HOW TO SAVE MONEY IN CANADA USING COUPONS
On my very first blog I would like to teach you how you can save money by using coupons in Canada. I've been using coupons since July 2012. so I've had a lot of learning experiences and have saved lots of money over the years.. Here are some tips that can get you started. If you want to save money you must be willing to put out the time and energy. I ain't going to sugar coat it as every experience using coupons may vary. Some days will be Awesome couponing and others may be stressful. So with that being said I will try to explain.
What is a COUPON? In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be redeemed for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product. Manufacturers like to offer coupons in the hopes that you the consumer will buy their product. In my opinion it's great because it gives you a chance to try the product cheaper to see if you like it. The best part is using a coupon for a product you already love to use.
How do I even get STARTED? Below I listed a few websites that will mail coupons directly to your home FREE of charge to you, printables and places you can find coupons. Some of the coupons are printable and should NEVER EVER BE PHOTOCOPIED! Each printable coupon or mail out coupon usually has a pin code on it and it can be traced back to you. You can also find coupons in stores usually by the front door. Sometimes coupons will be right next to a product in store. The coupons are FREE as well and are called Tearpads. Takes some but don't be greedy. Take what you need to use that day or a different day depending on the expiry. Long expiry's are the best because they can be used with sales prices.
MAIL TO HOME~PRINTABLE COUPONS *LINKS ARE CLICKABLE*
You can also find coupons inserts in your local newpaper called Redplum and Smartsource
Now What? You need to understand the coupon terms and their meanings:
Limit One Coupon Per Purchase: You may use 1 coupon for each product you are purchasing. Every item is a purchase. For example let's say you are buying 4 deodorants and you have 4 coupons for that specific product. You would be allowed to use those 4 coupons. You would not be allowed to use 4 coupons on 1 deodorant. It's almost guaranteed you will likely run into a cashier who will confuse this couponing term with meaning one coupon per person/customer. Simply explain politely every item you are buying is a purchase not a person or customer lol. This should clear the air hopefully.
Limit One Coupon Per Person/Customer: This means you as the customer may only use one of those types of coupons during your store visit. If you want to use that particully coupon more then once bring a friend, a spouse, a sister ect. You all should be allowed to use the coupon one time each. If you want to use that coupon again you could always go back a different day or to a different store.
Limit One Coupon per Transaction: You may use the coupon once in a transaction. For example say you are buying a can of soup and you have a coupon that says Limit One Coupon Per Transaction. Well you would go to the till with your soup and use the coupon and then pay the remaining balance. If you want to use another one of those same coupons do another separate tranaction. You can use the coupon more then once as long as the coupon is done in it's own separate transaction. This could be a pain in the arse if you you wanted to use the coupon like 10 times. I would suggest bringing a friend, a spouse, a sister to help the process to go faster. Always Plan a head if your coupons says this. If your lucky the cashier may let it slide if you smile and ask nicely. However coupons with this term is very rare.
What Store's Accept Coupons? The Coupon Policy is always changing so make sure you check with every store.
Walmart (Walmart will Price Match Local stores & Some Walmart store's will allow Canada Wide Price Matching)
Safeway
Rexall
Home Depot
Giant Tiger (Will Price Match local stores)
London Drugs (Will Price Match Canada stores but ONLY 1 Same like item)
Superstore (Will Price Match local stores)
Sobeys
Shoppers Drug Mart
Best Buy (Will match the product prices of key online and local competitors)
Now that you have the coupons you'll use and you know the terms it's time to find deals to use with your coupons. To get the most out of couponing the best way is to use the coupons with a sale price. Yes this allowed and it's the most effective way to get huge savings.
I suggest downloading Flyerify or Reebee to your mobile device to search Flyers in your area. By doing this you are looking for the best deals possible to use your coupons with.
For example here's a deal I did on Sept 6 2015
I price matched each can at Walmart for $2.29 using the Arm & Navy Flyer. I then used x8 $1 coupons then I used my 10% spouse discount card" NOTE the 10% discount card is only available to employees of Walmart and Spouses and is not available to the general public. I Then used $8.40 from a gift card I got from a friend = I paid only 8cents
Total Paid $0.08cents Retail value without coupons, 10% Spouse discount card, price match and gift cards = $23.76 x4 Stagg Chili Dynamite Hot Canned Chili 425g Regular $2.97 each at Walmart x4 Stagg Chili Silverado Canned Chili 425g Regular $2.97 each at Walmart
HOW DO YOU PRICE MATCH ? CAN I USE COUPONS WITH MY PRICE MATCH?
The answer to both questions is YES! You may Price match and use coupons together. Although you may have the occasionional cashier/CSM who may think you can't combine the two. Below I will explain why it's allowed.
What is a Price Match? A Price Match is the store's way of saying we want you to shop at our store instead of a competitor's store. So they will Price match the current ad from a competitor's flyer which is usually a cheaper price to get you to shop at their store instead. By the store's allowing this you are more likely to shop there on a regualr basis.
For example: My Walmart location will price local stores and Canada Wide stores. On a weekly basis I like search through flyer's in Canada to find the cheapest price to ad match my groceries. This make it so much easier to only have to go to one store of my choice and still get the prices I want to pay.
How do I Price Match? Find the cheapest price you want to pay by searching through Flyer's preferably on your mobile device. Take screen capture's of the current flyer you want to ad match by holding your home and power off button at the same time. This will take a picture and will be stored in your gallery. The item or item's you are price matching MUST be the exact same flavour, size, name and Must show the current date.
For Example: A store named (Independent Grocer in Ontario) Starting Sept 18th to Sept 24th has Royale Velour Bathroom Tissue 12double rolls on SALE for $3.99 each. The regular price of this toilet paper at Walmart is $9.88. I will definitely be jumping on this deal.
If you want to price match this deal like me. Find the store (Independent Grocer in Ontario) using the Flyerify application. Screen capture the page making sure you can read the flyer. If you don't want to screen capture the flyer and you have interent on your phone that will work as well. If you don't have internet most stores have FREE wifi so you can easily connect to the internet.
Click here for a $1 printable coupon you can use with this deal (2 prints per computer) *while quanities last the link may become unavailable when the coupon expires*
Bring the toilet paper to the cashier's till. Tell the cashier you would like to price match. Show him/her the price of the ad match. Once she has completed the ad match give the cashier the $1 coupon. If you are buying grocery's and other items that don't have a price match or coupons, I suggest you do a separate transaction to make sure the cashier doesn't mess up on your price match and coupons with your other purchases. Plus it makes it easier to get most of your groceries out of the way before you price match and use coupons. This way you can check your receipt before leaving the store. Make sure it's right before leaving the store or the cashiers till. I can't stress to you enough how many times a cashier has accidentally entered the price incorrectly or forgot to minus the coupon. Nothing is more worse then noticing you paid more then you should've.
The price is regular $9.88 each at Walmart
Price match the item for $3.99
Use your $1 coupon = $2.99 plus tax
Cashier said I can not use both Price match and coupons together?
Using a coupon with a price match is definitely allowed. Till this day I still get the occasional cashier who thinks you can't use both. The answer is YES you can. A price match is so you buy the product at their store instead of the competetitor's. It has nothing to do with you using a coupon. For example Let's say I am price matching laundry detergent for $3 then I want to use my $1 coupon. Cashier says I can't. I would politely and calmy explain that I could always go to the competetitor's store with the sale and use the coupon. You as the customer are just buying the product there instead, so you should be allowed to use both since the store allows price matching and accepts coupons. Be polite but stand your ground. If they don't allow it deny the transaction and go to the store with the sale if you really want the sale price or you could always ask for a manager or customer service managment.
