A typical shopping trip

Very quickly, here's the normal shopping trip do's I do!

1. Peruse the flyers. I like paper flyers for the initial deal search, but for ease of price matching, I view and clip the good offers to the Flipp app. All the stores I've been in so far accept the app flyers for price matching. 

2. I will start a list on a piece of paper of the items I want to buy, with additional columns for: "coupon", "price match" and "app rebate". I'll make my shopping list on the one side and then fill in the columns on the other side as I go through the next steps. 

(I had two (3!) totally free items on this list with coupons :) )

3. I'll cross check great deals with my coupon binder. In a few cases I'll have a coupon for the item already on my shopping list and can get a double deal. I'll also add items to the list and do the Flipp "flyer search" for buy one get one coupons or high value coupons ($3 off coupon and maybe the product is on a great sale that makes it $3). 

4. Go through my 6 rebate apps and see what items are offered there that I should jump on. Again, write down any items on my shopping list that catch my eye (like milk). 

5. Again check and see if there's a coupon for any of the app rebate offers. I love when the stars align and I'll have stuff written in every one of the columns for a triple deal!

To be honest, I usually spend about half an hour doing all the above. I try to keep my shopping list rather small, but over $60 worth (you'll see why later). 

6. Shop! With my phone and clipped Flipp offers and my coupon book and my  paper shopping list, I say yes to a shopping cart! I try to shop on Sunday morning, when the Sunday drivers are in church and everyone else is recovering from Saturday night. The lines are short before 11am and the cashiers don't give a whole lot of trouble to you with coupons if there's no one in line behind you. 

This usually takes me 30-45 min to do everything. I'll shop the aisles too looking for clearance items or other sales I might not have seen. I'll take coupons out of the book to use and put them all together in one slot on the first page. Makes the end checking out easier. 

7. Pay. Laying items out on the conveyer is the most stressful moment. I'll usually group things by the column(s) I have on my sheet. Items at full price or only on the app go first, which allows me to tell the cashier that I have price matching and coupons in this purchase. Then, usually just coupons next, item with the coupon on top. Then, price matching items/and coupons. These are showing an item, showing the item on the Flipp flyer, then handing the coupon. While they're reading the coupon, I can have the next Flipp flyer item pulled up on my phone. 

8. Double check receipt. Yep, I'm one of those people who will stand at the end of the cash out aisle looking at the receipt. Doesn't take me long to make sure that all of the full price items came up correctly and that the number of coupons I have on my list equals the number of -$.00 items on my receipt. I put the receipt somewhere easy and home I go!

9. Once home and unloaded into my kitchen, out comes the Neilsen home scanner. Enter the details of who and where, then start scanning items and entering any sale prices. I keep the receipt out to remember everything as I go item per item, and as I put away each product. This takes me 10-15 min to get everything scanned and away. Finish off by putting in the total paid, and then I usually press send on the Neilsen scanner to transmit the data. 

10. The table is cleared of product and only the receipt is left. I'll sit down then and do the rebate apps. If your receipt is over $60, then you can enter the Checkout 51 contest they have every week, and then sometimes a couple apps will give you .25 for receipts over $50 too. I'll scan the receipt for each app, select the items, and I'll usually keep track on the back of my receipt of what I've claimed (.25 milk, .50 bread, etc). Apps usually take a couple days to process and approve your claims, so just scribbling them on the back of my receipt helps me remember what I'm still waiting on (and makes me feel proud that the $60 receipt is actually $59.50 haha). This doesn't take me long at all usually, and every nickle helps. 

I'd say a shopping trip like this is 2 hours, which isn't for me a big deal, especially compared to people who take those two hours just wandering the store for product, who don't price match or coupon. :)

Nielsen Home Scanning program

Companies are all about research, finding out who buys their products and when. Those cash back apps feed back information back to the suppliers, and this Nielsen program is using the same rationale. There have been a bunch of instances where I've seen companies quote stats taken from this system. 

I applied on their website and then waited to see if I was part of a demographic they were interested in. I was and they sent me information to sign up. In the mail came a box with a little unit in it, including a base and a handheld scanner. Plugged the base direct into the router and I was ready to go. 

Basically without going into too much detail, you are supposed to scan and send in your purchases. Every purchase. They have a hundred+ stores in their unit that cover almost every store you could be spending money at. Gas to groceries, pet food to online shopping. They want to know what you buy. 

When you enter a purchase by scanning the item's barcode, it'll ask if you used any deals, options like store sale, manufacturers coupon and more come up. Some stores you shop ask you to input the price of every single item while others just want the total bill at the end. It'll take us few extra minutes to input our purchases before we put them away in the house. The handheld can also be taken with you, in your purse or such, if you are bad at keeping receipts like I can be sometimes. 

Some items that can't be scanned as they have no barcode, you scan a pre-created barcode on a sent sheet. This include stuff like gas, restaurant and fast food, vegetables and fruits and more. I'll admit our house scans the take out barcode far too often!

They run on weekly schedules, so the idea is you send in all your purchases before the cut off day. They are/did run a promotion that if you scan and send in your purchases all 4 weeks of a month they would send you a gift card. This is still ongoing, and a good incentive to stay on top of the day of the week. (I did and got the prepaid MasterCard for $15) :)

Every transmission of purchases earns you points. I think it's 150 points per week if you send in your stuff. All of these points gather in your account to later buy stuff. Their rewards shop looks similar to the air miles one. I believe one of the cheapest rewards on there is at 5000 points, and I'm currently sitting at around 3500 myself :) 

Nielsen will also run surveys and questionnaires to get bonus points. Typically taking 5-10 min to do, you'll get 200 bonus points each. They will also ask about things they are trying, like keeping a food diary for a week (with cash rewards) or opting in to try their new mobile scanning system. More bonus points come from your "anniversary" date each year, with the number of points rewarded going up each year you keep the system. 

No cost, just some extra time. I think it's a worthwhile thing to look into. 

Free product coupons and mail-in rebates

Who doesn't like the word free? Right, no one!

Companies put out FPC (free product coupons) and mail-in rebates in order to get their brand out there and for people to try their product. If the companies are putting the freebies out there, why not make sure you get a piece of the action? 

I try and use all free product offers that I can. 90% of the deals are for great stuff I'll actually use. The other 10% I will get and either "gift" or donate. It makes me feel good to get free, and it's a doubly nice feeling when you can donate items (for me, like dog food trial bags, diapers, shavers, etc) that you didn't have to pay for. 

FPC's and mail in rebate forms are usually in those sample booklets that come around in your newspaper, or direct from the vendor. I'll suggest that you subscribe to a few newsletters where people post the deals there, or follow a couple groups on Facebook that do the same thing. Saves you the effort of searching every day, because your time is valuable!

This week alone, I have 6 mail-in rebates I've sent off, including a hands-fee soap system, a home air effects system, a oxi-clean stain cleaner laundry wash bottle, some nair hair strips and others. 

My only suggestion is to really read the details of mail in rebate offers - make sure you pick up the right product, in the right size, and within the $ (including tax) that they will reimburse for. I've seen products on the shelf for more money than they will pay me back for, so I wait for the item to go on sale. Also, they usually have timelines, that the product has to be bought between and the rebate request received before. I also like to make it the only item on the receipt, which makes it easy at a glance for them to see the total amount. A good rule of thumb too that I've read about is to either photograph or photocopy the items before mailing them out. 

Time is of the essence when it comes to coupons and deals!

Watching a lot of court shows lately and in a court of law, this is an important line to add on any contract. What it means in the law system is that a person can't take their sweet time for years, it means they need to pay back your loan to them as soon as possible.

Couponing is much the same. If you don't make the time to go and buy a good deal, you'll miss out. Case in point, tonight's couple items...

I saw on Saturday that a couple of my e-rebate apps had scrubbing bubbles items on it. One was a buy two SC Johnson products and get $3.00 back and another app had buy any 2 scrubbing bubbles bathroom and get $4.00 back. Combine that with a Food Basics deal for $3.00 a bottle, and that's pretty good. Combine THAT with a manufacturers coupon I printed from online I had for buy one get one free, and now that's a great deal. 

Couldn't bring myself I go out to grab any of these this weekend and went out tonight instead. Well one of the apps was sold out tonight, so instead I got two bottles for $1. Still good, but we all like the idea of being "paid" to take stuff out from the store. 

Another of tonight's deals I missed the boat on was Pledge Floor cleaner. One one of the apps for $7 back a bottle, and I have a manufacturers coupon for save $5 each. Walked down the aisle and ran into a lady who was very excited to see a "fellow couponer" and asked if I was in on the Pledge deal. I said I hoped so and she said, yeah this was her third lap going to different cashiers to get the deal. Of course, when I got to the spot on the shelf she had cleared the shelf of all pledge products. Whomp whomp. 

So, note, another good tip is to make your shopping day either Thursday or Friday, when most of the apps have just refreshed their deals. After the weekend, all the other die hard couponer a have cleared the shelves and the available deals from the apps. 

Where to find coupons?

Okay, so this post will be edited a million times as I go along, remembering where I gather all my savings from.

On product - these are usually cereal boxes, cases of pop, cleaning supplies, and starter kits. I always check the packaging in store before I buy, seeing if there are any different boxes that might have a contest or coupon inside the box, or a swing tag or stuck on coupon on the outside. Always worth a look. 

Bottom of receipts - I've noticed this happening more and more. Sub shops and Petsmart have been best examples of this I've seen, usually offering a deal if you come back in a certain time period. Also, check the back/bottom of your receipts for the "fill out our survey and get.." offers for freebies (like Subway gives a free cookie for doing theirs). 

Free sample requests and emailing - so this'll be a separate blog post but request any free samples you can, which usually come with coupons attached, and also join samplesource for quarterly sample boxes in a couple clicks. Even just writing to a company telling them you like their product and do they have any samples/coupons they can send, usually they will (like Chapmans ice cream will send a free product coupon once a year if you ask).

Store tear pads - many grocery stores have tear pads in the aisles for new products and such. My favourite store for tear pads is Zehrs, as they have two big coupon boards when you first walk in, which saves all the wandering aisles. Mind you, I don't really shop at Zehrs as they won't price match, but they'll be my first stop to grab a bunch of coupons before I head off to a different store. 

Coupon websites - another blog post to come for this, but for example websaver and save.ca have coupons and there a so so many brand websites that host "secret coupons" through them. Make an account, click on the coupons you want, then press print. 

"Brand" websites - again, there's a list of these but I use P&G Everyday and Walmart online who host coupons to print. 

Mail to home sites - these are becoming a little more scarce, but there is a few sites that will still mail you physical coupons if you request. Websaver has just switched their mail to home program, which I'll review when I get my first bundle from them. 

Home mailers - these come in your newspapers and are popular for their free product mail-in rebates, buy one get one deals and fast food booklets of coupons. These are great to gather from friends and family who don't coupon, and can help start your mini-stockpile. 

Email subscriptions - everybody and their mother offer email subscriptions, so it's knowing which ones to join. I've joined a tonne under my non-primary email to see who sends coupons, and I'll try to do a post to update who I've found and liked. I also suggest you sign up for freebie notification subscriptions, like freebiefrenzy, which helps easily keep you on top of free samples and offers. 

Free magazines - Walmart one is the first one I can think of, but there are free recipe books, calendars for food and etc that you can pick up in stores for free. Usually, vendors have a bunch of coupons inside. 

Step 2, App's that give cash-back

So your binder is organized and you are ready to go.. But first, lemme take a detour..

On my iphone I have 6 money saving apps that are easy and actually work. I've tried to think about how these apps actually make any money on their end, but the opportunity here for everyday people like us to save a couple bucks a trip is offered, and you bet I'm taking it!

The idea behind these apps is to influence your purchases to try a certain brand or item. You go shopping, come home, open the app, and submit photos of your receipt to redeem offers like "Get .25 when you buy milk" or "Get 1.00 when you buy any 2 Febreeze scented sprays". Click on the things you bought in that trip, hit send, and wait for the approvals. All of these apps will send you a cheque when you reach a certain amount in your account, and I recently received my first $20 cheque from one of these apps. Easy, quick, and another few cents saved. 

Oh, and the apps will give you the credit no matter what you paid for the item. As long as the item is easily identified on your receipt, you will get the credit. This means you could use a coupon on the item in store, then come home and redeem it on the app (maybe making the item free). 

What I use, in order of preference :

Checkout 51 - good combination of generic items (buy any milk, bread, apples) with brand names we actually want to buy from. Large selection, and this changes every single week. They've also started bonus offers recently, where buy a couple of specially flagged items and get bonus credit back. This is who I got my first cheque from.

Zweet - again, lots of generic items and brand items. Weekly turnover of offers. Difference here is you also get Zweet points for purchases too, which after 650 points you can redeem as charity donations, gift cards and such. 

Snap (by Groupon) - same as the two above, except I find their deals run out quickly. Any generic deal is gone the same day, and what is left is sometimes not a favourite brand. You can also only redeem some offers once (like milk), like, ever, but they usually have high value credit backs for the items that are there. 

Save.ca - this app isn't the best to be honest, but every once in a while they get a couple good items on it. I believe they say their offers change weekly, but you can probably check it once a month as 75% of the deals stay the same. For sure, the website version of the this site is better for printing coupons!

CartSmart - same as save.ca. Okay for some offers, not so great for most.

Changio - this is an interesting app that does points instead of money, but for everywhere including groceries, fast food, department stores and restaurants. It also has a "scan" feature that awards points without having to buy the item (like scan this product's barcode in the store and get 5 points). I've just found this app and it will take me a long while to get up to the redemption point, but you need 2000 points to basically redeem anything. It's a great app if you are going to that place anyways (restaurants and fast food are my major go-to's), but I wouldn't structure my buying plan based on it. 

So those are the "redeeming" apps I've been using. On top of those cash-back apps, I also have a couple other apps that are geat:

Flipp - so my half hour of research a week is basically on this app. There is an awesome "search" function that will search for a keyword amongst all active flyers in your area. So you need a bathroom cleaner this week, and you have a coupon for Lysol?.. Plug "Lysol" into the search area and it'll show you results of that search (where it's on sale), what flyer they're in and more. It even allows you to "clip" the offer to a shopping list, which I use religiously for price matching (freshCo and Walmart both will price match based on digital flyers). Great app, highly recommend. 

PC Plus - if you shop at any of the stores that accept this points program, then you need the app to "load offers to the card". Basically, it'll award you extra points for select purchases, which you can redeem later at checkout for cash (I think it's in $5 increments). Sobeys and a couple other stores have similar rewards cards, which take no time to sign up for and to beep through at checkout. It all adds up!

Hope that covers all the digital pieces. Even if you don't do the physical couponing, these apps are a nearly effortless way to get a couple bucks back on everyday purchases.  

Getting started - the coupon binder

So my god-send in couponing has been my binder. Yes, I might look like a total dork wandering the aisles with a big green binder, but after trial and error this has been my absolute best tool.

I start here, before even telling you where the physical coupons are, because this is for sure the thing that makes my couponing easy. I love using the line "oh, I have a coupon for that!", and knowing exactly where to go to get it. No more digging in the abyss of a purse or searching through an accordion mass of coupons while standing at the cashier. 

My binder is a holdover from school and from my Pokemon card collecting days. It's an inch thick, with as many pages as I could scrounge up of those 9-pocket hockey card plastic pages. Garage sales are great for these card sheets, but I've seen them on sale at places like Staples and Walmart too. Binders are cheap at a dollar store or again during school start up time in stores. 

I did buy and try an accordion binder, but found that I would need to file through every coupon in a section to find the one I wanted. I tried the envelope organizational method too, but it was the same idea. Try a couple yourself, but I personally love seeing all my coupons at a glance. 

Then, organize. I use a page (or 2) per section of the grocery store: food, snacks, dairy, cleaning, scents, pet etc. If you shop at one store the most, organize the coupons based on the aisles then. What this does is allow you to not plan as much, and if a great sale is on the shelf, you can quickly flip in your book to see if you have a coupon for it too (essentially doubling the deal). This makes it so my quick trip for milk ends up being an hour long "start the carrrrr!" success story because of a few great deals I found, haha!

Another thing to note with this binder.. Take it with you! Always. Leave it in the trunk of your car, as I'm always out and about and realizing I have a coupon for something somewhere I didn't plan on going to. It's heartbreaking to know there's a stack of fast food coupons sitting on your dining room table when you have that McDonalds craving at lunch! I understand if you don't have a car this might be a little impractical, but they do make mini binders with these same sheets too!  :P

I guess if you want to be technical, other tools you need are a pair of scissors, a smartphone or tablet (I have iPhone and iPad), and a computer with printer. This is the arsenal I have (along with a couple other bonuses I'll talk about) to save money easily.