Cross Border Couponing 101

Hello to all!!

As you know from a few of my previous posts, I have entered into the world of coupon shopping. Because of our close proximity to the States, we have the unique advantage of enjoying the best of both 'worlds' of grocery and household sales. I have gotten quite a few requests on how to take advantage of the deals that are to be made, and I am going to try and give a few of the basics in this post.

• One of the best ways to accumulate coupons is to get the US paper on Sundays. Always make sure to check to see if the coupons are in it...they may be Red Plum, Smart Source, and or P & G, check before you buy!!!!
• It may very well be to your advantage to buy 2 or more papers with the same coupons...especially P&G (The best deals usually are when you buy 2 or more of the same product..making it close to free with the coupons, or even better than free!)
• You can print coupons from your home computer(you must install the coupon application..only once) there is a limit to how many you can print....so print them out if you think that you may like them for in the future. (they reset often so do a quick check every few days)
• Build a stock pile of the coupons of items that you think you would buy or maybe would buy if you were to get a great deal on them...example, I do not usually buy too many granola bars as I find that they are an expensive snack (I like to bake so for me I find it more cost effective to bake) but for the last 4 weeks I have been able to get boxes and boxes of granola bars, different kinds and some organic , for free or .40 cents a box. So I bought many granola bars!
• When I look in the sales fliers of most stores, I think that there are a few good sales to be had at some of these stores, but when I take a peak at sites like moneysavingmom.com and frugalcouponliving the scenarios are AMAZING this is because they combine current ads, with current coupons, and also deals for free gift cards or extra rewards from stores....when I looked at these sites, and followed the beginner advise, I started to save an amazing amount of money....by the way ALWAYS keep your coupons from the flyer's...the way it works is like this-you get the coupons in the fly er, most people clip a few and use them for the product that week....in about 3 weeks you would be needing more product, so you go to the store without coupon, and notice that the item is now on SALE...so even with out the coupon you buy the item because after all it is on sale, the way these ladies figure it out is they combine the coupon (from 3 weeks ago) with the new 'sale' and you now get the item for an amazing price !!! too cool!
• At first it seemed like it was taking quite a bit of time (about 3 hours a week) to get coupons and cut them out and find the deals....now I am spending an average of about 1 hour, and it is beginning to seem rather easy ....so keep plugging away...I calculated a savings for me of at least $150.00 a week. So, my one hour is definitely worth that!
• While you are over in the states take advantage of the cheaper gasoline, even with the border crossing fees, we find a huge savings on gasoline alone...p.s the cheapest gas tends to be Costco (and yes, your Canadian card will work) or at the Bridge Duty Free.
• If you would like a map of all of the stores and locations that we go to, please leave a comment in the comment box, and I will email it out to you.
• I am really enjoying the series that Money Saving Mom is doing on budgeting and saving money....31 days to a better budget if you have questions like...why do I want to buy 17 boxes of cereal in one week, or is it wasteful to stock up on razors....how does it work over the course of a year...and things like that, I think you will find the series very useful.
• Take advantage of sales on BOTH sides of the border....know your prices, it is not better to buy all things in the states.
• I am going to try and put together sales for the Canadian side of shopping each week, and the good deals to be had over here. There are a few sites for Canadian coupons, they mail them to you, but they are usually high dollar amount coupons!
• Have fun, after all that's what I am doing this for, grocery shopping is something all of us do, and if we can creatively spend less and get more, and have fun while we are doing it, than that is what it is all about!