Here’s more coupon tips for this week.
Have you noticed that now the Extreme Coupon show has aired how many stores are changing their policies. At first I thought “Oh no, now we can’t get our great sales.” However, this actually has a more positive effect. It cuts down on all those couponers who took advantage and bought up everything before anyone else had a chance. This means less going to the store and seeing that blank row where your special was supposed to be.
What are some of the changes? Some of the changes we are seeing is that some stores aren’t offering savings for competitor coupons. You need to check if that changed for you. Also, they are cutting back on the amounts you can purchase with each transaction. (No more buying 200 of one item! YES) I found it had very little effect on me. Hopefully you feel the same.
Another thing I want to mention this month is how being a super saver can help you prepare for disasters and not have to go out and spend a fortune if something were to happen. Last week we were possibly in the path of Irene. Now normally that would be a $300 to $400 event so we could prepare. However, since I’ve been stocking up all along, I had can foods, batteries, water, flashlights, etc., everything I needed and none of it did I pay full price. What a way to SAVE! And also what a way not to have to go out with all the crazies in those long lines.
Happy couponing!
Tags: coupon tips, couponing, Diana Ennen, extreme couponing
Category Extreme Coupon Tips |
Saving money and couponing go hand in hand. One thing I’ve recently implemented is with the money I save (it shows at the bottom of your receipt), to put some of that in a piggy bank at home. Now with that money I will either pay down a bill or use it on a really good sale that I now can stock up on. As long as it goes toward cutting down my expenses or enabling me to save more in the future it’s a win/win for us. Think about ways you can do that too. Plus it’s so fun to see that glass jar fill up. (BTW, the glass part really helps. You can see your savings. Of course you can also use it for fun things, but if you use it towards saving money you will have more money in the future for those fun things.
My coupon tip of the week is to pay attention to the expiration date on the reward coupons and always check those reward coupons for extras. For example, CVS will often put a 30% savings off your entire purchase within the next few days. Now if you just threw that coupon in your purse you would miss it. And 30% can mean substantial savings and is definitely worth a trip back. Combine that 30% with sales, manufacturer’s coupons, etc. and you will see major savings.
With rewards, make sure you sign up for Penney’s and Sears reward cards too or just give them you mailing address and email. With Penney’s they frequently send out $10.00 coupons on a $10.00 purchase. That’s FREE! I’ve gotten numerous free shirts this summer. And again, combine that $10.00 savings with a good sale
and you get some great items.
Happy couponing!
Category Extreme Coupon Tips |
We are thrilled to have another great review for our client, Dr.David Schapira on his book titled: “Fetus to Fifth Grade”.
The Suburban Princess Diaries has this to say…
When I started my journey into the world of motherhood, I found myself approaching it the same way that I would tackle anything else.
I went seeking out any and every bit of worthwhile information that I could find on pregnancy and parenting and I researched the heck out of it.
That’s me. I’m a total bookworm.
Now as a mommy blogger, I have the wonderful opportunity to read and review books about child-rearing that I may not have discovered otherwise. For the full review go to The Suburban Princess Diaries
Category Our Media |
It’s important with you are a couponer, even a more laid-back one, to stay on top of things and be consistent. I know it can be difficult, but if you keep on top of things and cut your coupons weekly you won’t have those days where you have to devote hours to it. That’s what happened to me recently. With the summer time activities, school shopping, etc., I didn’t cut my coupons for two weeks. Now I get several newspapers, coupons in the mail, coupons on the computer, etc., so it was quite a bit of work to catch up. What was even worst, was I had been not as diligent in my coupon binder and had quite a few expired coupons. So, it required several hours on Sunday to do. You can get your kids to help.
The best way to do that is to give your kids all the copies of that coupon pack. Simply mark the coupons you want and have them cut them out. Let them know that it’s easier to keep track of if they line the coupons up, so when they go to the next coupon pack it’s easy to put the ones on top of the other stack.Once all the coupons are cut and stacked, they can hand them to you to put in the binder. Saves a great deal of time.
Another reason to stay on top of things is that you won’t miss out on great coupons that expire. Because I hadn’t been as diligent, I didn’t realize that July 31st, was a big date in coupons and many of my best coupons expired then. I missed out on quite a few bargains because I didn’t check.
Happy couponing.
Category Extreme Coupon Tips |
It’s important to get familiar with your store’s sales cycle. Once you start taking notice you will be amazed how cool it is. For example at our store every four weeks our favorite frozen vegetables come on sale. By keeping track of this I know that I can save my coupons for when it comes on sale again. I also know that I want to stock up and have enough to last until it goes on sale again. I know some folks have fancy reports that they keep. For me, I just make a jot down on a sheet of paper in my coupon binder. Frozen corn on sale and the date. I do this with many of our favorite items that we literally can’t do without. By doing so, I hardly ever have to pay full-time.
Another thing to take note of is your store policies. Some stores require you to buy the full amount on their sale items (5 for $10.00) and you don’t get the discount until you purchase all five of these. However, other stores just give you that discounted rate on each one no matter how many you purchase.
Another very important thing to note for your coupons is how many you can use per card. For example at our CVS they always have great sales on our favorite body wash. However, we can only purchase 1 sale per week on our card. If you don’t pay attention, you end up paying regular price for the amounts over what they allow.
BTW, look for our couponing teleseminar coming in the first week of September. An hour packed full of couponing tips.
Happy couponing!.
Category Extreme Coupon Tips |
Couponing Tip
Make sure you check your receipts – EVERY TIME!
I know this is a hassle after you shop and are all done and tired, but it’s so important to review every receipt, even the ones at the drug stores. Once you start doing this regularly you will discover that it doesn’t take that long and you get accustomed to what to look for. Each store is a little different, but the stores themselves are consistent normally in their receipts. For example at places like Walgreens and CVS it will have a store deduction on the store items on sale … so at the end of the receipt you will see an amount that is deducted and the product . (-1.25 Colgate).
Look to make sure that you got all the sale prices. Pay attention to buy one and get one free sales. Often times if the free one doesn’t ring up it can be a $4.00 or $5.00 mistake (sometimes even more.)
Check that all your coupons went through. If you have a lot of coupons, not saying you need to review each one, but know how many coupons you had. For example, I will know I had 10 coupons so I look down to make sure that there are 10 deductions. The store clerk can often have two coupons stuck together so that helps to prevent that.
Finally always go back and get your money if a problem exists. I know often times I will think well it’s only $3.50 is it worth it? But when you think about it, those really do start to add up. And what I discovered is that most places don’t mind at all and it will often alert the store to the fact that their sale items aren’t ringing up correctly. Many times I’ve been thanked for bringing it to their attention.
Until next time. happy couponing!
Category Extreme Coupon Tips |
When couponing it helps to check out your Sunday flyers of the stores you frequent before and during your coupon clipping. For example, I normally go to CVS and Walgreens. They now list in their flyers when there’s a coupon in the Sunday paper that matches their sales. It helps me to pay closer attention to those sales and to make sure that I clip them (and for really good sales to get more newspapers.)
Also, you’ll notice that often times the competing stores will have similar items on sale. Definitely stock up on the store that offers the best deal, but also pay attention to the other store as well. You are sometimes limited in the amounts you can get at one of the stores and this allows you to take advantage of those items on sale.
Also, make sure you check to see if you can use your manufacturer’s coupons in addition to store coupons. As an example, Publix this week has a store coupon for $1.25 off their Raid. I have a $1.00 coupon from the Sunday paper. Combined that will greatly reduce the price.
Happy couponing!
Tags: coupon tips, extreme couponing, extreme coupons
Category Extreme Coupon Tips |
We were thrilled to get a great review for one of our client’s books, Fetus to Fifth Grade. We truly feel it’s one of the best parenting books out there and were so glad to see they agree. Here’s the review.
While I was pregnant, I was disappointed in the quality of most pregnancy books out there. Most use fear-mongering and make you believe that if you eat a slice of lunch meat your baby is going to come out with three heads and scales. They also don’t provide you with any scientific evidence to back up their (sometimes baseless) claims. As a science geek, I found this to be truly disheartening. I want to know the research behind the current recommendations when it comes to pregnancy and child care. For example, have studies shown that playing Mozart through headphones placed on your pregnant belly actually has a benefit?
For the full review please go to “Growing Up Geeky”
Category General |
NEW! Couponing 101 for CWAHMs
by Diana Ennen
It’s important when extreme couponing to visit several stores and have those stores as part of your weekly or bi-weekly routine. Also, it’s great when you get to the point where you shop by sales and not needs. Honestly you can get there within a very short period of time so work for that. What are the benefits to doing this – here’s a great example … A few weeks ago I was at my favorite store and one of the items we use regularly (and I mean daily!) went up $2.00. I thought oh this is a temporary thing, but it wasn’t. Now if I didn’t have several of these on hand, I would have had to pay the extra $2.00. However, because I did I was able to wait for it to go on sale and with a coupon it greatly reduced the price. When it went on sale (which was this week), I purchased several of these or at least enough to carry us over until it goes on sale again. (Which you will discover is every few weeks.)
What I do is as soon as the flyer comes out, I review it and check out the sales. I just circle the ones that interest me. Then later on when I have time, I will look for coupons to bring the price down even more. Now I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it’s not. Many of the stores that I stop by, I just run in on my way back from the gym. Does it take extra time, sure! But is it worth it, absolutely. Last week at one store alone I saved $120.00. This was all items we use regularly.
Happy couponing. Remember to send in any questions to diana@virtualwordpublishing.com. And follow me on facebook, too, for more tips: Click Here!
Category Extreme Coupon Tips |
NEW! Couponing 101 for CWAHMs
by Diana Ennen
Look for stores such as CVS, Walgreens, etc., that offer Extra Rewards. They rock! It’s a great way to get things for free or very low price. Also, it’s great because you can get brand named products. For example, our CVS has a rewards card program. How it works is that when you purchase an item that is on sale and has a extra rewards value it will print out the “rewards” amount on your receipt and the next time you go in you can get that money off your next order. You simply present the receipt and they will take it off. This is usually an amount from $1.00 to $10.00 off. So you don’t get it that shopping time (which I know at first was hard to understand), but the next time you do.
What I try and do is purchase food items with that rewards money. Things that I normally would have to pay for such as milk, soda, coffee, etc. Or use the money on a really good bargain for the following week. Say I have $5.00 coming back to me and the next sale is on buy a $7.00 product and get $5.00 rewards back. I then get that product for $2.00 (and I’ll normally have a coupon too), but then I have another $5.00 that I can use next time. So it just keeps on going (que the everready bunny music.)
Hope this helps. We’d love your coupon tips too!
Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing lots more tips. If you have questions or tips, I’d love for you to submit them to me at diana (at) virtualwordpublishing (dot) com
Happy Bargaining!
Category Extreme Coupon Tips |
