Extreme Couponing

[Belle10]

Start by writing down the meals you have eaten already this week/month. This way you don’t have to strain your brain (“Brain Strain” as my kids yell!) to remember all that you’ve cooked. After 4 weeks, you have your month of meals and then switch things around on the calander. I just use my computer calander for appointments to make my menu calander.

Well that should be easy, since we’ve had very light meals the past week or so since I haven’t felt like cooking in this heat! :coolinoff:

I don’t know that I have enough meals for an entire month without repeats…which is OK with me, though it IS time to add a few new things.

I coupon! Not extreme couponing, though…most stores won’t let you do that and I give away or use my stockpile so it isn’t huge.

Make sure you find a good website to use. I use hip2save.com and have been using it for over a year–it’s the easiest to use that I’ve found and I love it! She has little videos on her website that show you how to coupon at each store and how to understand the different coupon policies.

I get on average $200-$250’s worth of stuff free using coupons and sales every month. About half of the stuff we use and the other half I donate (toothbrushes, pads, toothpaste, medicine, etc.).

It saves us money and I can give my extras to the needy–a win-win situation!

KG

I’ll check out that site. Saving $200-$250 a month would be awesome!!

Without those who accept the donations, how could we exercise our ability to perform a corporal work of mercy?? So thank you for allowing God to humble yourself, so that we can remember to be humble in our times of plenty.

Please don’t feel bad! When I donate I’m so happy to be able to be a blessing to others–and I know they will bless someone when they can!

Thanks ladies. It’s just that DH has a master’s degree, I have a bachelor’s degree, we’re both intelligent and hard working, so I feel like we should be the ones helping others, not being on the receiving end. Just thinking about it logically it seems like we shouldn’t need financial help.

 

[Belle10]

KG, I signed up at hip2save. Collin is pretty funny! Do you have any specific things I should be on the lookout for?

Does anyone know of any sites that help you figure stuff out for Price Chopper or Tops? It seems like most of the sites have stuff for stores that I don’t have near me. We have the national stores of course, but it would help to have the other ones too. Thanks.

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

KG, I signed up at hip2save. Collin is pretty funny! Do you have any specific things I should be on the lookout for?

Does anyone know of any sites that help you figure stuff out for Price Chopper or Tops? It seems like most of the sites have stuff for stores that I don’t have near me. We have the national stores of course, but it would help to have the other ones too. Thanks.

Hey Belle, I googled to find an ad match up for price chopper and found this:
pennypinchinmom.com/2011/07/price-chopper-weekly-matchups-7-20-7-27/
You can google around and see if there are any sites you like, I saw there were a couple but I didn’t look at them… Hip2Save is one of the ones I visit too, though it used to be on Blogger when I started visiting it and has grown immensely, and so now sometimes when something is announced on there it can go out of stock or the web site it is talking about can crash pretty quickly… I visit her store match ups, and she did a nice tour where she helped tornado victims, I liked that. One thing to know, these sites are usually powered by advertising and affiliate links, which means they get money or some other incentives by having people click on their links to purchase items and they get money for the ads clicked on their site, so sometimes some of these deal sites might suggest items that aren’t thaaat great of a deal, so you need to be aware of that. Readers may comment on this in the comment part, if the deal isn’t that big of a deal.

 

[bdjohnbg]

I’d like to reply to this post from a different perspective: the store you are buying your products from. I won’t say which company I work for, but we get couponers every day, most of the frequent ones we know by name.

Personally, I think it is really unfortunate when cashiers (and even other customers sometimes!) are rude to, or act put out by, the customers who are doing the coupon shopping. More than anything, I like when people come in to shop this way because it moves our product and brings us revenue, which let’s face it, that’s what we are here for. In fact, by more people coming in to buy more items, our particular store got an increase in budget hours, which means myself and my coworkers have jobs, which I for one am grateful for!! Here is a short list of why I like seeing people come in to do couponing:

• We are moving product. When a customer comes in and buys six toothbrushes, that’s six more toothbrushes I can get out of the stockroom onto the sales floor.
• We are generating revenue. When you use that coupon, as long as it is used in accordance with the rules set forth on it, we are reimbursed for that money, and for the shipping and handling it takes to redeem it.
• Allowing couponing brings in more customers. I get to keep my job, and when the budget hours are increased, we can hire people who are looking for a job.
• Inspiration. When a customer tells a friend about how much they can save in our store by doing X,Y, and Z, that positive word of mouth brings in even more customers!
• Happy customers. There is nothing I like more than knowing once a transaction is complete, my customer is not only satisfied, but happy. I’m a natural born people pleaser, so I want to see people coming and leaving with a smile, not a frown.

I will say, there are a few things that drive me bonkers, though. Our store specifically, ONLY limits product if we absolutely have to. If we have an in-store coupon that says limit four, you can buy as many as you want, unless we put up a sign in front of the product saying we are enforcing that limit. Most of the time, we have plenty of overstock. However, there are times when the warehouse is out of something and we can’t get anymore, and in those cases its infuriating to see a customer want to come buy all 20 of something we have leaving nothing for the other customers. Also, don’t come in with a bunch of coupons and ask me how to do it. I don’t do it, so organizationally, I don’t know. Sometimes I wish that I did. Here are a few negative aspects from the store’s point of view to keep in mind while couponing:

• If we put a limit on a product, there is a reason. We want ALL of our customers to be able to buy the things they want and need, and sometimes, we just can’t keep enough on hand for you to buy 20 or 30 of one item.
• Time consumption. In our store, and others, there are usually other check out points aside from the main registers. It’s a good idea to take your purchases there so that you may make as many transactions as you want and get much more personalized assistance than if you go to the front register. Also, other customers get angry if they have to wait for a couponer to do ten transactions. Also, in our store, specific departments are allocated hours according to the amount of sales they do during a day, so if you check out in a specific department, that allows those people to have hours for their job!
• Know what you are doing. If you don’t, that is okay, but it is best not to ask the cashier for help. If you need help organizing your coupons and getting your transactions set up correctly you should ask a cashier to call a manager. They are going to be able to walk around the store with you to help you find the deals you are looking for, and help you figure out the most beneficial way to use your coupons. Plus, in my opinion, the managers are more aware of the benefits to the store the couponers are providing than a 16 year old kid cashiering at the front who just wants to make enough money for a new pair of shoes. Oh yeah, and managers have the authority to give substitutions if we are out of something.
• Don’t yell at us if we are out of something. Generally we can substitute something, and if not, we can offer a rain check. In the company I work for, our rain checks are good as long as our company exists and can be used at any other store in our chain. Many times we are out of something because ad items have to be ordered at least six months before the ad, so we have to guess how much to order. The warehouse may or may not get that amount in, and what they do get they have to split among however many stores they are servicing (usually quite a few!). If the warehouse is out of something, we are, too. It isn’t the cashier’s fault. They have absolutely nothing to do with that.

That’s not all, but it’s a pretty good overview. Like I said though, more than anything, we want people to come in, buy our products, and be happy!! So I say couponing is a great thing!

 

[Belle10]

Hey Belle, I googled to find an ad match up for price chopper and found this:
pennypinchinmom.com/2011/07/price-chopper-weekly-matchups-7-20-7-27/

Thanks LIB. I checked it out, but her Price Chopper is in the Midwest somewhere (I think that’s what it said) and mine is in Central New York, so I’m not sure if it would have the same deals. I’ll have to read carefully.

I did find this site which is (more) local for me and any other NYers.

I’d like to reply to this post from a different perspective: the store you are buying your products from. I won’t say which company I work for, but we get couponers every day, most of the frequent ones we know by name.

…
That’s not all, but it’s a pretty good overview. Like I said though, more than anything, we want people to come in, buy our products, and be happy!! So I say couponing is a great thing!

Thank you for all the (name removed by moderator)ut!

So, yesterday I bought two copies of the Sunday paper and went around and got all the flyers for the stores in my area. Then I went to adoration for awhile, the best part of my afternoon!

Today I’ve been going through things and trying to figure out which stores have the same items on sale and what their respective coupon policies are so I know which place will be the best buy. There sure is a lot to consider! I think I better make a meal plan ASAP so I can be prepared for what I need, not just what happens to be on sale in the upcoming weeks.

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

Thanks LIB. I checked it out, but her Price Chopper is in the Midwest somewhere (I think that’s what it said) and mine is in Central New York, so I’m not sure if it would have the same deals. I’ll have to read carefully.

I did find this site which is (more) local for me and any other NYers.

Thank you for all the (name removed by moderator)ut!

So, yesterday I bought two copies of the Sunday paper and went around and got all the flyers for the stores in my area. Then I went to adoration for awhile, the best part of my afternoon!

Today I’ve been going through things and trying to figure out which stores have the same items on sale and what their respective coupon policies are so I know which place will be the best buy. There sure is a lot to consider! I think I better make a meal plan ASAP so I can be prepared for what I need, not just what happens to be on sale in the upcoming weeks.

I’m glad you found a local one, good luck! Oh, BTW, its good that you familiarize yourself with the stores’ coupon policies because some bloggers do things that are against policies, or bend the rules and then you get called out at the store, and you don’t want to be embarrassed by that, plus sometimes I just feel that bending the rules isn’t right. For example, I wasn’t a fan of Hip2Save suggesting to do more than one transaction to get around the limit of 4 like coupons per transaction that P&G has put on their coupons. (To limit the amount of coupons one single person uses, a change they did after Extreme Couponing came out). Stores are often ok with doing more than one transaction, CVS and some Walgreens stores do it all the time, but anyways, I just stay away from situations that don’t sound quite right to me…Other blogs will suggest things that are kind of like that, bending the rules, so you have to be careful with that. I have seen other blogs that suggest for you to use one coupon on a different item… that’s obviously fraud. Some tell you how to do stuff that goes through even if it is against store policies. Once you know the store policies it will be easier to identify what is ok and what is not .

 

[kevinsgirl]

KG, I signed up at hip2save. Collin is pretty funny! Do you have any specific things I should be on the lookout for?

If you need toiletries you’re going to want to start shopping @ drug stores. Collin posts the lists of everything on sale and the coupon matchups for Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS every Saturday. I usually copy and paste the list for each into a Word document and then whittle it down to what I want to get. She usually has the best deals highlighted in red. I found CVS is the easiest drug store to figure out…Rite Aid is a little harder, Walgreens is the hardest. Make sure you study her store guides!

Collin will also post coupon match ups for stores like Target and Walmart.

Oh and did you see her post about the Pier One deal today ($10/$10 purchase coupon when you “like” Pier One on Facebook)? DH and I each had a coupon and got 2 super cute plastic tumblers, 3 gift wrap bows and a squishy pink pig ball for DD for $1.19 total. That one deal really highlights why I love couponing–it gives us little boosts of inexpensive fun as well as necessities!

KG

 

[Belle10]

If you need toiletries you’re going to want to start shopping @ drug stores. Collin posts the lists of everything on sale and the coupon matchups for Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS every Saturday. I usually copy and paste the list for each into a Word document and then whittle it down to what I want to get. She usually has the best deals highlighted in red. I found CVS is the easiest drug store to figure out…Rite Aid is a little harder, Walgreens is the hardest. Make sure you study her store guides!

Collin will also post coupon match ups for stores like Target and Walmart.

Oh and did you see her post about the Pier One deal today ($10/$10 purchase coupon when you “like” Pier One on Facebook)? DH and I each had a coupon and got 2 super cute plastic tumblers, 3 gift wrap bows and a squishy pink pig ball for DD for $1.19 total. That one deal really highlights why I love couponing–it gives us little boosts of inexpensive fun as well as necessities!

KG

Yeah, that was a cool Pier 1 deal! Wish I had been able to use it.

I’ve been printing out store coupon policies and such and have printed a bunch of online coupons too. I’m trying to follow her (and other sites’) match ups, but since I don’t have the coupons from weeks and months ago, there aren’t tons yet for me to use. It’s OK, I’ll get there!

 

[gam3rchic]

If you need toiletries you’re going to want to start shopping @ drug stores. Collin posts the lists of everything on sale and the coupon matchups for Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS every Saturday. I usually copy and paste the list for each into a Word document and then whittle it down to what I want to get. She usually has the best deals highlighted in red. I found CVS is the easiest drug store to figure out…Rite Aid is a little harder, Walgreens is the hardest. Make sure you study her store guides!

Collin will also post coupon match ups for stores like Target and Walmart.

Oh and did you see her post about the Pier One deal today ($10/$10 purchase coupon when you “like” Pier One on Facebook)? DH and I each had a coupon and got 2 super cute plastic tumblers, 3 gift wrap bows and a squishy pink pig ball for DD for $1.19 total. That one deal really highlights why I love couponing–it gives us little boosts of inexpensive fun as well as necessities!

KG

I agree with KG, hip2save is a great website! I don’t extreme coupon per se, but I save LOTS of money doing what I do. Basically, you get out what you put in. If you are willing to put in a few hours a week (like I do) then you could save 200-300 bucks a month just doing that!

I have to give a BIG recommendation to cvs and walgreens particularly. Their coupon policies in particular allow for better deals. Rite aid used to be my store of choice, but they recently butchered their policy (I think they were having problems with too much fraud) so unfortunately I don’t go there much anymore.

Ok, bragging alert. Just today I went to walgreens and spent 19.50 for $90 worth of stuff, so a 78% savings. I attached a pic of my loot, but here is what I got:

4 mens deodorant
4 packs of hair scruncies
3 mini composition books
2 packs of pacifiers (on clearance, found them on a whim)
3 packs of paper plates
4 packs of pantiliners
1 pack of pens
2 extra strength tums
1 bib
4 womens shaving cream
2 toothbrushes
3 3-subject college ruled notebooks

People wonder how we are able to live off one income and this is how! I will save 75-80% at drugstores alone, particularly CVS and Walgreens like I said.

Yeah, that was a cool Pier 1 deal! Wish I had been able to use it.

I’ve been printing out store coupon policies and such and have printed a bunch of online coupons too. I’m trying to follow her (and other sites’) match ups, but since I don’t have the coupons from weeks and months ago, there aren’t tons yet for me to use. It’s OK, I’ll get there!

You can buy past whole inserts online, there’s a website called wholeinserts or something like that. Google it and you can find it! Build up your coupon stash woman!!!

 

[Belle10]

Ok, bragging alert. Just today I went to walgreens and spent 19.50 for $90 worth of stuff, so a 78% savings. I attached a pic of my loot, but here is what I got:

You can buy past whole inserts online, there’s a website called wholeinserts or something like that. Google it and you can find it! Build up your coupon stash woman!!!

I definitely need to build up the coupon stash!

Um, I’m quite jealous of your above-mentioned savings! Wow!

I got two copies of the paper Sunday. I don’t know if it was just this week or if it was because we were away visiting my family so it was a different Sunday paper, but there were way more coupons than in the normal Sunday paper I get when we’re home. I have to get organizing now…

 

[moliomarker]

Extreme Couponing is an activity that combines shopping skills with couponing in an attempt to save as much money. The concept of "Extreme Couponers was first mentioned by the Wall Street Journal on March 8,2010. Many of the couponers plot their grocery-store trips with some precisions and gaining money in large amount. , The Customers are also with gaining through this. Extreme Couponing follows by many shoppers as it is a plan and a way to plot the unbelievable things. Witness amazing shopping skills and shocking of merchandise, as every day people go to extremes in pursuit of extraordinary deals.

extreme couponing