Matching Sales with Coupons

Alright you have your coupons...now what?  You match your coupons with sales to save the most!  Every Sunday in my newspaper I take the out of the ads.  I grab my sharpie and a circle every item I need, want, or think is a great deal.  Then I match those deals that with my coupons.  After I finish my list, I then head over to the Shopping Wizard which is a FREE service from the Savvy Shopper!  She lists items on sale (advertised and not advertised) for national retail chains, Utah grocery stores and Georgia grocery stores.  She ranks the the deal, shows you what coupons to use, and what your final price will be.  How easy is that!!! She does ALL the work for you.  If she doesn't match up the stores you shop up, then I suggest you Google what ever store you need match ups.  Seriously, I love how much work and time she saves me!!!  There are tons of great tutorials to help you get started with couponing.  I also follow her on Facebook here, so I can know when she post more great deals! This is what the Savvy Shopper looks like.

 

Resuable Bags

How to Coupon:  Use Resuable Bags

I am not a hippy by any means; however, I do feel guilty about the amount of paper/newspaper I use couponing.  Yes, I do recycle.  I tried thinking of ways I could help balance out my ways more so...Enter Recyclable Bags.  I have "green" bags for nearly every store.  They cost around a buck.  Best part is a LOT of stores give you money or rewards for using "green" bags!  Target gives you 5 cents per bag, Harmons gives you 5 cents per bag, Sunflower gives you 5 or 10 cents (can't remember) per bag, Smith's (Kroger) gives you 5 pts per bag, etc.  The "green" bags pay for themselves in a couple of trips, and they save the enviornment at the same time!  

First Step to Couponing

I am constantly asked what is the first step I should do to start couponing.  My response is ALWAYS the same...buy MULTIPLE copies of the Sunday newspaper!  You need extra coupons if you plan on stocking up on good deals. If you live in Utah, My Coupon Habit offers the LOWEST subscription rates.  If you live outside of Utah, it is a good idea to call your newspaper to see if they offer a special couponing discount. 

Call 801-344-2959 for any of the offers below be sure to tell them My Coupon Habit sent you so you can get these great prices:

NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES

DAILY HERALD- (Utah County Only)

3 Copies $14.50/month ($1.21/paper)

4 Copies $17.00/month ($1.06/paper)

5 Copies $18.75/month ($0.94/paper)

*Subscription includes a Daily Herald Thursday print edition & e-edition other days.

Tell them MY COUPON HABIT sent you to lock in these GREAT prices!

HERALD JOURNAL- (Cache & Weber Counties)

3 Copies $13.20/month ($1.10/paper)

4 Copies $16.30/month ($1.02/paper)

5 Copies $18.00/month ($0.90/paper)

*Subscription includes Monday-Saturday print edition + e-edition.

Tell them MY COUPON HABIT sent you to lock in these GREAT prices!

STANDARD EXAMINER-(Cache, Weber & Davis Counties)

3 Copies $11.05/month ($0.92/paper)

4 Copies $13.60/month ($0.85/paper)

*Subscription includes Monday-Saturday print edition + e-edition.

Tell them MY COUPON HABIT sent you to lock in these GREAT prices!

SALT LAKE TRIBUNE & DESERET NEWS-(Statewide)

Friday, Saturday, Sunday Delivery $39 for 26 weeks/newspaper* ($1.50/paper)

Friday, Saturday, Sunday Delivery $53 for 52 weeks/newspaper* ($1.02/paper)

Sunday Only Delivery $53 for 52 weeks/newspaper* ($1.02/paper)

*Subscription includes Mon-Thurs electronic edition

Friday, Saturday, Sunday Delivery $37 for 26 weeks/newspaper – print only ($1.42/paper)

Friday, Saturday, Sunday Delivery $50 for 52 weeks/newspaper – print only ($.96/paper)

Sunday Only Delivery $50 for 52 weeks/newspaper – print only ($.96/paper)

Maximum Copies 2 Salt Lake Tribune & 2 Deseret News

With the Salt Lake Newspapers gift cards are available in $5 increments.

1 Copy $5 gift card for 1 year subscriptions

2 Copies $10 gift cards for 1 year subscriptions

3 Copies $15 gift cards for 1 year subscriptions

4 Copies $20 gift cards for 1 year subscriptions

Call 801-344-2959 TODAY and tell them My Coupon Habit sent you!

Trial Size

How to Coupon:  Buying trial size. 
When my coupon are about to expire, I gather them up and head to travel section at Walmart.  First, I check to see if my coupons say excludes trial/travel size.  Often you get score FREE items, and sometimes you can even get overage to help pay for your produce. 

All You

How to Coupon:  Get a subscription or buy a copy of All You at Walmart.
I know I have talked a lot about the magazine All You, but I cannot say enough about how much I LOVE this magazine.  This magazine retails anywhere from $1.88 to $2.49 depending on your Walmart, or you can get a subscription for the year for a little less than $20.  Each magazine comes with $60-$100 worth of coupons.  I use at least half of these coupons.  I personally buy a copy every month...I am waiting to find a cheaper subscription price. 

How to use Swag Bucks

 

This week's how to coupon is how to use Swag Bucks.

Have you joined Swag Bucks yet? I have only been doing for a couple of months, and I have already received $50 in Amazon gift cards! It's completely FREE and Swag bucks can be traded in for rewards such as gift cards, electronics, apparel, household goods and much more!  I have only redeemed for Amazon gift cards bc you can buy just about anything on Amazon. Register here.
I recommend you download their toolbar (you get points for this). You get daily points for refreshing your browser.
Take the daily poll...it's worth 1 swag buck!
Go to surveys...it's worth 1 swag buck!
Go to NOSO...it's worth 2 swag bucks!
Search using their search bar...join their Facebook page for hints on codes and searches.   I only search for a few minutes on Friday bc that is Mega Swag Bucks day which means you have a chance of getting higher swag bucks.

Still lost Swag for Dummies is a great help guide!

Mulitple Copies on the Newspaper

How to Coupon:  Get MULTIPLE Copies of the Newspaper

If you want to get the best value for your money, you really need multiple copies of the newspaper.  How many should you get?  That is up to you.  I have heard people say you should get 1 + the number of people in your family.  I do follow that rule bc that works for me.  I subscribed to 4 papers, and there are 3 people in my family.  4 papers works GREAT for me.  However, that rule doesn't work for all.  Some newspapers have restrictions on how many papers you can subscribe to, so you need to check.  PLUS most newspapers will give you a discount if you buy multiple papers.  Utah newspapers do, and you can see those prices here.  (Chattanooga area I am working on getting you a group rate...cross your fingers that happens soon!)

 

Why do you need multiple copies?  You want to be able to buy products when they go on sale, and NOT when you need them.  You want to be at the point that you have items when you need them already in your "stock pile".  Remember sales reoccur every 3-6 months, so you don't need to get a year's supply at one time.  I buy enough to last me a couple of months bc I know in a few months that same deal will come back around.  When a sale happens, I know I can get 4 of that deal bc I have 4 coupons.  If you only get 1 newspaper, that means you can only buy 1 sale item with a coupon.  You want to be able stock up on the sales items, so you save money and save trips to the grocery store.      

Couponing and Brand Loyalty

How To Coupon:  Forget About Brand Loyalty

If you want to really get into couponing, you have to forget your brands.  I am not saying you need to buy generics (bc those are more expensive)...I am saying you cannot always only buy your favorite brands.  I struggle with these, but I have made tons of improvement with this since having a baby.  I know I have to be more frugel since were are now a one income family.  I am only brand loyal when I can find a great sale use a great coupon.  

Examples:

I LOVE Tide....who doesn't love Tide?!?!  Tide is pricey even with coupons.  The cheapest I can find Tide is $4-5.  I had to give up my laundry snobbish for Tide.  I cannot justify spending $5 when I can buy All, Whisk and Purex all for $1-2.  By the way, I love ALL just as much as Tide now! 

As far as stain removers go, I buy both Tide Stain Remover and Oxi-Clean.  I bought Oxi-Clean a month or so ago for only 50 cents.  There have been awesome coupons for both of those, so I can afford to be brand loyal to both of those!

I love Huggies.  I prefer Huggies over ANY other brand.  I can buy Huggies for really cheap; however, I know I can also find Pampers for just as cheap or cheaper at times.  I buy both when I found good deals.  I stock up when I found them for $3 or under; however, less than $5 is still a great deal!  I will ONLY buy Huggies and Pampers, but at that price I can afford to be brand loyalty.

I spend used to spend a lot of money on my hair.  I would only use Salon shampoo/conditioner and products.  I found a products I LOVE just as much as salon shampoo, and it smells heavenly.  John Frieda Root Awakening, and I bought it at Target for ONLY 50 cents last week.  (I am sure this sale will come around again.)  50 cents compared to $30+ dollars...that is no brainer. 

I use to only use Aquafresh Sensitive.  It is $2.74 at Walmart, and those coupons are RARE.  Knowing I can ALWAYS find toothpaste for 50 cents or less (normally free), made me lose my brand loyalty.  I use Cologate, Crest and other Aquafresh products. 
 

I even have my hubby stopping his brand loyalty.  My hubby is a lotion guy (I tease him a lot about this.  He says it is bc he was raised with several sisters.).  He loves Curel; however, Curel coupons are normally not high valued.  Nivea had several high value coupons, and I recently bought Nivea lotion for under $1.

Binder Update

Remember how I organize my binder post here?  I want to add one more thing to that post. 
I was at Target yesterday, and I found a coupon binder in the bottom of my buggy.  I opened it to the front, and there was no contact information.  I returned it to customer service desk, so I hope that person checks back with them.  
This reminded me I forgot to include the most import page that I have in my binder.  The very first page in my binder looks like this:

This coupon binder belongs to

Hannah 

If found please return to me.  Thank you.

my email address 

my cell phone number

Could you imagine how panicked you would be if you lost ALL of your beautiful coupons in your beautiful binder?!?!  I would be a mess!!!  It's always better to be safe than sorry.

Printing Coupons In Black and White

How to print coupons in black and white:  You have probably notice by now that you are going through a lot of ink with printing all these fabulous coupons.  Ink isn't cheap...especially color ink.  I print all of my coupons on fast draft and grayscale.  Yes, stores take black and white coupons.  Here's how to switch your computer settings to print in black and white.  (Note:  I have a PC, and I have Windows XP)
1. Go to your start button
2. click on control panel
3. click classic view
4. click printers
5. click the printer you want to change the settings
6. once that printer is highlighted, click select printing preferences
7. click the drop down screen for print quality and select fast draft
8. click color tab at the tab click print in grayscale
9. click drop down screen to print black ink only
10. click ok

My Coupon Habit's Coupon Binder

For this week's How To, I am going to share with yall my binder recipe. These categories work for me, but they may not work for you. You need to figure out what categories best describe your needs/coupons. I do think EVERYONE should use the binder method. It is easier to organize! You need to bring your binder with you into ALL stores. You never know when you will find a money maker or clearance item at a store!

How Do I Organize My Coupons:·

Binder. Get a binder with a zipper and a handle at least 2-3”. I recommend Case-It D-145

Card Holders. Get 9 count clear baseball card holders. I prefer Ultra Pro.
Dividers. Get divider and mark the labels. I prefer the dividers withpockets.

My Binder Recipe: Use dividers with pockets and label the sections on both sides. Place baseball card holders behind each section.

Category Sections:

· Baby: Diapers, lotions, formula, baby food, etc

· Baking: Mixes, flour, spices, etc

· Bread & Cereal: Cereal, breakfast foods, breads, rice, pasta, chips, snacks, etc

· Cans: canned vegetables, canned fruits, canned sauces

· Candy: Candy, gum, etc

· Cleaners: Dish cleaners, fabric cleaners, room fresheners, floor cleaners, etc

· Dairy: Cheese, butter, yogurt, cold items, etc

· Dressing & Spreads: Salad dressing, peanut butter, jams, BBQ sauce, etc

· Drinks: Water, juice, cokes, etc

· Frozen: Anything in the freezer

· Meats: Fresh meat, lunch meat, breakfast meat, hot dogs, etc

· Medicines: Cold, allergy, pain relievers, first aid, vitamins, etc

· Paper Products: Tissues, garbage bags, foils, wraps, paper plates, napkins, etc

· Personal: Body wash, lotion, makeup, feminine items, oral health care, hair care, etc

· Produce: fruits, vegetables

· Random: Non-food items

Store Sections: Get a divider for each of your favorite grocery and pharmacy stores. Follow with baseball card holders. Place coupon policy, store coupons, rain checks and catalinas in the pockets.

I learned a lot about this from the Savvy Shopper. You can read how she organizes her binder here.