You really can get things for Free (or nearly Free)

If you shop "strategically"!

Most people don't believe coupons are worth the trouble simply because they look at it and think to themself: "wow, .50 cents off of a bottle of Dawn dish detergent. That stuff costs about $3.00 a bottle, it's not worth cutting it out of the paper!"

They're wrong. From here out, I will use the Dawn detergent as an example for simplicity sake. Using coupons for groceries, or anything else can save you a lot of money, but there are a lot of different ways to use the same coupon and it takes a little time to "learn the ropes" but it's time well spent, I promise you.

 Read the "Fine Print" on your coupon:

Most often, there are "details" or Manufacturers instructions on the coupon, for example:

"Save .50 Dawn on 1 (one) Dish Detergent any size" .  This is a great coupon because it means you can use it on your purchase of ANY type, size, scent, or style of Dawn dish detergent.  In other words, you can purchase the most expensive or the LEAST expensive bottle of Dawn Detergent.

Dawn Detergent is $1.00 a bottle for their regular size original brand in most stores.  I buy them at Fred's. (if you're not familiar with Fred's it's sort of between a high end dollar store and a Walgreen's or CVS as most have a pharmacy in them).

Well, that would bring it down to .50 cents a bottle, but you don't stop there. On Saturday's, Fred's doubles coupons up to .70 cents. I take the coupon (with all the rest of my coupons I've saved for the weekly Fred's shopping trip ritual) and get the bottle of Dawn for FREE! .50 cents doubled = $1.00 savings on a $1.00 bottle of Dawn. I just have to pay the .09 cents tax (yes, here in TN, it comes out to about .09 cents on the dollar for sales tax).

Of course I don't have to wait until Saturday to get $1.00 off, there are a lot of grocery stores that double manufacturer's coupons every day. I've found that sometimes they either don't carry the regular size bottle, or it's about $1.39, so I save my coupons for items like that until Saturday.

Almost Free is good too!

There were a few things on last weeks shopping trip that I didn't get completely free, but they were great deals just the same.

Noxema Razors: a 4pk is $2.99. I had 4 coupons that were "$2.00 of any 1 pk", so I got $11.96 worth of razors for $3.96. Not bad.

The Electrosol: $3.19 for a box of 12 minus a "$2.50 off 1 box" coupon = .69 cents a box!!

Here's a complete break down on the shopping trip of the items in the picture above:

1 Case of 32 oz POWERade 15 x $1.49 = $22.35 minus 15 FREE Qs = $0.00 (compliments of 15 coupons from My Coke Rewards)

2 cans of comet 2 x .79 = $1.58 minus 2 x .35 Qs doubled final cost: .18 cents

3 boxes of Band Aid bandages 3 x 1.09 = $3.27 minus 3 x .50 Qs doubled = .27 cents.

8 rolls Reynolds wrap 8 x $1.49 = $11.92 minus 8 x 1.00 Qs = $3.92

6 boxes of Electrasol 6 x 3.19 (it went up AGAIN!) = $19.14 minus 6 x 2.50 Qs = $4.14

5 Glade oil fans 5 x $3.09 = $15.45 minus 5 x FREE Qs = $0

4 Noxema 4pk Razors 4 x $2.99 = $11.96 minus 4 x $2.00 Qs = $3.96

3 boxes of curad camp camo bandages 3 x 1.49 = $4.47 minus 3 x .50 Q doubled = $1.47 final cost

1 Pine Sol Lavendar 1 x 1.50 (didn't know it was on sale) 1 x $1.50 minus 1 hang tag Q .50 doubled = .50 final cost!

Total amount of items purchased: $91.64
Total money saved with Qs (coupons): $77.20
Total OOP (out of my pocket): $14.44 !!!

A few tips about using coupons for groceries, etc:

Never buy something just because you have a coupon for it if it isn't something you will use, unless the coupon makes it free, or nearly free. (Things you might get that you don't normally use can be donated to local homeless or animal shelters, etc).

Always check your local stores' weekly sales. The store that normally has the highest priced Electrosol, may have it on sale this week for $2.49 which would make it FREE with your coupon.

Check for manufacture's rebate offers. The bottle of Dawn that is $2.99 might have a rebate offer going on which means you pay $1.99 (minus your doubled .50 coupon) for it, then send in the receipt and receive your $2.99 purchase price back in the mail!

Happy Shopping!
www.pinkmingos.com