PRICE MATCHING-EASIEST WAY TO START SAVING MONEY! First it saves on gas and next it saves on your time running down all the deals
- Find a place to sit with all your flyers spread out.
- Have a pen and pad of paper handy.
- Look for the products you use or want for the week.
- Circle them in the flyer.
- As you come upon an item that you are interested in jot down the store name and the item. (Remember to record the size/quanity of the product as stores will only PM on the exact same item).
- Compare prices as you scan through the flyers. Sometimes this means scratching out the original store and replacing it with another who has a better deal.
- Once you have scanned through all the flyers and have your final list, use sticky notes to place on the flyers you will be taking with you to the store.
- I actually place the sticky note on the page of the item I want to purchase.
- Fold up your flyers, take your list, and away you go.
TIP #2
My next tip would have to be to start collecting coupons. There are various methods to get coupons for your collection. Some even mailed right to your door. The tab titled Coupons Mailed to You, lists a variety of coupon sites where you sign up and then choose the coupons you would like. I suggest you order a full page and save some trees. Even if you do not need the coupon yourself, maybe a friend could use it. Then, in about 5-10 days they arrive right to your door. What could be easier?
Next, watch your newspapers. Even the free weekly newspapers carry the flyer booklets. The three local and most popular ones are Redplumb, P&G Brandsaver and Smart Source. These come out various times of the year.
Another great place to find coupons is at the store itself. Start looking on the shelves by the products themself. Often tearpads, the ones where you tear the coupon off, are sitting right by the product. Often tearpad coupons are overlooked because you are not looking for them. Once you start to look for them you will see there are many more than you expected. Make sure to take only what you need and maybe one or two for a friend. Nothing more frustrating than looking at empty tearpads when your out hunting coupon.
The last place to look for coupons is on the products themselves. We often purchase products and never look closley at the box itself. Many times there are coupons inside the box or on the lable, that can be used at a later time. Recently, Nature Valley granola bars had a free juice coupon printed on the inside of the box. So you purchased the product and got free juice. Sometimes they have what is called "a peelies". These are peel-off coupons on the product and can be used right away at checkout.
Pin codes are also popular on products. These are a series of numbers, usually printed on the inside of the packaging. You usually sign onto a website and enter the individual pins to win prizes or redeem for prizes. There are many companies that have this kind of promotion. Special K has one right now for a free Yoga mat when you purchased 2 boxes of Special K. Sunlight laundry detergent had one that ended this week that had instant win pins. Everyone was a winner. I bought 2 bottles and won 2 free bottles off the codes. I went and got 2 more products and won 2 free ones again. I ended up buying 4 bottles on sale for $3.77 and ended up winning 8 Free bottles. So in the end I spent $7.52 for 12 (36 loads) of laundry detergent.
So start watching the packaging of you products and take the time to enter your pin codes. In the end you will probably end up winning something of equal or greater value than the product price.
