Pays to call Catalina

I went to Safeway (Bend, Westside) last night to grab some more Kleenex with my .50 off coupon from the Sunday paper and a Safeway doubler. This makes the Kleenex deal a $1 moneymaker. However, my catalinas did not print. The nice cashier did not believe me when I said that his machine must have been broken and asked if I still wanted 6 boxes of Kleenex. Under normal circumstances I would have said no, but since I knew that the promotion was still running I said "yes." Regardless, .99 cents for Kleenex is a good deal and I would just donate them anyway.

I called Catalina this morning and they are mailing me my $6 in coupons good for my next purchase of anything. Meaning, my 9 boxes of Kleenex, 6 packs of Dentyne Gum, 5 jars of baby food, 3 bananas, 2 apples, 1/2 gallon of Organic milk cost me $1.35 out of pocket and I have a coupon for $3 off my next purchase.

If your coupons ever do not print from the catalina machine the number to call is

1-888-8COUPON

Oregonian worth buying

**UPDATE** The Early Edition of the Oregonian did NOT have Albertson's Doublers. It did have a $10/$50 though. Keep in mind that this is $50 AFTER coupons. I'm disappointed that it didn't have doublers since the Tuesday paper lead me (and fellow bloggers on the blogospeare) to believe it would.

Reportedly there will be Albertson's doublers in the paper tomorrow. Unfortunately, the Bend Bulletin does not usually receive these. However, the Oregonian does. This paper is typically $2.50 on Sundays...boo...but is worth buying if there are doublers (as long as you use the doubles since the savings will pay for the paper). Also, if you can find places in town that sell the "Early Edition" of the Oregonian, it's only $2.00.

Regardless of where you live and the paper you receive, there should also be 3 coupon inserts. :) Bring on the savings.

Bend Bulletin--$10/$50+

Today in the Bend Bulletin you will find a coupon good at Safeway for $10 off a $50 or more purchase. I have yet to determine if this price is before coupons or after. If anyone knows, let me know!

Coupon terminology

When I first started clipping coupons I was so confused by some of the terminology. Below are just a few. Leave a comment if you can think of some I missed and I'll add it to the list.

BLINKIES = In Store Coupons that you pull from the blinking box
TEAR PAD = A pad of coupons or MIR near a product or on display
PEELIE= Coupon you peel off package  
BOGO/B1G1 = Buy One Get One
$1/2 = Take $1 off the purchase of 2.
CATALINA = Coupon printed at register after purchased
DND = Do Not Double (Some coupons have this lang)
DOUBLER =  Coupon that allows a manufacturer coupon to double in value
FAR = Free After Rebate
MIR = Mail in Rebate
OOP = Out of Pocket
RR = Rebate Rewards (Walgreens)
STACKING = Most stores allow multiple use of coupons – manufacturer’s & in store coupons.
GM = General Mills Newspaper Insert
K = Kellogg’s Newspaper Insert
P&G = Proctor & Gamble Newspaper Insert
RP= Red Plum Newspaper Insert
SS= Smart Source Newspaper Insert

How do you keep all those coupons organized?

There are many methods you can use to organize all those coupons you'll acquire. I will highlight three: envelope/box system, binder system, and accordian system.  What method do you use? Leave a comment!

1. Binder System:
Because I have little kids that like to "help" mommy coupon, I choose to use the binder system making it almost impossible to dump them all over the floor. Though this takes a little more time, it's what works best for me. I purchased a binder, 3 packages of baseball card holders, and 18 dividers. This is great to keep little hands from tipping over a box or rummaging through envelopes. It also allows me to easily flip through all my coupons when I see a sale on an item in the store that wasn't mentioned in the ad.

I use the following dividers (though I am going to add a few more)
~Drinks
~Snacks
~Cereal/Bread
~Baby
~Cleaning
~Dairy
~Feminine Products
~Health/Beauty (I want to break this one out)
~Dessert
~Paper Products
~Soups/Sides (again, I want to break this out)
~Condiments
~Meats
~Dinners
~Produce
~Other


When I'm clipping coupons I make sure to clip as close to the edges as I can so they will fit easily in to the binder. However, sometimes I do have to fold them (where it can take a little more time). One tip that I JUST learned (I've been clipping for a few months now and only just realized this) is to sort out your coupons before putting them in the binder. That way you have all your same types together and can just slip them in instead of hunting for each section for every coupon.


2. Envelope/Box System:
Make an envelope for each category I mentioned above (or create your own categories applicable to your family). Store each coupon in the envelopes, then store the envelopes in some sort of a box, like a shoe box. You can't see your coupons very easily but it doesn't take as long to file them.

3. Accordion File System:
Choose between a large file or a small, wallet sized file. Label each divider. Clip and store. There are pros to both the large size (you can store whole coupon inserts without clipping them unless you need them) and the small size (really easy to take with you in to the store). This is the fastest way to clip and organize your coupons, though it can take more time in the store to sort through your files if you find a great deal and aren't sure if you have a coupon to match.


Regardless of the method you chose, you should begin collecting copies of store coupon policies. This is especially handy when you get a cashier that doesn't know what they are doing. You can whip out the policy and show them.

Also, I go through all my coupons 2x a month to pull out any that have expired. Usually they'll expire around the middle of the month and the end of the month. I weed them out on the 30th and the 15th.

Another thing I would suggest carrying with you is scissors...and a calculator!

How to use those coupons you're collecting

When you use coupons it's important to know each store's coupon policy. (I will post more of that later).

Some basic rules to go by are:

1. Use your coupons when items go on sale. Never pay full-price (especially for health/beauty products).

2. Begin to build a stockpile of items you use frequently. E.g. cereal, condiments, canned beans, etc. (More on stockpile later too). This way you aren't forced to pay full price when you run out. Rather, you can buy those items dirt cheap and have them on hand.

3. Buy the smallest size you can with a coupon. This will result in getting close to a free price for that item.

4. If allowed, stack your coupons. Use a store coupon along with a manufacturer coupon. E.g. Fred Meyer has a $3 in-store coupon for Glad Sense and Spray. You can "stack" that with the $4 off Glade Sense and Spray Manufacturer Coupon.

5. Use "doublers" when available. Some stores (e.g. Safeway and Albertsons) have "double manufacturer coupons" up to a certain value. You can double any manufacturer coupon (unless otherwise stated) up to that dollar amount. I love Albertsons for this; they usually have their doublers up to $1 whereas Safeway will double up to .50cents. E.g. Kotex pads were on sale at Albertsons this week for $3. I had a $1 coupon and used a doubler to make my coupon $2 off, meaning I only paid $1.

6. Do more than 1 transaction. Just a note for fellow Central Oregonians: I never do more than 2 at one time...I can't bring myself to hold up the line that long. Doing more than one transaction will allow you to use the maximum number of "doublers" each time. Safeway allows up to 4 doublers per transaction, Albertsons allows for 3 per transaction.

How do you get started?

Step One: Write down the top 10 things your family buys. E.g. Milk, Cereal, etc.

Step Two: Go to your top 2 or 3 grocery stores (or Rite Aid, Walgreens, etc.) and price out those. This gives you a sense of what things normally costs; that way when you see something on sale you know if it’s a good deal or not. Keep this price list to remind you.

Step Three: Buy the Sunday paper (yes, you do have to spend a little money but trust me, it pays off if you keep up with it.) At least for Central Oregon there are often sales reps for the Bend Bulletin in the grocery stores. They are usually willing to split their commission with you. What does that mean? Great deal for you! You can get the paper delivered to your door for $1.50/wk. For example, I bought a paper from a guy selling it at Albertsons. It cost me $33 to purchase for 3 months. Expense? Yes. But, he gave me $15 back in Albertsons gift cards. I was buying the paper every Sunday and every Tuesday as it was so this was already .50 cheaper AND it is now delivered to my door. Score.

Step Four: Here’s where it get’s a little tricky and tedious. Scour the ads for all the coupons and clip every coupon you think you MIGHT use. SAVE all the rest of the coupons even if you don’t think you’ll use them…(I can explain why later).  These are available in the P&G, Red Plum, Smart Source, etc. inserts.

Step Five: Purchase the mid-week paper that offers your local grocery store ads (for Bend this is the Tuesday paper). Repeat everything from Step 3. Don’t forget to clip the double manufacturers coupons too. There usually aren’t too many coupons in this paper but it gives you an idea of all the “specials” the grocery stores have currently. Not sure about any other location but the Bend Bulletin will occasionally have a $10 off $50 or more at Safeway coupon hidden in this paper (not in the ad section like everything else)--even if it appears only once a month you’ve already recouped the loss for the cost of the paper.

Step Six: Repeat step 4 and step 5 EVERY WEEK. With kiddos it can be tricky to find the time to do this. What we do is purchase a doughnut with the Sunday paper (I buy the Oregonian as well) and when the weather is nice sit on the back deck and let the kdis eat doughnuts and play outside. This gives me plenty of time to even enjoy a cup of coffee while I’m doing it. This has actually become a Sunday morning ritual.

Step Seven: Check out www.coupons.com or www.afullcup.com

These sites provide printable coupons accepted at the grocery stores. Print out any you think you will need and remember to hit the refresh or back button to print them 2x (the max any one computer can print).

Step Eight: Download the coupon printer offered via any of those sites…necessary to print coupons from online.

Step Nine: SAVE, SAVE SAVE--It’s important to be patient while building your coupon stockpile. You might not have a lot of the combinations right away.

Step Ten: Match coupons with sales and win! Your goal is build a stockpile of groceries you can pull from...this stockpile should really cost you next to nothing. For e.g. we have about 10 boxes of cereal in our pantry right now. I don't pay more than .50 a box and since expiriation dates are usually at least 6 months I stock up whenever I see a deal that's less than .50.