Couponing 101- Ad Reads and Coupon Matching
Last time we
talked about making the commitment to saving money.
Today we discuss how to
start making that happen. One of the best things you can do to help save money
is to read your ads before making a trip to the grocery store. I make it a
point to read the store ads 3-4 times to make sure that I am:
- Seeing all the sales,
- Understanding the sales and
- Maximizing the money I am about to spend
Prior to my
money saving days the ads were merely junk mail that littered my mail each
week, now I anxiously look forward to their arrival. Also thanks to my smart
phone I have free apps that show circulars and I have the circulars emailed to
me each week. This way I always have them to reference, including at the check-out
to ensure that I am getting the deals I was promised!
- The first time I read the ads I will do quick glance usually because one or both of my children is trying to yank the ads from me to “help” with the mail.
- The second time I look at the ads I make sure to have a pen in hand and I literally go through the ad inch by inch, check marking anything that looks like a potential great deal.
- I then go and take a peek at my coupons as well as those on smartsource.com, coupons.com and EBay to see if there are any that match up to the ads.
- Then my fourth look at the ads I map out my shopping trip with exact numbers of how many of each item I want, how much they cost, the value of the coupon and how many of each coupon I will need.
Some weeks I can spend up to
two hours total prepping with the ads, but trust me it is time well spent.
This morning
when the new ads came to my inbox, I excitedly leafed through to see what deals
I would be after this week. Now that my kids have napped I have found my scores
for this week.
Sample Savings:
A few weeks back I had stocked up on Ken’s Salad dressing
coupons that are worth $1 each, I know these go on sale often so when I see a
high value coupon I will purchase them from EBay. This week they are on sale
for $1 each at Shaw’s so tomorrow morning I will be going in to get 16 bottles
for free. Stop & Shop has Diet Pepsi on sale 3 for $4. I have coupons that
are .55 each which they will double to $1.10 each. I will be getting 6 bottles
for .23 each. With grilling season around the corner these are two stock up
items I can’t miss out on.
My other big
score this week is on Pampers wipes. Stop & Shop not only has these items
on sale but they are on this weeks gas rewards list. Pampers wipes are on sale
for $1.99 couple that with the .75 coupons.com coupon which will be doubled to
$1.50 their price is just .49. The ad states “buy any 4 items save .20 per
gallon.”
Coupons.com limits you to 2 prints per coupon per computer; I will
print 2 at home and 2 at the library so that I can get 4 packages of wipes for
the sale price of one. In addition I will save $3.20 when I fill my empty gas
tank at the Stop & Shop gas station.
After a
couple of quick stops tomorrow I will spend $3.37 out of pocket and I will go
home with 26 items to add to my stock pile. Time well spent indeed!
Next Friday we
talk about mastering the checkout and dealing with cashiers who aren’t
always coupon friendly. ~ Marsha
Guest Blog Post from Family Made Simple fan, Marsha Giroux. Marsha, the mom of Harry, 2 ½ and Sophia 1 resides in Rhode Island.
Guest Blog Post from Family Made Simple fan, Marsha Giroux. Marsha, the mom of Harry, 2 ½ and Sophia 1 resides in Rhode Island.
Nice tips. Of course, you could avoid much of that prep work by finding a blogger who does all that for you & the stores you shop.
ReplyDeleteI take the entire ad for Food Lion, Harris teeter, Lowes Foods, CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens and do all that prep work for you! Then you can focus on reducing your bills- not trying to match up coupons & sales.