Coupons - Money Savvy Me -

Getting Started

When you first begin couponing it can seem rather overwhelming – so many sites, so many coupons, so much information! I’m not going to lie, it took me a little while to get into the swing of things. It is my intent to make this site as user friendly as possible so you can avoid the panic and get started with ease and confidence!

First Things First

Take a walk around your house and look at the product packaging you have. You will be amazed at the number of coupons that come with the products you buy! Your cereal cupboard is likely to be a hot spot of coupon goodness!

Next, make a list (physical/mental) of the products you use most often. Decide if brand matters to you, brand loyalty is fine, but if you really want to save, be open to other companies products (you may be surprised how many “competing” brands are actually made by the same company!)

Coupon Email Account

You don’t have to do this, but I like to. I have a separate email address, just for coupons. This way I avoid any spam going into my personal account and can also have a separate account to store all of my coupons (helps for my organization). It’s certainly something I recommend to help reduce the bombardment of junk mail!

Know Your Budget!!!

Know how much you have to spend…just because you have a coupon for something, doesn’t mean you need it! I fell victim to this when I first started and was floored by the savings that were out there! Unfortunately, it lead to buying a lot of unnecessary things and thus a lot of unnecessary money being wasted!

Maximize Your Savings

Guess what! You CAN use coupons with items that are on sale! This is a BIG misconception for a lot of people, who think that a coupon is a promotional item, but they aren’t. Revenue Canada considers coupons to be legal tender (stores are rembiersed for them, so they get their money) and you CAN use them with items that are on sale!You CAN also price match an item and then use a coupon (i.e. source yogurt is onsale at sobeys, and you go into Walmart, price match it AND use your $0.50 coupon) Some stores (Walmart on Upper James) will give you a heck of a time if you try – I often feel that it’s not worth the battle and avoid those locations – but it is legit to do!

At Walmart, you will get money back if the coupon value is more than the item you are buying (i.e. you buy travel size shampoo that is $2 and have a coupon for $3, you will get that $1 difference back). As far as I know, Walmart is the only place in Ontario that allows this.. Most other stores will simply change the value of the coupon to the item amount.

Loyalty Pays

Make sure you are a part of all of your favourite stores’ loyalty programs! Get all the cards and keep them in your wallet, or download them to an app like Ugo (enter promo code WINTER19 when you register to get a $10 Amazon gift card when you link your first card by February 28th, 2019) and collect your points! They add up quickly and most can be combined with coupons for even more savings!

There’s an App for that!

Get your phone or tablet out and download Checkout 51, Caddle, Coin Out and Receipt Hog! Each of these apps will pay you money for your receipts! Seriously! Learn more about these upload your receipt apps that work in Canada actually work here!