Understanding Couponing

Learn how just one hour a week can help you cut down your grocery bills. Whether it’s through store reward cards, reading store circulars or considering the brand of items you buy, spending a little time preparing each week can help you reduce your out-of-pocket expenses.

Read the posts below to start saving!

Understanding Couponing: Creating a detailed shopping list

I am long overdue for an “Understanding Couponing” post, so here you go!

Couponing is all about being prepared, and more often than not, knowing what your out-of-pocket expenses are going to be before you even enter the store. Here are some tips to help keep you organizing (and not overwhelmed) when you’re shopping:

When writing down each item on your list, first note the quantity you will be purchasing, along with the item’s size or specific type/flavor of product
Note the price each item should cost before coupons. This is especially important because prices different among regions across the country.
Write down the sale price and/or discount you are expecting so you know what you’re looking for at the store.
Underneath each item, list each coupon you’re planning on using, and how many you have to buy in order to get the discount, ie. $1 off of one or $3 off of 2.
Calculate your out-of-pocket expenses, including all of the discounts and coupons. Here’s an example:
Buy (2) 2L bottle of Coke — $2 each
Use 2 $1 off 1 coupons
Final price = $2 for 2 1L bottles of Coke

It’s all about staying organized to get the biggest bang for you buck. Enjoy!

Never miss a deal again! “Like” Superhero Savings on Facebook and “follow” us on Twitter.

Dollar Tree: Accepting coupons starting today, Aug. 26

Starting today, Aug. 26, Dollar Tree will begin accepting manufacturer’s coupons, making their dollar prices even better. Here are the details of their coupon policy:

Manufacturer coupons ONLY, no retailer-specific coupons (Target, Wal-Mart)
No photocopy of coupons
Limit two Internet coupons per transaction
Do not accept coupons for FREE product or coupons where the amount for the product is blank
Coupons must be presented at time of purchase and can not be redeemed for cash at a later time
Coupons will be accepted subject to their terms only, such as expiration date, size and limitations
Coupon will not be accepted without the purchase of the item specified on the coupon
Coupons cannot be redeemed for more than the purchase of the item specified on the coupon
Only one manufacturer coupon will be accepted per product in transaction
Coupon must be intact, not altered or modified in any way
Coupons are for in-store purchases only.

Click here to find a Dollar Tree near you.

Never miss a deal again! “Like” Superhero Savings on Facebook.

Creating a coupon binder: Doing what works for you

Couponing is all about staying organized, and a big part of that is you coupon binder. What?!? You don’t have a coupon binder? Well, then, let me help you create one so you can figure out what will work best.

Click to read my post about creating a coupon-only email address and Facebook account.

I currently use an old binder (1/2 inch) with baseball card holders inside. I’ve created pages to organize my coupons within two main categories — food and non-food.

Within there, I’ve separated coupons based on our buying habits. When I first started, I looked at other coupon binder guideline and realized that many either a) had waaaayyy too many sections and b) many of the coupon categories weren’t applicable to us (ie. diapers). Here are the main categories I have in my binder:

Food

Drinks
Breakfast food (eggs, pancake mix, oatmeal, cereal)
Lunch food (sandwich meat, bread, tuna)
Snacks and dips (humus, chips, granola bars)
Yogurt
Dessert

Non-food

Toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, floss
Hair products (shampoo, conditioner, hair spray)
Body wash
Razors and shaving cream
Deodorant
Feminine products
Paper goods
Kitchen stuff (aluminum foil, baggies, plastic food storage containers)
First aid
Makeup and nail polish
Random things

Again, after you start couponing a bit (or if you’re already aware of your buying habits) you can create and eliminate categories that will fit you and your coupon organizing better.

Click here to learn more about couponing.

Never miss a deal again! “Like” Superhero Savings on Facebook.

Create a “coupon only” email address for all your deals

Couponing and deal-finding has brought me tons of wonderful things, but one negative aspect to it is all of the instances where I have to give my email out in order to obtain a free product or coupon. Couple that with my other two email accounts and my inboxes are filled on a daily basis. That’s why I created a third (yes, I have three email addresses) solely for my couponing.

By creating a separate email for all of my couponing and deal-finding, my emails in one particular inbox are completely dedicated to this hobby. It doesn’t clog up my other inboxes, and I know that I have one place to go to in order to get all of my deals.

Additionally, my personal name and information isn’t included in my coupon email address, so all of the companies I request items from do not have my information.

I also use my email handle (the part before the @) in the First and Last name sections when my mailing address is required to receive an item. That way, the computer system that does the mailing doesn’t have my information either.

I hope this helps keep you organized — and sane!

Keep on saving!

9 easy ways to save money when traveling

For your next weekend or vacation getaway, here are some ideas to help you keep your expenses low:

Try HomeAway.com, VRBO.com or other home renting sites for finding accommodation instead of staying in a hotel. When considering where to stay for our honeymoon, we found the hotels to be absolutely exorbident in price. There was no way we could even afford a week, with hotels starting at $400-ish a night — and that didn’t even include breakfast. In using Homeaway, we were able to rent two adorable perfectly suitable villas at only $150/night. We had the whole house to ourselves, which included a full-size kitchen, huge bathrooms, great porches and tons of space!
Stop by the grocery store to pick up breakfast items, snacks, drinks, etc. Even if you have to leave some of the food behind if you don’t eat it all before you leave, buying your own food is still far cheaper than eating out three meals a day.
Go where the locals go. On our honeymoon, part of what “came” with the hotel rooms was the chance to “use” their beachfront. Not five feet away was the public beach with — wait for it — the exact same sand. Public access to the beaches was free, and we just paid a few bucks a day to get an umbrella and two chairs.
Also, drive a bit away from the tourist areas, where the restaurants are more reasonably priced, serve more of the local fare and the stores offer more competitive prices for shopping.
Try the off-season, if your schedule allows it. Chances are, where there’s a beach, there’s usually hot/warm weather, regardless of when you go. By traveling during the off-season, we were able to negotiate with the home renters on their nightly rates because they were desperate to just get any business at all.
If you don’t ask, the answer is definitely “no.” Ask if local establishments have group or tourist packages, tell them you’re on your honeymoon/family vacation/anniversary, etc. You’ll often be surprised by the kindness of strangers.
Check out daily deal sites, which can often offer quick weekend getaways at discounted prices. Plus, many will afford you the opportunity to try out a new destination without spending too much.
Just drive. All too often the best memories we made and the best food we ate were at places not in the travel books. While the tour books and maps can indeed be helpful to steering you in the right directions, we often just went exporing and stopped at the places we thought would be interesting.
Also, don’t judge food by where you’re eating it. We had the BEST Italian food we’ve ever eaten — in Hawaii. Who knew?