Not Extreme Couponing Part IV- Bargain Safari

I do coupon, but I do not extreme coupon; more like, above average coupon. I don't have the energy to chase coupons in addition to chasing kids. Get to a certain age, and it just isn't logical.

I do bargain safari. If you think you like extreme coupons, you will love bargain safaris. There are usually no jungles, but there are a lot of parking lots, and the excitement of making a big purchase of something truly useful.

A bargain safari begins with homework, much like extreme coupons. It does not, however, start with coupons.

You must first have knowledge of what your family eats, wears, likes in toiletries, uses to clean the dishes. There are just some things some families will not use or eat. 

You won't see liver in our refrigerator, except for the liver sausage the Mister enjoys. There are certain soaps that cause everybody in the family to break out. There are some laundry detergents that take a whole bottle in one washload to get clothes clean. There are some toilet papers where it would be better to help oneself to the nearest newspaper instead. We don't buy those here.

Only you know what your family will not tolerate. Make a list of what they do tolerate, like and love. You can keep it in a notebook, or a spreadsheet, or orally into your cell phone. But it's needed.

You need money to bargain safari. It doesn't have to be a ton, but you will need between $75 and $200, depending on how much you intend to buy, the normal cost for items on your master list, and how much storage space you really, truly have in your residence. A calculator is a good idea to bring along.   

When you have money to go on a bargain safari, do not take the grandchildren unless they can keep their mouths shut and be of use. You are better off playing the helpless senior citizen card to load the car than putting up with the grandkids' suggestions and vocal expression of their desires. Sometimes bribery is necessary, but if they can't keep quiet, don't take them. 

Think about shopping around 10 AM on a weekday. The other oldsters have already hit the stores, and the young ones are at work. The stores have been restocked. Another good safari opportunity is late Sunday morning, early Sunday afternoon, if your religious views do not prohibit such activity. Avoid Saturday morning, when everybody and his uncle has a shopping cart.

Now then, you are stalking items on your master list. You are looking for the rock-bottom, absolute lowest price on these, name brand if at all possible. This will involve walking through the various departments of the stores you will shop. You might want to make a second list, a priority list. You might need SNACKS really badly, you might need TOILETRIES worse. Get those toiletries first, and get lots of them!

That's right, get LOTS of them! Can your medicine cabinet hold 10 sticks of name brand deodorant that you know everybody can use, at $1.60 a stick? BUY THEM. Can your pantry handle 6 jars of mustard if the mustard is 50 cents each? BUY THEM.

If the store where you are shopping takes coupons, by all means use them if you have them. Some of these stores have such low prices, they do not take coupons. Calculate whether it is cheaper to shop someplace on sale with the coupon, or to buy the item in bulk at the present price in the bargain store. Most of the time, but not always, you are better off buying without the coupon in the bargain store. 

The most important thing of the bargain safari: When you are out of ammo, money, GO HOME. Do not spend what you saved on a meal out, a new outfit, or anything else. 

These are the stores where I bargain safari. You might find similar stores in your area:

• Big Lots. Big Lots buys from stores that have closed out or bought too much, and mark it way, way down. Imagine Pantene shampoo for $3, or Mitchum deodorant for $2. These are normally priced at $6 and $4, respectively, in retail stores. Big Lots combines these lot purchases with their own brands to give customers a BIG discount. Big Lots does not take coupons, but the savings is so extreme, it's worth it to bargain safari there.  
• Aldi. Aldi has a lot of its own brands of food, household products and toiletries that are at a rock-bottom price. Some are very good, some are so-so, and some are not worth the money. The only way to tell is by personal experimentation. Aldi also makes big purchases of brand names and sells those at ridiculous prices. 
• Dollar Tree. Dollar Tree has its own brands, and very seldom has name brands. Most items in the store cost $1. It does carry the occasional close-out of Comet, and is a listed as a reseller of Oxydol. Dollar Rree tends to carry a lot of Canadian lots, such Yardley, at deeply reduced prices. Like Aldi, items from Dollar Tree are a matter of personal experimentation in your family. Dollar Tree does not accept coupons.
• Woodman's (HyVee). Woodman's is big, employee-owned, and a big saver. I am not impressed with Woodman's produce, but Woodman's does have big weekly savings, also close-outs. Woodman's does accept coupons. If you don't live near a Woodman's, it can be worth the drive, but pack a lunch.
• Meijer. Like Woodman's, Meijer is huge, has its own gas station, and takes coupons. Unlike Woodman's, Meijer is not employee-owned. I have a love/hate relationship with Meijer. Their customer service is less than stellar. But Meijer does have great prices, and does meet the criteria for a bargain safari. 

 

Not Extreme Couponing Part III

Despite the TV show Extreme Couponing, sometimes coupons are not the answer to saving money. Yes, one woman claims she's only extremed couponed for a year, and yes, she's built up a lovely stockpile and given loads of stuff to the local food pantry, and she gives God credit for the source of her thousands of coupons, stacked in milk crates in her attic. That does not mean it's going to work out for everybody that way.

These are some other things I've noticed when watching the show:

• The extreme couponers spend a lot of time on their coupon conquests. All that saving doesn't magically happen by having the coupons. A couple couponers related that extreme couponing is a lot like a 40 hour job, and can often run into 70 hours a week. A grandparent who lacks energy, or needs to put that energy elsewhere, might not have 40-70 hours a week to extreme coupon. 
• Many hands make light work, and somebody has to lug all that stuff into the shopping carts, then into the car to transport it home, then into the house to put it all away. Do you have help to do this?
• If you and your grandchildren are sharing a 2-bedroom condo, where are you going to put 1,000 packs of ramen noodles? Better use those coupons selectively, and have a plan where to stick that stuff.

Now, I think couponing is a great mind exercise, and unlike Brain Age, I don't have to sneak one of the kid's Nintendo DS to coupon. It certainly has hobby status in my mind, and to my mind does more for a brain than regular bridge or canasta tournaments. Doctors and therapists keep telling us we need to exercise our brains as we get older. Coupons provide that exercise, and throw saving money into the bargain.

But coupons are not the only way to save money. Sometimes, coupons don't save money at all, especially on items one needs when one needs them NOW. Coupons expire, and most stores do not honor expired coupons. Coupons used toward items nobody uses in your family are a waste of both time and money. There are other sources of savings. 

Not Extreme Couponing Part II

I do use coupons. I don't use the big coupon clippers who sell 70 to 100 coupons of one item at a time, but the little guys, such as kittyklippers and zirbco on eBay. It makes more sense to buy from a cottage industry than to go for the big packs of coupons. I do not know what I would do with 200 bottles of hand soap in pumps, anyway!  I have enough junk around here without my very own collection of snack cakes or tomato sauce to an extreme.


I also try to look local when I choose those coupons. I've discovered sometimes coupons from the west coast won't work at all in local stores, or won't work for the same amount of money. Fortunately, "local" is changing as manufacturers get a clue.  I am still looking for Ken's salad dressing in 8 or 9 ounce bottles, because I can buy one, get one free according to the coupon, and I have 20 coupons. I only have 5 more days to try to find them. Every store in our area carries the 16 ounce bottles, and that just doesn't work. If I don't find those bottles, I've lost $2.98 in clipper cost. I do have 10 Vienna hot dog coupons. Memorial Day is coming at the end of the month, and those hot dogs will go on sale.


I store my coupons in a binder by month, like coupons held together with paper clips, several clips in clear sheet protectors. There is no need for me to get high tech when low tech will do just fine. The later I can find an expiration date, the more of a chance I have of finding a price match-up for a sale.

On each index separator, I have a list of the coupons by expiration dates. I type the list when I have a sufficient number of coupon items for that month. I add onto the list in good old pen or pencil if I acquire more.  


I keep an Excel log that essentially keeps track of how much I spend on groceries, household items and toiletries combined, including how much I spend on coupon clippers. remember, I am not buying coupons! That's against the contract on coupons. Coupons are free. It's the services of the clippers I purchase.