Loyalty has its Advantages: Savings
July 04, 2011I read an Associated Press story today about a 100 year old woman from Bainbridge, Ohio who takes the cake for “extreme loyalty” because she has had the same bank account since 1913 when her father opened it for her. She still has her original passbook. Well, she is obviously not one to shop around for the best rates and jump ship when the grass was greener. I don’t know about you, but I am loyal to brand name products myself. I didn’t used to be, however, because I focused on price over quality.
When I had young children, I shopped where the prices were lowest whether it was to a discount big box store like Costco or to the store with the best ads that week. I remember buying big blocks of cheese from Costco and cutting them into fourths and freezing three of them. Have you ever eaten cheese that has been frozen? It isn’t a pretty sight and can only be used for mac-n-cheese or to melt on a potato because it will no longer slice. It crumbles. I didn’t use a coupon system at the time to get the lowest price; I figured I had to shop where the prices were cheaper overall, so my family ate weird cheese.
Let’s face it. Most of the time, the brand names are better and if the prices were equal, we’d all choose our favorite brands. There may be a few exceptions, but generally, you can really tell the difference. My husband can. When I started “couponing” last fall, I experimented with different brands that were on sale that had matching coupons to get extremely low prices. My husband complained (complained is probably a strong word, I should say “noted”) that the toilet paper was not up to par with our normal brand. Note to self: don’t go changing brands of toilet paper if you want to keep a happy husband and a happy household. My family happens to like Charmin so I went to the Procter and Gamble website in search of savings.
Guess what? They mailed me a coupon book with all kinds of dollar off coupons for their products including the beloved Charmin. The book not only had coupons that were good for the next couple of months, but they also had a second set to use in the summer. That was smart of them because I’ll be watching for the sales and can whip out my coupon easily to make that next purchase.
Tip: If you have brand names you love, request coupons from their website.
I thought of this by coincidence. When I was opening my email, I saw the “extreme loyalty” article about the sweet bank customer in my inbox. Simultaneously, I saw an email from Procter and Gamble giving me a “heads up” that this weekend there would be a special brand saver in the local newspaper with $102 worth in coupon savings. This is interesting to me in particular because of my family’s preference for the brand, and I will be out of town on Sunday so I might have missed the special coupons. In the email, there was a “where can you find this?” search box to put your zip code to find out what newspapers will carry the coupons – this is a great feature. I will now make sure to have someone save my delivery paper and I’ll pick one up on my travels. A round of Charmin for everyone!
Tip: Register on your favorite brand’s website for email alerts and coupons.
The beauty of the manufacturer’s coupon comes into play when there is a buy one, get one free special. This kind of special already gives you 50% off and you can use two manufacturer’s coupons – one from the Sunday paper and one from registering with your brand on their site. (Or you can buy two Sunday papers but that adds more expense.) Sometimes you also have a store coupon to add. This can help you walk away with a great product at ridiculously low prices.
BOGO (buy one get one) to the “couponer” is the “perfect wave” to the surfer. Here is how it goes. You prepare knowing that day will come when everything will be aligned: your favorite brand is on sale – BOGO, you have a coupon from the Sunday paper, and one from the website. You will notice in the weekly store ad that they have an additional coupon from the store. Your “perfect wave” is coming – two items on sale with four eligible coupons. This is the time when you want to spring into action early in the morning instead of waiting a day or two getting a rain check. You want to take advantage of the trifecta of sales and coupons (before the coupons expire). Clip and go so your items are not sold out!
When you return home from your shopping experience, you can pat yourself on the back. Having completed this transaction, you are no longer a rookie “couponer,” you have advanced in the ranks and now can be called “a master.” Trust me, you’ll post this on facebook or at minimum text your mentor and relay your savings to them. This all may sound a tad obsessive (can you be a tad obsessive?) but in the grand scheme of things, isn’t it better than eating frozen cheese?
Tip: Search coupon sites such as BOGOfetcher.com for local deals.