Not Made Of Money » Coupon http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog Save Money - A Personal Finance Blog By A Husband And Wife Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:21:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 en Coupon Hunting 101 http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2008/04/coupon-hunting-101.html http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2008/04/coupon-hunting-101.html#comments Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:53:53 +0000 Dana Joseph http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2008/04/coupon-hunting-101.html It’s no secret that coupons can help you save money; the problem usually lies in finding these coupons. Sometimes you get lucky and come across a great coupon, but luck doesn’t lead to consistent savings. Here are a few tips to help you find coupons that will help you save money on things you really wanted to buy.

Your Sunday newspaper is still a viable source for coupons. Although you may not find a lot of coupons with large discounts in the paper, no other source can beat the newspaper for sheer volume of discounts. You can increase the buying power of your newspaper coupons by finding a grocery store that has a double coupon day each week.

Many companies now make their coupons available in the grocery store. How’s that for convenience? While you’re doing your grocery shopping, pay special attention to those little plastic coupon dispensers. Make sure that you pick up coupons related to any of the products that you regularly purchase. You might even be able to save the coupon until the product is on sale for additional savings.

Companies will do just about anything to get their customer’s demographic information. If there is a product that you particularly enjoy, or one that is particularly expensive, visit that company’s web page. Often, if you register your email address on their site, the company will send you special coupons or other offers.

To encourage consumers to make repeat purchases, manufacturers will sometimes place coupons on the product’s packaging. Look on the underside of labels for coupons that you can take with you on your next trip to the grocery store. Since the coupon was on a product you already purchased, you’ll already know if your family likes the product.

For useful coupons that are suited to your own locality, don’t forget to check out the annual “Entertainment Book.” These books are usually sold as fundraisers for schools, churches, or other groups. You can find coupons for everything from restaurants, retailers, and attractions in Entertainment Book.

Once you get used to looking for coupons, you’ll really start to see them everywhere. Don’t be surprised when you start expecting to see them on the backs on your grocery store receipts and behind the index of your phone book. Before long, you’ll become an expert at finding everything you need at a discounted price.

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]]> http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2008/04/coupon-hunting-101.html/feed Coupon Clipping? Get Your Kids on Board http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2008/03/coupon-clipping-get-your-kids-on-board.html http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2008/03/coupon-clipping-get-your-kids-on-board.html#comments Sat, 22 Mar 2008 10:43:18 +0000 Dana Joseph http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2008/03/coupon-clipping-get-your-kids-on-board.html Few can argue that clipping coupons can lead to significant savings at the grocery store. Devoted coupon users scour their local newspapers and grocery store ads to find coupons for their favorite grocery items. Coupled with discounts offered during in-store sales, coupon clipping can really make a dent in a family’s grocery expenses.

The only downfall with coupon clipping is the time required to find and manage your coupons. Gathering all of the available coupons can require a great deal of time. In addition you must develop a method of organizing your coupons to make sure that they are available when you need them. Talk about a time commitment.

There might be a way to get some able-bodied volunteers in your campaign to cut grocery costs. Try enlisting the aid of your children in your coupon clipping. Here a few ways to encourage their participation:

1. Make coupon clipping a contest. Many Sunday papers have two or three coupon circulars within its pages. Give a circular to each of your kids and let them peruse its pages. Set a goal, maybe the goal will be to find three coupons for products you regularly use, and reward the first of your helpers to reach it. A frugal reward might be an extra hour of television or video game time for each week’s winner.

2. Reward special coupon finds. If one of your kids finds a particularly valuable coupon like a free item, allow your helper to get that item on your next shopping trip. It won’t cost you anything (except the sales tax) and you’ll keep your little coupon hunters enthusiastic.

3. Plan meals around coupons. Maybe your little one loves those little frozen pizzas. If he finds a coupon for it one week, consider allowing him to plan one evening’s dinner around that coupon. Not only will you get help with your coupon clipping, but you’ll also get helping with your meal planning. For one night you won’t have to wonder what’s for dinner.

4. When grocery shopping, put one of your children in charge of the coupon book. Make him your partner in grocery savings as you make your way through the grocery store aisles. He’ll love being your special helper and you’ll have less to juggle.

Coupon clipping, although a worthwhile investment of your time, can take up more of your day than you’d like. Use ideas like these to turn this thankless task into one more opportunity to spend time with your family. You’ll get a chance to teach your children the importance of budgeting and have fun with them, too.

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]]> http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2008/03/coupon-clipping-get-your-kids-on-board.html/feed Save Money By Stacking Coupons http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/10/save-money-by-stacking-coupons.html http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/10/save-money-by-stacking-coupons.html#comments Sat, 20 Oct 2007 13:22:45 +0000 Dana Joseph http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/10/save-money-by-stacking-coupons.html I’ve written previously how I have been stockpiling coupons from my newspaper and local stores. In the past few months I have saved a substantial amount of money by combining store sales and coupons with manufacturer coupons - this method is referred to as “stacking coupons”. I set up a fairly easy system to store the coupons so I can find them easily. Then using The Coupon Mom Site, I check weekly sale ads and match those items with store coupons and manufacturer coupons. My best successes so far have been at Target at Publix.

Here is a recent example. Ragu Old World Style Pasta Sauce was on sale at my local Target for $1.25 per jar. Target currently has coupons on the Super Target Website for 75 cents off one jar. There is also a manufacturer coupon that was in the newspaper a few weeks ago which is good for $1 off when you purchase 2 jars of Ragu. Since I needed to purchase 2 jars to use the manufacturer coupon, I’ve used those numbers in the following example. So, let’s crunch the numbers:

Sale Price of Ragu = $1.25 x 2 jars = $2.50
Target Coupons (2 at 75 cents each) = $0.75 x 2 jars = ($1.50)
Manufacturer Coupons = 1.00 x 2 jars = ($1.00)

Total cost for 2 jars of Ragu sauce = $0.00

You can print off as many Super Target coupons as you would like. Print them off at home or at the Target Store at the kiosk where you can print out gift registries. Since I have been purchasing 5 newspapers per week, I was able to replicate this deal 5 times. That means I have 10 jars of Ragu Pasta Sauce that cost me nothing. If you are wondering what I am going to do with those 10 jars of pasta, you might check a post I made quite a while ago for creative uses for pasta sauce.

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]]> http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/10/save-money-by-stacking-coupons.html/feed A System For Organizing All Those Coupons http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/09/a-system-for-organizing-all-those-coupons.html http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/09/a-system-for-organizing-all-those-coupons.html#comments Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:36:22 +0000 Dana Joseph http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/09/a-system-for-organizing-all-those-coupons.html I’ve recently written that I buy five newspapers on Sunday, just for the coupon inserts. Now those coupon inserts really add up after a while and I can’t stand clutter! I discovered a really simple method of organizing my coupons so I can find them when I need them. I purchased a plastic file box (the type that holds the hanging file folders). Each week when I get the coupon inserts I write on the front of each one the date. Then all those inserts for that particular date are put into a large ziplock bag and filed in the folder box.

I use the site Coupon Mom to help me find the deals to match with coupons. I love using Coupon Mom because the coupons are shown by the date they were published. I don’t have to cut all the coupons out until I go to use them. Alternatively, you could use the Grocery Game site as it features the deals in much the same manner although you do have to pay a fee to get the deal list.

Here is how my system works. I check the Coupon Mom site when the weekly grocery deals are posted. The list shows coupons to combine with sale purchases. The coupons are listed by type (Smart Source, Valassis) and by date of publication. I just go to my file folder, pull the plastic bag for that particular date, and find all the coupons. It saves me time because I am only cutting out those coupons I will be using. I attach the coupons to my shopping list and I am ready to save!

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]]> http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/09/a-system-for-organizing-all-those-coupons.html/feed Maximizing Grocery Store Savings By Combining Sales With Coupons http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/06/maximizing-grocery-store-savings-by-combining-sales-with-coupons.html http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/06/maximizing-grocery-store-savings-by-combining-sales-with-coupons.html#comments Fri, 01 Jun 2007 13:48:49 +0000 Dana Joseph http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/06/maximizing-grocery-store-savings-by-combining-sales-with-coupons.html I’ve found that I can save more money at the grocery store by using manufacturer coupons in conjunction with store sales. For example, when my grocery store has a “buy one get one free sale” I make the savings even greater by using a coupon. Recently Cheerios were on sale at a “buy one get one free” offer. I had a coupon for $1 off when you purchase 2 boxes. The Cheerios were $3.98 per box so I was able to purchase 2 boxes for that amount with the sale offer. Then, with the use of the coupon I saved an additional $1 bringing my total price for 2 boxes of Cheerios to $2.98. Now, it can take some time to match coupons with sale offers, but I’ve found a resource online which makes that task easier.

The Grocery Guide is a free site which allows you to check sales prices at local grocery stores and provides coupon matching information. I like the way it provides the source of the coupons (Smartsource or Valassis) which are the major coupon inserts that come out in the Sunday newspapers. This has allowed me to keep the entire coupon insert and only cut out the coupons I need as I am preparing to use them.

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]]> http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/06/maximizing-grocery-store-savings-by-combining-sales-with-coupons.html/feed Tip For Printing & Using Super Target Coupons http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/03/tip-for-printing-using-super-target-coupons.html http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/03/tip-for-printing-using-super-target-coupons.html#comments Sat, 10 Mar 2007 18:34:00 +0000 Dana Joseph http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/03/tip-for-printing-using-super-target-coupons.html I recently discovered that Super Target has coupons at the www.target.com website. You need to scroll down towards the bottom of the page. Under the heading “Target Stores” click on the link to Super Target coupons to see what they have available. I have had trouble printing the coupons in the past, either my printer was out of ink or I was out of paper.

However, today I found out that I can print the Super Target coupons at the Target store, by using the kiosk located at the front of the store where people sign up for the wedding or baby registries. At the kiosk I simply went to the www.target.com home page, scrolled down to the Super Target coupons link and went directly to the coupons. They were printed out quickly. I printed off 4 sheets of the coupons today.

I decided I would check to see if any of the items with coupons were currently on sale. After checking around the store I found that there was a sale on an item that had a coupon for it. I found the Market Pantry chicken breasts on sale for $3.99 per bag (regularly $7.99), plus I used the current coupon (that I had just printed out) which was good for $2 off each bag. The total after sale and coupon was $1.99 for the Market Pantry chicken breasts. I was able to purchase a total of 4 bags at the final price of $1.99 per bag. If they would have had more bags of the chicken, I would have printed out more coupons and purchased those as well. I did not see any limits on the amount you could purchase, only that each item would need a coupon to get the $2 off price. Great deal!

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]]> http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/03/tip-for-printing-using-super-target-coupons.html/feed Free Bath/Body Wash and Hand/Body Lotion http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/01/free-bathbody-wash-and-handbody-lotion.html http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/01/free-bathbody-wash-and-handbody-lotion.html#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:25:21 +0000 Dana Joseph http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/01/free-bathbody-wash-and-handbody-lotion.html Here is a free sample offer from KiwiMag online for Pure and Basic Natural Bath and Body Wash and Natural Hand and Body Lotion.  This offer is valid for US residents only. 

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]]> http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/01/free-bathbody-wash-and-handbody-lotion.html/feed Free 1 Year Experian Credit Monitoring and Report http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/01/free-1-year-experian-credit-monitoring-and-report.html http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/01/free-1-year-experian-credit-monitoring-and-report.html#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2007 11:00:26 +0000 Dana Joseph http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/01/free-1-year-experian-credit-monitoring-and-report.html Turbo Tax is currently having a promotion when you purchase Turbo Tax, you will receive a 1-year subscription (free) to Experian credit monitoring and a credit report.  From the Turbo Tax site about the Experian Credit Monitoring:

• Monitors your Experian Credit Report on a daily basis
• Sends you e-mail alerts of any key changes
• Allows you to detect potential inaccuracies in your credit report
• No credit card or cancellation call required

The offer expires April 16, 2007.

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]]> http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/01/free-1-year-experian-credit-monitoring-and-report.html/feed Free Valentines With The Purchase of a Dozen Doughnuts http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/01/free-valentines-with-the-purchase-of-a-dozen-doughnuts.html http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/01/free-valentines-with-the-purchase-of-a-dozen-doughnuts.html#comments Mon, 22 Jan 2007 21:30:30 +0000 Dana Joseph http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2007/01/free-valentines-with-the-purchase-of-a-dozen-doughnuts.html Krispy Kreme is running a special now.  They are giving away 12 free valentine cards when you purchase a dozen doughnuts.  Each valentine also includes a coupon for a free doughnut. 

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