ExtraDime.com: [Baby goods coupons] How to Extreme Coupon and Save 84%+ on Groceries

[fromExtraDime.com]

Not my Idea

The Casual Couponer

This is where many people find themselves today. Most of the time, a person will pay for a whole cart full of groceries while handing over less than 10 coupons. They end up normally saving a few bucks off the entire order. In the simple example of the Chex Mix coupon I have, I could walk into a grocery store or drug store and find the Chex Mix for $2.99 and hand them my coupon, allowing me to spend $2.44 after the 55 cents in savings.

The Generic Brand Store Shopper

Many people also find themselves in this category. They’ve figured out that they could save more money overall if they buy the generic brand over the name brand even if a coupon was used on the name brand. By doing all their shopping solely for generic brands, they can easily save $200-$300 per month without clipping a single coupon. I can save more than $0.55 on my snack run if I throw the coupon out and buy Generic Mix at $1.49 a bag. In this example, the Generic Mix costs me $1.49 and saves me $1.50, a significantly better deal than if I were a Level 1 Couponer.
The problem for me here is that I prefer the name brand over the generic – it just tastes different to me. So are you out of luck if you’re in the same boat as me and prefer name brands? Don’t worry because there are still 2 levels left to go.

The Coupon Deal Shopper

Believe it or not, when the circumstances are just right, people can save even more money buying the name brand stuff than the generic brands. Items frequently go on sale, and when they do, the Coupon Deal Shopper capitalizes on the opportunity. They’ll combine a store sale with a manufacturer’s coupon, and get the item for pennies or even for free.
You know what happens when you align the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon all in a line? You get a solar or lunar eclipse, right? Well, that’s exactly what the Coupon Deal Shopper does. They set up little eclipses all over the place at different stores and walk away with items for pennies on the dollar. So if I wait for a sale, I can save even more money than buying generic.
For example, I happen to know that Walgreens frequently puts Chex Mix on sale for $0.99 approximately once a month. During this sale week, if I walked in there with my $0.55 cent coupon, I’ll pick up the item for $0.44 instead of $2.44 on a $2.99 item. That’s an 85% savings and way better than buying the Generic Mix!
The Coupon Deal Shopper saves 70% to 95% on everything they buy, because they follow two rules:
Don’t buy it if it’s not on sale.
Combine the sale with a coupon.
Saving at this level requires a little bit of effort. You must clip and organize your coupons, and be patient. By spending about 2-3 hours per week, you can save 70-95% on everything you buy at the grocery store and the drug store. Can’t do better than that, right? There’s still one more level to go!
Savings: Awesome

The Extreme Couponer

Did you know that you can use a manufacturer’s coupon and a store coupon on the same item? Well, you can. Did you know that you can use two coupons on a buy-one-get-one-free sale? Well, you can.
Setting up bigger and better deals is what the Extreme Couponer does. They take the same measures as the Coupon Deal Shopper but then they look for multiple deals. Why get just one deal when you can get three or four all at once? To this end, it’s not unusual for an Extreme Couponer to have 4 Sunday newspapers delivered to their home. Let me give you an example to explain why:
At my grocery store, Ken’s Steakhouse Ranch Dressing costs $3.29 for a 16 oz bottle. Sometimes it goes on sale for $1.65 per bottle. So what I do is use my four $1.00 off coupons from the Sunday newspapers during the sale, and get four bottles at $0.65 a pop. That’s how I combine two big deals at once and walk away with 80% savings multiple times. If you can get your hands on more coupons, go back in the store and do it again! The idea here is to stockpile your deals and get a lot of each item because it might be another month or so before this item goes on sale again, so buy a month or two’s worth at once.
Lastly, Extreme Couponers make good use of store coupons as well (i.e. the ones that say $5 off a $20 purchase). So you could walk into the store, buy at least $20 worth of great deals like these and take another $5 off the total. This simply makes a sweet deal even sweeter. It’s almost like you’re buying individual items in bulk at prices that are even better than buying in bulk. The ultimate savings scenario is to combine 3 types of coupons: store coupons, manufacturer’s coupons, and store sales all at the same time. Yup, that’s why we call this person The Extreme Couponer.
Savings: INCREDIBLE!


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