Team 9: 21 Things to to be an Epic Couponer

[Meadea]

Shoppers Card Activities/Discussion:

I do have a Shoppers optimum card, though until recently have never really used the thing. I didn't spend a lot of time shopping at SDM as I found their prices to be higher than standard grocery stores. I'm also not much of a make-up person (I can count the number of times in a year that I but the stuff and it isn't many). Until I started with coupons I practiced the one store philosophy - Save on was great as I could fill my prescription, get my groceries and then pick up my prescription, pay for my groceries and be done with the stores.

Since I joined SC, I have been making more of an effort to try and use my Optimum card to get the points, However I have found it to be quite difficult in getting points on the 20x days as my 2 local stores never seem to have the products that are advertised in their fliers that match up to my coupons. I have recently started to get rain checks for the items so I still get the sale but not the bonus points that were offered if I reach the $50.

I think that the rewards program would work if the stores actually had the stock on the items that they are advertising. I need to stick really close to my list when I go in there and when the stuff isn't in the store it makes it really difficult for me to reach that $50 or $75.

[NicoleLJ]

Recieved the Train today. Thanks for all the wonderful coupons. Will be mailing it tomorrow. Out $18, In $19. Also checked everyones wish list and added a coupon for each person in the packages that Giving-Small organized for each person. THey are

Jujubetwins - Dove Body Wash
Meadea - Kraft Pasta Salad
EJEJ - Iams Cat Food
HouseholdSaver - Wonder Bread
Giving-Small - I couldn't find you list so I put an unused postage stamp in for you. Hope that is ok. Thanks agian for doing this.

[Giving-Small]

Nicole - you're a sweetie - postage stamp is great. My antiquated wish list is here:

RLF: $1 Hamburger Helper, Vector - lots for trade - see photos

Super nice of you to add extra coupons to the bundles of people's wishlists.

[jujubetwins]

Can't wait!!

[HouseholdSaver]

I have an optimum card and have already been able to do one bonus redemption, where you spend 95,000 points and get $200 worth of groceries for free, just paid taxes and deposits! And I have only been collecting since Mid-March! Woo hoo

I use all kinds of strategies to obtain bonus points.

On 20X points days I spend the $50 before taxes and then use coupons to get my OOP (out of pocket) lower. Some stores will let you coupons others may not, if not, I go to another store.

I use the bonus points printable coupons, recently there was a coupon for 3000 bonus points!!!!!!! when you bought any oral B or crest product, and then I used a $1 off an oral B coupon, so the toothbrushes were $2.69-$1 coupon= $1.69 for 3000 bonus points! Yaa baby

So i just keep my eye out for any printable bonus points coupons, and voila more points faster= more food for free faster

I have also bought a GC that is reloadable, not one with an amount on the front, and each time I go shopping I reload the card and esentially get double points:
$20 reload GC= 200 Optimum points plus buy $20 worth of products at Shoppers= 200 Optimum points!!

Another awesome trick is to buy things that have MIR's (Mail in rebates)!!! Buy these on 20X points days, and then send in the MIR and get reimbursed the purchase amount! Score!

Another tidbit, if you buy any of the items that dont qualify for points, like Transit passes, buy a GC first, and get points, and then...... buy the Transit passes with the GC! An employee of Shoppers actually tipped me off to that one.

The program can work for you if you do your math, don't buy things for marked up prices just to get the bonus points, just like any other purchases don't buy it if you don't need it. If you can, only shop on 20X points days. And of course use the printable bonus points coupons! So for me the Optimum points program would rate a 6.5, I just don't like that most cashiers interpret the coupon wording incorrect!

[HouseholdSaver]

I have a quick 2 part question..... I participated in a train, and sent it home to the conductor, with a huge stack of extras for the conductor back in April. BUT I have not received a trade rating from them, and I have rated them, with Positive. What should I do in this case?

And I did a trade with someone who had a trade rating of 100 plus, and they have not sent their end of the trade, its been 3 weeks....

Is there a way to see how many times they have been on the this site, and if maybe they are just ignoring me. I am really hoping they are just on vacation or something and its all a big misunderstanding!

[NicoleLJ]

HouseHoldSaver have you tried pming them about the issues? Sometimes life gets away from all of us and things slip our minds. Also with me I know once I forgot to give a rating to someone because I was chatting to my spouse as I was doing it and accidentally skipped the persons name. Not something done on purpose obviously but it does happen. So if you pm them and bring the issue to their attention then usually the people will fix it. With Trades they can get lost in the mail. I did lots of trades and 3 got lost in the mail. One was a gift card. I replaced all of them when I was contacted that they did not recieve their end. I stopped doing trades for that reason. So always pm them first.

[Giving-Small]

Great tips HouseholdSaver - savvy way to build your Shoppers points and use a rewards program to achieve real savings for your family. And many MIR's can be donated if it's an item you don't personally want. Most MIR's require to the original receipt, so that limits you to just MIR on a 20x day. Occasionally, you can send a photocopy or the UPC code so read the fine print.

NicoleLJ has great advice on the next steps for a rating and missing trade. With the rotating strikes depending on the route of the trade it could have gotten hung up more than once.

To see when they last logged in you can go to their profile page. Check just under their avatar - there's a line that says:
Last Activity: Yesterday 10:21 PM

Not sure you can see all the times of previous logons but you can see the "posts" they made and their dates by browsing "statistics" menu option on the Profile page and click on "find all posts by xxxx"

[HouseholdSaver]

Thank you Nicole.

I have tried PMing them, and I have wrote on their own page, and I still feel like they are ignoring me, which I hope is not the case. And now I am very hesitant to trade, so I don't get burned. I really hope its just a forgetful person, but one instance is from April? Eeeeek

[rebecca123]

OMG I am BACK! Laptop went in May 17th, Came back June 1st for less than 24 hrs.

I live very rural, hadn't thought to do a back up because the problem was mechanical/physical. And I took it in the day before my warranty expired, so didn't have the time to go all the way home, do a back up, and drive it back into the city. Beside, the problem was a speaker wire and a loose charging port, what were the chances?

Sooo... I signed off on their "I know there's a chance I'll lose my data".... thinking I was probably okay. Nope. Came back *completely* wiped with a new hard drive. Ugh. But I'll live. However, after it was returned to me, the USB ports weren't working. So back to the shop. Just got it home last night. I was about to lose my mind.

And while I tried to at least see, and not miss some of the deals, on my phone. It was a very laborious process loading up the forum. So I realize I'm a month behind and really just need to find where I left off and continue from there. Just wanted to let y'all know I *am* indeed still alive.

One of the biggest things I noticed that concerns me, is the rumblings regarding the changes in WalMart's coupon policy.

[rebecca123]

Thing 3: Activity

Where have you found the most coupons so far?

Answer: For sheer volume, my vote goes to websites like Save.ca, Brandsaver etc


Where else can you find coupons?

Answer: I have nothing to add to the sheer awesomeness of the slideshow...lol


Can you spot a couple of "big" ways I left out? Clue - think of things on SC

Answer: Maybe the coupon Database?



Share other ideas that you have for finding coupons

Answer: Unfortunately I haven't developed any differing strategies, still chugging along with the ones learned here. I thought I was being all "sneaky" by picking up inserts at places that offer free papers (i.e. A&W) until I saw that was included in Slide Show as well...lol


Go out and find a coupon (or plan to find) with one of these new methods and tell us what it is and where you found it.

Found a $1 off Axe Body Wash (and have two teenage sons) - In fact SDM had this on for $3.99 tonight (regular $5.99) so I paid less than $3. Now generally I wouldn't think $3 for Body wash was a particularly *great* deal, but hey.... it's AXE!....lol

Found it at SDM a few days ago, just hanging around (the coupon, not me )

[rebecca123]

Share an experience (good or bad) with a cashier and check out that you had recently.

I haven't had any bad experiences (yet). I did have someone behind me in SDM last week who was about to wet her pants, anxious, impatient, etc. I thought it was because I was taking so long with my coupons. Turns out, she was itching to double check a scratch and win ticket on which she had won $10,000. I'd be anxious and impatient too!


What tips or advice do you have to offer the group? What's worked for you?

I definitely try to find the teenage cashiers (esp. male). They just don't seem so uptight, and are generally just there to put in their shift and get out. In fact, the last time I was at WalMart with a huge price-matching and coupon adventure, I had 5 different flyers and grouped everything up.... as I told him which prices went with which product and began to point out the first item in the flyer I was PMing, he looked at the pile of price matches and said "Don't worry about showing me in the flyer, just tell me the prices." My goodness I could have told him any price on those 20-25 items. Not that I *ever* would, but it was kind of funny, because the poor kid was looking at the pile of price-matches, the fistful of coupons and looked a little like a deer caught in the headlights.

[rebecca123]

I skipped over the WishList/Tradelist for now. It's late and feels very daunting, and looks as though I missed the train whilst my laptop was on sabbatical 2-3 provinces away. I'll PM my address anyway, at least then you'll have it.

Just wanted to say Thanks again for all this training, I'm going to be coupon-buff

1. Do you use your Shoppers card (if you have one regularly)?

Yes I do - ALL the time since coming to SC


2. Do you use any of the strategies Kim described to earn points faster?

Absolutely! I just earned PLUS status 3 days ago!!



3. On a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you like the Shoppers reward program?

TEN

[jujubetwins]

I got the train envie today! I'll cull all the June expiry coupons (darn strike!!) and switch out. Likely get it in the mail tomorrow or Saturday.

Thanks for the special coupons

I took out all the June expired coupons and $8 worth of ones for me. I put in $15 worth.

The Canada post site is down so I can't confirm postage so I won't mail it till Monday so I can take it to an outlet and get it verified. I usually weigh it at home but can't access their charts. Will do that first thing Monday morning!

[Giving-Small]

Hurray that it arrived and darn for all those expiries. I did try to not put too many June 30 - they were really just "extras" so it should still be a fairly plump envelope.

Left Giving Small May 31

1. NicoleLJ Arrived June 7 Sent out June 7
2. jujubetwins ARRIVED June 30 leaving Monday July 4
   
3. Meadea
4. EJEJ
5. HouseholdSaver
6. Giving-Small

This is still an ordinary in-out train. Replace what you take with similar value and usefulness. No crapalicious coupons.