Kmart Double Coupons: up to $1.00 in March

Attention Kmart shoppers……Yes, you heard it right!  In the month of March, Kmart is doubling manufacturer’s coupons up to $1.00.  It is almost unheard of in my area for a store to double coupons up to $1.00.  There are a few stipulations on the deal:

• You must be a Shop Your Way Rewards Member.
• You must purchase at least $25 in pantry or health/beauty items.
• Only five coupons per day will be doubled.
• Only four of the same coupon will be doubled.

Organizing your Coupons: The Velveeta Cheese Box Method

OK, so you have started clipping coupons from the paper and printing coupons online.  They are stuffed in your purse, in your kitchen junk drawer and on your nightstand.  You have built up quite the stash of coupons.  You will soon discover you need to organize those coupons or you will never use them.

Years ago, long before “Extreme Couponing” was all the rage, I started out using a Velveeta Cheese box to hold and organize my coupons.  It was cheap and easy.  I made cute little dividers to keep my coupons organized by type.  I had five main categories:  frozen foods, cold foods, pantry, cleaning and personal products.  Later, I added a few more categories.  I would set my little box down on the seat of the grocery cart and off I would go.  Near the front of the box, I added a small section for coupons that I would use on my next shopping trip.  As I placed the item in my cart, I would transfer the coupon to a separate divider section in the front.  When I was ready to checkout, all my coupons that I was using were ready to hand to the cashier.  I kept my Velveeta Cheese coupon box in a little tote bag.  That was my coupon organization system for years.  It was cheap, and it worked for me!  Another cheap idea I used was a baby wipes container.  It was a convenient size and had a lid that snapped shut.

I have now moved on to a coupon binder method organizing my coupon stash (can I recommend the Coupon Magic Organizer?).  I will go over some binder organization tips in a separate post.  The most important thing to remember is this – the most organized system won’t work if you won’t use it.  It doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate, it just has to work for you!

P.S.  I still save the Velveeta Cheese boxes.  They are just good, sturdy little boxes that I just can’t bear to throw away.  Yes, I know, I am inching toward being a guest star on “Hoarders”.  :-)

Couponing Basics 101

Time to go to couponing class!  We’d like to take today’s lesson to understand basic couponing.

Manufacturers issue coupons so that you’ll be more likely to buy their products or to entice you to try a new product line.  Stores issue coupons to increase sales of a particular item or group of items.

First, let’s understand some coupon basics:

Where do coupons come from?  Coupons basically originate from 2 different places:

• the manufacturers that make products
• the stores that sell the products

Does my grocery store loose money if I use coupons?  No, they don’t.  You’ll notice on these manufacturer’s coupons that stores are reimbursed the face value of the coupon plus an additional fee for the inconvenience of accepting them.

How many coupons can I use on one particular item?  You can use only 1 manufacturer’s coupon, but you can also use store coupons as well on your entire order, like a $5 off $20 store coupon.

Where can I find manufacturer’s coupons?  There are 2 main places to get these coupons:

• In your local newspaper
• Print them online, like at this Printable Coupons page

When looking through coupon forums and tips, you’ll see terms and abbreviations.

Here is a basic list of abbreviations:

• IP – Internet Printed (coupons you print from the internet)
• RP – Red Plum insert (from local newspaper)
• SS – Smart Source insert (from local newspaper)
• PG – Proctor and Gamble insert (from local newspaper)
• Tear Pad: found hanging on shelves at select stores
• Blinkies: the red machines on shelves at your local grocery store that spits out coupons
• Catalinas: the coupons that print off at the register after you’ve purchased something.
• OYNO: Off your next order
• CRT: Cash register tape – similar to Catalinas, but this coupon is printed at the bottom of your actual store receipt

How I got $475 in Groceries for Free

It was a chilly March, if I recall correctly.  I hadn’t been a big couponer back then, but I had been getting started.  I had a 3-ring binder with several weekly coupon inserts that had barely been touched.  Who knew I would stumble in something big…very, very big!

I had just picked up the latest Meijer weekly ad, and noticed a very nice General Mills/Betty Crocker promotion going on–specifically, “Buy any 10, get $10 back” on specifically marked items.  Everything listed was at least $1.50 or more, so it wasn’t going to be as easy as pie.  However, I knew in the back of my mind that I had coupons for many of the items listed.  Within minutes, I had my coupon binder, a calculator, and the weekly ad on the coffee table, trying to figure out the best deals.

My calculations showed that if I purchase 4 cereal boxes, 4 popcorn boxes, and 2 Yoplait Smoothies, my total would be about $7.18 after coupons, and with the fact that I would get $10 back, it was even better than free.  The next day, I ripped out every General Mills and Betty Crocker coupon that I had in my binder, and then printed every one I could find at Coupons.com and SmartSource.com.  I even asked all my coworkers to print some for me, and by then the coupons were stacking up.

I made a trip to Meijer and bought my first 10 items.  ”That will be $7.18, sir” the cashier said.  And after paying for the order, the $10 coupon printed out–good for one $10 gift card (redeemable the next week).  After putting the groceries in the car, I would go right back in and do it again.  I mixed-and-matched different items as well–cake mix & frosting, chex mix, Bisquick, cookie mix, granola bars, and Warm Delights.  Most of the time, the total was still under $10.00.

Just 18 trips later, I had amassed a large amount of breakfast cereal and snacks.  I had spent a whopping $175.51 for all of this food, and Meijer gave me back $180 in gift cards the following week, of which we purchased milk, produce, and gasoline for the rest of the month.  If there were no sales, gift cards, or coupons that week, and I were to purchase all of those things outright, I would have spent $475 for all of this.

Pictures? Did you want to see pictures of this?  Of course–and here they are.

Combining Sales, Discounts, and Coupons

Let’s talk about utilizing coupons in the fullest measure.  Coupons are a dime a dozen these days.  You can find or print coupons within minutes from just about any computer.  They’re in the mailbox every week.  You’ll find them falling out of your newspaper on Sunday.  So, with so many coupons, everything must be a bargain, right?  Absolutely not!  Coupons are actually a marketing tool to advertise to a part of your brain that makes you think you are getting a deal that nobody else can get.  If you are new to couponing, you are more likely to buy something with a coupon than you would buy something that is on sale the same amount.

So, how do coupons make a good deal?  When you use the coupon on an existing sale!  If your favorite Chex mix is $2.79, and you use your 50-cent off coupon, it brings it down a little.  However, if the next week, Chex mix is on sale for $1.79, and you use your coupon that week, now you’re getting a great deal!  Manufacturers will try different marketing techniques–they may issue coupons the first week of the month, and then promote sales at grocery stores nation-wide the last week of the month.  Save those coupons when your favorite grocery staples and snacks are discounted, on sale–or even better–on clearance!