"Follow Me Monday" Couponing for Newbies!
It’s Monday and what does that mean? It’s time for another “Follow Me Monday” video! Today’s video is for all you couponing newbies. I know I have lots of new readers that are just starting out in the crazy couponing world… which can be pretty confusing in the beginning. This video goes over some coupon basics and tips. If you’ve been couponing for awhile, this video probably won’t be too interesting, but I’m hoping it will be helpful to some of you.
Enjoy!
**If you can’t see the video, then go here to watch it.
Still Confused?
Make sure to check out my Couponing 101 posts:
Coupon Basics, Tips, & More
My Top 10 Couponing Tips
Coupon Organization
Where to Find Coupons
Hey guys just got back from whole foods and they have select Terra chips on sale for 2.50 and they have $1 off peelies on them! Got them for $1.50, not as good as free but my Babies r Us had none left when I got there so still a good deal!
Loved the video! I was just wanting to give a little heads up on Target. Won’t get into the list of problems I had with a manager of Target. But, I will say this. IF you are having problems with your coupons at Target, DO NOT leave the store. There is a red guest services telephone at the guest service counter. Ask to use it and call corp. 800-440-0680
If your will get them on the phone, they will then speak to cashier or manager and fix the problem! If you call after you leave the store, your complaint will have to go through special operations. To make a long story short, I go in now and all the cashiers at my store seem to be alot more respectful of coupons!!!!
Collin, you have the cutest earrings! LOL, I notice them every week (I am an earring FANATIC!).
Hi Collin! I’ve been matching up my coupons along w/ blog sites for a little less than one year. BTW, I love your site and especially your Follow Me Monday videos. One thing that sort of suprised me about yesterday’s video is that you still clip coupons on a weekly basis. Recently, I found a 21-section portfolio at Target and I file my inserts in it by date and source (Red Plumb, Smart Source, P&G, etc.). I go to the blog sites and match up my coupons. Then, I clip the coupon I’m going to use. It saves me time and keeps me organized. Does anyone else do this?
I understand both sides, I personally clip coupons too. It is much easier to shop clearance and those unadvertised deals if you have your coupons clipped and organized. I know a few who clip one set and write where it came from on the back, and then put it in the binder. They keep all of their other inserts whole the way you do. I know I persoanlly sometimes buy A LOT of inserts and a portfolio or even sheet protectors would not be enough for me. Colin has said before that sometimes she buys 15 newspapers (on a good week). You can fill up a binder of sheet protectors or portfolio fast that way. Another reason I’m not fond of the keeping inserts is because of all the junk that comes in them. You know the pages for checks, shoes, coins, bras, baby dolls, etc. Like the inserts are mostly ads than coupons. I can also sort out the coupons I actually want. I don’t have a cat so I don’t even bother cutting cat related coupons out. It’s also pretty easy to cut multiple inserts. I used to do them one at a time until I realized I was being a completed dork! I pull them apart, stack all of the same sheets together, hold really tight, and then cut away.
Anyway like I said at the beginning everyone has a way that works best for them. 🙂
Hi Collin! I had the same problem at Babies R Us but I ended up finding them at the front of the store near the registers. Odd place for them but I scored 4 bags for free!!!
Theresa – I do the same thing with the portfolio files. I agree, soooo much easier!!! And a true time saver!!!!
QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!! I NEED HELP!!!
I bought a ton of the Renpure shampoos and conditioners that say “try me free”. It doesn’t say limit 1 per household anywhere…. does anyone have any experience on sending in tons of rebates for the same thing?
I love this!!! Its super helpful for me, since you’re here in J-Actionville!! Thanks!!!
i love watching your vidioes, you are so up beat!!!…where exctily do you live? last week you had snow and now i noticed you are in short sleave’s. i thought you lived in north carolina. that is were i live and it is very cold. keep up the great job.
Okay. I’m getting upset. I work at a Target and I’m a cashier. There are a couple things I just wanna say. Not every cashier is dumb. Not every one that trys to use coupons reads them correctly. We get scored based on our time for checking, so while people are trying to figure out the coupon or whatever, we could possibly get in trouble or if it happens enough probably get fired. So you if have any questions you might wanna ask some Sales people on the floor before coming to the check out lane.
I think its awesome when people walk away with free stuff or a sweet deal and I’ll do anything to help, but if you come up to a cashier with a coupon and freak out because something went wrong just remember we are all just trying to do our job.
Hi Karissa,
I don’t think anyone is trying to call you dumb or be mad at you for doing your job. The problem is when a cashier is not up to speed on the coupon policy and does not “do their job” correctly. For example, I was at Target this morning with the $1 off Johnson baby shampoo that Collin posted. I was trying to buy the samples for .97 and the cashier told me I could not do that since it was lower. Now… I KNOW I can and I pulled out the coupon policy to show here where it needed to be adjusted. She talked to another cashier and finally (with much hesitation and very little politenss) reduced the coupon for me. She then commmented on how I was “stealing” by doing this. I felt embarrassed, aggravated, and mad all at once. NO, NO, NO I am not stealing!!!! This was innapropriate and rude. People are not posting on this site to bash you or Target, but when things like this happen and apparently it is more frequent at Target then it is a problem. The cashier continued to tell me she had worked there for 14 years and had never seen anything like this. Then maybe she needs to read the coupon policy herself and know it better than her customers!!!
Well said Sara
I AGREE 110% Sara! I have had SEVERAL issues at Target ( my favorite store!). The manager on duty keeps telling me the coupons can NOT be adjusted. I had the policy in hand & she refused to even look at it. I have reported it to Target Corp that if she is a manager on duty she should know the policy!
I thought I was the only one having problems with Target. I am so glad that I am not the one doing something wrong it is just the policy VS staff that are not on the same page.
I’m sorry you are having a hard time at Target. I happen to work at another store and we use to have a little thing that came up on our screen and we could re-key coupons. However they have changed it and sometimes it comes up and sometimes it doesn’t. Now I don’t want to be ganged up on because I’m saying this, but maybe Target is having something along the same lines. We, at our store, can not go into the negative and some people get really upset when I tell them I can’t do all their coupons. Other people, however; are very nice about it and just say that’s fine or they take a .33 carmel to get it back to a positive. I’ve had to call corporate before because poeple will come in when our make-up is marked 75% off and want to use as many coupons as products that they’ve bought. But if the coupon is for $2.00 and the product is $1.25 the computer will only let me take so much off, and I have to give the rest of the coupons back to the customer. For instance if you had 10 of those, that’s 12.50. But 10 x 2.00 is 20.00. I would only be able to take 6 of those coupons, and some customers get very angry about that. So you might look at it from the cashier’s side, too. I’m not willing to lose my job over something like that.
I have had check out girls act like I’m stealing because I use so many coupons. I just think about what Collin said: they are just jelious of the great deals I’m getting but I”m always ready to share info. and coupons to help them. Even had a manager follow me to my van and checked my bags one day. I had returned a item which was on the counter, the item was gone and the manager thought I had put it in my bag. Thank God a employee had put it back on the shelf and came to the door to tell the manager. I would never be worried because I know I would never steal but it did make me feel bad all day.
I am not a newbie to coupon shopping, but I had to watch your video anyways because I LOVE them! The filming of the shirt, etc was too funny! i LOVE that you are yourself & you show us what can go wrong. Hee, hee! I totally look forward to Sundays for my new coupons & Mondays for your videos! 😛
Seeing everyone talking about the bad experience they have had with cashiers, I must tell you my story.
I was working a deal at Walgreens when the cashier growled at me, like a dog, and snapped “you can’t do that missy” and did her teeth together like she was biting me. I laughed very much out loud. It was so amusing! The manager heard my laugh and came over. He wanted to know what happened. I walked away, and back up to the counter and she did it AGAIN! I swear this was a “I may pee on myself” moment I was laughing so hard. He said “ummm…______ she actually can do that with those coupons, and can I see you in the back? I’ll just check her out.”
I’ve never been growled at by an adult! Who knew coupons made people so animalistic?!?!
grrrrrrr…..lol
Great story thanks for sharing!
I am a newbie and I have a question from reading these comments – what is having a coupon adjusted?
About a week ago, I did one of Collin’s scenerios – used a $2 off 2 Nabisco products at Walgreens to buy two boxes of cookies that were at $.99, making them free. However, since they were $.99 each, they came to $1.98, not $2.00, and the register beeped and it wouldn’t take it. So the cashier offered for me to buy a $.49 cent candy bar. I just assumed this was a time I needed “filler.” Not that I spent a lot (I still thought I got a deal), but should this have gone through?
I am also wondering what happens if the coupon you have is for more off than the price of the product. I have a coupon for 3M Car Fur Fighter kit that is for something like $4 off, but they are on clearance at Target for about $2. Can I use that coupon?
I haven’t had any problems at Target with my coupons – so far I’ve only had a hard time at Walmart. One Walmart had the register not take an internet coupon, and the response from the manger was, “sometimes internet coupons work, sometimes they don’t.” I tried to use the same coupon at a different Walmart ($4 off of Sorry games) on the card game, and the register wouldn’t take it, and this manager said they’d called the coupon site and that it is only for the game. I know this isn’t true as I haven’t had a problem with the coupon at Target or Toys R Us, so I left angry.
I guess that’s a few questions…I keep coming up with new ones. Thanks for any help.
I only ever have problems at Wal Mart. I don’t understand it. The managers there have told me numerous times that they don’t take the internet coupons because they are “copied from the internet” … I mean obviously they’re printed from the internet, I’m not going to bring my laptop in! Even though I know I can probably get it a bit cheaper at Wal Mart, I go elsewhere now just to avoid the hassle and the fact that I know I’ll be irritated for a while after I leave.
Meijer has never given me a hard time, nor has Kroger although with Kroger here the actual cashiers sometimes give you a bit of lip. Today at Meijer I got a $70 grocery bill down to $20. The guy who helped me with a coupon that wouldn’t scan laughed and said one of his favorite things about working there was seeing how much money people could save with their coupons, which I thought was awesome.
Collin,
Great video, I can’t wait to send the link to all my family. My mom and aunt visited me in Tampa this last week. I set them down at the counter turned on the laptop and made them watch your previous videos. My mom called me this morning to tell me all the WAGS deals she scored yesterday when she got home. I also have a CVS cashier who asks me every time I’m in how “I do this” every time I tell here hip2save. I finally wrote it down for her after my OOP was a $1.34 on a $55.00 total with 14ECB’s back. Thank you for your easy to understand, perky videos.
none of the links following the video are active. I’m getting 404 errors on all of them. just found the site and ready to dig in and see more.
Thank you so very much for the tips and ideas on couponing. I’ve been a fan of your site for months now, but I just recently started “seriously” couponing, since my husband and I are expecting our first baby. I went shopping last weekend and saved over a $100 at Wal-Mart, Target, and Babys-r-Us. Keep up the good work!!! We really appreciate it!
Why use a coupon to get a trial size, or smaller size, free when you could just use that coupon to buy the full size at a very good price? Not to mention it will last you longer in the long run.
Marissa,
Many people live alone and the trial size is perfect v/ a large full size item. I speak for myself but as I get more and more involved with couponing to score a free item is like the accomplishment for the many hours of clipping coupons, reading blogs, printer paper and ink cost, mileage, postage for mailing in rebates. To score a item for free is a couponers payday or accomplishment for all the work that goes into it. The trial size stuff is great for many other uses, like to add to a gift basket or gift bag. My fav. is for stocking stuffers.