Simple Steps

As a couponer the newspaper is a pivotal tool in my arsenal of savings.  And since (atleast in my town) you receive better coupons when you get a subscription to the paper than you do when you buy it a drug store or gas station getting the paper delivered is necessary.

While in some large cities people may have more than one paper to chose from most of you are only going to have one option for the paper.  Since they have a monopoly it is important to get the best deal possible.  I have found in most markets the price of the paper is negotiable- very rarely do I see a flat rate everyone pays.

I get e-mails about once a week asking how to get the best price on our local paper.  I thought these same tips might be helpful for the rest of the country as well.

1.  Figure out what it would cost to buy the paper every week.  In my area you can grab the local paper at the Dollar Tree.  So I can get 6 months of the paper with  little trouble from the store for $26.  That sets my base price.

2.  Then I call the paper and get their starting price.  Let’s say it’s $60 for 6 months.  Then I ask if there are any sales.  Most of the time they say no.

3.  Then I ask if there are any gift card deals- often they will give free months or gift cards to local grocery stores or restaurants.  My goal is to get down to that $26.

4.  If the price has not gotten any lower I will let them know that I can buy it at the store for $26 so I will not be paying any more than that.

5.  If they still will not lower the price I tell them to call me back when the paper hits $26 and give them my phone number.  Everytime I have done that they have called within 24 hours with a lower price.

6.  My rule of thumb with the newspaper is that you should receive one paper per person in the house who is eating.  So for a family of 4 you need 4 papers.  All the major papers will deliver multiple copies to your house at a discounted rate.  So once you get your base rate ask what the cost is per additional paper delivered.

Newspapers realize that couponers are an important part of keeping them in business- people are getting more and more of their news online and the papers are making their money through ads.

So make sure to get the best deal possible- this is an additional way or saving some money!

Looking for something fun to do in Hampton Roads this weekend?

Look no further:

Saturday

So I received an e-mail this week from a reader titled “Pain In The Neck Couponer.”  I was intrigued because most people who read my blog ARE couponers, so to be frustrated with one of our own in the store is fairly unusual.  Due to my own coupon usage, I am usually okay being behind someone in line who is using a stack of coupons.  I never know if I might pick up a few tips.

But after I read her e-mail I could totally understand her frustration.  The basic theme of her e-mail was that she was constantly ending up behind a customer in line at her local store who was trying to use multiple manufacturer’s coupons on one item.  So I thought to help with her frustration I would do a short post on coupon stacking.

Coupon stacking is when you can use more than one coupon on an item.  And this can be a great money saving tool.  However (with some very rare exceptions) you can only stack coupons if one of them is a store coupon and one is a manufacturers coupon.

One great example is Target.  Target has their own online coupons- they say Target Web Coupon on the top.  They are only accepted at Target.   You can take one of the Target coupons and combine it with a regular manufacturer’s coupon.  In that instance you can use two coupons on one item.

So let’s say you grab two copies of the Sunday paper.  Inside each there is a coupon for $1 off Colgate toothpaste.  When you go to the store you can not use two of those coupons from the newspaper on one tube of toothpaste.  If you want to use both you will need to purchase 2 tubes of toothpaste.

Some other popular places to coupon stack are Rite Aid, Walgreens and CVS.

Hopefully this will clear up any misconceptions about coupon stacking.  If you have any questions just leave a comment on this post and I will try to answer them!

Happy Singles Awareness Day!

I hope that your day today is full of people you love and who love you!

Mountain Dew has announced they are releasing a new breakfast drink.

It has 5% juice, Vitamins B and C and a “extra” jolt of caffeine.

The drink is called “Kickstart” and Pepsi is quick to point out it is not an energy drink- it has much less caffeine than Red Bull or any other popular energy drink.

Although Kickstart may look like an energy drink, it has far less caffeine, at 92 milligrams for a 16-ounce can. A comparable amount of regular Mountain Dew would have 72 milligrams of caffeine while a can of PepsiCo’s Amp energy drink has 142 milligrams, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

By comparison, a 16-ounce cup of Starbucks coffee has 330 milligrams of caffeine.

So what do you think- Mountain Dew for breakfast?

And if your family likes soda be sure to enter my Soda Stream Give Away!