Friday, November 11, 2011
21
Town Times
How to be a successful couponer (and save big bucks)
30-50% OFF! Buy or Sell Pre-Owned Equipment at Affordable Prices
INSURANCE INSURANCE INSURANCE INSURANCE INSURANCE
INSURANCE
SNOWBOARDS, BOOTS & BINDINGS
INSURANCE
HALF PRICE!
INSURANCE
Mens, Womens & Kids
INSURANCE
JACKETS & PANTS
Let us find the right company for you.
1220085
This Saturday and Sunday November 12th & 13th
MORE COMPANIES - MORE OPTIONS
INSURANCE
SNOWBOARD SWAP & SALE
worth the money, she says. “I never pay for toiletries or beauty products anymore ever. I just keep rolling the bucks from week to week.” Another great way to save for the holidays is using the swagbucks.com search engine site. Once you sign up for the site, which you would use just like any other search engine, you collect swagbucks for each search. The amount
INSURANCE
things, sparkly things and repurposed things, but I am, (ahem) we’ll say... frugal. So when a deal of a lifetime is made, I feel victorious. And so my sister, who also shares my joy in “sensible shopping,” signed us up for a coupon class at the Rocky Hill library. It was very enlightening. Gina Juliano, who teaches the classes, is the woman behind the www.ginaskokopelli.com website. The class theme was based around couponing for the holidays. It wasn’t just clipping coupons — there was much more to the ways that she saves money around gift-giving and even through the search engine she uses. The first thing that Juliano does is keep three large Rubbermaid totes in her basement for Christmas presents that she shops for throughout the year. On the inside lid of each of the totes, she tapes a list of the names of the gift recipients and adds whatever she purchases under that person’s name as the year goes on. Juliano keeps a duplicate copy of these lists in her pock-
Christmas shopping for Juliano starts Jan. 1 because of the deep sales that typically follow the holiday season, and she shops right from home with all the online deals. Throughout the year, she collects all the goodies for her kid’s stocking for free. Yup, that right, free. She uses CVS bucks and the like from various drug stores to purchase items like makeup, nail polish and candies. Juliano said that if she purchased the contents of the stocking without the CVS bucks, they would cost anywhere from $75 to $150. That in itself is a great savings. The initial expense of buying something with the CVS bucks attached is well
INSURANCE
Guest Column
et book so that she can double check who still needs what when she is out.
INSURANCE
Cheri Kelley
INSURANCE
Couponing has now become a verb in many folks’ vernacular. The term refers to collecting coupons that save you a ton of money when making purchases. Real couponers do it with gusto and enthusiasm, and for many it is almost a sport. Getting a good deal on something that you need or use is an awesome thing. Today, things cost so much; a gallon of milk at the larger grocery chains can cost more than a gallon of gasoline for our cars. For me, with two boys and a nephew who frequently hangs out at our house, rockin’ his sippy cup with a big two-tooth smile, we go through a ton of milk. Not to mention food. I have seen some of these coupon extravaganza shows, and I think, “Really, what are these people eating to spend so little at the grocery store?” And you can only have so many tubes of toothpaste and multitudes of random brand deodorants. The holidays are approaching and, as always, I love the triumph of a deep discount. It’s like beating the Man. That’s right, capitalism, one point for me. It’s the rush, which is pretty silly because really, I love nice things, quirky, unusual things, artsy
Home • Business • Life • Car
146 Mill St., Berlin, CT
860-828-3428
www.cuttingedgect.com
www.michalowskiagency.com
1185120
1223888
M-F 10-7, Sat. 10-5, Sun. 11-5
203-265-6763 821 East Center Street, Wallingford
you win changes each time you search. The swagbucks can be redeemed for certain prizes, including amazon.com cards. In the year and a half that Juliano has been using the site, she has traded her swagbucks in for $1,000 worth of amazon.com cards, which she uses for the purchase of gifts See Couponing, page 23