Sunday, November 8, 2009

Coupon Phenomenon

In my copious spare time, I've picked up a new hobby. Saving money. Greg is thrilled. hahaha!

Here are the groceries I purchased today, regular price $77.69. Diapers, Diaper wipes, Batteries, Milk, Bread, Eggs, 10 boxes of Kleenex with Lotion, Jelly, etc.
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I paid $34.58. Here's how I saved $43.11.

1. Loyalty card, it's easy savings. I saved $34.11 with the loyalty card. Easy but it gets more complex when you introduce some key coupon strategies.
2. Stacking Coupons = Using a Manufacturer coupon PLUS a Store coupon. See Example 1.
3. Multiple manufacturer coupons = Having more than one of the same coupon. See Example 1 & 2.
4. Coupon Doubling = When a grocery store doubles the value of your coupon. Today my grocery store valued any and every coupon at a $1.00. So any coupon I used, no matter the face value, equaled a $1.00 when I checked out. See Example 2.
5. Store Promotions = Special promotions like Buy 10 of X products, save $5 off your total bill. See Example 2.

Example 1:
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I paid 1.79 for each pack of these Energizer Batteries. Here's how:
Loyalty Card Price:...........................$3.79
Manufacturer Coupons:..................-$1.00
Competitor Store Coupon:...............-$1.00
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Total Price Paid:..............................$1.79 per pack
Not a bad price for Energizer Batteries. I had 2 manufacturer and competitor store coupons so I bought 2 packs of batteries.

Example 2:

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Special Promotion Price:............................$0.99 a box if you buy 10 boxes
Manufacturer Coupons:............................-$0.50 off, when you buy 3 boxes
Competitor Store Coupon:.........................-$2.00
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(10) Boxes of Kleenex:..................................$9.90
(3) .50 off coupons, doubled by my store.....-$3.00
(1) Competitor Store Coupon.......................-$2.00
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Total............................................................$4.90
Price per Kleenex Box, 4.90 divided by 10......$0.49 per box
Store promotion..........................................-$5.00 off your bill if you buy 10 'participating products', Kleenex is a 'participating product'!
They paid me..............................................+$0.10 to take these Kleenex off their shelves!

Do you get it?

I also had other coupons as part of this sale. I had a coupon for the the eggs, they were also free and I had a $2.00 coupon for the diapers, a $1.00 coupon for the diaper wipes, etc, etc and it all adds up to a savings of $43.11!

If you want to know more about saving money with coupons, let me know. :o)