Reader’s Digest
Last year I demonstrated on national television how much the shrewd shopper could save by a combination of judicious planning and couponing. As my first cart filled up and the manager wheeled over another, the TV crew began to look skeptical. They knew I had only $40 with me. When I finally wheeled two overflowing carts up to the register, the checker rang up the items, and said, "That's $130.18." I smiled and handed her my coupons. She added them, then subtracted the coupon total from the bill. The new-total was $7.07. I had just saved $123.11 about 95 percent of my bill. Since I started couponing and refunding almost seven years ago, I have gradually developed my techniques into what I call my supershopping system. With it, I am not only cutting our food bill, but I’m actually paid over $1,500 per year in tax-free cash refunds by manufacturers. It would be misleading to suggest that you will realize a 95- or even 85-percent saving every time you go to the store. On my weekly shopping trips I generally save between 40 and 60 percent of my bill. You can use coupons for almost everything in the supermarket. Your best savings are usually on household-cleaning aids, health and beauty products, and processed foods. If you've ever clipped a coupon to get 25¢ off on a can of coffee, or sent in two box tops and $1 to get your child some treat, you're already a novice couponer and refunder. But unless you're doing it systematically, you're losing money. The first thing to do to change this is to become an alert rather than a passive shopper. Basic Techniques Here are four basic shopping techniques that you should use every time you go into a supermarket. Make a list and stick to it. I don't mean slavishly, but within reason. Buy only what you need. Check the sales. Clip and save the midweek and Sunday papers coupons and carry them with you. Try to shop at a market that features "doubling." Doubling means that the store will give you twice the face value of your coupons. Be cautions. An item featured in a splashy display is not always a bargain. Check the prices and signs. Shop with your eyes open. Compare prices and remember that, no matter what advertising promotions are used, you have the final word Collecting Coupons Once, in Philadelphia, I bought $65 worth of merchandise and the store ended up owing me $1.67! Coupons were the key. You can find these valuable offers in: Stores: Many coupons are printed on the outside of packages. When a coupon is enclosed in a package, it will usually say so on the outside. Magazines and Newspapers: Most large-circulation magazines regularly feature coupons. Newspapers carry not only manufacturers’ coupons but also retailers' coupons often good for one week only, offered by individual local stores. Home mailers: Manufacturers periodically send out advertising circulars to whole neighborhoods, and frequently these contain coupons. Filing One quality distinguishes the supershopper from the casual couponer willingness to organize. And all it takes is one large envelope. File the coupons by type of product, alphabetically not by brand name. Include all "rainchecks," the certificates that stores give when they are out of an advertised special. After rainchecks, alphabetically group coupons for free samples, which, like cash-offs, often come in the mail or are found in newspapers, magazines and in specially marked packages in the supermarket. Remember that most cash-offs carry an expiration date and if you let them languish in the envelope beyond that date, you're out of luck. Refunding Like couponing, refunding is a promotional scheme devised by the food manufacturers to get shoppers to try, and to keep on buying, their products. Here's how it works: The manufacturer extends an offer of a refund to all customers who have bought a certain product. The shopper usually fills out a refund form, and mails it in, accompanied by whatever proof of purchase is required (labels, box panels, etc.). The form goes to a redemption agency or clearinghouse, which processes the refund and checks whether you have sent the proper proof of purchase to qualify for the offer. Then it mails you a check in the manufacturer's name. Refunding can be extremely profitable if used just by itself, but you'll realize the greatest savings if you use it with couponing. When you refund as often as I do, you'll find yourself on numerous mailing lists, receiving envelopes full of cash-offs, two-for-one coupons, certificates for free samplesall in addition to the regular refund checks. Saving Qualifiers You can’t always tell when you buy a product which part of its packaging may eventually be required as a qualifier. So, if you want to really profit from refunding, save everything. You need not feel you're living in a paper-recycling plant if you follow a few simple guidelines: Make your qualifiers as small as possible. With boxes, remove the inner wrapper, peel off the thick cardboard and leave the outer covering the part with the writing on it. Wetting the boxes and letting them sit in a plastic bag overnight makes the covering easy to peel off. Flatten the covers until they are the thickness of a couple of pieces of typing paper, and secure them in product groups with rubber bands. Steam or soak off can and bottle labels. File them in a shoe box. Finding Forms Not all refund offers require forms. For many, all you do is send in the qualifier with your name, address and the name of the offer. The offers that ask for forms are highly prized by refunders, largely because a heavy percentage of the really big rebates $2 to $5fall into this category. If you see a refund offer, check whether the form contains a phrase such as "with this coupon" or "this certificate required." It means that your request will probably not be honored without the form. These are the principal sources for forms: Stores. There are two kinds of forms available in supermarkets. One is attached to shelves in tear-off pads. The other appears either on or in the products themselves. Newspapers and magazines. These often contain forms good not only for cash refunds, but for free samples, or for coupons worth free samples at your store. Home mailers. By becoming an active refunder, you will almost certainly increase your chances of receiving forms and coupons through the mail. Companies. If your supermarket is out of forms, you can write directly to the company's customer-service department. Major firms are usually extremely helpful to the "formless" refunder. Joining the Movement Today, there are over 50 refund newsletters and bulletins serving refunders. These list current cash-rebate offers and information for swapping forms andor qualifiers with fellow refunders. To locate one, put up a small sign in your local supermarket or coin laundry, saying that you'd like to get in touch with refunders in your area especially with newsletter subscribers. The refunding network is nationwide now, and you should have no trouble getting responses. Enjoying the Gravy Once you start clipping forms and getting on mailing lists the companies will send you information about discounted and "absolutely free" samples. These premium giveaways work on the same principle as refunds. You buy a product and save the qualifiers. The manufacturer announces (in a magazine, on a package, in a mailer) that you can get a premium by sending in a specified number of qualifiers. You send them in with an order form if it's required. In a matter of weeks you are the owner of a new shirt, tote bag, cigarette lighter, toy. People sometimes ask me if it isn't troublesome or embarrassing using all these supershopper techniques. Of course not! Why should anybody feel embarrassed about saving money?
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