Coupons.com Coupons Reset

http://www.coupons.com/ reset their coupons for the month. These coupons are free to print, but you must install their coupon printer in order to print them. This application keeps track of which coupons you print, so they know how many copies of the coupon have been printed. You can usually print 2 copies of each coupon, so after you print the first copy, hit the back button on your browser and then refresh the page. Most stores will take these coupons (Winco, Walmart, Fred Meyer, Albertsons, Target, Walgreens, etc.) They can be printed in either black and white or in color.

Old Navy Weekly

http://www.oldnavyweekly.com/ updated their coupons for the week. You have to click on various things on the page in order to obtain the coupon. They usually update the site around 5:30 pm on Thursdays. At the top of the page, they list the coupons that are still available. These coupons are great to use on their sale merchandise. Old Navy is having a big sale on their Halloween merchandise where you can get costumes and other Halloween goodies for $2 on Oct. 30 and 31st. Plus, you can use one of these coupons to get an even better deal. Here are the best coupons I found:

$10 off a $50 purchase- Click on the gloves that the little girl is holding and place them on the kids blue fleece top on the bottom right of the page.

15% off your entire purchase- Click on the men's yellow fleece top on the bottom center of the page.

Coupon Preview for the Sunday Paper

The Taylortown coupon preview is now up. Click here to see what coupons could be in the paper for Sunday. See my post on newspaper subscriptions for more info.

Fabulessly Frugal Stylin Binder Bag Giveaway

Fabulessly Frugal is giving away one of these cute binder bags. Check out their link for more information and photos. I think this is a very creative way to carry coupons around. Kudos to the designer, these bags look great!

Albertsons Printable Shopping List

Pinching Your Pennies has their printable shopping list that correlates with this weeks Albertsons ad.

The list includes any coupons that can be used in conjunction with the sale items. Newspaper coupons are listed as $1/1 (10/31/09) SS-6/21. The means that the coupon is good for $1 off 1 item with the expiration date of 10/31/09 and is found in the Smart Source insert from the 6/21 newspaper.

On the left side of the list is a column indicating how good the sale/coupon price is. Three stars indicates a commonly found price on an item, while four and five stars indicate a price to stock up on the item.

The sale this week is a little dissappointing. Some weeks they have really good sales, but this week there isn't much to get excited about.

Nestle Printable Coupons

Use this link to get great coupons on Nestle Toll House morsels, Nestle refrigerated cookie dough, and Carnation evaporated milk.

Cash-Back Shopping Online

I love to shop online. I can find really good deals, and I don't have to tote all of the kids around town. Another perk is that you can get an extra percentage off your total online purchase by linking to the store's website through a third-party website. Many stores will give other websites a money incentive if they can get people to shop on their website, and a growing number of these websites are sharing the money they make with the customer. The percentage that a customer can get back is usually between 3% and 10%. It usually takes three months after the purchase to get your cash back from the website. Here is a list of the websites I look at to find cash-back incentives.

http://www.fatwallet.com/ is the website that I use the most for cash-back shopping. You have to create an account in order to participate, but they offer the largest selection of retailers. You have to accumulate $10 in cash before you can request a check.

bing.com varies some from Fatwallet in the retailers they offer for cash-back shopping. It is a website run by MSN and used to be called Microsoft Search Live, but changed their name to better compete with Google. You must sign up for an account with them to get cash back, and they put your cash earned on your PayPal account, but you can request your money after you have earned $5 cash back.

http://www.mypoints.com/ offers points for shopping online instead of cash, which can be redeemed for gift cards. When signing up for an account, make sure that you use an e-mail address that you don't mind getting a lot of mail in. Because they also send you e-mails that ask you to visit various retailer's websites to also earn points (no purchase required). Most of the points I accumulate come from clicking on these e-mails. It takes awhile to accumulate enough points to earn a gift certificate, but we get a $25 gift certificate about every six months.

Halloween Candy at Walmart

http://www.coupons.com/ has printable coupons for $2 off 1 bag of Wonka candy over 24 oz.
Walmart has 2 lb. bags of Wonka candy (Sweettarts, Nerds, and Laffy Taffy) for $5. There are about 80 pieces of candy in each bag.

Halloween Pumpkins Cheap at Walmart

Walmart has large carving pumpkins on sale for $2 apiece. They have a variety of sizes, including some really big ones.

JCPenney Online Coupon

Slick Deals has a post with a coupon for $10 off a $10 purchase for JCPenney online, use the code SWEETS4U at checkout. This is a great coupon to use in their outlet store. Shipping starts at $4.50 (to store) and $5.95 (to home).

The Childrens Place Sale

Fabulessly Frugal has posted that The Children's Place is having a great sale in their stores and online. Their outlet merchandise is up to an extra 50% off. Visit Fabulessly Frugal's link for a printable 15% off coupon to use in the store or use code K6999 to save online. Shipping is $5 per order. Here is a link to The Childrens Place.

Albertsons Doublers

We have Albertsons Doublers in the Sunday paper. Visit Pinching Your Pennies for great scenarios on how to use these coupons.

Coupons in Sunday's Paper

Here is the link for the Taylortown coupon preview for this Sunday. Not all of these coupons will be in our paper, and there will be other coupons in our paper that are not listed. But it gives you an idea of what's coming up this weekend. Look here for my post on prices for home delivery of the newspaper.

Old Navy Weekly

Old Navy Weekly updated their website with new coupons. At the top of the page, they list what coupons are left to find on the website. This site is aggravating because they make you find the coupons by clicking on certain things, but the coupon is usually worth it. I like to combine these coupons with their sales to get great deals.

15% off your total coupon- Click on the grey plaid shirt on the right side of the screen and drag it over to the girl on the very right.

Winco Deals

Couponing at Winco can be difficult because they don't have any ads, therefore, you don't know what is on sale before you go. I go to Winco a couple of times a month and will list any deals I can find.

Assorted Bulk Candy $.98/lb
(Smarty look-alikes, suckers, hard candy, caramels, etc)

Jonagold Apples $.78/lb

Hy-Top 100% apple juice or apple cider 128 fl. oz. $3.08

Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls $1.48
newspaper coupons $.50 off 2 or $.40 off 2 (I have extras if you need any)
peelies on the product: $.55 off 3

Keebler Sandwich Crackers (with peanut butter or cheese) $1.50
(located in front of store with sale merchandise, across from apples)
peelies on product: $.50 off 1

Daily Lists of Online Deals

I check these two websites daily for online deals.

• http://www.slickdeals.net/ is my favorite site for deals. Anyone can post a deal in the forum section, but only the best deals are listed on the main page. It is only these that have been confirmed by multiple people and are from reputable companies. So, if you are searching through the forums, make sure that you read the comments to make sure it is a good deal. They also have a section on the website to find promotion and discount codes for online shopping.
• http://www.fatwallet.com/ is also a great place to find deals. Make sure you read the comments for the deals. This is where you find out if the deal is legitimate or too good to be true. They also have promotion and discount codes and offer cash-back shopping.

Tips for Shopping Online

I love to shop online, but there are some precautions that you must take to ensure you are really getting a good deal.

• Make sure the website is legitimate. Check for Better Business Bureau or other accreditation somewhere on the website. If you are cannot find anything, then try a google search to see if anyone has written anything about the company.
• Check to see if your payment is backed by Verisign or another reputable company. If the company offers payment by PayPal, then use that as your payment. That way the website never knows your account information, but they still get paid.
• Take a look at the return policy. If the store does not list the return policy, they are not trustworthy. If there is a return policy, see if they allow returns to their local store and whether they refund your card or give you an in-store credit. For sites that only operate online and don't have a local store, you may have to pay shipping to return the item.
• Always do a search for promotion and discount codes for the store. There are a lot of sites that list these codes, so make sure you look.
• Check shipping rates. This is always one of the first things I look for. Some stores offer flat rate shipping, while other ship per pound or order total. Some stores will even offer free shipping if you buy enough merchandise.

Couponing #5- Pinching Your Pennies

http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/

This is my favorite blog/discussion board/printable shopping list provider. Go into the like for "State Forums" and click on the "Idaho Screaming Deals." For a printable weekly shopping list with coupons to use along with the sale, you need to click on the thread for the Albertsons ad for the week and then click on the link for the printable shopping list.

Couponing #4- Coupon Etiquette

Here are some ways to reduce your time shopping in a store as well as keep the cashiers and other customers happy.

• Be organized before you go a the store. Go with a list and make sure all of your coupons are handy.  I like to keep the coupons that I plan on using in an envelope for easy access, even when I take my coupon binder into the store. Others carry smaller accordion-style folders to keep things organized. 
• Have your coupons in hand when you get to the register. I like to find a relatively quiet place in the store where I can get out all of the coupons I am going to use. If I have to complete more than one transaction, then I have the coupons and the items separated for the cashier.  Also, some cashiers want all of the coupons at the end, while others want each coupon with the item you are using it on.  So, it can be helpful to ask them how they want the coupons organized.
• Keep your calm when things don't ring up properly. Be patient and ask for a manager if you need any clarification.  If you find a problem with your receipt after you checked out and the cashier is busy, then head on over to customer service for help.
• Avoid using the self-checkout lanes when using coupons.  Although some stores allow you to use coupons in the self-checkout lanes, it is best to go to the regular check-out lane to make sure everything rings up properly.  Try to use the self-checkout lanes only when an employee is working in the area and can help you.

Couponing #3- Getting The Most Bang For Your Buck

Once you have all of your coupons, the most cost-effective way to use them is to combine them with a sale and stock up of things at extremely low prices. By doing this, you will not have to buy them again until they go on sale again. However, just because you have a coupon, does not mean that you should go out and use it right away. There are things that you buy frequently that you must purchase regardless of it being on sale, but save most of your coupons for sales. Here are some other ways that you can maximize your savings and save your sanity.

• Pick a few stores to focus on and don't feel discouraged if you miss a sale or a great deal. The nice thing about shopping is that there will always be more sales and coupons. It can be very overwhelming when you start couponing, because you want to take advantage of every deal. However, this is not realistic, so pick stores that work for you and do not worry about the rest.
• Stack your manufacturer's coupons with store coupons. In-store coupons can be found in weekly ads. Stores that issue their own coupons will let you use a manufacturer's coupon in conjunction with their store-issued coupons.
• Use 2 coupons on buy-one-get-one-free sales. When a store offers B1G1 free deal on a certain item, you can usually use one coupon for the full-price item and another for the free item.
• Use a coupon on an item with a mail-in-rebate. When a company offers a mail-in-rebate on an item, they reimburse you for the pre-coupon price of the item.
• Be aware of deals that print catalinas. Often catalinas will print on items that are on sale and that you have coupons for. These deals are not always advertised, so checking blogs help find them. Catalinas are usually good for a certain dollar amount off your next shopping order.
• Albertsons has in-store coupons that will double the value of your manufacturer's coupon up to $1. They are also called "Twice the Value Coupons" or "Doublers." When these coupons are issued, they are found in either their Wednesday or Sunday ads. The coupons that are issued in the Sunday paper are usually valid from Sunday-Tuesday of that week, while coupons issued in their main Wednesday ad are usually good for a full week. Using these Doublers with your manufacturer's coupons in conjunction with their sale items can result in 75%-95% savings. The catch is that you can only double 2-3 coupons per transaction. If you want to double more coupons than that, they must be done in separate transactions. Depending on the store, you can do 1-3 transactions at a time before you drop the groceries off in your car and come back in the store.

Couponing #2- Coupon Organization

Clipping and Organizing coupons takes time (about an hour a week) but it saves a lot of time in the long run. I have about 500 different coupons at one time, so I have to be able to access the coupons easily when I am in the store. Here are a few suggestions to help you save time and stay organized.

• Clip ands save most of the coupons even if you haven't ever tried the product or usually use a different brand. A deal might come up where you can get something really cheap, so keep as many coupons as possible. Only get rid of the coupons that you would absolutely never use.  (Some people don't clip all their coupons when they get them.  They file them away by insert date and only cut them when they are about to use them.  That is why I list which inserts the coupons came from in my posts.)
• Cut out multiple copies of the same coupon all at once. I like to separate the Sunday coupon insert pages and put all copies of the same page together and cut them out at the same time. This saves a lot of time versus clipping each page individually. I also like to use a paper trimmer instead of scissors.
• Pick a method of organization that best fits your needs. I keep my coupons organized in alphabetical order in a binder using page protectors and baseball card holders. You can buy special binders made for couponing (about $30) or you can use a three-ring binder that you already have around the house. Some couponers use plastic accordion folders or separate their coupons by categories (i.e. crackers, dairy, household items). 

How to Start Couponing

Stockpiling Coupons
The Sunday paper is the best source for coupons, and on average there are 2 coupon inserts (booklets of coupons) in each paper. Subscribing to multiple copies of the paper will help you take full advantage of sales and help you accumulate food storage. 4-6 copies of the newspaper will get you started, but a good rule of thumb is to have as many papers as family members.

• The Idaho Statesman (377-6370) will let you get Sunday papers for $.50 apiece if you get at least 4 papers delivered. You can also get the weekly paper and a total of 5 Sunday papers for $3 per week.
• The Idaho Press Tribune also delivers to Meridian. You can get the daily paper for $6 a month and add more Sunday papers (up to 5 more) for $.60 apiece. (Call Greg at 870-2784).
• You can also ask your friends and family for their unused papers.

Coupons can also be found in grocery stores.

• Blinkies are found in coupon machines next to the product
• Peelies are found on the products
• Catalinas are coupons that print at the register

Internet Printable coupons, also knows as IPs are free. You can usually print 2 copies of each coupon, so push the back button after printing your first copy and refresh the page to print a 2nd copy. Never print a coupon from a PDF file, stores will not take them because either they are fraudulent or appear to be fraudulent. Here is a list of the best sites for printing coupons. You can also go to a company's website to find more coupons (i.e. Kraft, Kellogg's, Betty Crocker).

• coupons.com
• smartsource.com
• redplum.com

Note: Whether you get your coupons from the paper, the store, or the internet, you may only use one manufacturer's coupon per item(s) specified on the coupon. Some stores will let you use one of their store coupons with a manufacturer's coupon, but if the coupon says, "manufacturer's coupon" on it, then you may only use one per item. The only exception to this is if you get a catalina that says it is good for a certain amount off your next shopping order.

Coupon Organization
Clipping and Organizing coupons takes time (about an hour a week) but it saves a lot of time in the long run. I have about 500 different coupons at one time, so I have to be able to access the coupons easily when I am in the store. Here are a few suggestions to help you save time and stay organized.

• Clip ands save most of the coupons even if you haven't ever tried the product or usually use a different brand. A deal might come up where you can get something really cheap, so keep as many coupons as possible. Only get rid of the coupons that you would absolutely never use. 
• Cut out multiple copies of the same coupon all at once. I like to separate the Sunday coupon insert pages and put all copies of the same page together and cut them out at the same time. This saves a lot of time versus clipping each page individually. I also like to use a paper trimmer instead of scissors.
• Pick a method of organization that best fits your needs. I keep my coupons organized in alphabetical order in a binder using page protectors and baseball card holders. You can buy special binders made for couponing (about $30) or you can use a three-ring binder that you already have around the house. Some couponers use plastic accordion folders or separate their coupons by categories (i.e. crackers, dairy, household items).  Another way to organize coupons involves not clipping coupons until you need them.  You can file entire inserts by date or staple all of the like pages together and file them by insert type and date and only cut them when they are about to use them.  Whenever I list a coupon, I always list which Sunday insert the coupon came from for those who choose this method.

Above is a picture of my coupon binder.  I purchased it at Costco in August when they had a coupon for it.  It cost about $13 without the coupon or $10 with the coupon. In the front pockets I keep the shopping lists and coupons I am planning on using that day along with a calculator.  I started couponing with a simple 1" ring binder, but upgraded to this 2" ring binder when I had the chance.  Even at 2", I still have issues closing it all the way.

The first few pages of the binder are simple sheet protectors that I use to put coupons that I want to use right away and a price list from Pinching Your Pennies that lists the best deals on specific items. (I will post a copy of it soon, so you can print it.)

I organize the coupons in alphabetical order.  For each section, I start out with a page protector to keep all of the oversized and printable coupons in.  Then I keep the rest of the coupons in baseball card holders.  I try to keep the expiration date visible so that I can easily clean out the coupons as they expire.

There are lots of different ways to store your coupons, but this works for me.  I take this binder with me whenever I go grocery shopping.

Making Your Shopping Trip Go Smoothly

Here are some ways to reduce your time shopping in a store as well as keep the cashiers and other customers happy.

• Be organized before you go a the store. Go with a list and make sure all of your coupons are handy.  I like to keep the coupons that I plan on using in an envelope for easy access, even when I take my coupon binder into the store. Others carry smaller accordion-style folders to keep things organized. 
• Have your coupons in hand when you get to the register. I like to find a relatively quiet place in the store where I can get out all of the coupons I am going to use. If I have to complete more than one transaction, then I have the coupons and the items separated for the cashier.  Also, some cashiers want all of the coupons at the end, while others want each coupon with the item you are using it on.  So, it can be helpful to ask them how they want the coupons organized.
• Keep your calm when things don't ring up properly. Be patient and ask for a manager if you need any clarification.  If you find a problem with your receipt after you checked out and the cashier is busy, then head on over to customer service for help.
• Avoid using the self-checkout lanes when using coupons.  Although some stores allow you to use coupons in the self-checkout lanes, it is best to go to the regular check-out lane to make sure everything rings up properly.  Try to use the self-checkout lanes only when an employee is working in the area and can help you.

Finding the Best Bargains
Once you have all of your coupons, the most cost-effective way to use them is to combine them with a sale and stock up of things at extremely low prices. By doing this, you will not have to buy them again until they go on sale again. However, just because you have a coupon, does not mean that you should go out and use it right away. There are things that you buy frequently that you must purchase regardless of it being on sale, but save most of your coupons for sales. Here are some other ways that you can maximize your savings and save your sanity.

• Pick a few stores to focus on and don't feel discouraged if you miss a sale or a great bargain. The nice thing about shopping is that there will always be more sales and coupons. It can be very overwhelming when you start couponing, because you want to take advantage of every deal. However, this is not realistic, so pick stores that work for you and ignore the rest.
• View the store ads for current sales.  I will post coupon match-ups for the current ads of  Albertsons, Walgreens, and Fred Meyer.  Although they don't usually have ads, I will also post coupon match-ups for WinCo and Walmart when I shop there.  This will help you know what coupons to use at the different stores. 
• Stack your manufacturer's coupons with store coupons. In-store coupons can be found in weekly ads. Stores that issue their own coupons will let you use a manufacturer's coupon in conjunction with their store-issued coupons. Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, and Walgreens allow you to use a manufacturer's coupon and a store coupon on an item.
• Use 2 coupons on buy-one-get-one-free sales. When a store offers B1G1 free deal on a certain item, you can usually use one coupon for the full-price item and another for the free item.
• Use a coupon on an item with a mail-in-rebate. When a company offers a mail-in-rebate on an item, they reimburse you for the pre-coupon price of the item.
• Be aware of deals that print catalinas. A catalina is a coupon that prints out at the register. It gets its name from the company that runs the little coupon printers that are at the registers, called Catalina. Coupons sometimes print from these machines are for a dollar amount off a certain product, but other times they print for dollar amounts off your next order. Albertsons, Fred Meyer, and Walgreens (they call their coupons register rewards instead of catalinas) all have catalina machines in their stores.  Often, catalinas will print on items that are on sale and that you have coupons for. These deals are not always advertised, so checking blogs help find them. Catalinas are usually good for a certain dollar amount off your next shopping order, and they usually expire 2 weeks after being issued. So, when buying products in a promotion that uses catalinas, you have to make sure that you will shop at the store again in the next 2 weeks to make the deal worth it.
• Double Coupons when a store allows it.  Sometimes stores offer an extra discount on an item worth the same amount as a manufacturer coupon you use.  This is called doubling a coupon, and when used in conjuntion with a sale can result in 75-99% savings off regular prices.  Albertsons offers "Doublers" or "Twice the Value Coupons" quite often, and each Twice the Value Coupon will double the value of a manufacturer's coupon, up to $1.  The catch is that you can only double up to 3 coupons per transaction. If you want to double more coupons than that, they must be done in separate transactions. Depending on the store, you can do 1-3 transactions at a time before you drop the groceries off in your car and come back in the store.  When they are issued, Doublers are located in the Sunday or Wednesday ad, and you can get copies of the ad at the Customer Service counter if you don't get the newspaper or just want more Doublers. They will usually only give you 1 ad per store visit.  From time to time, Kmart and Smiths also double coupons.

How to Quickly Clip Coupons

When I started couponing, I tried cutting out all of the coupons individually with scissors, and it took me over 3 hours to clip the coupons from 4 different papers.  I knew there must me a faster way to do this or it was not going to be worth my time to cut them out.  This is what I came up with:

1. Separate the insert pages into stacks with all of the same pages together

2.  Use a paper trimmer to cut the coupons- I cut all 8 copies of the same page at the same time.

3.  As the coupons are cut, they are already in nice stacks with all of the same coupons in a pile.  I organize my coupons in alphabetical order, so as I cut the coupons, I lay them into piles alphabetically.  At this time, I also clip all of the Internet coupons I printed during the week.  As I put them in my binder, I clear out the expired coupons and place any coupons that are about to expire or that I want to use during the week in the front of the binder for easy access.   Placing the coupons in baseball card holders with the expiration date showing, really helps make this process quick and easy.  It takes me anywhere from 1/2 hour to 1 hour each week to clip and organize the coupons, depending on the number of inserts in the paper. When starting to coupon, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on items to use on clipping and organizing the coupons.  I already had the paper trimmer from scrapbooking, so that is why I use it to clip the coupons.  You can also use scissors to cut the stacks of coupons or a cutting tool and cutting mat.  Use whatever cutting tool and system of organization that will work for you.

Counterfeit Coupons
There are a lot of counterfeit PDF file coupons for free items floating around the internet.  At first glance the coupons seem legitimate, but you know that a manufacturer is not going to give out unlimited copies of coupons for free items.  A lot of times counterfeits can be scanned at the store, because the people making the coupons know how to duplicate a legitimate bar code.  This is what I have learned in the last year of couponing about PDF file coupons:

• Never use PDF file coupons for free items.  100% off them are fraudulent and stores will not accept them.    Go here to view current fraudulent coupons under investigation.
• Don't even use PDF file coupons from a manufacturer's website.  While these coupons are put out by the manufacturer, there is no limit to the number of prints and the company will usually retract those coupons and not honor them.  An example of this is a Quaker pdf file coupon for $1 off oatmeal that was posted on quaker.com back in January during a big Quaker sale.  People were printing them off like crazy to get free oatmeal.  The second day of the sale, the stores quit taking the coupon because Quaker pulled it from their website and denied the existence of the coupon.  Quaker said that they would not reimburse the stores for the coupon.
• Make sure there is a watermark on the coupon.  All of the major companies, like Smart Source, Bricks, Coupons.com, and Red Plum, have watermarks on their coupons and/or other ways of insuring coupons are legitimate.  If there is not a watermark, then the store will most likely not take it.
• A lot of the time, counterfeit coupons will scan just like normal coupons.  Just because the coupon will scan does not mean that it is legitimate.  Just like counterfeit money can be passed off as real money, counterfeit coupons can be passed off as real coupons. 
• Using or making counterfeit coupons is illegal.  It is the consumer's responsibility to make sure the coupons you are using are legitimate, not the store's responsibility.  It is not really worth breaking the law just to save a few dollars.
• Using fake coupons costs the stores money.  They do not get reimbursed for fraudulent coupons. 

Internet Printable coupons are a great way to save money, because they are free.  Just do your homework on your printable coupons and only trust reliable sites for printing them.
Contact Me
If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at bargainessentials {at} q {dot} com or leave a comment.