How do you find the deals? Part III

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Today I want to talk about the third way I find deals: matching store sales to coupons from my binders or a coupon database.  This is known in Couponese as creating "store scenarios."  This way takes a bit more time and effort to do yourself, but it's an essential skill for any couponer to have. 

Generally, I get my Sunday paper on Saturday (the Advance edition).  Then I separate out the coupon inserts, store ads, sales flyers, etc.  The first thing I generally do is clip the coupons and file them away.  (You can read how I then proceed to clip my coupons by reading my post from last month.)

Next, I thumb through the ads – usually Walgreens, Rite Aid, Fred Meyer, Target, and sometimes, there's a Safeway and Albertsons as well.  (If one is missing, I just head to their website later to pull it.)  As I find what appears to be a decent sale on an item, I'll circle it or jot it down.  Interestingly, if you do all the ads back-to-back, you are apt to notice trends.  It's not uncommon for multiple stores to feature the same products or similar items on sale at th same time.  This gives you the advantage of finding the best deal to match your coupons up to!

Once I've completed circling my items, I'll go back to my coupon binder to see if I have a nice matchup or not.  As you may recall, I prefer to file my coupons in alphabetical order by manufacturer.  This makes best sense to my brain and seems to keep my coupon hunting time down to a minimum.  However, if it makes better sense to you to file your coupons in a different way - say by category – more power to you.  And if you file by insert, you can use a coupon database (such as the one found at Hot Coupon World) to see if there are any coupons for the product sales you found. 

If I find a good coupon matchup, it gets written down on a list.  Notice I say "good" coupon matchup.  Every week I find many coupons that match with sales, but that in and of itself does not make it a good deal.  Watch out – this is an easy trap for newbie couponers to fall into.  Don't rush out and buy a product just because you have a coupon.  You want to maximize the value of that coupon by matching it with the best sale you can find.  This will take some time and work to identify, so keep your price book going and consult with some trusty blogs (such as this one!) and forums to help make sense of it all.  While we're on the topic, I want to make something clear.  Do NOT be afraid to let coupons expire (even high value ones) if you can't match them up to a really good sale.  It's not worth going over in your budget!

OK back to the topic of hand, matching store ads with coupons…

Of course, you could just skip the hassle and go straight to the online resources for the best store scenarios.  But I strongly advocate you learn how to do these for yourself, too. Why?  For the same reason schools teach kids how to do long division when they could just hand them a calculator.  You will miss some valuable training that could serve you well when you least expect it.  Plus, not every "deal" you'll find on a blog or forum is necessarily a good one (shocker, I know!).  What's more, some blogs might miss really good deals altogether.  You need to be able to recognize if the deal is good for you or not. 

On a final note, I want to say something on behalf of all the hard-working coupon bloggers out there.  Creating store scenarios on a weekly basis is a LOT of work.  And it's harder than it looks to create them without error and to capture every possible sale.  So if you find a blog that's doing a good job of finding you ways to save money each week, consider dropping them a "thank you"email or leaving a comment.  Trust me, it will make his or her day! 

I hope you are finding this "mini-series" to be useful.  It's important to know how to access good deals without spending good amounts of time to do so.  In order to enjoy the greatest lift from your money-saving adventures, work to minimize your time in the process.

Be sure to watch for the last two posts in this series to come soon!  Until then, happy saving!