Step One
Sure everyone wants to save money but time is also very important especially when you have little ones. I have seen the coupon folders or organizers, but all that flipping is confusing and hard to do with toddlers. I suggest when time permits to enter all your coupons on a spreadsheet. Some important things to be sure to include are name (Prego), Expires (5-03), on hand (this is quantity{3}), and how much (.40 or .50/2 this would be .50 on 2 items). It seems very time consuming but in the end you will be able to skim down the page and know exactly how much you can save.
Step Two
Go through all the sales. Walgreens, CVS, Target, Walmart, Heb, Fiesta, General Dollar, Family Dollar, Sun Harvest and / or Whole Foods. This is where you sign up for email flyer's to save on time and having to buy the newspaper. Write down what you think is a good deal. Most stores advertise the same product the same week for competition of consumers. Okay now subtract your coupon amount and get the real price. Is it a good deal?
Step Three
Remember important key elements which differ between all stores.
Heb does not take manufactured coupons along with their in store coupon (a.k.a Double Couponing). So you want to aim for manufactured coupons on the combo things. Make sure the item is something you will pay for, that way you can use the coupon to get a discount. The other item that is free you can not use a coupon on. Heb will only accept colored coupons and does not price match.
Walgreens has great sales but some employees are not coupon friendly. There are rules about using so many coupons per transaction. So I just pick up the sale ad, this is all I need to do.
CVS has better sales than Walgreens most of the time. They also have a coupon rule on how many you can use at once or per transaction. So again I bypass the red tape and just pick up a sales ad.
Both Walgreens and CVS use what I call "fake money" to get you to come back. I have a hard time when you need to use this reward stuff by a certain date to actually redeem the value. So if you shop just to get the rewards but never return to actually redeem them, you are spinning your wheels along with overpaying for the things.
Randalls is tricky when it comes to sales. Most of the time it is overpriced. They triple coupons up to .39 and double up to .50 which is great only when the price is right. If you have multiple coupons for the same item they will only double or triple the first coupon and the other coupons will be at face value. This can actually hurt you if you don't expect this. Even some of the sales are not the lowest prices around.
Walmart is great with already low prices. I don't like shopping at Wal-Mart, but they price match with no complaints. So take the CVS and Walgreen's (any store sales ad) sale ads to the store to get the best deal and use your coupons with no attitude from the employees. They will not double or triple any coupons but consider the amount of time and gas before you go for Randall's or Albertsons (which is in San Marcos). Kmart is even doubling coupons up to $2.oo in some places.
Step Four
Get it together. Go with a buddy. Know what you are going to buy, which coupons you are going to use and how much it should be. Every time I go shopping I can guarantee one price will be wrong and if you don't get it corrected at that time good luck with the hopes of coming back. Don't buy anything else without research. Bring all your coupons and your spreadsheet coupon list. Write down prices if you think they are good deals and double check. Don't forget to look at ounces and limits. The larger size is not the better buy always. Break out the calculator if in doubt. A number one thing to look for is when there are multiple size boxes with different prices of the same product. Okay, most of the time the store breaks the price down into ounces for you. When they don't break the price down, this your red flag to double check the price. Sometimes the deal is not the bargain it appears to be.
To put this into perspective here are some of the great bargains I am referring to:
Walgreens
Gillette Product 12.2 oz Shampoo for him for 3.99 use the 1.25 coupon from Fiesta Coupon Book = 2.74
Huggies wipes 64 or 72 ct 2/$5.00 use two .75 coupons printable = 3.50 for 2 huggies wipes
CVS
Dawn 10.3 oz for .99 use .40 coupon for Fiesta Coupon Book = .59
Fiji Water 6 pack for 5.99 use 1.50 coupon printable =4.49
Tide 2x liquid loads 24-32 or powder loads 31-40 5.94 use 1.00 coupon = 4.94
Randalls
Raisin Brain 20 oz 1.99 use 1.00 coupon printable = .99
Dannon Activia 2/$5.00 use two 1.00 coupons coupon master= 3.00
Tyson Chicken Nuggets B1G1 2/ $7.99 use two 1.00 coupons = 2/ 5.99
Target
Skippy peanut butter 15-16.3 oz 1.69 use .40 coupon Fiesta coupon book = 1.29
Clorox 3/$5.00 use three .50 coupons Fiesta coupon book = 3/ 3.50
HEB
Combo buy Tylenol use 1.00 off coupon or St. Josephs Aspirin use 1.00 coupon get ozarka 6 pack free
Remember, I will not go to all these stores. I will get them price matched at Walmart for the most part. I will have to go to Heb for the water deal.
You can find coupons everywhere. Fiesta has a coupon book that has about $30.00 in savings. Pick up a few. The coupon master are newspaper coupons use pick and choose and have sent directly to you. Google any product to find a printable coupon or sign up for a savings from certain companies.
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