Hello Friends it's Sunday Funday!
I have gotten several requests on how to save money by using coupons.
Here is a little back story on how I started using coupons. I was a young teen Mom trying to figure out how to save money for our one person income. I saw my mother do it as a child when she had to live off of a budget of usually 180.00 every two weeks to feed six children and 2 adults, three meals a day for 14 days. That adds up to 42 meals for an entire family of 8 on a one person income since my father was in the military. Remember, this was the 80's, so yes prices are a lot different from now than they were back then. I remember going to the commissary with my mom and she had a little pocket book full of this "Free Money" that she could use to feed her family of 8 healthy meals and not just cheese and crackers and Kool-Aid.
I also saw my mother meal plan. With six children who played different sports and having to take care of a house and run errands, she had to have a routine or schedule in place. I think that is why I have always stuck to something to a schedule growing up and now as an adult with 9 children. I like to call it controlled chaos and not let the chaos control me.
Coupons
Every Sunday I will pick up at least 4 newspapers. You can actually buy your newspapers from Dollar Tree for only $1.00. I usually buy 4 because they have a limited the amount of coupons you can use for one shopping trip and it still gives you a good stockpile in the long run. I always, always look for the Sunday ads that usually go up for different stores such as Dollar General, CVS, and Target. Most other grocery store ads come out on Wednesdays. You can also download the app Flipp. It literally saves you from having to search for all those ads and places them conveniently on one app. On this app, you can link your loyalty cards and clip the digital coupons and already have them applied to your card so you will reap the benefits from those coupons you just "clipped". I also highly recommend meal planning. The first thing you need to do is write a list for the week. For example, on Sunday write what you want to eat for breakfast lunch and dinner but for the whole week Sunday to Saturday. I always write my list first before I start going through the ads. I then go through the ingredients in each of my dishes, write them down, and look for them in the ads to see if there is any sales. Then I search for any coupons. Yes, you can combine the sales price with your coupons. After all, that's what you want. More discounts and more money in your pocket. If there is a limit on your coupon you do have to stick to it, however. So for instance, if the coupon says 2 coupons per limit per shopping purchase that is all you can use during that one shopping trip. That does not mean you cannot go the next day or before the coupons are expired. Dollar Tree does take manufacturer coupons as well so take advantage of it. Always save the coupon policy to your phone or print it out for the stores that you go to in order to prevent any hangups at the register.
Digital Coupons
I HIGHLY recommend these and they are my go to if I didn't pick up any newspapers on Sunday.
Most grocery store offer apps for their stores and most of them have digital coupons embedded into them. Stores such as Food Lion, CVS, Dollar General, Lidl, Target, Joann Fabrics, Michael's Arts and Craft stores, Khol's, and Hobby Lobby offers a 40 percent coupon. These are literally the main ones that I have on my phone. But don't just limit yourself to the digital coupons for these stores. There are a ton of stores that offer these coupons. I also recommend downloading restaurant apps because sometimes there are digital coupons for food and many offer a free item just for downloading their app.
With digital coupons you generally just check what coupons you would like to use for the store you go to and when you check out you use the app on your phone's barcode, the phone number you registered in the app, or just show them your reward card. If you download the Dollar General digital coupon app they will give you a FREE 1.00 digital coupon off your first purchase up to $1.05, so you can buy one item for free unless they charge sales tax in your state for a food item. Also at Dollar General, you can combine your Manufacturer coupons with an actual Dollar General labeled coupon and it will tell you right on the digital coupon. So add a Dollar General Coupon to your manufacturer coupon for even more savings. Usually, every weekend Dollar General offers $5.00 off of a $25.00 purchase. So for example, I can buy several items that I had selected clipped from the digital coupons. I always make a list and put a line down the middle. On one side, the item and the actual price or sales price is listed and on the other side the amount for that coupon that I will subtract from the first amount.
When I get to the $25.00 total I always subtract the $5.00 first and go down the list and subtract the different amounts which will come out to find your total OOP or "Out of Pocket expense".
Rewards and Reward Programs / Loyalty Programs
These are really valuable to a couponer such as myself with a large family. If I can earn it by spending a certain amount in a store and get money back for future purchases I am all for it. A good example is our local grocery store (Food Lion). They have a monthly reward program called Shop and Earn. How it works is every month they will put out 5-6 different categories of items and and tell you how much you would need to spend in order to receive that reward which will in turn come off as a discount on your next shopping purchase. These come in handy if you need to buy little things here and there throughout the week like milk, bread, toilet paper, or any of the things that tend to run out quickly before your next shopping trip. There are other reward programs at places such as Kohl's. I mean everyone needs clothes right? They usually run promotions where if you spend $50.00 for a purchase you receive a $10.00 reward that can be used as cash on certain dates. Believe me this works. Last year we literally saved $2,000.00 on clothes for our children! Not only that, with the Kohl's app, every time you spend $100.00 you get a $5.00 reward and you can combine that with your $10.00 rewards for every $50.00 you spend if the promotion is going on. This works out because your $5.00 reward is good for 30 days. There are several different types of reward programs out there and I do mean several. For instance, you need to buy shampoo or different hair products or make up. Sally's Beauty also offers a fee free members rewards program that once you sign up you get sent coupons through emails. Once you spend up to 500 points you get a $5.00 reward To use the next time you shop. You like smelling awesome? Bath and Body works offers coupons as well. When you sign up they will start sending you coupons about sales and upcoming events. They will also send you a coupon where you can get a free item without having to purchase anything. Yes, I understand getting lots of random emails can be daunting but you always have a delete button or unsubscribe from it. But in the end, getting rewarded is what you want.
Free money or money making from gift cards and coupons.
This usually works at Target. Target loves thousands of people shopping at their stores nationwide and they know that people will be coming back for more if they offer gift cards and discounts through their "Cartwheel" app which is AMAZING. For example: I go through the Target flyer every Sunday and I see a deal on laundry soap. Like buy 2 and get a $5.00 gift card. Okay, great. Now if that laundry soap is $6.99 and there is a coupon or percentage off on the Cartwheel app, you can use it and still get your $5.00 gift card. Yes, I will spend $11.98 out of pocket but I will get $5.00 back on a gift card that I can use on a different purchase. Another example is a product is $3.00 each and it's buy 2 get a $5.00 gift card and you have a coupon for $2.00 off 2 items, you will only pay $4.00 and you get that $5.00 gift card. You will be making your money back plus a an extra $1.00. Guys, I cannot recommend enough for you to download these apps to save money.
There are other apps that will help you as well. I have "Ibotta" and "Fetch" rewards these are also both free apps that all you have to do is check the stores that you go to or link up your cards and scan your receipts. For Ibotta, once you reach up to $20.00 in earnings you can pull your money. You are literally making money off of the shopping you are already doing so why not get some of that money back? Fetch rewards is pretty amazing too. You can scan your receipts from gas stations, grocery stores or big box stores and it will also have a list of items worth points if you buy them and scan the receipt into the app. Fetch uses a point reward system. You can save up to 50,000 points and then you can spend them on various gift cards and they even have visa money gift cards that you can use. You can use the same receipt you use for Ibotta for your Fetch rewards. This is what I use and believe me it comes in handy. So why give up free money? Yeah, you may not get the money or reward from these apps right away but think about it like a savings account that you don't ever have to worry about.
Stock Pile
No, you don't need a large one but maybe enough so you don't have to worry for a couple of months. Once you start couponing and taking advantage of sales you may have an overage of items so store them away and use it later on or donate it to someone, especially if you got it free. One year I had enough toothpaste to last 3 years for my entire family yes that's a lot of toothpaste but I didn't have to buy any that I literally gave it away. Stock piles are some what important because you don't know what can happen. You lose a job or someone in your family passes away and you don't know what your going to do. When there is a sale on canned vegetables I stock up big time. I usually buy 10 cans at a time, maybe 20 if it's really good and usually it's at a buy one get one free sale. So I hope this gives you an idea how a stockpile would help you.
I know this is a lot to take in but these are all the tips and tricks that I use myself. This is what I do in order to sustain my family of 9 on a one person income. I hope I have helped and if you have any questions about anything in this article or questions about something not covered, don't hesitate to find me on my Facebook Page "Smart Mom Crafty Mom" and on Twitter @SmartmomCrafty. Happy Couponing!
Lots of Love and Sprinkles
Melissa
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