Hello Class and Welcome to
The Coupon Chic's School of Couponing!
The Coupon Chic's School of Couponing!
*Please note that these scenarios and guides are based for Florida. Check with your local stores to find out their policies.
Stocking up:
So, how does a "normal" person shop? Usually, once a week, they sit down, make out a list of items they are out of, such as food for that week’s breakfasts, lunches and dinners, personal hygiene items, school/office supplies, etc. Then they go to the store and buy all this stuff at full price or think they're being smart shoppers by buying the store/generic brand items. Then they do it all over again the next week. Sound familiar? This is how most people shop, not realizing they could save so much money if they learned to buy when these items are at their lowest price, known as their rock bottom price (RBP).
So how do you really save doing this? When items are at their RBP, you stock up on them, enough to last you till they go on sale again. These periods of time are called sale cycles. A normal sale cycle is usually about 6-8 weeks, maybe more, maybe less, depending on the item. But for the most part, the 6-8 weeks is a pretty good guide.
Example A: Say this week Winn-Dixie has their boneless chicken breasts on sale for $1.79/lb. You know that for your store that is the RBP for chicken. So you’re going to stock up, buying enough to last you about 6-8 weeks, until they go on sale again, instead of spending as much as double that buying it at regular price.
Example B: This time let’s say that Publix has Prego spaghetti sauce on sale, buy one, get one (BOGO), priced at $2.60. That makes them $1.30 a piece. So right there you’re saving 50%.
So, if you’re buying these items at their RBP and stocking up on them, you won’t have to go out and pay full price when you need them. You’ll just have to go to your stockpile and grab a jar!
Coupons:
So now you’ve got the idea that buying at the RBP will save you some money. Now, to show you how to save more, in come the infamous coupons. You know, coupons, those things that come in the paper with the sales ads that get thrown to the side. These are now your best friend!
Manufactured Coupons:
Every week in the Sunday paper, there are coupon inserts mixed in with the sales ads for your local stores, such as Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, etc (which we’ll discuss store ads a little later). There are four major inserts: Red Plum, Smart Source, General Mills and Procter & Gamble. Most weeks you’ll get a Smart Source and a Red Plum but sometimes more or less, mattering on the week. P&G usually comes out once every month.
For just starting out, I suggest buying two papers a week. The best deals where you save the most money are BOGO’s, so you want even number of coupons for the same item. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you can increase the amount you get. To get the most for your money, for a family of 4, I’d suggest 4-6 papers. Think that’s a lot of papers? The money you save on one or two deals pays for those papers and more! Also, hit up family and friends that get the paper and see if they use their inserts. You wouldn’t believe how many people just throw them away!
Like I stated before, you want even number of coupons for each item. Most places, when an item is BOGO, you can use TWO coupons, one for each item! You say, “But you’re already getting one for free!” Not technically. What the store is doing is halving the price of both items. So a $2.60 jar of sauce is now $1.30 if you buy two of them. It’s like the item has been marked 50% off. So you save even more by adding the coupons.
So let’s see how those coupons help save you more money. To do so we’ll look at Example B from earlier.
Example B: Prego spaghetti sauce is on sale BOGO for $2.60, making them $1.30 a piece and you have two $0.50 of 1 coupons. Taking the $0.50 off of $1.30 makes them $0.80 each!
Using the above scenario, you just dropped a $2.60 jar of sauce down to $0.80! That’s a savings of 69%! For $0.20 less than the original price you can get three jars compared to the full price of one!! The generic/store brand jars are still going to cost you way more than that. How crazy is that? Really gets you thinking why am I paying all that money when I could be getting so much more for less?
Store Coupons:
Store coupons are coupons that aren’t from the manufactures, but come from a certain store, only to be used at the particular store. They will have the stores name on it instead of saying manufacturer coupon. These are some of my favorites! If you’re lucky enough, you live near a store that has store coupons. The most common stores in Central Florida that have these are Publix, Target, CVS, Walgreens and Family Dollar. Some of the other local stores, such as Winn-Dixie and Sweetbay, do put out occasional ones in the paper or inserts but not very often. You’ll get the most from first five.
What’s really special about these coupons is that they can be stacked (used with) manufacture coupons! Meaning, that if you have a manufacture coupon for an item and a store coupon for that same item, you can use both on that one item to increase your savings. This is possible because the store coupon is like a special price drop for the item, with the store taking the cut, and the store will still get the money back from you using the manufacture coupon. These can also be used on each item for the BOGO’s.
Most store coupons are found in booklets at the store, some in the paper inserts or online at the stores website. Walgreens, for one, puts out a coupon booklet each month with store coupons on an assortment of items. Target has a huge selection of coupons, both store and manufacturer on their website. From time to time, these stores will have store coupons in the Sunday inserts.
Then there is Publix, one of the greatest places to coupon shop in the south and I’ll explain why. Publix each month has two fliers they put out with their month long deals and it’s usually filled with store coupons. They also will put out special booklets in the stores that will have coupons (mostly store coupons but some have manufacture ones). They even have printable ones online from time to time. This is one store that is pretty liberal with their store coupons. But the biggest reason I love them, is that they are one of a few grocery stores that will accept competitor coupons! So you have a much bigger selection to choose from to save more money. Now, you’ll have to check with your local Publix to find out who they consider a competitor because each one varies. Usually, they accept stores within a certain number of miles distance from the store. It’s up to that manager to decide what they are.
Ok, so we’ve learned about store coupons. Let’s see how they play out in our example.
Example B: Publix has their Prego spaghetti sauce on sale BOGO for $2.60, making them $1.30 each. You’ve got your two manufacturer coupons, $0.50/1 ($0.50 off 1 item), making them $0.80 each. Now you have two $0.50/1 store coupons. Taking off the amount for the store coupons, your jar of sauce is now $0.30 each! That’s a savings of 88%! For $0.20 less than the full price you can get eight jars of sauce compared to one at full price!
Peelies, Tearpads, Blinkies and Catalinas:
A great way to find more coupons is just doing your normal shopping. Throughout the stores, there are coupons! You’ve probably seen them or used them, but now you’ll be keeping your eyes peeled for them!
Peelies are what they sound like. They’re little coupons that are on certain items that you can “peel” off to use then or save for future use. They’re another way manufactures use to try to get you to buy their product.
Tearpads are pads of coupons or rebate forms, usually on a display or attached to the shelf near the item it’s for. These are usually scattered around the store, for different products. The best thing to do is when you see one, take about two of them (please don’t take a ton of them, as there are other people that would like to get some too!) and save them for when that item next goes on sale.
The next one on the list is a childhood favorite; the blinkie. Blinkies are the coupon dispensers by Smart Source that you’ll find attached to the shelves dispensing coupons for an item near it. As a child it was fun to grab one and watch it pop out a new one. Now they have a purpose! Like the tearpads, grab two and save them for future use.
Lastly are the catalinas. These are machines that some stores have at the register, such as Winn-Dixie and Walgreens, which print out coupons, usually manufacturer ones, when you purchase certain items. Walgreens uses these for their Register Rewards program.
Free and BOGO Coupons:
From time to time you’ll get coupons for a free item or buy one get one item free. The free item is a way for manufacturers to get you to try their product and hopefully buy more. The BOGO coupons are similar except that you have to purchase one item to get the second free.
Using the BOGO and get a free one coupons can get tricky. Some stores have no problem while others will give you a hard time about using them with sales. Most of the time it’s just the cashier not being up to date one the stores coupon policy and a manager, trying to keep the customer happy, will usually handle it and allow it. It all matters on the store, the cashier and the management. When used right, you can get BOGO items for free! (This is for Florida residence.)
Here’s an example for the BOGO coupon. Winn-Dixie has mayo on sale BOGO for $2.00, meaning you’re getting them for $1.00 each. Now, that BOGO coupon means that the manufacturer is willing to pay full price for one of those mayos, which would be the presale price of $2.00. So, it’s almost like having a $2.00/2 ($2.00 off 2 items) coupon now. Most stores aren’t going to have a problem with this because they’re still getting that $2.00 back from the manufacturer. Again, check with that stores coupon policy or the manager if they don’t have a set policy.
With the get one free coupon, it’s almost the same. You’re buying two things of mayo, BOGO, making them $1.00 each. That get one free coupon is the manufacture taking off the full price of one of those mayos, which in this case is $2.00. So it’s covering the $2.00 you owe for both jars. Again, some stores don’t like you doing this and will say you can’t use it on a BOGO deal and that you could get a third one free, which is still a good deal, just not as good as free!
Printable Coupons:
In the last few years, printable coupons have become huge! It’s a great way to get more coupons of a certain item and rarer coupons that aren’t always in the paper. A time not too far back, a lot of stores wouldn’t take printables because there were no way to tell if they’d been coppied and people were abusing them. But now, with advancements in the security for printing them, they’ve become common place.
There are a few different places to get them. The most common are the coupon sites; Coupons.com, SmartSource.com and Redplum.com. To be able to print from these sights, you have to download a coupon toolbar program that will allow you to print a certain coupon two times from one computer. Each time you print a coupon, the security code on the coupon will be different which helps the cashier and manufacturer know that the coupon has not been copied. There’s also usually a watermark.
Another place to find coupons is through the manufacture’s website. A lot of them will have sections of printable coupons that will go through either coupons.com or smartsource.com to print.
Also, another place coupons have popped up at recently is Facebook. A lot of manufacturers have become aware of the advertising potential of the networking site and will promote their product on there, giving away coupons and freebies. These too, usually go through coupons.com or smartsource.com to actually print them.
That pretty much sums up the coupons. We’ll come back to them in a bit when go over organizing them!
Sales Ads:
Now that you have your coupons, you need to know where and when to use them. This is where the sales ads come in. Sales ads are ads that stores put out to let you know what’s on sale that week. Your superstores, department stores and drug stores all usually come out on Sundays with the paper. The grocery stores vary depending on the store and its location. Winn-Dixie and Sweetbay sale ads start on Wednesdays. Depending what state you’re in matters what day the Publix ad starts. For Florida, they start Thursdays and Wednesday for everyone else.
The worst thing you can do is going to the store and trying to figure out what to buy while you’re shopping. You’re just going to get frustrated and end up spending a lot more than you need to and just want to throw in the towel with couponing. The most important part of couponing is planning. You need to have a game plan of what you’re buying so you don’t get frustrated and overwhelmed. There are two ways you can do this; going through the ads yourself or using a coupon site.
Going through the ad is pretty self explanatory. You would go through the ad, looking at the deals and find the ones that are the RBP and then match up with the coupons you have. If you’re just starting out, I would not suggest this as it’s easy to overlook stuff but if it’s all you have to work with, go for it.
The second method is online coupon sites. There are a ton of them out there that do all the work for you. I’ll be posting up deals on this site for Publix and Winn-Dixie but will also have links to other sites that lists them and other stores too.
What these sites do is list all the sales from the ads in a list, categorized by sections (BOGO Deals, Meat, Produce, Home, etc). With each sale item, they’ll list the sale price and under it, all the coupons that match up with that deal. Here’s an example:
Buy One Get One’sPrego Spaghetti Sauce, 24oz $2.60 ($1.30)
$0.50/1 manufacture coupon, ss 8/29
$0.50/1 Publix store coupon, yellow advantage buyer
In this example, it shows the category, the item that’s on sale, the full price and sale price and then the coupons that match up with it. Now, when the coupon is listed, it’ll give you the amount of the coupon, if it’s a manufacture or store coupon and then where to find it. For our manufacture coupon, it came from the August 29th Smart Source. As for the store coupon, it came from the yellow advantage buyer, which is one of the two flyers Publix puts out monthly and keeps at the front of the store. Pretty easy to follow.
From there you make your list. Write down the deals that want and you have the coupons for. Remember though, just because it’s listed doesn’t mean you HAVE to get it. You pick which items to stock up on that week, depending on your budget and taste. You don’t have to get every deal otherwise you’d go crazy and get burnt out quick. There will always be another sale. Don’t freak out if you have to buy things that aren’t on sale or you don’t have coupons for. Sometimes you just have to get that gallon of milk or bag of sugar. And let yourself splurge every once in a while. If you’re saving 60% on all your groceries, you can afford to get that $3.00 bag of chips you’ve been craving.
A little side note. When you’re just starting out, you won’t have many coupons. Don’t let that stop you! While you’re letting your coupon stockpile grow, still check out the deals at your local store. Getting the item without a coupon at its RBP is still saving you money! And when just beginning, start with one store. Trying to get the deals at all the local grocery store will have you running around like a mad person. Start slow and work your way up.
Organizing:
Ok, so you have your list made up and you need to find the coupons that go with it, but your coupons are just in a big huge pile. Eek! This is where organization comes in! You need to find a way to organize these coupons so that it’s easiest for you to find them and go. Here are a few options.
Accordion File:
This is the more traditional way of keeping your coupons. You can find them in your local store for a few bucks. It opens up and has a bunch of slots for you to categorize your coupons how you like, such as by product name or type. It’s up to you.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4818142_sort-organize-coupons.html
Coupon Box/Tub:
This is similar to the accordion except you’re using a long plastic tub to hold your coupons. You use envelopes to hold your different coupons and tabbed index cards to organize the categories. This also comes in handy as you can just grab your tub and take it with you in the store in case you find unadvertised deals.
http://moneysavingmom.com/2010/05/how-i-organize-my-coupons.html
http://thefrugalgirls.com/2009/04/my-coupon-organizer.html
Whole Insert Filing:
For those that don’t have much time and don’t want to cut out a ton of coupons that you probably won’t even use, this is a great way to go. Each week, you put together your inserts and put the date on the front so you know which weeks newspaper they came out of. Then you can put them in a filing cabinet, folder, box, large accordion file, or whatever you find that works for you. When you need a coupon, you look and see what insert and what date that coupon is from, find it and cut them out. This way, you’re cutting out just what you need and don’t have to spend a lot of time cutting and sorting.
http://www.savingwithshellie.com/couponing-101/organization-tips/
http://www.forthemommas.com/deals-and-steals/getting-the-most-out-of-your-coupons
Coupon Binder:
This one is a bit more time consuming to do but is great for visual type people, like myself. In this method, you take a 3-ring binder and use baseball cards sleeves as coupon holders. This way, you can see all the coupons you have at a flip of the page. Again, you can categorize them how you like either by brands, alphabetically or by departments, such as food, household, beauty, etc. Then just grab your binder and go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTwttMoft1g
http://beingfrugal.net/2009/03/03/frugal-coupon-binder-organization/
Whichever way you decide to do it, by picking one, a combination of two of them or making up your own, do what works for you. Everyone is different so try one or two of them out and figure out what will fit into your schedule and fits your personality. For more information on any of these, check out the links I’ve posted or do a search (go through swag bucks and get some bucks while you’re at it!) or check out youtube.com.
So, now you’ve got the tools to start this new way of life! Start out small. You’re not going to be an expert over night. But over time, you’ll get better and better and before you know it you’ll have your monthly grocery budget cut in half or more!
