Do you Coupon?

[math ace]

I started couponing about 6 months ago. Since then, I have ran into resistance with my friends. Some declare that the 1/2 price sales at Publix or Winn Dixie are good enough for them. I have converted a few folks. They see the work that goes into couponing, but are more impressed when I they see what I bring home for $10.

I am wondering if there are other serious couponers on BYC. Unfortunately, I live in Florida. We are in one of the few states that DO NOT double coupon.... Uggh... However, I still leave the stores feeling GREAT about my purchases.

Tomorrow is Sunday. The new ads and coupons will be out. Are you ready to save? What deals are you seeing?

 

[math ace]

Sounds like you've got a good system going. I really should make more of an effort. I was unemployed for a few months this year, and it really opened my eyes to how wasteful my family is. Now I'm working again, but the new job pays less than the old one, so this would be the time to try and cut back on expenses.

ABSOLUTELY! It takes a little to get in the swing of things. It takes a little while to locate your favorite web sites for coupon matchups or printable coupons. However, it can be a God Send. I went shopping yesterday. My grocery bill was $70 AFTER coupons. I gave the cashier $140 in coupons. WOW...IS ALL I CAN SAY. It isn't like that every week, but the normal is still impressive. I normally match coupons to sale prices. I nomally pay for 40 to 50% of my bill in coupons - EXCLUDING meat products. . . .

 

[math ace]

OOh good deal! So i can scan my CVS card daily?

ABSOLUTELY! It only works one time a day. You can scan it back to back, but once it says no more coupons today. That is it for a day. The next day it may give you the same coupons or different ones. I don't want you to think I don't have a life. I only scan my card when I am near a CVS. I have to pick my kids up from school twice a week and their school is 1 block from a CVS. So, I scan mine twice a week. Plus, anytime I actually do my shopping...

 

[math ace]

Question... how do you all keep your coupons organized? In binders? Or..?

I do not have a binder. I tried a binder, but it did not work for me. Sometimes I will have 20 of a certain coupon. In the binder, they would fall out and drive me crazy.

I started using a plain old fashioned 1 subject spiral notebook. I use two spiral notebooks now. One is strictly for non-food items and the other is for food items. I title each page with the type of item... For Example -

Toothbrush, Floss, or Mouthwash
Toothpaste
Trash bags
Bathroom Cleaners
Kitchen Cleaners
Dairy - cheese
Dairy - yogurt
Dairy - other
Cereal - Kellogg's
Cereal - post
Cereal - grits, oatmeal, pop tarts, etc.

Then I staple the coupons in a pile to the sheet of paper.

I gently rip off the coupon I want when I want it. I try to staple the coupons on the edge of the coupon so it isn't a biggie to remove.
BEFORE heading to the store, I try to pull as many of the coupons as I can. I take my notebooks in the store with me, just in case I stumble across a deal I wasn't expecting. However, by pulling what I plan to use first, it makes the shopping a lot quicker and easier.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I agree with mymonkeybug, it seems coupon isn't uses a lot of process foods. I still will use coupons but seem to only find them useful for general staples tp, toothpaste, cleaning etc. occasionally I see kashi or soy coupons, but sadly we need to work on changing the consumer not everyone likes Mac n cheese in a box

I jump on those Kashi coupons when I see them. I can let you know when I see Kashi coupons if you like. And yes, sadly, I hate "Meals In A Box".

 

[eggorthechicken]

I found a pretty good deal today. I had a $5/2 Neutrogena coupon (face, hair, and mens...I believe). Walmart has the facial bar soap for $1.97 so if you bought 2 bars and used the coupon you had over $1 overage. I purchased 3 bars instead so I paid about $1 for all 3. Not bad and my daughters can use these.

 

[kuntrygirl]

If there is anyone that uses the Walgreen's in-store coupons, please let me know and I can mail them to you when I get them. I received an in-store coupon for $2.50 off a Neutrogena product but I don't use that brand. If anyone wants it, let me know . It doesn't expire until June 2013.

 

[math ace]

Did you catch that?

$82 in Coupons...

( $127 bill - $45 paid = $82 in coupons)


That is an EXTRA $82 that I Held onto... An Extra $82 that stayed in my bank account.

 

[math ace]

If you have a Winn Dixie in the neighborhood, they have on sale tomorrow Mahatma Yellow Rice. I am going to be all over this deal.. They are on sale B1 G1 at $1... AND there is a .75 off 2 coupon. That means the net cost is .25 for two small bags of yellow rice.

AT CVS, there is a deal that does not require any coupons... The Physicians Formula products are $6 off... They make a concealer that runs $6.49 to $8.45. With the $6 off deal, you can pick up a deal if you are in need of a concealer.

For the health conscious followers of this thread, Winn Dixie had a couple of sweet deals this week. I hate to even say anything about them because today was the last day of the sale. The first item I accidentally stumbled across. It slid under my radar because there were no coupons for it, BUT the price was great! I picked up the Ocean Spray craraisins. It was the 5 ounce size in cherry, blueberry or pomegranate for $1 a bag. These are great to stock up on for cooking or for toppings in my granola style cereal. The second item was Wholly Guacamole. There were some on-line coupons for $1 off 1 package. Plus, the guacamole was on sale B1 G1 at $2.50. This will make for some very special salads over the next week... LOVE guacamole and for .25 a package (after sale and coupons) YUM, YUM, Yum, is all I can say!

 

[math ace]

How many times can you print out and use the same coupons from the store machine? I still don't understand the bonus bucks. How does that work? Do you have to accumulate points or something?

That's a great deal on the soap. Too bad I can only use Ivory.

The store machine prints whatever it wants to. There are some coupons that it will print once every day for a week. Other coupons are one time only. Today, I scanned my card and got NO COUPONS. That is a FIRST for me. I have NEVER had the machine not give me at least one coupon

BONUS BUCKS... That is my term. Their real name is Extra Care Bucks.
These work like Cash. You use them to pay for your bill AFTER coupons.
They only cover the total BEFORE tax. You have to pay for tax yourself.
ALWAYS ask how much Is the bill BEFORE taxes.

Bonus Bucks or Extra Care Bucks are earned as part of the sales promotions. They are printed out AFTER you pay for your purchase. They have an expiration date about a month from printing. They can be used on any purchase EXCEPT for Alcohol, Tobacco, and Prescriptions.

Right now, there is a proctor and gamble Promo that earns Bonus Bucks OR Extra Care Bucks.
Spend $20 in select proctor gamble products and a $5 Bonus Buck COUPON will print at the register AFTER you pay for your purchase.

The Clariol hair dye is on sale for $5.99 each. This is a proctor Gamble item included in the promo.
I bought 4 of them for a total of $23.96. Then I gave the cashier TWO coupons for $5 off 2 boxes of Clariol.
That reduced the monies I had to pay to $13.96.
Once I paid my bill, a $5 bonus buck coupon printed out.
That reduced my net cost to $8.96 for 4 boxes of hair dye.

I could of turned around and used the $5 bonus buck / Extra Care Buck on another purchase OR stick it in my wallet to use the next time I go to CVS.

I hope that explains the Bonus Bucks / Extra Care Bucks at CVS.