******Save ALL coupons. I can’t stress that enough. Yea, you may not use a product, but you never know when that will become a “money maker”. Honestly, can you say you will NEVER buy a product if a store pays you to walk out with it? If you can, by all means, toss away.
Expired:
What do you do with all the expired coupons? Oversea military can use them up to 6 months past the expiration dates.
Go to opcnet for a list of bases that wish to receive expired coupons.
Where to find:
· Newspaper
· Magazines
All You is in my opinion, the best magazine to get coupons from. Note, when you subscribe to All You Magazine, you may get different coupons than if you purchase the magazine off the shelf.
Keep your eyes peeled for coupons in others. There’s some high dollar ones to be found.
· Mail
Sign up for mailing lists and companies will send you coupons in the mail.
· Printable
Coupons you can print from the Internet
· Blinkie
Found in stores. Little red machine that “spits” coupons at you.
· Tearpads
Found in stores, paper coupon display, you can “tear off”
· Peelies
Found on products.
Read the fine print on coupons. Many people (especially cashiers when you are checking out!) make the mistake of thinking that you can only use the coupon on the item pictured. This is not the case. You go by the wording on the coupon.
“Limit one coupon per purchase”
Limit one coupon per item purchased. So if you buy three packs of diapers, you may use three of the coupons, one coupon for each pack.
“Limit one coupon per transaction”
Only one coupon may be used in a transaction. So if you wanted to purchase those three packs of diapers, you would have to have the cashier split it up into multiple transactions or use them another day.
Abbreviations:
· Blinkies – Dispenses in store. Little red machine that spits out coupons.
· B1G1 or BOGO – Buy one get one free
· CAT or Catalina – Coupon the prints off at the register
· Double Coupon – When a store doubles your coupon. A .75 coupon double is 1.50
· ECB – Extra Care Bucks. CVS program
· IP – Internet Printable
· MIR – Mail In Rebate
· OAS – Coupon good on any size
· OOP – Out of pocket
· OYNO – On your next order
· P&G – Proctor & Gamble
· POP – Proof of purchase
· RC- Rain check
· RP- Redplum
· RR- Register Rewards
· SCR – Rite Aid Single Check Rebates
· SS – Smart Source
· Stacking – Using a store coupon and a manufacture coupon on the same item
· TMF – Try me free
· UP – Rite Aid UP Rewards
· WYB – When You Buy
· YMMV- Your Mileage May Vary – May vary from store to store.
A Rain check is basically a store’s promise to you that you will get the sale price at a later date if the store is out of the item.
· Example – Giant Eagle has cases of soda for $3.00 and you go to buy some and they are out, you can then ask for a rain check for the sodas. You can then go to Giant Eagle any time after that (until the rain check expires) and buy the cases of soda for $3.00.
It’s helpful to keep a copy of the ad with the rain check or at least cut out the sale price of the item, just in case you run into issues.
Always get rain checks if you notice a good deal and the store is out, even if you were not planning on buying the item. You never know what coupons will come out to make the product cheap or free. This is quite helpful at stores where the rain checks never expire.
Coupon Binder
I keep my binder organized into different binders within one binder using a Case-It Binder
I use baseball card holders to hold the coupons
Information Binder
In the front pocket I keep a calculator, scissors, foldable reusable shopping bag, pens, little notebook, pencils, paperclips and an envelope to collect Boxtops in.
I then have a pencil pouch where I keep my “store envelopes” (Envelopes for coupons I plan to use during that trip), and store rewards.
List of the stores I frequent contact information, store hours, and corporate numbers
List of coupon websites, blogs, forums, etc.
Then, divided by sections: ( I keep store ads in each of these sections as well)
Superstores
o K-Mart
o Target
§ Store Policy
§ Store Coupons
§ “Target Tips”, got from another blog
o Wal-Mart
§ Store Policy
Drugstores
o CVS
§ Store Policy
§ Store Coupons
o Rite-Aid
§ Store Policy
· Store Coupons
o Walgreens
§ Store Policy
§ Store Coupons
· “Walgreens Tips”, got from another blog
Grocery
o Weis
§ Store Policy
§ Store Coupons
o Giant Eagle
§ Store Policy
§ Store Coupons
o Martin’s
Other Stores
· Other Store’s Coupons (Fast Food, Clothing, Etc.)
Price book
· List of prices of items from stores I frequent
Rebates
· List of rebates I’ve mailed out
· Rebates available
· Envelopes, Stamps, Address Labels
Receipts
· Just where I keep my receipts till I file them away
Food Binder
· Baking
· Breakfast
o Cereal
o Misc.
o Coffee
· Canned/Dressing
· Dairy/Meats
o Cheese
o Yogurt
o Misc.
o Meats
· Drinks
· Frozen
o Desserts
o Meals
· Sides/Helpers
· Snacks
o Candy
o Chips
o Cookies/Crackers
o Fruit
o Misc.
Household/Personal
Household
· Cleaning
o Bathroom
o Floors
o Fragrance
o Misc. Cleaning
o Soap
· Laundry
· Misc.
o Batteries
o Misc.
o Office Supplies
o Storage Containers/Bags
· Paper Products
· Pets
o Cats
o Dogs
· Toilet Paper
Personal
· Body wash/Soap
· Deodorant
· Face Products/Makeup
· Feminine Products
· Hair Products
· Kid Products
· Lotion
· Medicine
· Shaving
· Teeth
