Some things I've learned about Walgreens...

Today I went to Walgreens and was reminded of a few "rules" that I wanted to share with all of you...

1. You have to buy as many items as you have coupons/register rewards for. I bought the Colgate toothbrush for $3.29 and had a previous RR for $3.00 plus a coupon for .75 off my toothbrush. Since I had 2 "coupons", I had to get a filler item. This can be anything, even their .12 clearance Easter pencils or candy. {And by the way, the register rewards for this printed out as $3.50! So I bought the toothbrush for $2.54 and got back almost a dollar more!}

2. You cannot use your register rewards for the same product and get another register rewards. I.e. I could use the register rewards right then to buy another Colgate toothbrush. But another register rewards would not print out! I just used my register rewards I earned from buying chapstick to buy shaving cream and the RR from the shaving cream to pay for the toothbrush and it worked out fine. {Don't know what I am talking about? See here.}

3. Register rewards have to reach or exceed the amount of the item after coupons but before taxes. So don't buy something for $2.99 and use a $3.00 RR, it won't work. Either use a filler item like I mentioned or save your RR for a future purchase.

4. Register rewards do expire. You usually have a couple of weeks, but WATCH THE DATE!

**While I was there, I browsed through the 75% off Easter items. There were .12 pencils with spring erasers and .12 mini puzzles (great basket fillers for next year...), and huge pads of 319 stickers for .37 (Easter Bunnies and Disney characters). Great filler items if you need them for your purchases!

Food Co-op of Utah

At my class I taught last night, someone brought up the Food Co-op of Utah and I had never heard of it. So I did some research and hope to be able to try it out. They require 2 hours of community service {outside of your family} a month, but this can include school or church. I'm definitely covered! I am excited about this because the main part of my grocery bill each month comes from milk {my kids drink 4-5 gallons a week!}, bread, produce, and meat. Occasionally stores will have sales for free meat like Albertsons did last week or free eggs and milk when you purchase select items. But usually these items are not free and I just have to watch the ads to price match at Walmart, send my husband to Costco for, or find great meat sales to stock our freezer with! This is a great find for my fellow Utah readers...

The Community Food Coop of Utah
You can buy quality, healthy food for up to 50% off retail from the Community Food Co-op. Each month, we select about 15 items that you’re most likely to buy at the grocery store -- mostly fresh fruit, vegetables, staple items and frozen meat. Then through collective purchasing, we order mass quantities of these items at very low prices. Our food will come from the same wholesalers that supply your local grocery store, so you can expect the same quality. The food will NEVER be donated, out-dated, or damaged.

The order deadline for April has passed, so sign up for May and try this out yourself!

**While running today, my running partner told me about a friend who uses this program. She loves it and has never had any problems with the quality. She did say that sometimes she get something she doesn't know what to do with, like an eggplant. But she just searches the internet and finds a recipe that works for her!**

Teaching the Trade

My neighbor and I taught a class tonight about how to get started with couponing. I think we might have overwhelmed everyone with all the deals you can get! Don't give up on me girls. I'll coach you through it. We began the evening by asking everyone to predict how much they thought we spent on these products (including the items on the table and fireplace). The lucky winner got a coupon binder as a prize with smarties for being so smart. So I am wondering what your predictions are before I post the total amount. Click on the picture for a more detailed view. This is all before taxes...

{And no fair guessing if you came to the party!}

**For those of you that came, here are the answers to two questions that I promised to answer in a post:

1) the Newspaper code to get 52 weeks for $39.00 is below:
Right now only new subscribers (in the last 60 days) can get 52 weeks of the Salt Lake Tribune for $39
(Fri-Sun print editions, Mon-Thur e-Edition)
Ask for code 52/39T

2) The All You Magazine that is often referred to on pinchingyourpennies and other blogs has a deal for 2 years at $17.99! They are normally $2.50 at the stores for one magazine. So this is a great deal. I found the deal here and all the details on how to get it. It is full of coupons every month, often for free items. This month has no free items, but TONS of coupons!

Price adjustment

Last week, I got a swimsuit from Target.com and only 3 days later it went down in price by $3.00. Fortunately they allow price adjustments and all I had to do was call in and they adjusted it for me with no questions asked. Did you know many stores offer this? You don't even have to take in the items, just the receipt and they will honor it. Some of the stores time frames that they will price adjust from original purchase are:

Gymboree - 7 days
Gap, Banana Republic - 7 days
Old Navy - 14 days
Target -14 days
Children's Place - 14 days
{They will only price adjust from full price merchandise paid.
So if you got the item on clearance and it goes cheaper, Children's Place will not adjust}
Eddie Bauer - 14 days
{from the day it was shipped if done online. They also will not adjust clearance items}

There have been many times I bought items at a store and then it goes on an even better sale a few days later. I walk in and ask them to price adjust my items. Within moments, I am getting money back. Love it!

Check your favorite stores to see what their time frames are. If you google the store name and "price adjustment", you can find most store's policies.

Getting started lesson #4...What's a price match?

Did you know that Walmart will price match any advertiser's ad?

I thought everybody knew this, but am realizing that many people do not. I save all of my local grocery store ads that come weekly. When I need to go grocery shopping, I make a list of all the things I need. Then I find the cheapest price in all the ads and write that down with the letter of the store by the item (just in case they ask to see the ad). I continue down my list. Once this is done, I go to my coupon list (right now there are only lists for select states) on pinchingyourpennies and see if any coupons match up to what I am buying. Then I clip them and paperclip it to my list. Finally take your ads with you! 99.9% of the time they don't even ask me for the ads. I get up to the check stand and say I'd like to price match these items and they just ask the price. But one time I had the cashier ask for the ads and I was sure glad I had them after filling my cart with groceries.

Once I get to Walmart, I watch for 3 things:

1. Walmarts prices are often cheaper than the lowest competitors price. In that case, I scratch it off so I don't price match a higher one!

2. Sometimes the lowest competitors price + coupon is still more expensive than the generic brand. Assuming I can live with the generic brand (there are some things I just have to have the brand name of... i.e. my kids don't like any kind of storebought macaroni and cheese but Kraft. Do you have things like this?), I just get that item instead and save the coupon for another day. Whenever I save a coupon I didn't use for whatever reason, I staple it back into the insert I got it out of so I can find it at a future date.

3. Watch sizes closely. Make sure you get the same ounces as are listed in the competitors ads and coupons. The one time Walmart wanted to check my ad was when they needed to verify the size of cereal I was buying. Plus, we want to be honest so they'll keep providing this price matching.

*I have found Walmart Neighborhood Markets to be the best with this. They specialize in food and are used to price matching. The Walmart Supercenters will also price match, it just seems to be a little more complicated and they have always asked me for ads!

**Walmart will not price match percentages off or buy one get one free.

Getting started lesson #3...Don't get overwhelmed just yet...

Ahh!!!

Where to begin?

There is so much info!

If I were just starting out, I would find ONE thing to go get a screaming deal on. Buy a Sunday bundle {This week there are no coupons due to Easter... so don't buy this week!}. See if neighbors, parents or grandparents just throw their coupons away and ask them to save them for you. {Multiple sets of coupons are great - more great deals for you!} Print off an internet coupon. Or try one of the deals I've mentioned this weekend.

When you walk out of a store with something completely free or better yet making money... you'll be hooked.

My first experience with this was accidental. Several years ago, I went to Target on an after-Halloween clearance hunt. They had Chips Ahoy cookies on clearance for 90% off. I believe they were 29 cents. There was also a peelie on the cookies for a dollar off when you buy two. I thought I might as well see if they'd accept it. Of course they will! The manufacturers pay them the money for the coupon! So for every 2 packages of cookies I bought that day, I earned 40 cents**! Needless to say, I went home with A LOT of cookies!

**When it comes to overage, different stores handle this differently. Some are fine to give you money back. Some stores {I've had this happen at Smiths} will override the coupon to only give you the amount back you are paying. Other stores just make you use it towards another store item. I usually just buy something extra to cover the overage.**

I walked out of that store in awe and shared that story for a long time... until I realized you can get deals like this every week!

Don't jump in all at once... breathe :)

Once you are hooked, then you can start collecting, organizing and making your weekly game plans. And then I'd love to hear your stories!

Getting Started lesson #2...But I don't get the newspaper...

... don't give up on me just because you don't get the newspaper.

If you are interested in a newspaper...

Near me, Sunday newspapers are sold at local grocery stores on Monday and Tuesday for $2.00 and you get 2 Newspapers (1 Deseret News and 1 Salt Lake Tribune) with coupon inserts. Last week there were 5 coupon inserts! That would definitely have been worth buying the grocery bundle! Call your local grocer and see if this is available.

You can check www.pinchingyourpennies.com and they have several newspaper options listed for varying locations in the state forums. I like to be aware of these and ask my friends and neighbors BEFORE I call the Newspaper agency because from my experience, they are NOT going to tell you about specials unless you ask about them. Kind of like the pizza places! The best deals are usually for first time newspaper subscribers. For example:
right now only new subscribers (in the last 60 days) in my area can get 52 weeks of the Salt Lake Tribune for $39
(Fri-Sun print editions, Mon-Thur e-Edition)
Ask for code 52/39
(Thanks to PYP for the info!)

If you already have a newspaper... I learned a while ago that if you call in and say you heard there was a better deal, often times they will give it to you! My friend was paying the same amount for her monthly newspaper as I was in a year! If you think you are paying too much, do something about it!

What if you don't have a paper and have no intentions of getting one?

The latest fad is internet coupons. You can print them from target.com, boodle.com, Coupons.com, smartsource.com, bettycrocker.com, boxtops4education.com, pillsbury.com, redplum.com, allfullcup.com, hotcouponworld.com, and many manufacturer's websites. Many of these websites allot a certain number of internet coupons. When they are gone... they are gone. So if you see one that is high value or something you definitely would use, print it off when you see it.

A new feature is through Smith's grocery store's website where you can download your coupons right onto your preferred card. No need to clip or use up your printer ink! You can only put a certain number of coupons on at a time, but if you need more, you can always just print them off.

One thing to note... Albertsons has gotten strict about their printable coupons and is requiring them to be color copied now. Bummer.. my color ink cartridge doesn't work. That's the only store I've heard using this policy so far.

Getting started lesson #1...Organization...

I have always been a couponer. In fact I have been made fun of for having a coupon for everything. But in the past, I just went through the Sunday inserts and clipped what I thought I would really use. Now, this mentality has completely gone out the window. Because many times the things that are free after a coupon are items/brands I wasn't using. But hey, I can use Colgate toothpaste if it's free! I now have an accordian folder like this...
and I save all of the coupon inserts as a whole insert. When I receive the inserts, I label in black sharpie what the date was it came in the newspaper. They are organized in chronological order and very easy for me to pull out when a hot item is on sale.

If you haven't done this with past inserts, the date is 0n the binding of the front page in very tiny print. Also one time my baby got into some of my coupons and mixed them up. I had no clue which was which. I just went over to www.pinchingyourpennies.com {one of my favorite sources} and clicked on the coupon list on the top. The coupons are all listed alphabetically and I was able to figure out which coupon went in which insert.

I bet you are asking why??? How in the world are you going to be able to find the coupons you need? Well every blog, message board, website and group that I go to refers to your coupons by the day they were delivered with your paper, just like I did in my Lysol and Danimals posts. This has simplified my life greatly to organize this way.

Now you're asking, but what if I just want to use my coupons and it isn't linked to an amazing sale? If I am going grocery shopping for things I need right that moment and I can't wait for an amazing sale to come up, I can always go to the pinching your pennies coupon list referred to above and scroll down to see if there are any coupons on the items I need. Although sometimes I end up just buying the generic brand if it is cheaper**.

**In this case, I staple my coupon back in it's insert so I can use it at a future sale.

Finally... for my coupons to local stores, dry cleaning, restaurants, etc, I have a small accordian coupon booklet that I keep in my purse for easy access. The big file stays in my car for whenever I need to grab it...