OK so I'm sitting here watching Oprah, and she has on ways to be more thrifty in this lovely economic climate we are in. There was a lady on there who took her grocery bill from around $130 to $30 by using coupons and having them doubled or tripled and combining them with the sale items. Sounds like easy enough way to stick an extra 100 bucks in the college funds.. but my question is.. is there really any grocery stores around here that double and triple your coupons? I can remember back in the day where my mother would drag us to Venture on Thursdays (or something like that) for triple coupon days but do those things really still exist around here??
Last Wednesday through Saturday, Kmart had double coupon day! I participated..it was GREATZ! So keep your eye out for another one at your local Kmart, or maybe give them a call and see if they have another one coming up!
I have not found any, if you do let me know!
What I do is I subscribe to the Sunday paper - it's $0.99/week & with the coupons you cut you save more than that, so it's worth it (we recycle when we're done with it too, so we're also "helping the environment"). What I do is I only clip coupons for what I'm going to buy - don't clip just because it's a great deal, if you don't use it, but buy it, it will sit aorund your house and then you wasted the money just because it was a great deal...
Also, Jewel sends out coupons every month or so if you use your Jewel preferred card...Spend X and save X, sometimes it spend $50 and save $8 - it's different each month. My mom also fills her prescriptions at Osco, so for every 10 prescriptions you fill you get a 10% off coupon for Jewel - which they let us combine with our coupons for $10 of the whole purchase.
I also subscribe to coolsavings.com - you get coupons free there...also pillsbury.com, kraftfoods.com, and Bettycrocker.com are free sites to subscribe to that you get recipes and coupons from (and sometimes free samples of new products). Eversave.com is another site to get coupons (and recipes) from as well...
My mom & I went shopping together at jewel when she had her 10% off coupon and I had a $10 off coupon plus others I got from Jewel and from clipping and we cut our bill in half...it is a good feeling!!
I hope this helped a little...
I don't know of any places that double coupons. I started clipping coupons about 4 months ago and I cannot believe I didn't do it before. I have saved so much money. I subscribed to thegrocerygame.com for a while to get me started on how to plan my purchases better. It really helped me figure out that by stocking up a little when things are on sale it saves a lot. I now save my coupons and look at the Jewel sale papers each week and make my list according to what is on sale and see if I can use a coupon at the same time. I save a lot on things like shampoo, bath tissue, soap, dish soap, etc just because I will buy them ahead of time on sale with a coupon rather that just when I need it (and then it's usually full price).
It takes a little of your time and careful planning but really worthe it. Now I think about all the money I wasted by just not taking time to be smart about shopping.
I don't know of a place that doubles/triples coupons any more; However, I've been able to save just as much by using the ideas already presented here plus the following:
Costco, especially on coupon days, for bulk items (TP, bottled water, garbage bags, batteries, etc.) and split the perishables with family members (baked goods, meat, produce, etc.)
I also shop online through various portals:
-Amazon.com with Amazon Prime membership (extended family, too), which means unlimited shipping for an annual fee (you can even buy some grocery items from Amazon);
-If you subscribe to Parenting magazine, their "privileges" program earns you cash back from dozens of online merchants;
-woot.com for great deals on electronics/technology, one deal/day;
-freecycle.org to post your wants & get rid of stuff you don't need, all locally and free;
-If you have a frequent flyer account with United or American, you can use their portals to earn miles through online purchases;
-If you have an American Express card (Membership Rewards), Citibank account (ThankYou Network), Capital One card (No Hassle Rewards), etc., you can use their programs to earn points & redeem for cash/gift cards;
-When grocery shopping, keep an eye out for mis-priced items. I believe Jewel is the place where you can get your item for free if it rings up for a price different than what's marked on the shelf.
Hope some of these are useful for you, E.!
J.
