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I know that things have changed a lot since back in the days of 20 years even 5 years ago! I wonder if any of the Kelowna / Vernon gang is still hard core coupon? Anyone interested in a Timmies Coupon Exchange again? I am in need of some coupons. I have some to share that are of value I gather lol!!
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Stopped at Canadian Tire. Glad I did .... even better deal. As I mentioned my grandfather swore by Dutch when I was a kid. He said its a good product, i believe a bit of it was he loved CT lol... I still use Lestoil but heck thats another post all together. Anyhooooooo...... i am so happy. You may notice I always document the day purchased so I ca also write on it the day finished then I know how many I need for the 12 week cycle . Fyi.. I do 4 loads a week so each one theoretically will last about 6 months.I find that Canadian Tire Brand Laundry Soap is very similar to Arm & Hammer. My husband like it and takes the scent of MAN lol out of the clothes. Good deal. Works out to about .04 a load.
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Has anyone in Kelowna seen the Dove Coupons?
For those of you in the Kelowna FB Group I will post here also the best I have to hel you all save some money.
The following post is from years past altered for updated sales.
In the years previous I was a big fan of in-store coupons.
Finding an automatic dispenser or a tear pad of coupons near a product you know you’ll buy is a great way to get multiples. One time a fellow coupon lady and I met up at SOF in Orchard Plaza. She had mentioned that someone saw me taking all the tear pad coupons in the store. Kindly enough the fellow coupon userr defended my honor knowing I am not a stock piler in more than multiples of 6. This woman has been in my homes several time.
It has been some time now since this conversation and it still weighs on my heart. I think that comes with being a long time coupon user and trying to teach people how to save money with coupons in an era that had stockpiles larger than a groucery store. Anyhow I have long since gotten over the sadness of the way people stole thousands of coupons off my door step (remember the shared coupon box take a coupon leave a coupon) and did unspeakable things that caused me to leave the group years ago. That was then and this is now and we have all got some savings to re connect with Right?
Right!
Here’s the dilemma: how many coupons should you take?
One reader thinks I take too many.
Question:
“Traci, I was disappointed in the advice you gave to a shopper at Safeway. I know you encourage people to coupon ethically. Yet you found $2 coupons for In Cuisine Risotto in the coupon dispenser in the store and took 6 of them. There was also the .75 off Uncle Bens Rice you took 10.
It’s no wonder most of the time these dispensers are empty! Shoppers must have read your group page before going to the grocery store. You also took six coupons for High Liner Fish. That is also a little excessive. I hope that in the future you refrain from giving shoppers the idea that it is okay to take more than their fair share of either coupons or a product.”
Answer:
When it comes to coupon tear pads and dispensers, my rule of thumb is to take only the number of coupons that I’m likely to use in a single shopping trip. I base that number on the size of my family (5) and how often we’ll use the product. Most grocery stores run on a 12-week sales cycle. Prices on most items will hit a high and a low during that time. I always aim to stock up when prices on a product are lowest, and buy enough to get us through to the next sale, unless its like toothpaste and shampoo then I buy 6 and that is all we need for 12 months.
I discussed a shopping trip where I bought six bags of frozen Risotto. I’d found $2 coupons on an in-store display about a month before the sale. I took six coupons, knowing that when the product went on sale I’d buy six bags. We’d enjoy rice and chicken meal every other week, at which point I could expect another good sale on frozen Risotto. Are you following me? If you need to re read that go back and read.... I will have a sit of tea and wait for you, cause we are on this journey together. ( Chanter sips tea and waits)
Taking those coupons paid off. The Risotto went on sale at Safeway and I paid $.50 a bag, so my six bags were a steal.
The same week, I found Dove Shampoo on sale . The coupon tear pad in front of them offered $2 coupons. I bought 12 certainly this is more than I need (6) however the coupon states WUB2 both myself and my daughter have longer thicker hair and use more shampoo. Never will I justify my choices as I will always be transparent and lay my foundations out in front of the group. It works because I work it. KNOW YOUR FAMILY NEEDS .. Period.
I have always promoted ethical couponing, not only in this group and when I did teach coupon use but also via my old blog .
However, it’s a tough call when one person feels another shopper is buying “too much” or using “too many” coupons. For the size of my family and my method of shopping, I don’t consider 6 six bags of Risotto excessive.
The 15 boxes of granola bars I bought this week ( there are still coupons kicking around from the SS insert for Value packs of Nature Valley Exp May 312012 ) would likely not please the “Don’t buy so much” crowd.
But my healthy-snacking Husband goes through more than one box a week. That’s the quantity we need to get through until another sales cycle. I buy what we’ll use until the next sale is due. I think that’s reasonable and fair.
Question:
“My husband and I are proud parents of four children. A regular shopping week for me involves six jug of milk, four loaves of bread and lots of other large quantities. Last week I saw $1 coupons for amooza cheese. I took 12 coupons, the number of bags I was buying that day. But another shopper said I should only get one coupon no matter how many bags I bought. The tear pad was full of coupons when I left Safeway. Who’s right?”
Answer:
There’s definitely an element of “first come, first served” with any in-store offer. For every empty coupon dispenser there are others that sit full of coupons until their expiration date arrives. While I’d never advocate emptying an entire dispenser of coupons, remember that manufacturers place them in stores for one reason: to encourage people to buy their products. Take what you’ll use. No more no less. Read the work and re read the work on how to coupon. It sure helps to know your home well.
I as you know stopped going to the coupon swaps. On those tables lie the FULL TEAR PADS you are looking for in the store. Find a local meet up and you will indeed find the coupon you see. I myself will not attend those unless there are a select few that I will meet with. It has been a long time even for the few fellow coupon users I used to meet with at Capri Mall on Saturdays.
This being said I am told that coupons have become harder to spot.... so lets work on making that our goal and sharing the coupons we see and trading for what we need.
Happy Savings
So we all begin again on a new coupon game shopping journey. I have not done this for several 8 plus years as a deal seaker on line. Again those of you following hope this helps. Let's begin here.
My goal is to save for a trip to Wales. I have laid my foundation and last time I did this I was able to purchase a new punch bug in 2010 in cash for 27500. So I gather a mere 10 000 for a trip is very doable.
Knowing where to start can be overwhelming for a new coupon shopper! First, think about your grocery bill today. Make a mental list of what you buy most frequently. This list may include cereal, pasta, bottled juices and other packaged items, fresh meat and produce and personal care items, such as toothpaste, shampoo and razors. Aim to cut your current budget in half. That is 50% . This is my goal to begin with. While some weeks it may be higher or lower, each week’s bill should average out to half of what you spend today in this present time.
How do you do this?
By saving coupons to use during a good sale and by stocking up when prices are lowest! Not always do you have a coupon but you can always save money by knowing your family foundations. It’s crucial to shop according to the pricing cycles at a store. Prices fluctuate from high to low on any given product, typically in a 12-week pattern (this has changed some in the past little while I am told so please bare with me as I learn again the ropes).
Perhaps you usually purchase only what you’ll use in a week. As you embark on your first couponing adventure, (what I call cherry picking) you must focus on a longer timeframe. Stock up on an item you frequently use item when it hits its lowest price; buy enough to last 12 weeks, which is when you can expect its price to again hit a low. Get a binder and some loose leaf paper, we are on a Grocery Game Expedition.
If you eat one box of cereal every two weeks, buy six when your favorite brand goes on sale.
If you eat a bag of frozen vegetables every week, buy twelve when they go on sale, provided you have the freezer space to store them! Gone are the day of the stockpiles of old.
Here’s another simple tip to help you know how much to buy:
Any time you see an item on sale, especially if is a half or a third off its regular price, buy multiples that equal the original price of the item. For example, if a jar of pasta sauce regularly priced at $2.99 is on sale for 99 cents, buy three jars. (Check out the post from May on Catelina Pasta Sauce)Even if you don’t use coupons, you’ll pay $2.99 for three jars instead of one. While your out-of-pocket budget for this item won’t change, the quantity that you’ll bring home is greater than before. This is how you start building your stockpile with me a little each time as we cherry pick he deals.
At about the 12-week mark, you will have shopped through one entire sales cycle at your store. You’ll see the prices on your grocery staples fluctuate and you’ll develop a sense for a good deal. This is true for meats and produce, too. While those items are a little more difficult to find coupons for, watching your price-per-pound helps cut these prices down.
If you have the freezer space to stock up on meats, do so. Say Pork chops at 99 cents per pound are a much better buy than those same chops at $2.49 per pound.
As far as what stores to go to each week, I don’t stick to one particular place. I look at the ads, see what stores have the best sales for the week and shop there. I tend to shop at one grocery store and one drugstore per week because pharmacies always have great deals on personal care items. I LOVE ME A GOOD SDM SALE. My daughter works there and thus I see the deal first hand a week or so before the sales.
Other shoppers love to chase deals from store to store. If you’re one of them, you can skim sales at multiple stores and build your stockpile faster, but now a days the gas is high and not worth the risk... play it safe and SAVE.
When you’re able to shop ahead of your needs, you will pay what you want to pay and you will not be captive to the market price. You won’t find yourself trapped, thinking, “I need laundry detergent this week, so I’ll pay whatever price it happens to be today.” Instead, you’ll head to your stockpile and grab a bottle, knowing you paid the best price possible… for everything!
Happy Savings
Back many years ago our group member did this post for us.... I believe alot of things have changed since then, though I am sure as we follow along and learn the new way to coupon shop we can change and altar the list here in this post. I still feel there is value in what Frank (pickleman) had to share with us.
Step 0: DO NOT SKIP A STEP & INTRO:Its frustrating to spend hours building this for new members and then they just skip the odd step here and there and wonder why they have issues, or end up asking stupid questions that was already answered right here.... its layed out like this for a reason, so please follow this guide, step by step. Another thing i want to stress and i will repeat this many times through this guide is coupon policies.. this is one of the most important (and hardest to master) steps listed here so don't think you can just ignore it, it takes times to fully understand it all but you must know it, if you want to be successful with couponing.Some things to know before we startThe hardest thing some new couponers have is to change their buying habits, normally people go into the stores and just buy what they need. That is exactly what the store wants you to do. They have some things on sale to drive people into their store but the items that are not on sale are actually marked up so the store will still make their hefty profits.The trick to couponing is to buy what you will use,what is on sale and what you have coupons for, and buy enough for a few months..and that's it.This is exactly why most couponers have a stockpile, they stock up on sales. So don't go blowing your cash on the marked up items...or spend as little as possible on those.It takes time to build up a good stockpile (took me about 5 months) just stick with it and you will see the rewards, in time.You will be shopping more often to hit all the sales but paying way less.(and yes i factor in fuel consumption)One other thing I will mention here is sale cylces. The average sale cycles in your stores is 1 time per 3-4 months. So, if you see a really good deal on something. You can expect to see another great sale on that product again in that store in 3-4months. SO this is why you don't need to steal ALL the tearpads or buy 50 of 1 item... these sales will return.Last thing i will say is yes this is alot of information at first and seems a bit overwelming at first but trust me it just get easier with time.. TAKE YOUR time and make sure you understand each step before moving on.. book mark this page if needed and come back to it.Ok well lest get started, shall we.
Step 1 : Getting Coupons
The most obvious step is to get coupons... a few good online places to get coupons areOnline Couponswebsaver, brandsaver,save.ca,onecoupon.ca - these places you must sign up and use your actual address as they send you coupons.These are completely free so don't worry!There are other websites but you MUST ensure that the mailing address is within canada or else they are NOT usable within canada. Not all stores will accept printable coupon as forgeries have been an issue with some stores, so you may have to phone your local store to find out for sure. ALSO DO NOT PHOTOCOPY ANY PRINTABLE coupon as those are NOT accepted, and if you do you may ruin printable coupons for everybody else because the store will just stop accepting them if they have forgery issues.(they do not get payed for photocopied coupons). I recommend printing in color as some stores/managers seem a bit fussy about black and white coupons(look to much like photocopy) but many ladies have no issues with black and white but, I prefer color, but up to you in the end.(i save so much I pay for the ink 10 times over anyways)
Tearpads- these are found in stores in the isles bye the products.. NUMBER 1 RULE OF COUPONING DO NOT TAKE ENTIRE PAD, take as many as you will use over 3 months(i normally take 5-10 max).. don't worry these deals come out 1 time per 3-4 months(sale cyle) So don't be a greedy pig.Product coupon/pealies:Many products in the stores actually have coupons under the labels on the back of the boxes or hidden within the container. Sometimes its worth buying the product just for the coupons. Some of the most common product coupons are located on cereal boxes, hamburger helper, pogo. I sometimes buy the product just because the coupon value exceeds the actual product itself. For example: I bought a box of hamburger helper for 2.50$ and on the back of the box was a coupon for 3$ off hamburger.. well in my eyes that just made 50 cents for buying that product.. so keep your eyes pealed for these.Local CouponsCoupons that come to your home.They are coupon booklets that come in your local paper certain times of the month... These are called " P& G brandsaver", Smartsource and redplum and rouge...Smart source & Redplum Local papers
Written Letters or calls to the company for coupons:One other way to get coupons is to pick you favorite companies and tell them you love their product and ask for coupons...it only takes a few minutes but sometimes it works.Doesn't always work but worth a few minutes of your time if you can spare the time. Or you may be able to find a phone number to request for coupons as well.
Coupon Swaps/Trades and Trains:swap = the ladies all get together normally in a food court/coffee shop and trade coupons and ideas.. Always good for a newbie to attend a swap, as the ladies will gladly help you out. Our group normally has 1 swap per month roughly. There is normally 1 going on in Vernon, and anouther in Kelowna.Trades = Can be done online but (normally through smartcanucks) but watch who you trade with, as some just steal your coupons (keep an eye on their trading reputation)Trains- A coupon train is where a bunch of people send each other coupons via: the mail and they all follow specif rules and each person gets the coupons she/he wants and its just goes on like that..They send you coupons you get an envelope of coupons you take what u need and replace them with coupons of the same value and mail it to the next lady on the train ..basically how it goes but all trains have their own rules...
Step 2) Understanding your Coupon Policies : Learn your coupon policies for all your stores in your town, is a mandatory step as all stores have different policies and must be followed...I personally at first printed this 1st link out and saved the last page in my binder for quick reference. Know them well so you don't embarrass yourself at the till.When knowing your policy comes in handy:Remember some cashiers think they know the policy and they will argue with you but they are not always right just ask for a manager if your sure your right. Example: was in wallmart had a product on sale for 1.66$ and I had 2$ off coupon, she began adjusting the price down to 1.66$ i asked did your policy change? She said no but we never pay you more than what the items worth, and was getting mad and rude at me... I asked for manager, manager came and corrected her. She apologized and re-rang in my order and gave me the full 2$ off for my item.
All policies:
3) Figuring out Rock Bottom Prices:Once you understand the main points of your policies in your town, find out rock bottom prices for everything.. I personally use this for reference when I started then used the spare page to write down my own rock bottom prices (sometimes I found cheaper)My reference sheet I used for rock bottom prices:
Step 4) Locate your flyers in your town: Once you have an idea on what are good prices, keep a close eye on the flyers within your town...I made this website so please give it a thumbs up :).. Kelowna normally gets our flyers in the free paper Wednesday-Friday.. If you don't get all the flyers which i don't use the website I made found below.
All Kelowna Flyers:(please give thumbs up to my flyer website)
Step 5) Combine sales with coupons:Now match the best sales from your local flyers with the coupons you have collected. For example walmart had a good sale of crest toothpaste it was .88 a tube. I used a -.75 coupon and bought it for .13 cents.
Step 6) Price matching:A few stores out there will price match any sale from any store within your local area. In Kelowna: (again why knowing your policies is important)London Drugs -(only have to price match 1 item so don't expect more)Walmart - Can PM then buy as many as you want + use a couponZellers - Can PM then buy as many as you want + use a couponLoblaws -Extra Food/RCSS- is supposed to but I have yet to do it there.(if you price match you can NOT use a coupon..hence why i don't bother there)For example pharmasave had a sale on "regular or tartar control crest toothpaste 130ml" for .99 cents a tube. I went to wallmart (with the pharmasave flyer) and price matched that exact toothpaste then used seven -.75 coupons and got them for .24 cents each!Price Matching requires:1) The original flyer from the store.. online flyers wont work! If the sale is good enough I will drive to the store to pick up the flyer, if i don't have it.2) The sale MUST be valid when in the store. example shoppers drug mart has great sales on Sunday and Monday only.. so if you wanted to price match their flyer you must be in walmart/zellers ect, on that Sunday or Monday when that specific flyer is valid.3) The flyer must be a local flyer, you cant use a flyer from Toronto in a Walmart in Kelowna for example..it must be a flyer from Kelowna.4) You must have the exact same item that is on sale in flyer..if the flyer states 1$ for "varies sizes" you may get lucky with a price match but don't count on it! The specific size should be mentioned, or honestly I don't bother with a price match because they may not and probably wont price match it.One thing to note I have heard zellers may cut out the price match sale from your flyer...so if you plan on using it again either grab 2 flyers OR go there last.
Step 7) Learning to Stack:Stacking is the process of using more than 1 coupon per item. Only 2 stores in canada permit regular stacking as of right now1) Save on Foods(not sure if its all locations but both in kelowna do)2) London drugs (nation wide)
***You may be confused and think zellers and safeway also accept stacking as it is mentioned in my policies document for kelowna but, the safeway stacking policy is for electronic coupons which are not (yet) available in canada, and the zellers stacking is only if the coupon states "one coupon per item" can it be stacked., which I have yet to find a coupon that says that.
Example of stacking: dove is on sale at london drugs for 2$ for bar soap and 2$ for dove underarm.. use 2$ when you buy 2 different dove items then you use another (different upc code) 2$ off wub 2 dove items = 4$ off 2 dove items = taxes only on the bar soap and underarm.
Step 8) Overages:Overages is where the store actually will give you cash back on a coupon that has higher value than the item.. for example. You have a coupon for any size snuggle for 1.50$ and there is a sale on 20 sheets of snuggle for 1$ you use that coupon at the store will actually give you the extra .50 cents from the coupon toward the rest of your purchase..Only 1 store in canada does overages and that store is walmart, (you should already know this if you read the policies). So if you think you can get overages at any other store your wrong you can't.
Step 9) Get Free stuff? Many people seem to ask this same question over and over. How do I get free stuff... well if you follow my steps I just layed out you will eventually find coupons that will have a higher value than the sales that are on. For example at one point Wallmart was selling Gilette shaving cream for 1.60$ per bottle, there also was a coupon out there that was 5$ off when you buy 3 gillette products... do some quick math. 1.60 x 3 = 4.8$ for 3 shaving creams which = free.
Remeber though some store will NOT accept coupons that are higher face value that the item is on sale so agian this is why i stress you must understand your coupon policies.Also remember as long as the coupon does not state that it can not be used on trail sizes or travel sizes you can use it on trail sizes(the small sizes).. this can equal many free items if you pay attention to those areas in your local stores.The second way of getting free items is using more than 1 coupon on 1 item or also known as "stacking". This is covered inExample of stacking: dove is on sale at london drugs for 2$ for bar soap and 2$ for dove underarm.. use 2$ when you buy 2 different dove items then you use another (different upc code) 2$ off wub 2 dove items = 4$ off 2 dove items = taxes only on the bar soap and underarm.
Step 10) Perfecting you skills by researching or reading:
Step 11)Respect other couponers:
Enjoy Couponing but remember do not clear shelf's or become a greedy pig, there are others in the community that also want in on the deals and if you just clear shelf's well its pretty unfair as the rest of the couponers have no chance to get that deal.
Attachment 352521My goal was to save 50% on my shopping bill today and that was accomplished. I did not have the 1.50 coupon for pasta sauce or they would have been .38 each. I price matched Safeway deal of 1.88 at walmart.
This shop saved me about 59 dollars to put towards my trip to Wales !
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