I’m trying to get into the coupon thing. The strategy for coupons is that you clip the coupons you need, then wait for the item to go on sale at the store.
So I subscribe to couponmom.com’s coupon alert. There are a lot of items I don’t use: junk food (except for sometimes, like today’s fruit snacks and Jell-O pudding), sugar cereal (except for their birthdays), cat food, coffee and Velveeta “Cheese” (I added the quotations, because is it cheese, really?); however, there are many coupons for items I do regularly purchase.
This week I did SO well! Albertson’s had on sale the same items I had coupons for. This made for a very successful trip. You want to know how much? Okay.
I spent: $37.60
I saved: $67.30
56% savings. I know!
The items I purchased were mostly stalk-up-the-pantry-items.
Also, a few splurges. For instance, I don’t buy fruit snacks. Why? Because they aren’t really fruit snacks. Apples are fruit snacks. Bananas are fruit snacks. Fruit snacks are candy. Okay, candy with Vitamin C, if you need me to be a little nicer.
So you want the details?
No? Then you are finished here; but feel free to explore around the blog if this is your first time.
Yes? Okay!
Albertson’s has these specials where they group specific products into categories and they are all priced the same. Then if you purchase a certain value of that product (this week, it is $10), you get even more savings.
Also, in this week’s mail advertisement there were three Double Coupons (up to $1 value); I love these coupons.
I’m not going to give you all the details (I have an Excel spreadsheet I can email you if you are a crazy nerd), but to sum up:
I had $18.15 worth of coupons I brought.
I used those coupons on top of the “Preferred Savings” that totaled $46.15.
And then the double coupons valued at $3.00.
I sat down for ten minutes before I left, looked at the flier, found coupons I had that matched the deals in the paper, made a list of what I needed and how much, and went shopping.
I still need more skills in this department. I need to find more coupons. Better coupons. It seems there are a lot of coupons for cake mixes, frosting, candy, "fruit" snacks, over-processed foods, and the like. I want some high quality item coupons. Do you have suggestions for resources?
So I subscribe to couponmom.com’s coupon alert. There are a lot of items I don’t use: junk food (except for sometimes, like today’s fruit snacks and Jell-O pudding), sugar cereal (except for their birthdays), cat food, coffee and Velveeta “Cheese” (I added the quotations, because is it cheese, really?); however, there are many coupons for items I do regularly purchase.
This week I did SO well! Albertson’s had on sale the same items I had coupons for. This made for a very successful trip. You want to know how much? Okay.
I spent: $37.60
I saved: $67.30
56% savings. I know!
The items I purchased were mostly stalk-up-the-pantry-items.
Also, a few splurges. For instance, I don’t buy fruit snacks. Why? Because they aren’t really fruit snacks. Apples are fruit snacks. Bananas are fruit snacks. Fruit snacks are candy. Okay, candy with Vitamin C, if you need me to be a little nicer.
So you want the details?
No? Then you are finished here; but feel free to explore around the blog if this is your first time.
Yes? Okay!
Albertson’s has these specials where they group specific products into categories and they are all priced the same. Then if you purchase a certain value of that product (this week, it is $10), you get even more savings.
Also, in this week’s mail advertisement there were three Double Coupons (up to $1 value); I love these coupons.
I’m not going to give you all the details (I have an Excel spreadsheet I can email you if you are a crazy nerd), but to sum up:
I had $18.15 worth of coupons I brought.
I used those coupons on top of the “Preferred Savings” that totaled $46.15.
And then the double coupons valued at $3.00.
I sat down for ten minutes before I left, looked at the flier, found coupons I had that matched the deals in the paper, made a list of what I needed and how much, and went shopping.
I still need more skills in this department. I need to find more coupons. Better coupons. It seems there are a lot of coupons for cake mixes, frosting, candy, "fruit" snacks, over-processed foods, and the like. I want some high quality item coupons. Do you have suggestions for resources?
5 comments:
If you have a Taget in your area I have found they are the best place to use multiple coupons (ones that are going to expire and you have like 5 for the same item). I get Tide and Downy coupons all the time for like $.50 off. Well Target lets you use as many coupons as you have on that one item. Last month I got Tide for like $6.00 because of that; I had like $5.00 off worth of coupons. I had a friend tell me about Target and I am so thankful to her. Now I am excited to try Albertson's out thanks to you info.
Thanks, Laurie. I had no idea about that--and I'm heading there today! I'm excited to try that one out. Perhaps I'll start buying all my soap/household cleanser/detergent items there if I can use several coupons for one item. Great idea.
I hope your target is as good as ours. I tried it in Cali. and it worked there; I can't speak for the other 48 states - good luck!
How do you manage to have the coupons WITH you when you are in the store, shopping? Dumb question, I know, but at least I'm bringing those non-plastic grocery bags into the store with me more and more (instead of leaving them in the car). Do you have a nifty divided envelope in your purse at all times? Awesome!
I have a small accordian folder that is about four by six inches by one inch. Small enough to fit in my purse, large enough to hold various sizes of coupons.
The folder comes with tabs and I label them with areas of the store, like "toiletrees/make-up" or "baking" or "cereal/bread" and sort that way. Also, I keep my Jo-Ann Fabrics 40% off coupon, Target coupon cards that come in the mail, and other stores' coupons in the very front.
This system makes it very fast for me. When I'm at JoAnn's I know exactly where my coupon is, or when I'm looking at a specific type of item, say salad dressing, I can look in my "soup" section (the dressing is near the soups at my store, so I keep those coupons there) and I can see if I have coupons for a specific brand.
If you don't want to pay for one of these (they are probably $5-$10 and well worth the investment) you could make this type of system out of envelopes, taped or glued together.
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