Expiring Coupon Syndrome

I had to make an "emergency run" to Walmart yesterday, not because we desperately needed anything, but because when I pulled out my coupon binder to do some much-needed organizing I'd noticed that my stash of Mitchum $2 coupons were expiring that very day!  Now, I have often said I am not brand loyal to anything but Scott tissue, but I do admit to having a preference in brands of deodorant, and Mitchum is my favorite.  When I spotted the Mitchum $2 coupon a few weeks ago I collected as many as I could and was holding onto them for a sale. That sale never materialized. Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you want to look at it, I suffer from "Expiring Coupon Syndrome," a common, but little-understood malady that causes the most well-adjusted among us to rush out the door in our yoga pants and no make-up in pursuit of inexpensive health and beauty products. This is a real syndrome, people, and not something I just made up to explain my bizarre behavior.

Once inside the store, I was pleased to see a few Mitchum marked down to $2 in the clearance aisle, but I had to pay a whopping 97-cents for the others. I filled my cart with as many purchases as I had coupons for, and then made a beeline to the Valentine's Day clearance aisle where I picked up half-price window clings to decorate my library next year. At the checkout, the cashier totaled up my deodorant while the person behind me looked on: in disgust or awe, I wasn't sure which. When I handed the cashier my coupons, she put on her glasses and scrutinized them carefully, before handing them back.
        "These are expired," she said. I gasped and clutched my chest.
         I checked the date on them again. How could I have gotten the date wrong?: 2-16-2014.
        "Isn't it the 16th?"
         She checked her register for the date, and then reached out her hand to take them back."You're right. I'm so sorry."  We both smiled as I breathed an audible sigh of relief. The woman behind me craned her neck to see as the coupons were taken off, snorting at the final tally, whether in derision or laughter, I will never know.
        What I did know was that a potential crisis had been averted, and my girls and I wouldn't have to worry about underarm "wetness or odor" for a very long time....

 

Post-Christmas Coupon Savings

Like the good little couponer I am, I headed to our local Walmart yesterday morning to see what kind of damage I could do with my coupons that are about to expire the end of this month. Sure enough, there were three Axe gift sets sitting on the shelves waiting for me to purchase with my $2 off Axe gift set coupons. Just as I was adding the last one to my cart, I felt a light tapping on my shoulder, and there stood one of my three sons.

"Don't look! I'm doing Christmas shopping for next year!" Twenty-year-old Matt smiled broadly. Working the night shift at Walmart, he knew exactly what kind of gift sets had been placed in that aisle a few days previous, and he loves AXE products.

What got me even more excited than the brush sets and Caress gift sets I purchased (without coupons) for our own cupboards was the selection of Febreeze products marked down. Normally $2.97 each, the sprays were marked down to $1.48 and the candles and car scents were 75-cents. I knew I had some Febreeze product coupons in my binder. Sure enough, I had $1.50 off two Febreeze product coupons and 50-cents off any Febreeze product coupons. I made two trips through the register so I could use four of each (P&G coupons now limited to four like coupons per transaction) and came home with these:

I was happy to find some cheap (and free!) products to fill baskets for the coupon workshops I am starting to schedule for 2014 (one in February, one in April and one in July, thus far)  I love beginning my workshops with a fun game where attendees are to guess how much I paid for everything in the basket. The one who guesses the closest wins the basket at the end of the presentation. These products will make a nice addition to those baskets. The car scents might also end up in my adult children's stockings next year.

A Hairy Good Deal

My fall has been busy conducting couponing workshops and not doing a lot of couponing. When the workshops slowed down, as they inevitably do in the winter, I worked on restocking and organizing my binder. One coupon I was intrigued by was the $5 off two TRESemme product coupon. Surely I could net some inexpensive hair products, I thought when I saw that one in our inserts, so I collected as many as I could and waited for a sale. Unfortunately, I wasn't seeing the smaller cans of hair spray that others were finding for $2.48, but I did pick up a few cans at $2.98, figuring 48-cents for a can of hair spray was a pretty good deal.

That couldn't beat the deal Target had on TRESemme this week. Through Saturday, November 30th, select TRESemme products are on sale for $3.99 and $4.99. Not only that, but the purchase of four of those select products will prompt a $5 gift card. Yesterday the girls and I were shopping for Christmas deals in Cedar Rapids so we stopped at a Target for pumpkin pie ingredients, and to stock up on TRESemme products. The shelves were well-stocked with the $3.99 products so I concentrated on those. My first trip through the line I bought four bottles of shampoo ($3.99 each X 4=$15.96), used two $5 off coupons (minus $10)=$5.96, and got my first $5 gift card. The girls watched my cart while I did it again, only this time I used that $5 gift card to pay just 96-cents (plus tax) for the next transaction, and I got another $5 gift card. I did this several times, until both the girls and I were tired of the game, but this is what I came home with:

Those shampoos will fill our stockpile cupboard and will be added to the Christmas baskets I make up for my adult children. There will likely be TRESemme products added to the baskets I bring to the coupon workshops in the spring, as well. I always bring a basket full of products I purchased with coupons and ask attendees at the beginning of the workshop to guess how much I paid for everything in the basket. The person who guesses closest to the actual price I paid wins the basket of goodies.

This couponing trip reminded me of why I love this hobby and reiterated the importance of keeping my coupons organized. Besides the TRESemme deal, I saved nearly $100 on other products in my shopping cart, including some gift sets that I used both Target and manufacturer coupons on. I did notice that many of the current gift card deals were not labeled on the shelf, so although the two gift sets I purchased did trigger a $5 gift card at the register, there wasn't any indication on the shelf that this would happen.

What Were They Thinking?

I admitted in my last post that I had picked up a few Poise hot flash cooling cloths for my coupon workshop prize baskets, against my better judgment. The product didn't make a lot of sense to me. I just couldn't imagine a "poised" nicely-dressed woman pulling out a packet of these out in public and wiping down her face (and wiping off her makeup!). Nor could I readily imagine a woman doing so in her home, even sans make-up. Would you keep this product next to your bed, to cool off in the middle of the night when a hot flash hits? Perhaps, if they were free with a coupon. Otherwise, that seems kind of a pricey way to cool off, when a cold washcloth from the bathroom would work just as well.

But the product I picked up with the remaining coupons? I admit I was in a hurry, adding Poise products priced at $2.97 to my cart, knowing they would be free. I thought I was picking up panty liners, which would just be borderline offensive to the lucky workshop attendee who won my basket. Instead, they turned out to be panty fresheners. I had to read the directions twice, and then I laughed out loud. Panty fresheners are round thin pads; about the size of a fifty-cent piece, with a peel-off backing. Apparently, they have a fresh scent that lasts approximately four hours. You put them on the outside of your panty. (the directions weren't clear exactly where on the outside of the panty, and maybe I don't really want to know) They come in a small, round container, perfect for carrying in your purse. Now, I don't know about you, but I resent the implications of this innovative product. My guess is that it will go over about as well as the Dove Pro-Age deodorants did. The Pro-Age lotion marketed to women over age 40 made sense to me; our skin changes as we age. Even the Pro-Age shampoo seemed a good idea, since a woman's hair also changes with age. But Pro-Age deodorant? Really? There's not too much that would embarrass me more than going through a check-out line with a deodorant that practically screams "I have OLD underarms!" Except, perhaps, a product that informs the cashier that my underwear needs freshening. Ever hear of a washing machine? Dryer sheets? Regular changing of the panties, perhaps? By the way, I don't see Pro-Age deodorant on the shelves anymore. I wonder why?

My daughter Elizabeth informed me about the bright pink peelie coupons that were attached to some of the General Mills cereals at our local Fareway. The coupons are good for a free box of General Mills granola bars. I've seen similar coupons and have often taken advantage of the good deal. This time, however, the coupons don't specify that anything at all must be purchased in order to use the coupon. In other words (and don't get any ideas, please) someone could come along and peel off half a dozen of the coupons, walk over to the granola bar aisle, pick up six boxes of granola bars and get them totally free! Without buying cereal!This omission doesn't make any sense to me. Surely the intention of the coupon was that the customer is to purchase  a box of cereal in order to get the free box of granola bars, but no where on the coupon is that stated. My guess is that the coupon might be coded in some way that it won't scan unless a box of cereal is also purchased during the transaction, but this is the first time I've seen a on-package coupon that doesn't specify a purchase requirement!

Black Friday, Coupon Style

Black Friday, 2009. A method of taking advantage of Black Friday prices outside of the long lines waiting for a cheap television or $5 headphones. Also, a good explanation as to why this holiday season will be especially difficult for me. My husband was my shopping partner and best friend. Taken from the archives of my blog, http://marypotterkenyon.com,

My husband and I have only done the Black Friday early morning gig once in our 20 years of marriage, braving crowds and cold weather with a toddler Katie (who is now 10). The free after rebate items at our local Ace Hardware were just too enticing. David and Dan both got tools in their stocking that year. While we were out and about, we also stopped at Theisen’s farm store for the batteries that would also be free after rebate. Unfortunately, standing in a long line with a toddler means we left that store with a stuffed animal we didn’t need or want. We vowed never to do it again, at least not with a toddler in tow.

I’ve heard the stories that make the Black Friday debacle appealing. My sister-in-law, Julie, goes shopping with her mother every year, getting up early and hitting the stores that offer the free gift cards or the doorbusters that appeal to her. They shop till they drop, then enjoy a good breakfast together. That sounds like fun. Then there are the experiences like my daughter’s yesterday morning: http://tinyurl.com/2w59wul

This year I actually wanted to do some Black Friday shopping. The house was still nice and clean in anticipation of my Thanksgiving guest’s arrival. Our youngest child is 7, old enough to stay with her siblings for the day. I wasn’t interested in shopping for drastically reduced electronics, half-price cameras, or cheap $3 appliances.

No, I wanted the free-after-register rewards items from Walgreens.

There was no pre-dawn rushing out the door for us. David and I left town at a respectable 8:30 a.m. Before I left the house I used a Black Friday 20% off code and ordered a custom-made box full of Littlest Pet Shop toys from a woman on ThredUp, the premiere place for bartering clothing and toys. My children are fine with getting used toys for Christmas. In fact, my 17-year-old son still talks about the huge bin of used Legoes I gave him several years ago.

The parking lot of our Walmart was still full when we drove by. Our first stop in Marion was the Salvation Army thrift store. We had the store mostly to ourselves as we perused the racks that were labeled with a hand-written sign “6 for $1.” Yes, the Salvation Army was having an unadvertised sale on both plus size and t-shirts. Thanks to working at my sister’s store, I know what brand to look for: a dozen Vanity and American Eagle tees went into the cart. Plus size was easy too: CJ Banks labels were an automatic yes. So were Lane Bryant and Venezia. Thanks to these sales, I’ll have an entire rack of women’s plus sizes at my next garage sale. Tops I paid less than a quarter for will be snatched up at $1.50-$3 a piece. Some two-piece outfits and jeans (yes, they were also 6/$1) can be priced as high as $5. Books were 6 for $1 too, but the selection was very limited. I did manage to unearth two large books about digital photography, a writer’s resource book, two old readers and some newer fiction paperbacks which will go to HalfPrice Books my next trip there. Last time they gave me $18 for a box of books I’d gotten at Salvation Army that I hadn’t paid more than $3 for.

It was 10:00 before we hit the Walgreens store, and every product that was issuing a register rewards coupon (now called Jingle Cash) was still in stock. The trick was to make sure to use a coupon on each item so that after the register rewards it would not only be free, but I’d be paid to take it out of the store. Some highlights? Colgate Total toothpaste was on sale for $2.99 with a $2.50 register reward. I used a $1 coupon, so netted a profit on that. The Olay body was $3.49, with a $2.50 register reward. The Secret body spray was $3.49 with a $3 register reward. Purchasing the two products together, I could use a $5 coupon, which means I essentially got both products free and, in fact, made money on them! David and I each did an order, paying $24 and $16 for our orders, but leaving with more than $15 in catalina coupons each. .  
After we went to the Hy-vee store for a marked-down breakfast buffet ($3.99 each for scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, and all the coffee we could drink, normally $6.99 without the coffee) we headed back to Walgreens to use some of our Jingle Rewards dough.

Not pictured? The three Littlest Pet Shop toys that were marked $6.99 each or 3 for $13.98, the $6.99 Scottissue 12-pack, four packages of batteries, and a 2-pack of Phillips Sonicare heads for the toothbrush David’s dentist recommended. The toothbrush heads normally retail for $30 each. David had to add some candy for the kids in order to use several of the catalina coupons (there has to be one item per catalina coupon) After his Jingle cash, David paid less than $15 for all of this, and $3.64 was tax. I did another order of free after rewards items, so now we have $24 in Jingle cash to spend at Walgreens before December 10th.

On the way home I asked my husband if he’d had a fun day. After all, it was really my thing to rummage through used clothing and books for gems, and my thing to fill carts with free merchandise. He mostly follows me around, watching me, and his head starts to spin in circles when I try to explain why I am adding yet another bottle of shampoo to the cart, shampoo that will be 99-cents after register rewards, and free after my $1 coupon. He doesn’t even try to understand my obsession, but he does support it.

“I love watching you do your thing,” he answered, taking my hand in his and squeezing it tightly. “I love being alone with you.”

I knew then that our Black Friday shopping trip wasn’t all about the deals.

It was way more about the company I was keeping and the time spent with my best friend

They're Everywhere! They're Everywhere!

"You can find coupons everywhere," I tell attendees at my workshops. "In the newspaper, in magazines, on the Internet, on pads on the grocery store shelf, hanging on bottles (hangtags), and even on the package. (peelies)  What I've never told them, what I've never seen before in 30+ years of couponing was a coupon on my roll of toilet paper. Not on the package, mind you, and not in the package, but literally attached to the toilet paper roll!

That's a first for me.
Apparently I will have to change my workshop presentation a bit and add, "You can even find them on your toilet paper!"
It was a good one, too.

Where was the most unusual place you ever found a coupon?

No Coupon Needed

Never go anywhere without your coupons. This is the #1 rule for couponers everywhere, and yet I was in Walmart this morning without my binder. I was there to pick up medication for my daughter Emily, who just had her wisdom teeth removed. While I waited, I wandered the nearby aisles, coming across five more boxes of marked down Kotex U pads, along with five $2 coupons. $1 a box after coupons is a great stockpile price, so of course I bought all five.  I almost didn't go in the clearance aisle because I knew there was a good chance there would be something marked down that I had coupons for~ at home~ and I didn't need the guilt at having forgotten my coupons and missing a good deal. I'm glad I ignored my initial hesitation because when I got to the clearance aisle I immediately spotted a cart of marked-down Scott toilet tissue. Now, Scott tissue has been my favorite brand of toilet paper for over 15 years, ever since we lived in the country with a septic system. And I was just thinking about how low we were getting on toilet paper.

(photo circa 2002)

I am always looking for a good deal on Scott tissue, so when I saw these single rolls marked down to 25-cents (regularly $1), I began throwing them into my cart.  Then I thought What am I doing? and I put the rolls back in the cart and added my other items to their cart full of toilet paper, instead. Then I pushed it up to the checkout, where I was met with the very wide pair of eyes of a young cashier. David would have loved this, I thought.  He was never embarrassed with my good deals, unlike my children, who would have been mortified. David would have started bragging on the good deal and called me his "Coupon Queen." (despite the fact that I didn't have coupons for the toilet paper) "She's the coupon queen who writes a column for the Telegraph Herald," he often told complete strangers in line behind us. Hey, he was proud of me, and after 32 years, used to my sometimes extreme couponing tactics.

I helped the cashier count the 89 rolls and handed her my coupons for the Kotex products. "Now you have something funny to talk about in the break room later," I told her, "You can tell everyone about the crazy lady buying toilet paper."

"Oh, I will," she smiled broadly. I think I made her day. I know this deal made mine.

Clean Up in Aisle Three!

Couponing is a huge part of my life; I've been using coupons for over 30 years. But it is NOT my life. When I took my husband to the ER on March 15th, getting a good deal was the last thing on my mind. Well, actually not the last thing: I did raid our savings on the way to the hospital, thinking David didn't have insurance and we might net a discount on an ER bill if we paid in cash. (always a bargainer) After the third nitroglycerin pill, a heparin shot and an order for an ambulance, a cash discount was a moot point~We were in way over the cash in my purse.  Thankfully, my husband's insurance was reinstated, he is doing well, and I can now....SHOP?  I hadn't intended doing any shopping sprees while my husband was in the hospital but I did stop at the local Walgreens for a pill-crusher the day before I brought him home and I stumbled across a good deal. The store had a shelf full of clearance Olay soap marked down to $2.29.  I still had some of those $2.00 Olay coupons burning a hole in my binder, so I dashed back out to the van, grabbed it, and ended up buying all they had remaining on the shelf. (to my credit, these coupons do expire in a week and most of the body wash on the shelf had already been purchased so someone else had benefited from the deal)  What I hadn't expected was that every other Olay soap was going to be on sale for an additional 50% off. I didn't notice it in my first transaction when I had other products I was purchasing, but the second transaction I did when the coupons suddenly stopped scanning, and the cashier and I realized the ones that had scanned had covered the entire purchase and the register wouldn't take more.  So now I have these delicious smelling soaps to add to Christmas and workshop baskets~ all for free.  And we know my favorite motto: cheap is nice, but free is better.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat, in Coupon Lingo

In the coupon world, there will be some offers you will just want to do over and over.  Yesterday's Target offer was one of those. Last week's Target ad included Olay body wash on sale for $5. That is already a decent price on the big bottles, but still more than I like to pay for body wash. Body wash is a luxury, not a neccessity, but my entire family prefers a body puff and body wash to bar soap. I like to put body washes in my adult children's Christmas baskets, as well, so the fact that Target was offering a $5 gift card for each set of three Olay body washes purchased ignited my interest.  For the math impaired, $5 X 3 body washes=$15. Last week's Olay $2 coupon drops the price down to $9, not bad for three large bottles. The $5 gift card makes it a super deal. But to really get the most out of this sale, the trick is to turn around and do the deal all over again, this time using your initial gift card to help pay for the three Olay body washes. I've heard this strategy termed "Wash, Rinse, and Repeat" in coupon lingo.  I was near a Target yesterday afternoon and tried this deal, and it worked great.  First time through the checkout, I used three $2 coupons and paid $9 (plus tax) and got my $5 gift card. The second time through, I used three $2 coupons AND the $5 gift card to pay for my transaction, and paid only $4 (plus tax) for my order, netting me another $5 gift card. See where this is going? I could have done the deal as many times as I had coupons for, and as long as my husband would wait for me to go through the line. Most cashiers would allow me to do seperate orders, and this one had no problem. Unfortunately, I had to stop at 5 transactions because it was a Saturday, and the shelves weren't well stocked, but I am now have 15 body washes to add to my dwindling stockpile. This was definitely a deal worth repeating, and if I lived closer to a Target, I would have done it several times during the week.

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?

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.

Transformation From Coupon Box to Coupon Binder

I used a coupon box for more than 25 years of couponing, but after the Extreme Couponing show debuted on the TLC channel, I had to admit those coupon binders did look pretty impressive. When I saw a black binder on sale for just $5 at a Goodwill store, I bought it and began the transformation from coupon box to coupon binder. 

It turned into quite a fiasco, involving quite a few dollars invested into plastic sleeves and dividers and several hours transfering coupons.


I wasn't sure it was going to be worth all the work, but I did like the organized look of the binder.  I knew, however, the true test would be with my first shopping trip.


That first trip was to a Walgreen's.  The binder sat nicely on my purse inside the baby seat of the cart and I liked being able to have the ads laying inside, along with my lists. The coupon box always took up the whole seat and ads didn’t fit on the side.
Score one for the binder.

My husband did one order and I did three, two of them just Reach toothbrushes. My husband’s order looked like this: 2 Finesse shampoos on sale for 2/$7, 4 2-packs of Reach Advanced toothbrushes on sale for 2/$5, and a Gillette Fusin razor on sale for $9.89. He used a $4 coupon on the razor, $1 coupons on the Finesse shampoos and $2 coupons on each Reach 2-pack. Out of the register popped a $5 catalina from the shampoo, a $5 coupon from the razor and TWO catalina coupons for Reach, one a month-long offer and one a weekly offer, $3 and $4 respectively. A woman behind him saw the catalinas come out and asked how he got so many. She had a coupon binder and said she was just learning how to use coupons. I came over and explained the Reach offer to her and gave her four $2 coupons so she could do it herself. I did a total of three Reach transactions, one of them combined with other merchandise, including 6 Gillette deodorants that I had Buy One, Get One Free coupons for. With the purchase of 6, I got a $10 catalina. I also bought the Finesse shampoo, one Bic Solei razor, Revlon clippers that were on sale for Buy one, get one half price and I had a $3 and a $1 coupon on, as well as several toothbrushes I found on clearance for 99-cents that I had $1 coupons for.

It was fairly easy to flip through the pages to find my coupons. Score another for the binder, or maybe it was simply because I organized specifically for this trip.
Our total for all our transactions was $67.52, minus the three $10 register rewards= $37.52. And we had $60 in register rewards to use on our next trip.
And all this stuff either to stock in our own cupboard or to fill Christmas baskets for our adult children.

Could I have done as well with my coupon box?
Probably.
But I wouldn’t have looked as cool doing it.

Combining Coupons with Clearance Prices

I went to Walmart tonight to finish up my Christmas shopping, picking up small items to fill my children's stockings. $184.00. Gulp. That was my total before coupons.  My daughter Katie looked at me, alarmed.  "Look what you did, adding your purchase to mine!" I joked with her. (she was going to pay me back her $5 at home) Then I handed the coupons to the cashier, and she started scanning them. Final total: $32.01, and $11.38 of that was the tax on my order.

How did I do it?  By combining the $7.00 clearance price on these boxes of Centrum Omega-3 supplements with my $7.00 coupons. 

Since the coupons expire on Christmas I used them all in one transaction, which caused the register to lock up and require a CSM key.  This is no problem in the larger Walmarts I frequent, but it kind of freaked out the CSM when she arrived at the register, and she ended up scrutinizing both the coupons and the supplements for a very long time before she used her key in the register, sighing while she did so. I'm not sure who the sigh was meant for; the cashier who called her or me, the transgressor.  Either way, when I do my couponing workshop here in Manchester in February, I am going to have to warn attendees that they may face some minor opposition and annoyed expressions when they use large amounts of coupons in our local stores. I will also teach them to always check clearance aisles for deals like this.

Hmmm, wonder what my adult children would think of one of these boxes in their stocking?

Reward Cards. Are They Worth It?

It never fails to amaze me. I’ll be waiting on a customer at my sister’s consignment store and at the end of the transaction I’ll ask if they have their punch card handy. Maybe they just spent $80, or even $100. My sister’s frequent shopper card allows for one punch for every $20 spent, and when the card is filled, the customer nets a cool free $20 in merchandise. And, get this; it only takes ten punches, or $200, to get the reward of $20, easily attainable in a month or two by a regular customer.

“No, I don’t have a card,” I’ll hear, and when I explain how the card works, the customer might simply shrug her shoulders or respond; “I don’t want one. I’d just lose it.”

I am amazed.  I have had customers spend halfway to the golden egg of the coveted filled card still refuse their rightful punches.

Are rewards cards worth it? Are they worth the extra hassle of finding a place in your wallet or purse to store them? I have been asked this many times.

Well, it depends. Do you like free money?

These are the rewards cards currently in my wallet.

I have more rewards cards that are virtual only. I don’t have an actual Hot Topic rewards card, although I am sure they sent me one a couple of years ago. Since I do all my shopping with them online, my membership number with them just pops up in the box as soon as I log in on their website. I never set foot in their store but Christmas shopping for several young people means I do take advantage of their online sales every year. A couple of these cards are teacher’s rewards cards. Even as a homeschooler, I am entitled to the 10% off at Half Price books every time I shop there, and the usual rewards at Staples. Some of the cards I have never used (I have yet to shop at a CVS, but will soon experience that pleasure as I prepare for a couponing workshop held in an area that has a CVS store) Others I only rarely use; The Kmart card is necessary to participate in any of their double coupon promotions. But if I am shopping in a store, even rarely, and they offer a rewards card, I’m in.  Why? Because I like to save money, and eventually most of these cards will either save me money or make me money.

For instance, yesterday’s shopping trip involved a stop at a Dubuque consignment store, The Trading Post, where I used a filled punch card that netted me $10 in free merchandise.  It had taken me several months to fill that card, but I regularly shop there with my two youngest girls and it wasn’t too difficult to find both a beautiful necklace and a pair of earrings to use that $10 on. Free jewelry!

My next stop was Staples, where I turned in nine empty ink cartridges to take advantage of their double rewards on ink; $4 instead of their usual $2. I had to buy HP ink to take advantage of this reward, but this week I get back 20% in rewards on my ink purchase (and I needed ink anyway) and I had $30 in previous ink rewards and a $10 gift card from a rebate to use towards my purchase. See how this works? Use your rewards to pay for things you need anyway, items you will get more rewards for buying.  I also picked up two packages of Duracell batteries priced at $12.99. Who doesn’t need batteries? Staples is currently offering their Rewards card members a full 100% back in rewards on those battery packs!

 

So, my total looked like this: 2 black ink cartridges priced at $27.99 (yes, I can get them cheaper online, but remember I am getting 20% back in rewards AND $4 for each empty cartridge I turn in, for an additional $36 back), two packages of Duracell batteries at $12.99 each. My subtotal, with tax, was $85.60. OUCH. Subtract a $3 off two Duracell battery coupon (you knew coupons would be involved, didn’t you?) and my total was $82.60. Subtract the $30 in rewards I’d gotten in the mail from October purchases, and that equals $52.60. Now, subtract the $10 from the gift card that also arrived in the mail from a previous transaction, and I paid the grand sum of $42.60, still a pricey transaction~ but don’t forget!  I will get back almost $5.50 in rewards for purchasing the ink, and another $36 in rewards for turning in empty cartridges, AND $25.98 with that 100% back in the Duracell package rewards (limit 2), which means I wait for rewards in the amount of $57.58, far more than I paid for the transaction in the first place!  And I certainly know how to wait; I’m a writer and a mother. Waiting is my middle name.

And by the time I get the rewards, I’ll probably need more ink and there will be yet another rewards offer to take advantage of.

So, are rewards cards worth it?

Well, you tell me. Do you like free jewelry, batteries, and cash?

When They Pay You To Take Them...

...you have to take them.

Right?

There is no other explanation for why I am now the proud owner of 40 bags of Butterfinger Snackerz, on sale at Hy-Vee for 3 for $1.00 and I had 20 $1.00 off 2 coupons. You do the math. The coupons took 50-cents off each 33-cents package.

Guess what is going to be in the seven Christmas stockings I'll be filling?

Bouncing Balls and Reading Books...

I was only a casual couponer in 1979, using coupons to stretch the tight budget of two newly-married, struggling college students. When our first child arrived I got serious about it and began sending for refunds and premiums from the products I’d purchased. Soon I joined the ranks of a community of mostly women, who took photos of their stockpiles and shared elaborate sagas of their shopping trips in refund magazines that reached as many as 30,000 subscribers by 1990. These were the women who regularly left the grocery store with carts full of merchandise they’d paid less than $10 for. They traded coupons and forms in the mail, attended conventions throughout the United States, and dug in dumpsters for labels, all in the name of saving money, or even making money through the numerous refunds companies offered back then. For over 30 years I have been a part of a cultural phenomenon, that of the extreme coupon user.

Was it something innate in my personality that attracted me to couponing and refunding? Even as a child I had the makings of a future coupon queen, volunteering to clip coupons from the inserts my dad brought home from his Sunday morning newspaper route. In 1969, when I was 10 years old, I spotted an offer for a free Wham-O Super Ball on the back of the Cheerios box.

My mother was too busy butchering and gutting chickens, braiding rugs, and canning fresh produce to bother sending in box bottoms, so I asked her if I could do it. I saved enough labels to order a ball for every one of my nine siblings, and I was hooked. My mother humored my forays into her cabinets for other labels I could send in for a bright shiny quarter taped to a postcard or a crisp dollar bill inside an envelope addressed to me.

That little girl who clipped coupons and box-tops for her mom grew up to be a mother of eight who views stores as a battlefield. Like the coupon commando I’ve become, I enter the warzone armed with my coupon binder, ready to fight inflation and high prices. Over the years that means that I’ve pilfered candy bar wrappers from park trash cans, walked through alleys for Pampers points, did the majority of my Christmas shopping with refund premiums, once traded a box of health and beauty items for a goat, and for nearly two decades, neatly filed my trash in anticipation of future refund offers. Today, I save an average 30% off my weekly grocery bill, fill Christmas baskets with free health and beauty items for my adult children, all thanks to my couponing skills.

To this day, the word "FREE" grabs my attention like no other. Which is why I picked up the book, Free Prize Inside: How to Make a Purple Cow, by Seth Godin.

 I love that writing a book means I can spend guilt-free time reading books like this one, all in the name of research. Designed for marketers and businesses, it discusses exactly why a company would offer a bonus (like a prize inside) as a marketing tool. When I was ten years old, I didn't care why the Cheerios company paired up with a toy maker to offer a free ball in exhange for box tops.  All I cared about was the ball(s) that arrived in my mail box.  Now, as a consumer, I hope I am savvy enough not to fall for every marketing ploy. As a couponing workshop presenter, I share some of the common marketing ploys with those who attend my class so they won't fall for them either.

That said, even after 32 years of being a frugal shopper, I can still be pulled in by the promise in the word "free." I am by no means perfect. In the coming weeks I will share some of my own foibles and follies in the world of shopping.