Smart Couponing

My Coupons Journey — By SavvyMom on April 12, 2011 8:33 am

I am going to share with you little tricks and resources I use to save money.  As of now, on average, I save over 60% – 75% off of my total grocery bill.

Before I go into details you have to have reasonable expectations, and do not get discouraged.  You might wonder how these extreme couponers pay only 10% of their total grocery bill (i.e. bringing down $1,200 bill to mere $120) on TV; right?

If you check videos of these couponers on TV (Extreme Couponing from TLC) you will hear from them, from their private video blogs, that their biggest shopping trip was for the show.

I guess, technically, I could have done that was well.  For instance, I could stock up on tons of toothbrushes and pastes, mustards and etc items (where I can purchase great coupons) for free by utilizing my stores double coupon policy.  However, I wasn’t about to buy 300 toothbrushes and deodorants for the sake of buying because unless you can get 300 free coupons for them it is still going to cost you.

For example, lowest coupon price I came across is about $0.05 apiece; so if you order 300 coupons for toothbrushes, toothpastes, and deodorants it will cost you around $45 (without taxes if applicable and S/H fee).

I do have good stack of toothbrushes, toothpastes, and deodorants, but enough to fill up a small bin.  My plan is to stock up on these things slowly so it does not influence my monthly grocery budget, and later donating to our local women’s shelter.

Think about it … most people do not receive stacks of coupon inserts from their local newspaper company, or grocer or delivery person.  “Normal” families receives and buy couple of newspapers and buy coupons through via ebay or coupon clipping services … well, that is what I do.

I am not about to buy 10 newspapers at $1.50 each a week (that is whopping $11.50 or $46 a month)  … unless there are many great coupons I can actually use.

I do receive two Sunday newspapers a week through delivery services, I only receive Sunday copies, and the rest of the coupons are purchased through ebay and coupon clipping service.  I utilize this method, my own smart couponing process, that works for me because I can pick and choose what I buy, how many to buy, and what cost I can buy it for.  Also, I am not stressing myself over cutting and organizing.

Many times you will find $1 off 2 items, but I want to purchase a product at its lowest cost; so I utilize ebay to find better coupon deals: i.e. $0.75 off 1 which will double to a dollar.  For instance, drink bottles is on sale for $1.00 each and want to purchase 20 of them because it’s an awesome price and I can add it to my stock pile.  Here is the math breakdown of 3 options:

Option 1: Without the coupon
20 bottles X $1.00 = $20.00

Option 2: Using $1 off 2 coupons
20 bottles X $1.00 = $20.00
10 coupons used ($1 off 2) = Saving of $10.00
Total purchase = $10.00
Saving of 50%

Bought 10 newspapers which cost you $11.50; so there is no saving in this particular purchase; however, this is just one item calculation and other combine grocery purchases off-sets how much you have already invested in the newspaper cost.

Option 3: Using coupons with better discounts
20 bottles X $1.00 = $20.00
20 coupons used ($0.75 off 1) = Saving of $15.00 (+ double coupon up to $1) = Saving of $20.00
Total purchase = FREE

Bought 20 coupons at ebay for $0.99 plus $0.49 S/H = $1.48

So even though I invested $1.48 to get 20 drink coupons I saved over 93%!

Of course, you will not always find these coupons and if you do find these coupons I have noticed that many people just bid to get those coupons.  For instance, I will not buy coupons that will not save me more than 75% because I have to calculate the cost of the coupons I will be purchasing.

I went on ebay last night discovered coupons for Fuze drinks because my hubby just love these drinks, and these drinks come in very handy during summer time because I can make different mix drinks.

I started to laugh when I saw the bid history.  You might be thinking, “Well, that is really mean,” but I just couldn’t help myself.  These people were in a bidding war which you should NEVER do!!!

You might be asking; why?  It’s quite simple.  Once you are involved in a bidding war you are over-inflating the costs of the coupons (or these people will state “time for their coupon clipping”).  Not only this will not help your cause, but you are also not helping other’s cause to save money as well … not a smart couponing option.

Let me tell you first hand that ebay is very addictive.  It gets the best of us … even to people who refuse to gamble (like myself … I don’t even buy $1 scratch lotto tickets!).  You get very involved in the bidding process and determination to win clouds your judgment; never mind increase in adrenaline when you do win.

Once you win the item, and really think about what you have done you wish you can kick yourself in the butt.  It happened to me couple of times, and I felt like a total idiot!

Back to my story … I did notice that most people were bidding and paying for coupons that will save them very little (in my book anyway).
For instance, 20 coupons were on sale (“Buy it Now” for up to $10.00 plus $.99 s/h and Auctions for $8.99 plus $0.99 s/h) which total valued at $20.00.

I did some math to show you “WHAT NOT TO DO!”

Note:

C.Buy = how much you paid for the coupons
Sale P. = sale price of a product at store
Q = Quantity
P. b4 C. = Total cost before utilizing coupons
# C Used = number of coupons used
Cost = how much you paid at the check out
Saving (After C) = How much you saved once coupons are credited into account
Real Saving = How much you paid at the check-out minus the coupons you have paid for

Many times people don’t calculate the cost of coupons they have purchased or need to purchase in order to save money.  Above calculations does not include S/H charges to make the math simple and easy for me.

In my smart couponing philosphy … I do not spend more than $0.25 per coupon, and this is a rare case where I will spend this much money on a coupon.  There are few instances where I will pay up to a quarter for a coupon based on the coupon value: i.e. I paid $2.50 for 10 – Chex Mix coupon because it valued at $1.00 each and my store had a great sale on Chex Mix for a $1.00 each (it was a mix and match sale).

By the time I utilized my electronic coupons through my store card, and three printable coupons I went home very happy.  Did you know you can stack coupons at some stores?

Stacking coupons are where you can use your store card coupons plus printable coupons, and manufactured coupons all into one transaction.  You have to ask your store if they do that or not, but I just discovered my store stack coupons.  I will cover this topic in another blog.

Here is how I stacked my coupons.

Bought 10 coupons at $2.50
Bought 10 bags of Chex Mix: total $10.00
Used my 10 purchased coupons: Total $10.00
Store card (or e-coupon): Total $0.50
3 printed out coupons ($0.50/3): $1.50 but it doubled (total surprise!): Total $3.00
Final Price: $2.50 + $10.00 – $10.00 – $0.50 – $3.00 = minus $1.00; which means that the store gave me a dollar to take 10 bags of Chex Mix home.

This is a situation where paying few bucks more here is acceptable and well worth spending extra money.  Just remember to be patient, and have realistic goals!  You are not going to fill your storage room with groceries over night, and honestly, you shouldn’t.

Figure out what your family uses and not use, and make sure not to buy to buy.  Get organized and figure your systems out.

Hope my jabbering helps!

Tags: Couponing, Coupons., extreme couponing, Saving, stacking