Couponing

I promise I am not those crazy people on TV that has 234 bottles of maalox or 163 bottles of hot sauce. I have been couponing on and off for a little over a year and it definitely can help with grocery shopping expenses. Will post my 'haul's as they refer to them in the couponing world. Stay tuned!!

Ok so I first started couponing when I lost my job and realized I still had to provide the same amount of food and household needs on less money. I went on you tube and watched video after video of people couponing. Some of it was fun and amazing others ...wacky and weird. Anyway here is what I have learned and what I do. I am just going to start with Shop Rite because it is what I do most frequently although CVS walgreens and rite aid can really have some amazing deals.... ok here we go

On Sunday morning I gather the shop rite ad and the two weekly coupon inserts. Smart Source and Red Plum... Also P and G have a monthly circular that goes out at the start of every month. This has brands in it like tide swiffer febreeze gilette downy crest and cover girl. I don't use this a lot because even with a coupon these items seem expensive to me. But there are been times when I have gotten razors for free because there was a high value coupon in the circular. I don't cut these up because I know what product are p and g for the most part and can easily find them.

Once I have the shop rite ad I start to look thru and circle sales and deals that I am pretty sure I have coupons for. I also look thru the new coupons and see if there are match ups.  The whole idea of couponing is to use the coupon to buy the item when the item is at the lowest price. Or at least on sale. That will get you the biggest savings.
Also something I look out for are promotions where the store is offering something free for buying a certain amount of products. For example I have gotten free milk for buying a certain amount of cereal. This week there was a back to school deal. If you bought $12 worth of products you received a $5 off school supply coupon that printed out at the end of your order with your receipt (these are called catalinas) Always be sure to have the minimum amount needed to qualify. I have done this before and my math was off and I didn't get the coupon I was working towards. Do this once and you wont again haha.

This is was the deal for this week. Spend$12 in P and G brands listed and get the $5 off school supply order. This is to be used on a future purchase. The great thing about these promotions is that you can still use coupons even if it brings the total down below the requirement. As long as you scan that amount of products you will qualify. I had a $1 off 4 coupon for the pringles. And I splurged and bought tide which i don't usually do. I had a $1 coupon for that. SO I spent $6 on pringles and $8 on tide. That is $14 so I qualified. I always keep it as low to the requirement as possible. Take off   my coupons and that was $12 and the $5 coupon at the end. Not bad!!

Ok next is double coupons. Shop rite does this. Pharmacys like CVS does not and neither does target or walmart. SR doubles up to $.99. This is when I get alot of my items for free. For example italian ice was on sale for $.99 one week and I had $.50 off coupons that doubled and made the item free. Love that!! Here is what I did this week...

The top picture is of the coupon for $.75 for the finish dishwasher tabs. The bottom pic (I apologize that its sideways) is the ad for it on sale for $2.99 The coupon will double to $1.50 off which will make the dishwasher tabs $1.50. I have never bought these before and I waned to give them a try. The double couponing really can get you some unbelievable deals.

Beware the 10 for $10 deals.......

Again I apologize for the sideways pic!! The 10 for 10 does NOT  mean you must buy ten to get the sale price. Only if it says must by 10 in order to get discount do you need to buy all ten. The pringles I bought was a must by 2 requirement. It usually says it clearly next to the item. Other wise you can buy only what you want or need for the 10 for 10 or 5 for 5 or whatever it is. Again a great time to use a coupon as the item is only $1!

OK I think that covers how to coupon basics. My biggest thing is keeping them neat and organized (no surprise there ) I have use envelopes and binders and all kinds things but I was spending so much time putting them away they would end up sitting in piles. I can usually find what I need fairly quickly and the next thing for me is putting them in a shoe box type container and file them. Will add how to coupon at CVS and walgreens soon... for now enjoy your couponing! O!! My trip on Friday was a good one. My total was $180 and I got it down to $120. With $10 in free school supplies at the end. I was very excited! It doesn't take much for me to be honest!! One last thing! The biggest thing I have realized and learned is that the coupons are cyclical. If you missed colgate or glade or cheerios sale this time it will be in again usually the next month or so. This is why it is easy and quick to stockpile your favorite items!