Week 7: Lesson 1 Dollar Tree

My family adores Dollar Tree. Everything is just a dollar! The stuff is always changing and the kids love being able to buy things for so cheap. I adore it even more, they accept coupons! 

Let me start by saying, not everything at Dollar Tree is worth a dollar, so please be mindful of that. However you can find some excellent deals there, combine that with coupons and you can get some items worth $3 or more totally free!! I was skeptical about using coupons there until this past week. My local store doesn't carry a lot of name brands, so I didn't see the point of shopping there much. This past week I decided to bring in the binder and check it out, and I was so glad I did. I found Band-Aids, name brand Band-Aids for $1 a box. That in itself is amazing, as a mom of four young kids we go through these like crazy. Even better than Disney character Band-Aid's for a dollar, is using a coupon on them!! I had a coupon for .75 off two. So I was able to get TWO boxes of Band-Aids for $1.25, compared to other stores that is a 75% savings!! I bought eight boxes! And then went to another one a few days later and bought eight more. Given the size of my family, the ages of my kids, and the fact that I have three boys, I expect 360 Band-Aids to last about a month or so... maybe ;-) 

In order to use coupons, you need to know Dollar Tree's coupon policy! Surprisingly their policy is pretty liberal. The biggest rule is only 4 like coupons per trip. That rule is kind of a bummer, but many coupons now have similar limits so it wasn't too bad. What I love about their policy is that they allow coupons valued over a dollar on one item, as long as you apply it to other items. This means that if you have a coupon for $2 off an item there, you can use it as long as you buy another item. You will get BOTH items free. They are really strict on internet coupons, you can only use two printables a day. 

The very part of Dollar Tree for me is the fact that they sell Sunday newspapers. I am at my local Dollar Tree every Sunday right at 9am. Luckily my local store does not limit the amount of papers you buy, but some stores do. Since my local paper is normally $2, I am already saving 50% before I cut a single coupon. This allows me to buy more papers than before, and be able to create a larger stockpile and donate more items than before. 

Remember Dollar Tree's stock is very fluid and changes often, so check around for some awesome surprise deals!!

Dollar Tree Coupon Policy

Week 6, Lesson 1: Walgreens

I have a confession to make. I don't shop every store in my area. I used to shop every store and I found it was a lot of freaking time and energy. A lot. I got burned out, big time. Since then I scaled back a bit and picked a few stores to shop at. I hadn't so much as stepped foot into Walgreen's until last Friday in years. I headed back to my favorite Walgreen's a little nervous. I live near another one, but I used to shop at a specific one in Moore Oklahoma all the time. I loved it, the cashier knew me by name. And I was horrified to see it damaged after the tornado, and am so happy it has been repaired and reopened. I decided to go there to show my support of the Moore recovery. I was a bit nervous though, it's been so long and they have new programs! I have been couponing for 4 years and was a little worried to make mistakes. Silly, I know.

I walk in and who is there to greet me? My favorite cashier, who asked where I have been! It was just like riding a bicycle, I got back on and went wonderfully.

Walgreen's is a unique animal. Much like CVS they issue their own currency via Register Rewards. Like other programs you have to pay up front for your items, and you get a coupon worth so much off your next purchase. You can get great deals, and even make money in items at Walgreen's, if you know how to work it.

Walgreen's has a rewards program called Balance Rewards. I am honestly still learning this animal so I will add more tips and tricks as I learn them. From what I understand, thank you favorite cashier, Balance Rewards is a savings card that you must use to get certain sale prices. This card will also allow you to earn points on certain items you buy. Every 1,000 points you earn, that is 1$ savings you can use on another purchase. There is one caveat to these points. If you use your points to save on item, you will not earn points for that purchase. So make sure you are buying something that you won't earn points on. You can track your rewards on your receipt so you know how many you have. Balance Rewards is a free program so sign up!

In addition to Balance Rewards, Walgreen's has Register Rewards (RR) that I mentioned earlier. Register Rewards have their own quirky rules. First is they print after you pay, so they are on your next purchase. You can not use a RR to earn another RR on the same items. This rule is a little complicated so let me give you an example. If you want to buy two tubes of Crest toothpaste. You buy one, use your coupon and earn a RR, if you use that RR to pay for the next tube of toothpaste a new reward will not print. This means you must stagger transactions. If you are buying two tubes of toothpaste and two bottles of shampoo, you need to do toothpaste, then shampoo, then toothpaste, then shampoo in order to get your max rewards. This can be time consuming and confusing. I strongly suggest writing out a plan ahead of time, and be respectful of other customers in line. If you are doing 17 transactions, making the customers wait behind you could end up with you getting nasty looks or your tires slashed. RR also expire so make sure you use them! They can not be replaced if you lose them and I don't believe they are connected to your card, though that might have changed.

The third tricky rule I want to cover at Walgreen's is their number of coupons per item policy. Walgreen's allows one manufacturer and one Walgreen's coupon per item. That is it. If you want to use one Walgreen's coupon, one manufacturer coupon and a RR from a previous purchase you can't. In order to circumvent this policy you have to buy something else. This policy has added ten pounds to me, because the easiest thing to do is add the cheapest item in the store. Which at my Walgreen's is always some small candy item. My kids love this policy because I always have little suckers or candy in my purse but my hips hated it. If the register won't allow you to use all your coupons, check and make sure its not because you need to add another item!

Walgreen's does issue their own coupons. You can find these is two places, either their weekly add which has coupons right in it sometimes. Walgreen's also has books every month chock full of coupons. From my experience these book coupons are never advertised in their ad, but sometimes you will see them on the store signs. Pick up a booklet in the front of the store on the rack with the ads.

Week 5, Lesson 1: Couponing at Walmart

I saved Walmart for later on in the lessons for a few reasons. The first is in my state Walmart doesn't issue weekly ads. Oklahoma has laws protecting small businesses that prevent big box stores from certain pricing policies. This is both good and bad, good for small businesses but really bad for deals in the state. For people near me, Walmart has to be walked aisle by aisle in a lot of cases. The second reason I saved Walmart for later is that their cashiers are often not well trained in their coupon policy, and it is a confusing policy. I wanted everyone to build a good coupon confidence and understanding before having to fight with a cashier about their own store policy.

The first thing anyone needs to know about Walmart is print the Walmart coupon policy. This policy needs to be with your coupons. Take it with you every single time you go. The one time you forget it, you will need it. It's Murphy's Law!! If you are having problems printing the coupon policy, and I have had many times, print it in landscape mode. I have also found it's not a bad idea to bookmark the policy in your phone if you have a smart phone. I have had cashiers tell me their policy has changed, and I have had to bring up their policy online at the register. Having the policy is your best friend.

Walmart, overall is actually really coupon friendly. I find that Walmart corporate and managers usually are very accommodating. I would say 99% of the attitude you will encounter will come from the cashier and the person behind you. Walmart takes nearly every coupon , including printables.

Walmart has some unique features that make them a great store to coupon at. The best part of shopping at Walmart is you can actually have them pay you. The register can go negative and the cashier will give YOU money to leave the store. This is not an everyday occurrence, but there is nothing better than having the cashier hand you money and leaving with products and extra cash. I have done this more than a dozen times and the high is better than any drug (not that I have ever tried any if my mom is reading this). You can do this by using a coupon valued higher than the item. For example if a pack of batteries is $0.90 and you have a $1 off coupon, you should make a few cents on each item even after tax. You can either buy just the batteries and pocket the cash or you can use the overage on other items. Personally if the store is not too crowded and the line is not too long, I always do a separate transaction so they pay me. It is silly, but it makes my day to have Walmart pay me. Some people may find it a bit immature to do, but sometimes couponing is a lot of work and you get burned out. Having the store pay you now and again is just the recharge I, and others, may need to realize it is saving money and worth all the work.

A picture from this past Fall. I was Christmas shopping with a friend and the cashier paid my friend $9.15 for well over $100 worth of stuff. 

Walmart not only will pay you, but they will match prices. Price matching is a great tool to minimize the amount of stores you shop at. If you have several grocery stores in the area who use a few items at very low prices to get customers in the door, but the overall prices of everything else is high, price matching could be your new best friend. Walmart will price match any competitor ad that clearly labels the price. You don't even need to bring the ad with you, Walmarts are supposed to have the ad's at the register for all the local stores. When you get to the register, just inform the cashier that XYZ store has it for this price and they should honor it. Price matching is also great for items that are sold out of the store that has them on sale. I find that sometimes ToysRus has amazing deals on toys, but they run out of them in hours. I often skip ToysRus totally and buy it at Walmart or Target who will price match. I rarely have trouble finding items in stock at these stores. There are a lot of restrictions on what Walmart will price match, but you can check out their policy here. Walmart will not honor gift card deals that other stores have, and they will not give you Extra Bucks or things like that.

Walmart registers have changed over the last few months and they now have different scanners which I would love to explain... if I could understand it!! It seems like the registers are prompting on some coupons to scan multiple barcodes. I have run into problems with cashiers not understanding the new system and wanting to tell me newspaper coupons are fraudulent, that did NOT go over well with me. The new system has been in place for a few months and it seems to be getting easier, however scanning more barcodes on each coupon means each transaction is taking longer. It is always a good practice to warn the people behind you if you have more than 3 or 4 coupons. Grumpy people can move on, people who become grumpy can get an 'I told you so' look. If you get static on coupons, especially newspaper coupons, ask for a manager. 

Printable coupons at Walmart are kinda a pain. The best thing you can do is ALWAYS use legitimate coupons. I am pretty sure that not only is coupon fraud illegal, but it is probably a Federal Crime given that it uses the internet and is essentially creating fake currency. I am not a big fan of the Secret Service knocking on my door, and orange is not my color, so I always use legit coupons. Legit coupons can be printed from Swagbucks, where you can earn gift cards for using coupons! Other web sites like coupons.com and redplum are legit coupon sites. Printing from those sites are safe. Even if you print from good sites, even if you buy the right item, even if your barcode is perfect... it might not scan. Walmart's policy clearly states if it doesn't scan they can't take it. Some cashiers will push them through, but they don't have to. Nothing sucks more than printing good coupons, finding the right product and then having your coupon denied. I get it. I have been there. Printable coupons can be a bit of a pain, but I think 95% of them go through with no issues. 

So far Walmart has not done things like Target and issued their own coupons or aps but I see that happening in the future. You can use coupons aps like Ibotta and Checkout51 at Walmart which can give you cash back on things you buy. 

Week 4, Lesson 2: Double Coupons

I have a store locally that doubles coupons, the local students want me to teach that store, but I think teaching a broader double coupon lesson will be more effective.

Double coupons is a wonderful thing. It can be really tricky though because there are so many things to learn. First not every coupon will double. Some coupons say right on them, "Do not double or triple". Those coupons are no fun. Stores will not double those coupons, even if they are a double coupon store.

Most stores have limits in place. Kmart limits how many coupons will double, often only four. Homeland, my local store will only double coupons that are $1 and under and only one like coupon. So if I have five coupons, only the first will double. Some stores will have more strict policies, some will have no limits at all. It is always best to look at your local store's coupon policy, and print it out. It can save you some real headaches. Some stores will also not let you go over. For example if you have an item that's $1.49 and you have $1 off coupon that doubles, some stores will not give you the $2 off. Some will give you the item free, some stores won't double it at all. I wish I could give you a general rule on this, but sadly each store does their own thing. Heck even some stores within a chain have different policies.

Here the store that doubles coupons doesn't have great prices. In fact its not uncommon for items to be 30-40% higher at that store than my everyday no double coupons store. So check out their overall prices. If the store is like mine, it's really only best to get what is on sale at that store and buy your everyday items at a cheaper store. If you purchase all of your items at an over priced store, you will spend more than you did before coupons and that is so not the point!!

I wish I could teach you the wonders of triple coupons, if you have a store like that, let me know. I want to visit!!

Week 4, Lesson 1: Combine Coupons with Rebates!

Now that everyone has a good foundation on saving with coupons, I would like to go over some other ways to save that can apply to any store. First is rebates. I am sure everyone has heard of mail in rebates, you buy something, send in a form and a few months later you get a check in the mail. Mail in rebates are still alive and well and you can find them in several places. Sometimes the rebate form will even be in your weekly insert. Keep your eye out for them and use them!!

With the advances in technology, there are even faster rebate programs. My favorite two rebate programs are phone apps most people can download. The first is Ibotta. I love Ibotta, I have earned several gift cards to Starbucks this way... gotta feed that addiction! Ibotta is a reward app, you pick the items you want to purchase and when you buy them, you take a picture of your receipt and the items bar code. Within 24 hours you have a rebate in your account. Once you reach $5 you can cash out! Ibotta only works with certain stores but there is a large variety. Target, Walmart and CVS all are stores that are eligiable. Click here to sign up for Ibotta. The items change every few weeks so add an item you want to buy when you see it.

The second app is called Checkout 51. It is very similar to Ibotta. You purchase certain items and get cash back for them. These offers change every Wednesday at midnight. The items you want to get a rebate for must be purchased in that week before the offers change. You can do both Ibotta and Checkout 51 on top of your coupons, extra bucks and store deals!! Checkout 51 also works with all stores.

As I mentioned before, I use Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a lot of things all rolled into one. It started as a search engine, much like Google. Except you get Swagbucks on random searches. Those Swagbucks can be redeemed for real rewards. You can also earn Swagbucks for Swag Codes issued on their social media pages. Swagbucks are awarded if you play games, watch videos, or shop from their site. All those Swagbucks add up to very real gift cards. To date I have earned over $500 with them, and counting. They are one of my favorite sites.

There are several other reward sites that you can use to earn gift cards, but those three are by far my favorite.

Week 3, Lesson 2: Target Advanced!

In the previous lesson, I professed my love of Target and explained that they issue their own coupons. Stacking coupons is an extreme couponing skill. It is what makes you go from a beginner to the the next level. Target has added several programs that make stacking look like child's play.

First and foremost Target has their own debit and credit cards, called Red Cards, that save you money. I don't normally preach the values of credit cards and you won't see that here because I think they are akin to the devil. I will say that Target has a credit card, you will save 5% on most of your purchases if you choose to use it. There are other benefits to having a Target credit card, and if you are interested I suggest you check out their brochure at the store.

Target also has a debit card. This, in my opinion, is very different than a credit card. The debit card is linked directly to your checking account, and the money is automatically debited. This does not create any debt, you don't pay interest, and you have no annual fee but you still save the 5% on your purchases and get free shipping from their web site. I like saving the 5%. I like the free shipping. I like my debit card. I don't sell them, I don't get a kickback or anything, I am simply saying that they have one and you can save 5% if you choose. I am in no way pressuring anyone to get one. :-)

Sometimes Target also has promotions that if you buy so many items you get a free gift card. These gift cards are given once you reach the threshold, regardless of how much you spend. If you see a sign that says Buy 3, Get a $5 Gift Card on something for $2 each, and you have three Target coupons for $1 off and three manufacturer coupons for $1 off, you can use all the coupons, get the items free, and still get the gift card. We call this a money maker, and it's freaking awesome!! You can not use the gift card in that transaction but if you are going to do multiple transactions you can roll one gift card to the next transaction.

If you take a daily prescription or members of your family do, and you want to use Target Pharmacy, they have their own rewards program. If you fill five prescriptions with them, then you get a 5% off shopping pass for a day. This is on top of all other ways to save and can be combined with all other savings.

I saved the best way to save for the very last.

Cartwheel.

What is Cartwheel you ask?? It is an amazing new way to save. With Cartwheel, you sign up for their app. You can sign up through Facebook, or you can download through the Apple App Store, or Google Play. What I love about Cartwheel is you pick your deals. You start out with ten spots, you pick the ten best deals for you. I have seen deals range from 5%-50% off an item. You can add and remove deals as you need them. One day you might need toilet paper, but the next trip you might want that spot for a video game. Sometimes they even issue one day flash deals. Last October they had a one day Cartwheel for 50% off costumes. If you can catch it right, you can save some serious cash with Cartwheel. Sometimes you won't save anything or just a few cents. The best part of the Cartwheel app for me is that if you have it on your phone, you can scan barcodes and if there is a Cartwheel deal it will tell you! Then you simply add it! To redeem your Cartwheel deals, you simply have the cashier scan the barcode after all your items and coupons. The register does all the work! And yes, i said after you give them your coupons! You can use one manufacturer coupon, one target coupon, one Cartwheel deal and Red Cards ONE THE SAME ITEM.

For example if I buy a bag of dog food for $5.
I have 1$ off manufacturer coupon, $1 off target coupon, 20% off Cartwheel and a Red Card. I have them scan the dog food, the coupons and my Cartwheel and pay with my debit card it will look like this:

Dog Food                          $5
Target Coupon                  -$1
                                     ________
                                        $4
Cartwheel 20% of 4$        -$.80
                                    ________
                                        $3.20
Manufacturer coupon        -$1
                                    ________
                                        $2.20
Red Card                         -$0.11
                                   _________
Total                                $2.09

I just saved more than 50% on my dog food and only bought one coupon, and only printed one. Not a bad deal!

Now a few things to know about Cartwheel. Unless noted, you can use each deal four times per transaction. If you really like the dog food deal, you can buy four bags in one transaction. If you want to buy more, you can scan the Cartwheel barcode up to six times a day. If the store had 24 bags, and you had 24 coupons, you could do six transactions of four each. However some deals are limited, and it will clearly state that on the deal when you add it to your Cartwheel. The Cartwheel deal is taken off AFTER Target coupons. As I noted in the example above the Cartwheel took 20% off $4, not 20% off of $5 because it took off the Target coupon first. Your Cartwheel bar code never changes, so if you don't have a phone that will download the app, or you want to have a backup, you can print the bar code and have the cashier scan the paper version. Your Cartwheel bar code is different than your mobile coupons bar code so make sure you keep those straight and always scan the mobile coupons first. If you have more than ten items you want to buy, and have a phone with the app. You can do two transactions. Just remove the items you already bought and add the ones you need. If you are wondering if the deal is for an item you want, scan the barcode and it will tell you right on the app. Cartwheel has their own Facebook page, make sure to like it to get notifications of one day deals. They can also answer any questions you have, or you can ask them here or in the group and I will help as much as I can.

Target can be time consuming with all these ways to save but you can save a lot of money this way. If you make a mistake, you can try and go to customer service and redo it. I have done it a few times and they are always really accommodating. Just remember to be nice!!

Week 3, Lesson 1. Target Basics.

I need to confess before I write anything else.

I LOVE TARGET.

Maybe it;'s the Starbucks, or the popcorn, or the red mesmerizing bulls eye. It could very well be the huge clearance signs. Whatever the combination is, I love Target. I have always loved Target, but now with coupons. I really love Target. I picked Target to be second because there are so many ways to save. But it will be one of the harder ones to understand because there is so much to remember. I also find in my area that Target cashiers are better trained than other retailers and have less couponphobia. Their policies are more liberal and cashiers have even cheered me and my friends on. Given the sheer amount of ways to save, I am going to break this into more than one section. This is just the basic overview of how to get Target coupons. I will then tell you how to use them in the next lesson.

Target issues coupons and deals on multiple platforms. The biggest and best resource is Target;'s printable coupons from their website. It is really easy to do, go to Target.com, click on the coupons and there they are! Just like most printable coupons they do have a limit of 2 per coupon, per computer. And just like other printable coupons you will need to download their coupon software. Now some of the coupons on the Target site are manufacturer coupons, and sometimes they will catch you off guard by printing. Target coupons look different so here is a sample:

Once you have printed your printable coupons, you might think you have gotten all the Target coupons and are ready to shop. NOPE!!! Target also issues mobile coupons right on your smart phone! To sign up you simply go Target Mobile Coupons and sign up! You will get a link to coupons in your text. The coupons will come with a bar code. This bar code is yours. And you can only use each mobile coupon ONE time. The register will do all the work, the cashier just scans it and whatever coupons can be used will be. Next time you want to use mobile coupons, it will even tell you which ones you already used.

Sometimes there will be special words or phrases you can text to Target and new coupons will appear! This week I noticed a sign in pets, if you text it to the number your mobile coupons come from, you will get a special set of coupons just for pets. So be on the lookout for those.

You can use one manufacturer coupon and one target coupon per item. You can not stack a mobile target coupon and a printable Target coupon on the same item. So just keep that in mind.

Sometimes the coupon will say a percentage or a dollar amount on it like 15% off or 5$ off of a 20$ purchase. You ALWAYS want to hand those coupons over first. Always. At every store. Because once you start giving over your other coupons your total won't meet that 20$ anymore. You want to get the biggest savings so always hand those over first.

Combining coupons at Target is a great trick but it's just the basics of shopping at Target. Next we will go into additional savings that you can get beyond coupons.