Money Saving Secrets Blog | Tag Archive

Making Money with Catalina Coupons

Filed under Grocery Store Deals by Jennifer Billy on August 6, 2009 at 8:00 am {no comments}

cat 2

I was not planning on doing any grocery shopping this week. However I could not pass up all the Catalina promotions going on at Jewel-Osco. Catalina promotions are a great way to save a lot of money. There were several going on this week with some items working for different promotions at the same time.To learn more about Catalina Coupons read my post “Where To Find Coupons”.

I had to split this up into 5 transactions, but here is a list of all that I got.
8 jars of Ragu
9 Betty Crocker cake mix
8 jars of Betty Crocker frosting
10 boxes of PopTarts
5 1.5qt of Breyers ice cream
5 boxes of Klondike bars
4 packs of Bic pens
12 packages of Q-tips (375 counts)
2 Vaseline Intensive Care lotions
Total Out of Pocket Cost: $39.30
$15 in Catalina Coupons remaining

Total Savings(sales and coupon): $145.85
Manufactures coupons used: $24
Catalina Coupons used: $65
Jewel Value Card savings: $56.85

I also plan on using the 10 boxes of PopTarts towards the Kellogg’s Fuel For School Rebate (found in this weeks coupon inserts). I will be receiving $10 back plus a $70 coupon for Dell. If I am able to take advantage of the Dell coupon towards my new laptop that I plan to purchase in the next few months then I will have actually made money on these deals.

There were more items I wanted to stock up on but the shelves were empty. Looks like they have extended the promotion another week so hopefully they will be able to restock the items.

If anyone in the area is interested in getting the break down of any of these deals please let me know and I will send you the details.

Update: Just got back from JewelOsco to see if they got in Skippy Peanut butter. They did! Here is what I got:
12 Jars of Natural Skippy peanut butter
$24.42
-2.00 Manufactures Coupons
-15.00 Catalina Coupons
$7.42 Out of Pocket Price
Plus received another $21 in Catalina Coupon.

Total Savings:$24.80

10% off at Home Depot

Filed under Coupons by Jennifer Billy on July 10, 2009 at 8:30 am {no comments}

If you are planning a move, make sure to sign up at Home Depot. Save 10% storewide, receive tips, advice and supplies. Click Here

Walgreens Deals of the Week 3/22-3/28

Filed under Walgreens by Jennifer Billy on March 24, 2009 at 2:56 pm {no comments}

wag_logo_home_185 Walgreens paid me to take home baby wipes! Here are some of the deals at Walgreens this week.

wipes Huggies Wipes are on sale for 2/$5. I purchased 6 for a total of $15. I used Two $5 coupons and two $3 coupons from coupons.com and redplum.com for a profit of $1.

Now Walgreen will not give you that dollar so make sure you have another item to put it towards.You could also use these coupons toward Diapers or training pants, which are on sale this week for $9.99. I printed these coupons in the beginning of the month. I do not believe they still have them up so hopefully you have already printed them.

There is a coupon in this weeks ad for Hunt’s Tomato Sauce for .39 cents. Use can use this purchase towards Easy Saver Rebate #29. (Buy $10 in selected ConAgra products, get $5 back by mail)

Stride Gum is on sale for .79 cents with an in ad coupon. Purchase 3 for $2.37 and use $2 off 3 from 3/22 SmartSource insert for a total of .37 cents.

Schick Quattro for women razors are on sale for $8.99. Use $4 off coupon from the March EasySaver Catalog and $4 off coupon from 3/22 SS for a total of .99 cents.

Colgate toothpaste 4.6oz size is .99 cents. Add .75 cent off coupon from 3/15 SS to make it .24 cents.

Free after mail in rebates going on this month
#1 Axe Shampoo, Conditioner or Stylers, 2.64 or 12 oz. (up to $6.99)
#2 Advanced Memory Formula, 45 Softgels (up to $19.99)
#3 Walgreens Extra Strength Quickgels, 20 pack (up to $2.99)
Happy Shopping!
Jennifer Billy

Where To Find Coupons

Filed under Coupons by Jennifer Billy on March 23, 2009 at 2:13 pm {11 comments}

To be able to save money with coupons, you first need to find them. Below I have listed free or very inexpensive sources to gather coupons from.

Sunday Paper: This is the largest source of coupons. The biggest newspaper in the area will have the best and largest selection of coupons. The typical inserts are SmartSource, Red Plum and Proctor & Gamble. You can get a fairly inexpensive subscription to the paper. Discount Newspaper has some great deals on subscriptions. You can also ask friends and family for their coupons if they are not using them.

All You Magazine: This magazine is filled with coupons. You can typically find 30 to 40 in every issue. Just use a couple of the coupons a month and it more then pays for itself. You can get a subscription to All You Magazine
at Amazon.com.

Online coupons: There are a ton of coupons that you can print online. The largest sites are Coupons.com, smartsource.com and redplum.com. Just check with your store to make sure they accept them because not all stores do. Manufacturer’s websites are also a great place to find coupons.

E Coupons: These are digital coupons that you just load onto your store savings card. Simple sign up for free to the site, register your store card and load your coupons. Then when you scan your card at check out the coupon will automatically be used towards qualifying purchases. You can use this in addition to clipped or printed coupons.Here is a list of sites that I use. Just check to see if your store is listed.
Cellfire
Shortcuts
UPromise
P&G eSaver
Jewel-Osco Avenue Savings
Unilever Kroger

In Store: There are coupons located all over the store. There are several places to look. You can find “Blinkies” hanging on the shelves in the supermarket aisles that dispense coupons. Often time there are tear pads located near items that have coupons that you can grab. Also look out for “peelies” which are stuck on the product and can be peeled off for instant savings.

Catalina Coupons: These are the coupons that will print out at the register. The name comes from Catalina Marketing, which is the company that provides this type of behavior marketing. Catalina marketing promotions are triggered based on a customers purchase behavior and delivered at the point of sale. Sometimes these coupons will be for money off a certain product or they are for money off your next purchase. By getting a heads up on any of these promotions you can really get some great deals. For example, Wagreens had Gillette Fusion razors for $8.99. After purchase you recieved $6 in Register Rewards. That made the razor $2.99. However you could sweeten the deal by adding a $4 off coupon. Now you would pay $4.99 out of pocket and receive $6 back. So you now made $1.01 on this deal.

Walgreens and CVS usually will have the promotions printed in their weekly ads. Walgreens calls them Register Rewards (RR) and CVS uses the term Extra Care Bucks (ECB). Also keep an eye out for signs in the store or a Catalina coupon advertising an upcoming promotion.

Happy Savings!
8D6600252B703800416D653ED780C9BB

Clip Coupons and Save

Filed under Coupons by Jennifer Billy on March 18, 2009 at 6:47 pm {2 comments}

I LOVE saving money with coupons! I always have. My husband always laughs at me when we are shopping or at a restaurant and I tell him that I have a coupon. But I know that he really appreciates the money I save him. Especially now that he is the sole “worker” in our family. Every time I am able to save money I feel that I am also contributing financially to the family.

One thing that I hear often from people is that they just do not find it worth the time to use coupons. I have to disagree with this. Just check out the picture below of all the items that I have gotten for FREE so far this month by using coupons. This doesn’t even include the money I have gotten back from Catalina coupons (Register Rewards) or mail-in rebates.

march

So for you skeptics out there, does this change your mind? Well if so, please read on…

The first key to using coupons is to be organized. I can not tell you how many times I used to save coupons and then forget to use them. I was throwing away hundreds of dollars a month! You need to start thinking of those coupons as actual money. They are legal tender so let’s start treating them that way.

The best way to stay organized is to have a very simple system in place to get the most out of your coupons. You can realistically do this in about 30 minutes a week. There is no need to clip a coupon until you are going to use it. When the paper comes all you do is write the date on the top of the insert and file it. I use a three ring binder.

binder

You will be saving all coupons because you never know when you can find a deal to get that item extremely cheep or even free. So even if it is not something you would normally use, you might want to get it if it was free. Then you can try it or give it to charity.

Another option is to clip all coupons and place them into a binder. This way you will have all your coupons with you when you go shopping. You can make your own binder using a 3 ring binder and baseball card sleeves. I also have a binder for clipped coupons. Instead of using it for all my coupons, I will clip coupons for products that I know I buy regularly. That way I will have them when shopping. I also use it to file any loose coupons from mailers or that I have printed.

Before you go shopping you should start by going through the weekly ads and making a shopping list according to sale items. The more flexible you can be on your list for the week and the brands you buy, the more you can save. Also, check all stores. It may be worth your while to make multiple trips if the current deals are good enough.

After you have your list simply go to CouponTom and check the database for coupons. Type in each item and you will get a list of coupons available. Under location it will either have the link to print it or the date the coupon came out and where to find it. For example 03-01 PG means the coupon is in the Proctor & Gamble insert from March 1st.

Here is a list of abbreviations you will need to know:

S- Smart Source Insert
R- Red Plum Insert
PG- Proctor & Gamble Insert
GM- General Mills
AY- All You Magazine

Here are a few online sites for printable coupons:

Coupons.com

SmartSource.com
RedPlum.com

After you have your list, print it out and start clipping the coupons you need. I will then place the coupons in envelopes according to store. I will also place my list in the envelop as well as discount/rewards card. Then when I am at the store everything will be in one place and make my checkout process simple.

The best advice I have when it comes to shopping at grocery stores is to stick to the perimeter of the store. Only go down the aisles for things on your list and are on sale. As for non- food items, like toilet paper or toothpaste, stick to the drug stores. Walgreens and CVS have amazing sales that can really save you tons of money.

If you stock-up when the price is at its lowest then you will never have to pay full price. I currently have about 8 boxes of Colgate Toothpaste that I have gotten for free or under .25 cents. I also have about a 6 month supply of deodorant. I pick it up when ever it is under $.50. So I know that I will never run out and have to pay full price for these items.

You will be amazed on how much you can save on your out of pocket expense by using these simple tips.

8D6600252B703800416D653ED780C9BB