Going Nutty!

Like most Coupon Queens, I love talking about couponing. With an almost religious fervor we proselytize about coupons; some of us teaching classes, making speeches or actively pursuing media opportunities where we can demonstrate our creative couponing skills. We are, indeed, crazy about coupons.

Or, if you ask some of our family and friends, just crazy.

In my couponing workshops, I stress the importance of buying and stockpiling by the sales. That means you should know the regular price of the items you typically purchase and maximize your savings by combining sale prices on those products with the coupons you have clipped and saved just for that purpose.

When I spotted a Planters Nutrition coupon in the newspaper for 75-cents off, I did two things: I collected as many as I could from friends and family, and  went online to www.thecouponclippers.com to see if they had any of that coupon in stock.  They did, only theirs were for $1.00 off. (if you haven't learned by now, you will find out; different areas of the country and even different newspapers in the same state, will have different coupons) So, for a ten-cent clipping fee, I ordered some of the $1.00 Nutrition coupons.

And then I waited.

Now, everyone in my family loves these nuts; even my children, and they are good for us. (within reason) The normal retail price of these cans varies, but averages around $5.00 a can. I've seen the price as high as $8.00 in some drugstores. So when I saw our Fareway advertising the Nutrition on sale for $3.49 a can, I knew it was time for me to use my coupons.  The only drawback to shopping like this is the reaction I get from others. Spotting eleven cans in my cart, the cashier's eyes widened, her mouth dropped open a bit, and she blurted out, "You must be having a party or something."
Buying over $35 worth of nuts in one trip probably does look a little crazy.

It seems only slightly less crazy when I pull out my $1 coupons.

Imagine what the cashiers are thinking when it is a cartload of toilet paper or feminine protection.
"You must be...having some kind of problem at your house..."

Nope. No problem.  Just a good sale.

Free Prize Inside...my couponing workshops

It all started innocently enough, in 1969, when the Cheerios company advertised a Super Ball on the back of their box; a ball they would send, totally free, in exchange for boxtops.  I was ten years old, and the word "Free" caught my eye then, just as it does now. I suppose that is one reason why I am addicted to couponing; the possibility of getting something free is just too much to resist. Now, I am using those free, and nearly free products as door prizes in my couponing workshops.  I am having so much fun with these workshops, givng away a prize is just my way of adding some fun for the participants.  The person who guesses the closest to the actual price I paid for these baskets full of products wins the basket at the end of the evening.

Now, of course, the price of the basket is also included, so if you are reading this blog posting right now and plan on attending one of my future workshops, keep in mind that I don't get the baskets free and not all the products were free, either. But if you read my blog regularly, you might have a better idea of the actual cost~

Here is the basket I will be giving away at Thursday's coupon workshop at NICC in Dubuque.  Do some of these products look familiar?  Retail value is well over $50. What do you think I paid?

Dubuque Telegraph Herald Introduces my couponing column!

It was fun, but kind of scary, to pick up the newspaper from the front porch and see my face on the cover!  Today my first couponing column runs in the Telegraph Herald newspaper. It will be a weekly column, run every Thursday. 

Free Toilet Bowl Cleaner!

There is a manufacturer coupon good for $4 off any Scrubbing Bubbles One Step Toilet Bowl Cleaner starter sets that expires on February 18th. I had a couple in my binder a couple of weeks ago when I visited the Cedar Rapids Hy-Vee store, when I noticed a freestanding display of One Step starter kits priced at $3.89. Ker-ching! Ker-ching! The FREE radar went off in my head and I added two to my cart. The coupon scanned with no problem, taking off exactly $3.89 for each box. I didn't expect there would be any kits left yesterday when I visited the store again, but I'd gotten four more coupons in the meantime. The display did, indeed, have a sizeable dent in it, but there were still kits left, so I added four to my cart, and again, there was no problem with the coupons scanning at the checkout, despite the fact the coupon made them free. The register "read" the coupon and allowed it to scan for $3.89, meaning no "overage" but free kits nonetheless. If you've got any of the $4 coupons, you might want to check your Hy-Vee stores for the same display.