Couponing Mishaps

A Beautiful Sight

When you start couponing progress is slow and after some critical mistakes you may be tempted to give up.  Trust me when I tell you that it will become easier, your savings will grow in amount, and it will begin to take up less of your time.  I will not tell you that you will stop making mistakes or having mishaps when out shopping with coupons.

Even though I am now saving 40-50% on my grocery and drug store bills, there are still days when I want to bang my head on the table because of a mistake I or a cashier have made.  But we are all here to learn, so here goes:

I try to shop during the slower hours, first thing in the morning at the start of the sale cycle for that store.  That means Sunday for Walgreens and (in my area) Thursday for Publix.  By shopping early the store is usually not sold out of items, plus there are fewer people for me to annoy with my coupons.  Why my shopping with coupons should bother others is beyond me as it only adds a few minutes to my checkout time.  I guess minutes count to some people, but I always though that was just surgeons and fire fighters.

Anywho...when I finish getting my items I check for a line with few to no people in line, thinking that I can get through quickly and, thus, irritate fewer people.  Now I have got to tell you that I can get to a cashier in a deserted store and, miraculously, ten people (where did they come from?) will appear behind me.

Some days the people waiting for me to check out are good natured, interested and, basically, happy to see someone saving some money.  But, every once in a while, I get a "sigher".  You know, the kind that looks at their watch, shuffles their feet and sighs deeply.  So, I just try to concentrate on what the cashier and I are trying to accomplish, which is to check me out with as few problems as possible.  It's not like I am buying a hundred of something, it's just my groceries with a few stock up items thrown in.

If you watch Extreme Couponing you have seen the EC's unblinkingly staring at the register screen.  There is a good reason for this; people and computers make mistakes and sometimes they are big ones.  You must watch the screen to ensure that your items are scanned for the sale price, bogos are registering correctly and that your coupons are being read.  Just recently I was distracted by someone in the store and didn't catch that the cashier had scanned an item twice.  That's $3 out of my pocket and nothing to show for it.  It's hard to prove that this has happened once you've left the store.

Most stores have a policy that you can only use as many coupons as you have items.  This means that if you are using two coupons (manufacturers and stores) for one item you must pick up an inexpensive filler item.  I usually need four or five filler items when shopping at Walgreens.  Conveniently, they have a display of 25 cent candy sticks by the register.  Dear daughter likes candy sticks so it is a win, win situation.

I will certainly share more tips in the future as I learn more about using coupons effectively.  With coupon policies changing so rapidly, it should keep me on my frugal toes.

God bless,
Pam

Using Coupons Effectively: Organization That Doesn't Work

Here it is:  my pathetic, overstuffed and hard to use plastic file.  It worked fine for me when I was only occasionally using coupons; you know, two or three at a time.  But now that I am committed to saving more money with coupons, it is not very functional.

The problem with this type of file is that when I am making my shopping list and am looking for a particular coupon, I have to look through every coupon in one section to find what I need.  This is especially difficult when I spot an unadvertised special while I am shopping and I want to see if I have a coupon that that item.

Sooo, now I am on the hunt for a better system and, especially,  a better system that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.  I just saw one online that cost over $60 dollars (not frugal!!).  If you have a system that works well, let me know.  Off I go to check out a couple of office supply stores.

God bless,
Pam

Using Coupons Effectively: Websites

I was going to write all of this information myself, but then I found a wonderful website that explains using  coupons and provides shopping strategies for each store.  The site is Southern Savers and its creator has set up a site that really does it all.

Southern Savers does provide links to coupon services, but the three big ones are Coupon.com, Redplum and Smart Source.  Just Google them, click on the coupons you want, then hit the print coupons button.  All of the coupons you selected will print at once, three coupons per page.

Each of these coupon services will ask to place a cookie on your computer.  You have to say yes for the coupons to print.  If you are not comfortable with this, then stick to the coupon inserts in the paper.

It helps to buy a small paper cutter for coupon cutting.  You can stack the pages of coupons you print from a site and cut them all at once; they line up beautifully.  Have your children help when you are clipping from paper inserts.

We'll talk about organizing coupons another time.

God bless,
Pam

New Show On Coupon Shopping

Tonight on the Learning Channel at 8:00 pm EST there is going to be a show called Extreme Couponing.  I have no idea if this is going to be an informative program on effectively shopping with coupons or some sort of sensationalized junk.  It's probably worth turning on, if only to see if there is something to be learned.

God bless,
Pam

Shopping With Coupons: Book Recommendation

My adventure into truly frugal shopping using coupons started when I read the book "Shop, Save, and Share" by Ellie Kay.  Her philosophy of saving, not only to benefit your family, but to benefit people in need was a real eye opener for me.  I like it so much that I have it listed in my Amazon.com link as one of my favorites.

Ellie describes the strategies of coupon and sale shopping in detail.  Learning how to stack coupons (using manufacturer and store coupons at the same time) while shopping a BOGO (buy one get one) actually got me to the point where I am able to buy items for free.

Now add the concept of shopping in order to give to others to your frugal shopping mentality.  Ellie talks about purchasing hair care items that her family doesn't use, but that are desperately needed by homeless and domestic violence shelters.  Of using your new shopping knowledge to get food for free to donate to the food bank.  The ideas go on and on.

The book is clearly written, in a personable style.  It is a fun, easy and educational read.  Enjoy!

God bless,
Pam