Archive for Getting Started
Where To Find Coupons
Posted by: | Comments1)The most obvious source of coupons is your local newspaper. There are 3 different coupon inserts and not every paper includes all of them. If your paper doesn’t carry all 3 inserts, you may want to check into getting a different paper, if it is feasible.
To find out what inserts your paper carries and what inserts other papers carry, go to hotcouponworld.com, click on “resources.” Under Locating Coupons you will see “Newspapers with Inserts.” Find your state and compare what inserts it gets with other local papers.
Shop around to get the best rate. I waited and waited, and my local weekend edition finally went down to $1.50 a week. Two weeks into my subscription it went down to $.99. So don’t be afraid to ask if they have any discounts or promotions going. Sometimes you can get a better deal by subscribing through their website.
If you only use 1 or 2 coupons out of each week’s paper, it will pay for itself.
2)Ask relatives, friends and neighbors to save their inserts for you. Many people take the newspaper, but don’t use any of the coupons. Both my mother-in-law and sister-in-law save their inserts for me. My mother-in-law clips a few coupons, but gives me the rest. My sister-in-law doesn’t use any of hers, and so I get her whole insert.
3)The internet. Shameless plug: First of all, my little coupon printer over to the right is an advertisement for me. You support this site every time you print coupons from there. I am in no means going to get rich from you printing coupons from there, but if you need the coupon anyway, it would be great if you printed from there. Thanks!
Also on the right, if you click on Printable Coupons I have put up some great sites for printing coupons from the internet. I do not receive anything for referring you there, but they are the sites that I have found to have the best coupons and be the easiest to use.
Some stores do not take IP’s or internet printables. There is only one store in my local area that I have found will not take any IP’s and that is Winco. Stores like Rite Aid and Foods Co. seem to have a different coupon policy depending on what store you go to. According to Walmart’s coupon policy that I found online, they do accept IP’s, but some cashiers that I have encountered there had never even seen one and thought that they were photocopied coupons. I have found that the best thing to do is to call ahead and ask if they accept IP’s.
4)Keep your eyes open while at the store. Many stores will have special displays that will have coupons or there are little machines called blinkies that distribute coupons. I have gotten some of my best coupons from these blinkies or tear pads. A few weeks ago my local Rite Aid had a tear pad of John Frieda coupons. I grabbed quite a few and have already used 3 of them at other stores.
5)Send in for those free samples. Many free samples will include coupons in them.
6)If there is a store that you shop at regularly or a product that you use regularly, get on their mailing list. I signed up with one of my local grocery stores, Raley’s, and they email me 6 coupons every week. In this week’s set of coupons was a coupon for a free bag of potatoes with any $10.00 purchase.
In the past few weeks I have also received coupons from Michael’s and Clean & Clear. I have even received coupons from clothing companies like Express and New York & Co.
It also never hurts to send a company an email and let them know that you appreciate their product and ask them if they have any coupons to send along. Many times they are happy to oblige.
7)If there is a specific coupon that you really want, consider buying it. There are two websites that sell coupons for a very good rate, The Coupon Master and The Coupon Clippers. I have never used these services, but I have heard very good things about them.
I would only consider doing this if it is a screaming deal on something you need, and you can fit it into your budget.
When you are actively looking for coupons, you will find that they are everywhere. Keep your eyes and ears open, and you will be amazed at how fast you can accumulate a large stash of coupons.
How To Get the Best Deals at Rite Aid
Posted by: | CommentsRite Aid is a drugstore with locations throughout the U.S. Click here to find your nearest store. Their promotional program mainly consists of their rebate program. They also have in store coupons that can be stacked with manufacturers coupons. Their store coupons can be found in their weekly sales ad and in their store.
Rebate Program- Single Check Rebate
The thing that is complicated about their rebate program is, some of the rebates are good for a few days, some are good for a week, some for a few weeks and some for the whole month. I also find their rebate booklet a little complicated to digest. It is set up by category, so if you are looking for health and beauty items you turn to that section. But, like I said, the rebates are all for different time frames, so it can be a lot to take in.
Now, how do you go about claiming you SCR? There are two ways. First, you can pick up their Rebate Directory, these are usually found at the front of the store near the weekly sales ad. There is a form on the back. Fill in all of the necessary information. Make a copy of the completed form, and you keep your original receipts. Mail it in and you should receive your money in 4-6 weeks.
The second way to claim your rebate is online at riteaid.com. From there, click on “Single Check Rebates” (it is near the bottom of the page on the left). Click on “Sign up for SCR.” Enter your information and click on “Submit my Request.” Next you will enter the information from your receipt. A few days later, they will send you an email letting you know which rebates have qualified. DO NOT request your check until the end of the rebate period. Once you request your check, you CAN NOT request any other rebates, for that rebate period. They say that if you request your check online, it should arrive within 2-3 weeks. Mine, however, seemed to take longer than that.
When you receive your check it will say, “use your check toward any purchase at Rite Aid.” Don’t take this to mean you have to use it at Rite Aid. It IS a check and you can deposit it at your bank.
Coupon Policies
Previously Rite Aid did not take Internet Printable coupons, however, most Rite Aid’s will now take them. So to find out if your Rite Aid does, you just have to give it a try. They also provide you with printable coupons from Rite Aid if you sign up at their website. To sign up click here.
Most Rite Aid’s allow you to use a store coupon and a manufacturer’s coupon on the same item, this is called “stacking coupons.” You can tell that it is a store coupon, because Rite Aid’s store coupon’s bar codes start with the letters RC.
Rite Aid frequently offers Rite Aid store coupons in little pamphlets or booklets. I have found these at the front counter, the cosmetics department and the pharmacy counter.
Hope this helps! If you have any questions, leave a comment and I will do my best to find you an answer.
Rain Checks
You can get a rain check on a rebate item and still get your rebate. It is a bit of a complicated process that you have to stay on top of, but Coupondink at Hot Coupon World has the scoop on how to ensure you get your rebate when using a rain check. Requesting a rebate can be well worth the time when there are fantastic rebates and the shelves at your store are bare.
Organizing Your Coupons
Posted by: | CommentsIf you have been clipping coupons, even for just a few weeks, you are going to have quite a large stockpile of coupons. What do you do with all of them? When I first started couponing, I used a little coupon organizer that I bought at the store. It was called a coupon organizer, and you have probably seen them before. They are about the size of an envelope and mine had 13 little pockets inside to organize your coupons.
The problem is, if you are a serious couponer, you have too many coupons for this little thing to hold. I would spend forever at the store trying to find the coupon that I wanted, and I couldn’t remember what coupons I had.
One of the most popular ways to organize coupons is a binder. Many people use a 3 ring binder and then they fill the binder with baseball card organizers. You can buy these at any office supply store. The problem that I had with this method, is that the baseball card organizers seemed too small to fit your coupons in, and I didn’t want to mess with having to fold my coupons. Plus with the baseball card organizers there are 9 coupons to a page, for me that is too overwhelming and sends my brain into overload.
Another way to organize coupons is with a box. You can use a photo organizing box, or a shoe box or a Rubbermaid type box, any box really. Then you just put organizing tabs in to separate the sections.
You can click on this forum at Hot Coupon World to see pictures of the ways people are organizing their coupons.
After a lot of thinking and going back and forth, this is the coupon organizer I bought:
(Excuse the grimy fingerprints!)
If you are going to use a photo organizer, make sure that you get one that the photo pockets open to the inside and not the edge, otherwise your coupons will fall out. I also like that there is a lot of room in the middle part so that I can get my coupons out easily.
I also bought these index tabs. They are made by 3M and cost about $3.00. They have their own adhesive on them and are really easy to use.
These are the categories that I have in my book:
In Store Coupons at Target
Posted by: | CommentsDid you know that Target puts out their own coupons every week and that you can stack them with manufacturers coupons? The coupons are only available on their website for that week, but there are several other websites that generate Target’s coupons. The one that I like to use is hotcouponworld.com.
To print off coupons, visit hotcouponworld.com. You will need to register with them. Then you will click on “Resources.” And then under “Print Coupons,” you will see “Target Coupon Generator,” click on the link. Find the coupon you want and enter the number of coupons you want into the little box next to the coupon. If you would rather see the actual coupons, instead of just a list, click on “Show Coupon Images.” Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Get Coupons.” Once you can see the coupons, go to the top of your internet browser and click on “File,” and then “Print.”
The really nice thing about printing from the coupon generator, is they all print on 1 piece of paper, saving you even more money!
What Do All of These Abbreviations Mean?
Posted by: | CommentsCouponers use their own language, and if you are new to couponing, it can be very confusing. Here is a list of abbreviations and lingo and what they mean.
7-day coupon: coupon found in Walgreens weekly ad
B1G1: buy 1 get 1 (ex. B1G1 free)
Catalina: a coupon that prints out with your receipt from a seperate printer
Easy Saver Catalog or ESR or ESC: this is the rebate book found at Walgreens
FAR: free after rebate
IP: internet printable coupon
IVC: instant value coupon, these are the coupons found in the Easy Saver Catalog at Walgreens
MC or MQ: manufacturers coupon
MIR: mail in rebate
OOP: out of pocket
P & G: Procter & Gamble
Peelies: peel off coupons found on products at stores
PSA: prices start at
Red Plum or Valassis (RP): coupon insert found in your Sunday Paper
RR: register rewards, catalina that prints out at Walgreens when you buy specific products
SCR: single check rebate, Rite-Aid’s rebate program
Smart Source (SS): coupon insert found in your Sunday Paper
Stack: refers to using two coupons for 1 purchase (ex. 1 store coupon and 1 MC)
YMMV: your mileage may vary (meaning in some stores this deal will be applicable, but you may have trouble trying it with others)
WYB: when you buy
How Do I Find A Good Deal At Walgreens?
Posted by: | CommentsIt took me a few months to figure out how to shop at Walgreens. There is a lot to learn, so first I will talk about each of the programs that they have to help you save money.
7 Day Coupons: These are coupons that are inside of Walgreens weekly ad. You will need to clip them out of the ad and give them to the cashier. You can combine a MC and a 7 day coupon.
Register Rewards: When you buy certain products, a Register Rewards or RR will print at the end of your order. They are a coupon that you can use on your NEXT order. “It will say something like $2.00 off your next shopping order.” They usually expire within about 2 weeks of being printed, so this is something to consider.
So for instance, one week there was a cereal RR deal. Buy 3 boxes of General Mills cereal and get $2.00 in RR back. So you pay full price for the cereal (unless you have coupons), then at the end you get your $2.00 coupon to use on your next purchase.
Something to look out for, sometimes they limit what you can use the RR on. For instance, I currently have a RR that says that it can not be used to purchase any P & G products (Procter and Gamble products).
You can read more about Register Rewards here.
A few more tips about shopping at Walgreens:
Before going to Walgreens, I make a list of what I want to buy, how much it will cost and what coupons I will use. It looks something like this:
Dixie paper plates: 2/$3.79 7 day coupon
3 boxes of cereal: 3/$7 -$3 MC / will give me $2 in RR
2 pkgs. Theragran vitamins: $4.99 each, B1G1 free/ FAR(free after rebate)
When I get to the store, I pick up the weekly sales ad. I do this so that I can double check that I am buying the right thing. Sometimes things are marked the wrong price, so I want to make sure that I am buying the right thing.
Check your receipt! I hate to go back and tell them it is wrong because I am a wimp. But you are working hard to save money, don’t let it go down the drain because something didn’t ring up the right way.
Make sure that you get your RR’s.
If a coupon won’t scan most cashiers do not know what to do about this. I usually casually ask if they need to ask a manager. Usually the manager will be able to get things to work.
I know this is a lot of information! Don’t get overwhelmed and if you have any questions leave me a comment, I am happy to help.
