Income Online and More
 
Both Quickrewards and MyPoints claim that your account will credited, with cash and points, respectively, for printing and using coupons. 

Both, however, use Coupons.com.

I can not test this, as coupons.com does not work with Windows 7.  It does work with Vista, XP, and 2000.  While I cannot verify that your account will get credited, I figured I'd suggest it to you guys. 
Let me know if it works!  I'll put your reviews of the service in my coupons section (along with your site information, of course). 

*****Note- link to join QuickRewards is at the top.  Send me an e-mail at jenniferlandsberger@yahoo.com or using the contact form, and I'll send you an invite to join MyPoints!
 
 
I was running a report on my household finances last week, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I had saved over $350 net as of the end of June with coupons this year.  (Net means I DID subtract out how much the Sunday papers cost me!)

I honestly laugh a little bit at people who say that couponing is a waste of time.  Or that it takes up too much time.  To be honest, I spend about an hour a week on clipping, sorting, and matching coupons with deals in the the local paper. 

'But where does a beginner start?  Someone who doesn't want to spend a lot of time to begin with.  With the following steps:

1) Buy a coupon organizer.  Make sure it has at least eight-ten dividers.
 I have my coupons sorted into the following categories:
Cooler
Freezer
Jars/Cans on shelves- such as spaghetti sauce, soup, and olives.
Boxes/other packages on shelves- such as Hamburger helper and packets of taco mix.
Misc. food-I put candy and other odds and ends in this one.
Personal Care- make-up, shaving gel, shampoos, etc.
Medicine (OTC)- aspirin, cold medicine, cough drops, etc.
Household- such as paper towels and cleaners
Laundry
Pet
Specific Stores- such as coupon that can only be used at Food Lion or Applebee's.  (You'll be surprised how many of these you'll find). 
(Feel free to customize for your household's needs.  Baby stuff would be a great category for someone with a baby- there are a ton of baby coupons, but I don't clip them as I don't have kids). 

2) Find a local Sunday paper that carries coupons.  Make sure it carries coupons before you subscribe!  We have three local papers where I live at currently.  Only one of them carries coupons.  I highly recommend subscribing to Sunday or weekend delivery.  It only cost a few cents more than picking it up at the newsstand, and with delivery, you never forget to buy it.

3) Clip coupons on items you already use.  Don't be afraid to try a different brand if it is going to be cheaper.  I fell in love with Prego spaghetti sauce after trying it when I had a coupon.  When I don't have time to make scratch, I buy Prego now.  Sort by expiration date into the different categories.  This allows you to easily throw away expired coupons, and notice when a coupon is close to expiring.

4) Take your coupon organizer with you to the grocery store!   Do NOT pull out the coupons you'll think you'll need and leave the rest at home.  If you're not scanning ads in advance, you'll notice them in the store.  If ketchup is BOGO (buy one, get one free), and you have a coupon, you don't want to discover you didn't bring it because you weren't planning on buying ketchup. 

5) Practice common sense.  A 50-cent off coupon for another brand is fine.  But if the other brand costs  75-cents more than your normal one, you're not saving 50 cents.  You're losing 25. 

That is all it takes for beginning to coupon!  In the future, I'll be doing another couple of parts on ways to save at drugstores, how to scan ads, and where to find online coupons. 
 
 
One of the places I get most "store" coupons- such as Barnes & Noble, A&F, Bath & Body Works, Dillards, J.C. Penneys, etc- is from online newsletters.

Go to the company website.  If you don't already have an account with them, sign up for an account.  It will be free!  Usually it will ask as soon as you create account about your e-mail preferences. 

I have a "coupon/savings" folder in the my e-mail.  When I get an e-mail from the site, I simply move it over there.  I don't even open it unless I'm planning on going to the store. 

Do you get coupons by this method -or- do you just consider it spam?
 
 
In my opinion, the most overlooked source of savings in your local community is using the drugstores.  Especially if you have some of the larger chains.  My two favorite are CVS and Walgreens. 

They have a great thing called "CVS bucks" or "Walgreen bucks."  Here's how it works: you buy the advertised product, which promised $3.00 in CVS bucks.  Next time you're there, you can use the $3.00 off.  Grab a local circular and check it out.  Watch the circular for a few weeks and you'll start to notice stuff you buy on sale fairly often. 

My favorite things to buy:

Soda.   Almost every other week they have my soda on sale.  The sale price is usually 4 for $10.00.   Plus I get $3.00 bucks back. (the sale price and bucks back are almost always the same week to week or month to month).   The next trip I buy my soda again for $10.00.  I use my coupon and get it for $7.00.   And they print out and give me another $3.00 back. 

Make-up.  Clip Sunday coupons.  Sometimes they are literally giving the product away.  I got foundation the other day.  It was priced at 9.99 and I got $9.99 bucks back.  I also had a coupon for that foundation for $1.50.  Add it up.  I GOT PAID $1.50 to buy that foundation. 

Food items.  Cruise the sales.  Do NOT buy regularly priced food there.  The sales are often better than the local grocery store.  Use your coupons. 

Prescriptions.  I got a $25.00 gift card for switching my prescriptions from Wal-Mart to CVS.  I was a little worried, thinking they would cost more at CVS.  After all, everyone knows Wal-mart is the cheapest.  Not.  I get my three-months prescriptions for $30 less at CVS.  Plus I got that $25.00 gift card. 

OTC medicines.  BUT ONLY IF THEY ARE ON SALE.  You can usually find them cheaper someplace else.  But if they're on sale, the price is usually rock bottom.  I got three boxes of Tylenol cold and sinus the other day for $3.00.  It was on sale for 2 for $4.00.  I also had a manufacturer coupon for $3.00 off two boxes.  3 boxes x $2.00 apiece= $6.00 minus my $3.00 coupon= 3 boxes for $3.00. 
 
    THIS SITE IS FREE! But donations help keep it that way. Please consider a small donation if you found helpful information on this site.

    Like it?  Share it!
    Share/Bookmark


    Adgitize (More @ bottom)

    Subscribe Via E-mail:

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner


    Subscribe Via Feed:

    RSS Feed


    Grab My Badge!!

    Archives

    December 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009

    Categories

    All
    Adgitize
    Blog Advertising
    Blog Directories
    Blogging Income
    Budget Basics
    Coupons
    Earning Report
    Freebie Trading
    Misc. Income
    Mystery Shopping
    Paid Reviews
    Paid To Click
    Scams
    Survey Sites
    Writing Jobs
    Writing Tips



    Personal Blogs - Blog Catalog Blog Directory TopOfBlogs blogarama - the blog directory Blog Directory blog search directory Online Marketing ToplistLifestyle Blogs
    Blogs