Sunday, November 9, 2008

Double Coupon!


I love coupons. People call me a Coupon-lady.

When I use coupons, I feel elated! When I use double-coupons, I feel victorious!

Last Friday, CJ & I bought a 10.3 oz Dawn dish soap using double coupons: one from Walgreen's weekly flyer, another from Sunday newspaper which we happen to receive for free. The dish soap was $1.99 originally, but we paid only 74 cents plus tax!

While we were planning our wedding, we saved over $3000 by using coupons and promotional codes. From the aisle runner to the bed, we made sure that we would not let the stores retail us.

When we were dating, we saved a few hundred dollars by using 'buy one, get one free' coupons from the Entertainment Book, which we used to buy at $20-$23. Dinners, musical shows, movies were taken care of at half price.
I. Thoughts on Sunday Paper

We do save some money by using the coupons in the Sunday paper, but I am not sure if it's worth paying for the paper to get the coupons. For the last 7 months, with coupons from Sunday paper, we've saved anywhere between 25 cents to $3 each week. If you have kids, the amount you save from Sunday paper might be much more.

II. Online Promotional Codes

Make it a habit to look for a promotional code before you check out from an online shopping. We rarely do online shopping these days. However, when we were planning our wedding, we made quite a few online purchases. For our bed, which is from Pottery Barn, before we checked out, we found a 20% off coupon from http://www.retailmenot.com/, and it saved us a couple hundred dollars. For gifts for the groomsmen and helpers, we used free shipping codes and 15%discount codes, which saved us a lot.

III. Have the Coupons Ready

"Know Thyself" - that's for me. I know I can be forgetful at times. Many coupons were wasted because either I went to the store without coupons or I just simply forgot using the one in my purse! Nowadays, I carry a small, 4" x 6" plastic bag in my purse, which has all the current coupons I clip. When I make a list for the next grocery shopping, I go through the coupons and write 'C' next to the items on the list which will be purchased with a coupon.