Extreme Couponing 101

Hi, if you don’t know me yet, my name is Alicia, and I love saving money. One of the ways I save money is through the use of coupons. I’m not talking about the “$1 off” kind of couponing, I’m talking about the kind where you get things for free or nearly free. If you’ve ever watched the T.V. show “Extreme Couponing,” it’s kind of like that, only on a MUCH smaller scale (I don’t know how they could obtain AND use that many coupons on that show).

I frequently coupon at CVS, and here’s my “claim to fame” haha. At the end of 2017, I received an e-mail from CVS that said I was in the top 1% of savers in New York, with a yearly savings of over $1000!

The number one question I get when I post about my couponing trips is, “HOW DO YOU DO IT?!” So, here’s a post just for all you wondering that same thing.

To keep it short and simple, couponing is basically layers of savings on one item. As a general rule, most stores accept one STORE coupon and one MANUFACTURER coupon per item. Combine that with a SALE that the store is running that week on that particular item, plus maybe a rebate or money back offer (for example, with an app like Ibotta, or some stores have their own rewards programs), and you potentially get can score free (or almost free) stuff. It’s relatively straight-forward as far as math, but can get more complicated when there’s multiple items and lots of “savings layers” to consider.

Here’s a made-up example for easy math.

Your normal $5.00 deodorant is on sale this week at CVS for $3.00. You have a manufacturer’s coupon that you printed from Coupons.com for $1.00 off 1 deodorant stick. You check your CVS app and find that they sent you a CVS coupon of $1 off any brand deodorant, nice! You click “send to card” so that your CVS coupon is loaded to your CVS card. So we have the $3.00 sale price, minus one $1 manufacturer coupon, minus a $1 CVS coupon, which totals $1.00 that you’d pay at the register. However, you happily discover that there’s an Ibotta rebate ($1 back) for that brand and size of deodorant as well, so you select it to add to your offers! Yahoo! You head to the store and grab your sale-priced deodorant. You give your manufacturer coupon and CVS card (with coupon saved to your card) to the cashier, then pay the $1.00 you owe (just to keep it more simple, we won’t include sales tax in this example). You then go out to your car, open your Ibotta app, and upload the picture of your CVS receipt, make sure your $1 deodorant rebate is selected, and send it on it’s way. Later that day, the $1.00 is added to your Ibotta account. BOOM. You just scored free deodorant! (Side note: CVS has an extrabucks rewards program as well, so let’s say there was also a $1 extrabuck reward when you purchase one deodorant. In that case, you’d also get $1 back to use at CVS, which means you could technically say it was a $1 money-maker deal!).

But HOW? How did you know that the deodorant was on sale? Where do you get coupons? How did you know to check Ibotta?!?

Here’s how I do what I do and what you can do to get started.

1. Pick a store REALLY close to you geographically. After years of couponing, I finally honed in on the store closest to me. This makes it much more worth the time and energy to get only one or two great deals at a time. For me, this is CVS. You wouldn’t think that going down the road 4 more minutes to another store would be that big of a deal, but for me, as a mom, wife, and part-time therapist, it really does make a huge difference. It took me a little while, but I finally admitted to myself that those 4 extra minutes there and back, plus the time it takes going into the store makes me much less likely to “chase a deal.”
2. Find an online resource that’s an expert in couponing at that store. I love how Free Stuff Finder lists out the breakdowns of the sales, and she includes many other deals at CVS that other coupon blogs don’t include. Finding a good resource that you love will SAVE YOU SO MUCH TIME. You don’t actually have to look for the layers and layers of savings on your own, there are people out there doing it already (as a job) and sharing it online! Use what they provide to help you make your couponing list.
3. Make a list. I copy and past the deals I’m most interested in onto a note page on my phone. If I’m unable to get certain coupons or discover that an Ibotta offer isn’t available to me that week, I’ll delete it from my list. I make sure to note what I need to bring with me for that offer, as well as extra offers I may have that were sent to my CVS card (that may make the deals that much sweeter).
4. Gather coupons. Coupons come in the Sunday newspaper almost every week. There are also coupons online at coupons.com and at manufacturer websites or Facebook pages. I generally don’t buy a Sunday newspaper UNLESS I know that there are going to be plenty of coupons in it that will be useful to me. Since the paper near me costs $3, I make sure it’s going to be worth the investment. Otherwise, I get coupons passed onto me from my aunt, and I print coupons from my computer. I use my favorite online resource blog (Free Stuff Finder) to help me determine what coupons to print or cut out, as she has a preview of what the best deals will be at CVS in the next week. I’ll also print and cut out ones that I think may be a good value, are for products we generally use or like, or that I think may have good potential for a sale later in the month.
5. Download your rebate app(s). Hands down the app I use the most frequently is Ibotta. There are others out there, but I don’t use them nearly as much. (If you haven’t signed up yet, consider doing it by clicking here or on the blue Ibotta links, which include my referral code. You’ll get set up to start saving money, and I’ll get credit for your referral). With Ibotta, you submit for rebates on certain items by selecting offers you are interested in, then taking a picture of your receipt once you buy those items. Once you have accumulated $20 in your account, you can “cash out” by either sending it to your PayPal or by choosing a gift card (I always get Amazon).
6. Read the fine print. Usually, the couponing blog that I follow has read the fine print and included expiration dates, but occasionally there are regional differences between coupons or Ibotta offers. While this really isn’t my favorite part, I like to make sure I know that I can successfully use what I plan on using. Certain coupons or offers may exclude particular product sizes or types, and generally all coupons and offers have an expiration date. More and more, I am seeing rebate programs that exclude the use of other offers or coupons combined with their offer, and that’s why I’m using those apps less and less.
7. Get yourself a space for your stockpile. Before you know it, you’ll be accumulating extra items and will need a space to stash them until you want to use them. I have some shelving in my basement where I have a bunch of couponing stuff. As you grow your collection, you can become more picky about the level of savings you want. For instance, right now, I won’t have to buy shampoo for my family for maybe a year, so if I add any more shampoo and conditioner to that stash, I’ll wait until it’s free, or occasionally I’ll get some that’s less than $0.50 if I know that we like it or that someone else I know may want it.

Why I love it: I feel I help out my family financially through couponing, often for personal care items. I’m also able to offer “discount shopping” in my basement to friends and family, selling most things for $1 each, which helps them out as well as earning me a little extra moo-lah. I am also able to frequently donate items to local drives and organizations. In addition, I love making gift baskets for bridal showers/weddings, baby showers, graduations, etc. It’s an awesome way to bless someone else!

Do you coupon, or would you like to? What other questions do you have about couponing?