"Extreme" Couponing Tip - Never pay for toothpaste again!

I used to think that what I did as a couponer was "extreme" until I saw the show Extreme Couponing.
Now, I find what I do to be more practical. But to someone who has never couponed before, what I do may look extreme.

So, if you want to be "extreme" like me - here's one of my tips:

Never PAY for toothpaste again!

Now, before someone interprets that as me saying we should all "steal' toothpaste, let me explain!

You will ALWAYS be able to get free toothpaste at CVS or Wal-Green’s. I probably have 10 toothpastes (not to mention all the ones I've donated) in my pantry and I got them all for FREE!

STOP buying toothpaste at Walmart and grocery stores. CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid are better places to get toothpaste (as well as deodorant, body wash, soap, etc.)

Why? Because of their rewards programs for customers. CVS has ECBs (extra care bucks), Walgreens has RR (register rewards) and Rite-Aid has +Up.

Every week something (shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant) goes on sale for, say $3.99 and you get $3.99 ECBs/RR/+Up back (depending on the store). Well, that product just became free to you!

Or, if it's $2.99 and you get $2.00 ECBs/RR/+Up back when you buy it, and there's a $1 off coupon, then guess what? The product just became free to you!

But WAIT! It gets better!. If something goes on sale for $3.00 and you get $3.00 ECB/RR/+Up back AND there is a $1 off coupon - the you just made money on that item!

So, don't ever pay for toothpaste again. :)

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"Extreme Couponing" Tip: Get multiple copies of your Sunday Paper

I used to think that what I did as a couponer was "extreme" until I saw the show Extreme Couponing. Now, I find what I do to be more practical. But to someone who has never couponed before, what I do may look extreme.

So, if you want to be "extreme" like me, here's one of my tips:

Get multiple copies of the Sunday Paper.

If you want to get multiple sale items and multiple deals, you need multiple coupons. And the only way to do that is get multiple copies of the Sunday paper.

Did you know that you can get more than one subscription to the paper? I get two Sunday papers delivered to my house.

Dollar Tree sells papers for $1.00. But they sell out FAST especially when the inserts are hot!

You can also get them from an old fashioned paper box. There's one at a little service station not far from my house that I like to stop at on Sunday morning. It's never out. :)

CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, etc. sell them too. But you'll pay the most there.

You can also order coupons from a coupon clipping service like The Coupon Clippers.

Ask friends, family and neighbors if they use their coupons. They might be willing to save the inserts for you.

And you can dumpster dive for coupons, if that's your cup of tea. :)

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"Extreme" Couponing Tip - Clip and save every coupon!

I used to think that what I did as a couponer was "extreme" until I saw the show Extreme Couponing. Now, I find what I do to be more practical. But to someone who has never couponed before, what I do may look extreme.

So, if you want to be "extreme" like me, here's one of my tips:

• Clip and save every coupon you get. Even on things you don't think you'll use. This is how "extreme couponers" get free products and overage or money-maker deals to apply to other purchases.
  
  I know, why, oh, why would you want to keep a coupon on something you would never use?? Ok, here is an example from CVS just last week. The picture isn't great but it's Biore Pore Strips, Biore facial cleanser, 2 bottles of Revlon nail polish and some cracker snack packs (the pitfalls of shopping with a toddler - must buy snacks!):
  
  Biore products $7.99 each and $5 ECBs when you buy 2

Revlon Nail Polish - $4.99 each and $4 ECBs on one (limit 2)

Cracker Snacks - $1.00

Quick match tells you that this is $26.96 worth of stuff. Did I pay $26.96 for it? Of course not!

Now, I am not one to paint my nails very often. Nail polish is not something I buy, especially bottles of $5 nail polish. So when the $2 off Revlon color cosmetic coupon came around, if I weren't an extreme couponer, I would've thrown it away. Same thing with the Get a Free Biore Pore Strips when you buy a Biore product. The facial cleanser I will use. The pore strips? No, not something I would use, so I could've easily tossed that coupon.

BUT! I know better! Since the Revlon nail polish was $4.99 with $4 ECBs back, the $2 off coupon made it a money-maker! With the coupon, I paid $2.99 and got $4 back - twice! If I had thrown away those coupons because I was sure I would never use them, I would've through away $2.02!

And since I had a coupon to get the Biore strips for free I paid $7.99 for both items and got $5 back! Which means I only paid $2.99 for the cleanser that I will use.

Now, it gets even better when you figure in that I used previous ECBs to pay for the deal. I had $11 in ECBs to use. So after all coupons, I only spent $3.97 plus tax out-of-pocket. And at the end of my receipt I got $13.00 ECBs ($9.03 more than what I spent!) to use later on anything I want.

So those coupons that I thought I would never use made me $9.00 last week!


I hope this tip helps you in your extreme couponing quest! Stay tuned for more tips!

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