The Basics of Extreme Couponing, Class Overview

I actually remember when I was first introduced to coupons.  I was 16, and my friend Sara and I were at the laundromat.  There was a box full of coupon inserts that people could peruse while waiting for their whites.  I'd never really 'seen' a coupon until then, because growing up my mother bought nothing name brand.  Sara explained the seemingly simple process of how you give the cashier a coupon that matches up with the item you buy, and they take some money off your bill.  Sara told me of her aunt, who used tons of coupons and saved tons of money.  I took a coupon for Wrigley's gum from that box, in much the same way one buys a lottery ticket after hearing about a friend of a friend winning.

I shortly lost the coupon.  I guess after that I figured extreme couponing was some fabled activity, and I hadn't consider it much since.

Until today, that is, when I went to an Extreme Couponing Class held by Arizona Republic (our major area newspaper.)  After the demonstration ended, I left realizing extreme couponing isn't the mystical 'lottery game' it used to be.  The demonstrator presented a unified method of how to locate the sales at stores and match them to coupons, how to collect and organize coupons, and how to stock up on items to last until the next sale cycle.  She also shared with us how she personally shops, and gave tips and information that would allow anyone to do the same.

Finally, anyone could take on the intricate and obfuscated world of coupons and come out on top!

Part of this magic is in the promoted website, azsmartbuys.com.  AZsmartbuys.com, the Arizona area site from Grocerysmarts.com, does all the homework for you, providing sales from area stores (think those with their own flyers) and coupon match ups with those sales, all with an excel table format with 'discount' ratings, list making and print options.  This site is like talking to 8 great couponing friends, each with their favorite store to shop at, and being given the inside scoop on the best deals from each of them every week.   By unifying all the information into one site, it takes almost no time to locate super sales.

The organization method offered during the class was simple.  The website refers to coupons by which of the 3 coupon flyers they are in and the week they were sent out.  By using a simple 3 folder system, one for each flyer type, all you do is stash the coupons.  When the website says "use this coupon", you search just that flyer and clip away!

The aspect of stocking up for the sale cycles sounded like the hardest part, as space in a house is usually at a premium.  However, it will save you money.  By couponing on sales and buying enough to get you to the next sale, you save the most money per product.  In explaining the concept to my S.O., I came up with this example:

Let's say at the start of the year you buy your favorite brand of peanut butter on sale with a coupon for just $0.25 a jar.  You now have payed only $0.25 per jar for your favorite peanut butter!  But then you eat it.  If you only bought one, you now have to go to the store and buy more of your favorite peanut butter, but at full price, about $2.00.  Well, $0.25+$2.00= $2.25 / 2 jars = $1.13 per jar.  Your cost per jar just jumped by four!  Now I, the non-couponer, go to the store knowing I can't store 3 months of peanut butter (though in truth, I would MAKE room for peanut butter) and I don't have any coupons. I buy two of the $1.25 jars of store-brand peanut butter, and average $1.25 per jar for the same number of jars.  To summarize, this is what we pay:

Extreme Couponer -     $  .25 per jar of favorite brand peanut butter
Couponer -                   $1.13 per jar of favorite brand peanut butter
Non-couponer -            $1.25 per jar of store-brand peanut butter

So, while extreme couponing may not be for everyone, the math supports that if and when you get it working, you can have a lot of fun with extra money, surrounded by your super-affordable goodies.  The only things you need are a source of coupons, storage space for stocking up on goods, and organization skills to keep track of your purchases (to make sure food doesn't go to waste).  I won't be playing this game myself right now, as I cannot physically store the goods that make extreme couponing extreme, but I found the event entertaining and informational, and came away with some great ideas.

If your family uses packaged foods and goods, you should check this out.  If your family uses a lot of name-brand and packaged foods and goods, you have to check this out.   It will be worth your time.  Free seminars are being regularly scheduled in the AZ area.  Just go to AZsmartbuys.com, and click on your area to see if there are any upcoming events near you!  The classes are free to you, and there are dozens of tips and tricks I learned that will aid even my not-so-extreme shopping.  If you decide to jump into the Extreme Couponing, the AZ Republic is able to offer you, at these classes only, a special multi-paper subscription to get the multiple coupons.

Less Food Waste: Plan Ahead, Buy What You Need

Food waste is a big topic of late.  39% of Americans felt the most green-guilt about wasting food, versus 27% for wasting water or 21% for not recycling*.  Perhaps it is because of the media coverage and awareness of the 1.1 billion starving people in the world.  Perhaps it is because they get mad at the food and so themselves.  Whatever the reason, fighting food waste as a cause is gaining support, its banner being picked up by companies, coalitions, communities, and consumers.  There are many places between farm and table where food becomes wasted, but I want to talk about how someone can prevent food waste from the consumer point-of-view.  
*Per Shelton Group survey; I want to know why 21% of people weren't recycling!

I plan to share tips, ideas, and methods of how consumers can prevent food waste in their daily lives.  I will also be discussing technology, innovations, markets, and community actions that can help you prevent throwing away food-shaped money.  To start, I want to go over this Consumer's Guide to Preventing Food Waste.

Preventing Food Waste:  The Consumer's Guide

Now, I'm going to go over all the steps in this nifty chart for what you, as a consumer, need to be considering.  Mostly, I want to give a layout on how I operate (though I still have food fall through the cracks!), and offer ideas to help you modify your routine into a workable, sustainable fight against food waste.

Today, I will go over "Planning Ahead" and "Buying What You Need."  Bear with me any of you warehouse or couponing people, because this is the account of one person in a small townhome, so I physically can't stock 4 boxes of Wheat Thins.

Plan Ahead:
"What's for dinner?"
"Ummm...."
Unless you have a hotdish called "Ummm", chances are you aren't planning meals.  This is a serious mistake if you want to save money, prevent food waste, or have time to relax.  Meal planning is never a 'one style fits all' activity, and you will need to find the methods that work for you.  Squawk Fox has some nice images and comments on meal planning here.

Some tips based on how I've developed meal planning:

• Consider planning your meals on the same day of each week.  Schedule it like a doctor's appointment, so it gets done.  Mine is Tuesday (the same night Supernatural is on TV.)
• Consider making your 'meal plan' day the same as when you receive stores' sales flyers (I get mine, surprise, on Tuesdays).  This lets you cash in on the stores' loss leaders for the week, without feeling obliged to stock excessive amounts of sale foods when you are in the store. (because you know you'll be planning meals off next week's sales, anyway.) 
• Consider making a 'rotation' chart to help plan 'what' meals.  See an example of this method here.
• Have a recipe box, binder, or document that contains your family's favorites that you can make easy-peasy.  Standby recipes are less stressful, and having them all in one place helps write grocery lists.  Do try new dishes, but don't make the entire week a culinary adventure or you will get tired.
• If you want to really get the freshest foods and best values, plan your meals according to what foods are in season.  Check out Kitchn's list of resources on this.
• With the meals chosen, make a list of the ingredients from the recipes.
• Go through ALL of your food storage areas to see what you already have, so you only shop for what you need.
• Write your meal plans down and put them somewhere VISIBLE for the entire household to see.  Then everyone knows what to expect, and if someone is old enough to complain, they are old enough to plan their own meal for that day (even 5 year olds can make a sandwich.)
• Prepare what you can ahead of time, secure that it will be used on Day X.  Make sure to follow the same rules as with other foods, properly storing what you make and making sure it gets used in time.

Buy What You Need:

When a is a deal not a deal?  Saving money on groceries isn't always just how cheap you can buy ingredients.  I would say Americans lose money by buying foods 'on sale' and then having them languish, stored improperly or so well hidden they are forgotten- until the smell reminds you, or you see the Wheaties box with the winning Minnesota Twins on it.  So, to reiterate from the Planning Ahead:

• With the meals chosen, make a list off of the ingredients from the recipes.  Go through ALL of your food storage areas to see what you already have, so you only shop for what you need.

So, now you have to go out and get the food:

• Taking my grocery list of things I need, I pencil in the approx regular price of each item, or the sale price and what store has it.  (If you have a price book, take it out now to keep it updated with sale price info.) Total this up.
• I then take out cash for this amount plus $10-15 for 'stock-up' sale purchases to be used in later weeks (I will take out more if a basic meat or expensive item is on super sale.)  Cash keeps you faithful to your list and prevents overspending.
• I keep my grocery list in my wallet (though will be trying some phone apps soon.)  As the list is written per recipe, I won't run to a store for their sales if I know I don't need to until Friday. Some people do better getting groceries all at once (especially if they get one day without kids,) but with my schedule, I'm usually on the road each day, anyway, so I stop in when its convenient for me and on the way home.
• Eat before you shop.  Bring a water bottle from home.  If you are notorious for your sweet tooth (guilty!) then keep homemade cookies or snacks on you and have one before going into the store.  You want to feel already satisfied and happy while you are shopping, so the displays and sweets won't tempt you. 

What stores to go to:

• Avoid stores that put number requirements on their super sales - I like the store Albertson's, but when they require me to buy 4 lbs of butter or strawberries to get the sale price, I can't justify it unless I have the time and space to dehydrate/freeze that week. 
• Avoid BOGO (Buy One Get One) sales unless it is something you can use in 1 week or is very easily stored.  It seems like you are missing out on the great price, but if everyone stops being lured by BOGO (or number requirements), the stores will have to go back to just putting the single items on sale, again.
• Avoid warehouse stores, as they often rely on selling large bulk amounts.  If you know you can eat the affordable 3 pack of something before it goes bad, then do it, but don't buy 4 lbs of cheap pretzels and 'hope' to get through them.
• If you shop liquidation / discount stores for food, pay attention to expiration dates and have a very clear idea of what items you can stock up on and what you already have in stock, as super cheap items tend to lull us into a, "Oh, I"ll just get it" mentality, where 'it' usually ends up stale/expired/thrown away in a month. 
• If you shop farmer's markets, or try get everything organic, know that many of these foods won't keep like their waxed/treated/preservative ladden counter-parts.  Buy your amounts accordingly.  You can barter for a smaller pack for less     

Regarding coupons: 

• I personal only browse coupons after my list is written.    
• If you coupon, don't open that coupon book until AFTER you have a list.  Coupons are used to get you to buy more of things you didn't need.  
• If you are a regular super-coupon user, do what you do, as you should be able to avoid the 'but I have a coupon' unnecessary purchasing and you (hopefully) have a system for storage.  I am infrequent in my coupon use because I usually buy my foods cheaper in bulk/off brand, anyway.

Update 1/20/2014 --I just attended an Extreme Couponing demonstration, and these guys are getting organized!  I can see how the 'extreme' couponers pull it off now, though I can't make it work in my lifestyle right now.  If you can physically store up to 3 months of an items' use and can keep track of rotating inventory/watching expiration dates, then you might want to check them out.  Read more here...