First, you need to start collecting coupons.
- Start with the Sunday paper. Find the biggest city's newspaper in your area and buy that. It's nice to have a subscription if you can (but wait for a good deal on it--often times if you buy it at the gas station or wherever, there will be a subscription offer somewhere in that paper), but sometimes the biggest paper may not be available for delivery for you. I found that often times the Des Moines Register and Chicago Tribune has more, and better, coupons than our local paper. The common inserts you will see are Red Plum (RP), Smart Source (SS) and Procter & Gamble (PG).
- Print internet printable coupons (IP). Coupons.com is a popular site to begin. Check it often as new coupons get loaded on a regular basis. Smartsource.com and redplum.com also have IPs. I love Target, so check Target.com/coupons for coupons. They have both MQ and SQ available there, but you won't know what it is until you print it.
- "Like" your favorite companies on Facebook. Often, companies offer high value or even free product coupons (or samples!) on their Facebook page. If you don't do Facebook, it can be worth it to create an account that you just use to get coupons.
- Are you looking for a coupon for a particular product? Use a coupon database. There are people who do the hard work for you. You type in the product and they will list every available coupon for that item! It's awesome! My favorite database is Money Saving Mom.
1) Learn about coupons.
- There are 2 types of coupons: First, Manufacturer Coupons (MQ) that are put out by the product's manufacturer that you can use at any store that accepts coupons, and second, Store Coupons (SQ) that are put out by the store that you can only use at that store.
· The type of coupon it is will be stated at the top next to the expiration date. Most stores allow "stacking." This simply means that you can use one MQ and one SQ per item. For example, if you have a "$1 off any Crest toothpaste" from the Manufacturer and a "$1 off any Crest toothpaste" from, say, Target, then you will save $2 off the toothpaste instead of just $1 to really maximize savings. As a previous casual couponer, I wish I would have known this sooner! Even if you don't get too crazy into couponing, this alone can save you lots of additional money!
- Read the fine print. Pretty much every coupon states "limit one coupon per purchase." This is confusing to a lot of people--including cashiers at your stores! Per purchase means that you can use one coupon per item, not a transaction. A transaction is each time you literally pay for your whole purchase and you get a receipt from the cashier. You can never use more than one MQ on one item. So if you are buying 4 Crest toothpastes, you can use 4 MQ that state "$1 off any Crest toothpaste" (and 4 SQ if your store allows stacking). However, if you have a coupon that says, "$1 off any TWO Crest Toothpastes," then you may only use 2 MQ on your 4 toothpastes and no other MQ on the items because the coupon "attaches" to both items (you could however still use 4 SQ if the SQ says it's for 1 item)
- Pay attention to the TEXT of a coupon, not the picture.
· If you have a "$1 off any Cascade" coupon, then you can use that on any Cascade, not necessarily the 24 pack of Cascade Action Pacs that costs $6.99. Because this coupon does not exclude trial size (many coupons do), you can use it on the 3 or 4 pack trial size that costs .97 at some stores (Walmart and Target both carry these), so you'll get it free (and if you get 6 of these coupons, then you paid nothing for 24 of them when you would have paid $5.99 by using the $1 coupon on the bigger product)!
· Or you have a coupon that says "$2 off any Schick disposable razor" and the picture shows the $10 Schick Hydro. You don't have to get the one pictured--they text says ANY, so you can use it on the 12 pack Schick twin blade disposables that costs $1.97 at Walmart, so again free! Some cashiers will try to tell you "it doesn't match the picture." Stand your ground and point out what the text says. Get a manager if you need to. Many cashiers and manager simply aren't aware of coupon "rules" or the store's coupon policy (see below about that!), so don't let them tell you otherwise if you know you are right! (Of course, make sure you are right! And that you are always couponing ethically and by the rules!)
· Even if you can't get the product for free, it still helps to buy the smallest size. Let's say the largest size of body wash is 22 ounces and costs $5.99, but the 12 ounce bottle is $2.99. If you have a $1 off coupon, you could get the 22 ounce bottle for $4.99. OR you could get the 12 ounce for $1.99. If you have 2 coupons, you could buy 2 bottles for total $3.98 and have 2 more ounces than if you had used the coupon on the 22 ounce. This is the better deal!
- Learn about store coupon policies. It is helpful to print them off and carry them with you for couponing trips in case the cashier tells you that you can't use something. Personally I just pull up the policy on my smart phone. Here are links to the store policies for my favorite stores (If you are looking for others, let me know, I will help you find them!):
2) Get items for free! I know you want to know how to do that! Besides what I just explained above by using it on trial size or less expensive products, there are some things you should never have to pay for again if you play your coupons right (like toothpaste!). Here is how you can pay nothing, or next to nothing for lots of things!
· Use your coupons on sale items! Hold onto your coupons until there is a good sale! Most items go on sale every few weeks, so don't just use that coupon right away. This does take some patience, but it's totally worth it. You have a coupon for "$1 off any Dawn." The regular price of this product is $1.79. You could use the coupon and pay $.79. Good deal? Sure, but not if you can get it free! Dawn often goes on sale at drugstores for $.99, so then you use that $1 off coupon on the sale price, and now you pay nothing!
· Use the coupon on the lowest priced item. You have a coupon for "$2 off any Crest Toothpaste 4 ounces or more." People often think, well I should use that coupon on the bigger product, so I get more for my money. Not when you can get a smaller product for free! There are 4 oz. toothpastes for $1.99 and 6 oz. toothpastes for $2.99. Sure you could get the 6 oz. for $.99, which may seem like a great deal, but you can get the 4 oz. for nothing, and again, definitely a better deal.
· Stack those coupons! Use a MQ and a SQ on the product. You have a "$1 off a 4 pack Activia" MQ and a "$1 off a 4 pack Activia" Target q. Activia goes on sale at Target for $2.00. Now you can get it totally free! Then you can stock up on that item!
· If you have multiple coupons and find awesome deals, use them to stock up and begin a "stockpile." Stockpiles are awesome for nonperishable food items and health and beauty products, so when you run out, you won't have to pay full price ever again! There are some things you should never have to pay for and some that you should never pay more than $1 for.
o Sale + MQ + SQ=Stockpile!! Then you will really see savings.
· Play the drugstore game! Pick one drugstore to start. This is where you will see your biggest savings. Save grocery couponing for later (I'll admit, I'm still not that good at it). I recommend starting at CVS (some also recommend Rite-Aid, but we don't have that in the QCA, so I can't speak to that).
o Your first trip or two should be more of an investment trip. You will spend more money at this time so that in the following trips, you will see more savings. Obviously you will be using coupons, so you are cutting your cost right away and saving more than you would have by paying retail cost. But once you start the drugstore game, you will really see those savings!
o CVS:
§ If you pick up a CVS ad, you'll see things like Excedrin 8 count, "Pay $.99, Get $.99 Extrabucks. It's like getting it free!" To me, it's not free just yet. You have to pay $.99. BUT with your CVS card (sign up for one if you don't have one yet!), at the end of your receipt an Extrabuck reward (ecb) for $.99 will print. Then on your next purchase you will use that $.99 ecb to buy something else that also produces a reward.
§ So you bought the Excedrin, and Crest toothpaste is on sale for $2.99, and Get $2 ECB. You have a $2 off coupon for Crest, so you use that $2 off coupon and now you are down to $.99. Then use your ecb that you got for Excedrin and you get the Crest free! PLUS, you get $2 ecb for the next purchase! This is called "rolling." Essentially, once you really get rolling, you are exchanging paper for paper, and only paying the tax on products! CVS does have limits on the number of rewards you can get for an item (usually 1), so it is harder to stockpile things there.
§ If you see something that says Spend $25 on select products, get $10 ecb--this is BEFORE coupons and ecbs! So you can really get your price down to pay the least out of pocket (oop).
§ Bonus CVS deals:
§ Scan your card at the "magic machine" (the coupon center/price scanner usually just inside the door) for store coupons.
§ Join the Beauty Club. You get $5 ecbs for every $50 you spend.
§ Buy a Green Bag Tag and earn $1 ecb for every 4 times it is scanned (only once per day though!)
§ Sign up for email alerts on their website cvs.com. and you'll get a $4 off a $20 purchase (before coupons and ecbs!), plus if you're lucky, you'll continue to get some like these weekly (I get them every couple weeks).
§ Also, you get 2% cash back every quarter in ecbs for what you spent OOP.
o Walgreens (Wags)
§ It is similar to CVS in the way that you get "Register Rewards" (RR) when you buy certain products. But Wags doesn't exactly have limits. There is no card, so there is no way to track how much you buy. The ad states "Limit one coupon printed per offer." However, this means per transaction, so you can get more than one. But there is process to this that is more complicated. You can't use that RR to buy another of the exact same product and get another RR. You have to roll in a different way. Wags considers their RR a MQ, so you have to do things a bit differently. You can still use the MQ and a RR on an item, but you have to have the same number of items as you have coupons and rewards, so you need some small "filler" item, like a piece of candy or some cheap sale item (like during Halloween, they have pencils or cups on sale with a Walgreens SQ for $.13--the SQ doesn't count toward your number of coupons)
§ So using the 9/25/11 ad as an example:
§ Transaction 1: Buy Schick Quattro Razor for $8.99, Use a $5/1 ($5 off one) IP. Pay $3.99, get a $5 RR.
§ Transaction 2: Buy Zarbee's drink for $5.99, Use a $1/1 IP (or $1/1 found in some boxes of the product). Now your cost is $4.99 and you have a $5 RR (this cannot be adjusted down), which is 2 coupons for 1 item. This is not allowed, plus you need to spend another penny to use the RR, so find some filler like the Halloween Cup with the in-ad coupon for $.13. So pay $.12, get a $6 RR!
§ Transaction 3: Buy a Schick Quattro razor for $8.99, buy Walgreens Maxi Pads for $2, buy Halloween cup $.13 with in-ad q. Total $11.12, use $5/1 Schick and the $6 RR. Pay $.12! PLUS get another $5 RR for Schick and a $2 RR for Wags Maxi Pads. Now you have $7 in RR for next time!
§ You could continue to alternate products for as many coupons as you have to start your stockpile, but just be sure you follow those rules so you avoid the dreaded register beep (it means the coupon isn't being accepted for some reason)!
o You can start small like the above scenarios if you want. I did this. But if you want more rewards to roll, then spend more out of pocket (oop) in one transaction to begin (following store limitations), then the next trip you'll get more free at one time and not have to worry as much about doing separate transactions.
· Find stores that double or triple coupons. Lots of grocery stores do this. I am not lucky enough to have any stores that do! But if you do have this option, then save that coupon for a really good sale!
I know this is A LOT! It is a lot to take in. That's okay. Start small. The goal is simply to save money to start, so even a little savings from couponing is better than paying full retail price. Then once you learn the game, you will enjoy your new found hobby. But beware! It is a little addicting. But, hey, I figure there are worse things to be addicted to! Happy Couponing!
Remember! Ask questions and I'll be happy to help! :-)
