So you’ve seen the Extreme Couponing show on TLC, you’re amazed (or disgusted) at what people can and will buy for free or nearly free and you wonder if it is even possible in Las Vegas to use coupons to replicate some extreme savings like these new found crazy grocerystore celebrities. You also don’t want to spend 30+ hours a week scouring the Internet looking for deals like they do on the show, right? Don’t worry my new couponing friends, in Las Vegas it is so much easier to know if items are a good deal, if there’s a coupon for an item, and where to find this so called money saving coupon! Oh, and you don’t just have to buy boxed processed food by the truck load to get a good deal. I’m going to tell you all about the GrocerySmarts way of couponing so you can understand all about the wonderful world of coupons. And, if you really start to like this couponing thing you can host a Grocery Smarts FREE in home class where I come and share all this info and more with you and your friends! Who doesn’t want to learn how to save money at the grocery store now a days?
Grocery Smart-Amanda shows off her savings spree!
First things first- Nearly every type of item goes on sale to the rock
bottom low price once every 3 months: Think items such as diapers, tortillas, toilet paper, shredded cheese, pasta noodles, body wash, laundry soap, sandwich baggies, etc. When you use a coupon to buy these items when
they are at that rock bottom low price you really can save tons of
money and get items for free or nearly free. The biggest mistake with
coupons that people make is to clip them and hurry to the store to use
them. You are saving money, but you’re not using the coupon at the
right time. For example, if dishwasher tabs are regularly $5.00 and I use a coupon worth $2.50 off then my total will be $2.50. Not bad, BUT if I wait
until the dishwasher tabs go on sale to the rock bottom low price of
$3.00 and then use my coupon worth $2.50 then I will only spend 50
cents for a box of dishwasher tabs! 50 cents. I can wash my dishes
for a month and it will cost me 50 cents!!
Second-Coupons are currency: You pay for groceries with coupons as if they were dollar bills! Coupons help to save you money AND did you know
that stores make money when you use coupons? Stores earn the value
listed on the coupon PLUS 8 cents for each coupon redeemed at their
store. So you save money using coupons and stores make money from
accepting coupons. It’s a win-win situation!
Are you getting excited about understanding the right way to use a coupon?
Let’s talk about where to find coupons: The best place to find
coupons are in the booklet of coupons (called inserts in the coupon
world) that come to you in the newspaper or your mailbox.
- SS = Smart Source inserts (comes in the Sunday newspaper bundled in with the retail store ads)
- RP = Red Plum (comes in your weekly junk mail usually Tuesday or Wednesday along with the grocery store weekly ads)
- PG = Procter and Gamble (comes once a month in your junk mail along with the Red Plum insert)
- GM = General Mills (comes a few times a year along with the Smart Source insert in the Sunday newspaper)
Couponers don’t pay full price for anything, newspapers included! You can start a deeply discounted subscription online at http://lvgrocerysmarts.com/newspaper-subscriptions/ and pay as little
as 90 cents a week when you break it down to the price per paper. The
news stand price is $3.00 for each Sunday paper so starting a
subscription and adding on additional Sunday Only papers really is a
money saver!! You will recoup the cost by using coupons on your
grocery trips in no time! Coupons do take the major holidays off so
there won’t be any coupon inserts in the papers on Sunday, July 3rd!
Keep these inserts whole and notice on the spine of each insert is a
date in really small print. Write the date found on the spine of the
insert on the top front of that insert using a Sharpie or dark pen.
File these inserts either by type (all SS inserts filed together, RP
together, PG filed together, GM filed together) or in sheet
protectors in a binder with the newer inserts being filed in the back.
Notice how we aren’t even looking through the inserts or cutting a
thing? It’s okay! We’ll get to the cutting part soon!
Remember at the beginning of this post we talked about items going on
sale to the rock bottom low price once every 3 months and you wondered
how you could know if items were at that rock bottom low price? Well
the free website www.grocerysmarts.com keeps track of sale cycles at
each store and lets you know if the sale price is truly a rock bottom
low price by rating the sale price with a 5 star system.
- 5 red stars=the item is at the rock bottom low price so go stock up on it.
- 4 red stars= a low price as well so go get it if you need it.
- 3 red stars= an okay price, but you can pay less for this item at another store.
We take those weekly store flyers that come each week in your junk mail and we convert them into a spreadsheet form. So here’s what to do:
- Go to www.grocerysmarts.com
- Enter in the Nevada passport on the right: g89jac (this gets you to the Nevada stores and deals)
- Bookmark this page so you don’t have to enter the passport each time you visit this site
- Select a store from the drop down menu (I really like Smith’s)
- Look for the red stars to know if an item is a red hot stock up price AND look in the coupon index section to you if there’s a coupon available to sweeten the deal. (Remember those SS, RP, PG, and GM codes for the inserts and how we wrote the date on the front of each insert? Well now you can go directly to the insert that has the coupon you need and clip only the coupons you will use for your shopping trip).
- What you are looking at is a customizable grocery list that you can print off and take to the store! Hint- USE THE BUTTONS:
-Click the START button at the top right, this enables you to click on any line you want to highlight it.
-Click the SHRINK button to hide everything you haven’t highlighted. Be careful what you hide, you may need that info. (If you click UNSHRINK, you can adjust without starting over!)
-To instantly highlight all the **** (4 star) and ***** (5 star)
items, click START, then click the single red star above “Stock upscale”.
– Type in any additional items you need at the bottom
– Click the PRINT NOW button to print off your grocery list, complete with prices, coupons to match up with the sale items you want to buy, and any additional items you typed in.
There is a 1 page printable direction sheet here: http://grocerysmarts.com/graphics/g89jac.pdf
(And, there is an app for that- it’s called Grocery Smarts Lite to use on your smart phone!)
Pretty easy, right? If you would like to learn more (yes, there is
more!) then come to a free coupon class or host one for your friends,
family, co workers, and neighbors! It’s a 90 minute totally free
class where you can earn a special treat to help you stay organized in
your couponing adventure, grocery store gift cards, and some advanced
couponing tips to use at the drug stores.
Follow me on Facebook, or we may just meet up in the store
if you shop near midnight, too! Feel free to ask questions, share some deals you found, and help support one another as we all try to save some money in these difficult times.