Couponing Strategies - “Separate And Save For Sales”
Posted on October 2, 2007 by Melissa
Filed Under Coupons, Groceries, Shopping
If you already read Couponing Successes posted earlier today you will be familiar with the examples used in this post. If you haven’t read it yet, make sure to check it out.
The reason most of the coupons I used this weekend were about to expire (literally, they expired that day) was because I was holding on to them waiting for the best deal. I had been holding onto to some of them for several months at that point. I find that it isn’t always the best plan to immediately use those freshly clipped coupons unless the items happen to already be on sale (e.g. Walgreens frequently runs sales corresponding with the newest coupons).
When I’m clipping coupons I set aside the very best coupons I definitely want to use and keep them separate from the rest by paper-clipping them at the front of my coupon file. The rest of the coupons that I might use get sorted into the pockets based on product type (breakfast, cleaning, etc). Don’t put the “gotta use” coupons in with the maybes. Nothing is worse than throwing away really useful coupons because you forgot about them before they expired. This happened to me with a good “get one free” coupon and I’ll never let that happen again.
Every week, when I go through my file to do the shopping list, I look at those coupons first and see if I can pair them with a sale. If not AND they don’t expire that week they go back into the paperclip in hopes that the following week there will be a sale. I also jot down these items on the bottom of my shopping list to remind me to check on those specific products for unadvertised sales when I’m at the store.
None of the expiring coupons I used this last weekend matched a sale opportunity before that day so they were still left in that paper-clipped bunch.
For the special coupons that were about to expire I had to decide if it was worth using them or not. Most were NOT worth using because they were either:
- for items that could wait (non-urgent needs or things I had plenty of)
- coupons that are issued frequently or on a cycle (cleaning supplies)
- coupons that were just not a good enough deal without pairing it with a sale
Some of these rejected coupons I left for other shoppers next to the products in case they wanted them. It was a busy day so hopefully someone saved some money with them.
I had compelling reasons for each of the coupons that made the final cut. In the case of the BBQ sauce it wasn’t on sale but they had bonus size bottles which still made it a good deal to use the coupons.
I have never seen the Bertolli meals go on sale but by waiting until the last moment to use these coupons I at least got a chance to find a deal. In the end, I simply had to use them or give them away. I opted to use them because it was something we found very useful but would only buy with a hefty coupon to lower the price.
The soda (Sprite) I had a coupon for was actually on sale but at $3.39 a 12-pack it wasn’t a very good sale. I was about to abandon the coupon when we spotted that most of the generic soda was eerily missing. We then spied an in-store coupon that gave us a free 12-pack of store brand soda for every 12-pack Coke product we got. At that point that coupon came in handy and helped us stock up on soda at a phenomenal overall price of $1.27 a 12-pack. Saving that coupon paid off big time.
I do not use this “separate and save for a sale” strategy on every coupon I have. I only give the high value coupons for items I already use this special treatment. The exception to this rule is when I find a “get one free” coupon. Even if I don’t need it I still redeem it (I only pay tax if applicable) and give the product away to friends to try. If you notice you are starting to use coupons to buy items you normally wouldn’t buy you might need to reevaluate your coupon usage.
The point behind manufacturers issuing coupons is for advertising and gaining first time and repeat customers. Sometimes irresistible coupons might encourage us to buy impulse items or products we don’t really need. You must avoid this temptation because this only increases your bill rather than lowering it. The primary goal should not be increasing coupon savings but should be focused on lowering overall grocery bills.
In other words, don’t spend additional dollars to save a few cents.
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This is the strategy that that works for me, too. There are simply too many coupons to remember them all every trip! So I keep my freebies and “must use” coupons in the front of the file for frequent review.
Hi Alison!
I’m glad to hear this strategy works for you, too. I find that I will forget about the good ones if I don’t keep them up front. Thanks for commenting!
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