WELCOME!!
I started this blog to help a few close friends and family members keep up with the best deals in our area, but I welcome any and all others to join in the fun. I am new to blogging and learning as I go, so bare with me please! For those that don't know me I am a working mom, I live on what is called a back yard farm (just means we live out in the middle of no where and have a few flocks of different kinds of birds) and I am a couponer which is a great hobby that takes up a lot of time! I have two wonderful children. So I need to save money just like the next person. I will update the blog as often as I can, usually at night (after the kiddos go to sleep) or during the week if things at work are going slow. I will do most updates the day before or the day of a new sale week. Walgreens and Target should be posted by Saturday night, their ads run from Sunday to Saturday. Harps, CV's and Homeland sales run from Wednesday to Tuesday, I will post those on Wednesday's unless I can find their info ahead of time. Some of the info I post will be from online research of other blogs and some will be from matchups I do at home or in the store. Feel free to become a follower and receive updates via email. Simply put in your email and hit submit on the home page. Should you have any questions or comments there is a comment section at the end of each post or you can email me at lifeslowlane@gmail.com. I will answer all questions as soon as I possibly can.
WHY COUPON
I started this blog to help a few close friends and family members keep up with the best deals in our area, but I welcome any and all others to join in the fun. I am new to blogging and learning as I go, so bare with me please! For those that don't know me I am a working mom, I live on what is called a back yard farm (just means we live out in the middle of no where and have a few flocks of different kinds of birds) and I am a couponer which is a great hobby that takes up a lot of time! I have two wonderful children. So I need to save money just like the next person. I will update the blog as often as I can, usually at night (after the kiddos go to sleep) or during the week if things at work are going slow. I will do most updates the day before or the day of a new sale week. Walgreens and Target should be posted by Saturday night, their ads run from Sunday to Saturday. Harps, CV's and Homeland sales run from Wednesday to Tuesday, I will post those on Wednesday's unless I can find their info ahead of time. Some of the info I post will be from online research of other blogs and some will be from matchups I do at home or in the store. Feel free to become a follower and receive updates via email. Simply put in your email and hit submit on the home page. Should you have any questions or comments there is a comment section at the end of each post or you can email me at lifeslowlane@gmail.com. I will answer all questions as soon as I possibly can.
WHY COUPON
Couponing takes some time and effort, but it is very rewarding. And there will come a time when you can go weeks without needing anything if done correctly. The main theory is to buy things when they are on sale at their lowest price and then use a coupon to make the deal even better. For example, box cereal goes on sale for $1.99 each at some stores periodically, using coupons we can usually get them for $1.00 or less a piece. That is probably the cheapest we are gonna find it so rather than buying one box now, we will buy 4 (or however many you would need) to last us until the cereal is $1.00 or less again. Most things go on sale in 8 weeks cycles, so if it is $1.99 this week, it will be again in about 8 weeks.
Stockpiling doesn’t mean you are saving up for the end of the world, it means you are saving the most money on that item to last until you can save on it again.
WHERE TO GET THEM
· Valid manufacturer coupons come from the newspaper, can be printed online, can be found on products themselves (peelies) and can be printed off at registers (catalinas).
· The best place to get them will always be the paper. The normal rule of thumb is to buy one paper for every member of your household. I would recommend at least 2.
· Internet coupons come from a couple different places. Coupons.com; Redplum.com; Smartsource.com; A lot of manufacturers are setting up pages on Facebook and when you “like” the product you can print a coupon for their product. Plus if there is a product you like you will want to find their website and look for a coupons or promotions tab. I recommend signing up for major ones like Kelloggs, Philsbury, Betty Crocker, Kraft, etc. This may mean getting a lot of emails, but if they contain coupons that save you money, who cares?! Most online sites like coupons.com reset at the first of the month, so I normally go to them the first of the month and just spend the time printing out the ones I want. Most of the time you can print a coupon twice, so either go back to the same page or hit the back button and print it again. You can print 2 of each coupon from EACH COMPUTER!
· Important note about Internet coupons: you need to make sure all coupons have an expiration date, scanable UPC code, bar dot code, and the address to mail the coupon.
· Proctor and Gamble DO NOT put out printable coupons; if you see one for one of their products it is fake!
STORE COUPONS
· Some stores have their own coupons that you can either get from their ads or print off line.
· Store coupons are good because in most cases you can “stack” a store coupon with a manufacturer coupon for a much better deal.
Binder
Your binder is the key to successful couponing. You will need a three ring binder, preferably a 3 or 4 inch. You will need either baseball card holders or money holders to use to store your coupons. The best place to find these is on Ebay or Amazon. Organization is key, if you can't find the coupon it does you no good. I will admit, my least favorite part of couponing is cutting them out and putting them away. I find that the best thing to do is to separate your inserts by page and then stack them so that each coupon page is facing the same way. This way you can cut out all of the same coupon at once and keep them together, less sorting later. Using a stapler to hold them together helps. Then you can separate them as you go by category.
You will want to have a copy of the coupon policy for each of the stores you shop at for reference. I put these in regular sheet protectors. You might also ad a small pair of safety scissors and a calculator.
Making out shopping lists is up to your preference. You will be able to print off blog posts by highlighting the areas you are interested in and then right clicking and printing the selected area. Or you can write out your list and put the coupons that you will need with your list in an envelope. I recommend when you write out your list that you include the price of the item you are looking for, the coupons you are using and what the final price should be. Sometimes a price on an item might differ from one store to another (especially at Wal-Mart) and it is helpful to have this info in front of you.
RULES OF COUPONING
Each store has their own policy for using coupons. I will provide you with a copy of most of them. READ and understand the coupon policy for your store AND keep the policy in your binder in case you need it while checking out. There are some cashiers that don’t necessarily know or understand their stores policy, this will help you, trust me!
There are a few rules that we try to follow in good faith, kind of a Golden Rule type thing.
1. NO SHELF CLEARING! Now, that doesn’t mean that if there are only 4 of something left you can’t take them. What this means is, if the shelf is full and you take 20 and leave 0 for the rest of us. If you know that you want a lot of something ask the store to preorder the amount you want and put it on hold for you.
2. Do not photo copy coupons. This is coupon fraud and is not legal. You can print 2 coupons per computer. If you don’t have more than one computer, ask a friend.
3. By all means stand up for yourself, but first make sure your right! If you are checking out and a cashier refuses to take a coupon you know is valid in its use, don’t be afraid to say something politely. But if you are unsure and don’t know, just ask them to take that item back and then go reread and verify you were right.
4. Use the coupon for its intended purpose. Be sure it hasn’t expired, is for the right number and size item, and has all the things a store requires, listed above.
5. Don’t take more peelies than you will use at once. Leave them for other customers.
6. Have Fun!! Saving money isn’t just helpful it is a lot of fun too!!
A few side notes:
- Wal-Mart is the only store in our area that states in their coupon policy that they will actually pay overage. For stores like Walgreens, Harps, Homeland, etc., the coupon will be adjusted down at the register. For example if we have a coupon for $1.00/1 KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce and it is on sale for $.89 at Harps, the coupon will work it will just be adjusted down to $.89.
- Ask for Rain Checks if there is an item on sale and the store is out. They may say no, but it never hurts to ask.
