What are your saving this week..

So far I am averaging about half off this week with coupons.

I saved nearly $70 at the commissary off a $170 bill, and $20 at Albertson's off a $30 bill.

With all the hubub about extreme couponing, and mega savings and so on, I thought I might share some tips on how teh reasonable couponer, or someone like me, goes about it all..

1. Figure out your current budget.

2. Figure out why you want to save and what you are willing to invest: time, initial money, etc.
 i.e. I only spend about 4  to 5 hours a week, clipping, sorting, organizing, printing if I get stuff online, and searching for deals. I save because I have a good sized family and every penny helps... the money I save on feeding them helps us to afford a membership to the science museum, etc.

3. Find your coupon sources:
~Sunday Papers
~online (smartsource.com, redplum.com, coupons.com, coolsavings.com and company websites)
~Hangtags and on shelves
~Coupon trains (A group of people , say Mary, Jane , Sue and Ann. Mary sends what she doesn't need to Jane, Jane sends to Sue, Sue sends to Ann, and Ann then sends to Mary. Each week everyone sends to tehir person, and takes what they need from what they get and forward the rest on)
~Newsletters: Many like Organic Valley send coupons in their newsletters (both email and paper)
~Facebook: Like your favorite products for opportunities for freebies and coupons
~Freebies: Freebies often come with a sample AND coupon
~Savings cards: Many stores send coupons to tehir savings club members, and allow them to bank points for purchases to get additional discounts
~Points Programs: Mypoints and Best Buy, many other sites offer points which you can redeem for giftcards or discounts
~Give your feedback! If you love a product or have had trouble with it, email teh company! They need the feedback (one of mine was used in a company marketing bit) and they will replace things if there is a problem.
~Birthday programs: Anything from ToysRUs to Applebees... many places send you a coupon for a birthday goody!

4. Figure out what it is you want to buy, and multitask (legally of course).
If you want to get a new XBOX 360, multiply your discounts: for example if you go to bestbuy.com you can buy it online topick up in the store. But make sure that you have a best buy rewards card, upgrade (its all free) to a gamer's account card. Then make sure that you have a mypoints account from http://www.mypoints.com/.  Go to MyPoints, click their link to Best Buy online, and you get anywhere from 1 to 10 points per dollar that you spend. You also earn points with the Best Buy card. Then when you get there they have a 5 minute policy- if it takes more than 5 minutes to get your item, you get a gift card for $5. They also price match, so if you find itat sears for $20 less, print out proof or take in their flyer. When we got our Xbox I got 1500 mypoints, Best buy Points (extra because we have a gamer account) , the $5 because it took them 10 minutes to find it, and it was 10 less elsewhere so they matched it. I wound up getting a gift certificate for Best Buy, a gift card from MyPoints, and I got it for $15 less than it was originally marked.

*You may not stack most coupons, so be sure that you follow the rules when multitasking- don't try to get something free by using 3 coupons on one item, because its fraud.

5. Prepare : Get to know sale cycles, and use your coupons in conjunction with sales to get the best deal. Also remember that you can use coupons on most clearance, which leads to big savings. If you know you have things you want to get that are one sale, get  those coupons ready.. I use envelopes and some short accordian folders to keep my coupons organized, and I have an envelope for each store before I go, and one for coupons I am using - just takes one and keeps them all collected. Its really helpful too because you can write on the envelope what your shopping list is! (Or you can paperclip it  to the front of the envelope and reuse it over agin.

Also get to know clearance cycles: for example, wrapping paper, decorations and so forth usually go on sale in January. Stock up ahead if you can.. I buy clothes and so forth a year ahead for my kids, so I can hit the clearance.

6. Remember savings etiquette: Don't clear the shelves, and if you have extra coupons you won't use by teh expiration date, pay it forward. I leave my extras right there on the shelves for others, and I have noticed that others have started to do it at my commissary too, which helps me!


7. Last but not least if you want to see some savings, and even make some money and are willing to put in a little extra effort, check out http://www.volition.com/ Where you can find out about secret shopping opportunities. They also have coupon info and freebie info, but best of all they have mystery shopping reviews, from people just like you. You can get info on what companies are good, pay well, and which ones are stinkers.

If you go the mystery shopping route (and know up front, NO COMPANY should ask for money to be able to shop for them. If they do, walk away.) However, http://www.mysteryshop.org/ offers a silver and gold certification, which includes study materials and a test for certification (its about $25 bucks) You don't need it to shop, but I get more and better shops with a silver certification.

Does anyone have any suggestions for additions to this?