Friday, February 11, 2011

Straight To the Point "Extreme" Couponing

Want to learn how to be a professional coupon saver? Are you tired of the hassle of internet surfing to locate simple extreme coupon steps?  I get "Straight To The Point" and outline easy steps on how to become a smart, but not hardworking "Coupon Nerd."  The method I am about to use work better with a dual monitor system because you will have more than one web page up at a time.  However, if you don't have a dual monitor system, you can still bring up more than one window at the same time.  Let's not waste time and get started now:

1.  If you are married or a single parent, have a "fun coupon brainstorming" family night (include your spouse, children and even your pets).  Try to get the family to brainstorm all favorite retail/department stores and products.  Make this a fun activity such as "Movie & Popcorn Night", "Game Night", or even a "Coupon Trivial Night".  Young children or teenagers enjoy "Coupon Door Prizes" like "FREE Movie Admission Tickets", "FREE Smoothies at McDonald's with purchase of a meal", "40 FREE music i-pod downloads", "FREE Bowling or Skating Admission Tickets", etc.  Try not to leisure or preach to your family on saving money or using coupons.  At the end of event, ask your family what did they get out of the event.  Ask questions like "Did you have fun using coupons?" "Why was it so much fun to you?" "Why do you think it is important to use coupons and save money for the future?" "How much money do you think you can save using coupons every time you shop at a store?" "Did you know that retail/department stores get a rebate from the wholesale manufacturer every time a customer uses a coupon?".

There are three reasons for including your spouse, children, and pets in any financial goal-setting:
  • It will help them feel a since of worth because you believe in them enough to help you come up with coupon saving ideas
  • It will teach your children values and morals when they become adults and face the real world
  • It will eliminate financial conflict of interest and spending disagreements/arguments
2.  Don't become a coupon surfing junky! - Schedule one day in the week to surf, print, and clip coupons and one day to shop using those coupons.  As a single female with no children, I personally schedule every other Monday to stop by the military commissary coupon station, surf the internet, print, and clip coupons from mail-in marketing ads and online coupon sites.  Then I use those same coupons to shop every other Thursday.  On the other days, I am spending time with family and friends, developing websites for customers, going to worship services and Biblestudy, and hanging out with at Gospel Hip Hop/Music concerts on the weekends for fun.  If you are married or a single parent, you might have to pick more convenient days for you and your family.  Whatever you do, please do not spend too much time couponing.  It is okay to take a break!

3.  Create a new folder in your internet favorites or bookmarks that says "Store Coupon Policies".  Click on the links to the right of this blog under the sidebar entitled "Store Coupon Policies" and save them in the "Store Coupon Policies" internet folder.  It is imperative that you print and learn the coupon policies of your favorite stores because they vary.  Some stores allow you to use a store coupon and manufactured coupon on one product.  Others only allow you to use either the store or manufactured coupon and not for the same product.  Be sure to read and highlight important points on the coupon policies in case clerks give you problems at the counter before cashing out.  If the coupon policy to your favorite store is not listed on my blog, please send me a contact message below and I will try to respond within 72 hours with a coupon policy for your store and post it on my blog to the right.  I will also send you an email with the coupon policy.      


4.  Create or purchase a file that is big enough to hold about 20 - 30 product categories of coupons.  For example, "dairy products", "house cleaning", "beauty products", "restaurant", "paper products", etc.  Be sure to insert labeling tabs on all product categories as much as possible.  Place a pair of scissors, a calculator, and a couple of pens or pencils in one of the file folders.  For military personnel, the base or post commissaries usually have a coupon station in the lobby or when you first walk in the door.  Be sure to stop at the coupon station before shopping because you will find yourself saving a lot more than usual.  If you don't see the coupon station, be sure to ask a store clerk where it is located.  When you arrive the station, you may need to clip coupons or calculate your savings on the spare of the moment.  So all these tools are very important.   

5.  Create a folder in your internet favorites that says "Weekly Store Ads".  If you are using Internet Explorer, click "Favorites" at the top menu bar, click "Organize Favorites", click "New Folder".  A box the says "New Folder" will appear and then you will need to rename the folder "Weekly Store Ads".  If this does not work click on the folder that says "New Folder" and click "Rename".  If you are using "Mozilla Firefox", click "Bookmarks" at the top menu bar.  Right click somewhere in the "Bookmarks" window and click "New Folder".  A "New Folder" window will pop up.  Type in the name "Weekly Store Ads".  You can leave the "Description" blank.  Click "Add" and you will see the folder in your "Bookmarks".

Click on the links to the right of this blog under the sidebar entitled "Weekly Store Ads" and save them in the folder you just created.  Some of the online stores will refer to the "Weekly Store Ads" as "Weekly Circulars" which are the same.  If you only use Sunday's Newspapers to stay updated on weekly sales, do not waste your money anymore. The online "Weekly Store Ads" and "Weekly Sale Papers" are exactly the same except one is online and one is in the weekly newspapers. 

6.  Create a new folder in your internet favorites or bookmarks that says "Weekly Store Coupons" just like you created the previous "Weekly Store Ads" folder.  Click on the links to the right of this blog under the sidebar entitled "Weekly Store Coupons" and save them in the "Weekly Store Coupons" internet folder.

7.  Create a new folder in your internet favorites or bookmarks that says "Manufactured Coupons" just like you created the previous two folders.  Click on the links to the right of this blog under the sidebar entitled "Manufactured Coupons" and save them in the "Manufactured Coupons" internet folder.

8.  Open FREE account with Shop At Home and Ebates cash back coupon sites.  Do you know you can get up printable coupons, online coupon codes, and up to 30% cash back on online orders?  I personally save drastic amounts using ShopAtHome.com and Ebates.com online coupon codes and receive an average of $85 - $175 every quarter of the year for online purchases.  My experiences with ShopAtHome.com and Ebates.com have been so much fun that I decided to accomplish most of my shopping online.  Below are my the most exciting experiences with ShopAtHome.com and Ebates.com:


  • Entertainment Book - original price $40; I purchase at sale price $15 plus received 20% cash back on the sale price which was $3; I paid only $11 and enjoy over 13,000 coupons at restaurants and retail stores in my local area.  On top of that, all coupons in the Entertainment Book expire late November or December 2011 (these coupons last for the whole year).  To get started, open an account with Shop At Home by clicking here, input Entertainment Book in the search box, click search.  You will see the first item "Entertainment Book" with "20% cash back" on the right.  Click on the "Entertainment Book" link and then "SHOP NOW" in the next window.  Wait about 15 - 30 seconds and Shop At Home will direct you to the Entertainment Book website.  Purchase the 2011 Entertainment Book at the $15 sales price and you will receive around $3.00 cash back in a few days.  Note: You must open the Entertainment Book website through Shop At Home in order to receive your 20% discount.     
  • Dot 5 Hosting - original two year web hosting package price $149 for two years; I purchased at sale price $94.80 for a whole two years plus received $60 cash back; I paid only $34.80 for web hosting two year plan and enjoy developing and hosting unlimited websites for my web development clients.  If you are a Web Developer and want to enjoy great benefits from Shop At Home and Dot 5, open an account with Shop At Home by clicking here, input "Dot 5 Hosting" in the search box, click search.  You will see the first item "Dot5 Hosting" with "$60 cash back" on the right.  Click on the "Dot5 Hosting" link and then "SHOP NOW" in the next window.  Wait about 15 - 30 seconds and Shop At Home will direct you to the Dot5 Hosting website.  Purchase the best web hosting package for your web development business and you will receive a $60 cash back in your account in a few days.  Note: You must open the Entertainment Book website through Shop At Home in order to receive your 20% discount.    

9. This is where the fun begins!  (especially if you have a dual monitor system).  Open up Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox and click on the folder "Weekly Store Ads".  Open up another Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox and click on the folder "Weekly Store Coupons".  If you use Firefox, you can bring up all folder tabs at the same time. To practice, upload Family Dollar "Weekly Store Ad" and on the other monitor, upload Family Dollar "Weekly Store Coupons".  Take a look at what is on sale and print out store coupons that you can use on the sale price items or the items that you would love to purchase.  Then upload a "Manufactured Coupons" web page such as http://www.shopathome.com, http://www.ebates.com, http://www.coupons.com, etc. and print out manufactured coupons that you can use on the sale priced items along with the store coupons.  As stated before, stores such as Family Dollar, Dollar General, Target, Walgreens, and CVS allow you to use store and manufactured coupons on any one product as the same time.  K-Mart do not allow you to use a store coupon and manufactured coupon on the same product.  You will have to thoroughly read the store coupon policies to learn what you can and can not do.  However, those store may have other options of extreme savings such as "Double Coupon Day", "Reward Cards", and "Registered Rewards".
 
10.  EBay Bulk coupons are on point!  Did you know eBay sell bulk coupons for $0.99 - $5.99 for a bulk of 5 - 20 coupons?  This is where I experience my most extreme coupon moments.  I recently purchased 20 Purina Friskies Party Mix Cat Treats for $1.89.  The coupons are $1.50 off 3 packages of Purina Friskies Party Mix Cat Treats.  I have 20 of these coupons for my three cats to enjoy.  They are legit and not copied coupons.  They actually work and help save the bulk of your shopping. It would be wise to view the store's total sales and positive sell rating to determine the best coupon stores to shop from.   You can also view customer feedback by clicking on the star next to their store names.  Below are Top-rated stores that sell coupons in bulk:


More coupon questions or comments? I hope you find my blog very educational and enlightening.  If you still have questions or like to leave a comment, please send me a message using the contact form below or post a comment by clicking the "comments" link at the end of each blog post. 

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Posted by S2TP Coupon Lady at 5:58 PM
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