Occasionally in the Sunday coupon inserts there will be a coupon for a product to be completely free. In the past I would get excited to come across one of these little gems and take it to the store on my next shopping trip to redeem my coupon for the free item and I was happy.
I was happy then, but now I'm also wise. Since then I've learned why it is often better to wait to redeem free coupons with good sale or promotion to get more for free. While it's great to get something for free, it's even better to get something for more than free.
Example #1: How to turn one free pack of gum into two.
Several months ago there was a coupon for a free pack of Doublemint, Juicy Fruit, Wrigley's Spearmint, Big Red, or Winterfresh Slimpack.
A week or two after this coupon came out there was a BOGO (Buy One Get One free) sale at my grocery store for the same gum. If you went and used your coupon then you get get not just one, but two free.
I was happy then, but now I'm also wise. Since then I've learned why it is often better to wait to redeem free coupons with good sale or promotion to get more for free. While it's great to get something for free, it's even better to get something for more than free.
Example #1: How to turn one free pack of gum into two.
Several months ago there was a coupon for a free pack of Doublemint, Juicy Fruit, Wrigley's Spearmint, Big Red, or Winterfresh Slimpack.
A week or two after this coupon came out there was a BOGO (Buy One Get One free) sale at my grocery store for the same gum. If you went and used your coupon then you get get not just one, but two free.
Example #2: Spending Less $$ OOP (out of pocket)
Another great way to use free coupons when the said free item is included in a sale that requires you to buy a certain dollar amount of products to get the sale price.
Scenario 1: Albertsons is infamous for having "Spend $20 among participating products and save $5 on your next shopping order" (sometimes the amount vary, like spend $30 and save $10, etc.) You only have to get your total to be above $20 (or whatever the minimum is) BEFORE coupons.
This means that when Digornio pizza is included in a sale like this I can use my coupon for a Free Digornio (Which is currently waiting in my coupon binder for just such an occasion) on this promotion. Depending on how much the pizza costs it means I could spend $3-6 less OOP (out of pocket) to reach the $25 min. for the promotion. So in this case my free pizza coupon is helping me "spend" enough to participate in a good sale.
Scenario 2: Similarly, I'm using my "Free" coupons right now is as fillers in order to double coupons. Out here in Wisconsin my current grocery store doubles 5 manufacturers coupons (up to $1) every Wednesday when you spend a minimum of $25 (Remember this is $25 BEFORE coupons). When I make up my weekly grocery list I often don't have quite enough to get to $25 so I will add one or two "Free" items to bring my total up to $25 without actually having to spend any more money and I still get the benefit of being able to get 5 other coupons doubled. Since the $25 minimum isn't just for certain products, in this instance I can use any "free" coupon (which has come in very handy over the past few weeks starting out with no groceries again after moving cross-country).
These are just a few ways to make your Free stuff more than free. As you go you'll discover more little tricks like this to help you get more bang for your buck.
Speaking of which, here's some free stuff for you right now. Go here to sign up for a coupon for a free chocolate bar from M&M's Chocolate Relief Act. They are giving away free chocolate every Friday for the rest of the summer, and you can request up to 4 coupons during that period. I got my first one in the mail today!
Another great way to use free coupons when the said free item is included in a sale that requires you to buy a certain dollar amount of products to get the sale price.
Scenario 1: Albertsons is infamous for having "Spend $20 among participating products and save $5 on your next shopping order" (sometimes the amount vary, like spend $30 and save $10, etc.) You only have to get your total to be above $20 (or whatever the minimum is) BEFORE coupons.
This means that when Digornio pizza is included in a sale like this I can use my coupon for a Free Digornio (Which is currently waiting in my coupon binder for just such an occasion) on this promotion. Depending on how much the pizza costs it means I could spend $3-6 less OOP (out of pocket) to reach the $25 min. for the promotion. So in this case my free pizza coupon is helping me "spend" enough to participate in a good sale.
Scenario 2: Similarly, I'm using my "Free" coupons right now is as fillers in order to double coupons. Out here in Wisconsin my current grocery store doubles 5 manufacturers coupons (up to $1) every Wednesday when you spend a minimum of $25 (Remember this is $25 BEFORE coupons). When I make up my weekly grocery list I often don't have quite enough to get to $25 so I will add one or two "Free" items to bring my total up to $25 without actually having to spend any more money and I still get the benefit of being able to get 5 other coupons doubled. Since the $25 minimum isn't just for certain products, in this instance I can use any "free" coupon (which has come in very handy over the past few weeks starting out with no groceries again after moving cross-country).
These are just a few ways to make your Free stuff more than free. As you go you'll discover more little tricks like this to help you get more bang for your buck.
Speaking of which, here's some free stuff for you right now. Go here to sign up for a coupon for a free chocolate bar from M&M's Chocolate Relief Act. They are giving away free chocolate every Friday for the rest of the summer, and you can request up to 4 coupons during that period. I got my first one in the mail today!
**Also, just note the expiration dates on your free coupons so you can redeem them in case there aren't any profitable sales for the item while they're valid.**
0 Comments:
Post a Comment