of many common mistakes!
I used to think that coupons were hard to keep track of, too time consuming and I wasn’t saving enough for the trouble. Am I wasting my time cutting them on Sundays, and printing, and looking for that special item in the store? Then I would feel really ridiculous when I went to check out and handed the cashier 5-10 coupons and the cashier would let out a sigh and so would the person waiting behind me in line.Product manufacturers spend billions of dollars every year to supply us all with coupons and more than half the time they don’t get used. My family is sitting at home with an empty fridge wondering which $2 generic frozen pizza we will eat tonight and coupon clippers have full pantries and refridgerators with name brand foods that are actually good!I am no longer ever embarrassed when I hand over 25-30 coupons to the cashier and if he/she sighs, when they give me my new total after coupons, saving me anywhere from $5 – $200, that’s when I giggle and just smile at the cashier and the person behind me in line.Couponing is a game. You know how your kids like playing video games? Well, couponing is my game of choice.You start off slow and as you do it more, you become knowledgeable of all of the In’s and Outs and before you know it YOU ARE SAVING MONEY LIKE CRAZY!Let’s start off with some basics of couponing and as we go through you will learn more with the all the work I have done already for you on my site. I guarantee that you will be saving at least $100 a month on your grocery bill. REMEMBER: The info I am providing you with is FREE!
WHERE DO I GET THE BEST COUPONS?
The best places to get coupons are of course the Sunday paper, but there are many websites and magazines that provide excellent coupons.
SUNDAY PAPER: I get my paper delivered and it shows up around 10pm Friday night. I scan through the coupon inserts and decide if the coupons include items we use. If so, I have all weekend to buy more papers. I ususally get no less than 2 sunday papers.
PRINTABLE COUPONS: I consitently link sites for printable coupons. You can always click on the Coupons.com icon on my page and scroll through and see if there are any coupons that appeal to you. Print what you want, but in most cases there a limits set as 2 per printer and there are national limits so I need to print them and wait for the sale to come up.HOW DO I KNOW WHAT COUPONS TO KEEP?
First and foremost…you CAN NOT be brand loyal and save a lot of money. You have to be flexible. I have always used Secret Deoderant, not the case anymore…I used Secret last month, right now I am using Degree for Women. When going though coupons and deciding which ones to clip and keep, think to yourself…If I might use the item in the coupon and I can get it for really cheap to free, then I clip and keep it. It’s that simple…I DON’T have to buy it, but if a sale comes up and I want to try it out and I can get it cheap to free, why not keep the coupon.WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO STORE/KEEP MY COUPONS?
It really depends on your personal organization habits. I started with a small accordian envelope that had 12 dividers in it, then graduated to a notebook that has baseball trading card dividers and I keep separate coupons in each trading card slot. Of course, then I have dividers for different categories, ie, baking, personal hygiene, paper products, etc…There is a link for the COUPON CLUTCH which is what I use! It is a great way to keep things organized, neat and at your fingertips when you need it.Another method is keeping the coupon inserts in a notebook and marking them with insert name and date. This is another method I use so when you see on my posts 7/19 SS this stands for the Smart Source Coupon Insert from July 19th. This way you can just copy and paste shopping lists from my site and head over to your notebook and just clip the ones you need.WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A STORE COUPON and A MANUFACTURER COUPON?
A store coupon is a coupon that can only be used at that particular store. For instance, if it has the target logo on it, it might say at the top Target Coupon, same with Walgreens in ad coupons. The nice thing about these coupons, is that you can stack them with a manufacturer coupon. A manufacturer coupon will state that on the coupon and can be redeemed at any store that accepts coupons.Now that you have your coupons, then it is time to match them with sale ads. The absolute best scenario isSALE+STORE COUPON+MANUFACTURER COUPON. That is when you save the most.
For instance:
Target has Soft Soap Body Wash on Sale for $2.79 (regularly $3.49)
I found a Peelie on Skintimate Shave Gel which was a Target Store Coupon for $1 off Soft Soap Body Wash. Because it was a Target store coupon, I could stack it with a $2 off printable coupon that I had. So I ended up getting the body wash FREE, + overage.You have got your coupon stockpile going, now it is time to work on your product stockpile. There are certain items that I stockpile. Items like deoderant, toothpaste, toilet paper, etc. When something goes on sale and I have a coupon that makes the item really cheap to FREE, you can bet I am getting as many as I can. I keep a shelving unit in a storage room, that I keep these items on.The Soft Soap Body Wash that I referenced earlier, I ended up buying 4 of them because I had enough coupons for all 4. We will get around to using the body wash eventually, but I rather get it free now then be without later and need it and actually have to pay for it.Keep your eye out for the sales, the same stuff seems to go on sale every 3-4 months. So if yo miss a sale, don’t worry, chances are it will come back around.Please remember to be considerate when shopping. When I shop at Walgreens for instance, I will shop either early in the morning or I will check out at the cosmetic counter so as not to hold up other shoppers. Also, be organized with your coupons, have them ready to go at check out. Usually when I am shopping, I pick out the item and put it in my cart, I will double check the coupon make sure I am getting the right thing and quantity and check the expiration date. If it is all good, I throw it in the bottom of may cart. When I go to check out, I unload all my items and all the coupons I will be using are right there and ready to go.Good luck and HAPPY COUPONING!!
What does “One Coupon Per Purchase” mean?
One Coupon per Purchase: Refers to your ability to use one coupon per item. Meant to enforce the point that you may not use two of the exact same coupon for one item.
When your cashier tells you, “you can only use one coupon, because these say, ‘Limit one per purchase‘”, ask your cashier, “How many am I purchasing?“ This is a good way to help your cashier or manager understand that the manufacturer does not care how many products you PURCHASE in one transaction. And you may use one coupon for each item purchased.
In the scenario below, you are purchasing five Betty Crocker Frostings 10/$10.00
Buy 5 Betty Crocker Frosting $1.00 each
Use 5 $0.50/1 manufacturercoupons
Final Price: $0.50 each, when you buy 5
Use 5 $0.50/1 manufacturer
Final Price: $0.50 each, when you buy 5
So, why do coupons state “One per purchase?”. They state this so that you cannot use two coupons on one product.
Buy 1 Betty Crocker Frosting $1.00 each
Use 2 $0.50/1 manufacturer coupons
Final Price: Free— THIS IS A BIG NO!
Use 2 $0.50/1 manufacturer coupons
Final Price: Free— THIS IS A BIG NO!
The cash register won’t like it, and neither will we! You cannot use more than one manufacturer coupon per item.
Beginner Tip: How to Use a Coupon
Today I want to go over the very basic lesson of how to use a coupon . Most people understand how to redeem a coupon such as Save $0.50 on 1 can of Dole Pineapple. But when using coupons that say, for example, Save $1.00 on any 3 Cans of Dole Pineapple, it can become a bit confusing. We get comments asking if someone can buy 3 cans of pineapple and use three copies of the $1.00 off 3 coupon. Or questions such as “May I buy 3 cans of pineapple and use one $1.00 off 3 coupon AND 2 of even 3 $0.50 off 1 coupons?” So, here it is! I’ll address BOGO coupons in another post, as they’re a whole other animal.
As pictured above, when you use $1.00 off 3 manufacturer coupon, you must buy 3 products in order to redeem it. If you buy 4 cans of pineapple, you can only use one $1.00 off 3 coupon. In order to use two coupons, you would need to buy 6 cans of pineapple, as pictured below.
Now, let’s bring two different manufacturer coupons into the equation. We’ll say that there are two available coupons from two different Sunday coupon inserts:
$0.50/2 Dole Pineapple or Tropical Fruit cans
$1.00/3 Dole Pineapple or Tropical Fruit cans
$1.00/3 Dole Pineapple or Tropical Fruit cans
If you want to use both the $0.50 off 2 coupon and the $1.00 off 3 coupon, you will need to buy a total of 5 cans of pineapple. If you have multiple copies of the $1.00 off 3 coupon, you’d be better off buying the 6th can using two of them, since the savings on the $1.00 off 3 coupon is $0.33 per item, and the savings on the $0.50 off 2 coupon is $0.25 per item.
Since these are both manufacturer coupons, you cannot stack them. You cannot buy 3 cans of pineapple and use a $1.00 off 3 coupon in addition to a $0.50 off 2 coupon. The confusion arises when someone says, “I thought I could use one manufacturer coupon per item!” That statement holds true only when we’re talking about coupons that are worth a certain value savings on ONE item. If we had three $0.50 off 1 coupons, we would use three of them on 3 cans of pineapple. When we’re using a $1.00 off 3 coupon, we are limited to one manufacturer coupon per every three cans purchased. If you were to attempt to use three$1.00 off 3 coupons on three cans of pineapple, the 2nd and 3rd coupons would not be accepted by the register. The bar code is created in such a way that the register recognizes that it is meant for 3 items. If you only buy 2 cans of pineapple and attempt to use a $1.00 off 3 coupon, the register should reject your coupon.
Beginner Tip: Avoid Coupon Fraud
Many ‘coupon virgins’, as we affectionately refer to them, do not realize that when they begin “extreme couponing” there is a set of rules to which they must adhere. I want to discuss one of these rules now. It is possible for a coupon to give you a discount on a product, for which it is not intended. A Coupon Lady ALWAYS obeys every letter of text on every coupon!
An example of Coupon Fraud
Let’s say you shop at Walgreens this week and you want to buy the Colgate toothpaste that is a part of the “free’ after Register Reward promotion. You look through your coupons and see this $1.50 off Colgate Total Advanced toothpaste, 4 oz or larger coupon! Your plan is to head to the store and get paid to buy toothpaste:
Colgate MaxFresh, MaxWhite or MaxClean toothpaste, 6 oz., $2.99
Buy 1, Receive $3.00 Register Reward
Use $1.50/1 Colgate Total Advanced toothpaste from SS 3/27
Pay: $1.49, Receive $3.00 Register Reward
Final Price: $1.51 Money-Maker[Do NOT attempt the above deal. It is an example of fraud.]
So, as you hand your coupon to the cashier, you just now realize that the coupon says “Colgate Total Advanced” and you just purchased “Colgate MaxFresh”. Too late, the cashier has already scanned your coupon! You say, “Oh! I’m sorry, that coupon was for the wrong product, I just realized!!” The friendly cashier looks at you and says, “oh, it scanned through, so it’s fine! I’ll accept it!”
WHAT DO YOU DO?
This happens all the time! As we often see, cashiers are not as educated on couponing and coupon policies as Coupon Ladies! The right thing to do is to explain to the cashier that it was your mistake, but that the cashier should never accept a coupon for a product which is not specifically allowed in the verbiage of the coupon!
Other examples of coupon misuse
Purchasing Original variety Honey Bunches of Oats and using
$1.00/1 Post Honey Bunches of Oats Raisin Medley box from SS 2/27
$1.00/1 Post Honey Bunches of Oats Raisin Medley box from SS 2/27
Purchasing any Crest brand product and using
Crest 3D White or 2 Hour Express or Professional Effects Whitestrips from PG 4/3
Crest 3D White or 2 Hour Express or Professional Effects Whitestrips from PG 4/3
We get plenty of deals by using coupons the RIGHT way! There is no reason to EVER use them the wrong way.
