Guest post by Clair Boone
This is Part 4 of Clair’s series, In the Land of No Double Coupons. Here’s Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
5. Use Overage to Your Advantage
Through rebate programs like CVS and Walgreens our family hasn’t paid for many toiletries in eight years. Yup, Walgreens’ Easy Saver program has been around a while and even when we were missionaries in Thailand for three years, my mother-in-law would stock up and then send it out with anyone who came to visit us!
The one question I get asked a lot is, “If it’s free but you know you can’t use it, would you buy it?” My answer most of the time is, “Absolutely, if I can not only get it free but use a coupon to make it better than free!”
If the Colgate toothpaste is going to be free after Register Rewards but I have a $1 coupon to use on it then it covers the tax and a little extra. Sometimes the deals are even better and when you stand to make overage of around $5, then I love doing those deals.
That means I can use my overage on necessities that are never free, like diapers. And if it’s not something I’ll use, I donate it.
In Closing
While it’s true that we’ll never be able to snag quite as much free food as the double couponers, there are stores that will enable you to get super cheap or free food like Meijer and Jewel. Those are two stores that I cover each week and if there’s free food to be had, I’ll let you know!
The bottom line is, while The Land of No Double Coupons makes you get more creative, it is a little easier to navigate because you don’t have to stress out about all those coupons. For now, this is Clair Boone reporting from a land far, far away.
She bought diapers for 20 cents a pack prompting her friends to ask her to start www.mummydeals.org to teach others how to save money. She loves to use her couponing powers to buy things and donate them. Originally from England, Clair Boone is wife to an amazing man, Mum to a toddler and lives near Chicago.
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To those of you who commented about overages and RR -or anyone willing to comment 🙂
I’ve been couponing for a few weeks now but I’m still learning the ropes. I live in a small town where grocery stores double coupons but only up to $0.49 :/ and the only major drugstore is Walgreens.
My question is this: Aren’t those RR from Walgreens just a trick?
I mean, if I buy an item that costs $2 and gives a $2 RR, the item is free, right? However, I’m $2 OOP which means I just turned my $2 bill into a RR ticket. If I go in the next day to buy something for $5 and I use my $2 RR, it’s just like paying with that $2 bill from the day before. Granted, I still have the item from the previous day, but when the receipt says I only paid, let’s say, $3 for the new item and saved $2 by using the RR, I actually paid the entire $5.
What do you think? Am I missing something on how this works?
I appreciate your comments. Thanks
The trick is to keep rolling them and rolling them and rolling them. So that initial $2 out of pocket turns into another $2 and another $2 and another $2 and on and on and on. If you can then throw some coupons in, you can actually slowly increase the $2 to $3 and then maybe $4 and on up. The goal is to buy things with RRs that produce another RR so that you significantly lower you out of pocket costs and then can do another deal again.
@Crystal, Ahhh that makes a lot of sense! Thanks Crystal!
I’m loving RiteAid. I haven’t paid for personal hygiene, cosmetics, over the counter medicines or home products for several years. I get alot of food free including milk. I used to shop CVS but they don’t seem to have the great deals they used to have. It hasn’t been worth the effort. No Wags nearby.
I’ve developed a list of groups who use the different products I get and give most things away. It funny how my efforts have snowballed. Since I give so much away alot of people now give me their coupons. So, I have even more to give away. God is Awesome!
@Lisa, I love Right Aid as well. I feel that I get the best deals there.
I also live in a land of no doubles I have found that overages are the only way I can feed my family, we don’t have Meijer or Jewel. The only stores I feel are worth my effort are Publix ( a southern chain) and CVS. Walgreens I used to love but has lost me as a customer many, many times, they are very unfriendly to couponers at least all the ones in my area are.
I just went to WAGS yesterday. I bought 2 sale items with MFQ as well as WAGs q’s and with the overage I got 3 bags of Chex Mix. All cost me 93 cents plus tax for a total of $2.16
I agree. Sometimes I buy stuff that I really don’t need just to make money. For example, I paid nothing for Glucose Meters at WG with coupons, and got $10 RRs which were used for things that us everyday.
I make sure the things I don’t need get donated within a week, so that I don’t have to deal with them piling up.
@Baby Coupon Mom,
Where to you find places to donate items such as a Gluclose meter?
@Christine Nunn,
Battered women’s shelters need them, retirement homes/assisted living, check OB offices if they can give them to patients with gestational diabetes.
@Christine Nunn,
My school system loves getting free monitors for students and the occasional staff member.
@Christine Nunn,
I donated them to the Goodwill. Also with some meters there was a option to get free test stripes AR, and donated them as well — yes, I had to pay for stamps, but still wanted to get them as I know they are costly, and someone in a need will use it : )
@Baby Coupon Mom, I did the same thing. I ordered 50 coupons for $1/coupon and I was easily able to find 5o meters. I sent all of the meters to a large low-income senior housing and a nursing home. I used the $5oo profit to purchase the things I can get at Wags and my cost was $5o plus any tax for I paid $1/coupon. I never cleared any shelf for I know there are others who may need that item. While I believe those who received the ones I purchased are in just as much need, I never clear a shelf for there may be someone in need who isn’t able to get to another Wags while I am blessed with a car and most importantly, the ability to walk.
At the same time the glucometers were on sale I was very fortunate in finding 43 6-packs of Charmin toilet paper on clearance for $1.39. I kept enough toilet paper to provide for my family for more than a year and was able to share the rest with my 3 siblings!