I ran a contest July 14 – July 16th. Given away were over $150 in coupons and gift cards. The “price” of entry was a frugal tip. Some were common sense, some were “wow, I never thought of that!”, some I disagreed with, and some were, er, umm dicey.
So, what I thought I’d do over the next month is take five of those responses daily and give you my take on the response. I’d love for people to add their thoughts and ideas too.
#41 Charity
Buy items when they are on sale and you have a coupon as opposed to when you need it. Also, stick to a budget.
What is this budget-thing people keep mentioning!?
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#42 Mikey
Visit this website for a free Sample pack from Scott!
http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid73318.aspx
The offer is now expired, but WalMart frequently has free samples.
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#43 Kristin
For people that don’t want to coupon but want to save money: SHOP THE SALES! Buying in bulk from costco/bjs/sams/ect does not generally save much money. Following the grocery store sales will save you tons. Buy what you use when it’s on sale, not just when you run out and need something.
Shopping the sales are an important strategy, but I encourage folks to save even more by combining with coupons.
There have been studies done that have found the warehouses seldom save money and in fact people tend to spend more because they are buying in bulk. While BJs does take coupons (and they take more than one coupon per big bulk pack, so if your coupon is $1/1 and there are 6 items in the bulk pack they will take (6) $1/1 coupons), Sam’s Club does not. I don’t have a Costco in my area, and only went a few times in Vegas so I do not know their coupon policy. Bottom line is if you are careful, know the prices, and shop judiciously warehouse clubs may not be more expensive, but they are probably not saving you the big-bucks you think they are. So, I agree with Kristin.
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#44 Amiyrah
Take advantage of websites that pay you to web surf or answer their e-mails. Sites like mypoints, swagbucks, and inbox dollars are great for those that don’t want to make too much of a commitment to something, but are able to check their e-mail at least once a day.
I’ve gotten 7 gift cards from mypoints since february just for clicking a box on each of their e-mails. A little bit of points can add up to a lot of points in no time.
I can’t really respond to this one. I gave up point sites when skymiles stopped paying many years ago. If it works for you, Amiyrah, YAY!
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#45 Jen
I love using coupons, but you are only saving money if you are using them to buy stuff that you need.
I’d amend this to …but you are only saving money if you are using them to buy stuff that you need, is free, can donate or sell at a yard sale for a profit.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Here my comment on #43 – I agree, in general, shopping at Costco might not necessarily be saving you a lot overall but I honestly think it depends on the shopper and the types of stores in the area. Costco sells a lot more than just H&B and OTCs and Households and foods that typically have cpns associated with it. Costco has a fantastic return policy. I would not buy households or H&B or packaged goods (cereal etc) at Costco maybe except Dreft. But their produce, meats etc… is a great deal – for ex. really great white peaches for $0.99/lb – and fresh and sweet – unheard of in my area – except fruit stand stores but then fruit isn’t anywhere near as fresh and lasts no more than 1-2 days. And I only have to shop once and don’t need to waste time running to different stores (I don’t have a lot of time). But for the person who does have time and enjoys running different stores, then it’s a different story. I heard the eye service is a really great deal. The photo service is great. And we finally got furniture from there – also great. I remember someone saying that they could get meat really cheap at the supermarket with WTs and sales etc so it just depends. While I don’t think Costco is for everyone but it could be a good deal for some.
Costco doesn’t take mfg cpns but BJs does.
I’m actually a bit nervous about what you’ll say about my tip!
Ha! I’ll be nice Betsy, I promise.
Ann
I love Costco… I hardly ever shop there because it’s not very close and they don’t take coupons. HOWEVER, they have THE BEST prices on electronics and furniture and they’re return policy is FANTASTIC. I do shop there for those type of items.
I use point programs too. Mypoints, Swagbucks, and Ebates are all really great ways to get freebies. I have gotten a few free gift cards as well as cash from Ebates and it doesn’t require any extra effort on my part. I just got a personalized canvas bag through MyPoints completely FREE and I got 300 points! That was fun. I love getting free stuff!