Putting It All Together in a Half an Hour Per Week
Now that we’ve covered the basic’s of coupon use, you may be wondering, how will I do this is an a half an hour a week? The trick is starting small. Do not try to take advantage of every sale, create a massive stockpile, or obsess over coupons.
Try picking only two stores to shop at. Preferably the same stores that you already shop at. Do not get caught up in the hype of building a stockpile. I know that TLC’s “Extreme Couponing” has altered people’s perception of coupon use. Realistically, sales are a dime and dozen. You will see the same things go on sale over and over. You will see the same coupons over and over. Use your coupons responsibly. Only buy things that you will use. Use coupons to reasonably save you money.
30-minute coupon breakdown:
- On Saturday’s check out Sunday Coupon Preview to determine if you want the coupons that will be in this weeks papers. {3 min.}
- After you have bought your newspaper(s) clip only the coupons you know you will use. {5 min.}
- Write the date on the insert and file the coupons you didn’t clip in a folder in case you need an additional coupon from that insert at a later date. {2 min.}
- Immediately file your coupons in the coupon organizer that you chose. {5-10 min.}
- Look at the sales ads for the two stores that you chose to shop at. See if there are any sales that appeal to you. {10 min.}
You are now on your way to major savings in a half an hour per week!
Learn How to Maximize Your Coupon Savings
Pairing a Coupon with a Sale
Using a coupon for an item that is already on sale is your ticket to rock bottom prices. If you find a product that you use on a regular basis, then you will want to buy enough to last until the next sale. Sales usually run in six-week cycles.
I only recommend stocking up on items that are frequently used within your household. Do not buy more than you will need for six weeks. You will see the same items on sale over and over again, and the next sale may be a better price.
BOGO Free Sales
You can pair a BOGO free sale with a BOGO free coupon at Walgreens or CVS to get both items for free. CVS and Walgreens are the only local stores I know of that will accept BOGO free sales with BOGO free coupons.
Also only at CVS and Walgreens you can use two coupons on BOGO free sales. This substantially lowers your cost for the products. You use two coupons, one on the item you are purchasing and another on the free item.
OVERAGE
Walmart allows for coupon overages. An overage is when your coupon amount exceeds the price of the product you are buying. The difference then gets taken off the rest of your bill. This is a great way to save on items that you will never have a coupon for.
Rolling Drugstore Coupons
We discussed in the drugstore guide combining the coupons you receive at the bottom of your receipt (CVS: ECB, Walgreens:RR, Rite Aid: +UP) with coupons and sales, this is your ticket to scoring free products.
Example: You have $2.00 in ECB’s from CVS from a previous shopping trip
You want to buy Dove Shampoo that’s on sale for $3.50 = $2.00 ECB for buying.
You have a $1.50 off manufacturer’s coupon.
You use your ECB and manufacturer’s coupon, you pay nothing but tax, and you get $2.00 ECB back. You have just rolled your ECB into another ECB transaction and got your shampoo for free.
If after a coupon and a sale, an item is still more expensive than the generic version, I would recommend buying generic. The whole point of using coupons is to save money. Don’t spend money on a product you wouldn’t normally buy just because you have a coupon. Use these tips to help maximize your savings, but always remember to shop smart!
How Many Coupons Do You Need?
How many coupons you need depends on several factors such as the size of your family, what coupons will be in the paper, and if you are planning on building a stockpile. As a general rule of thumb you shouldn’t buy more newspapers than the number of members in your family. Example: You have a family of four, buy a maximum of four papers.
You can check Sunday Coupon Preview every week to see what coupons will be available in the upcoming inserts. This will help you determine if it’s worth your money to purchase a newspaper just for the coupons.
There will be some weeks when there are no coupons inserts in the newspapers, so it is important to get this information before heading out to grab a paper.
Also, don’t forget to print out coupons online. This is a more cost effective solution for obtaining coupons. Signing up for sample offers is another great way to receive high value coupons.
Store Guides: Kroger & Walmart
Kroger Card
The first step to successful Kroger shopping is having a Kroger Card. You need a Kroger Card to get sale prices, load e-coupons, and earn fuel points.
Double Coupons
Kroger doubles manufacturer coupons up to $0.50.Meaning if you have a $0.50 coupon it becomes a $1.00. If you have a $0.35 coupon it becomes $0.70.
E-Coupons
You can visit the Kroger website and load e-coupons to your Kroger card. You will need to register on their website and enter your Kroger card number. The e-coupons you load to your card will automatically be deducted when your card is scanned at checkout. E-coupons do not double.
Price Match
Walmart will price match any competitors advertised price. You do not need to have the competitor’s ad for the price match, but my advice would be to bring it with you in case any problems arise.
Overage
Walmart now allows coupon overages. An overage is when you purchase something that costs less than the value of your coupon. Example: you have a $3.00 coupon for a bag of chips that costs only $2.00; the $1.00 overage will be applied to the other merchandise you are purchasing.
Store Guides:CVS, Rite Aid, & Walgreen’s
CVS
Extra Care Card
Your first step to successful CVS shopping is getting an Extra Care Card. You can get one at CVS or on their website, if you don’t already have one. Your Extra Care Card keeps track of all the merchandise that you purchase at CVS. You also have to have an Extra Care Card to earn Extra Care Bucks, also known as ECB’s.
Extra Care Bucks
Extra Care Bucks, or ECB’s, are simply coupons that print out at the bottom of your receipt when you buy qualifying products. An ECB can be combined with a manufacturer’s coupon.
Combining Coupons with ECB’s
Combining coupons with ECB’s is how you get items for free, or even make money from them. Example: CVS advertises Colgate Toothpaste for $2.99 and if you buy it you will receive $2.00 in ECB’s. You have a coupon for $1.50/1 Colgate toothpaste, you use your coupon and you pay $1.49 for your toothpaste but then you get a $2.00 ECB printed on your receipt good for your next purchase. You have now made $0.51 when you take your ECB into account. The next deal you come across you can combine your ECB and manufacturers coupon and pay very little or nothing, depending on what you buy.
*You only receive ECB for qualified items, so you will need to check the sales ad to see what items qualify.
Rite Aid
Wellness Plus Card
The first step in successful Rite Aid shopping is getting a Wellness Plus Card. The Wellness Plus Card also keeps track of the items you buy and you will need it to receive your Plus Up Rewards.
Plus UP Rewards
Plus Up Rewards are Rite Aid coupons that you receive for buying qualified merchandise. When you buy select items, a coupon will print at the bottom of your receipt for a certain dollar amount of off your next order.
Vide Value Coupons
You can visit Rite Aid’s Website each month and watch short videos to receive additional Rite Aid Coupons.
Combining Plus Up Rewards, Video Value Coupons, and Manufacturers Coupons
You can combine all three types of coupons; video value coupons, manufacturers coupons, and plus up rewards to get killer deals on items from Rite Aid.
Walgreens
What I like about Walgreen’s is that there is no savings cards required, what I dislike is that Walgreen’s is the most complicated of the three drug stores.
Register Rewards
Register Rewards are Walgreen’s Coupons that print out at the bottom of your receipt. They are similar to CVS’s and Rite Aid’s version, except that Walgreen’s considers their Register Rewards to be manufacturer’s coupons. You also have to buy qualified merchandise to receive Register Rewards.
In AD Coupons
There are always coupons in Walgreen’s Ad that you can clip and combine with manufacturers coupons. In Ad coupons are not considered manufacturers coupons.
Putting it All Together
Walgreen’s coupon policy states that you cannot use more manufacturers coupons than items that your are purchasing. Register Rewards are considered manufacturers coupons so it makes coupon shopping at Walgreen’s a little complicated.
Example: You have $2.00 in Register Rewards from a previous purchase.
You are purchasing shampoo for $3.00
You have a $0.75/1 manufacturers coupon.
You would like to use your register reward and manufacturers coupon so that you only have to pay $0.25 for your shampoo, but you cannot do this because that would be using two manufactures coupons on one item. So what you have to do is purchase a second item. You can add a cheap item to your order, lets say a $0.25 piece of candy. You use the manufacturers coupon on the $3.00 shampoo, making it $2.75; you use the $2.00 register reward on the $0.25 piece of candy. The overage from the Register Reward is then applied to the shampoo balance and you now pay $0.50 for both items.
Organizing Your Coupons
How to Organize Your Coupons
You will definitely want to have some sort of system for organizing your coupons, but that varies from person to person.
1.)Coupon Binder
A Coupon Binder
2.)Coupon Box
Coupon Boxes
3.)Coupon Wallet or Envelope
This is the system I prefer because I can fit my Coupon Wallet
Where to Find High Value Coupons
If you want to learn how to use coupons, the first thing you need to do is build up your coupon stash. There are several ways to obtain coupons.
Newspapers
1.)The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Sunday Cincinnati Enquirer will carry the majority, if not the entire set of coupon inserts for the week. The Cincinnati Enquirer is $2.00 per issue, so it is not the most cost effective way for you to get coupons.
2.)The Times Gazette SATURDAY Paper
The Times Gazette’s newspaper that comes out on Saturday contains Smart Source inserts and the once monthly Procter & Gamble insert. The Smart Source inserts do not always carry all of the coupons that are in the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Smart Source insert, but they’re pretty close. And at only 0.75 per paper it is definitely a more cost effective option.
Online Coupons
3.) Online Coupons
Online coupons cost you nothing but the ink from your printer. The top coupon sites online are Coupons.com, Smart Source, and Red Plum. You can also go to our coupon page and browse through all the available coupons from coupons.com. You will have to install coupon printers on your computer to print these coupons. There is also a limit of two prints per coupon on these sites.
Signing up for Samples
4.)Signing up for Samples
This can provide you with extremely high value coupons. You can check available samples every Friday on Highland County Blog. Sign up for the samples that interest you and when you receive them they often come with coupons.
All You Magazine
5.)All You Magazine
All You Magazine is available at Walmart and usually contains anywhere from $50.00 to $100.00 worth of coupons per issue.
If you are wary of whether there will be any coupons that interest you for the upcoming week, check Sunday Coupon Preview. This site will give you a list of all the inserts and the coupons that will be available.
Intro to Coupons Made Easy
In today’s tough economy everyone is trying to make their hard earned dollar stretch a little farther. If you are looking for a way to save money on everyday expenses such as food and personal items, then using coupons may be the answer for you.
Coupons are a great way to drastically reduce your grocery bill. You need to dispel the myths that clipping coupons is time consuming and complicated. This guide will show you how you can start your savings journey in a half an hour or less per week.
What we will cover:
- Where to find high value coupons.
- How to organize your coupons.
- Store Guides.
- How many coupons do you need?
- How to maximize your coupon savings.
- Putting it all together in a half an hour a week.
With a little time, practice, and our coupon guide, you will be saving bundles of money every time you walk out of the grocery store.