Couponing and finding deals!!

So here is my long anticipated couponing post!! If you are wanting to make a commitment to putting more money away and paying off debt, a great way to trim the budget without sacrificing much is to adopt a few money-saving strategies when shopping. The three main ways I trim my shopping budget is to use coupons, buy on sale, and buy used. I'll address my tips on couponing and buying on sale, as well as some of the misconceptions and a few warnings!

First, using coupons has become quite popular lately which is both good and bad for those trying to get into the "game" as I call it. The good news is that retailers are now more used to people using coupons, so it is less of a stigma and the sales people are usually a little more knowledgeable about their coupon policies than they used to be. Also, there are TONS of good couponing websites and resources that practically do all of the work for you! The bad news is that retailers are not savvy to our ways and are trimming back what they will allow and sometimes the coupon crazy people will clear the shelves of the really good deals and coupons before us average people get a chance. But even though it can be a little tricky sometimes and it does take a little more time to plan your shopping, it can pay off BIG TIME! Here are some strategies I use when couponing:

1) Shop for whats on sale. When you go to the grocery store with a particular need in mind or a recipe or menu already picked out, you will often end up paying full price. Instead of creating your shopping list based on your menu, create your menu based on your shopping list (or what is on sale). In the tips below you will find some great strategies for planning out your shopping trip before you go so that when you get to the store you will only be buying things that are on sale that day and save yourself a lot of money. That doesn't necessarily mean you can't buy ANYTHING that is full price or fresh, but if you are able to save on everything else, than you can splurge on the things that you like to buy that isn't super cheap :)

2) Use a couponing website. I use http://www.thekrazycouponlady.com/. This site is awesome because you can choose which store you shop at, and she will match up all of the sales happening that week with what coupons to bring. Many of the coupons are ones you can print right off of your computer, while others are ones that you have to have the newspaper for. These sites take all of the work out of couponing because they match up the deals for you!! For example, she might list that Crest toothpaste is on sale at Fred Meyer for $2.19 each, and that there is a $1 off coupon available in the newspaper which brings it down to $1.19. Simple as pie!!

3) Subscribe to the Sunday paper. You will need to subscribe to your weekend paper to get many of the coupons. Hardcore couponers usually subscribe to multiple copies so that they can get more coupons, but that depends on how far you want to take this. I promise that the savings you get every week will outweigh the cost of the subscription. Other ways you can get these coupons is to ask neighbors for the coupon inserts that they aren't using, joining a coupon-swapping site or group where people give or trade coupons they aren't using with others, browsing recycling areas where people might discard their newspapers, or even purchasing coupons from other people (I have never done the last two, but I have done the first two). The benefit of having more than one copy of specific coupons is that you can stock up on things if you find an awesome deal, or you can purchase enough of an item to qualify for even more savings (I'll talk about that later).

4) Combine sales, coupons, catalinas, and buying in bulk to increase savings. One of the common misconceptions about coupons is that you are only saving pennies at a time and that it is not worth it. First of all, that is not true, if you know how to COMBINE coupons (which is where the couponing websites come in handy) and you stock up at great prices, you can save a ton!! Let me give you an example: The other day at Safeway, I ran across a great deal on California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas. They normally sell for $3.99 each, but were on sale for $3.49. On the outside of the door, there were coupons (they are referred to as "peelies" for $1.00 off of one pizza. I grabbed 3 of the coupons. I bought 3 pizzas and used 3 coupons (where it says "limit one per item" that means you can only apply one coupon PER item, but if you buy 3 items, you can use 3 coupons!) Safeway was also running a promotion where if you spent $10 on frozen food, they would give you a coupon for $5 off your next frozen food purchase. Most of the promotions are BEFORE coupons, so if you but $10 worth of products, and then use coupons to bring the cost under $10, you will still get the coupon. So here I am with $12 worth of pizzas marked down to $10.50 on sale, and then $7.50 after the $1 off coupons. When I pay, they print me out the coupon for $5 off which now brings my 3 pizzas to $2.50. THEN, I get another coupon (they are called Catalinas) printed out from California Pizza Kitchen thanking me for my purchase for another $2 off my next purchase. Now I just got 3 frozen pizzas for $0.50. That's like 17 cents per pizza. I have done this kind of deal on cereal, cleaning supplies, soup, and pasta. You are also able to combine a MANUFACTURERS coupon with a STORE coupon. A great place to do this is at Target. Often Target will print their own coupons for items that the store pays for, versus sending the coupon to the manufacturer. For example, the other day I used a $2 off Pampers Target coupon AND a $2 off Pampers coupon! I saved $4 off of one pack of pampers by combining them!! If this sounds really complicated, remember, the couponing websites do all of these "match-ups" for you, and, I did this crazy pizza couponing without bringing any coupons with me! I used the sale and the coupons that were already at the store! When you combine these strategies, your coupons go a lot farther!

5) Stock Up! When you find an amazing deal on something you use a lot of, stock up! (This is where having multiple copies of coupons comes in handy) I know that we use a lot of chicken, cheese, tortillas, canned soup, and bottled water in our house, so when I find a great deal, I buy lots! The coupon and sale experts will say that retailers have a 3-month cycle, meaning that certain items usually go on sale roughly every three months, so if we are talking about foods with a decent shelf life or can be frozen, a 3-month supply would be a good goal to stock-up on, otherwise just buy as much as you will be able to use before it goes bad. I at one point had 11 boxes of cereal, 6 bottles of salad dressing, and 4 bottles of household cleaner that I was able to get for FREE using coupons! And when you are talking about dirt-cheap groceries and household supplies, feel free to let your inner philanthropist free and donate whatever you will not use to a local charity, church, or food bank. I enjoy doing that with some of the stuff I get for free but will not eat. When you are able to stock up on necessities when they are cheap, then you are less likely to have to buy them when they are full price!! Another thing to stock up on, is coupons! Often times I will see "peelies" or seasonal coupon booklets at my grocery store, and I will often grab a few. Many times manufacturers will put out coupons for an item (like canned tomatoes, soda, frozen pizzas) that are not necessarily on sale at that store or at that time, but may come in handy at a later date. For example, on my same great shopping day at Safeway I noticed that many of the 24-packs of Pepsi had peelies attached that were $2 off of 2 24-packs. That day, the 24 packs were $7.99 each, which even with the coupon was too high for what I like to pay. But I knew that occasionally on Fridays, Safeway will sell their 24 packs of Pepsi for $5, so with those coupons (that were good until July) I could snag them for $4 a piece!! My hubby loves his Diet Pepsi, and at $4 for a 24-pack, I'll stock up! I think I grabbed 8 or 10 of the coupons. Also, many of the manufacturer and store coupons can be used at other stores so just because you found a coupon at Safeway but that product is not on sale, doesn't mean you can't take that coupon to Albertsons and use it on sale there!

Some major misconceptions about couponing are that it takes too much time and effort, the savings are minimal, and that only processed and "bad for you" foods are on sale. Let me address these here. First of all, yes, it does take a little more time and effort to use coupons, I usually spend about 30 minutes on Sunday mornings looking through the coupons in the paper and cutting out the ones I may use. I also have a small coupon organizer I keep in my purse divided into categories that make sense to me. It takes me another few minutes to sort through the old ones to throw them out and categorize the new ones. When it comes to shopping day, I might spend another 30 minutes browsing the couponing website planning my trip that day to make sure I am taking advantage of the good sales that week. So on average, if I were to make a weekly shopping trip, it takes me a little over an hour to prepare. But I usually save a minimum of $30-$50 on each trip using these strategies, so that hour of time was definitely worth it!! Second, like I said previously, if you know how to use the coupons correctly, the savings add up a lot faster than just pennies at a time. And once you get used to buying things super cheap, you will realize just how far you can make that $1 you saved go. For example, I don't like to pay more than $1 each for boxes of pasta, and more preferably, 50 cents. So if a $1 that I save on something else in my budget can buy me 2 boxes of pasta, that can serve 8 people in my family, or 4 dinners!! It really adds up! And third, yes, often times the things that are on sale the most and can be bought for the cheapest are usually boxed, canned, or frozen. However, if you remember that saving on some of those essentials that you are able to can free up grocery money to spend on some of the fresh produce and higher end items that you prefer, than it is still worth it. Also, remember that many times you are able to get things for free that you can donate to food banks that could use those non-perishables, and lastly, the savings that I get on diapers, bath tissue, cleaning supplies, and make-up are incredible. If at the very least you are able to use these strategies and stock-up on household supplies while they are cheap or free, imagine what that could save you per year!!

A few warnings about couponing:

1) Don't buy things on sale or with a coupon unless you plan on using it or donating it. It is not saving you any money if it wasn't something that you NEEDED, or even worse, ended up throwing away.

2) Know what is too high, a good price, and a stock-up price. It took me a little bit to know when I was looking at a good price. I often use the unit price or price per ounce when shopping now. I remember seeing black beans at Safeway on sale for $1 a can on sale and thought I had found a good deal, then I realized that they went on sale for half that every once in a while, so now I have the rule that 0-50 cents is a stock up price, 50-79 cents is a good price, 80 cents-$1 is something I'll buy if I really need it, and anything over $1 and I am just not buying it!! Pick your top 5 items that you buy and do the research to figure out what is the best price for it and try to use discipline to only buy it for that great price!

3) Use coupons and catalinas before they expire!! I have made this mistake too many times :(

4) And of course, go to the grocery store with cash! This will keep you on budget and force you to only buy the best deals and make the best choices!! You will try a lot harder to stretch your grocery budget if that is all the cash you brought with you :)

Here is a print-out that I put together for a little "couponing class" I led: Couponing 101

Happy Couponing!
Sarah