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Issue 2 • Sept. 25, 2015 • deltacollegian.net
COUPONING MADE EASY FOR STUDENTS BY ALEXIS BUSTAMANTE alexisbustamante1995@gmail.com
Collegian editor Alexis Bustamante gives us a closer look at a way to save money — extreme couponing. By using a combination of printed coupons and in-store rewards, savvy shoppers can get a plethora of items for a small price. Shoppers use coupons to purchase household items like food, dish soap and shampoo.
STEP 1: KNOW THE LINGO
Couponing has been around forever, but extreme couponing has taken the world by storm in recent years. This money saving trend has even earned its own television show on TLC called “Extreme Couponing”. Bustamante gives step by step instructions to make this shopping lifestyle easier.
STEP 2: KNOW YOUR COUPONS
The most important thing for successful couponing is to know the lingo. If you don’t know it you will not understand anything.
There are many different types of coupons. MQs are found in most Sunday papers.
The top three terms to know are: BD: Break down of the deal (I’ll explain more in step 4) OOP : Out of pocket MQ: Manufacturer coupon
There are three different companies that have inserts: PG: Procter & Gamble (MONTHLY) RP: Red Plum (SOMETIMES WEEKLY) (Once a month red plum puts out a Unilever issue which has a higher value of coupons in them) SS: Smart Source (SOMETIMES WEEKLY). I personally have a fairy (someone who supplies coupon inserts at a cheaper cost), but you can go to most Dollar Tree stores early Sunday morning to get them (They sell out fast).
STEP 3: STAY ORGANIZED There are many different ways for you to organize coupons, and it may seem overwhelming. You simply have to find the right option to fit you best. I’ll list a few to help you understand more. 1. Clipping coupons, organizing them in a binder and putting them into baseball sleeves. 2. Keeping coupons in whole inserts and clipping coupons needed before shopping trip. 3. Keep them separate in labeled accordion folders (i.e. FOOD, BEAUTY, ECT.)
STEP 5: GO OUT AND SAVE! I started couponing because I was a full-time college student, pregnant and needed to save as much money as possible. I was working a minimum salary job that wasn’t cutting it. I’m more than glad to help anyone get started. I have a Facebook page called “Coupon Queens” you can join the group and message me questions there. I’m busy because classes have started, so that is the best place to find out more.
STEP 4: MATCHING UP DEALS Deals are easy to find now that we have the handy dandy Internet. There are many online sources that already ad match.
This saves a great deal of time because that used to be one of the most time consuming parts.
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QUICK TIP: KNOW STORE POLICIES You never want to acquire a bad rep with your cashiers because eventually they will know you by your face if you coupon enough. You always want to follow the rules and never over do it. Sometimes you also may run into a not so nice cashier and that is when it’s handy to have their store policy with you. I recommend printing the store policies for each store where you shop to keep with you.
For more tips, pictures and examples visit deltacollegian.net
Scoring big ticket items at lower cost
Price matching gives shoppers a chance to save money without waiting for sales BY BRANDON GARCIA
There’s no doubt Amazon, an online stores that sells everything from A-Z, have some of the best prices for consumers, especially students. In an effort to stay competitive, brick-and-mortar stores now have price matching policies with Amazon. A few of the stores in town that do so are Target, Babies ‘R’ Us and Best Buy. The only rule is that Amazon sells it. This price matching policy helps students save money and get more value from purchases. “I feel like I get my money’s worth when I go to Best Buy and ask them to price match something I found cheaper off Amazon,” said Shawn Remy. “I don’t qualify for financial aid or waivers so this helps me afford things I don’t necessarily need.” Remy uses the price matching to his advantage. brdnorange@gmail.com
“I haven’t bought any big purchases from them but I have bought iPhone cases and saved $10-$30 per case at times. Instead of waiting for it in the mail, I can get it right here in town,” said Remy. Shopping locally helps businesses stay in town and the policies can be seen as a win-win. Big box stores get the sale and the consumer still gets the best price available. “I Google searched an iPad case for my daughter and saw that both Target and Amazon sold it. I went to the Target website and saw that they only carried the orange color. They had it in stock at my local Target so I headed down there and picked one up. I took it to the customer service section and showed them that Amazon had it for $17 cheaper,” said Sheena Green. For the person that needs it now, price matching is the perfect fit.
“I try to shop locally whenever I can and price match often. I don’t like to wait for shipping,” said Green. Many students don’t like paying ten cents to print in the library. Replacing or buying a new printer gets costly for students and luckily Best Buy, Office Depot and Staples can price match Amazon. “I needed a new printer that had Wi-Fi printing and found one on Amazon that was within my price range,” said Melissa Yap. “It was last year’s model and only the Staples in Manteca had it in stock, but I ended saving $100 dollars,” said Yap. It may be a bit of a hassle to request a price match but the reward is worth it. “I think I will always have a store price match for me because the product has more value to me that way,” said Yap.