I've known this for quite some time but haven't always put it into practice. I do have a Sunday paper from this past Sunday, but Brandon got it from the machine outside where I work and one of his friends took all the coupon fliers out of it! It would be well worth the cost to get my own and hang onto it!
Another thing you often find in the coupon fliers is a rebate or two for products you might already purchase. I've seen them go pretty high, but they require a lot of product buying to meet the demands of the rebate. You really have to plan ahead to make it worth your while.
- Track the rebates from week to week. You'll learn which manufacturers offer the most rebates and the best return for your spending.
- Save the entire labels of products. Not the products that are generic or store brands, of course. Just the national name brands. This sounds daunting, but they can be kept in file folders. You can actually peel the printed portion off of boxes so you can throw the cardboard portion away.
- Set up a filing system. File labels in the simplest fashion, just make sure it's a system you can easily use. You can file them according to brand, according to food type (soups, pasta, etc.) or any other way that makes it easy for you to find them.
- File rebates according to expiration date. This way, you won't forget and let them pass the expiration date, thereby losing out on the rebate.
- Send for rebates as soon as possible. The sooner you send them, the sooner you receive the benefit from them.
- Be selective. Not every rebate is worth the time, effort, and postage to send for. With postage for First Class mail at .41 now, your rebate amount needs to be at least three times that. If you aren't very careful how you cut/peel the packaging, the postage could go much higher.
- Treat it like a business. If you're serious enough about saving money and getting a return for money spent, then the only way to really make a go of this is to treat it like a business or a small, part time job. Be prepared to dedicate at least a couple of hours a week filling out forms, cutting needed proofs of purchase, and mailing the rebates.
- Combine your savings. Often, the same manufacturers who offer rebates also offer cents-off or dollars-off coupons. If you're planning to purchase the items anyway, get the most bang for your grocery shopping buck and use the coupons to buy items you'll also be getting rebates for.
