Dented cans can be consumed quickly without problems and can save you 50% or more.
Clothing with small flaws can be discounted. I bought a dress at Dress Barn (courtesy of a gift card) a few weeks ago, and the dress I liked had a broken loop on it. I’m talking that this thing only needed 2 stitches to be fixed, and I was able to get 20% off the dress by haggling with the lady. Yes, it was free because of the gift card, but because I got that 20% off, I was able to get a clearance shirt to go with it. Many stores will give you at least 10% off if you buy slightly damaged or defective clothes or items. Remember integrity and don't rip a button off to get a discount.
Never underestimate a scratch, dent, ding, chip, or missing piece. Deep discounts are given when you buy slightly defective merchandise that they wouldn't otherwise be able to sell.
Discounts on Home Maintenance & Other Services: Ask for a discount if you put their sign in your yard (or on your car). Ask for a discount for giving them the names and addresses of your family and friends. If you have a large enough blog or website, then ask for a discount if you feature them on it. I am part of a social networking site of moms, and Walmart sent me 2 $100 gift cards to buy baby clothes and write about my experience. Because they knew that I have the potential to reach thousands of moms a day, they were more than happy to send a couple hundred bucks of free clothes my way.
Bartering: Trading Goods & Services. This is a great way to get things for free (or nearly free). We needed some minor auto work done, and a guy we knew (who just so happened to be a mechanic) needed a sitter for 2 days while his wife was out of town, and so I watched his kid and he fixed our car. No money, no problem – it was a win, win for both of us.
Yard sales and estate sales are great ways to get some good stuff. Yes, some of it is junk, but I know I’ve sold some pretty darn good things in my yard sales. If you buy things at a retail location, they are buying at TV at $100, they have to sell it for more than $100. At yard sales, the person buys something for $100, they’re willing to sell it for $10. You get a much better deal because they see the item as “in the way.” Their stuff has more value to you than it does to them. (Pay attention to that if you’re selling stuff!!!!) Don’t be mean or cut them down, but realize that their stuff means more to you than to them – most of the time. I sold a $50 vase for $5 once – it wasn’t mine (a friend was getting rid of it and I took it for my yard sale), it was in the way, and it was a means to get some money for paying off debt. The person who bought it got a very good deal.
Auctions: You have to be extremely careful at auctions. If you do your homework and know what you’re bidding on, they can be great. But too often people will get all worked up and pay way too much for something they could have gotten elsewhere for much cheaper.
And now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for….my #1 way of saving money & getting free stuff……
CLIPPING COUPONS!!!!
Where do you get the coupons? The Sunday paper, some Friday papers, Printable Coupons Online, Manufacturer Websites, In Stores, From Promotions, From Free Samples. The possibilities are endless as to where you can get coupons. You just have to dig around and see what’s out there. Sometimes you can get your family and friends to give you their coupons that they aren’t using. Coupons are wonderful, wonderful things.
Now if you’re saying, “I don’t have time to clip coupons” then I urge you to stop thinking that this very instant and just listen. It’s not like it used to be. It’s not something that poor people do to make ends meet. It’s something that smart people do because they’re tired of seeing all their money go to other people. You don’t have time NOT to clip coupons because it can be a huge blessing to your family, if used properly.
Couponing Rules:
Don't buy something just because you have a coupon. Seriously, if it’s $1.50 more than the generic equivalent even after the coupon savings, it’s not worth it just to use the coupon. So, only use the coupons if it truly is going to save you money. Just because you have a coupon for $1.00 off colon cleanse, it doesn’t mean you need to run out and buy it….unless you really need it.
Match coupons with sales ads to maximize savings. Coupons by themselves are good, but when paired with sales for additional savings, they can be phenomenal. I’m going to give the Walmart spill, but they will honor competitor’s sale prices. You just have to bring the sales ads with you. So you can get all the sales in one stop, and you can use your coupons to maximize your savings.
All coupons are potential money makers. Just because you don’t use Colon Cleanse, doesn’t mean that you should throw that coupon away. Sometimes stores, especially CVS and Walgreens, will have sales that will earn you money by buying certain products. I will explain it later, but all coupons are potential money makers.
Couponing Secrets
At most stores B1G1 deals accept the use of 2 coupons.
B1G1 coupons can also be used with B1G1 sales, making it a B1G2 deal.
One coupon per purchase means that each item is a purchase. Each time you cash out is a transaction. Don't let a clueless cashier ruin your couponing by saying you can't use more than 1 of the same coupon in a transaction. As long as you are using the same number of coupons as you have purchases, you're fine.
The Walgreens Game
This is where it gets a little confusing, but bear with me and we’ll sort it all out.
Walgreens has a few different ways to save: Register Rewards (RRs), Rebates, and in-ad coupons.
You can use both a Walgreens coupon and a manufacturer's coupon on the same product.
When buying an item to get RRs, you cannot use a RR from the same company and get more. This is a serious pain in the rump. They do this to keep limits on how many each person can buy. However, if you buy some Huggies diapers and get some RRs from that, then you use those RRs to purchase Ragu pasta sauce to get more RRs, then you can use the Pasta Sauce RRs for more Huggies. You have to interchange them for it to work. BUT, you have to know your companies. You have to know who makes these products because Proctor and Gamble does things like Pringles, Always, Gillette, Crest, and Tide. You wouldn’t always mesh those things together, but it can ruin your RR flow.
You must have the same number of items as you have coupons. This is especially tricky. You can use a manufacturer’s coupon and a Walgreens coupon for one item, but you cannot use a register reward, a Walgreens coupons and a manufacturer’s coupon for one item because Register Rewards count as Coupons!!! So, you need to get some filler products. Leftover pencils from the previous holiday are great things. Also candy bars or clearanced products work just as well.
Easy Saver Catalogs have been discontinued. There is some buzz going around about a loyalty program like CVS has, but nothing has been put in stone yet. As of now, there is no more ESC. Some items will still give rebates, and the rebates are now printed from the Catalina machine.
Call me if a Register Reward doesn't print. I have a number to call. You will have to keep your receipt so you can verify the information.
Now let’s play the game a little bit this week (5/17): Bayer Quick Crystals are $2.49 with $2.49 RR. That means, you pay $2.49 and you are then given $2.49 in RR after you check out. You can then use that $2.49 towards the purchase of Colgate Visible White for $4.49. There is a $1.00 off coupon if you go to www.iheartwags.com to find the link. You would need to pick up a very cheap item (because you'd need 2 items since you'd be using 2 coupons). You'd use your $2.49 RR from your first purchase and you'd get back a $4.49 RR. You could then take that $4.49 RR and use it towards the purchase of the $5.00 Clinical Strength Dry Idea. There is a $2.00 off coupon (see iheartwags.com again). Pick up another cheap item since you'll be using 2 coupons. You'd get both for free, and you'd get $5.00 in RR to use on your next purchase.
The CVS Game
CVS is also going through some changes and their sales are not what they used to be. They have caught onto us frugal shoppers out there, and they’ve lowered their limits and have changed some things. But don’t fret, good deals are still to be had.
You must have a CVS Extra Care Card. Ask for one at the register. Call the 1-800 number on the back to register it. Make sure to give them your email address because they will email you valuable coupons, somtimes certificates for free stuff! All of your coupons and Extra Care Bucks are tied to this card!
Ways to save: Extra Care Bucks (ECBs), in-store coupons, cash register tape coupons, beauty book coupons (ask for them in store. For those in class, those are the coupons I handed out), and magic machine coupons. That's the red box that acts as a scanner for pricing. If you scan your card under it, it will print out coupons. One scan per day.
You can use a CVS coupon and a manufacturer coupon together. Those are the cash register tape coupons, magic machine coupons, beauty book coupons, and emailed coupons.
You can use several ECBs in one transaction. Unlike Walgreens, ECBs do not count as coupons, and you can use 10 for one purchase if you like. You just have to be careful because if you have one for $5.00 and you only spend $3.00 – you lose the other $2.00. So always get enough to use up your ECBs.
Use $/$$ CVS coupons first, then use other coupons, THEN use ECBs. Sometimes lovely things will print out or be emailed to you for $/$$ purchase (example is $5/$25). They are handy and can save you quite a bit of money. There is an order to it though. You must FIRST give them the $/$$ coupon, then the other coupons, THEN the ECBs. That is the best way to maximize your savings.
You do not pay tax when paying with ECBs. Unlike Walgreens, ECBs do not act like coupons - they act like cash. So, when using ECBs to pay for a purchase in full, there is no sales tax. It is counted as a pre-tax discount, unlike coupons. So if you have a $4.99 ECB and you buy something that costs $4.99 before tax, then you walk out of there having paid NOTHING.
Watch for limits per hoursehold. There are limits on the sales items, especially those that give you ECBs. If there’s a limit of 1, then you should only buy 1 of that item, get your ECBs and use those towards another item that earns you more ECBs.
You can roll ECBs, if there's a limit of more than 1, to get more ECBs on the same item. So if the limit is 2, unlike Walgreens, you can use the same ECB from the first transaction, to pay for the exact same item in the second transaction, and more ECBs will print. You then would take those and max out the number of items that it will allow you to get, and then go on to the next item that earns you more ECBs.
Ask for rainchecks if they are out of an item. Sometimes their stock just stinks, and then there are greedy people who empty shelves. If they are out of something, ask for a raincheck. Depending on the cashier, you will either get the ECBs subtracted off the purchase price (sometimes making it free) or you will act like it’s a normal purchase and they’ll manually print out the ECBs for you.
Quarterly ECBs are given. They are 2% of your quarterly spending. When you get really great at playing the game, you will find that you MIGHT get $1.00 every quarter. But in the beginning, especially if you get a new card, you can get some really great quarterly earnings. My card, when I first got it, had over $300 worth of purchases on it because that’s the one they’d just use at the register whenever people without a card would go through the line. That was nice!
ECBs (like RRs) expire. And once they expire, there’s nothing they can do about them. They are now refusing to reset them for people, and so you will get stuck with them if you do not use them.
This isn’t necessarily a game of buying only needs. Sometimes you buy stupid things just because they are free and earn you more ECBs. The things you do not want, you can donate, because you’re not out anything.
So, let’s do a little playing with the CVS game this week (5/17): Dry Idea deodorant is 2 for $5.00 with $2.00 ECB when you buy 2. There are $2.00 off coupons (go to www.iheartcvs.com for link). With both coupons, you would pay $1.00 out of pocket for 2 dry idea deodorants. You would then receive $2.00 in ECBs. That is a profit of $1.00. You could then spend the $2.00 on another purchase that earns you more ECBs. Generally I do not buy anything there unless it earns me more ECBs.
Publix
Watch carefully for B1G1 sales. You can use 2 coupons on a B1G1 sale.
Publix doubles manfacturer coupons up to $.50 every day.
Publix in-ad coupons and mailed coupons (register for their clubs at Publix.com)can be used with manufacturer coupons for double the savings.
Monday is penny item day. If you spend $10 (before coupons) you get the featured item for 1 penny!
Publix sales run from Wednesday to Tuesday.
Publix offers a UPromise shopping card, so if you have student loans, have a child, or are in college yourself, then you can set up an account and a percentage of qualifying purchases gets put into your UPromise account.
Let's look at a possible good deal at Publix (as an example): Ritz crackers are B1G1 at publix for $3.69 (I think...lost the ad). There are $1.00 off coupons at kraftfoods.com. If you print 2 of those coupons out, you can get 2 boxes of Ritz crackers for $1.69 (or whatever the price is) because you can use 1 coupon per item (even on a B1G1 deal). That's a huge savings if you eat crackers in your house. We certainly do!
As a side note, Fred's doubles coupons up to $.75 every Saturday.
Now I know what you’re asking. Does it really save that much money? Does playing the CVS and the Walgreens and the Publix games really matter that much? Is it really worth the time and effort?
Is It Worth It?
Yes, Yes it is! And that is just the free stuff!
For as much as we have, we've given almost that much away. Can you believe that? Between family, friends, and charities, we’ve given away boxes and boxes and boxes of this stuff…stuff that I got for free….just by using coupons and sales ads, and playing the games.
I realize that there was not a lot of food pictured, but that’s because we eat it. I never think to take pictures of my grocery shopping trips because I just put it away and call it good. We have been so blessed by using coupons. It’s kept our grocery, toiletry, diaper, and household product part of the budget down to $200 a month for our family of 5 (and that’s living large). We’ve been able to build a year’s supply of toiletries and household products for our family by doing this. This is not a game folks…we call it one, but it’s not. It’s life. It’s a way for me to hold onto the money we have and do something more positive with it than just buy stuff. I realize food is not “stuff” but the less I have to spend on these things, the more money I have to change our family tree.
All it takes is a couple hours a week and some planning and plotting. It takes changing the way you look at buying things – both big things and small things. It takes changing your attitude towards things, and not being frivolous with your money. If something is sub standard, or the product is defective, call them on it. Complain, give them the info from the packaging. They will replace it. We've gotten free batteries, diapers, taco shells and more by complaining about sub-standard products. I have 2 coupons in my coupon files for 2 free boxes of Taco Shells because we bought some that were greasy and chewy. There were defects in about half a box of some Huggies diapers I bought (24 out of 70 diapers) and they sent me a coupon for a free box. So stop settling for less than the best. Start thinking about where your money is going. Stop just handing it over….try holding onto some of it.
How Do You Do This?
By Starting! Just take the time to begin. Start getting your feet wet.
Clip those coupons, search the sales, hit the internet, dig for the good deals, plot and plan. On average, spend about 1-2 hours a week doing those things. In the last year, I spent (on average) 78 hours doing the coupon thing (and I know it was less since I took a 3 month break) and I got over $2500 worth of stuff for FREE. I kept some, donated some, and gave some away. For every hour I spent clipping coupons, I made my family $32.05. Where else can you get $32.05 an hour?
Now you are not going to start out bringing in hundreds of dollars of free stuff. It took me a couple years to get to this point, but with time, effort, and know-how…you can get there too.
Again, keep your integrity in tact! This is the most important thing to remember. You will not win with money if you do things that are not right. You cannot get something for free with coupons and then return it. It’s not right. You cannot illegally obtain coupons and use them. You cannot lie, cheat, or manipulate the system. You cannot have the intention to do harm to those you do business with. You cannot be merciless when haggling with people. You must have extreme integrity when you do these things. You MUST, or you WILL NOT win with money.
You need to wake up, look at what you're spending your money on. Decide today that you are going to stop handing over your money to someone else, by paying full price for things that you can get for less. It's YOUR money, keep it in YOUR pocket.
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