Platt Park Parents

Coupons

 

Here are some helpful tips for a full year of coupon fun!

 

March Tip - Our family gets the Denver Post 7 days a week and it turns out that I get coupon inserts (Procter and Gamble, Smart Source, and Red Plum) on Sundays, but I also usually get a repeat set on the Wednesday and Thursday papers. You can also get inserts through the mail or generous friends and family that might save for you.

 

February Tip - For parenting deals, one of my favorite websites (although not truly coupons) is Baby Cheapskate. I also will find good deals on kids related things here and here (both sites were started by parents and they have taken this couponing thing up from saving a couple of bucks to their employment).

 

January Tip - One of the major concept to couponing (or just frugal shopping in general) is to stock up when things are at the lowest price. This doesn't mean you have to constantly be racing around from store to store wearing yourself out, but if you see Cheerios on sale for $1.50/box and that box is normally $3.00... it's time to consider buying more and storing enough to get your pantry through until the next sale cycle. If you can find a coupon to go on top of that, then you find yourself in the coupon zone, where that box of Cheerios is now $0.50 or cheaper... or the ultimate rush, completely free! And then, you need to find someone out there who gets it, send them a text or discuss on the playground.

 

November Tip - You don't have to use paper coupons (from the newspaper in the form of Smart Source and Red Plum inserts or from coupon websites).  You can just use this website which shows you sales for each week at Colorado grocery stores - Safeway, Walgreen's, King Soopers, Albertson's and Wal-Mart (look in the upper lefthand corner for the drop down menu to specify which one). You can occasionally where they list FREE things usually coupled with coupons and a store sale, mostly you will see asterisks and Extreme in the Stock up Sale column.

 

October Tip - All expired coupons can be mailed overses to be used by military families for up to 6 months past the expiration date. The mailing addresses are:

     UK                                                                             Japan    

     Silvia Fugate                                                            Teri Holcomb

     PSC 41 Box 2583                                                     PSC 76 Box 5304

     APO AE 09464                                                        APO AP 96319

 

September Tip - It pays to be loyal at Safeway, using a registered Club Card, for gasoline rewards.  Gas rewards are accumulated each month and a dollar spent at Safeway equals 1 point. If you spend $100 you get 100 points = 10 cents off a gallon.  If you spend $1000 a month, you are looking at $1 off a gallon.  The 2 closest Safeways with a gas station are right near Broadway/Hampden (3 miles away) located on 201 E. Jefferson or off of Colorado (2 1/2 miles away) located on 6440 E. Yale Ave.

 

August Tip - There is a seasonality to coupons. Here are some generic ideas what to expect and when.

Summer: BBQ, office supplies, back to school

Fall: teas, coffee, spices, aluminum foil

Winter: toys, candies, super bowl party foods

Spring: candies (easter), baking items

 

July Tip - When a new product comes on the market, you will see higher value coupons and sometimes more often to promote that product.  In one year, the same product may still have coupons offered but not as high value as previously seen.

 

June Tip - This seems obvious, but remember to check the price per unit value on things.  For example, when buying ziploc bags, you will find the smaller boxes are priced lower, but the per unit value is higher than a bigger box. Related to this, Target seems to consistently have a lower price point than Safeway and usually carries larger economy size boxes.

 

May Tip - Did you know that Michaels' will accept competitor coupons?  Jo-Ann Fabrics tends to have higher % coupons (50 or 60% off a regular priced item) and those are accepted at Michael's.

 

April Tip - The local Safeway on Downing and Evans doubles paper coupons 7 days a week, up to $1.00. So if you see an item on sale and couple that with a paper coupon, you are going to save a good percentage.  A good tip to know is that most brands go on sale every 7-10 weeks, so hang on to paper coupons until you see the sale.