How to get started
Like so many people out there, are you intrigued by the couponing movement but convinced you don’t want to install special shelving systems in your home to store groceries? Not to worry. It isn’t hard to start small and get in the habit of saving money by tapping into some of the pros’ cleverest tricks. For instance:
Save now! 10 tips to be a better coupon sleuth
—Use the sale-plus-coupon-stacking method described above. Try it just once, with one item, to get the feel for how the process works.
—Try scouring the Sunday paper one time for coupons you might actually use. If you hate clipping, just throw entire ads into a folder. If you hate this process altogether, read the next step.
—Take a few minutes to print out coupons you might actually use. Just visit the websites of manufacturers you like, click on the “coupons” tab, and start printing. You can do this for a huge array of products, including organic and all-natural foods. Morgan of Hip2Save.com mentioned that Horizon Organic Milk offers great coupons online.
—If you can’t find coupons on a company’s website, dash off a quick, one- to two-sentence email to the company and request free samples and coupons. They almost certainly will show up in the mail.
—Create special — “fake,” if you will — email and Facebook accounts just for couponing. This will help you protect your privacy and keep the emails you receive from companies all in one place.
—Visit companies’ Facebook pages and “like” certain products with your newfound, fake Facebook identity. (This will prevent your mother and your boss from learning that you “like” K-Y Jelly, for example.) By liking certain products, you’ll gain access to all sorts of coupons and free samples. Remember that you can go in and “unlike” something once you’re done.
—Join rewards programs at drugstores. Ivanovsky said she avoided shopping at drugstores for years because she thought their prices were too high — until she learned about the rewards programs at places like CVS and Walgreens. Now that she’s figured out how to use the programs, she’ll go through the checkout line multiple times in a row at those stores. Why? We’ll let Ivanovsky explain:
“OK, so at CVS, they give you ‘ExtraCare Bucks,’ or ECBs, when you buy certain things. Your ECBs show up at the bottom of your receipt, and they’re like cash. I view them as gift cards. You can keep rolling those ECBs from one purchase to the next purchase. At that same CVS I will go through the checkout line five different times. I keep getting more ‘cash’ and using it to buy more stuff right then. I’ll get $60 to $80 worth of products and only pay $6 to $8. ...
“Grocery stores have the same thing on their receipts. They’re called catalinas, and a lot of those are the same as cash also. Just look at your receipt! You can walk back in right then and get a gallon of milk or whatever.”
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RentzWrentz Magazine / RentzWrentz.com