Group 14: 21 Things to be an Epic Couponer (FULL)
Doesn't matter to me either way, I think both would be good.
Thing 4: How do you prepare to shop with coupons?
Preparing to Shop with Coupons
You've collected your coupons and you're ready to shop and save. How do you prepare?
You'll be happy to know this one is < 8 min. :-) Which means more talking and sharing by all of you.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...oppingtrip.jpg
Planning your coupon shopping trips - a slidecast - how one SCer does
it.
Activity
By now most of you have a system for this - share your tips and advice for others.
SC Tip: How to spread a little love & help all SCers find great deals faster
This is a quick activity.:-)
I'm sure some of you have noticed and used the "thumbs up" icon at the top right hand corner of a thread on the very first page. This is a way to say "great thread" and also to recognize the poster for their contribution.
So how do you do it?
When you're on a thread that you like scroll to the first page first post. You'll see a grey thumb image on the right hand side. See example below. The number 31 beside indicate 31 people have given it a thumbs up.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...umbsupgrey.jpg
Simply click on the thumb.
It'll turn green and the number of thumbs up will increase by 1. See below.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...umbupgreen.jpg
When you're looking all the threads under a tab like coupons you'll see some that have a little row of golden thumbs up (See below) - that means lots of people have given that post a thumbs up, like the High Five. This tells everyone - hey this is a really good thread, take a look. So if you leave a thumb up when you spot something useful it helps everyone on Smart Canucks.
Screenshot: Part of the coupons thread enlarged to show the golden thumbs up besides some posts
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...l/thumbsup.jpg
Your Activity
You can start by practicing on our thread :biggrin: - you'll notice that the thumbs option ONLY appears on the first post in a new thread.
Next find a thread that you think is great and give it a thumbs up. :top:
Feel free to share the thread you chose on the board if you like. Not sure how to link yet; practice on us and use how to make a link to another web site or post.
Group 14: 21 Things to be an Epic Couponer (FULL)
Are we on a hiatus here for awhile? An update would be nice, but I totally understand that life just gets busy sometimes!
Trains, planes and automobiles .. let's get choo'ing
Coupon Trains - a few things to know
So what's a coupon train?
A train is an envelope with coupons in it that travels from stop to stop. At each stop some coupons get off and some other coupons get on.
Riding a train can help build up your trade rating because the conductor will rate each rider. Each rider will rate the conductor. This is typically how its done except for VWT Virtual Wish Trains which run differently.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...all/train3.jpg
The person who starts the train -- the conductor, typically, asks for a boarding pass - coupons from their wish list, stamps, etc. The people who take part in the train are riders.
To find riders, the conductor usually creates a post in the Canadian Coupon Trains thread.
The post spells out the train rules. The thread's title is updated to full when all the riders have signed on seats are filled.
Some trains are "invitation only" and a conductor pm's a select group of people to join.
The conductor collects everyone's mailing addresses and creates a route for the train that helps it to speed it along.
The conductor sends out a big envelope of coupons to the first rider: see pic above to see the flow.
The first rider takes out some coupons and replaces them and mails it to the next ride and so on.
Eventually the train returns home to the conductor. And I do mean eventually. It is surprising (and discouraging when you're new and excited about trains) to discover how long these trains take. It takes about a week to make it from stop to stop so if you're a fourth rider - four weeks from now.
Read more about trains here in the Sticky post.
Types of Trains
There are all shapes and sizes - anything the conductor wants to do.
- Basic coupon train (we'll do this)
- VWT -Virtual Wishlist Train (more about this later)
- Package Train
- By geography - alberta only
- By type of coupon - brandsaver insert; baby etc
Activity
Take a look at the train section.
Share any train experiences you have had.
Canada's Shopping Bargains, Freebies, Deals, Offers, Flyers, Coupons, and Contests Forum > Canadian Shopping Section > Canadian Coupons > Canadian Coupons Trains