This was submitted by Jenny, one of our long time readers at Simply Saving. 
Coupons are great. There’s various types of coupons that can save you money in supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants and movie theaters. My husband is retired and I’m approaching that while self employed. So saving on expense helps us a great deal. On Sundays, we get coupons with the Sunday newspaper. I keep a folder to keep them in. The most economical way to use coupons is to purchase items you normally purchase or maybe just another name brand for an item you tend to purchase, perhaps, like granola bars. We have the advantage at one of our supermarkets that they double the value of the coupon as long as it’s $0.99 or less. So, if there’s a coupon for $0.50, then the item sells for $1.00 less at this particular supermarket. This supermarket called Giant Eagle in our town also gives you $0.10 off per gallon for every $50 you spend in their store. This keeps accumulating for several months if you wish. So, let’s say you have accumulated $0.60 off per gallon, you have to go to this specific gas station to get the discount on your gas. So, besides doubling coupons, they have this added advantage.
Then there’s also the Entertainment Book we have specifically for our district in Ohio. This book contains hundreds of coupons. The book isn’t free but right after Christmas it sold for 19.99 online instead of the 30.00 which it normally sells for. There are a lot of coupons for fast food restaurants where you get possibly a drink for free, or you buy one and get one free. That comes in handy. Also, there’s a dining card attached to the book and you can go to any of the selected finer dining restaurant and get a substantial discount on two meals possibly up to $15.00. Movies are half the price if you purchase the tickets ahead of time with the coupons. All sorts of entertainment events offer coupons as well.
You can also find coupons online just by Googling the restaurant or place. It’s almost a shame to purchase anything without a coupon. Often pharmacies have specials. Stores like Kohl’s or JCPenney’s offer coupons to credit card members that are fairly good anywhere from 15% to 30%. I always feel like I’m robbing the bank when I get a great deal. Just the act of searching and finding a great coupon in the newspaper or online is entertainment in itself.
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Written by Trent who blogs at The Simple Dollar
Recently, my wife and I had some guests over to visit. While here, one of the guests used the restroom on the main floor of our home, where we have a large closet where we store supplies over the long haul. She observed that there were about twenty bars of soap, several bottles of Old Spice body wash, several large bottles of shampoo, and six boxes of our son’s favorite breakfast cereal (Yogurt Burst Cheerios) stowed away in there, and when she came out, she made a half-curious and half-sarcastic comment about them.
Here’s the real scoop: every item listed above cost us less than a dime. In each case, we saw a tremendous buying opportunity matching coupons to a sale and we simply stocked up big time on those items, leaving us with a large closet stuffed full with unusual items. I like to call it anticipation buying.
Anticipation buying revolves around four distinct principles.
First, there are some items that we will continually use over time. Soap, shampoo, oatmeal, Yogurt Burst Cheerios (without them, our son would riot), flour, sugar, some fruit juices, milk, coffee, razor blades, toilet paper – these are items that we use over and over again and continually need to stock up on. Because we’re aware of this, we can use a specific plan of attack for these items to get low prices on them.
Second, there are irregular opportunities to find such items on sale. These items pop up on sale on a completely irregular basis. Brand A shampoo might be on sale one week, then two weeks later Brand B will be on sale. Not only might national brands be running a promotion where items are on sale in stores, but individual stores might select different loss leaders to get people in the door.
In order to keep up on these individual sales, we just follow the grocery flyers in our Sunday paper (and in other flyers we get in the mail throughout the week). I usually have flyers for all of the local grocery stores and I keep an eye out for their big sales by reading their flyers each Sunday over breakfast.
Third, there are irregular opportunities to find strong coupons on such items. I clip every coupon for items in the above categories that are of acceptable brands from the Sunday paper, and if I see a very good coupon, I’ll stop at the local convenience store early on Monday morning and ask for the inserts out of the old Sunday papers (the cashier always says “Sure” and I start scavenging for coupon inserts). Sometimes, I can get as many as fifteen of the good coupons – if they’re for $1.50 off an item I know we’ll use frequently, it’s like cash in the pocket.
So, we patiently clip all coupons for these items and save them until there’s a sale, then stock up. I have the coupons. I have the flyers. I then just wait for them to sync up. Usually, it happens about a month or so after I clip the coupons one month coupon strategy at work).
Another tactic to note: quite often, individual store flyers will have coupons that match the manufacturer’s coupons you have. Often, you can use these coupons simultaneously. So, let’s say my local Fareway ad has a coupon letting me get Herbal Essences shampoo or conditioner for $1.99 a bottle (limit 6) and I have three “save $3 on 2 bottles” coupon from the manufacturer. I just take all of them there and walk out with good shampoo and conditioner for $0.49 a bottle.
Here’s a real-world example. Recently, I had several copies of a coupon that permitted me to save $3 on any two bottles of Old Spice body wash. I waited until I noticed a sale – and not long ago, there was one at a local Walgreen’s. The individual bottles were $1.79 on sale there. I took in my wad of coupons and picked up ten bottles, paying $0.29 a bottle. I walked out of the store with ten bottles of soap, having spent less than $4 total – and it was just a five minute stop on my normal shopping trip. That’s how you save money.
What’s the long-term effect? The result from doing this regularly is quite interesting. Our regular shopping lists almost never have these “anticipation” items on it. Instead, they almost always just list the food items we need for the week, which means that at the grocery store, we rarely even visit big sections of the store. We mostly visit the produce aisle, the meat counter, the dairy area (for milk, etc.), and a few other specific places (pasta, canned items, bread when I’ve not made any), and that’s about it. Our grocery bills are cheaper and our shopping trips are actually quite a bit shorter because we’re not going over to the far side of the store to pick up shampoo or toilet paper – the time invested in executing this strategy is partially redeemed on ordinary shopping trips.
When I first started The Simple Dollar, I had a very simple coupon strategy that didn’t save me a whole lot of money. It’s been fun to watch the strategy evolve over the years – first syncing it with a grocery list and evolving that strategy a bit, then discovering the figuring out how sales and coupons synchronized and now evolving that strategy a bit. I used to believe that perhaps coupons weren’t worth the time invested, but I’ve found more and more that if you do it intelligently, there are some serious savings to be had – and it doesn’t take as much time as you might think.
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Clothing and personal care expenses are necessary expenses but there are ways to save money.
Clothing
* Buy only because you need clothing and buy only those items that will fit into your present wardrobe. If you are choosing between two outfits, buy the one that goes best with what you already have.
* Buy good, usable clothing from thrift shops, garage sales, warehouse outlets, discount centers, and yard sales. Check any purchases first for stains or worn spots.
* Make purchases during sales time: clearance, end-of-month, or end-of-season.
* Buy versatile clothes that will expand your wardrobe, i.e., a sweater you can wear with two pairs of slacks you already have.
* Instead of buying new clothes, buy accessories that give a new look to the clothes already in your closet.
* Buy multi-season clothes such as an all-weather coat with a zip-in lining.
* Remodel or recycle an outfit you already own.
* Use cloth diapers and launder them yourself.
* If you know how to sew, consider saving by sewing your own clothes, but estimate costs carefully. You may be able to buy certain items on sale for less than you would spend on fabric and supplies.
* Share or trade sewing skills with family members or others in your community.
* Swap outgrown children’s and/or maternity clothes with neighbors or friends. Consider doing the same with shoes, ice skates, sports equipment, baby accessories, activity or school uniforms, etc.
Clothing Care
* Always consider care costs before purchase by checking the care label. Washing by machine costs less than dry cleaning.
* Keep clothes clean and in good repair. Remove stains promptly.
* Store clothes properly to protect from sun, moths, mildew, stretching, etc.
* Protect shoes and other leather items from water and salt stains.
* Buy minimum-care clothing: washable, dark colors. Dark clothes usually show wear less than light colors — especially coats, slacks, etc.
* Use self-dry-cleaning services and dry-clean your own clothes. Make sure all stains are removed before dry-cleaning. Self-dry-cleaning kits don’t usually work well on oil-based stains such as lipstick, grease, butter, etc.
* Share a dry-cleaning load with a friend if you don’t have enough for a full load.
Personal Care
* Use a mixture of baking soda and salt for brushing teeth.
* Buy personal care items from discount stores or wherever you find a personal care product on sale.
* Buy necessary items such as shampoo and toothpaste at reduced prices when stores offer “specials.” Stock up on specials but no more than you can reasonably use within the life of the product.
* Compare generic, store, and national prices — you may be paying for advertising.
* Give haircuts and permanents at home. Adopt a hair style you can manage yourself and which doesn’t need expensive care products and/or upkeep.
* Try inexpensive cosmetics. Similar ingredients are used in like cosmetic products. The difference in price is often due to promotion and advertising costs.
* Watch for coupons and rebates for personal care products.
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