For those new to money savings, this is the beginning of a very exciting journey. Like any new endeavor, there is a learning curve. Don’t give up, ask questions at stores if you are confused, or refer back to this chapter at any time if you need to brush up.
How to start?
It all seems pretty intimidating when you look at frugal living, money saving, and couponing websites as fledgling frugalista. There is new lingo, equipment, special websites, it can make your head swim! Remember: One step at a time.
Step one: Make a list.
What do you buy?
Your list should include groceries, baby formula or baby food if you have kids, & pet food, treats and supplies, cleaning supplies, and personal care items, such as shampoo, body wash, toothpaste.
Which grocery stores and mass merchandisers (Wal*mart, Target type stores) do you shop?
What restaurants do you like to eat at? Fast food, sit down/full service, make and take.
What kind of services do you use? Car wash, dry cleaners, copy shops.
Step two: Grab a Sunday paper.
That is a good place to start because every weekend, except major holidays, there will be coupon inserts and sales flyers.
Go over the Sunday paper with your list and clip the coupons for the items and services on your list.
Step three: Read on!
What is a coupon?
Dictionary.com defines a coupon as, “–noun. 1. A portion of a certificate, ticket, label, advertisement, or the like, set off from the main body by dotted lines or the like to emphasize its separability, entitling the holder to something, as a gift or discount, or for use as an order blank, a contest entry form, etc.
2. A separate certificate, ticket, etc., for the same purpose.”
The History of Coupons
In 1887, the Coca-Cola Company was incorporated with Asa Candler as one of the partners. He transformed Coca-Cola from an insignificant tonic into a profitable business by using innovative advertising techniques. The key to this growth was Candler's ingenious marketing including having the company's employees and sales representatives distribute complimentary coupons for Coca-Cola. Coupons were mailed to potential customers and placed in magazines. The company gave soda fountains free syrup to cover the costs of the free drinks. It is estimated that between 1894 and 1913 one in nine Americans had received a free Coca-Cola, for a total of 8,500,000 free drinks. (From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupon) That was the first time that coupons as we know them were distributed. Since that time, coupons for almost every type of food, HBA item or service has been made available at one time or another.
The basics of couponing- a primer
Couponing- The act of clipping from commercially available printed materials or printing coupons from the Internet and redeeming them is pretty simple. You take the coupon to a store that sells the product your coupon is redeemable for, and when you purchase the item listed on the coupon, you give it to the cashier, they deduct the face value of the coupon from the purchase price.
To make couponing more lucrative, make a list of the items that you purchase regularly, and look for coupons for those items. Match your coupons up with items you buy or wait for them to go on sale. Stores know what coupons are going to be released and they match their sales up with those coupons are available. With the sale price and the coupons, your savings will be exponential, sometimes resulting in free products or products that cost just pennies.
Example of using a coupon when an item is on sale: Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner is usually $5.00/bottle, it is on sale at Walgreen’s for 3/$10. There are $1.00 off coupons in the paper and you have 3. Your three Pantene products are now 3/ $7, making them $2.33/each. That’s $2.67 savings per bottle!
If there is a brand that is cheaper than what you had planned to buy with the coupon, it makes no sense to pay more, even though you may have a coupon. Always look at the bottom line.
Example: Rosarito Brand refried beans are 1.19/each and you have a $.50 off 2 coupon, however, the El Pato brand refried beans are .69/each on sale. El Pato is a better deal. If your store doubles coupons (your coupon is worth $1.00 off 2 cans), then both items are the same price and it doesn’t matter which one you buy.
Sometimes, you have to buy all of a set (example 3/$10, or 10 for $10) to receive the sale price. Usually, this is only the case at Mass merchandisers and drug stores. With Albertson’s and Vons 10 for $10 deals, you do not need to buy all ten items to receive the discount, however, you will need to swipe your store club card.
Couponing Myths
•You don’t really save money with coupons!
*My grocery bill has gone down from $150/week to $75/week! Once I started using coupons in conjunction with store sales and eating food that was in season, we have saved $3900 in a year. We eat better food than we did before!
•But they don’t have coupons for the items that I actually use.
With coupons and store sales, I have picked up in the past few months:
*1 Gallon of milk for $1.00
*Kashi Cereal for $1.99
*Free Garnier Fructis Shampoo and conditioner
*Free Toothpaste
•Store brands are cheaper.
Here is a recent sale that I took advantage of- this demonstrates that with a good sale and a coupon, you can purchase name brand items for less than the generic price.
*Store brand High Protein Cereal/Granola (Generic Kashi) $2.99
*Kashi $3.49
*Coupon for Kashi $1.50 (from Vocal Point)
*Name brand price with coupon $1.99
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