Coupons

Now to tell another side of my shopping on Sunday. First was the bag. The second side is that I like to get deals. My friend started me on the 'bargain game.' The best first step is to have an organized coupon binder -- see photo. Here are details of my latest dealings:

1. I re-used paper shopping bags. Some stores will give you cents off for re-using bags.

2. I used coupons for items that were on sale. These are almost always things that I normally buy. It would not be a deal to buy something that I would not use.

3. I saved $12 in coupons. Some weeks, I save more; some weeks, I save less. The figure I give does not include the difference between sale and full retail prices. Walgreens and SuperTarget and Target will take their own store coupons in addition manufacturer's coupons for the same item (couponer term for this is 'stacking').

4. SuperTarget coupons can be found and printed in their customer service. Go to 'Shop Target.com' -- You'll find a place for Target coupons by clicking this area.

5. Hy-Vee, Dahl's, and Fareway publish their sales on Tuesdays. The respective websites also carry the ads. Target, WalMart, and KMart release sales on Sundays. So you have Sunday and Monday to compare prices between all the stores. Kind of like a bidding war for particular items.

6. Kum 'n' Go gives free newspapers with $15 gas purchases. That is not much gas, sadly. Anyway, you can get free manufacturer coupons this way.

7. Walgreens has a monthly EasySaver catalog. They offer store coupons that you can stack with manufacturer coupons and have rebates, too. These are available in the stores and on their website. You can file rebates online.