Saturday, October 8, 2011

Lesson Five: Using your coupons--getting the freebies!

In the last lesson, we learned about using a database to organize your coupons, but I didn't explain how I physically organize the inserts.  Sorry!  Here's that info:  When you receive an insert in the paper and you have entered it into your database, you will want to take a black marker and write the date near the "spine" of the insert, sideways.  Here is an example photo:


Then, I like to use the accordion file that my loving husband bought me for mother's day (best gift ever!) to organize the inserts.  I have them sorted by publication and month.  Here's a picture of how that works:


You will see that the accordion file gives me just enough labeled slots for the Smart Source and Red Plum inserts for a year (12 months each for Red Plum and SmartSource = 24 dividers).  The inserts are easy to maintain this way.  Enter into database, write date with marker and file.  Don't waste your time clipping out all the coupons!  I keep my issues of All You in the back.  I have my P&G and GM inserts in the front, along with any printed coupons I have.  As I print off coupons from the internet, I just have envelopes with the month written on the front.  When I'm entering those coupons manually into the database, I put the month in the source field (i.e. Oct. Envelope) so that I know where to find it when I need it.  This is SO EASY!  It's also simple to take shopping.  The file fits right in the baby seat of the shopping cart.

So, now we need to get ready to go shopping for our extreme deals/freebies!  Here's what I do: 

First, I go to http://www.couponmom.com/ and get my list of freebies and super cheapies.  Again, I'm working on the assumption that you followed directions in Lesson One and got your membership there already.  Go to the website and login.  The Login button is the top tab on the far right.  Enter your username and password.  On the next page, you will have some options on the right hand side of the screen.  Click on "DEALS OVER 50% OFF: One list for all national stores."  This will bring up a list of all freebies and great deals available at national stores like Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Rite-Aid, and K-Mart.  I like to initially organize the list by store.  Do this by clicking on the blue arrows next to the category headings. Then, just put a check box in the items you plan on purchasing.  Once you've selected your deals, click on "DISPLAY SELECTED DEALS."  This will put all of your checked items onto one list that you can print out.  You will see that all the information you need is right there on your list. 
Starting in the left column, it tells you where to find your coupon. 
The next column is the store where you can purchase the deal. 
The next column is a description of the item, and it tells you specifically how to use your coupons, how many of that coupon you will need, other places coupons for this item can be found, and has the link to printable coupons for that item, if available.
The next column tells you how many of that item you must purchase to get the deal.
The next column is the sale price of the item in that store, then next to that is the value of the coupon(s) you must use to get the deal.  Notice that some items may require both a store coupon AND a manufacturer's coupon.  Most stores allow you to "stack" coupons like this, as long as one is a coupon issued by the store and the other is a coupon issued by the manufacturer.
The next column will tell you how much you will have to fork over out-of-pocket at the register for that item.  If the item qualifies for a reward at the register, you will receive a printed coupon that you can use toward your next purchase.
The remaining columns are the total cost, including the register rewards, and then the percentage you saved on that item.

The register rewards are an interesting entity in and of themselves.  When I was first getting into couponing, I would do multiple transactions in order to spend as much of the register rewards as possible right there in the same shopping trip.  I will explain that concept in the next lesson.  But, now that I'm getting better at it, and I have realized that I will definitely use the rewards later, I usually just save the rewards for my next trip instead of trying to break it all up.  This is just a matter of preference.

So, now your assignment is to get out there and get your freebies.  You will have to be smart about when you do it, though.  The deals at drugstores (Walgreens, CVS, Rite-Aid) are usually only good for one week, based on a circular ad that runs Sunday through Saturday.  This is a bummer for those of us that don't shop on Sunday, because a lot of couponers out there go out and get their freebie list on Sunday when the ad is published.  You will want to go during the first half of the week if you want to have hopes of the items on your list being in stock.  I usually do mine on Monday on my way home from work. (Then again, sometimes you luck out--I went on Wednesday of last week and only one of my items was out of stock.  That was pretty lucky, I think.)