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I used to think of bargain shopping as this: I should do it because it will save my family money, but oh, what a pain!
But I’ve had a transformation the past few months. Now I find bargain shopping fun and extremely satisfying. It’s become almost a game actually. I want to share what I’ve learned so far, including how to get awesome deals through CVS and Walgreen’s.
Step 1. Collect coupons. Lots and lots of coupons. Build up your stash. Even if it’s a coupon of something you don’t think you’ll buy, clip it, because you may use it. We’ll look at why in a moment.
The easiest way to build up your coupon stash is to buy the Sunday paper each week. If you get into bargain shopping, the paper will pay for itself in one shopping trip.
Another way to build up your coupon stash is to visit sites like Coupons.com or Smart Source and make good use of their printable coupons.
Step 2. Organize your coupons into categories and according to dates. It helps immensely to have a coupon organizer like Mrs A’s coupon organizer. This allows you to get an easy overview of what coupons you have before and during your shopping, instead of digging through a pile.
If you aren’t able to purchase a coupon organizer, at the very least organize your coupons according to date and category. Suggested categories are:
~ Produce and Deli
~ Bakery and Baking items
~ Prepared and Canned foods
~ Cereal and Breakfast
~ Beverages and Snacks
~ Meats
~ Dairy and Refrigerated
~ Cleaning
~ Paper and Plastic
~ Health and Beauty
~ Frozen
~ Miscellaneous
Step 3: Know your sales for the week. Again, refer to your Sunday paper for this.
Track what is on sale, where. Everyone has their own system. Some carry the flyers with them, with notes on the front about what sale they need. For me personally, I created a Sales page that goes in the front of my coupon organizer.
I write down the store, the product, the sales information and price, and finally check if I have a coupon.
You can download the three ring binder size of this form here.
You can download a smaller version that fits into Mrs A’s Coupon organizer here.
There are websites that also offer weekly information on store sales and matching coupons such as the A Full Cup. Beware of websites that charge you for this service! Don’t pay for this as there are other sites that do it for free. It is simply a matter of finding those sites.
Step 4: Although you don’t have to, the best thing you can do is use stores that double coupons. Call your local stores to see which ones do this. Combine your doubled coupons with store sales and you can get stuff for almost free sometimes!
Step 5: Here’s the fun part. Shop stores that specialize in bargains like CVS and Walgreen’s. This can get a bit tricky, but here it is broken down. We’ll start with CVS.
CVS often has Buy 1, Get 1 Free deals.
If you have a Buy 1, Get 1 Free coupon for the same product, use the coupon the week of the sale and get the product free! I now buy most of my makeup this way!
In addition to this little trick of the trade, a lot of CVS products also have Extra Care Bucks with their purchase. This means money goes on your CVS card, which you can then use for your next shop. Combine your ECB’s with your coupons and the sales and you can get a lot for next to nothing.
The same concept works at Walgreen’s, only they do end of the month rebates with their Easy Saver Program. You can find what is being offered in the Easy Saver program that month by either picking up one of the Easy Saver Catalogs at your local Walgreen’s or by downloading it from the Walgreen’s site.
Once you have made your purchases you can send in your rebate form or you can log in to the Walgreen’s site and enter your receipt number. I prefer the latter, because it takes less time and effort. Just by entering your receipt number, all your rebate items that you purchased that month are automatically tracked and recorded.
You can then get your money back in a check or you can get it back on a Walgreen’s card at the end of the month. Choosing to get your rebate back on your Walgreen’s card is the better of the two choices because then you get an additional 10% with your rebate!
Keep rolling this rebate money over, month to month, and you’ll eventually spend hardly anything each time you shop at Walgreen’s!
Step 6: When I bargain shop, I keep in mind the following thoughts:
~ I don’t buy anything I don’t use regularly. It’s not a bargain if you buy it just because it was a bargain! The whole point of bargain shopping is to get what you would normally buy at cheaper prices.
~ If I can get stuff for $1.00 or less, even if it’s something I wouldn’t normally buy it, I will still buy it.
Why?
So I can give it away!
I now have a cupboard for food items and toiletry items that I can dive into when I hear of a family in need or I want to send a college student a care package.
~ The more I build up my coupons, the more I’m learning to not buy anything unless it’s a) on sale, and/or b) buyable with a coupon.
Even better is when I can do both at one time!
Additional note: I have found that there are some sites that are great at giving a heads up about coupons and deals that can be only found by way of the internet — in addition to listing weekly sales and coupons that can be found in your Sunday paper. You may want to check them out and add them to your favorites folder.
Also, it is fun to track how much you save in a week, a month, and a year. To track your savings, check out this Savings Tally Sheet I put together for my own records.
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October 16th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
ohh…i want to try this now! Thanks for the steps!
October 16th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I already do most of this, and it saves me sooo much money!
October 16th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I tend to clip coupons for items that I would like to try and match the coupon with a clearance sale. Sometimes the item is free or even pays back a few cents. Major score!!!!
October 17th, 2008 at 8:20 am
very cool I am not much of a coupon person maybe I should start
October 17th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I use a small photo album to keep my coupons in that way I can flip through it at the store. I am now a coupon freak!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
I send off for a lot of free samples on some of the sites like Freebieking etc. it’s fast and easy with AutoFill and they come in handy here and there.
October 19th, 2008 at 5:46 am
I love ro bargain shop. It hurts me to have to pay full price for anything.
October 19th, 2008 at 5:47 am
I love to bargain shop. It hurts me to have to pay full price for anything.
October 20th, 2008 at 12:40 am
I bargain shop on almost everything and love thrift stores and clearance racks. But I wish we lived in a larger town for the purpose of the couponing and such. I can’t do it here. There’s just no place to shop except Wal-Mart and SunMart
October 20th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
We just moved and I can’t find my coupon holder anywhere! I’m feeling very lost with the stack of coupons on top of my ‘fridge.
October 21st, 2008 at 10:20 am
I don’t do the grocery shopping in our family but I do LOVE to bargain shop. A shelf or bin full of clearance stuff is like heaven to me. It takes a lot of patience but I feel like a winner when I stand and dig through the “junk” that no one else will dig through because it is such a mess. I have come away with things like a Mother of the Bride dress from Von Maurs (sp?) for $14.
October 22nd, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I don’t do this, but my mom does and it really works.
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
GREAT tips!!! It’s all about organization!
October 22nd, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I love to bargain shop! So fun to say I got this, this and this for free.
October 24th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Thanks for all the great links!
October 25th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Great article!
A way that I get a ton of coupons is to post on freecycle looking for them. I found a lady who gives me a bag full every other week or so!
October 26th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Couponing is so rewarding. You get a ton of food/household items for little OOP (out of pocket) expense. It also feeds the womanly craving to shop without putting your family in debt.
October 28th, 2008 at 1:44 am
A woman after my own heart!
There is no better high than walking away from CVS with bags full of merchandise for under $1.00.
It does require some planning, as you mentioned, but is worth every minute. Last week, I purchased 4 – 12packs of Coke for $3.90 after coupons, then got $2.00 back in bucks. Not a bad deal on Coke.
October 28th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
nice article.
October 29th, 2008 at 10:51 am
love couponing it can be very addictive. Always asks wherever you go if they accept coupons. You will be surprised who does.
November 1st, 2008 at 3:21 am
Great ideas! I love collecting coupons and saving.
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I’ve been wanting to get into this, but had no idea how to start. Thanks for the great article!
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
“CVS often has Buy 1, Get 1 Free deals.
If you have a Buy 1, Get 1 Free coupon for the same product, use the coupon the week of the sale and get the product free! I now buy most of my makeup this way!”
Wait… does that really work? No item was bought so how can that be?
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:09 pm
It works. I’m not sure how, I just know I do it. lol!
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Hmm… maybe I’ll just have to try it and see
November 7th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I have saved so much since starting couponing…I’ll never go back to my old ways lol
November 7th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
This is one of the major reason’s I’m able to stay home with my kids! If I didn’t get such good deals, and we had to pay full price for everything, there’s no way I’d be able to stay home! I’d have to work just to pay for our groceries!
November 7th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
The Buy 1 Get 1 Free works this way. The sales items from CVS are downloaded to their computers/registers from CVS corp IT dept. The manufacturer coupon is in a different file. The register captures the fact that two of the same item were scanned. The CVS sale file will deduct the first to make it buy1get1 thru the CVS sale. Then when the coupon is scanned the other file reads it and deducts one of the item to honor the coupon. PS the stores send the coupons to the manufacturer or to a clearing house to recoup the cost of the item.
November 8th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Nice article. AFullCup.com has been a great tool for me. I have gotten so many freebies through their tips. Couponing is addictive
November 12th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Great information!
November 13th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Where are most CVS located? I’m always hearing about their great deals, but haven’t seen any.
November 14th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I love to use coupons and get great deals, but I have so many coupon inserts I’m now overwhelmed! I’ve gotta work on the organizational part. Thanks for your links, I’ll be checking into those.