College Couponer: July 2011

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

More Websites To Save On

Ah! Yesterday I forgot a few crucial sites!
I'm sure a lot of you have heard of Groupon and Living Social. If not you need to join! They send out "daily deals" for the city you locate! They can be amazing deals on clothes, food, and even vacations! The trick? Usually they only last a day! It's free to sign up and you don't have to buy anything so what's the harm!
Groupon
Living Social Daily Deal

One that can really come in handy is Recycle Bank! It's a cool websites where you learn free facts about recycling and random things (i.e. did you know back in the day a diaper contained 1 gallon of wood pulp!) for points! Then you can redeem those points for exclusive coupons and deals! Recycle Bank

There are also a few shopping websites that are great! Ebay and Amazon are great, but there are some you might not know about:
Beyond the Rack is amazing for you girls that want to be up to date but not pay those prices! I have seen Chanel, Coach, Gucci, and sooo many more! They are an invitation only thing, but below is an invite link! They have sales that run for about three days. New sales start daily: Vintage Louis Vuitton, D&G, Mukluks, Restricted Footwear, ViaNova and Chez by Cheryl, Malibu Creations, Elizabeth Grace, One 2 One Lingerie, and more events start today!‏ They also have stuff for the home, like right now they have some cute stuff from Neat Freak...hmmm might be getting a new pink striped shoe holder. However, do note that it is based in Canada and shipping can take awhile. I wouldn't suggest buying stuff that might expire b/c Customs can be strict!
Beyond the Rack

I love shoes. So a website that has super cheap shoes (think I bought a pair of men's DC shoes for under $20.00 ) that are good quality, count me in! 6pm.com is great! I also love it because of the large size selection! They also carry clothing and accessories!

I also love Gilt! They have great sales on cute and high quality stuff. However, I don't think their sales are as good as Beyond the Rack and I don't always recognize their brands. BUT they have had a few amazing steals! Gilt

Another website that is worth joining is HomeSav. It's a website that is a lot like Beyond the Rack but it's more for home stuff! HomeSav

Enjoy! I think my next blog will be on organizing those coupons you've been clipping! I know I get a lot of questions about my binder! =)

Monday, July 18, 2011

Websites you must join!

So, one thing I've learned in doing this is that everyone loves to share websites with me! And I love it too! So if you do have a website you always go to for deals, feel free to facebook me or email me!

Now, there are a few that I think every student needs to join!

The first is UPromise. It's a website that students can get exclusive deals and a small percentage of the money spent is put in a savings for college! You don't have to do anything different, just register your credit/debit cards and use them at the regular stores. Plus they have special coupons just for members!

Amazon: As a student you can get free two day shipping! I use it all the time! They even have textbooks for unbelievable prices! Def. the best deal around!

http://amzn.to/AmazonStudent

Swagbucks! You can get rewards just for shopping and use them to get giftcards! For free!

Another website a close friend recommended for those of us who need corrective lenses is: http://www.zennioptical.com/

They have frames as low 6.95!

Now, one thing that I recommend doing:

NEVER PAY FULL PRICE ONLINE! If you ever find yourself about to order online, just go to Google (or your swagbucks!) and type in the name of the website/retailer followed by promo code or coupon code!

XOXO

Lauren

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Staples Amazing School Supply Sale!

TODAY Staples is starting a new week of sales! INCLUDING SOME ITEMS FOR A PENNY!

The penny items go through Wednesday, but in my experience they are usually long gone by then!

These are the same for North and Central Alabama, but staple's ads can vary by location and you probably need to check their website to make sure they match! Thanks to Cuckoo for Coupon Deals!

$.01 Items

Staples Erasers 12 pack
4 oz. Staples Glue
Bic Pens 8 pack

$.25 Items

Staples Multi-Purpose Paper (500 sheets)
Slider Pencil Case
Mechanical Pencils 5-pack
Staples Stickies Tape Flag
2 Pocket Poly Folder

$1.00 Items

HP Everyday Photo Paper (50 sheets)
Mini Stapler
Staples Paper Clips, Push Pins & Binder Clips
Westcott Preferred Scissors
2 pack Westcott Children's Scissors
4 pack Staples Glue Sticks
Staples Letter Size Writing Pad
Die Cut Post-It Notes 2-pack
Top Bound Journal with Pen
Staples Mini Writing Pad 5-pack
Staples 3-Hole Binder Punch
Sharpie Markers 5-pack
Staples fat memo book (200 pages)

$2.00 Items

Webster's Dictionary ($1.99)
Zebra Z-Grip 5 pack pens
Softsoap Hand Soap
Scotch Shipping Tape with small dispenser
35 pack of Clorox Wipes
Germ-X 8 oz.

There are more $2 deals online!

Other worth mentioning deals:

50% off all Sierra backpacks

7.99 for a Staples Slim like pencil sharpener

12.99 8GB metallic flash drive

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Student’s Guide to Stockpiles: College Couponing 101

So, have you heard the word stockpile yet? In the couponing world it is where when there are really great deals couponers by a lot of the items and "stockpile" it. On extreme couponing the people featured have had stockpiles take up entire rooms or garages.

This is a stockpile room image I pulled from google:

When ever I coupon I am always asked "Do you have one of those rooms like full of food?" That is when I politely tell them that I live in a dorm as a resident assistant, and my room is smaller than those people's stockpiling rooms. That is when the idea of this blog really started. Couponing is different for college students. So this will be the first of the College Couponing 101

First of all it is incredibly rude to buy all the things off the shelves because it is a great deal! If it is a great deal to you, then it is probably to others as well! Be considerate! I have heard horror stories from people where they have seen couponers come in and buy everything off the shelves because of sales. This is not nice, and makes people resent coupon users.

You might say BUT! That salad dressing I LOVE might never go one sale again, and if it does I won't have this coupon! WRONG! The industry standard for coupon and sale cycles is 3-4 months. But most stores are shorter than that and sales have a 6-8 week circle. So, chances are in about 6 weeks you will find that dressing on sale again!

Second, as I said I live in a tiny room. Before that I lived in a larger room but lived with 5 others. SO dorm and apartment living is WAY different than the stockpiling of a Mom in a 4 bedroom house with 2 kids. This is not to say you shouldn't "stockpile" at all BUT as students we have to do it different. I am lucky and have a full fridge and a few cabinets to myself. I know that is not always the case. So, I've come up with what I see the most often among my peers:

You have a full fridge but share it with multiple people and the same goes for cabinets
You have a full fridge to yourself but not a lot of cabinets
You have just a mini fridge and some sort of cabinet space that is your own
You have a full fridge that you share with a lot of people and same goes for cabinets. However, you also have a mini-fridge.

All of these can have their own challenges. However, whether you have a lot or a little fridge or cabinet space you can still stock dry items elsewhere. My suggestion comes from the "goody box" my roommate and I had my freshman year of college. We always had chocolates and snacks we might not want to share with our 4 suite mates (sorry girls!) and it was in a lime green box under my roommate's bed. So you can always utilize some sort of space. I have a under the bed box still! But you can also use an empty drawer, tub in your closet, bottom shelf of a bookshelf, bottom desk drawer, or wherever else that will give you some extra space to store.
BUT WAIT! Am I telling you to stuff 50 boxes of cereal under you bed? No. That is utterly ridiculous. You need to get you enough of the item to last you 2 months. So this is when you have to take a step back and say "how much of an item do I use in 2 months." If you and your roommate all share food then you might use a lot more cereal in 2 months then I do eating alone. Another thing to consider is that I do not have a stove and I know that this is common in some dorms, because you might be required to have a large meal plan. So, this means your supply needs to be limited to microwave meals. That means do not use your coupon on seasonings even if you get them for a dime. You do not have room for it and you will never use it! With such a small space you have to think wisely.
Krazy Coupon Lady suggests "One method that seems to work well is this: Create a list of the 12 meals you cook most frequently, then write all the ingredients for all of those meals in one big list. Keep that list handy and as you build your stockpile, cross of the items on your list as you go."
I think as students we can break this down a little better. If you have a meal plan you might not need to stock up so much of baking items, but instead you need snacks and microwavable food. So instead write down the 20 things you eat the most of. There will be things that automatically pop in your mind (I always eat pop-tarts, I love Ramen Noodles, I need Mt. Dew), but remember the staples (milk)! Now next to those things, write how much you think you use of it in 2 months and in 6 months. These will be your buy price ( 2 month) and stock up price (6 month). Because of your limited space you really want to save your cabinets and stock up box for the things you really enjoy.
I have used a lot of websites stock-pile price point lists to help you out and those awesome blogs will be listed for you at the end of this blog. I also made a new tab where you can always have access to the list. Look for your must have items on the list. These will be the ones you will most want to stock up on because it will save you the most money. How will it save me money if I'm buying more? Think of it like this. Let's say you spend $4.00 on cereal every 2 weeks. However, with coupons and sales prices you can sometimes find cereal for $1.00. If you stockpile when you find that dollar price and get 6 boxes of cereal it will cost you $6.00 for one trip. However, although it is $6.00 instead of $4.00, it is really $6.00 versus the $24.00 you would have spent in the time it will take you to finish your stock. It is really impossible to save a lot of money couponing without stockpiling, and this can be challenging as a student. But we can do it!
As I mentioned earlier, I have compiled a list for you of things I think every college student needs. With it you will find the BUY price, this means it is a good deal, and a stock-up price. The stock up price means get enough for 6 months. However, be realistic. It might feel amazing to get a bar of soap for free. So because it's free you get 45 bars. If you are the only person who used said soap and even if you used a bar of soap a week (average is one or two bars a month depending on size and brand) you would have enough soap for almost a year. Be realistic, if you get soap for free (awesome) get about 10-15 bars, and DO NOT buy soap for a while. If you feel the need to buy the free soap because you can but you can't use it. Donate it to charity. Don't let it take up valuable space. Really it comes down to knowing yourself and knowing how much YOU use vs. the space available.
One thing a lot of sites suggest is stockpile prices on fruit and meat. The only way to really "stockpile" this is to freeze it. Remember that you do not really have freezer space (unless you are a rare student that brought a deep freeze to the dorm) that these Moms have. I suggest if you really like a certain fruit of meat buy double what you usually would and freeze half of it. If it is a mega great price and you feel you have the room to stock it, go ahead of course! Just remember it might take up room for months, and if you share your space this might really bother them. Make sure to talk to your roommates about the allotted space for your groceries and stick to it.
Also, always check your expiration dates. If you just knew you would use all of those pasta meals you got for 0.30. So you bought 40 of them and now you have 20 left with only 2 weeks to eat them. In a case like this it is great to donate your goods! They will most certainly use them in that time period and you will feel good about not wasting food or money.
If there are any questions at all please ask! My stockpile list is here, but I wanted to get this article out yet so I'll be adding more and more very soon (hopefully by the end of the week)! It will stay at the top in tabs for easy access!

Also, you can always make your own prices. If you can just not find the buy price to a certain item and you're off by 10 of 15 cents, change the price for yourself! As I promised I wanted to say thank you to the following awesome couponers for all the help I got off their amazing websites for our list. Their lists are much more extensive because I cut out things I don't think college students regularly use. If you don't see it on my list leave me a comment and I will find it or feel free to look through these awesome lists:

Krazy Coupon Lady
Southern Savers
Money Saving Mom
For the Mommas
Cuckoo for Coupon Deals
Probably the most inclusive list is the one at Coupon Connections.

Hope you enjoyed this!

XOXO

Lauren

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Freebie Alert!

Free Quaker Oatmeal Squares!

Go here and like them on facebook! Then fill out your info!

Thanks to Shopping Tips and Tricks for posting this!

Limit one per household, per day. I've decided to make a freebie tab with everything so y'all don't have to go to the blog entry over and over. But when I add a new deal I will of course let you know!

XOXO

Lauren

Monday, July 4, 2011

Target Deals for Week 7/3/11 and an Introduction to Stacking

Okay! So the Target ad is huge this week! Target is REALLY great about posting online coupons that you can print at home (click here)! This brings up a new idea called stacking. I will talk more about it once I get a really great tutorial going but until then I'll give you an idea! On top of most of the coupons you get you see the words "Manufacturer's Coupon" this is the most common type. However, sometimes you will see that it says "Store Coupon", these are awesome! Why? Because at most stores you can "stack" a manufacturer's coupon and a store coupon on the SAME ITEM! For example, you have a Z store coupon for $0.50 off of X Soap and a Manufacturer's Coupon for $0.50 off X Soap. You notice that X Soap is on sale at Z store for $1.00. If you stack your two coupons, you get it free!

Another point, just because you have a coupon for it this week does not mean you have to buy it this week! If you do not NEED it right then, wait till it is on sale! That way you get the most value from your coupon! Of course, if you can not wait for it to go on sale, use the coupon! A small discount is better than no discount!

Because coupons are different for regions and sometimes people just miss things I ALWAYS compare multiple match-ups! I usually don't have time to do match-ups myself with work and class! So, I have certain sites that I like the best (I love printing from Southern Savers) and I check every day! Sure, I still have to put time into it but it is not like a full time job. This is a good tip for any student! Couponing has become so popular that there are unlimited resources! Use them! I hope that I am one of y'all's favorites =) but I know that I'm not exactly to extreme level yet so I always like to refer you to the the extreme ladies =) Plus, since I don't have time to match I'll always let you know the best places to go for matches!

Southern Savers will allow you to check just the boxes you want and will print that list out for you with or without coupon matches. It also has links to any coupon that is still available to print.

Krazy Coupon Lady has a really great list and has links along with the coupons that are printable as well.

Cuckoo for Coupon Deals doesn't have a price match-up but she does have an explanation on how to get some cheap pop-tarts this week! Which, as well all know, is a college staple!

Good luck! Be looking for a post very soon that will start the Couponing 101 series! I've been working on it and I'm almost ready to post it!

XOXO

Lauren

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Doubling Coupons in Alabama

I know most of my readers are in Alabama so I thought I would put these coupon doubling policies up for the local grocery stores. Remember these are unofficial and if you think you might have trouble be sure to take the coupon policy from the store actual website!

What does doubling coupons mean? For example, if it says it doubles to $0.50 that means that the stores will automatically "double" a coupon. So if you have 0.50 off it will actually be a dollar! BUT if you a 0.55 coupon it will only be 0.55 because they only double to 0.50. They WILL NOT double a coupon if it is clearly printed on the coupon Do Not Double!

Birmingham area (I feel certain this also applies to North Alabama)
Bruno's- Doubles to 50¢
Food Giant- On Mondays they double up to 90¢, On Wednesdays- Seniors get 5% discount, Tuesday through Sunday- matches local competitors' prices (must have published ad)
Food World- Doubles to 50¢
Publix- Doubles to 50¢
Winn Dixie- Doubles to 50¢
Food Smart – No doubles
Piggly Wiggly – No doubles

Wal-Mart Supercenter- No Doubles

Western Supermarket – No Doubles

Target and K-Mart- No Doubles

Central Alabama
Bruno's – No Doubles
Food World – No Doubles
Publix – No Doubles
Wal-Mart Supercenter- No Doubles
Western Supermarket – No Doubles
Sam's Club- No coupons

Southern Alabama
Fred's- up to 70¢ on Saturdays only, No Internet coupons and only doubles the 1st coupon if buying more than 1 of the same thing.
No grocery stores found that double or triple in the area

Yay! So now you know how to save even more money!

Use this to your advantage! Yes, Wal-Mart will match prices and take coupons BUT let's do an example:

Publix has Hot Dogs marked down to $1.99 in their weekly Ad. You also have a coupon for $0.50 off. You could take the ad to Wal-Mart since they would match the ad, and accept the coupon. You will get the Hot Dogs for $1.49. Still a great deal! However, if you go to Publix they will double the coupon and you will get the hotdogs for $0.99! An even better deal!

Hope this help some of you get an idea of how to use coupons to your advantage!

XOXO

Lauren

P.S. Just a reminder on the Wal-Mart matching policy since I brought it up. They only match prices from competitors in a printed ad and an EXCACT price. For example, they will not match an ad that says "Buy one get one ___" or "25% off"

Friday, July 1, 2011

Printable Coupons

There are a lot of websites where you can print coupons off on the internet! These are sites that I know are legit. Please do not try to pass off fake coupons, this is illegal. You can know printable coupons are fake if:

When you print them off it says "see reverse side for detail" you obviously do not have a reverse side
The deal is too good to be true. You aren't going to find a coupon for a completely free case of Coke!
The expiration date is over 6 months from now, remember the better the deal the less time you have.
OR the coupon has NO expiration date.
If someone shares a coupon and it has someone's name specified. Don't try it.
The coupon has a fake logo, wrong colors, or the wrong font. Believe me stores and merchants are VERY careful to use the same fonts, colors, and logos. If it looks off, it probably won't get you any money off.
No UPC code
It was scanned from the paper. Coupons from the newspaper or magazines are not excepted if they are photocopied.

Because people try to scam stores with coupons some stores DO NOT accept printable coupons. I plan to put a list of stores coupon policies, but for now you can go here for a printable list. However, this will not hold up in a store if you take it with you and try to use it as proof. If you know you'll be using coupons at a certain store and they might argue take their coupon policy from their website with you!

But here are the best places to print coupons directly, and you will often see them in the coupon matches of the sites I told you about! One thing you should know is that most of the time you will be asked to install an "coupon printer." I have not heard from anyone that this will harm your computer. I'm sure they do this as a security future for their website.

Manufacturer Coupons

Store Specific

Now here is another thing you might not know about. ECoupons. These are types of coupons that can be loaded to rewards card to be used at the store! Some can be used in combination with store coupons and manufacturing coupons.

I also recommend joining UPromise if you are saving for college. If you'd rather not join the link below is a guest link I am provided with. It will let you access all the deals (and it helps me).

Electronic Coupons

Cellfire
SavingStar
Upromise

Sometimes manufactures post deals on their websites such as the Garnier Frutis one below! I will post them if I see them! They are usually good deals that are only offered for a short amount of time!

Garnier Frutis Anti-Dandruff Shampoo: $1.00 off

Enjoy!!
XOXO
Lauren Beth

College Couponer

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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Back to School Deals This Week

:: Pens & Pencils

:: Crayons, Markers, Highlighters & Colored Pencils

:: Notebooks, Folders, Binders & Paper

:: Glue & Tape

:: Rulers & Scissors

:: Other Deals

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

More Websites To Save On

Monday, July 18, 2011

Websites you must join!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Staples Amazing School Supply Sale!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Student’s Guide to Stockpiles: College Couponing 101

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Freebie Alert!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Target Deals for Week 7/3/11 and an Introduction to Stacking

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Doubling Coupons in Alabama

Friday, July 1, 2011

Printable Coupons

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