happy good buys

HOW TO USE COUPONS

NEVER use a coupon on a full priced item unless you have to have it now..
ALWAYS shop the sales. Check your local stores websites and fliers for good deals of the week. Don’t forget to use your store’s courtesy cards which provide extra discounts and savings at their stores (i.e. Albertsons Preferred Card).
STOCK UP: When something goes on sale and you have a coupon that makes it an even better sale, don’t just buy one…buy as many as you can afford…the more you do this, the more purchasing power you have. If you always shop this way you will never have to buy something at “regular” price.
STACK COUPONS: Use a manufacturer coupon along with a store coupon to get the best deal! (You can’t use more than ONE manufacturer coupon per item…they won’t let you do it, don’t even try, it’s coupon fraud!) Albertsons is one of the only stores that will allow you to use a manufacturer coupon, a store coupon and a competitor coupon on one item. This makes Albertsons one of the most coupon-friendly stores – it’s where you can get the most great deals!
ROLL OVER SALES and PROMOs: This is a great way to maximize your purchasing power. Example: One week at Albertsons they had a promo that when you buy $30 worth of certain sale items, you will receive 3 - $5 Catalina coupons ($15) to use toward your next purchase. Maximize your purchasing power by purchasing only $30 worth of these items and using your manufacturer coupons on the items in one transaction. Then roll your $15 Catalina coupon received in the first transaction onto your next purchase of $30 to get it for ½ price! (Use your manufacturer coupons on the second purchase to lower the cost even more!)
REBATES: Pay close attention to the “submit by” date and fill the forms out perfectly. These stores bank on you not following through and submitting your rebates. Walgreens and Rite Aid have free-after-rebate items each month. They now offer online rebate processing so you never have to mail them in. When you combine rebates with manufacturer coupons, they make for great deals. Be sure to fill out rebates when you get home from purchasing the items so you don’t forget to send them in.
MAKE A SHOPPING LIST: Look over the ads for sale items, “10 for $10” items, etc. Match coupons with sales to maximize savings. By doing this, items can cost just a small fraction of their original price. Pinching Your Pennies has a shopping list for Albertsons to use every week (see pinchingyourpennies.com for how to get to the list). They compare ads and coupons for the grocery sales each week. This saves time and effort because they do the work for you.
USE COUPONS WISELY: Avoid using a coupon just because it exists. If there is a coupon for an item that is not a great deal and is not needed, DO NOT use it.
RAIN CHECKS: Get a rain check on items that are out of stock. A rain check allows you to get an item at a later date while honoring the sale price of that item. Most often there is a limit on the quantity you are able to get with a rain check.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Walmart Clearance

We were at Walmart last week to do some quick grocery shopping and noticed some shelves full of clearance toys in the front aisle of the store. It was all their toys they had already marked down a couple of times and then marked them down to the lowest clearance price once again. But the best part is you also got to take an EXTRA 50% off of that price! We stocked up on lots of birthday and Christmas gifts for the kids for super cheap! It was great!

Our best deal was this cute tricycle and the helmet and pads we got for Sammy. The trike even has blinkers, a horn and plays music. It was the only one there. What a find!

The best part was what we paid for it all...

Radio Flyer Tricycle...... $8

Helmet with elbow and knee pads....... $4

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Grand Total for Sam's sweet new ride....... $12!

Seeing the look on my 2-year-old face.......... priceless!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Albertsons - doublers

It's been quite a while since I had done any sort of couponing and I thought I'd put a little time in it again to be sure I don't forget how to do it. So I went last night to take advantage of the doublers at Albies before they expired.

6 boxes California Pizza Kitchen Individual Pizzas

10 boxes Quaker Chewy Granola Bars

2 packages Kraft shredded cheese

2 6-cup packages Jell-O ready to serve gelatin

4 Edge Shave Gel

1 Skintimate Shave Gel

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Total before coupons = $81.90

My cost after coupons = $10.14

Not bad for a two month hiatus!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Walmart - Mentos

8 Mentos Gum

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Price before coupons = $10.85

My Cost after coupons = $2.85

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Albertsons - Post Cereal

45 boxes of Post Cereals

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Price before coupons = $219.13

My cost after coupons = $13.37

That is 94% savings!

I also received a $5 OYNO Catalina! Yippee! I love those!

What a screamin' deal!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Walmart Kraft Dressing/Dip

This salad dressing is on sale at Walmart for $1.58 ea. There was a coupon is last Sunday's SmartSource for $1.50 off of 1 making each bottle $.08! You still have to pay tax on the whole $1.58 but that still only makes them $.17 each!

11 Kraft Dressing and Dip

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Total before coupons = $17.49

My cost after coupons = $1.87

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Albertsons - Kraft Promo +

Lots of this was in the Kraft Promo where you buy $25 worth of selected sale items and get $10 off instantly. Then, of course, I had coupons for most the items and I also had 12 Albertsons coupon doublers. I also used my 3 RR Catalina coupons I had from my previous Walgreens transactions. I was told that yesterday was the last day that Albertsons would accept other store coupons and even though the RR Catalinas say "manufacturer coupon" they still won't accept them because they were printed at Walgreens.

2 Capri Suns

4 Jell-O Ready to Serve/Refrigerated Pudding/Gelatin snacks

2 Spring! natural spring water 24pk

4 Nabisco 100 calorie chewy bars

2 Arm & Hammer liquid detergent

4 Nabisco Wheat Thins

2 Kraft Easy Mac 6pk

8 Pringles

4 DiGiorno Flatbread Melts

2 Wrigley FruitSations Gum

1 Cover Girl Professional Mascara

3 Whopper's Robin Eggs Easter Candy

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Total before coupons = $128.34

My cost after coupons = $10.57

(This was all done in 4 transactions. My cost is so high because I didn't have coupons for every item.)

Friday, March 13, 2009

Couponing Booth

Last Saturday our stake put on a Preparedness Fair. The Sunday before, I found out that I was put in charge of the couponing booth so, of course, I quickly asked Angie do it with me. We were able to provide lots of information and it turned out to be a great display and we had a LOT of interest. Angie did all of the talking while I...what else...cut coupons!

TYPES OF COUPONS

Manufacturer coupons – says “manufacturer” on the top of the coupon
Store coupons – has the store name at the top of bottom; DOES NOT say “manufacturer”
Catalina/Register Rewards coupons – automatically print from the Catalina machine near the register after your receipt is printed (the cashier gives it to you along with your receipt); can be used like cash or manufacturer coupon on your next order; always read the fine print and watch for expiration dates
“Blinkies” – manufacturer coupons that come out of a dispenser in store isles next to the product; look for the blinking light
“Peelies” – manufacturer coupons that are attached to the product; you peel them off

WHERE TO FIND COUPONS

The first step to terrific savings and successful coupon use is accumulating coupons.
The Sunday Paper: There are usually coupon inserts in the Sunday newspaper each week. The number of inserts varies week to week. You can get more than on subscription delivered to your home or you can pick up copies at Wal-Mart for $0.85.
Internet Printables: Another source of coupons is the internet. Printable coupons and coupon offers can be found ad many manufacturer and coupon-related websites. There is a limit to how many you can print – usually 2. Each month there are new ones coming out for different products. To avoid wasting time getting bogged down with needless advertising, search sites which compile the links for you such as PYP (link above).
TIPS: 1. Sign up with a junk email address
2. Set up your printer to print in black only
3. Buy a lot of paper (or recycle used paper and print on the other side)
4. Check back regularly for new coupons
5. Don’t forget to print them twice (hit the back button 3 times to print the coupon again). NO PHOTOCOPIES!
Some stores do not accept IPs (internet printables). Keep a print-out of each store coupon policy in your binder so if you have a problem with a cashier, you can show them their store policy. You can find each store’s policy on their website.
ebay: This is a great resource to get multiples of the same coupon. Many people collect and cut coupons and sell their services on ebay. You can’t legally buy/sell coupons but they charge a small fee for finding and clipping them.
Coupon Clipping Services: There are several services that will find and clip the coupons for you and mail them to you for a small fee. Some good ones are: www.thecouponclipers.com www.thecouponmaster.com www.couponsarecool.com
***REMEMBER – Get multiple coupons to maximize your savings. Obtaining multiples of coupons is not difficult. Family, friends, neighbors and co-workers are great sources for obtaining multiple coupon inserts. Having multiples of each coupon enables a shopper to take advantage of the great deals in bulk. This helps build usable food storage.