Fishin' for Savings with Coupons and Common Sense

Around 500 BC, the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wisely said, "Give a hippy a fish, and she will eat for a day. Teach her to fish and she'll feed the entire commune for a lifetime."

Or something enlightening like that.

The premise is perfect for this blog.

A few months ago, a very kind lady donated 60 lbs of cat food to our rescue, T.Paws Rescue and ARFanage. She told us how she used coupons in such a way, that the final cost of the food was very little. After an informative conversation, we begin to inquire into the world of "extreme couponing."

We found out that there is a big world out there with its own language, unique perceptions, ethical quandaries, and opportunities to save that are as believable as your uncle's latest fishing tale.

"Extreme" or "super" couponing can be defined as the act of combining store sales, store rewards, and coupons to achieve tremendous savings.  For example, recently Petsmart had its 4 lb bags of Science Diet Optimal Health for cats on sale for $11.99 (normally $13.99). They also had a store promotion that if you bought $35 worth of merchandise, you would get an additional coupon for $5. We had several coupons for $7 off a 4lb bag or larger. We purchased three 4 lb bags for $35.77. The cashier subtracted the coupons (-$21), which left us with a cost of $14.97 plus tax. With that purchase, we received a $5 coupon to use for a future purchase. So, we actually paid $9.97 or $3.32 per bag plus tax.

This process is often call "stacking" as we combined three different types of promotions to achieve maximum savings. Our best stacking deal to date saved us 98%.

Perhaps the most difficult aspects of couponing and stacking deals is using common sense and restraint. Buying items you don't need or use is wasting money unless you plan on donating what you purchase to a charity or friend in need. Before you consider selling the items you purchase with coupons, it is important to know that this practice is considered illegal.

While the savings is exciting, fishing for these deals requires hours of work and preparation. One must first find legal ways to build a coupon supply. This is a topic of debate among coupon enthusiasts: is it legal to buy and sell coupons? Some argue that there are loopholes that allow one to purchase coupons.

However, according to the Federal Trade Commission and  Coupon Information Corporation, buying and selling coupons is illegal. While coupons are for sale on Ebay with disclaimers attached that the seller is selling their time to clip the coupons, not the coupons themselves, the seller has still violated the terms and conditions of the coupons. Coupon fraud is huge business that can be legally penalized, including jail time. In 2013, a housewife was convicted of counterfeit couponing, sentenced to two years in prison, and fined 5 million dollars for her part in a 2 million dollar counterfeit ring.

"Coupons may not be combined, sold, auctioned, or otherwise transferred or reproduced."

Abuses of the coupon system, such as clearing out shelves of merchandise, using counterfeit coupons, or misusing coupons to buy items not covered in the coupon offer, has lead manufacturers and stores to tighten their coupon rules. Stores limit the number of coupons that can be used, will only double a few coupons (when at one time they doubled them all), and question the legitimacy of certain coupons. Manufacturers are fighting back against the sales of coupons by shortening the expiration date, lowering the amount of the discount the coupon provides, and jacking up the cost of the item to make up for the money lost through coupon fraud. If the illegality or ethical compromise of coupon fraud isn't enough to discourage misuse of coupons, consider that the entire coupon-inspired savings lifestyle could become obsolete. When coupon fraud results in $500 million of losses a year, do you think companies will continue to provide those coupons?

So how does one build a good stash of coupons legally? Sunday paper inserts are the most obvious place to find legal coupons. In small town America, however, those Sunday paper inserts can be very limited. One can ask friends, neighbors, and family to save you the inserts they will not be using. You can also speak to your newspaper carrier to see what he or she would be willing to let you have the inserts from the leftover papers. You can also start a coupon exchange or trading group.

Most of our coupons come free directly from the manufacturer or from legitimate coupon sites such as Coupons.com or Grocery Coupon Cart.

While it can take time to amass a good collection of coupons this way, it is honest, legal and supports the continuation of the coupon distribution.

As you build your coupon collection, it is important to arrange them by category and by expiration date. We categorize our coupons by pet food and supplies, cleaning and household supplies, and people food. The coupons to expire first, go at the front of each category.

The art of getting amazing deals is using a coupon in conjunction with a store sale and/or store reward. The place to learn how to do this is The Krazy Coupon Lady. Not only does The Krazy Coupon Lady teach you how to master this process, she provides you an daily updated database to show you how to get the most savings on an item. Instead of going through every single sales papers for the week, KCL does it for you. The website will provide you links to online coupons and tell you the date a particular coupon insert was printed that contains the coupon you need for this savings. The photo below is a screen shot from The Krazy Coupon Lady.

In this example, the deal is for two packs of two Nylabone Healthy Edibles Dog Chews at Petsmart or Petco. Two important factors that The Krazy Coupon Lady reveals in the introduction, is that both companies have member rewards cards, and that they accept competitors coupons. It is assumed that the consumer has a member rewards cards for the deal.

This week Petsmart is offering a buy one, get the second at 50% off deal for this Nylabone product. The regular price is $3.99 for one pack of two bones. A link is provided for a $2 for one coupon on Nylabone's website. Next, the customer is advised to use the peelie coupon on the product itself which is for one pack for $1. Finally, you will see "submit $1.00/1...via rebate app (Ibotta)."

Ibotta is a phone app that allows you to submit proof of purchase by taking a photo of your receipt once you get home. Ibotta then sends you a rebate check once you have reached $20 or more. Not all items qualify for Ibotta, but if you plan your shopping carefully, the savings adds up quickly.

The final cost of this $3.99 Nylabone product is only $.99 each when you purchase two packs.

While this process may appear overwhelming at first, the Krazy Coupon Lady makes it simpler by putting all of your deals for the week, including specific instructions, in one place.

Taking advantage of this process may require some changes on the part of the consumer. First, instead of listing everything you want to buy on your shopping trip and tossing it in the basket, preparation is vital. It can take a few hours a week to prepare a shopping list complete with coupons and deal instructions. That change, is perhaps, the most difficult to make, but it can save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars over the course of a year.

Secondly, be willing to go to more than one store. While stores may take competitors coupons, they will not match the in-store deal. Target may have a "buy four and get a $10 gift card" offer that Walmart will not honor. That's $10 you will be missing out on if you shop at Walmart for convenience. Anyone who has spent $1.75 for a 12 oz bottle of soda when an entire 2 liter is $1.25, can testify that convenience costs money.

Thirdly, become accustomed to doing several transactions, instead of only one. This can be very advantageous to your wallet. Not only does this allow you to use more coupons, but it can help pay for itself. For example, Target may offer a $10 gift card if you purchase 2 large bags of Pedigree Dog Food. Buy 4 bags in two separate transactions. Use 2 Pedigree coupons for each bag in the first purchase, and two in the second purchase. On the second purchase, use the $10 gift card to help pay for the second purchase. You will have another $10 gift card for other purchases or for your next visit.  

Fourthly, be prepared to frustrate cashiers and other customers. Many cashiers dislike having a person with loads of coupons in their line. It slows their line down and they may be judged by their employer on the number of customers they were able to process during a given shift. For this reason, ask the store manager how he or she would like for you to check out. At Target, the manager asked us to go to customer service when we have multiple transactions or lots of coupons. It is also a good practice to tell the customers behind you that your transactions may take some time. This offers them the opportunity to go to another line if preferred.

Finally, learn to stockpile frequently used items. Shampoos, body wash, paper towels, non-perishable foods are just a few of the items we stockpile. The Krazy Coupon Lady website will often tell you when a product is at a stock-up price. This may mean you will only need to buy shampoo once or twice a year, but you will have purchased it at phenomenal prices.

As you learn more about saving big with coupons, you will find it advantageous to add other savings apps to your smartphone.  Cartwheel, an app for Target, is one example. Cartwheel allows you to choose from hundreds of offers with discounts of 5-50%. Choose an offer and add it to your Cartwheel list, then scan your bar code in store, and save.

The more you investigate the opportunities for savings, the more excited you will become.

Learning to super-coupon and how to stack deals does have a learning curve.  However, once you bring home a trunk full of supplies for the price you used to pay for a few bags of groceries, you will be H O O K E D.