Couponing 101: How To Start Building Your Stockpile

Now that you know some of our price points for stocking up on items and the sales cycles it's time to start thinking about picking up more than one item at the store when you have additional coupons to use.

Here's a few things you should know before you start:

1) A Store Sale + A Coupon = Rock Bottom Prices And BIG SAVINGS

The reason that we match up the weekly advertisements to coupons is because that is the time that you want to buy your item. It's also important to know that the closer a coupon gets to it's expiration date the more likely you are going to see a reduction in that items price.

2) Sales tend to come around every 3 months.

I don't encourage anyone to clear a shelf at any store to start their stockpile but I do encourage you to buy the amount of a product that you will need to last you 3 months since sales and coupons re-appear every 3-4 months giving you savings throughout the entire year.

For example in 3 months I will go through approximately 2-3 jars of peanut butter and after that 3 months I will be able to find another great deal to last us an additional 3 months and I won't find it necessary to make a purchase without a coupon or a sale on that item.

If you stock up when their are rock bottom then you have eliminated the NEED to make a purchase later.

3) Choose One Store to start your couponing and stockpiling in.

It's important if you are just starting out to choose 1 store. Don't compare yourselves to others and don't fall into the temptation of trying everything at once. When you master your first store then move on to a second.

4) Follow along with My Chicago Mommy and use our coupon match ups for drug and grocery stores as well as our Coupon Deals posts for the hidden sales and new coupons that we find during the week.

Here are the match ups completed weekly:

-Walgreens

-Target

-CVS

-Walmart

-Dollar General

-Family Dollar

Let us do the homework for you we are here to help.

Tuesday Tip- Shopping at CVS

You asked for it and we are here to help you get started couponing or help you sharpen your skills and get back to the basics.  

We are starting with the basics so if you are a Coupon Diva these may be things you already know but can't hurt to check them out and make sure, so we can all sharpen our skills. If you don't have time to read it all READ what's in red below.

HELP - I don't know how to shop at CVS - What's an ECB? 

Just like with Walgreen's, I rarely shopped at CVS until I discovered the great deals there. There are many ways to save and even earn money while shopping at CVS.We will start with the Weekly Ads. You can get the Weekly Ad online, in front of the store or in your local Sunday paper. The Ad lists all sale items and items that will produce Extra Care Bucks and the quantity needed to earn them.

What are Extra Care Bucks (ECB)? These are dollars that you earn when making a certain purchase and can be used on any future CVS purchase. You do not have to get all the items at the same time but will not earn the ECB until you fulfill the entire purchase. Your ECB will print out on your receipt so make sure to always check before throwing away your receipt. There are weekly and monthly ECB. *You will also earn 2% back in ECB quarterly on your purchases which will print automatically at the end of the sales period.

In order to start earning ECB, you need to have an Extra Care Card. You can get a card simply by asking a cashier for a form or by signing up online. If you fill out the form in-store, you will get your card to start saving imediately. However if you sign up online, it will take about a week to get your card in the mail. Remember to register your account online to receive special offers by email or in your mail box.

In addition to ECB, there are also CRT (cash register tape) coupons that print automatically on your receipt. These are not listed in the Weekly Ad and just print randomly. These are pretty general , for instance, $2.00 off of Huggies Pull-ups. You can also get X off of XX CRTs. It will look like this~ $4.00 off of $20.00. Both are considered stores coupons and can be combined with manufacter's coupons (MFC). You can stack a basic CRT, a X off of XX CRT and a MFC all together for maximum savings. Just make sure to hand the cashier the X off of XX first while the total is the highest.

Here's what it looks like:

Buy (2) Huggies Pull-ups @ $10 each = $20.00

Use $4 off $20 first

Use (2) $2.00 CRT's =$4 off

Use (2) $3.00 MFC= $6 off

Total $6.00 for both packs of Pull-ups

Even better if you would earn $5.00 wyb $20 worth of Huggies

Total would be = $1.00!!

Making money at CVS can be very simple! Almost every week there is a promotion where you will earn the same amount of ECB that you spend.

For instance:

Colgate Toothpaste $2.99

Earn $2.99 ECB wyb 1

Use $1.00 off MFC

Total = $1.00 overage after coupon and ECB

CVS also has other great ways to save: 

• Clip-Free coupons that will automatically be taken off at the register. You can find these in a flyer by the front door.
• Email or "snail mail" coupons - remember to sign up online to get these.
• BOGOF sales - you can use two MFC coupons on a buy-one-get-one-free sale.

For example:

Max Factor Mascara $7.99 BOGOF

Use (2) $3.00 off MFC

Total = $1.99 for both

As with anything, "practice makes perfect" so don't be discouraged if you make a few mistakes. You'll be shopping like a pro soon enough. 

Don't forget to Subscribe to the free newsletter and check out My Chicago Mommy's Coupon Database to search for coupons!

Coupons 101

Couponing is somewhat of a game. You start slow, but as you move on, you become knowledgeable of all the ins and outs, and before you know it, you're saving a ton of money! Follow these tips, and you will save at least $100 a month on your grocery bills!

The first key is getting your local Sunday paper, checking out the coupon printable web sites, and knowing what magazines are best for coupons.

If you are a sassy couponer, then you will be purchasing more than one of your paper. You can actually preview what coupons will be in the paper by clicking here. Also check out this year's Coupon Insert Schedule so you know when there will be multiple inserts. These 2 resources will help you decide whether you want to buy more Sunday papers, depending on what coupons are available and which coupons you plan on using.

If you are ready for printable coupons my favorite sites are Coupons.com, RedPlum.com, and UPromise.
 
All You is the best magazine for coupons. You can get a one year subscription for a discounted price here.

You can have coupons loaded onto your cell phone or store loyalty card at Cellfire.

If you want more coupons from the newspaper but don't have the time to find them and clip them, I recommend using the Coupon Clippers.

Be on the watch for peelies on products, hangtags under the product, and blinkies machines that blink throughout the store for more coupons.

Be organized with your coupons, keep a list of what you want to purchase, and be sure to keep to the list.

My method for organizing coupons is keeping a file folder for the weekly inserts by date, also known as the Coupon Mom system. . When the advertisements are posted, I then pull out the date of the specific insert and clip the matching coupons (the date can be found along the binding of the 1st page of the insert). You can use our Coupon Database to see where coupons for certain products can be found. I use the Couponizer to keep my coupons separated and organized.

Now that you have a stockpile of coupons it's time to match them up to the sales ads. This way, you can make the most out of your coupons since the items will be on sale. Each week, I will post the weekly ad coupon match-ups to make it easier for you.

These Coupon Abbreviations will help you read the weekly ad coupon match-ups:


General Couponing

• BOGOF or B1G1 - buy one get one free
• Peelie - coupon that peels off package
• WYB - when you buy
• OOP - Out of Pocket
• MIR - Mail-in Rebate
• $1/2 - $1 off of 2 items
• 2/$1 - 2 items for $1
• SC - Store coupon
• MFC - Manufacter's coupon
• GC - Gift Card
• MM - Money Maker

Specific Store Coupons

• ECB - CVS Extra Care Bucks
• Wags - Walgreens
• RR - Walgreens Register Rewards

Newspaper Inserts

• PG - Proctor & Gamble
• SS - Smartsource
• RP - Red Plum
• GM - General Mills
• KG - Kelloggs
• UN - Unilever

How to read coupon postings:
6/17 SS $0.75 off
(June 17th Smart Source Insert coupon is $.75 off)

Last but not least is creating a stockpile of items so you don't have to purchase out of necessity. You can do this with non-perishables, toiletries, etc. Pick them up when they are on sale and purchase as many as you have coupons for. If you get more than one Sunday paper each week, then you can get more than one item, since you'll have more than one coupon.

If you are really into this you can trade coupons by joining My Chicago Mommy's Coupon Swap or at Hot Coupon World, or purchase on Ebay and The Coupon Clippers.