“I don’t use coupons! The companies put them out there so we will spend more money!” Yep you are right. Coupons are a form of advertising. The manufacturers know that if you try the product you might like it, and if you like the product you might buy it again. You may even tell your friends about it so their little product has that word of mouth buzz all advertisers crave. But is there a way to turn the tables and get a good deal? I think there is if you stick to some simple rules.
Singles are Good Doubles are Better!
I think of coupons like a baseball diamond. Let’s say you were hungry and budget conscious. So rather than eating out you decide to stop off at a Target superstore and grab a frozen dinner. In fact, you will grab enough for the week so you don’t have to stop off each night on your way home. Now if target had frozen dinner’s on sale then you might think, “Wow, that is awesome I’ll get those!” A coupon is just a sale with pre planning. Rather than leaving it up to fate, some people enjoy the saving so much that they are willing to do a bit of snipping and stick the paper in their wallets for the next time they need frozen food. Coupons can be found in your Sunday paper insert or on the internet. Many times stores put up coupons like this one from Target: Target Smart One Coupon
Which offers $5 off of the purchase of 10 Smart Ones frozen meals. Since smart ones typically run about $1.99 a box at Target, your cost would regularly be $19.90 for 10. If you use the coupon, you could get $5 off of that price dropping you down to $14.90 or $1.48 a box. Hey that is pretty good!
But what if we could do better? We can.
Coupons generally come in two varieties, Store made (like the one from target above) and manufacturer made, like this one: Manufacturer Smart Ones Coupon
Which will save you $4.00 when you purchase 10 boxes of Smart Ones? When you use a manufacturer’s coupon at a store like Target, the store collects all of the coupons and turns them back into the manufacturer for payment. This means that manufacturer coupons are as good as cash to the retailers. As a result, most stores will let you add a manufacturer coupon and a store coupon together on the same item (called “stacking”).
Where our single hit of a coupon bringing the transaction total down to $14.90 was good, our double brings your $10 boxes of Smart Ones down to just $10.90! That is just $1.09 a box! Feeding myself for just over $1 a meal is not too shabby.
In addition to stacking coupons most stores will allow you to take the coupon off of sale priced items as well (unless the terms on the coupon expressly forbid it).
So we have two ways to get a double on our Smart Ones:
(1) Manufacturer coupon + store coupon = Double; or
(2) Manufacturer coupon or store coupon + Sale = Double.
But can we do better? Sometimes we can.
Triples are Awesome!
If stacking coupons or staking a coupon with a sale is a double, then a triple would be when you hit all three. This is when you should start to consider buying in larger quantities because the savings really start to add up. Let’s go back to our Smart Ones example. What if Target put the meals on sale for $1.75 each + our manufacturer coupon + our Target coupon? Well then your total price would be: $7.75!!! or $.75 a box.
“Wait, wait, wait…” you say, “the store won’t put it on sale, because they know that there are coupons out there.” You are correct, it doesn’t happen often but it does occur. Part of getting the most out of this is jumping on these deals when they come up so that you don’t have to pay more for the same merchandize later. So when a triple comes up, we should seriously consider it. (I will be looking this weekend to see if Target puts Smart Ones on Sale.)
In addition to stacking two types of coupons + a sale, there is other ways (though less common) to get a triple. One way is when you can add store coupon + manufacturer coupon + retailer perks (such as Register Rewards from Walgreens or Extra Care Bucks from CVS). Retail perks don’t really offer you money off of your present transaction, but instead give you dollars towards future transactions. It’s fairly rare that a store which offers a regular reward program, will also offer a store coupon.
Rather, the last triple example is far more common. That is when you can stack a Sale + Manufacturer Coupon + Retailer Perks. For example, Two weeks ago Cover Girls New line of cosmetics (called “Naturals”) dropped a coupon in the P&G insert for $5.00 off when you buy 2. This past Sunday, CVS put CG Mascara on Sale for $8 and Lipstick on Sale for $7 and when you spend $15 you get $5.00 back in Easy Care Bucks
Sale of $15 for 2 Cover Girl Naturals - $5.00 ECB - $5.00 Coupon from 6/5 P&G insert = $5 for a brand new Lipstick and mascara. $2.50 each? Yeah I will do that.
So our triples are:
(1) Manufacturer Coupon + Store Coupon + Sale;
(2) Manufacturer Coupon + Store Coupon + Retailer Perks; or
(3) Manufacturer Coupon + Store Sale + Retailer Perks.
This is where we get into serious savings people.
But brace yourself there is a holy grail…
But Home Plate is Where You Want to Be!
Well its pop quiz time! If you have been paying attention then you should know what a home run will be! Post your guess below!
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