So you might be wondering where I got all those coupons...
Well I didn't buy 24 newspapers, that's for sure. I've seen this Knox coupon before, so when I saw it in the newspaper I already knew what kind of overage this coupon could produce. I went to ebay and bought 100 of them for $20.
That may sound a little extreme, but that $20 spent will mean $261 in overage.
That means I will be able to buy $261 worth of groceries for $20. To me, that's just a deal I can't pass up.
Will I ever use even one box of that stuff? Probably not, and to tell you the truth I have no idea what I'll even do with all of them. But as you can see I'm not having any trouble spending that overage.
On a side note, it's illegal to actually sell or buy a coupon. The ebay deals, as well as certain coupon clipping websites, are very up front about the fact that you are paying them to clip and mail the coupons. The actual coupons themselves are free.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
My Publix Trip 2/6: Saved $125 Spent $1.07!!!
Sorry there's no pic of all my loot to go along with this post. Once I got home from Publix I had previous little time to make two dozen deviled eggs and finish getting ready for our Super Bowl party (Who Dat!).
Here's the break down of what I bought and coupons used:
Cheez-Its (x2) BOGO $3.99
I used a $1/2 coupon=$2.99 for both boxes=$1.50 per box
Pupperoni Dog Treats (x4) BOGO $3.69=$7.38 total
I used three Publix coupons for $1/1 and one MQ for $1.50/1=$4.50 in coupons=$2.88 for 4 packages=.72 cents per package
Sara Lee hot dog buns $2.19
I used a .55/1 peelie coupon=$1.64
Publix low-fat chocolate milk .99
I used a tear-pad coupon that I found on the Sara Lee hot dog bun display for $1 off milk WYB (when you buy) a Sara Lee bread product. I bought the smallest size chocolate milk I could find so that I could get it for FREE.
$1/1 MQ=FREE Chocolate Milk!
Tostitos chips $3.99
no coupon used
Orlando Sentinel (x2) $3.00 total
no coupon used
Ground Chuck 1 lb (x2) $6.76 total
no coupon used
Philadelphia cream cheese $1.25
no coupon used
This was on sale 4/$5 which made it cheaper than the Publix brand!
Wishbone Ranch dressing $2.89
no coupon used
Maxwell House Coffee (x2) $5.99 each=$11.98 total
no coupon used (but this was a great price!)
Miller Lite 18pk $12.99
no coupon used
Come on, it's the Super Bowl!
Knox Gelatin (x24) $1.39 each=$33.36 total
Used twenty four $4/1 coupons, creating an overage of $62.64
I was in a hurry and didn't have enough time to pick up enough groceries to soak up my overage, so I had the cashier add a $9 Publix gift card to my total.
My total savings was $125.82, my total out of pocket expense was $1.07. I walked out with four bags of groceries, my newspapers full of coupons AND a $9 Publix gift card to use on my next trip! Who Dat!
Here's the break down of what I bought and coupons used:
Cheez-Its (x2) BOGO $3.99
I used a $1/2 coupon=$2.99 for both boxes=$1.50 per box
Pupperoni Dog Treats (x4) BOGO $3.69=$7.38 total
I used three Publix coupons for $1/1 and one MQ for $1.50/1=$4.50 in coupons=$2.88 for 4 packages=.72 cents per package
Sara Lee hot dog buns $2.19
I used a .55/1 peelie coupon=$1.64
Publix low-fat chocolate milk .99
I used a tear-pad coupon that I found on the Sara Lee hot dog bun display for $1 off milk WYB (when you buy) a Sara Lee bread product. I bought the smallest size chocolate milk I could find so that I could get it for FREE.
$1/1 MQ=FREE Chocolate Milk!
Tostitos chips $3.99
no coupon used
Orlando Sentinel (x2) $3.00 total
no coupon used
Ground Chuck 1 lb (x2) $6.76 total
no coupon used
Philadelphia cream cheese $1.25
no coupon used
This was on sale 4/$5 which made it cheaper than the Publix brand!
Wishbone Ranch dressing $2.89
no coupon used
Maxwell House Coffee (x2) $5.99 each=$11.98 total
no coupon used (but this was a great price!)
Miller Lite 18pk $12.99
no coupon used
Come on, it's the Super Bowl!
Knox Gelatin (x24) $1.39 each=$33.36 total
Used twenty four $4/1 coupons, creating an overage of $62.64
I was in a hurry and didn't have enough time to pick up enough groceries to soak up my overage, so I had the cashier add a $9 Publix gift card to my total.
My total savings was $125.82, my total out of pocket expense was $1.07. I walked out with four bags of groceries, my newspapers full of coupons AND a $9 Publix gift card to use on my next trip! Who Dat!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Hip 2 Save
This is by far one of my favorite sites to go to. It covers a wide variety of topics, from grocery shopping to online retail, there is a deal here for everyone.
Check it out!
Check it out!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Coupon Strategy: Overage & Trial Sizes
Overage is sort of like the holy grail of couponing. It's not easy to achieve but when it does, I swear you can hear angels sing.
Overage is when you have a coupon that is worth more than the item it's for. Rarely do the manufacturer's plan for this to happen, but they don't exactly prevent it either.
It's best shown by a few examples.
We'll start off simple. Take this Neutrogena coupon. I'm sure the manufacturer expects me to use it on a $7 body wash or $5 tube of lipstick, but I'm a true couponer, I try to spend as little as humanly possible. Instead of buying a larger size, I'll head on over to the trial size aisle and pick up a .5oz tube of Neutrogena face wash or lotion priced at .99. When most stores scan my coupon they'll give me the full face value of $2 off my total. That will give me an overage of $1.01 (you can also think of this as a $1.01 MONEYMAKER).
Word to the wise: read your coupons carefully. This tactic doesn't always work. Some coupons will specify a certain size, like the Scope coupon, or will allow you to buy any size BUT the trial size like the Olay coupon.
If it doesn't specify, I go for the tiniest bottle possible every time.
Most people go down the travel size aisle only when going on vacation. Me, I've walked down those aisles so many times I can tell you from memory that a travel-sized version of Tide is .97 and you can buy a Johnson & Johnson first aid kit for $1.99 in most stores.
And you don't always have to resort to mini-versions of products to get overage either.
Take this $4/1 pkg of any style Knox product coupon. The products featured on the coupon are $10+ (glocasmine powder and caplets for joint health). I would never buy these products in a million years. BUT...Knox also makes cooking-grade gelatin. You can find it on the tippy-top shelf right above the boxes of Jello. The smallest box they offer is priced at $1.39. When I use my $4 off coupon that will result in an overage of $2.61!
Sometimes, in order to make the most of what you've got, you've got think outside (or in this case-smallest) box.
Overage is when you have a coupon that is worth more than the item it's for. Rarely do the manufacturer's plan for this to happen, but they don't exactly prevent it either.
It's best shown by a few examples.
We'll start off simple. Take this Neutrogena coupon. I'm sure the manufacturer expects me to use it on a $7 body wash or $5 tube of lipstick, but I'm a true couponer, I try to spend as little as humanly possible. Instead of buying a larger size, I'll head on over to the trial size aisle and pick up a .5oz tube of Neutrogena face wash or lotion priced at .99. When most stores scan my coupon they'll give me the full face value of $2 off my total. That will give me an overage of $1.01 (you can also think of this as a $1.01 MONEYMAKER).
Word to the wise: read your coupons carefully. This tactic doesn't always work. Some coupons will specify a certain size, like the Scope coupon, or will allow you to buy any size BUT the trial size like the Olay coupon.
If it doesn't specify, I go for the tiniest bottle possible every time.
Most people go down the travel size aisle only when going on vacation. Me, I've walked down those aisles so many times I can tell you from memory that a travel-sized version of Tide is .97 and you can buy a Johnson & Johnson first aid kit for $1.99 in most stores.
And you don't always have to resort to mini-versions of products to get overage either.
Take this $4/1 pkg of any style Knox product coupon. The products featured on the coupon are $10+ (glocasmine powder and caplets for joint health). I would never buy these products in a million years. BUT...Knox also makes cooking-grade gelatin. You can find it on the tippy-top shelf right above the boxes of Jello. The smallest box they offer is priced at $1.39. When I use my $4 off coupon that will result in an overage of $2.61!
Sometimes, in order to make the most of what you've got, you've got think outside (or in this case-smallest) box.
Coupon Preview
I usually buy 2 newspapers every Sunday, but sometimes I'll buy a few extra if I know there are some good coupons inside.
Thankfully there are a few blogs out there that post a preview of what you can expect in the upcoming newspaper. How they do this, I have no idea. Some questions are best left unanswered, the last thing I need is some crazy coupon-clipping conspiracy theorist showing up on my doorstep!
You can check out a preview of this Sunday's coupon inserts here.
Looks like it will be a good week for coupons. I typically expect two inserts each week, a Smart Source (SS) and a Red Plum (RP). This week there will also be a Proctor & Gamble insert as well as one dedicated to General Mills products.
Looks like it might be a 4 newspaper kind of weekend...
Thankfully there are a few blogs out there that post a preview of what you can expect in the upcoming newspaper. How they do this, I have no idea. Some questions are best left unanswered, the last thing I need is some crazy coupon-clipping conspiracy theorist showing up on my doorstep!
You can check out a preview of this Sunday's coupon inserts here.
Looks like it will be a good week for coupons. I typically expect two inserts each week, a Smart Source (SS) and a Red Plum (RP). This week there will also be a Proctor & Gamble insert as well as one dedicated to General Mills products.
Looks like it might be a 4 newspaper kind of weekend...
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Walgreens & Register Rewards (RRs)
So a lot of you have asked me how I managed to do the .35 shopping trip at Publix, and the success of that shopping trip was due largely in part to my first trip of the day...Walgreens.
Why do I start my grocery shopping at Walgreens? It sounds weird, I know, especially considering that 99.9% of the time I don't even buy anything edible there, but it's an integral part of my grocery shopping strategy. Let me explain...
Walgreens, like most pharmacies today, offer special perks for their customers. Walgreen's calls their program 'Register Rewards', or as I will refer to them, RRs. (I'm lazy OK, I try to abbreviate EVERYTHING!) Basically how it works is that if you buy a featured item, the Catalina machine at the register will print a coupon that Walgreen's hopes you will use on your next purchase there.
Sometimes the deals are so-so, like a $2 RR on a $10 item. Now don't get me wrong, if you were planning on purchasing this item anyway a $2 coupon is more than welcome, but I like it when I'm getting as much if not more than what I'm paying back to use for something else.
Here's an example from this week's sale flier:
Vitamin Schtick Lip care. It's a fancy-schmancy version of chap-stick. It's on sale this week for $1.99, and once you purchase it the register will print a RR for $1.99 making this item FREE after the RR.
This is what I'm talking about! Nothing makes a couponer happier than getting something FREE!
Oh wait, there is something that makes us happier...getting something for FREE and getting more money back than what you paid!
Here's an example (again, from this week's flier):
Blink Tears. This item is on sale for $7.99, and it triggers a RR for $7.99 (FREE!), but it gets even better! When I buy this product I'm also going to hand the cashier this coupon. That means you'll pay $6.49, but walk out with $7.99 in RRs. That's a $1.50 MONEYMAKER!
Did I need the eye drops? No, but therein lies the sheer genius of this strategy. See, the RR has 'Manufacturer Coupon' written clearly across the top, which means that I can use it wherever manufacturer's coupons are accepted. Are you thinking what I'm thinking???? PUBLIX!
That's right, I'm going to take my $7.99 RR to Publix where I can use it on any item I want! Remember in my last post that I mentioned I earned $42 in RRs from my first stop at Walgreens? Well all of it but $5 worth were used on my Publix grocery total. Did I need even half of what I bought at Walgreen's yesterday? Nope, but I did need the $42 in RRs (that I only paid $33 to get = a $9 MONEYMAKER!) to turn around and buy groceries with.
Now the RRs aren't perfect. You can't roll them. That means that I can't take the $7.99 RR that I earned buying the eye drops to turn around and buy more of the same eye drops. If I do, another RR won't print. I could pay for more eye drops with different RRs and it would work out just fine.
And since a RR is considered a manufacturer coupon, if you're planning on using htem to pay for your purchase anywhere, you have to pay attention to how many items you purchase compared to how many coupons you're using. This is very important: You cannot have more coupons than items. If you do, the register will beep and will require a supervisor's over-ride for every single coupon after that. An easy fix is to grab a few filler items (extremely cheap items to balance out your ratio of coupons:items) Think an individual package of ramen noodles or a single pencil from the school supplies aisle.
Walgreen's also issues their own coupons, which allows for some great coupon stacking possibilities (that's one MC and one store coupon together) as well as BOGO deals (pay for one item but use a coupon on both).
Why do I start my grocery shopping at Walgreens? It sounds weird, I know, especially considering that 99.9% of the time I don't even buy anything edible there, but it's an integral part of my grocery shopping strategy. Let me explain...
Walgreens, like most pharmacies today, offer special perks for their customers. Walgreen's calls their program 'Register Rewards', or as I will refer to them, RRs. (I'm lazy OK, I try to abbreviate EVERYTHING!) Basically how it works is that if you buy a featured item, the Catalina machine at the register will print a coupon that Walgreen's hopes you will use on your next purchase there.
Sometimes the deals are so-so, like a $2 RR on a $10 item. Now don't get me wrong, if you were planning on purchasing this item anyway a $2 coupon is more than welcome, but I like it when I'm getting as much if not more than what I'm paying back to use for something else.
Here's an example from this week's sale flier:
Vitamin Schtick Lip care. It's a fancy-schmancy version of chap-stick. It's on sale this week for $1.99, and once you purchase it the register will print a RR for $1.99 making this item FREE after the RR.
This is what I'm talking about! Nothing makes a couponer happier than getting something FREE!
Oh wait, there is something that makes us happier...getting something for FREE and getting more money back than what you paid!
Here's an example (again, from this week's flier):
Blink Tears. This item is on sale for $7.99, and it triggers a RR for $7.99 (FREE!), but it gets even better! When I buy this product I'm also going to hand the cashier this coupon. That means you'll pay $6.49, but walk out with $7.99 in RRs. That's a $1.50 MONEYMAKER!
Did I need the eye drops? No, but therein lies the sheer genius of this strategy. See, the RR has 'Manufacturer Coupon' written clearly across the top, which means that I can use it wherever manufacturer's coupons are accepted. Are you thinking what I'm thinking???? PUBLIX!
That's right, I'm going to take my $7.99 RR to Publix where I can use it on any item I want! Remember in my last post that I mentioned I earned $42 in RRs from my first stop at Walgreens? Well all of it but $5 worth were used on my Publix grocery total. Did I need even half of what I bought at Walgreen's yesterday? Nope, but I did need the $42 in RRs (that I only paid $33 to get = a $9 MONEYMAKER!) to turn around and buy groceries with.
Now the RRs aren't perfect. You can't roll them. That means that I can't take the $7.99 RR that I earned buying the eye drops to turn around and buy more of the same eye drops. If I do, another RR won't print. I could pay for more eye drops with different RRs and it would work out just fine.
And since a RR is considered a manufacturer coupon, if you're planning on using htem to pay for your purchase anywhere, you have to pay attention to how many items you purchase compared to how many coupons you're using. This is very important: You cannot have more coupons than items. If you do, the register will beep and will require a supervisor's over-ride for every single coupon after that. An easy fix is to grab a few filler items (extremely cheap items to balance out your ratio of coupons:items) Think an individual package of ramen noodles or a single pencil from the school supplies aisle.
Walgreen's also issues their own coupons, which allows for some great coupon stacking possibilities (that's one MC and one store coupon together) as well as BOGO deals (pay for one item but use a coupon on both).
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
My Walgreens & Publix Shopping Trips 2/3/10
I must admit, today I hit a personal best.
Couponing at the degree that I do requires some strategy, and let's just say that my strategy worked even better than I could have imagined.
My first stop was to Walgreens, where I spent $33 but earned $42 in Register Rewards (more on that later this week). Those Register Rewards (RRs) are labeled as manufacturer coupons, so after I finished up at Walgreens I ran to Publix to do some grocery shopping using the RRs along with my regular coupons.
And at Publix....brace yourselves....my grand total out-of-pocket expense was....oh dear Lord the suspense....if you could have seen the look on my face (ecstasy!).....35 cents.
Wait, maybe you didn't read that correctly? Perhaps I'm mistaken, you may think to yourselves. Well I've got proof!
Here's what I bought at Walgreens:
And my receipt:
Then off to Publix I ran, giddy with excitement to spend my RRs!
The spoils of my adventures:
The folks around me actually clapped! I mean real applause! I would have taken a bow if I hadn't been doing my crazy giggle (I sound possessed, it's a weird sort of I'm-so-pleased-with-myself kind of giggle)!
Check it out:
I literally had to dig around in my purse for change to hand the cashier! Woo-hoo!
Are you a believer yet?
Couponing at the degree that I do requires some strategy, and let's just say that my strategy worked even better than I could have imagined.
My first stop was to Walgreens, where I spent $33 but earned $42 in Register Rewards (more on that later this week). Those Register Rewards (RRs) are labeled as manufacturer coupons, so after I finished up at Walgreens I ran to Publix to do some grocery shopping using the RRs along with my regular coupons.
And at Publix....brace yourselves....my grand total out-of-pocket expense was....oh dear Lord the suspense....if you could have seen the look on my face (ecstasy!).....35 cents.
Wait, maybe you didn't read that correctly? Perhaps I'm mistaken, you may think to yourselves. Well I've got proof!
Here's what I bought at Walgreens:
And my receipt:
Then off to Publix I ran, giddy with excitement to spend my RRs!
The spoils of my adventures:
The folks around me actually clapped! I mean real applause! I would have taken a bow if I hadn't been doing my crazy giggle (I sound possessed, it's a weird sort of I'm-so-pleased-with-myself kind of giggle)!
Check it out:
I literally had to dig around in my purse for change to hand the cashier! Woo-hoo!
Are you a believer yet?
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