Newbie talk POSTPONED!!!!

Hi ladies...I am SO SORRY...but, I'll have to postpone this week's newbie talk.  It just simply isn't going to work out. 

However, keep your eyes on Hip2Save.com for Kmart doubles updates and a great week at CVS.  Thanks for understanding.

Newbie Talk...this Monday 4/4

Happy Easter!!!  I hope you will have a wonderful day tomorrow as we celebrate our Savior's resurrection!  One of my favorite parts about Easter is when someone says to me, "He is Risen." and I reply back, "He is Risen, Indeed."  Why do you look forward to Easter?

Well, Monday, the kids are back in school (if they go to school), the pastel colors get put away and we are all munching on left over ham sandwiches:-)  Don't forget to come to our Clipper Chicks meeting, and bring a friend because I will be there to do another "Newbie" presentation.  I am hoping to highlight CVS, however if there are a lot of new people, I'll obviously have to start at the beginning to teach the basics.  But, I promise, I will hit CVS....I even have a few examples from my shopping in the last couple of weeks, yipee!

So, I look forward to seeing you there...8:00 on Monday, April 5th in Chick-Fil-A near the restrooms.

****Also****don't forget that KMart doubles starts tomorrow.  Keep up to date with KMart deals on Hip2Save.  She usually updates her KMart posts through the week.

What is a coupon?

Collin, over at Hip2Save has an interesting post dissecting the bar codes on coupons and giving you a quick idea of the life of a coupon.  Check it out here.

Target and Bayer Contour

Hello my friends!

Have you seen some of the toy deals at Target this week?  We got a ton of coupons for games in this week's paper.  Match those up with some great sales, and you can get some cheap games.  Stock up for birthday parties...games of note (to me anyway) Connect 4, Bop-it and Monopoly.

ALSO....I HAVE several extra Bayer Contour meter coupons.  The coupon will make them free at CVS this week AND you get a 5 ecb.  If you do not have one, let me know and we'll try to get you one.  Generally...you would pay at least a buck for them if you bought them from Ebay or Coupon Clippers...but, just because you know me...I'll give it to you for free.  We just need to meet up.

Edited to add....this offer is for ladies involved in The Clipper Chicks or new to the Clipper Chicks who live in Naples.  I will not be mailing these to people I don't know.  I got extra to give to newbies in our area.

BTW..the limit is 1, so if you already have a coupon, please don't take one of mine...it's a good way to start out at CVS without paying anything.

....speaking of that...I'm still planning on highlighting CVS at our next couponing 101 class the first Monday of April the 5th I believe.  SOOOOOOO.....if you are new to CVS, contact me, get this coupon, and you will have 5ecbs to start out with.

couponmama08 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Explaining BOGO sales and coupon usage

At the last Clipper Chicks meeting I was at (the first of the month), I was asked, "How do we explain to cashiers that we are using our coupons the right way when they tell us we can't use them". OK...honestly, the question was asked MUCH more eloquently than that.

Well, I found a couple of samples that people say when they are question about their coupon usage...specifically BOGO coupons with a BOGO sale (which would mean you get both items for free). I hope this helps....and, please please forgive me for not citing the source. I know one quote (but I don't know which one) came from a forum discussion on Hot Coupon World, and the other quote came from a blog post. All I can say is that I have been searching for good answers in the middle of the night as my three children alternate their attempts to NOT allow me to sleep. I'm a bit of a zombie...and quoting my resources was not what I was thinking about at the time.

Number 1

Understanding coupon lingo and logic is critical. Coupons are considered a form of payment, similar to a check, because the store will get money back from the manufacturer for each coupon you give them. So you will buy the first item using your BOGO coupon as payment. The store will cover the price of the second one. So you get both products for free. This is how it ought to work, anyway.

Number 2

Here's the logic - when the store offers bogo, the customer pays for one item, and Kroger gives you the 2nd item free. When you use a bogo coupon, they write $4.79 on the coupon and send it in to the manufacturer. The company doesn't care what the sale was, they just reimburse the store for the $4.79, in effect paying for the one you would have been paying for.

So, it's completely legal and ethical. The store is getting paid for one item (from the manufacturer instead of you) and they are giving you one item free.

So, when clerks give me a funny look, I explain that the coupon is paying for the one I would normally pay for - "See, just write $4.79 right on that line there, and the manufactur will send your store the money for the other bottle of shampoo."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Look ladies, if a cashier doesn't want to scan your card...ask for a manager. If a manager hassles you, very kindly and patiently ask he/she would mind calling corporate to figure this out. If you have more questions or problems, let us know and we'll try to help.

Did that answer your questions?

KMart Doubles....

Hopefully coming soon to a Kmart near us. According to Hip 2 Save starting April 4.

I'm excited...I'll do a talk the "newbie talk" on April 5th...so we'll definitely highlight some Kmart deals.

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get stocked up again on deodorant, shaving cream, toothbrushes, tooth paste....and all sorts of other things. Woohoo...Kmart doubles if F.U.N.

Swagbucks video

Ok, so we talked about SwagBucks on Monday night and many of you seemed interested (and several have signed up). They have been giving lots of codes away the past few days....but are you wondering how to find them?

First...put their blog on your feed reader. Sometimes there is a code in their blog or they give a hint of where to find a code.

Second...if you twitter...follow them. If not...you can check Both their blog and twitter on their site. It's on the left vertical menu bar.

Third...become their friend on facebook. They'll often post codes there or you can read chatter about a code that is out (sometimes someone posts the code, but that is not "legal" NEVER post a code...give hints, but don't post, you can be deactivated).

Fourth...download their search bar. You will not get points every time you search, but you should get them every once in a while. Again my personal "goal" is to get 30 points a day...which would be enough for 2 $5 Amazon gift cards a month...but you can do better.

Check out this short video on their blog from a swag user. Since last January (09) they have cashed in over $1000 in Amazon gift cards, books, a HP mini book (I think) and now a Wii. That's a lot in one year! They must Swag all the time! hahaha. AND...they probably get a lot of referals.

Oh yeah...#5...refer people. You get a points for every point your referal earns, up to 1000 I believe. (That's two gift cards if your thinking like I'm thinking)

You do have to sort of "work" for the bucks. You've got to check out their site, blog, twitter, facebook, every once in a while. You have to search on their engine (which is run by google and ask). You can earn by shopping through them, turning in old cell phones....doing special offers...there's all kinds of ways. Anyway, I thought the video would be encouraging to you.

If you haven't sign up, use this link.

OH...WOOHOO....I just click the sign up link and if you sign up today, they'll give you 30 free Swag bucks! YES! You have to use my link though....