Bargain Hunting - The 411
8/15/2010 09:43:00 AM Posted by Mackenzie
So I've been asked a few times this week on how to Bargain Hunt and how do I do it all! You can also check out an earlier post HERE on Bargain Hunting 101.
The first rule is you can't do it all. Pick a few areas that you are most interested in and work those deals. So if you want to cut your grocery costs work on those deals and less on the "home goods" area...or vice versa. I like to rotate...so I'll work solely on groceries (particularly Shaws, for their double coupons, or Market Basket, for their low prices) and then switch. Right now I am doing items for the home...so the toys for Christmas deal, toothpaste, bandaids, etc.
The second rule is really just have fun. Once you start Bargain Hunting you will become addicted and soon find that you REFUSE to pay full price for things...and will often wait something out until it goes on sale.
Coupons Broken Down:
Say you have a coupon from the Sunday paper for $1 off 1 package of toliet paper. Well you could go use it right away and save the $1 or you can check your flyers and see if that toliet paper is on sale. If it is on sale for say 2 for $5 you can either wait for the "rock bottom" price of say $1.99 or use this "mid sale".
Next you can check the store's website to see if they have store coupons that can only be used in the store and "stacked" on top of that $1/1 coupon from the paper. Shaws and Target do this.
Next you buy the product:
$1.99 for 4 pack of TP (Rock Bottom Price)
- $1/1 coupon from paper (called MQ of Manufacturer Coupon)- $0.50/1 coupon from the store
= $0.49 Out of Pocket (oop)
It's that simple.
Now there are TONS of Blogs and sites available that will do all the work for you...list what coupons to use and when. Some are free and some are a monthly fee. I list on this site about 15% of the deals I find...so that tells you how many more are out there.
Most people will say "I don't have time to do this" and I honestly can say "Neither do I" but we decided as a family that saving money in this economy was important so I spend time each night researching and reading posts to find ways to save some money. By doing this I have been able to not buy any toothbrushes or body soap in 3 years...and I still have another 3 years worth of supplies left. Now if I find a really good deal with little OOP I will buy more to add to my stock...but right now I am living off what I collected for 2 years.
Another essential is having a system for your coupons. Some people use envelopes (I do for my actual shopping trips...pull what coupons for each store and put them in different envelopes and bring my binder as backup), some people use accordin type organizers and some use binders. These 3 ring binders (which I use) have baseball holder inserts (3x3 on each sheet front and back) and the coupons are placed in the holders. Then you can organize by products so all toothpaste together, etc. Here are a few examples of the binders I found online (too much work to take a picture of mine and upload). Please contact me if you have any questions or need help beginning the process of saving money...and having FUN!
My Deals Lately
8/15/2010 09:14:00 AM Posted by Mackenzie
Things have been hectic with work and life so I haven't been posting as often but I have been bargain hunting in any spare moment I have and collecting cheap or free items!
Ultimate Ears 700 Earphones. Priced $200 - I paid NOTHING! Yep I got them for FREE! I was on SlickDeals at the right night one night and scored big! Link to Thread HERE.
Amazon is running a special on diapers and groceries. Save 30% if you sign up for a monthly, weekly, etc delivery schedule (which you can cancel). Plus in both August and September's issues of Parent magazine there were 20% off coupons for Amazon diaper purchase. So I got this box of diapers for $11.xx after 30%+20%+20% off. Not bad for 176 diapers! Since I have a stock pile of dsiapers for the baby until she reaches size 3 I bought size 4. See Thread HERE.
Lately I've been shopping Target and all their deals. Since they allow you one Target coupon and one Manufacturer coupon PER item I've been getting a lot of deals. I also scored on their Toys Clearance and bought $150 of toys for 15 kids for Christmas and 7-8 Birthdays from now until January. You can get information at Totally Target HERE or SlickDeals HERE.
