Thursday, May 7, 2009

COUPONS 101--PART 2

Ok, so now that you know where to get your coupons, you now need to know what coupons to SAVE.

PART 2

  • What coupons do you save? I clip and save almost every coupon, about 99% of them, even if it is something I would never use.  The reason I do that, is because, if there is a chance it is going to be free or under a $1, I get it and give it to charity or someone I know could use it.  There is no reason NOT to get something if it's going to be free!!  On Sundays (or whatever day I get the inserts or coupons), I spend a little bit of time clipping them and putting them into stacks of like categories, ie:  cleaning supplies, Breakfast, etc.  From here, it's time to organize, and that's when I put them into all my categorized envelopes in my box.

  • Why do I clip and save every coupon? I save every coupon because I never know what is going to come on sale, or what I might be able to get for free. Or, I never know when I might find an item on clearance, and if I have all my coupons with me, (Yes, I usually take the entire box with me to stores!!) then I am able to take advantage of both the coupon and the sale. Before I started bringing my box of coupons with me, I can’t tell you how many times I would buy something that I had a coupon for at home but I just forgot to bring it!  Or I didn’t plan to buy it that week, but when I got to the store it was one sale. So I missed a great way to save even more money.

  • Don't be Brand Loyal This might be a hard one for some of you and for others, it's no biggee, but if you are going to be an avid couponer, brand should usually NOT matter.  Now, don't get me wrong, there are some brands that I won't/don't buy, because I just simply either don't like the way they taste (if it's a food product), or I don't like how it worked for me.  (For example, a cleaning product.)  But, for the most part, if you save all the coupons in the inserts, and not just pick out your favorite brands, you are going to save big!  For Example:  Let's say my family only usually buys Tree Top Apple Juice.  So, if I see a coupon for Tree Top, I will definitely clip it and save it.  If I see a coupon for Motts Apple Juice, I may not clip it, or overlook it, because my family does not usually buy Mott's Apple Juice.  If both juices are $2.50 each at the store, I will definitely buy the one we like best, but if  I find a sale on Mott's Apple Juice for $2.00 and I have a .75 coupon for it, it would make the Mott's $1.25 and the Tree Top is still $2.50. At that price I would be happy to buy Mott's! So, clip ALL brands and make sure to bring all your coupons with you!

  • How many to Save As I stated earlier, we don't have a subscription to the paper (Yet!!), so it varies how many coupons I can get on any given Sunday.  It is at least one of each insert, but could be up to 20 or more!!  So, you may ask, why do I want so many??  Here's an example for you:  Let's say Safeway is having a sale on Pasta Sauce, $1.50/each, and normal price is $3.00/each, plus, I have a coupon for $1.00 off.  That would make each pasta sauce .50 cents!!  A GREAT DEAL!!  But, maybe I don't want to go out of my way for one jar of pasta sauce....But, if I saved 10 coupons,  and I can get 10 jars of pasta sauce at 50 cents/each, then it is definitely worth the trip!  Plus, then I have "stockpiled" plenty of pasta sauce for weeks to come and I don't have to worry about buying more for awhile. When you buy your items at a super low price, such as this, and stockpile, the goal is to have enough so you won't have to buy it again until you can get it for that low of price, again!  That way, you can ALWAYS buy your items at half off or more!

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