Coupon Swap will start next week!

If you are interested in joining the Coupon Swap now is the time to do it.  We will be sending the first round of coupons next week.

The first thing you need to do is join $aving Toward A Better Life's Yahoo! Group.  Details on how to get started will be there.

If you'd like to read more about how it works, you can do so here.

If you'd like to familiarize yourself with all the rules, you can do so here.

Coupon Swap on Yahoo! Groups - Rules

Here are the rules for the Coupon Swap over on the Yahoo! Group.

#1 - Add your address to the Address Book (Under Applications in the left sidebar). 

After I receive your address I will assign you a "slot".  

#2 - Every member will have a slot within the group and given and ID. 

 CS01 (Coupon Swap 01), CS02, CS03 etc.  CS01 sends to CS02.  The last person at any 

given time in line sends to CS01.  If you would like to occupy two slots and get more 

coupons let me know.  Just make sure you can fulfill the requirements of sending to two 

people.

#3 - There is a list in the Database (left sidebar) that has each person in their 

sending order, with their address information.  ALWAYS CHECK THE DATABASE BEFORE YOU 

MAIL.  If you are CS05 sending to CS01 and someone else joins the group and is assigned 

slot CS06, you would change who you send to. 

#4 - You are required to send an envelope of coupons once every two weeks.  If you go 

three weeks with non-participation you can be removed from the coupon swap. (You will 

not be banned from the group, just taken out of the coupon swap).  You may enter the 

coupon swap once more, but if you are booted again because of non-participation, you 

will not be let back in.  If you need to "pause" your participation (due to vacation, 

etc), please let me know so I can notify the other members to skip you until you ask to 

be reinstated.  Sending and receiving will be tracked via the log in the Database.

#5 - Whenever you send and/or receive an envelope, post a message to the group like so 

"CS01 sending to CS02" "CS04 received from CS03" or "CS07 received and sending".  Try 

to post this within a day of your actions so I can keep the log updated.  Also, note on 

your envelopes that they are part of the coupon swap.  Something like, "CS01 to CS02" is 

sufficient.

#6 - Letter sized envelopes are fine for sending coupons.  Please fill your envelope 

with at least 30 different coupons.  More is fine.  It's best to have your envelope 

weighed at the post office to insure proper postage.  The more filled the envelope, 

the more likely it'll require two stamps.

#7 - Coupons must be clipped (cut out from their inserts).  Internet printables must 

have the excess paper trimmed off around it.  Sending unnecessary paper just increases 

shipping charges.

#8 - Upon receiving and envelope: Remove the coupons you wish to keep.  Remove coupons 

that will expire before the envelope makes it to it's next destination.  Within 5 days 

of the date it's sent are safe to remove.  Take the coupons that are left and the ones 

you wish to add and send to the next person.

#9 - Coupons to send:

Manufacturer coupons clipped from Sunday inserts, peelies, tearpads, blinkies,
or printed from the internet. (Please do not photocopy printable coupons to
send!)

Catalina coupons printed from Winn-Dixie, Target, Walgreens.

Target store coupons printed from their website, from home mailings or clipped
from Sunday inserts.

CVS store coupons printed from their website.


#10 - Do NOT send:
Coupons printed at the end of your CVS receipts or at the coupon center - these
are linked to YOUR Extra Care card.

Walgreens in-ad coupons or coupons out of the monthly booklet as these are
available in all stores.

If everyone follows these rules I think we will have a great time trading coupons! 

We want to make it fun and fair to everyone!

New features on the Yahoo! Group

I have made a Yahoo! Group for the blog.  One reason I have started the group is to get a "coupon swap" started.  You can read more about that here.

But I've also added some new features to the group page including a QandA board for asking couponing questions and answering others couponing questions.  I've also set up a place to share recipes and a place to share giveaways!

All of these things can be found on the left sidebar of the group page under "Applications".

Join us over at the Group!

Subscribe to savingtowardabetterlife

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Joining a Online Coupon Swap

Earlier this week, I started a Yahoo! Group for the blog page.  It's an effort to make the blog a little more interactive.  Discussions can be ongoing, group members can share pictures, lots of things can be done over there that can't easily be done on the blog.

I posted this to the group forum yesterday describing how a coupon swap would work:

All members of the coupon swap would be assigned a number. This would be the
sending order (a "line").

The group would begin with each member sending an envelope of coupons to the
next person "in line". After this first envelope is sent, there will be a
requirement to send at least one envelope every two weeks. If you wish to
receive more, then you could occupy two slots "in line". Just make sure you
would be able to send enough coupons out to two people.  There would need to be a bare minimum of 25 coupons in each envelope you send.

Upon receiving an envelope, you would remove the coupons you can use, (and any
that will expire before the envelope reaches the next person). Then you would
add some of your own coupons you wish to pass along and mail it to the next
person in line.

Coupons to send:

Manufacturer coupons clipped from Sunday inserts, peelies, tearpads, blinkies,
or printed from the internet. (Please do not photocopy printable coupons to
send!)

Catalina coupons printed from Winn-Dixie, Target, Walgreens.

Target store coupons printed from their website, from home mailings or clipped
from Sunday inserts.

CVS store coupons printed from their website.


Do NOT send:
Coupons printed at the end of your CVS receipts or at the coupon center - these
are linked to YOUR Extra Care card.

Walgreens in-ad coupons or coupons out of the monthly booklet as these are
available in all stores.

If you would be interested in doing this, join the group!

Group Discussion Page for the Blog

I have created a Yahoo! Group for the blog.  I've started it as a way people can ask questions, give advice and get to know each other.  I've been wanting to do something more interactive for a while now.

I've also thought about starting a "Coupon Swap" in which members would mail coupons to each other which would operate out of the Yahoo! Group page.  There is a poll on the Group page right now to see if anyone is interested in participating.  I would need at least 5 people committed to it before we could start up.  If it sounds like something you might be interested in, chime in on the poll.

I would love for you to join us over on Yahoo! Groups!