Shake your money maker

How do you make money on a purchase? What is a money maker? Why buy something if you don't need it? Why clip coupons on items you don't use? Lemme break it down for ya!


Money Maker:

A money maker item is an item that you literally make money on. Some companies, like Rite Aid, will allow you to purchase an item and use a coupon for OVER the value of an item, and actually make money on it. One example was the Wet & Wild cosmetics a few weeks ago. At Rite Aid, Wet & Wild nail polish was $0.99 and was 40% off (so $0.59 on sale). I had a $1 off coupon for any Wet & Wild product, so I made $0.41 for every nail polish I bought to go towards something else I was buying. Some store policies don't allow for that however. Some will discount the value of the coupon to the price of the product, still making it FREE but not making money on the overages. The lists are to the best of my knowledge and research as of today.

Stores that allow you to use higher value coupons and make money on them (without doubling):
Wal-Mart (and they will give you cash back if you have no other items you are purchasing)
Rite Aid
CVS Pharmacy
Kmart (though I have read that it varies by store and management, no official policy available)
Fred Meyer
Kroger

Stores that DO NOT allow you to use higher value coupons and make money:
Safeway
Target
Walgreens
Bartells

Other ways to make money on items you purchase:





1. Rewards from retailers: Many retailers want to entice you to shop with them, and be competitive in the marketplace, so rewards and club cards are found at almost every store. Many offer member only discounts, but several also have rewards in place to provide points/rewards back for specific purchases.
     Rite Aid: They have Up Rewards(UR).When you purchase qualifying item(s), you get an Up Reward when you use your Rite Aid wellness card. You can make money on items if you use coupons in conjunction with sale prices, and receive the Up rewards, good towards future purchases. So, although you pay for the item, you get money back, which could potentially make it free or a money maker. Note that they have limits on how many Up Rewards you can redeem. They are tracked on the bottom of your receipt. Some more advanced couponers have more than one card so that they can repeat certain deals multiple times.

Example: Dove Mens+Care is regular $6.49, but on sale this week for $3.50 wyb2. I have two MQ for $2/1, and one Rite Aid ad perk Q for $2/1. The total sale price is $7, I use my coupons, which brings it down to only $1. BUT I get $2 back in Up Rewards, which makes this a $1 money maker.

     Walgreens: Walgreens has Register Rewards (RR) and Balance Rewards (BR). Both can potentially make an item a money maker. You must have a Walgreens Balance Rewards card to get sale prices, RR, and BR. You can sometimes even combine a promotion that gives RR with a coupon in the Walgreens ad or savings booklet that gives you BR. Balance Rewards are points that are added to your card, and tracked on your receipt. Once you reach a specific number of points, those points can be redeemed for a Walgreens gift card. The more points you accumulate, the better the gift card payout. In the Walgreens ads, Balance rewards promotions look like this:

The Blood Glucose monitor is regular $14.99, but on sale this week for $9.99. I have a MQ for $6 off any Coutour EZ monitor. I pay $3.99 for the monitor, and will get 5000 points (appx $5) back, making it a $1.01 money maker. 

Register Rewards are my personal fave at Walgreens and I look for items that have register rewards when I am scanning the ads. When you purchase a qualifying item(s), you will get a RR that prints out at the end of the transaction that is good towards your next purchase.

Shout is on sale for $3.00 each this week, and I have two MQ for $2/1 and a Walgreens Q for $1.50/2. I pay $0.50 for both, and get a $1 RR, making it a $0.50 money maker (MM).

     Target: I love Target. Its my favorite place to go crazy couponing. There are SO MANY ways to save, but gift card promotions are what turn seemingly normal prices into money makers. So many items (advertised and unadvertised) have gift card promotions associated with them. And you get the gift cards right away, you don't have to wait to use them (well, you can't use them to pay for that transaction, but if you do multiple transactions, its awesome).

This is an example of a current ad where you can get a $20 TGC when you purchase 2 diaper packs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. SNAP, Ibotta, Checkout 51, and other similar rebate apps that give you cash back on things that you buy. There are several apps out there that have promotions that give you cash back on things that you buy at the grocery store, even things like produce and health foods. I have Ibotta and Checkout 51 on my phone. I haven't much experience with either. I have honestly felt like I have saved such a decent amount on items using alternative methods, that I haven't really jumped on this bandwagon. But if you are really wanting to pinch every penny, I have seen some good deals on getting money back for stuff, like milk and bread, with SNAP and Ibotta. You can download these apps directly onto your phone.

Why would you buy something if you don't need it?

Does the item make you money if you purchase it? Can you use that overage to pay for something that you do need? Then you do want to buy that item. Donate the item, give it to family, friends, your church, whomever, but if its a money making item and you are purchasing other non-free items, then why not?

Why clip coupons on items that you don't buy?

There are a few reasons I can think of. I clip coupons for everything now, even if it isn't something that I would typically buy (like baby formula or cat treats), because sometimes you can find a sale or clearance that would make that item free or a money maker, and you can use your coupons to pay for them. There is nothing worse than seeing a great deal, and not being able to take advantage of it because you didn't clip those coupons. I saw GE lightbulbs on clearance the other day at Walmart. Normally, they are $9.99, and they were clearanced to $1.88. I had seen a $3 off coupon in the insert about 3 weeks ago that would have made each lightbulb a $1.12 money maker, and Walmart would have given me the cash back, but I didn't clip those coupons because I didn't need light bulbs. Yea, I may not have needed light bulbs, but I could always use some cash.

Trident at Fred Meyer

Time to stock up on Trident at Fred Meyer or QFC this week (Freddy's is cheaper but you can get the deal at both!)

Trident Gum, 18 pack ($1.19 at FM, $1.39 at QFC)
Buy one, get one free
-$1/2 MQ from SS 10/12/14
Total Cost: $0.19/2 at FM or $0.39/2 at QFC

You can get these for as low at $0.09 a pack! I stocked up. Sale ends Saturday.

I couldn't resist- Round 2 at QFC

So the Buy 5, Save $5 at QFC ended on 9/16/14, so after work I made a quick pit stop in, hoping to find Airwick on sale, but that was a no-go, so I browsed around a bit and was able to find a few more freebies, and some necessities. And that made me a happy girl.

The Gilette shave gel was $2.49 retail, $1.99 sale, $0.99 B5/S5 promo. I used (1) $1.00 off Gilette coupon = FREE

The Garnier was FREE with the same coupon combo I used the day before.

The Barilla pasta sauces were $0.75 each after (3) $0.75 coupons and store promos.

I felt good with my purchase. Free is always good, and buying items I need is even better.

I can't wait for my coupon stash to grow, and for QFC to have their Buy 5, Save $5 promotion again! Its big-time savings for couponers.

My shopping trip to Fred Meyer and QFC

My first trip to Fred Meyer in Issaquah, WA last Sunday was a success. I had woken up early to get 5 newspapers and got all my coupons clipped and sorted. Afterwards, I looked for my own match-ups in the paper, and I got really excited to see coupons in the Fred Meyer circular that came with the Sunday paper. They had some things on sale that I knew I had coupons for and I started the hunt for good deals! Since you can clip store coupons and stack them (use them with) manufacturer coupons, I first looked at FM coupons in the paper.

They had a $3 for 5 Treetop Juice coupon. I happened to have 3 $1.00 off Treetop Fruitful Smoothies coupons. Combining the store coupon with the 3 manufacturer coupons, I got the juices for $0.67 each wyb3 (when you buy 3).

Arm & Hammer Laundry Detergent was also on sale with coupon for 2 for $6 (reg $6.49 each). I had a $2/2 ($2 off your purchase of 2) coupon. So they were $2.00 each after coupon
I have learned in my short couponing experience that having multiple coupons is how you really maximize savings. I have an example of that below with my QFC shopping trip:

QFC (which I never shop at because I felt that they were too expensive), was having a promotion that ended 9/16/14, for Buy 5, Save $5 on qualifying products throughout the store. You are able to mix and match the 5 qualifying items also, so this was the most ideal way to maximize savings. I did a 5 item only sale, and I used 5 coupons, so I was able to use the sale price with the B5/S5 event, as well as coupons on top of that, to get the products free or close to it.

I purchased 1 Garnier Shampoo ($3.99 retail, $2.99 sale)  and 4 Softsoap Body Washes ($5.49 retail, $2/5 sale or $2.50 each wyb2). With the B5/S5, you take $1 off of each sale priced item, therefore the shampoo was $1.99, and the body washes were $1.50 each. I used (1) $2.00 off Garnier coupon making that item FREE and used (4) $0.75 off Softsoap coupons making them $0.75 each. It brings each item in that haul down to $0.60 each before tax.

Another thing I have learned it that you pay tax on the PRE-manufacturer coupon price. Store discounts are taken into consideration but the total sales tax calculated is based on the total sale cost (less) store discounts/promotions. So take that into consideration when you are shopping. I thought it was based on the total after discounts. It is NOT. 

The specifics in regards to sales tax are listed below. Sales tax in Seattle in 9.5%.
http://www.revenue.state.mn.us/businesses/sut/factsheets/fs167.pdf