Well, a couple weeks ago, I admitted on Facebook that I'm a couponer... of the kinda, sorta extreme sort. And of the legal kind. (Yes, there are laws. And believe it or not, some people try to take advantage of the system and intentionally break them to get a deal for themselves and screw everyone else. *gasp* Surely not in America!) I couldn't help sharing because I was just so giddy after my trip to HyVee that morning, where I saved $163.30 off my 304.41 shopping trip. And that price is just in coupons. That's not including the money I got knocked off for things being on sale in addition to the coupons! And the fuel savers...but that's a different story for a different time! Today: coupons.
To the skeptics, part one: Now I know that sounds like a lot for a grocery bill. BUT do the math... that's over fifty percent savings. And I know the skeptics will say I could have gotten everything cheaper at Fareway or WalMart, which would be true if we were talking full retail price. But we're talking coupons here. And on this particular day was a rare special double coupon day at North HyVee. So the other stores couldn't even come close to comparing to prices I got after I used all the coupons I had ready in conjunction with store sales. (Even not on double coupon day, HyVee is by far the best place to coupon!)
To the skeptics, part two: No, I don't use coupons just because I have them to use. Occasionally I'll get our family a treat (like a frozen pizza or a special ice cream, like I'll explain below) if the price is super right, but ninety-nine percent of the time, I'm buying items with coupons that my family uses on a regular basis that I would have to buy whether I had a coupon or not. I DO, however, use coupons if I have them and there is a fantastic deal to stockpile items. For example, one particular deal I snagged during the trip I mentioned was on Ziplock (or was it Hefty?) freezer storage bags that I'll use for freezing green beans and *hopefully* all other sorts of garden produce this summer. Instead of paying close to $3.00 a box for the bags this summer, I paid 30-some cents a box during this trip! CENTS! So I stocked up as many as I could so I could pay the couponing price (granted two or three months before I need them) instead of having it come to crunch time and paying full price this summer. Storing it at home is free; paying full price is expensive! Same idea with garbage bags, Dawn dish soap (the only kind I use), cereal, toothpaste (you really don't ever have to pay for toothpaste OR toothbrushes!), toilet paper, shampoo, soap, batteries (which I'll show you below)... all sorts of goodies. Same idea, but with different prices.
There is way too much information on the hows and wheres and policies for each store to get into here, but here's a quick step-through of what I do.
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| The most important thing in couponing is prepping! And prepping takes time! I generally go shopping on Friday (so I can take advantage of both Fareway's Thursday through Saturday and HyVee's Friday through Sunday weekend specials). We get the shopper on Wednesday mid-afternoon. So anytime on that evening or on Thursday, I go through the shopper, find the items on sale and match them up with coupons that I have. I get my list made, coupons sorted and ready, and any ads I may need to price match at the store ready to go. And then, they all go into..... |
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| ...The Binder! The Binder goes with me everywhere and anywhere there is a chance of me buying something. Grocery stores, any of the "marts", drug stores, Menards..... it even rides along with us to church on Sunday mornings in case we choose to eat out after church. 'Cause who would pay full price for eating out when you could snag a deal with a coupon?! (Restaurants have coupons, too!) Anyway, in the binder I have scissors, pens, paperclips, coupons (obviously), usually a calculator (because couponing is really all about math!) and my notebook with lists and price comparisons. |
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| On the big double couponing day, I went a step further. I made a chart with the product, the original cost of the product, the sale price, worth of the coupon, how many coupons I had, etc. And then I put it in... |
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| ...The Binder. The chart made it much easier to... |
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| ...figure everything up when I got home. I always go through to figure in sales price or price match price to see how much money I saved in addition to the coupons. It looks like in addition to figuring up my savings, I was also organizing and adding new coupons on this day. It really helps for everything to be neat and organized in ... |
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| ....The Binder. |
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| Sign of a good shopping trip: a receipt that is longer than your child! |
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| Lest we forget it's importance, here's another picture of The Binder. |
I thought I'd share a couple of the best deals I got just yesterday.
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| I'm not a big WalMart fan. I try to avoid it if at all possible. But every few weeks, Josh tells me we're out of cat food, so to the Mart we go. It just so happened that I needed cough syrup for the kids for when the next cold hits. (WM's store brand Equate cough syrup is THE best! And the cheapest even without a coupon.). On the way to grab the cough syrup, I noticed Firefly toothbrushes for $1.00. Well, by George, I knew I had a coupon for $1 off any Firefly brand product. Again...how much were the toothbrushes? A buck! Do that math. That equals FREE toothbrushes! Saving a buck is another dollar that can be used somewhere else! Okay, so... the big deal of the day: Besides cat food on the list was coffee and batteries. No coupon for the coffee (drats!), but I scored big on the batteries. Caleb needed AAs for his remote control truck. It just so happens that Energizer is running a special birthday promotion on it's specially marked packs of batteries. Buy two, enter the codes found on the package online, and receive a $10 WalMart gift card though mail. (I know it works, 'cause I've done it in the past.) The batteries are $5.77/pack You need two codes. So $5.77x2= $11.54. Minus the $10 you get back via mailed gift card. That equals $1.54 for two packs of batteries, or 77 cents a piece. UNLESS you have ***enter dramatic music here*** coupons! I had several $1 off one pack of batteries coupons. So let's redo that math... Batteries: $5.77/pack times 2 packs = $11.54 Minus $2 in coupons = $9.54 Minus the $10 gift card = -$.46 Yep. Not just free batteries, but they pretty well just paid me 46 cents to buy batteries. BUT there's more! The deal can be done four times per household address. So that equals eight packs of free batteries for me, with an additional $1.84 "money maker" (as we say in the couponing world). Sweet. The next deal was done the same day. Not quite free, but still a good catch and an example of when I would use a coupon for something I wouldn't ordinarily purchase: |
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| Here's the before prices: Mayo $3.99 Tea $3.69 Klondikes $3.99 Total: $23.34 Would I ever buy $4 mayo? No way! That's when store brand would kick in. (But let's be honest, some things are just better name brand, like Coke, ice cream... and mayo!) Would I ever buy $3.69 tea? Well, yeah. I like my tea. But $4 for little ice cream sandwiches... nopers! BUT.... I had sales and coupons! The after price: Mayo: $3.99 -$1(on sale) - $1(coupon) = $1.99 (that's more like it for good mayo!) Tea: $3.69- $.81 (sale)- $1 off two (coupon) = $2.38 each (not a super deal, but I like tea and it's better than full price!) Klondikes: $3.99 ea. x 3 (I had to purchase three for the coupon I had) - $.99(3) (sale) - $3(coupon) - $5 (store coupon) = $1.00!!!! So.... 33.3 cents a piece, down from $3.99. Put another way: $11.97 total down to $1 total. Or a nickle a sandwich down from 67 cents a sandwich. No matter which way you'd rather say it, it's a deal! It's been decades since I've had a Klondike, but I imagine they taste much sweeter when their cheaper! New Total: $7.75 (Saved $15.59) This Klondike scenario would be a perfect example of something I purchased "just because I had a coupon" and not something we would ordinarily use. But I like I said at the beginning of this post, I only "just use a coupon because I have it" when it's a spectacular deal. |
One last thing. How'd I get started in all this? Well, it all started when I got so frustrated when Pantene shampoo (my shampoo of choice) jumped up in price. This was back when Caleb was a baby. So I'd use coupons when I'd have to get shampoo and a few odds and ends like toothpaste and toilet paper. But nothing serious. When Sarah was born, I just stopped couponing all together. But then a group of ladies from Eddyville had a series of meetings called Eddyville Dollar Stretchers. It rekindled my interest in the couponing world. And before I knew it, by Fall, I'm once again clipping coupons and finding deals. Only this time, I make it worth my time! I have a running total of everything household (supplies, toiletries, food, clothing) I've purchased since the beginning of the year and another total of coupons I've used. When the math is done, I've found that I've saved over 60%! I do it for "fun"; it's a challenge for me to find the deals, and it's rewarding to be able to treat my family to something that we otherwise wouldn't be treated to. I hate shopping, but it makes it worth it when I can come home and do the math to figure up how much I've saved. It's like a game for me: a money saving game. So far, I'm winning. And it's all thanks to...
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| The Binder! |
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