A Case for Coupons

Coupons = $$$ Photo c/o insidesocal.com

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By Kellene Bishop

As you may already know, the use of coupons is mandatory for my personal preparedness of food and medical supplies. I have truly obtained a bounty of free or dirt cheap goods over the last 6 months that has nearly doubled my original supplies. As a result, it’s really freed up money for items such as solar ovens, fuel, pressure cookers, butane stoves, foam, etc. When I share this information in passing (read: Outside of the confines of my 3 hour Coupon Training Boot Camp) I frequently get a lot of negative comments with a touch of whining such as “coupons are only for junk”; “I can’t find coupons on items I use”;  “It’s not worth the time and effort it takes” or “I shop at Costco instead.”

I’ve got great news for you. These comments are misinformed perceptions, pure and simple. Let me share a little bit with you. 

 1)      I only spend 2 hours a week couponing. However, these last three weeks I’ve been doing so many classes that I literally have not even been able to invest that much time and so I haven’t even bought any groceries. And guess what? We didn’t even miss it! We still had all we needed because of all that we had previously from couponing.

 2)      I don’t just use coupons on “items I use.” I try new things many times—especially when they are free or cheap. I have three key rules on couponing. 1-You can’t afford to be brand loyal. When things go south, you’ll be happy that you have toilet paper. It doesn’t matter that it’s not Cottonelle, when Charmin was on sale for dirt cheap. 2-If I would be willing to use the product if it was FREE or CHEAP, then I cut the coupon. 3- I only use the coupon on items that are already on sale, thus making the majority of what I buy 70-100% almost ALL the time. This strategy has also allowed me to discover new things that my family likes. For example, I fell in love with the California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzes. (I know. Not exactly “food storage” but it sure did come in handy when I had no time for lunch other than a microwave meal. I also discovered that I preferred a completely different brand of mayonnaise than I had been buying all my life. Who knew? I only got the other brand because it was only 75 cents for a large jar with coupons.

 3)      Because of coupons, I literally cannot afford to shop at Costco or Sam’s Club anymore. Seriously. For example, Costco used to have the best deal around on zip-lock bags. When they would circulate one of their coupons, it would cost only 5 cents a bag. BUT… a local grocery store chain last week had boxes of Hefty Easy Zip bags on sale for 10 for $10. And guess what? I had $1 off coupons for Hefty Easy Zip bags! Um, sorry. No matter how much volume Costco buys, I doubt they could match that price.

 4)      You shouldn’t waste time trying to match coupons with sales. You need to align yourself with a coupon shopping service. I have my favorite services that I like to use for my area. It’s not a normal day without me checking out www.couponcarousel.blogspot.com or www.krazycouponlady.blogspot.com as well as www.savvyshopperdeals.com. The first two sites give me hot spot highlights for deals. But the latter site actually allows me to use a software service that tells me all of the best deals in my area…and I can pre-sort my search by store, product type, or even percentage of savings. As I browse I can make my grocery list and be in and out in a jiffy. Heck, the site even tells you what section of the store you can find something in! Not only that, but there’s also a video tutorial on the site that you can watch to get your feet wet with couponing—at least until I give you a more thorough webinar. 😉

Coupons = $$$ in Your Pocket!

5)      Next, I think that ANY of you would be hard-pressed right now to tell your boss that you want to earn $100 an hour, and you want to be able to work two hours a week for that money, and in you slippers, while you watch TV and talk on the phone. Right? Well, that’s what I save EVERY week that I do coupons! And that’s just for 2 of us in the home. I buy items that we eat regularly and items that we can store away. That way I’m storing what I eat, and eating what I store. If your family is bigger then you can save even more. I have a friend who recently got off of food stamps thanks to what she learned with couponing. I have another friend that has 7 in her family. Her monthly grocery budget is only $100. And guess what? She spends half of that on food storage!! My sister just went to a store last week that I loathe because of how un-coupon friendly they are. And she was STILL able to walk out of there with over $160 in groceries and medical supplies for which she only paid $20.55. Oh and by the way, she also received a $5 Target Gift Card. (Way to go, Sis!)

6)      Last, but not least, coupons are not only for junk—although I’ve managed to find my share of chocolate coupons. Hee hee. I simply don’t have the time, energy, or resources to share with you all that I’ve been able to purchase, at what  price, and where. But what I will do is give you SMALL list of items that I’ve purchased for FREE over the last few months. This is not even an all inclusive list. So when your jaw drops to the floor after reading this, pick it back up and give couponing a try. Surely you’re not going to be conquered by a few harmless coupons, are you?  🙂  

A-1 Steak Sauce

Almond M&Ms

Apple Jacks

Apples

AquaFresh toothpaste

Arm & Hammer toothpaste

Aspirin

Aveeno Face Cream

Ball Park Beef Franks

Bananas

Band-aids

Bar S Hot Dogs

Bayer Quick Release

Burt’s Bees Lip Balm

Butter (unsalted)

Capri Sun Drinks

Carefree Maxi pads

Celery

Cesar Dog food

Cheerios

Cheese

Cheetos Astro 100 calorie paks

Chef Boyardee

Chef Michael’s Dog Food (dry)

Chef Michael’s Dog Food (wet)

Chicken Breasts

Children’s Bayer Chewable Tablets

Clean & Clear (facial cleanser)

Colgate toothpaste

Crest Whitestrips

Crystal Light

Degree Deodorant

DelMonte Fruit Cups

Digorno Flatbread Pizzas

Dole Salad mix

Dove soap

Dry Idea deodorant

Earth Grains Wheat Berry Bread

Ecotrin

Eggs

Energizer batteries -6 pak, AA

French’s mustard

Fusion Razor

Gatorade (32 oz. and 1 liter)

Grey Poupon

Hefty Fresh Extend zip bags

Hunts Ketchup

Isopropyl alcohol

Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce

Jell-O Pudding Snacks

Johnson and Johnson First Aid Kit

Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereal

Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats cereal

Kellogg’s Rice Krispie cereal

Kellogs Raisn Bran

Kens Salad Dressing

Kraft BBQ Sauce

Kraft Easy Mac & Cheese Microwaveables

Kraft Ranch Dressing

Krafy BBQ sauce

Lint Brushes

Listerine Advantage

Manwich Sauce

Milk

Nature Valley Nut Clusters

Nexcare bandages

Nexcare bandages

Nexcare Disney Tatoo bandages

Office Depot Copy Paper

Oscar Meyer Balogna

Oscar Meyer Beef Franks

Oscar Meyer Bologna

Pantene Shampoo & Conditioner

Peanut M&Ms

Post Raisin Bran

Puperoni dog treats

Quaker Life cereal

Reach Dental Floss (55 yards)

Reach toothbrush

Renu Contact Cleaner

Right Guard Deodorant

Ritz Crackers

Sara Lee Hot Dog Buns

Schick Quattro Razors (non-disposable)

Schick Razors

Scotch 3 pack Tape

Scotch Double Stick Tape

Scotch Mailing Envelopes

Secret Deodorant

Sirloin Steak

Snickers Candy Bar

SoftSoap Essentials

Steamables (vegetables)

Sure deodorant

Tennesse Pride Sausage Gravy

Tide liquid detergent

Tylenol Aspirin

Vaseline Hand Lotion

Velveeta Microwave Cups

Western Family Tuna

Wet Ones

Wheat Thins (Multi-grain and regular)

Copyright 2009 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.

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Better than FREE Food Storage!

This blog has moved. Please visit us at www.preparednesspro.com.

By Kellene Bishop

Why don’t I believe someone who says they don’t have food storage because they can’t afford it?  Because chances are, these are the same folks who wouldn’t focus on food and water preparedness even if they had the funds.  Sad but true.  Why do I say this?  First of all WATER STORAGE is FREE and yet I rarely see a person who has even a semblance of the amount of water they need.  Surely they have empty 2-liter bottles that they can use to store clean water in the event of an emergency.  And if they don’t, they sure as heck know someone who does.  I even see some folks who have EMPTY 55 gallon drums just sitting in their back yard or in their basement.  But the second reason I really don’t buy this excuse is because FOOD STORAGE is FREE.  That’s right.  By paying attention you can find PLENTY of instances in which you can obtain FREE food storage and in some instances even get PAID to acquire it.  Perhaps you think I’m nuts to state something so bold.  But not only will I PROVE this to you, I will show you how using this strategy can help your entire personal budget as well, and earn your part-time efforts an average of $40 to $75 dollars an hour—AT HOME!  

Photo c/o http://www.couponbookprinting.com

Nope, this isn’t some multi-level marketing schpiel.  It’s called being aware of what’s going on around you and taking advantage of it.  More simply, it’s called using coupons!  Before you roll your eyes at the thought of clipping a 25 cent off coupon for a store that’s 5 miles away, allow me to clarify, because that’s certainly not what I’m talking about. 

Yesterday I obtained enough groceries for a couple weeks worth of meals in an emergency.  While these meals would be minimalist perhaps, they will bring me peace of mind in the event of a crisis.  I traveled a total of 2.25 miles.  I was PAID $20 to acquire nearly $100 worth of food storage and other perishable items for my home.  I don’t care what kind of income you make.  Free food storage is GREAT. And getting paid to do it FREE is even better!  

Photo c/o squalorsurvivors.com

So I’m going to spell out for you how I did this.  I printed out several coupons from Kraftfoods.com.  In addition to this I receive the Sunday newspaper.  In fact, due to the value I get in following this productive strategy, I actually purchase FIVE Sunday newspapers each week.  Believe me, it’s worth it even to the most ardent penny pinchers—you’ll see why in a minute.  I’ve even known some to buy as many as FIFTEEN Sunday newspapers each week just to maximize their coupon benefits.  (Check with your local newspapers to find out if they have a special multi-paper price and what their maximum allowed number of newspapers per week is.)  So in the Sunday newspaper, Albertson’s had several “double the value of your coupon” specials.  This meant that any coupon I presented up to a dollar, they would recognize it as double that discount. 

So, off to Albertson’s I went, armed with my coupons and a strategically prepared shopping list.  While that may sound annoying to you to think of taking all of that time to create, you should know that I actually subscribe to a FREE service in my area where I can simply click on the specials that I want, in the stores that I want, and for the product types that I want, and when I’m done it automatically prints off an itemized shopping list for me.  (For you Utah folks visit www.savvyshopperdeals.com)  This kind of service or similar to it is available in other regions of the country. 

Upon arriving at Albertson’s, I went to the condiments aisle.  Let me break this down for you:

• A large box of Ritz Crackers was on sale for only $2.89.  I had a dollar off coupon of any size Ritz.  So if I doubled it, making my Ritz crackers 89 cents. 
• In addition to that I had another coupon that gave me a FREE box of any kind of Wheat Thins with the purchase of a box of Ritz Crackers.  Yup.  My 89 cent box of Ritz Crackers qualified me for my husbands free Multi-Grain Wheat Thins.  And of course I had two of each of these coupons. 
• I also had $1 dollar off coupons for any Kraft BBQ sauce, which was already on sale at Albertson’s for only 68 cents.  And yes, they applied the difference to my other purchases. 
• I also had a previous coupon, courtesy of Johnson and Johnson for any grocery purchase of $10 or more the next time I shopped at Albertson’s.  I used that to buy some canned chicken which was also on sale. 
• I also purchased Kraft Ranch dressing, on sale for 99 cents, with my dollar off and $1.50 off coupons.  
• I got Chinet brand paper plates for only 9 cents after my coupons.  
• That day I also got celery on sale, eggs on sale, Kool-Aid and jarred Planter peanuts—all dramatically reduced. 

Bottom line, when I was done purchasing everything, I paid a whopping $8.92.  But wait, there’s more.  I also had $20.00 worth of rebates from a couple of beer companies redeemable if I purchased “salty snacks” and other kinds of goodies.  (Note: in the state of Utah it’s illegal to require a purchase of alcohol in order to receive a rebate.  So no alcohol purchase was necessary.)  My total money spent that day for so much in groceries?  NEGATIVE $11.08.  Total time spent with coupons, driving and shopping—3.5 hours.  Average value of that time–$40, and to think I’m actually rather new to this whole process!  I could have saved more time if I’d been more aware of where things were in the grocery store, if I had invested in a better binder for my coupons so when they fell on the floor they didn’t fly everywhere, etc. 🙂

So, my emergency preparedness menu based on yesterday’s shopping will consist of canned chicken mixed in either BBQ sauce or Ranch Dressing, served atop crackers, (warm or cold), with some Lemonade on the side.  Of course I’ll supplement that with the hugely discounted peaches and green beans I have previously purchased, and viola!  You’ve got an easy emergency meal while conserving your own energy and money.

Now tell me again how you can’t afford to gather food storage?  I’d say if you can get free food storage or nearly free, you can’t afford NOT to.  And please fill up those water barrels!

Other good coupons sources: Boodle.com, pinchingyourpennies.com, grocerysmarts.com.  Be sure to subscribe to your local grocery store’s e-mails for unadvertised specials.  There’s an average of 1,000 unadvertised specials EVERY week in your grocery store!   

Copyright 2009 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.

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