Alright, so I told someone that I would write a blog this week about how I get my awesome deals when I coupon. Like how I get $177.00 worth of product for $69.00. The simple answer, is a lot of hard work and time, however I will go a little more indepth.
The first place to start when wanting to "coupon" is online. I go to the Canadian websites that will mail me free coupons. My personal favorites are Save.ca, GoCoupons.ca, P&G's Brandsaver.ca, and Websaver.ca. Then there are the places you can go to print coupons at home, typically a site like this will allow you to print up to two coupons per computer. The best site is SmartSource.ca. There are other places to get coupons, but that is a good start. Another way of getting printable coupons is to "Like" products on Facebook. Sometimes they will have coupons for you to print. Also, visit websites for some of your favorite brands, sometimes they will have coupons for you to print, but you have to be careful when you're doing this and make sure you're on the Canadian site. Another way to make sure your coupon is Canadian is to make sure the "Remit to" address is in Canada. Coupons which have to be sent to the states will not be accepted in a Canadian store. Also, check your local paper and flyers. SmartSource and RedPlum and P&G coupon inserts come in the paper every few weeks/months and are often good for anywhere from 1 - 6 months. Finally, the last way I have gotten coupons and samples and free products are to write to the companies themselves. If I really like a product I will write to them and tell them how much I like their product and ask if they have any coupons. Sometimes they will direct me to some of the sites I've already mentioned, but sometimes they will send me some coupons. Often the coupons you receive directly from the manufacturer will have a longer expiry date, and will be a higher value coupon. Also, my final tip and then I'm moving on, if you receive really great service OR really poor service, write to the company. You'd be surprised how fast they are to send you something free, be it a gift card, coupon, discount or just a really nice letter. I once had TERRIBLE service at a place I used to eat regularly, I was so disappointed that I wrote to the company. I got a phone call and a personal apology from the manager, AND a $25 gift card for the next time I visited. Obviously that's not always going to happen, however I think companies deserve to have feedback so they know how they're doing.
Alright, so now you've gone online, printed coupons, received them in the mail. Now what? How do you save $107.00 on your grocery bill. The coupon is only for $1.00 off. Obviously you're not going to use 107 coupons in one shopping trip. I know if you've seen Extreme Couponers you've seen people do it, but let me tell you right now having shopped both in the States and in Canada, it's not realistic. Those shows are staged to be a lot more dramatic than they are in reality. In reality, stores have coupon policies and if you don't use your coupons according to their policy, you won't be using a coupon at all. If you want to know what a store's coupon policy is, then you can most definitely go online and read it on their website. It is usually located at the bottom of the site in the small print. If you can't find it there, check the Site Map section, or e-mail the company and they will e-mail you back with a copy of their coupon policy. A lot of stores also have their policy listed at the checkout, though this is usually an abreviated version. Also try asking if they have a copy at Customer Service, they may or may not have one for you.
So how do you start saving 50% or more on your bill? Well, to put it bluntly, you don't. Don't walk into the store expecting to fill up your cart, hand over a stack of coupons and leave spending $50. Instead, start small. In order to get deals you have to do your research first. I know what day the latest flyer for the local stores comes out and I go through and compare what's on sale with what I have coupons for. That doesn't mean I go out and buy everything that's on sale that I have a coupon for. Sometimes a sale isn't worth my coupon. I wait until I see a sale that is actually worth my precious coupons. For example, I know that Zest Body Wash is typically around $4.99, if I see it on sale for $4.00, I'm probably not going to rush out and buy twenty even though I have a $2.00 off coupon, however, if I see it's on sale for $2.99 I will probably check my coupon stash and buy a few. In then end I've saved $4.00 and if I buy enough to last me several months I know I'll have a coupon again and will be able to wait for a good sale.
The thing to remember about sales, is they go in cycles, typically 3 months, so if I see that Zest is on sale for $2.99, I know I'm going to need at least enough to last me 3 months before I see a sale like that again, but that doesn't mean I won't have bodywash go on sale. That's where being brand-loyal comes in. I have learned that while couponing, I can't be partial to my Charmin toilet paper. While I have gotten some pretty good deals to match with my coupons, other brands go on sale and I'm not going to turn down the Cottonelle $3.00 off coupon when Cottonelle is on sale for $4.97.
Now, a lot of times the things I find on sale require going to more than one store. I might have Cottonelle on sale at Pricesmart, Zest on sale at London Drugs, and Tampax on sale at Safeway. I can hit all three stores, OR I can take all three store's flyers to Walmart. Walmart will pricematch item's on competitor's flyers AND you can use your coupon on your pricematched items.
Now, that's just the basics. There are a lot of things to learn during the couponing journey. From my own experience, start small. If you have a coupon for something you really like, and it goes on sale, buy it. Don't expect to be Mrs. January overnight.
