There is another tip that you can follow to maximize savings. Say you are new to couponing, and you don't have the coupons I mentioned. Or perhaps, you want to stock up and don't have enough. You can actually buy the coupons online. There are several reputable websites, as well as ebay (just be sure to check out the ratings and how far away the seller is) where you can buy them. You aren't actually "buying" the coupons, but you are paying for the clipper's time to cut them all out. If someone is selling them on Ebay the same rule applies.
Why are people selling them?
Perhaps they bought several newspapers for one specific coupon to stock up on an item-sometimes it can be worth it, and this is a way to recoup some of that money spent if they don't need the other coupons. You are paying for the time it took them to clip it out. They are saving you the time of cutting, and you can get several for a nominal fee-usually 5-10 cents a coupon.
I actually bought several for the first time today. I spent just over $5 with postage for about 60 different coupons.
With my coupons, I'm going to be getting Hillshire farms shaved lunchmeat tubs (normally $4.79 right now it's on sale for $3. I have a .55 cent coupon I ordered that doubles to $1.05 (it actually doubles to $1.10 but I've deducted .05 for the cost of the coupon and shipping) so I'm getting them for just $1.95 each. These are 9 oz containers. So I'm getting them cheaper than the store brand or cheap processed kind even, or lunch meat from the deli. Since when can you get over a pound of quality lunch meat for less than $4?!?!!
Also included were 30 coupons for Lean Cuisines Market Creation bags (among a few other coupons) that I mentioned in my previous post. We eat a lot of the regular boxed lean cuisines around here, and I always like to stock up when I see a sale-usually when they go on sale for around $1.50-$1.75 (without coupons, I feel that's a good price since they are normally $2.25-$2.50). Right now they are both $1.70 each when you buy any 10 participating products at Kroger. That's not a bad price for the box Lean Cuisine Entrees as it is-before coupons- but it is an even better price for the Market Creations, which are normally $3.50 each.
I bought my coupons for those items for 9 cents each. Each coupon was for $1 off 2, deducting another .50 off each box, making them just $1.20 each!!! This is a steal, in my opinion, considering like I said that normally they are $3.50! So I bought 30 coupons-don't worry...they don't expire till March, so I have enough to have in case another sale comes around. I am going to buy 30 (using 15 coupons for $1 off each.
The regular price is $3.50 x 30 is $105 --yikes!!!!
but the sale price is $2.20 with your card x30 is $66..still a yikes!
When you buy in sets of ten (again you can mix and match with other participating items) the price is just $1.70 a bag x 30 is...$51(getting better...)
I am buying 30, so I will be using 15 of my $1 off coupons.
$51 -15 = just $36!!!!!!!
That is a savings of $69 yall. Not to mention if you are buying these verses eating out for $5-10 a day!
If I really wanted to stock up, I would use all 30 of my $1 off coupons and buy 60 for $210. But wait, I used my card and got them for $132. But wait...I bought 6 of the 10 sets to get the deal, so that takes another $30 off (buy any 10 participating items, get $5 off x 6=$30) so that makes it just $102. BUT WAIT!!! I used my 30 of my coupons (paid about $3 for all of them after postage) so I am saving $27 more. So for $75 I got 60 meals, and saved $135 even after I paid for coupons.
But if you are buying 60, won't that clean out the entire supply? you ask...
That beings me to my next tip. Special Orders. I did my first special order today. :D (does happy dance). I called over to the Kroger store and talked to the manager. I wanted to buy 10 of 3 different varieties. They only had 24 today of each kind I wanted, and today was the first day of the sale...so she ordered an extra case (10 of each) of my 3 favorite kinds for me, and I can come in and pick them up on Saturday morning. I didn't have to pay in advance either like I thought I might. (That may depend on the manager on duty or your particular store.)
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