How to Get Free Stuff & Some Great Deals

Okay, so a few of you asked how to get the free stuff. This is basically how it works by store. As to time, I would say it takes me at least 2-3 hours a week between clipping and filing coupons, planning purchases, and the actual shopping. Some of this stuff can be done by multi-tasking, like clipping coupons when you’re watching TV, but there is definitely time involved. Also, you need to get the paper – sometimes getting the neighborhood paper is cheaper , but just make sure it gets all the coupon inserts (Smart Source, Red Plum, & once a month P&G ). You will also need to get organized – I’ll post a pic of my coupon book at the end here.

If you decide to do it, it is great getting lots of free stuff, but you do have to discipline yourself as to how much time you will put into it, as you could get deals almost indefinitely. Last disclaimer is that some of the girls on these sites I will reference do things that I wouldn’t do and in my opinion abuse the couponing policies or try to scam stores (ex: copying and printing coupons sent to others and using them yourself, using more than one coupon when it states one per customer or getting more than one deal card at stores like CVS). I’m sure none of you would try to do this, but I figure if you’re going to put your eternal salvation on the line for some free stuff, you might be on the wrong track.

Here are the benefits:
- Save 90% or more on your toiletries and cleaning supplies. You will never have to purchase toothpaste or makeup or deodorant or shampoo again.
- Save about 50% on your grocery budget. If you still purchase fresh stuff, it’s hard to save much more than 60% total, because you can almost never get that stuff completely free. But paying half it still much better than full price.

Here are the basic ways to get stuff free:
1. Use the store special programs that usually advertise free stuff anyway, especially at CVS and Walgreens. Using a coupon on these items, you can actually make “money” some of the time.
2. Use a buy one get one free coupon on a buy one get one free sale. The store pays for one item, the manufacturer pays for the other. Most stores allow this.
3. Use a high value coupon on a sale item. Example: Toilet paper is on sale for 0.99 a pack. You use a .50/off coupon and the store doubles it. Your TP is free.

Store to Store
This is the way the stores work. Most of the obvious free stuff comes from the drug stores. Careful examining of grocery ads can get you great deals.

1. CVS: Roll your extra bucks (“extra credit bucks” or ECB for short) to get free stuff every week. You will have to put out $10-20 dollars to get started, but from there will rarely have to pay more than tax. For instance, they have deodorant on sale for 4.99, and will give you back $4 “extra credit bucks (ECB)” at the end of your purchase. You use a $1 dollar off coupon for the deodorant, and so it is free. These links explain it further:
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2008/03/cvs-101.html OR
http://forums.families.com/cvs-101-everything-from-eb-to-clearance-to-overage,t33611

A good site that matches up deals for you is www.iheartcvs.com. Again, practice honestly when referencing these sites. You can also match most deals up just by looking at the weekly ad (they also have a monthly ECB booklet).

2. Walgreens: Walgreens is a little more complicated, but uses these three things to help you save money.
Register Rewards (RR) - Like ECB, but with restrictions. Register Rewards print out of a little machine next to the receipt printer after your purchase. You can get them on certain promotional items. For instance, this week they had Reach toothbrushes 2/$5, and then $5 RR if you buy 2. So the 2 toothbrushes are free, and if you use $1 off coupons off each one, you can actually make $2 on the transaction. As to RR limitations, you can’t use your RR to purchase the same items over again, and you can’t have more coupons and RR combined than number of items you are purchasing. Also, ECB expire in one month and most RR expire in two weeks (though the Reach ones don’t expire until Dec. – odd.)
Easy Saver Coupons – Each month Walgreens puts out an Easy Saver Booklet, divided in half. The first half is coupons, the second half is rebates. These coupons can usually be stacked with manufacturer coupons for even greater savings. The booklet is at the front of the store next to the ad.
Easy Saver Rebates – This is where you make the most money at Walgreens. The second half of the booklet is where they list all the rebates. These can be mailed in, but the most efficient way to do this is online. You simply register on the Walgreens web site, and after you purchase a rebate item, you check what you bought off of a list, and enter the receipt number. They will give you back what you paid plus 10% if you choose to put in on a Walgreens gift card. The first time you do this, they will mail the gift card to you. After that, you can have the money loaded on your card each month. By doing this, you just spend your rebate money from the previous month each month, along with rolling RR, to get your free stuff. You don’t even have to pay tax out of pocket.

For deal matching at Walgreens, try www.iheartwags.com.

3. Target: Target is much more hit and miss, so I only end up there a couple of times a month. What you’re looking for in their ads is when they give $5 back gift cards on items. For instance, cereal may be 4/$11, but you get $5 back. So then it is 4/$6, and if you use coupons on each box, you can get it down to 4/$4, and a dollar a box isn’t bad for cereal. Given the right deal and coupons, I’ve gotten stuff free this way too. The key is to save those gift cards and “roll” them for the next deal (though if you’re already going to spend money at Target, you might as well use them).

4. Grocery Stores: I’m going to clump all of these together, because these are usually regional. Basically, all you can do is carefully examine the ads, match up your coupons with the best deals, and stockpile. For this reason, I get three sets of coupons each week (by subscribing to our local paper, this doubles my coupons – they drop an insert in Sat. & deliver the big Sunday paper too – at half the cost). So when salad dressing is really cheap, I can get three instead of one. I buy a lot of meat at the cheapest price (under $2/lb. for lean ground beef and fresh boneless skinless chicken breast) and freeze it, etc. The idea is to buy what you need at the price you deem reasonable. When you are forced to convenience buy, you are forced to pay higher prices.

Check to see if any of the stores in your area double coupons. I know that Hen House and Dillons do. This really adds up and often leads to the free items more easily. Never buy anything just because you have a coupon though, unless you really need it, because if it’s not on sale, you might end up paying more than at Walmart. Oh yes, how do you know you’re getting a good deal? If you can beat the Walmart & Sam’s Club’s prices, then you are. When I started out, I made a short list of items I buy a lot, and calculated their price per item (cost per diaper, roll of TP, oz. of Tide, etc.) and that is what I try to beat.

So, hopefully that wasn’t too confusing. Feel free to post any questions. Once you start doing it, it makes a lot more sense and requires much less thought. If you like getting good deals, it can also be great fun! Last thing, here is my coupon book:
(This is not a great pic - it is from the early days - and makes it look a little messy - but it gives you the basic idea. This is a zippered 3-ring binder.)
The first section deals with stores (I store ECB, RR, and gift cards by store, with a spot on top for the weekly lists). These are 4x6 photo pages I got at Office Depot. The sections after that are color-coded by area (toiletries, other non-foods, fresh, boxed/canned, etc.) and use baseball-card pages.

If you don’t have a lot of time, I have heard of some people who don’t clip and file, they just save them by date and match them up with posted deals online. This said, there are countless blogs and sites dedicated to this purpose. Here are a few:

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/
http://www.slickdeals.net/
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

Well, good luck saving some cash. This is a great way to build a storage, especially for those who thought maybe they didn’t have the $ right now. Just find what works for you based on your time and desire. Let me know of any great deals that come your way!