One of the things I enjoy most is couponing. Coming from a family of five, I remember my mother couponing when I was a kid. When we went grocery store, she would hand me a bunch of coupons and say, "go get these, meet me in the next isle". I'm happy to say it is one of the values I've continued to enjoy as I've grown. Just yesterday I had one of my best couponing days at CVS, below are the items I picked up while on my lunch break.
- Dove Shampoo 12oz (Reg Price: $4.99)
- Dove Conditioner 12oz (Reg Price: $4.99)
(Above items were on sale 2 for $6.00)
- Neosporin .5oz (Reg Price $6.29)
- (Qty 2) QTips 170 count (Reg Price $3.19 Each)
The total for all these items at regular price would have been $22.65
After sales and coupons I only paid 71 cents
I notice a lot of articles online with couponing tips, so what are my tips?
- Don't be brand loyal, be store loyal.
The above transaction is a perfect example I make purchases at CVS on a consistent basis. Which gave me several "Extra Care Bucks" coupons to put towards this purchase.
- Think about how much you are spending, not how much you are saving.
Often even the after coupon price of a brand name product will not beat the price of a store brand product. Target brand products are usually as good, if not better then brand names and often they are cheaper.
-Store your shoes, not your groceries.
As any city girl can tell you closet space is a premium so there is no need (especially when living alone) to use up a majority of your storage space storing products that you get at a good deal. Depending on the product, I typically don't have more then 2 or 3 in storage no matter how good the deal is.
-Free is free.
This is the one rule that will make me break the rule above. It doesn't happen often but every once in a while there will be an item on sale and I have a coupon, when put together the item is free. For this reason I clip almost every coupon in the Sunday paper. Even if it's a product I know for a fact I have no use for (ex. body wash for men) I'll buy it if it's free and either give it to a friend or donate to a charity.
What great tips! My favorite: Store your shoes, not your groceries. Also, you're so right about thinking about how much you are spending. A lot of time the store brand does win out... but when it's close in cost with coupons (or LESS!) that's when I buy the name brand.
ReplyDeleteThis past weekend, I bought baby food. BABY FOOD! It was less than a quarter each, so I HAD to. Like you said, I'm planning to give it to a friend or charity. Awesome advice!