As I read more and more about how extreme people coupon, I always
see a reoccurring topic: how to get things for free. Trust me, I all
for free items, when you can do it - as a broke college student, to me
getting free items from something as simple as coupons are the jackpot!
Money is extremely tight during my semesters in school so anything and
everything counts. I always wondered how these women were getting all of
this stuff for free, I always thought to myself how awesome it would be
if I could do the same, except I definitely don't need a stockpile of
items! As I kept reading and examining all of the blog posts I found all
of these posts had one thing in common: combining offers! Then it hit
me, if I could find a way to combine all of the great offers retailers
and manufacturers offer me I may actually be able to purchase items
either free or at a very minimal cost to me. To do it is just a
combination of luck and a watchful eye - luck, being having coupons for
the same items that are valid during the same periods, and a watchful
eye, so you can watch which stores have sales on the items and what
coupons you have and can collect.
Once you have mastered these two things, it is very simple to do. I suggest a five step program:
Find a newspaper with not only coupons but store ads you are interested in.
Look in ads for promotions that allow you to use coupons.
Look online and in paper for coupons.
Calculate final price
Purchase items and VIOLA!
For step one, this is the most important part! Without this you would not be able to do any of it! So start with your newspaper and clip coupons, and pick out the retailer ads at stores you would like to shop at!
For step two, I search for promotions in the ads I have. I only search for promotions on items I actually use so I'm not wasting money. Promotions you want are buy one get one free or half off, or even when stores offer you free gift cards with the purchase of an item.
For step three, you need to look for coupons that coincide with the promotions that you have picked out! For the best deals you need to go to retailers that accept not only store coupons but manufacturer coupons on top of that.
For step four, you will need to calculate the final price. I believe you should do this so you know how much you should be paying before you get to the store. This helps me remember all of my coupons since the cashier will have to scan 3-5 barcodes!
To execute step five you need to make sure that you have all your coupons in order before you go into purchase the items! Make sure when picking up items, to only get the ones that apply to the promotions and the coupons and when you check out you should be fine!
Once you have gone through all of these steps you should be able to purchase items for free or either a very minimal cost! Now it is not often that this happens so you should definitely take advantage of it, it takes a lot of work to watch the ads for promotions but you will save a lot of money in the process! If this is a hobby you truly want to master, I would recommend start slow at first to master the basics and follow my five step plan, and take on bigger challenges when you begin to feel more comfortable with it.
Once you have mastered these two things, it is very simple to do. I suggest a five step program:
Find a newspaper with not only coupons but store ads you are interested in.
Look in ads for promotions that allow you to use coupons.
Look online and in paper for coupons.
Calculate final price
Purchase items and VIOLA!
For step one, this is the most important part! Without this you would not be able to do any of it! So start with your newspaper and clip coupons, and pick out the retailer ads at stores you would like to shop at!
For step two, I search for promotions in the ads I have. I only search for promotions on items I actually use so I'm not wasting money. Promotions you want are buy one get one free or half off, or even when stores offer you free gift cards with the purchase of an item.
For step three, you need to look for coupons that coincide with the promotions that you have picked out! For the best deals you need to go to retailers that accept not only store coupons but manufacturer coupons on top of that.
For step four, you will need to calculate the final price. I believe you should do this so you know how much you should be paying before you get to the store. This helps me remember all of my coupons since the cashier will have to scan 3-5 barcodes!
To execute step five you need to make sure that you have all your coupons in order before you go into purchase the items! Make sure when picking up items, to only get the ones that apply to the promotions and the coupons and when you check out you should be fine!
Once you have gone through all of these steps you should be able to purchase items for free or either a very minimal cost! Now it is not often that this happens so you should definitely take advantage of it, it takes a lot of work to watch the ads for promotions but you will save a lot of money in the process! If this is a hobby you truly want to master, I would recommend start slow at first to master the basics and follow my five step plan, and take on bigger challenges when you begin to feel more comfortable with it.
