Extreme couponing
A mom shares tips for grocery-store savings
Cutting back isn’t easy, but what if you could buy everything you needed and still save? Aimee Geroux, operator of Extremecouponingmom.ca, says she never spends more than $50 a month on food and household items. The Toronto mom of two provided us with tips on how to save big at the grocery store.
Where to find coupons
From tear pads at the store entrance and on-box stickers and cutouts, to the web, coupons are just about everywhere. Joining a company’s Facebook page or following them on Twitter can be a gateway to special offers, and websites such as websaver.ca, save.ca, gocoupons. ca, smartsource.ca and healthyessentials.ca. They offer hundreds of printable or mail-out coupons for consumer items.
How to use coupons
Coupons aren’t difficult to collect, but Geroux says many shoppers don’t know how to use them efficiently.
Rather than always using coupons for a discount on regularpriced items, Geroux recommends holding on to some of them until the product goes on sale, to maximize the coupon’s value. (However, in some cases coupons cannot be combined with another sale offer.)
Use coupons to make money
Make money while shopping? Absolutely, Geroux says. One of her best money-saving tricks is overage. If you have a coupon for $2 off Kleenex and the item is on sale for $1, overage means not only will you get the item for free; the store will give you the extra dollar in cash or toward the purchase of another item in your cart. Walmart is the only store Geroux is aware of that provides overage.
Get organized
“The one thing I hear from new couponers is that it’s overwhelming,” says Geroux. Being organized is essential to becoming a good couponer. Geroux keeps a binder with plastic baseball-card organizer sheets. She divides the binder into food, health and beauty, household and pets, and then organizes the coupons by expiry date. She then peruses flyers and makes her shopping list, organizing coupons into separate envelopes labelled with each store name.
“Being organized before you get to the store, while you’re in the store and at the checkout makes things go a lot smoother,” says Geroux. Plus, your organization skills can save you money. “(When) you’re not scatterbrained looking for coupons, you can pay attention to the prices that are ringing through,” says Geroux. Many stores adhere to the Retail Council of Canada’s Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code, which states that if the store scanner rings in an item (under $10) at an incorrect price, and you catch it at the moment of purchase, they will give you that product for free.
Price matching
Some items are easier to find coupons for than others. Personal hygiene products, household cleaners, children’s snacks and cereal are common coupon items, but fresh meats and produce are often lacking in coupons. Not to worry, Geroux says price matching can still allow you to get these items for less. She makes it a habit to check the flyers for all of her local stores, but that doesn’t mean she shops at all of them.
Buy only what you need
Just because you have a coupon for an item, it doesn’t mean you should buy it. Geroux has seen many new couponers go overboard buying items they don’t need simply because they felt they were getting a deal.
Her advice: Stick to your list, be a smart couponer and watch your savings grow.