Group #2 DEAL BUSTING DIVAS - 21 Things to be an Epic Couponer

[Giving-Small]

Ah -- okay now I know what your workflow is. I'll post the step by step info later today.

[BVOGT30]

I am typing up my tradelist in "notepad". It seems to paste well into the forum. Should have it mostly done tonight ready for posting and linking in the group. Fell asleep with the kids again last night. LOL

[Giving-Small]

Notepad is a great idea for working on the tradelist.

[Giving-Small]

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend and did some shopping. I did two trips to LD and managed to use some coupons.

This next slideshow will give you a better idea of what the conductor for a train does plus how to leave ratings for a train. I also discuss some of pitfalls with trains.

Next up: will be more on trading and shopping with coupons, the store policies, the cashiers, nerves and apprehensions




Watch Thing 6: How to Conduct a Train


And ... Your Activity

1. What do you think (or know) are some of the best things about trains?


2. What are some of the troubles with trains that lead riders to be disappointed and feel the train wasn't worth it?


3. Do you think you'll ride trains or conduct them (or are you already doing so).

[Giving-Small]

Here we go.

Snap your photos and download to your computer. Usually they are pretty large size so you may want to resize them.

If you don't have a graphics program to do this don't worry.

You can choose a free photo site to upload them to such as:

1. Photobucket
2. Flickr
3. Right here on Smart Canucks in your album.

Step by Step Guide

1. Go to your profile page and look on the right hand column. There's should be a section for Albums. See below. I already have some albums so there's a "thumbnail".



2. You will likely want to create a new album.

Click on "add album" and fill out the form with the name and save.



3. You'll see a link to upload photos and click it to get to this form.

For each photo you'll need to click the "browse" button and go to the place where the photo is stored on your hard drive.

Then click upload.

Note: As the photo is uploaded, the SC bulletin board resizes it to 800 pixels wide and scales the height accordingly. This fits nicely on the board but it can be blurry.



After uploading you have the option of adding a better title or description.

4. When you click on the thumbnail and see the full size image there will be 2 choices for the link to the photo:



You'll notice in the purple ellipse there is the HTML link and the BB code link. BB means bulletin board.

It`s fastest to cut the BB code and paste it into your post. That`s what I did just above. It puts all the coding you need into the post.

If you prefer the HTML link then you need to click on the picture icon - see below and then paste in the URL to the photo that you copied. You can do this for any photo on or off Smart Canucks site.



What are the pros and cons of using SmartCanucks or a free photo site?

Photobucket has the ability to use CTRL key and click on many photos and then hit upload. Saves a bit of time. You have an option of choosing the size to post or resizing the photo. You can have a HTML or BB code.

Flickr has similar features to Photobucket but you can not resize. Flickr requires you to include a link back to its site whenever you post an image from there (it's all in the code you paste so no worries).

Are there other options?

Yes there are many free file upload sites where you can put your photos and then add them to your post on Smart Canucks for people to see.


Questions?

[okgirl]

Wow, this is great! Darlene you are so knowledgeable and I am so...overwhelmed now...I will practice this, I hope it will take me less than a month to get itThank you so much for your time and kindness!

[okgirl]

I've been in a few trains and this is my opinion
1. What do you think (or know) are some of the best things about trains?
You can get some coupons that you never saw or they are found only in other provinces than yours.


2. What are some of the troubles with trains that lead riders to be disappointed and feel the train wasn't worth it?
Sometimes you cannot use any of coupons, or the train was so late the expiring day is close.


3. Do you think you'll ride trains or conduct them (or are you already doing so).
Always enjoying riding or conducting trains! Too bad it takes so long to ride them from East to West...

I learned new things from Darlene's video. I am becoming a...profesional LOL

[Chimmi]

sorry I haven't done my homework lately (we are in the middle of prepping for a reno and it has been a little crazy around here). I am going to try to get to everything by the end of the week.

quick question - did we decide which way the train was headed first?

[Giving-Small]

Reno's are crazy. Can we see a before photo?

Chimmi - the train left on Sunday going to you. So it could even be there tomorrow if we're lucky.

Here's the train order and list: 2nd post in this thread
http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/184316-...uponer-canada/

[kk008]

1. What do you think (or know) are some of the best things about trains?
The variety and possibilities of coupons not available in my area or just didn't know they are out there, after-all we can't get every single coupon available on our own two feet....or fingers.

2. What are some of the troubles with trains that lead riders to be disappointed and feel the train wasn't worth it?
Probably whatever that may be in the envelope, I may have already or it's just not the type of coupons I want.

3. Do you think you'll ride trains or conduct them (or are you already doing so).[/QUOTE]
Just started trading a few weeks ago......I think I'll try riding a train the near future (besides this one of course). Then when I build up enough coupons in my "stockpile", I'll see about conducting!

BTW....thanks sooooo much for teaching us to be Epic Couponers....now if only I can remember what is taught.....so glad I can come back to this thread to guide me!

[Giving-Small]

Thanks for the comments -- happy to know this info has been helpful.

I can definitely say that you are all on your way to being awesome couponers and Deal Busting Divas to boot.

But it does take time to learn all this stuff.

I think of it as rules to a complicated game - each store has its quirks, different coupons, and of course we have yet to talk about reward/loyalty programs. That's the advanced degree in couponing LOL.

And of course for those stackers - have to love math and puzzles and collecting. Being a great stacker is lots of work but lots of rewards.

Wow, this is great! Darlene you are so knowledgeable and I am so...overwhelmed now...I will practice this, I hope it will take me less than a month to get itThank you so much for your time and kindness!

1. What do you think (or know) are some of the best things about trains?
The variety and possibilities of coupons not available in my area or just didn't know they are out there, after-all we can't get every single coupon available on our own two feet....or fingers.

2. What are some of the troubles with trains that lead riders to be disappointed and feel the train wasn't worth it?
Probably whatever that may be in the envelope, I may have already or it's just not the type of coupons I want.

3. Do you think you'll ride trains or conduct them (or are you already doing so).

Just started trading a few weeks ago......I think I'll try riding a train the near future (besides this one of course). Then when I build up enough coupons in my "stockpile", I'll see about conducting!

BTW....thanks sooooo much for teaching us to be Epic Couponers....now if only I can remember what is taught.....so glad I can come back to this thread to guide me!
[/QUOTE]

[fourfurryfeet]

1. What do you think (or know) are some of the best things about trains?
Some of the best things about trains are that you can get an assortment of coupies that you may not have otherwise been able to get. It's nice to see what other people have available in their area. Also, it's almost like doing a trade with several people at once! I enjoy them but they can be complicated sometimes!


2. What are some of the troubles with trains that lead riders to be disappointed and feel the train wasn't worth it?
I conducted a train that had several coupons come in that were expired or rediculous amounts of multiples of the same thing! That's a bummer...but it was a learning experience! The other dissapointment is when there is really nothing in the envie that you are interested in since even though you get nothing out of it your still paying postage!


3. Do you think you'll ride trains or conduct them (or are you already doing so).
I am already conducting a train and I must say I like the trains where the envies come to me and I sort and send back and the gift trains are fun too! I'm doing one right now called book, pen pal and surprise and it's gonna be great...and if it's a success I hope to have more!

[Giving-Small]

So happy when people post and share their experiences like you're doing.

Do you find it interesting? Helpful too?

Time to chug along to another Thing or Two.

Here's hoping the train arrives at Chimmi's tomorrow

[Giving-Small]

How I Learned to be a Confident Couponer


This is an audio recording (podcast) of an interview I did with Susan who is part of this EPIC couponing group. I'd like to thank her so much for being willing to share her experiences starting out shopping with coupons and what she did when she encountered obstacles.





Listen to the interview now.

[Giving-Small]

Mrs January an amazing couponer has a super section on her blog for starting out couponing (which I just discovered).

So why invent a wheel, when there's a super one out there?

Here's her take on: How To Handle Cashiers That Won’t Accept Your Coupons Fixed the link a 2nd time. It works now.

I think this fits nicely with the ideas Susan shared in her interview and has a few more suggestions.