Getting the Hang of Coupons
By Krista Martinelli
When our new advertising representative Shawn Thompson introduced the idea of a Coupon Swap to me, I had never heard of it, but was
excited to try something new. Being the opposite of “good with coupons,” I confessed to her that I’m the type of person who can’t even seem to produce a coupon that I have in my pocket when I get to the register – I almost always forget. She shared this article with me to explain the way a Coupon Swap works. http://moneysavingqueen.com/April-2011/5-Tips-for-Holding-a-Successful-Coupon-Swap-Party/
I decided to give it a try and see if I could learn something about couponing. I’ve always been interested in these stories of people who go to the store and somehow get money back, instead of paying. For example, they buy groceries and the store pays them – because of the amount and combination of coupons they’ve brought in. A few of the ladies on the evening of our Coupon Swap said that they have been able to do this. Amazing!
I don’t think I’m going to ever be coupon-crazy enough to get to that level of couponing. But here are some good things I learned from being around other Coupon Moms. And I have to say that I’ve been using at least one coupon each time I go to the store, since the event – major progress!
- When a grocery store (like Publix) has a Buy 1, Get 1 FREE special, you can still use a store coupon and a manufacturer’s coupon toward your purchase. This is a way to save major money! And almost get stuff for free or sometimes even get money back.
- Using coupons is all about planning. Plan your trip to the store around a few coupons that want to use.
- Get one of those little file folio organizers, alphabetized. Organize your coupons that you are most-likely to use into alphabetical order. I’m now keeping my small file organizer in the car.
- If you are a parent, make the most of those City Books that also raise money for your child’s school. There are plenty of great coupons inside for local attractions and restaurants – many free offers or buy 1, get 1 free offers.
- Hey AroundWellington Readers! Don’t forget that we have a Coupons page that is updated each month! Visit our “AW Coupons” page for coupons for the following advertisers (insert list). If you plan on attending our next coupon swap, please get familiar with this list and USE at least one of the coupons, saving your receipt. It will get you double raffle tickets at our next event!
- Tell your friends what coupons you are in search of. They will look out for you! At our coupon swap party, one mom (of six kids) told all of us ahead of time that she would take any diaper coupons we found in the pile. She ended up with a LOT of good diaper coupons.
- Enter contests! With some of these local contests, your chances of winning are very good. It just depends on the response and what the prize is. Our AroundWellington advertising rep Shawn Thompson is a big contest enterer. She recently won tickets to Disney World through a Coca Cola contest. I have another friend who constantly wins concert tickets from radio stations. Don’t forget that we have about two contests per month on AroundWellington.com under “Contest!” And who doesn’t like a free one-hour massage from Massage Envy, for example? J There are other great contests happening all the time at the Wellington MacaroniKid.com, one of our media partners.
- Get those M&Ms that say “Win Free Movie Tickets” on the front of them! Right now M&Ms is having a special promotion. Just make sure your package of M&Ms says so on the front. According to Shawn, you can win free movie tickets almost every time – by entering the code on the package.
- Here are a few sites that people mentioned at the Coupon Swap that you can explore further – www.CouponingtoDisney.com, Coupons.com Groupon.com, CouponMom.com and RedPlum.com. And of course, there’s the TV show on TLC called “Extreme Couponing,” which may go beyond what the average person would be willing to do – but still contains some good ideas. (See this video with an example of how one Mom actually made money in buying hand soaps).
- Restaurant.com is offering their $25 gift certificates for just $1 when you use the code WOW at checkout. But if you go thru ShopAtHome first, you will get 50% cash back which makes this just $0.50. If you haven’t tried Restaurants.com yet, now is the time to do it.
Anyway, thanks to attending my first Coupon Swap, I’m doing a better job of being organized with coupons and actually – yes – using them! Please keeping checking on AroundWellington.com or become a fan of our Facebook page, so you can get updates on the next one. Hope to see you there!
Krista Martinelli is the mother of a 6-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy. She is the editor of AroundWellington.com, your online local magazine.