getting started - doubling/tripling

Beth asked: Could you please explain sometime the double and triple coupon phenomenon? Do you have to have 2 or 3 identical coupons or does the store give you double or triple value for one? Also, do some stores do that all the time or only on certain days?

Doubling and tripling coupons is something I never appreciated until I started couponing. The basic principle is that a store will double or triple the face value of an individual coupon up to a certain amount.

So, you may see that a store's policy is to triple coupons up to .35. That means that if you have a .35 coupon - the store will "triple" the value of it to $1.05.

If you have a .25 coupon - the store will triple the value to .75.

My stores triple coupons up to .35 and double coupons up to .50. So, if the coupon's face value is between .36 and .50 - it gets doubled.

A .45 coupon will double to .90. A .50 coupon will double to $1.00.

Policies vary by store. My Kroger will double or triple up to 3 like coupons at any time. That means I can use 3 Angel Soft .50/1 coupons and all three will triple to $1.00. I could use a 4th coupon, but it's value would just be the .50 - it won't triple.

The limit is only on "like" coupons - so I could use 3 .50/1 Angel Soft, 3 .50/1 Mahatama Rice, 3 .50/1 Eggland's Best eggs and so on.

My Tom Thumb will only double/triple one like coupon per transaction. So, I could use one .50/1 Angel Soft and it would double to $1.00. If I use a second one, it's value will only be .50. Again, I can double/triple one coupon for each different individual product I'm purchasing.

In some areas, the grocery stores only double/triple during certain times - like Harris Teeter in some areas. The store will usually limit how many coupons you can double/triple at a time - so many couponers will make several trips into the store.

Your store's ad may have their coupon policy printed in teeny tiny print somewhere in their ad. You can also check their website. Policies may change from store to store within the same chain - your best bet is to call your store and ask what their doubling/tripling policy is.

The beauty of doubling/tripling is when you are able to combine it with a great sale to get products Free or really cheap.

Hopefully that answers some questions - please let me know if you have more!

(Next up - shopping for produce, dairy, and meat)

This Weekend's shopping

Are y'all ready?

First, let me say that these types of posts won't always be this long - and this one's gonna be a doozy! Since I'm just getting started with this blog and since I suspect that most of you are just getting started couponing, I'll have a lot more explanation here in the beginning.

If it's too much, don't read it all. Seriously. Just take what info will be helpful for YOUR family - however much or little that may be.

First, my stores - where I shop regularly and how often:

Whole Foods - I generally hit Whole Foods 2 times a month. I try my best to shop on Wednesdays, because their weekly sales overlap that day. I also usually have one or both kids with me. That's actually on purpose. We nosh on cut fruit for a treat and talk our way through the store. Whole Foods is about 20 minutes away, so more trips than that just aren't reasonable or worth it.

Within 5 minutes of my house, I have: Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Walgreens, CVS, Tom Thumb. Usually 2 times a month I do the circle - it usually takes about 2 hours start to finish. I try to do this on Sundays, because Tom Thumb marks down dairy on Sundays. I can count on getting a gallon of organic milk for $2 - $3 and usually deals on organic sour cream and sometimes, cheese. I do my circle alone, with a cup of coffee and Sunday Jazz Brunch playing on the radio. It is bliss.

Kroger - sometimes I go for weeks without stepping foot in Kroger. Some weeks I end up there 2-3 times in one week. It just depends on the deals, the shape of my stockpile, and life in general.

Tom Thumb - I'm usually there once a week for the milk. Tom Thumb is on Derek's way home from work, so this might actually be his once week a stop.

Walgreens/CVS - these are all over the place, so I usually just work in stops here on the way to or from other errands during the week - or my circle, as mentioned above.

Target - Y'all know you shop Target. I don't regularly grocery shop there. However, if I know I'm going there for something else, I'll check the blogs and hotcouponworld for current deals.

That sounds like a lot of shopping, but actual time is:

Whole Foods - 2x a month, 1 hour a trip = 2 hours per month
My "circle" 2x a month, 2 hours a trip = 4 hours per month
Other trips as needed, probably about an hour a week on average = 4 hours per month
Prep time - this is hard to figure since it's just part of my existence now, but I would say a safe estimate is an hour and a half a week. You will spend more time on this part at first. = 6 hours per month

So, 16 hours per month including drive time, or an average of 4 hours a week. I think if you add up your drive times and times in stores during an average month, you might find that you're spending that much time or more shopping, right now. Plus, I consider this the part-time job that lets me stay home with my kids - so a 4 hour work week, that often includes much needed me time.

And now for the shopping! This was a big, not typical, shopping weekend for me. Derek worked Saturday, so I shopped on Friday and Sunday. I'll list the receipts in order.

Friday - Whole Foods
Canola Oil (for baking bread) - $3.99
365 Organic Honey, 12 oz - $3.99
365 Organic Raisins, 15 oz - $3.69
2 pkg- 365 Organic Corn Tortillas - .99 ea
4 pkg - Organic Flour Tortillas - 2.19 ea
Whipped Cream Cheese - $1.98
5 lb bag Organic Red Potatoes - $4.99
Garlic - 4bulb pack (I buy this so I can use the bag for a dish scrubby) - $1.29
1.4 lb organic white onions - $2.37
2.5 lbs organic braeburn apples - $4.84
.74 lbs green beans (conventional, but local) - .73
cantaloupe chunks (for K and I to nosh on during shopping) - $1.70
Nutmeg (Whole Foods brand - for baking) - $5.99
4 lbs of ground buffalo (split into 2 - 2 lb packages - one for this week, one for the freezer) - $20.56
1/2 lb sliced nitrate/nitrite free bacon (for cooking with pinto beans) - $3.29

Total: $70.15
Saved - Whole Foods doesn't track savings on the receipts. I know I didn't use coupons on this trip. I bought the ground buffalo because it was $2/lb cheaper than usual - so savings for this trip are $8.

Kroger - Friday
3 - 4 pks Angel Soft Toilet Paper - used 3 .50/1 coupons from inserts (doubled) - FREE
3 - Birds Eye Steamfresh Broccoli @ .99 ea - used one .35/1 insert coupon (tripled) and one $1/2 insert coupon - 1 package FREE, 2 packages .49 ea (The whole steam in bag thing weirds me out, so we actually cook these in our regular steamer.)
1 - Challenge Spreadable Butter @ .99 - used .50/1 coupon from inside previous package of butter (doubled) - FREE
1 - Mahatma Jasmine Rice @ 2.69 - used one .50/1 insert coupon (doubled) - $1.69
1 - Eggland's Best Eggs @ 2.59 - used one .50/1 insert coupon (doubled) - $1.59
2 - 16 oz Kroger Sharp Cheddar @ 2.50 ea
2 - 16 oz Kroger Shredded Cheese @ 2.50 ea

Spent: $14.04
Saved: $19.83 (coupons and store savings)

Tom Thumb - Friday
I mentioned before that Tom Thumb (Randalls or Safeway in other areas) has a promotion going on right now - Living Well, Feeling Great - spend $30 on particular products, receive a $10 oyno coupon. This particular promo has lots of organic products included. There are also several freebie/really cheap options, but I was focused on buying things we really needed for the next two weeks. If you'd like more info on scenarios for this promo, check here.

A note about Tom Thumb promos, they are notoriously screwy. Knowing this, I made a point of selecting items that put me at $30 AFTER calculating in Tom Thumb store coupons. In this instance, I only used one manufacturer coupon - manufacturer's coupons come off of the $30 total - they shouldn't affect the promo. If you do shop a promo and it doesn't work - odds are one of the products you selected wasn't included correctly in the computer. The manu coupons have nothing to do it with it - even if the cashier thinks they do. When this happens, I just go wait in line at the service desk. I let them know what I purchased and they have always gone ahead and printed my coupon for me.

1 - 18 oz box of Cheerios (with a pack of flower seeds inside!) - $2.99
1 - All 2x Free & Clear - $4.49 - used .35/1 insert coupon (tripled)
1 - O Organics 1/2 gal whole milk - $2.99 (used .50/1 store coupon)
1 - O Organics 1/2 gal 1% milk - $2.99
1 - O Organics Orange Juice - $3.99
1 - O Organics Herb Salad, 16 oz - $5.49 - (used $1/1 store coupon)
1 - O Organics Almonds, 11 oz - $8.99 (I mix these with Cheerios and Whole Foods organic raisins for a trail mix for the kids - and use them in salads for the adults).
1 - organic carrots, 1 lb - $1 (not part of the promo)

So, my total for the promo after store coupons was $30.43. My all coupon came off of that total.

Spent: $30.66
Saved: $15.33 - and have a $10 oyno for next week's milk and produce.

I could also "roll" that $10 oyno into another round of the promo. I could buy the exact same list above, use the $10 oyno and pay $19.66 out of pocket and receive another $10 oyno.

Kroger - Sunday (This trip would normally have happened right after the first Kroger trip. I could only use 3 Angel Soft coupons at a time - I had six. I normally would have put the first round in the car and then walked back in for a quick second run. However, I took the last three bags of broccoli and wanted to check back when they restocked.)

3 - 4 pks Angel Soft Toilet Paper - used 3 .50/1 coupons from inserts (doubled) - FREE
8 - Birds Eye Steamfresh Broccoli @ .99 ea - used 4 $1/2 insert coupon - .49 ea
1 - Wholly Salsa - clearanced at $1.49
1 - Lays Potato Chips (for D & J's "boys' night") - $2.68 - used $3 off chips wyb Wholly Salsa insert coupon. - yep, they paid me .32 for the chips.

Spent: $5.09
Saved: $18.07

Big Takeaway from this trip - sometimes More is Less with coupons. I could have bought the chips alone for $2.69. Because of the coupon I was able to get the salsa AND the chips for $1.17.

CVS - Sunday
1 - Neutrogena Soap - $2.99
1 - Bandaids - $4.49 - used $1/1 Band-Aid product

used $6 ECB to "pay" for this trip - there are larger Neutrogena and Bandaid deals going on at CVS this week - I may or may not take advantage. Part of why I CVS is so that I can burn ECB's when I need to.

Spent: .48
Saved: $7

Grand totals:
Spent: $120.42
Saved: $68.23 and have the $10 oyno coupon

I'm actually shooting for $150 this month. I'll use the $10 oyno on milk and produce when we run out of milk. I don't plan on buying any more meat for the month - we'll use what I have frozen. So really just produce and milk as needed. I bake our bread in the bread machine and have yeast for a year and flour for 3 months already stockpiled.

Ok...questions?

Getting Started - how I stay under $250

Before you ever clip your first coupon, you need to know what you're spending now. Prior to couponing, my shopping typically looked like this:

Go to store - spend about an hour and around $100
Get home and realize that I forgot 2 or 3 things I needed and ended up buying 2 or 3 things that we already had.
Go back to store later in the week for things forgotten previously and end up purchasing 5 or 6 additional items - the quick trip in would end up costing an additional $10-$30
Reach the end of the week and end up throwing out produce/leftovers/etc - because of not realizing what we already had, when things would expire, or remembering that I had purchased certain things.

Wash, rinse, repeat week after week.

Many people choose not to coupon because they "don't have the time." However, I think it's fair to say that most people shop just like I used to. That represents a huge chunk of time. Yes, couponing takes more time on the front end. However, my actual time in the store is minimal. I'm a woman on a mission. I have my list, my coupons, and a plan.

We arrived at our $250 a month total out of necessity. That's just what I have to spend. You may not need to go to the extremes that I do. So, if you're just getting started, start paying attention to what you spend now. After about a month you should have a rough idea of your average budget. Then decide how much you want to lower that amount.

Here's how I get to $250 in a nutshell - I'll elaborate more on most of these points in future posts.

1. Use coupons in multiples and combine them with sales to get the absolute lowest price. For example: Angel Soft 4-pks are .99 this week at Kroger (Dillons in some parts of the country). Last week's newspaper coupon inserts had .50/1 4 pk or larger Angel Soft coupons. My local Kroger doubles .50 coupons. That means that for me that .50 coupon is worth $1 - or free toilet paper, in this case. My local Kroger will let me double three "like" coupons in one transaction. That means I can buy 3 packs of Angel Soft and use 3 .50/1 coupons (doubled) and receive 3 free packs of toilet paper. I had 6 of these coupons, so I bought 3 packs in one trip last week and bought 3 more yesterday. 6 packs of toilet paper paid for with coupons and leaving me with $6 still in my budget.

2. Know what things cost - know your "buy" price and your "stock-up" price. That seems obvious, doesn't it? The average consumer knows the cost of roughly 10 items - things like a gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, etc. Wal Mart knows this and you'll find that they will have lower prices on those items. But what are they charging you for 8 oz of cheese, a lb of apples, a lb of chicken? Usually a higher cost, because you don't know what that same item will cost you somewhere else.

In my area, a decent price for 8 oz of cheese is $1.50 - that's my buy price, if we need cheese. My stock-up price is $1.25/8 oz or less. This week, Kroger has 16 oz blocks of cheese for $2.50 (or $1.25 per 8 oz) - so, I bought 2 blocks of cheddar and 2 bags of shredded (at the same price). The shredded freezes nicely - so I now have cheese for the month for $10.

I'd prefer to buy organic cheese, but this is one area where my budget won't let me compromise much. For organic cheese, my buy price and stock-up price are a dollar more than what I pay for regular cheese. And if I happen to find organic cheese at my regular cheese buy or stock-up price, I buy as much as my budget will allow and freeze it.

3. Know your limits. I do not buy products that contain MSG. I avoid HFCS and partially hydrogenated oils. I use the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen to determine my produce purchases. If it's on the Dirty Dozen list, I only buy organic. If it's on the Clean Fifteen list, like broccoli and peas, and I can get it free or cheap - I'll buy conventional.

4. Use what you have. This is a work in progress for us. I don't plan meals for the week. I think if I worked outside of the home, it would be a necessity, though. Derek and I split the cooking responsibilities, and we're both fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants cooks. We loosely plan our meals for every 2 days or so. What's in the fridge? Are there leftovers? Is there produce we need to go ahead and eat?

The beauty of a stockpile is knowing that we have the basic building blocks for lots of good, healthy meals. I have rice, pasta, canned organic tomatoes (diced and whole, roasted or not, with chilis, with basil & garlic, etc.), frozen veggies, frozen meat, frozen cheese and so on. So, using what needs to be used is usually not a problem.

I think that's enough for now. Once the kids go down for their naps later, I'll post my receipts from this weekend's shopping. Please let me know if you have any questions!