Rebates

Rebates are a great way to save money and often make money off your purchases. Walgreen's and Rite Aid have rebates every month in their catalogs you can view online or pick one up at the store.

Rebates that I have been doing lately besides Walgreen's and Rite Aid are Beer Rebates. Rebates from beer companies. The great thing about these for people living in Utah (and some other states) is that no beer purchase is required.

You can find these beer rebates at your local grocery store down the beer isle, sitting on boxes, or taped to the wall, or on displays, and sometimes in the meat section.

They usually want you to purchase items like hot dogs, chips, condiments, deli items, and meat. Occasionally they will have some for gas, electronics and other items. They are always coming out with new rebates for different things!

I keep all receipts. When I get a new rebate, I look through all the receipts that I already have and use those. So they are items that I all ready purchased, and would have without the rebate. Some items I am lucky and get to go out and buy Papa Murphy's pizza, we don't get that often, but for 3 dollars for 3 pizzas (after rebate), I couldn't refuse!

When you send in a rebate, Keep a copy of the rebate form, and the receipts and the date that you mailed the rebate, so if there are any problems, you can look to your records.

The hard thing about Rebates is that you have to pay the money upfront and get it back in return, but its well worth it when you can get the items for cheap(er), free, or make money off the item.

Seasonal Sales Cycles

This is a MUST HAVE for couponing and sales!

Seasonal Sales Cycles

JANUARY -
Historically, Quaker has hot deals on cereal/all items. We see Pepsi/Tostitos go on sale mid-January (again, rebates abound for these). Other items of note this time of year are chili, side dishes, anything for hearty/warm meals.
• Post-Holiday Sales
• White Sales
• Sports and Weight Loss Equipment
• Computers
• Winter Apparel and Accessories
· Organizers, Rubbermaid totes, shelf organizers, planners, filing cabinets

FEBRUARY –
many of the same food items as January
• Electronics
• Floor Coverings
• Housewares
• Furniture
• Candy and Chocolates

MARCH -
Frozen food month. You'll find many stores are offering free freezers or fill-a-bag deals. Between March and April, look for spring cleaning deals, so many cleaner items will be on sale. With Easter, looks for eggs, ham, Kraft products to cycle into good sales. Paper products like towels, napkins, plates are starting to come on strong. Beverage items.
• Spring Apparel and Accessories
• Winter Sports Equipment
• Gardening Supplies
• Luggage

APRIL –
• Spring Apparel and Accessories
• Coats and Hats
• Paint
• Wallpaper
• Jewish Foods and Eggs

MAY -
get ready for summer! Here come loads of deals on BBQ sauce, frozen veggies, baked beans, and condiments of all kinds, summer-time meats (ribs, hotdogs, and ground beef). Also with all the holidays, look for tons of paper goods that match the holiday and pick them up after clearance. These deals generally continue through September!
• White Sale - Linens and Towels
• Spring Cleaning Supplies
• Auto Maintenance
• Home Maintenance
• Sodas & Bottled Water, Hot dogs, Hamburger Meat, Condiments, Paper & Plastic plates & cups
* Raid/Off bug repellents and sunscreens

JUNE –
• Summer Apparel and Accessories
• Pianos
• Television Sets
• Building Materials and Hardware
• Dairy Products

JULY –
• Air Conditioners
• Summer Sports Equipment
• Sportswear
• Craft Supplies
• Sodas, Hotdogs, Hamburger Meat, Condiments

AUGUST –
• White Sale - Linen and Towels
• BBQ and Patio Equipment
• Back to School Supplies
• Bathing Suits
• Fresh Fish and Vegetables
• Breakfast foods (Cold cereal-Juice-Waffles-etc)
• Cold lunch items for in lunch boxes

SEPTEMBER -
back to school; time to fill up on snacks! Pudding cups, Capri suns, fruit snacks, cereal sales start up hard again, peanut butter/jelly. Also, like clockwork, there will be Prego coupons in August, and plan on getting lots and using them in a hurry before they expire in September when the spaghetti sauce goes on sale. Sauce wars between Ragu and Prego this month. Campbell’s soups will go on as well and there will be coupons in the end of August for these as well. Lunchables are on sale this time of year, too.
• Back to School Supplies and Apparel
• Gardening Supplies
• Housewares
• Bicycles
• Canned Goods

OCTOBER -
Stock up on holiday foods – Stove Top, turkey, instant mashed potatoes, broth, cranberries, marshmallow, ice cream, pie shells, whipped cream, pudding. Look for great Kraft deals again this time of year. Piggyback those Kraft coupons when you can. Crackers are a biggie - going on for $1 or less a box. Lots of extra deals like $ off cheese WYB crackers. The real kicker is the after Christmas food deals! Save your coupons because pie fixings, fried onion, broth and canned green beans will be on deep discount. I got those onions for .50 a can, normally almost $4. These generally continue through December.
• Cars
• Houses
• Fishing Equipment
• Crystal, Silver, and Glassware
• Candy
· Baking/candy-making items (choc chips, sprinkles, vanilla, corn syrup, nuts, etc)

NOVEMBER -
• Winter Apparel and Accessories
• Quilts and Blankets
• Heating Devices
• Turkey, Sweet Potatoes
• Canned goods (soup, chicken broth, condensed milk, veggies etc)
• Baking goods

DECEMBER –
• Toys
• Gift Items
• Party ware
• Post-Holiday Sales
• Party Foods, Baking Goods, and Various Meat
• Canned goods (broth, soups, etc)

Year-round after a holiday, you can always pick up cheap cookie dough and any food related to a holiday.

Continual sales are candy, popcorn, chips, anything snacky, cereal (heavier in the fall/winter, but still around in the spring).
Frozen food sales seem to centralize on a brand and the switch brands the next month. I think the manufacturers buy slot time for sales. So last month, Stouffers was on sale hard, now lean cuisine is. Save the entire frozen coupon and then keep checking back for the brand of the month.

Frozen pizzas go on sale in the fall and then again the spring; not often in the summer because people don't want to turn their ovens on in the summer.

By all means, this isn't everything that you can get on sale, but if you follow the cycle and stock up (I never buy BBQ sauce in the winter), then you can get where you have enough on hand and only need to refill when the items are in season. The result is that you spend less and less with each successful cycle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sources: Various numerous sites on the internet

Tips and Tricks

Here are some tips and some tricks that might come in handy with couponing:

B1g1f sale- you can use 2 coupons for a b1g1f sale. Example: Poptarts are on a b1g1f for $2. and you have coupons that say 50 cents off one. you can use 2 coupons because you are getting 2 products and get them for $1.

B1g1f sales and B1g1f coupons: When using a b1g1f coupon combined with a b1f1f sale you can use 2 coupons and get 4 items free. Example, B1g1f sale on hot dogs you have 2 coupons for b1g1f. You can get 4 packages of hot dogs and use 2 coupons for b1g1f and get the other 2 free from the sale. All for packages for Free! (YMMV-This may or may not work depending on your checker at your store. Sometimes they allow it, sometimes they don't.)

Coupons on Smallest Size product: To get the best deal you use your coupons on the smallest size possible. Travel sizes are the best. Unless the coupons says a specific size or says Not valid on trial size or travel Size, you can use your coupons on these items, and get them for free.

Clearance Items: If an item is on clearance, you can still use a coupon for that item.

Store coupons and Manufacture coupons: You can combine store coupons and manufacture coupons together on 1 item. example: Huggies Diapers are on sale for $8.99. You have and store coupon for 2 dollars off and a manufacture coupon for 1 dollars off. Use both coupons and get the diapers for $5.99.

Albertsons- Ball Park Hot Dogs!

Right now Albertsons is having a b1g2f! yes, thats Buy 1 get 2 free on their Ball Park meat hot dogs. One package is 3.99.

There are blinkies out there, or tear pads that say buy 2 ball park hot dogs get 1 pack of Sara Lee Buns Free! 6 packs of hot dogs and 3 packs of Sara Lee Buns for 7.98.

The sale Started Yesterday! and will go until next Wednesday!

Sears Kids shoes!

Sears right now has a sale on their shoes for b1g1 half off. They have a selection of children's shoes clearance starting at 4.99. I bought 8 pairs of shoes for 32 dollars + tax. RUN!

What I did, What you can do!

Yesterday I got one pack of

Jumbo Huggies Diapers regularly $11.49 for $4.61 and 2 tubs of wipes regularly 3.00 for .17 cents each. Totaling $4.94. Yahoo! Tax was included in the pricing!

What I did.

Huggies Diapers is on sale for 9.49 at Walgreens this week. I had 2 (4 dollars off total purchase) RR's that are going to expire on 9/1 so I decided to use one RR and 1 manufacture coupon for 1.50 dollars off 1 pack of diapers equaling 3.99 plus tax.

Huggies wipes are on sale for 2 for 5 I used the other RR and a coupon for .50 cents off. Totaling 0.00 plus tax.

What you can do...

Huggies diapers have a RR print out for 2 dollars off next shopping trip when you buy 1. you can use a coupon for 1 dollar off (which are right in front of the diapers at Walgreens, or most other grocery store) and get them for 8 dollars plus a $2 RR

Wipes are on sale for 2 for5. there are .50 cents off one tub of wipes you can use 2 and get 1 dollar off. so it would be 2 for 4.

Those are good prices for diapers and wipes!

1 coupon per purchase VS 1 coupon per transaction-

I want to tell the differences between 1 coupon per purchase and 1 coupon per transaction. This often gets confused.

1 coupon per purchase VS 1 coupon per transaction-

Once in a while, you will get some inexperienced checker who will tell you that you can't use your 10 coupons for cereal for your 10 boxes. She will say, It's one per purchase! Yes, she is absolutely right, its one per purchase. I am purchasing 1o items, so I can use 10 coupons. Each item is considered a purchase. Every item together is considered a transaction. Unless the coupon says one item per transaction, then you are safe to use all your coupons!

Western Family Deals

Check out Mywesternfamily.com every week for a coupon for a free item. This week its Western Family Duo Cookies.

They will do this for 10 more weeks. This week is the 3rd week, so there will be many more products to get for free!

You have to watch the webisode to get the coupon. Take the coupon to any store that sells western family products. the coupons are only good for the week before they expire.

How to Make a Binder

Here is my recipe for the binder method.

Ingredients:
zipper binder with a strap
base ball card holder page protectors (Michaels or Roberts 40% off coupon)
page dividers
calculator (All a Dollar)
scissors (All a Dollar)

Categories I use:

Baby	Bread & Cereal
Cleaning Supplies	Fridge
Desserts	Meat
Medicine	Paper Goods
Personal Hygiene	Misc. Coupons
Restaurant Coupons	Rebate Receipts
Receipts to keep	Receipts to Return Items
Freezer Items	Canned and Jarred Items
Boxed and Bagged Items	Gift Cards
Air Fresheners	Tooth Paste and Brushes
Deodorant	Laundry Detergent
Target In-Store Coupons	Misc. In-Store Coupons
Walgreen's In-Store Coupons	Rite Aid In-Store Coupons

Directions:

Organize your categories in your binder using your tab dividers. place at least 2 page protectors between each category, you can add more later as you need them. place extra in back of your binder for easy access.

I did a personal hygiene, toothpaste, and deodorant category because I tend to get a lot of these coupons and it is easier for me to have them separated then to search through just one category. same with Boxed and Bagged, and Bread and Cereal, and others. I just put the main category like Boxed and bagged first, and Bread and Cereal behind it. Remember is your binder, you can organize it any way you like. I am just giving you an idea of what I do.

Place coupons into page protectors. Try to get the product and the expiration date in the front so you can easily see them. Most coupons will fit right in, other will have to be folded.

Walgreens $5 off $20 purchase

http://www.walgreens.com/hotbuys/default.jsp

Use Aug 22, and 23 only!

Every so often Walgreens will come out with a coupon for $5 off $20 purchase. You have to read the fine print there are some exclusions, but if you use these properly, you can get a great deal! Part of the fine print says must spend $20 after all coupons and discounts. So you have to plan on spending $20. You can use these on rebate items, so you can make money off your rebates, or you can use them on items that don't normally go on sale and save that way.

You can find the Easy Saver Catalog and Walgreens current ad at http://www.walgreens.com/default.jsp Or you can go to your local Walgreens and pick them up there.

Right now, there are 7 items this month that you can receive free after rebate.

Walgreens soft white light bulbs 4 pack or 3 way single
Vacuum bags (2 rebates)
Biofusion Organics or Olive hair care
walgreens pitcher Filter replcement cartridge
Jane Be pure mineral powder, brush or foundation
Pert Plus 2 in 1 Shampoo or conditioner 13.5 oz

These are the items, you will have to go to the catalog for more detail.
There are coupons out there for the Pert plus. $2/1 or $3/1. You would make 2 or 3 dollars depending on which coupon you used! I also have a rebate form from Pert Plus that is a try me free. You can submit your receipt to them go get another 3 or so dollars free! But you must have the rebate form!

Just because an item doesn't say free in the catalog, doesn't mean its not free! You can use coupons and get it free, or even make money off it, if the item is on sale.

Or you can use this coupon on items that don't go on sale, like stamps. I use so many stamps each day. I am going to be getting stamps with this coupon.

How to get started:

First you need to know a few things about coupons and sales, they are friends. I often have people ask, "Isn't it just cheaper to buy the generic brands?" NO! That is a common misconception of couponing. You do not get your coupons and rush out and buy the product. You wait until the item goes on sale and then by using your coupons and the sale, you get the item for a great deal! Sales and coupons are fantastic!

The idea of using coupons is that you stockpile. You buy 10 bags of cereal when normally you would have bought 1 at a time. You buy it when its at a good sale price, and use coupons, and then you wont have to buy it for a long time and you got a great deal! If you buy 10 bags of cereal then you need 10 coupons right?...

There are many ways to get coupons. The best way to get coupons is the Sunday Paper. You are going to want to order a few papers every Sunday from your local Newspaper. Other ways to get coupons are from blinkys- blinkys are little red when you boxes you see when you walk up and down the isle at the store they have a blinking dot, hence the name blinkys. They have coupons in them for specific items. Catalinas print out at Smiths and Albertsons when you buy specific products. They are usually great coupons. Printable coupons are coupons you can print off the internet and use at your store. Peelies- peelies are coupons that are stuck to the item for sale. another way to get coupons is to trade them. I trade the coupons that I wont use, like dog food, cat food, and whatever else I wont use for coupons that I need and will use.

Find out your store's coupon policys. Do they double, triple? Do they accept printable coupons? you need to know before you go!

You need to get organized. There are so many ways to organize coupons. There is a box method, a binder method, a filing method, find which method works for you and get organized. I prefer the binder method.

Find a group to join. I like Pinchingyourpennies.com. There you can print out a shopping list and they rate the sales for you. This site is a great tool.

Just remember, using coupons is as easy or as hard as you make it!