Coupon Class Outline Feedback Please

[newtodis]

Good Afternoon! Could anyone who has a minute please look over the information below (copied from Microsoft Word) and tell me what I'm missing and what could be added please? This is my first go-round doing a class like this and I want to make sure that I don't miss the obvious. Most attending the class are familiar with coupons but I want to make sure I don't skip over the "obvious" for those who don't use coupons on a regular basis.

TIA for any help/tips you could provide!

Coupon Class Outline

• Introduction
o Name
o How long have you been clipping coupons?
o How did you get started?
o How much have you saved this month/year?
o What are you going to do with your savings??
• Overview of Class
o Understanding coupons – types, where to find, rules
o Methods to Store Coupons
o Know Your Stores – prices, policies
o Shopping for Savings – brands, usage, stocking up, lists, clearance items, price matching, meal plans
o Rotations – coupons, sale ads
o Budgeting Sites
o Coupon Sites
o Electronic Coupons
o Freebies
o Other Saving Sites
o Excess Coupons
o Creating a Household Budget - worksheets
o Tips/Tricks
o Recap
• Understanding Coupons
o Types of Coupons
 Manufacturer – newspapers, manufacturer’s website, tear pads in stores
 E-coupons – on line
 Catalinas – coupons that print with your receipt at the check out
 Store Specific – Register Rewards (Walgreens), Extra Care Bucks (ECBs, CVS)
 Coupon Websites (http://www.southernsavers.com/2008/10/extreme-couponer-101-printing-coupons/)
o Where to Find Coupons (http://www.southernsavers.com/2008/07/extreme-couponer-101-getting-coupons/)
 Newspaper – when the inserts have a good number of coupons you will use, buy more than one of that week’s paper. Your savings will make up for the cost of the additional newspaper.
 On line – specific websites or manufacturer’s website (http://www.southernsavers.com/2009/08/newsletter-programs/)
 Tear pads in store
 Mail in Rebates
 All You Magazine and others
 Trade/Sell
o Coupon Rules
 One coupon per product – save the most with a “buy one get one free” by using two coupons on the two products but only paying for one product!
 “Stacking” Coupons – using a store coupon with a manufacturer coupon or e-coupon
 Do NOT make copies of printable coupons!
 Many stores will not allow a negative amount – price of item must be more than the amount of the coupon
 Make sure to read the terms on the coupon to answer any questions – if you’re not sure, ask at the Customer Service desk before making purchase
• Storing Coupons (http://www.southernsavers.com/2008/08/extreme-couponer-101-coupon-organizing/) (http://www.southernsavers.com/2009/06/extreme-couponing-organization/)
o How to store – make sure your methods work for you!
 Container
 Binder
 In inserts until use
 Alphabetically
 By product
 By aisle in the store
• Knowing Your Stores
o Know Regular Price Versus Sale Price – Make a list of “good” prices either by the cheapest price at any local store or by store (http://southernsavers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/buy-price-list2.pdf) to know when you see a good sale price (http://www.southernsavers.com/2009/02/extreme-couponer-101-whats-a-good-price/)
o Know Coupon Policies – know your stores and what’s allowed at each store
 Kroger – No internet coupons, double up to 50 cents on each item, B1G1 free is second item free many times
 Publix – No internet coupons, no doubled coupons, B1G1 free – each item rings up half price
 CVS – Will accept internet coupons (http://www.southernsavers.com/getting-started-guides/how-to-cvs/)
 Walgreens (http://www.southernsavers.com/2009/03/walgreens-tips-tricks/)
 Target – Can combine store and manufacturer coupons, no doubling coupons, will accept internet coupons (http://www.afullcup.com/target-coupon-generator)


• Shopping for the Most Savings (http://www.southernsavers.com/2008/10/extreme-couponer-101-how-do-you-do-it/)
o Brand Loyalty – Don’t be picky about the brands you purchase if possible to save the most money each week. You could save more buying brand name on sale with your coupon than buying a generic.
o Know Your Usage – How much laundry detergent do you use a month? How many paper towels?
o “Stock Up” Method – When you find an item that’s got a great sale price, stock up. Never buy more than you’ll use before the expiration date – throwing items out isn’t saving money. The holidays are approaching so more things will be on sale – a good opportunity to stock up the panty for after the holidays as well!
o Shop from Your List – Make a list of items to purchase and coupons you have and stick to the list! The exception – if you find something not listed in the ad on sale and you have a coupon for it.
o Watch for Clearance Items – Learn where your stores put clearance merchandise and the schedule for marking items down to get the most savings. You can use coupons on clearance items!
o Price Match – Learn the process for your preferred store’s policy on price matching to help cut down on multiple trips to different stores. Learn the policy for items going on sale following purchases (buying an item and having it on sale the next week).
o Make Meal Plans from Circulars – Plan weeknight meals around items that are on sale for the week to save the most.
• Coupon Rotation/Sale Rotation
o Learn the Expected Release for Coupons – You can check this link (http://www.southernsavers.com/2008/12/2009-coupon-inserts-schedule/) to see what coupons are expected to be in various inserts for the week
o Learn the Rotation of Sale Ads – Sales generally run once every 10 – 12 weeks so buy what you’ll use before the item is on sale again.
• Budgeting Websites
o The Grocery Game (http://www.thegrocerygame.com/) – Users pay a fee for this site to provide you a list of sale items for a specific store.
o A Full Cup (http://www.afullcup.com/) – This is a free site that you need to register for. You can buy, sell or trade coupons on this in addition to finding out about great deals at various stores.
o Southern Savers (http://www.southernsavers.com/) – I like this site for providing a free list of items on sale at stores I shop at. Copy the list from the site, paste into Word and edit as needed.
o Coupon Mom (http://www.couponmom.com/) – A free site designed to help you learn what coupons will be in Sunday’s paper as well as items on sale for the week.
o Budget Board (http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=22) – A budget board on a Disney discussion board dedicated to finding deals and helping others save money. You can find threads supporting a month of “no buy” (no unneeded purchases for the month), threads dedicated to specific stores and the weekly ads for the store and many other topics. It’s a great place to ask questions if you’re looking for a specific deal.
• Coupon Websites
o A Full Cup Coupon Data Base (http://www.afullcup.com/coupons/) – You can search this database for coupons for a specific item you’re looking for.
o Smart Source (http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=5S2ZUA6PWPEPO) – The same group that puts the coupon inserts in the Sunday paper allows you to print coupons from their site as well.
o Coupon Loop (http://www.couponloop.com/) – You can look for various coupons on this site for many different retailers.
o Cool Savings (http://www.coolsavings.com/home.aspx?SessionID=083af575-ad8e-49af-86e3-69e3851f7cd7-3) – Print coupons from this site for items you need.
o Coupons.com (http://print.coupons.com/couponweb/...id=iq37&nid=10&bid=alk0907100924bd73cefa34917) – Another helpful site to print coupons from.
o SC Johnson (http://rightathome.com/special-offers/) – Check out this site for SC Johnson product coupons to print.
• E-Coupons
o Cellfire (http://www.cellfire.com/) – Register your shopping cards on this site and load electronic coupons onto your shopper’s card for various retailers.
o Proctor and Gamble E-Savers (http://www.pgesaver.com/Sites/PG_eSAVER/Page/HomePage/?src=pgeds) – Proctor and Gamble electronic coupons to load on your store’s shopper’s card.
o Upromise (http://www.upromise.com/welcome) – Not only can you save money for college, you can load electronic coupons onto your card and save money on items as well.
o Shortcuts (http://shortcuts.com/) – Another electronic coupon site.
• Freebies
o Protector and Gamble (http://www.pgeverydaysolutions.com/pgeds/pg-brandsaver-samples-coupons.jsp) – Check back for updates on free products.
o Southern Savers Freebie List (http://www.southernsavers.com/free-stuff/) – List put together of various items on line that are currently available for free.
o Thunderfap (http://www.thunderfap.com/) – Site listing freebies
o Disboards.com Weekly Freebie Thread (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2277897) – Thread on a Disney discussion board updated weekly listing free products that members find
o House Party.com (http://houseparty.com/) – You agree to have a party on a specified date in exchange for a sponsor company to send you the stuff to provide at the party! An example: I agreed to have an “X-box” party a few months back and received a new X-box “Scene It!” game, three month subscription to Netflix and snacks for the party. All I had to do was agree to have people over to show them how cool the X-box was. That’s easy for some free stuff!
o SC Johnson (http://rightathome.com/special-offers/) – Check out the “Special Offers” section for freebies!
• Other Savings Sites
o Retail Me Not (http://www.retailmenot.com/) – Search by store for coupon codes.
o Free Shipping.org (http://www.freeshipping.org/) – Save on shipping fees when shopping on line with this site.
o Black Friday Ads (http://bfads.net/) – Check out this site for great deals on items throughout the holiday season. The main focus of the site is “Black Friday” (the day after Thanksgiving) but there are deals starting around Halloween and running through Christmas. In the heat of holiday shopping, check often as sometimes there are offers on the site for a limited time.
o Woot (http://woot.com/) – Check out this site for “woot offs” – days where the site selects items to be on special. You can get very good deals on items – the downfall is that you have to dedicate a lot of time to watching the site to see what’s on sale. Some items go quickly and some take hours to sell the quantity needed before moving on to the next item.
o Overstock.com (http://www.overstock.com/) – If you need a big item, check Overstock.com and see if the price is comparable there as shipping is always only $2.95 which could save you quite a bit for a larger item.
• Excess Coupons
o Expired – Send expired coupons to families serving in the military. They’re able to use them up to six months past the expiration date. You can find addresses for them here (http://couponing.about.com/od/seasonalsavingszone/a/militaryexpcou3.htm) or Google “expired coupons for military families”.
o Sign up for a “Coupon Swap” to get more bang for your coupon buck. There are many sites like this one (http://www.thriftyfun.com/board_coupons.html?board_mode=rules) that will pair you up with someone that will send you the coupons from their paper that they aren’t using and you’ll send your coupons to someone else. This will help you get more of a variety of coupons as your partner could be across the country and you could get coupons that weren’t in your area’s inserts.
o Selling Coupons (http://www.couponsellers.com/) – You could earn additional income selling the coupons you won’t need or use. Be sure to check out the details on each site before committing to anything so no laws are broken.
o Leave them at the Store – Many people leave coupons on the shelf with the product the coupon is for if they’re not going to use it.
• Creating a Household Budget
o http://www.betterbudgeting.com/budgetformsfree.htm
o http://www.christianpf.com/free-printable-budgeting-worksheets/
o http://www.personalfinancebudgeting.com/budget_worksheet.php
• Other Tips and Tricks
o Keep a “Gift Space” – Shop for gifts throughout the year when you find something on sale or a great deal for birthday parties or holiday gifts.
o Magazine Subscriptions
 Keep an eye open for free subscriptions!
 Organize a “share” – each member subscribes to a different magazine and swap at the end of each month. Do the same with books, cds and dvds for even more savings!
 Donate read magazines to doctor’s offices, ect.
o Cleaning Products
 Use “all purpose” cleaners instead of a separate cleaner for dusting, windows, ect.
 Make your own
• Dishwasher Detergent: http://frugallygreen.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-make-your-own-dishwasher.html
• Dish Soap: http://www.howtodothings.com/hobbies/a4599-how-to-make-dish-soap.html
• Laundry Detergent: http://www.debtfreeadventure.com/2009/06/simple-easy-fast-effective-jabs-homemade-laundry-detergent/
• Cleaning Products: http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/daily-green-tips/cleaning-products/
o Dinner Parties – Bring new meaning to having a dinner party at your house. Invite a group of guests (start small to see how things will work out best in our house) and ask each to bring a recipe and enough ingredients for each guest to make the dish. Also have each guest bring containers of their choosing to take their meals home in. Ideally guests would choose meals that could be frozen after the party and reheated at a later date. Each guest goes home with several meals for the freezer and it all got done in a couple of hours! To keep it “fair” ask each guest to stay within a preset “per person” amount to make sure each person’s getting a meal comparable to the one they’re preparing for the group. I’ve also done “Cookie Parties” close to the holidays so I only have to bake one type of cookie but swap with others to get a nice selection to use for gifts or put out for parties.
o Share yours!!
• Recap
o Buy when items are on sale and you have a coupon!
o Set up a “junk” email address to sign up for coupon websites
o Register with many different sites to get the most coupons and freebies sent to you!
o Share the coupons you won’t use – don’t just throw them out!

 

[newtodis]

Alright it looks like it copied ok - a bit hard to follow but I think it's ok.

Also wanted to add that if anyone else wanted to use this, please feel free. I know there are tons more links to add but I don't want to overwhelm people with the links.....

 

[annsteere]

Wow!

I'm having a workshop on couponing for young moms from my church in three weeks. I think I'm going to steal your outline and use it to enhance my own!

One alternative would be my plan to address "how much can you save" by looking at "what is your motivation." Some people coupon to be able to buy basics (only buy what they NEED and use fewer coupons but buy fewer things), I coupon so that we can have special treats on our limited budget (if I can buy 4 gallons of premium ice cream at the cost of a gallon of store brand. . .), a friend does it as a game (buys whatever she can get for 90% off, donates the excess to food pantry).

The other factors I've identified in "how much can you save" are: how much time are you willing to invest, do you have access to a computer/printer, how many items are you willing to be brand flexible on, and how will you organize your coupons.

I think it will be helpful for coupon beginners to recognize that there are many levels of couponing. You don't HAVE to become a coupon queen. The are coupon princesses, or coupon serfs who save enough to make it profitable and fit into their chosen lifestyle.

 

[maddiesmom0116]

You want to research the new federal coupon requirements that retailers and manufacturers were to have them in place by January 1st. I worked with my IT team on this project and a couple of the items you have listed will change based on the retailer. They just pushed the requirement date back to 2011, but I know a lot of retailers have already done the work and I am sure they will push it out now if the IT work is done. You can google GS1 coupon for more information.

You did a very nice job though with the outline. You need to teach this class all over!

 

[southernbelle5672]

You want to research the new federal coupon requirements that retailers and manufacturers were to have them in place by January 1st. I worked with my IT team on this project and a couple of the items you have listed will change based on the retailer. They just pushed the requirement date back to 2011, but I know a lot of retailers have already done the work and I am sure they will push it out now if the IT work is done. You can google GS1 coupon for more information.

You did a very nice job though with the outline. You need to teach this class all over!

What type of coupon requirements?

To the OP: Looks good! I wish I could take your class! I just started couponing.

 

[ShiPooOwner]

It looks like your students will be well prepared! Very thorough!

 

[newtodis]

Thank you all! I appreciate the feedback! This will be my first go 'round for something like this. I'm charging $5/student for the class. With that money (I'll "invest" and get back the night of the event) I'll provide each student with our three local papers (two for our town and one for a neighboring larger town) and ideally an All You magazine. If there's any left over (generally I can buy the Sunday papers on Monday for the "weekday" price cutting my out of pocket cost), that will cover my cost to print the materials.

Hopefully it all works out and the class will go well. It's not for a couple more weeks yet but I'll certainly update here if I make changes to the outline and feedback from the class.

 

[southernbelle5672]

It sounds neat! Oh, one other thing I noticed is that you may want to check with the actual companies for their coupon policy. I know that Publix is definitely accepting internet coupons, at least they are in my area.

Just a thought.

 

[LanaJae]

I think you did a great job!

 

[Cindy B]

HOw long is the class?

Being a former teacher and not currently in long legal type training for 8.5 hours a day/40 hrs week... I will say that is a lot of information to absorb.

Will you be lecturing the whole time? Part of that outline can be composed into an easy to type handout for reference instead of lecturing.

Think of it this way, your students will only write so much down and they will get tired of writing and listening..

It may work well converted into PowerPoint so you can stimulate visual and auditory learners. You kind of go off topic with the magazine subscriptions and freebie threads--they are separate entitities. If you want coupons, stick with coupons. If it is a bargain shopping class, do bargain shopping class that involves coupons. Some budget savers don't want to be bothered with "extra"things.. and I would be annoyed if I went to coupon class and got something about magazines--to me that isn't coupons, but something else.

Now, I did not see a very important part of couponing/bargain shopping covered.. it is the unit price. Unit price is a 5th/6th grade math concept that is the crux of bargain shopping and couponing. Sure you can have a $2 off coupon on something but if the unit price is crazy high, it doesn't make much sense to buy it EVEN WITH THE COUPON. To go with the idea of unit price, a quickie reference sheet on measurement may be applicable.

Sometimes it is difficult to compare unit prices if one product is in quarts and the other is is in pints or gallons (manufacturers do that on purpose to trick consumers!) So in essence, a product may look cheaper if the unit price is smaller but it is in a smaller unit of measure (ie pints instead of gallons) so you would have to make the units of measure the same to truly determine the best deal.

 

[stazmatic]

I think you have a lot of ground to cover and it all sounds very organized and well thought-out! Good Luck I hope it goes well for you!

Something that I have explained over and over to my family is to get the Sunday paper and wait until you find the best deal. Some of them would rather look at the coupons and say "Oh $4 off Schick razors would make them only $3.99 that is so cheap" When what they should do is hold the coupon until they can combine them with a sale to make them almost free, free, or a Money maker. For me that is the point that I need to keep driving home because they just don't get it.

 

[CajunDixie]

It looks great but there were a few things I noticed.

E-coupons – on line You may want to add IP, as that is usually how I see Internet Printables described instead of E-Coupons.

My Kroger does take IPs and my Walgreen's does not. I have seen on other sites people mentioning their CVS will stop taking IPs soon.

If you're not giving this info on a disc or email I wouldn't bother with all the web addresses for specific pages. It's so much easier clicking a link!!! It's great to have say afullcup . com but when you add in specific pages they aren't fully showing up in your post because they are so long. Which means correctly typing a very long addy.

I'd save the Freebies, Cleaning Products, Magazines (other than All You) for a "Savings Class" rather than including in your "Coupon Class"

And you need to change the wording on "Sell" your excess coupons....thats not allowed. You can charge for your labor to clip and ship coupons...you can't charge for the coupons themselves.

I'm not trying to be hurtful or anything but thats quite a bit of info for a newbie w/o throwing in all the extra's. Good Luck!

 

[Cindy B]

YMMV with various stores as well. In my double and triple coupon land, no store accepts printed internet coupons. Target will also not accept two coupons. Some stores around here will not accept the 2nd coupon on the free item because it already has been doubled/tripled.

You can not sell coupons either.

Use the coupon trifecta.. the item is buy one get free with a coupon and on sale.

I personally would list the stores that true double instead of only doubling up to a $1.

 

[java]

Wow! That's a lot of information! Great job. Good luck.

One other tip on your "manufacturer" coupon section. Don't forget to metion emailing your appreciation to your favorite products. You will often get FREE coupons for their products.

The best I ever received was for those Bertolli Frozen meals- They sent me a dozen coupons. Half were for a FREE ENTREE, the other half were $3 off coupons!

I would go to your class just to learn more about CVSing!

 

[java]

Cindy B said "coupon trifecta.. the item is buy one get free with a coupon and on sale. "
oh that's a great one! And I love the Coupon Trifecta!

Oh and one more I have been getting lots of coupons from Vocalpoint. FREE items! Most recently for Rice Crispy cereal free ANY SIZE! (you should see the size box I got anyone want a crispy treat?)

 

[newtodis]

It sounds neat! Oh, one other thing I noticed is that you may want to check with the actual companies for their coupon policy. I know that Publix is definitely accepting internet coupons, at least they are in my area.

Just a thought.

Thanks! Our Publix does not - they don't even double. I've shared my dislike of that several times with the store manager and only use coupons that wouldn't double for me at Kroger (where I normally shop).

I think you did a great job!

Thank you - that means a lot from the CVS queen!

Will you be lecturing the whole time? Part of that outline can be composed into an easy to type handout for reference instead of lecturing.

It may work well converted into PowerPoint so you can stimulate visual and auditory learners. You kind of go off topic with the magazine subscriptions and freebie threads--they are separate entitities.

Now, I did not see a very important part of couponing/bargain shopping covered.. it is the unit price. Unit price is a 5th/6th grade math concept that is the crux of bargain shopping and couponing. Sure you can have a $2 off coupon on something but if the unit price is crazy high, it doesn't make much sense to buy it EVEN WITH THE COUPON. To go with the idea of unit price, a quickie reference sheet on measurement may be applicable.

Oh no - I won't talk the whole time. The group that's coming over will certainly interject where they feel they need to!

I plan on printing out the outline and putting on my facebook after the class as several family members out of state wanted to see it as well.

I planned on explaining the "price per unit" thing when I covered buying the "name brand vs store brand" (in my head anyways - can't you read my mind?? ). I've made several notes on my outline and plan on going through things pretty quickly and having people ask questions as we go along to make sure we're not covering the stuff everyone already knows. This group all use coupons but nothing consistantly (as far as I know) and nto nearly the number I use per week. It should be interesting!

As for the "off topic" stuff, I plan on just covering those things quickly as people have asked me about them in the past. I guess I'm kind of looking at this as a "one time" thing for me - I don't forsee doing this over and over unless people start asking me for it - the I would probably have the "class" cover the coupon stuff and just provide a hand out for the "other" stuff.

I think you have a lot of ground to cover and it all sounds very organized and well thought-out! Good Luck I hope it goes well for you!

Something that I have explained over and over to my family is to get the Sunday paper and wait until you find the best deal. Some of them would rather look at the coupons and say "Oh $4 off Schick razors would make them only $3.99 that is so cheap" When what they should do is hold the coupon until they can combine them with a sale to make them almost free, free, or a Money maker. For me that is the point that I need to keep driving home because they just don't get it.

Thank you!

I agree - it's so very hard for some people to understand! I guess it's good that they're using a coupon but it's still hard to see people buying stuff when they could be saving more. My last two shopping trips I saved more than I spent!

It looks great but there were a few things I noticed.

E-coupons – on line You may want to add IP, as that is usually how I see Internet Printables described instead of E-Coupons.

If you're not giving this info on a disc or email I wouldn't bother with all the web addresses for specific pages. It's so much easier clicking a link!!! It's great to have say afullcup . com but when you add in specific pages they aren't fully showing up in your post because they are so long. Which means correctly typing a very long addy.

I'd save the Freebies, Cleaning Products, Magazines (other than All You) for a "Savings Class" rather than including in your "Coupon Class"

And you need to change the wording on "Sell" your excess coupons....thats not allowed. You can charge for your labor to clip and ship coupons...you can't charge for the coupons themselves.

I'm not trying to be hurtful or anything but thats quite a bit of info for a newbie w/o throwing in all the extra's. Good Luck!

thanks -I was looking for another word for the IP coupons!

Yes they'll get it electronically as well (via email/facebook) so the links will be usable for them.

I planned on explaining the "selling" coupons - that you can't really do that. I don't want to promote anything illegal!

It's a lot of info. Thankfully no one (to my knowledge) is a true "newbie" to the coupon world so I'm hoping we'll cover everything. If not, it's a great excuse for another girl's night!

Wow! That's a lot of information! Great job. Good luck.

One other tip on your "manufacturer" coupon section. Don't forget to metion emailing your appreciation to your favorite products. You will often get FREE coupons for their products.

The best I ever received was for those Bertolli Frozen meals- They sent me a dozen coupons. Half were for a FREE ENTREE, the other half were $3 off coupons!

I would go to your class just to learn more about CVSing!

Thank you!

I love emailing the manufacturer as well and that was a note that I'd added to my sheet. YAY for your free coupons!

CVS is great but I haven't done it lately - I'm going to have to lurk over on the thread here again to get myself back into the thought process for it. They just haven't had stuff to buy with ECBs that I've needed lately.

Oh and one more I have been getting lots of coupons from Vocalpoint. FREE items! Most recently for Rice Crispy cereal free ANY SIZE! (you should see the size box I got anyone want a crispy treat?)

I've never heard of that site before - I'll have to check it out! I got a box of some sample (Planters granola or something) - I opened it in a hurry last night with a stack of coupons and a note saying an electronic coupon will follow for me to forward to my friends who don't live nearby from Psst. I remember signing up for the site from reading about it here but honestly I'd forgotten about it.

Thank you all for your feedback - I do appreciate it!

 

[Irin997]

Ok coupon gurus, I have a question. I want to use coupons, but I do not get a paper and the IP coupons are usually never that great.

Do you think it is worth it to buy a weekend subscription just for the coupons? The Sun is $0.99 a week and it is just my DD8 and I. Thoughts?