NLP makes couponing in New Jersey a realistic part of your household's fiscal diet, and is geared towards those young professionals who have little time to spare and expect maximum results. With 30 minutes-1 hour of effort, grocery bills are slashed in half each time you go to the store!
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Another SwagBucks chat
Awhile back on this blog, I talked about Swagbucks, the online rewards program that gives the user an opportunity to complete online tasks and offers for virtual points that later are exchanged for gift cards, items, or cash. I rediscovered my Swagbucks account after navigating around the couponing blogosphere. I found that a lot of people actually actively use the site, so I decided to give it a second try.
A lot has changed since my first entry about Swagbucks. While I was less willing to spend time on making Swagbucks work, now I figured out a few more ways to make it work for me. I found that surveys are more likely to work for my needs, I figured out how to get the most bang for my buck, and how to use a little bit of down-time to get maximum rewards.
First of all, it is real. My first concern is that I wasted my time for a fake site, but nope, it’s true. Prizes take a bit of time to make their way to you, typically about a week, but for free money, I’m not complaining if I have to wait a little. I’ve already cashed in for $60 in gift cards, $25 of that just straight cash via PayPal. I just submitted an order for $50 through Paypal. There are no gimmicks. What you see is what you get. So yes, it’ll take time, but I’ve found that it’s easy to make the points for what you want. Whether that’s a gift card to a store you love or some cash for the money you could use right now, there are great opportunities to get some great prizes out of Swagbucks. (Just ignore all the little stupid prizes and the sweepstakes, which they call “swagstakes.” It’s better not to gamble with both fake and real money!)
If you’re considering getting involved in Swagbucks, please use my referral link at the bottom of this post. I get Swagbucks for each person who signs up. I’ll post some tips and tricks in a later entry, too.
Happy swagging!
I just got this week’s SmartSource coupons insert!
Check out some of the great, high-value coupons they have:
$1.50/2 Skintimate Shave Gels
$1.50/2 Edge shave gels
^For those two, watch out and make sure you’re getting a GOOD deal before you use coupons that give you $.75 off each can
$.50/1 Tabasco sauce any size
$5/1 Zantac 24-ct or larger (a nice help for those of you with heartburn!)
$2/1 Gold Bond body lotion 7 oz or larger
Dunkin Donuts $.99 small iced tea coupons!
$.75/1 Reynolds Wrap 35 feet or larger
Get $2 off fresh beef when you buy any Wholly Guacamole product
If you didn’t catch yours in your driveway this week, these identical coupons and more will be available in Sunday’s paper!
Follow me on Twitter!
I tweet a lot of sweet coupon goodness there.
Also, there’s a Facebook page you should check out! www.facebook.com/nattylightpockets
Self-control is just as valuable as saving money
Sometimes, after couponing, I feel like this guy:
Delighted to save a little something, and dare I say it, a bit richer than before. My average trips are trimming off $25 per bill and I pay maybe $20 with every trip. If I go to the store weekly, that’s $100 a month that I can bank for something else. Oftentimes, the savings are greater.
However, if you get into the habit (read: EXTREME HEADRUSH) of couponing, sometimes, you clip a bit too much.
“Yeah, I don’t have a dog, but I can get these dog food cans for .35 each!”
Well, silly, you just wasted .35. That might have been cheap, but who cares? You can’t use it, and unless you’re making that work somewhere else (giving cans to friends, donating to an animal shelter), you wasted your time, energy, physical space, and (what’s important to this blog): money.
Watch any clip of Extreme Couponing. Actually, start with this one.
Here’s a summary of the video: WHY DID YOU BUY EXPENSIVE DIAPERS— EVEN WITH COUPONS AND ON SALE— IF YOU DO NOT HAVE CHILDREN? WHY DID YOU BUY DOG TREATS WHEN YOU DO NOT HAVE A DOG? WHY DO YOU HAVE A WALL OF TOOTHPASTE? When you’re measuring what you have by the amount of shelf space it takes up, you are officially out of bounds.
When you start couponing, you NEED to remember that self-control is just as important as getting that good deal. This is what moves you from a beginner couponer to one with self control and a better know-how. Once you recognize what’s actually going to *save* you money as opposed to just being good deals for the hell of it, you’ve become a smart couponer.
Today’s couponing:
Retail: $48.03
Paid: $18.90
Saved: $29.13!!!
Lets break it down:
Post Honey Bunches of Oats cereal
Retails $4.59
On sale for $2.99
Coupon for .80/1 that doubled
Paid: $1.39
South Beach bars
Retails $3.99
On sale for 3 for $5, or $1.67/each
Coupon for $1 off 1
Paid: .67
Hellmann’s Mayo
Retails $4.59 (Remember what I said about BBQ-related items being on sale during the 4th of July season?? This is why I cut and save coupons!)
On sale for $2.99
Coupon $2 off 2
Purchased 4
Paid $7.96
Popcorn, Indiana popcorn
Retails $3.79
Coupon for a free bag
Paid $0
Hefty Garbage Bags
Retails $5.29
On sale for $2.99
Coupon .55/1 that doubled
Paid $1.89
Klondike Bars
Retail for $3.49
On sale 2 for $5
Bought 2
Paid $5.00
ShopRite light wheat bread
Retails $2.39
On sale for $1.99
How did I do it?
-Simple. I spent about 10 minutes reviewing the circular before I left and pulled out the coupons that I would need ahead of time (my entire shopping trip was not even 30 minutes!) I paid attention to the coupons that I had and matched them to the products that were on sale, like the mayo. Some purchases, like the cereal, were unadvertised sales, so I found out when I walked down the cereal aisle that it was super cheap. Then, I noted the products that I really wanted that were on sale (I’m a sucker for Klondike bars!) and decided if I had enough money to buy them.
How can you do it?
Pay attention. Look for key words in sales that may bust your deal and look for catchphrases on coupons that make them ineligible with your sale. Do you need to purchase 2 items in the 2 for 5 sale in order to get the deal? Does your coupon only apply to 40-count garbage bags and not 20-count garbage bags? These seemingly minor details can throw off your entire count, and that can mean a lot of dough.
Happy couponing!
I really should start couponing for clothes. Haven’t figured out yet although I’ve seen it before….
kimception said: Every one has sales during July 4 anyway, so I guess that they don’t have to put out coupons. I went to H&M and there were sales everywhere
Different value coupons, part 2
Take a look at these coupons for Ban deodorant:
It’s the exact same situation as different value coupons #1, the post below.
The first coupon is .40 cents off any 1 Ban full-size product, and the second coupon is $1 off any 2 Ban products (note that it doesn’t exclude trial size). In this case, on the surface, it may make sense to use the .40 cents off 1 first.
However, now there are 2 kinks in the road:
1. The $1 off 2 does not rule out trial size. This could mean that you could get trial size products with a similar amount of product for a lower price.
2. These coupons were issued at different times. I wrote in one of my earlier posts that when coupons hit the market first, they tend to be more valuable than later issues. It took several weeks for the $1 off 2 coupon to be issued, while the former post included coupons that were issued next to each other.
There’s always a little more thought to the couponing game than you think! However, armed with this sort of knowledge, you’ll know how to get the most bang for your buck.
Different value coupons, part 1
This is a MAJOR money-saving tip, so take note:
These two coupons were issued in the booklets that came out two weeks ago that I first got around to cutting today. Sometimes you’ll see these coupons issued together: one coupon is off of 1 product, and one coupon is off of 2 products. It’s the exact same product. Fine, easy. Two products= more money saved, right?
So totally wrong, bro.
Take a look at the coupons closely: .70 off 1 box of cereal versus $1 off 2. $1 off 2 turns into .50 cents off on 1 box, less than the .70 cents off 1.
But on top of that, the .70 cents coupon does NOT restrict doubling! This turns into $1.40 off 1 box of cereal. Which, in cereal language, is a miracle.
Basically, scrap the $1 off 2 in favor for the .70 cents off 1. You’ll save a ton!
The extreme amount of coupons people use to make stockpiles confuses me. Why not just buy stuff like once a week/month like normal people? Are you planning for the apocalypse or something?
That’s why I don’t stockpile. Where the hell am I going to put all that stuff? Get for the week/month and you’re all set. It’s so much simpler, and saving oodles of money should be simple as hell. Hence, this blog.
