This article was originally published on September 20, 2017 on my original portfolio’s blog. I have made minor modifications to reflect the current state of world events.

I am a big deal shopper and have a mini store in my basement. I love the convenience of running to my basement whenever I need something. I also enjoy having the option to make gift baskets for friends or family or having the ability to make donations to charities. I have had several friends and family members ask me how I pull it off, so here is a quick crash course of how I go about pulling it off.

Formula for Savings

The formula for deal shopping success looks something like this:

Item Savings = ([Sale Price/Number of Items if BOGO Free] or [Number of Grouped Items in Sale]) - Manufacturer's Coupon(s) Per Item - Store Coupon

Total Purchase Savings = Sum Total of Item Savings - Current Store Points - Earned Store Points (For Future) - Register Rewards (Printed Receipt Based Coupon from Previous Purchase) - Rebates

If you can hit all of these variables in these formulas during your shopping trip, then chances are you are approaching saving 75% or more.

Sale Price

I wait until a product that I’m targeting goes on sale. I’m agnostic when it comes to the brand of the product. I’m perfectly fine with any brand of toilet paper or paper towels, for example. All I care about is getting the lowest price. Brands that are not the market leader tend to go on sale the most often, and usually have the best discounts. Bounty paper towels hardly go on sale while Brawny or Viva paper towels often do.

By far the best sale are BOGO sales. BOGO stands for Buy One, Get One. With a BOGO sale, you can expect to buy one item and get another item at a discount. The best deal is when you get the other item for free, known as BOGO Free.

Manufacturer’s Coupons

There are usually two types of coupons: manufacturer’s coupons and store coupons. Coupons allow you to get a discount at the checkout register. The best way to use coupons is on every single item. For example, if a product is BOGO Free, you can use two coupons on each item. You are using two coupons on the one item that you are purchasing while getting the other item free. Make sure to read the fine print. There is usually a limit to the number of coupons you can use per day. Sometimes the discount applies when buying a certain amount of items such as buying two products to get one dollar off.

I usually get weekly circulars dropped off at my doorstep once a week. I also get extras from neighbors who know I love couponing. I thank them by giving them some free swag from time to time. You can print out coupons online or through apps such as Coupons.com, RedPlum.com, and SmartSource.com. To save paper, some of these sites also allow you to load coupons directly onto your loyalty card. You can also get exclusive coupons by signing up directly with manufacturers such as Proctor & Gamble's PGEveryDay.com or joining the manufacturer's Facebook group.

Store Coupons

Many stores also have digital coupons within their apps. They can be a mix of manufacturer’s coupons or store specific coupons. Make sure to download the store-specific app, and link your rewards card to it. Linking your rewards card is necessary to make sure the digital coupons get loaded to your loyalty card.

Store Points & Store Loyalty Program

Many stores reward you for loyalty with a rewards program. Most of the time you can quickly sign up at the register while checking out. These loyalty programs allow you to earn perks by shopping at the store most often points or additional discounts that aren’t available to non-members. I use points when checking out to bring down the total amount of my purchase while checking out. From time to time, you can earn additional multiplier points during big sales. The points get added to your loyalty card after you make a purchase and may be used during a future shopping trip.

Printed Register Rewards

From time to time, you may get a register rewards discount printed on your receipt or one that prints out separately when you check out. Often they work by giving you a percentage discount or dollar amount discount after meeting a purchase amount threshold. An example could be: "Get 25% off your purchase of $50 or more". These discounts have bar codes similar to traditional coupons, so the cashier will scan the barcode when you check out to give you the discount during a future purchase.

Rebates

Ibotta

Product rebates give you additional savings on the items that you purchase. My favorite product rebate app is Ibotta. Ibotta gives you two ways to redeem rebates:

1. Taking a picture of the receipt within the app

2. Linking your loyalty card to the app

Taking a picture of the receipt requires more work as you need to take snippets of the receipt from top to bottom if the whole receipt does not fit into the default window. Someone will also need to verify your purchase before your cash is awarded to you. Linking your loyalty card to the app is much easier, and cash is added to your account 24-hours after you make a purchase.

Click here to sign up for Ibotta and claim your $10 welcome bonus!

Rakuten (Formerly Ebates)

Another app I use for rebates is Rakuten. Rakuten operates differently from Ibotta because you do not typically earn rebates from purchasing individual items. Instead, you earn rebates from shopping at a particular store or restaurant as a whole or buying from a certain category of products. I tend to use Rakuten with pricier items such as travel, appliances, or consumer electronics. Rakuten also allows you to link your debit or credit card, so you can automatically get rebates. Traditionally you would need to click through from their site or app to earn the rebate when buying online.

Click here to sign up for Rakuten and get $10 cash back after spending $25!

Ibotta vs Rakuten and Cashing Out

Another app I use for rebates is Rakuten. Rakuten operates differently from Ibotta because you do not typically earn rebates from purchasing individual items. Instead, you earn rebates from shopping at a particular store or restaurant as a whole or buying from a certain category of products. I tend to use Rakuten with pricier items such as travel, appliances, or consumer electronics. Rakuten also allows you to link your debit or credit card, so you can automatically get rebates. Traditionally you would need to click through from their site or app to earn the rebate when buying online.

The In-Store Couponing Process

Here are some quick tips to coupon like a pro in store:

1. Before shopping make sure to double check all coupons to ensure that they have not expired and that you are using only the amount of coupons allowed per day.

2. Let the cashier know that you plan on using coupons. Many cashiers will help you if you are polite. The cashiers at my Rite Aid all know me since I coupon there so often. They will usually let me use overrides to get my discounts if need be.

3. Group the products together by the coupon(s) you are using, just so the cashier can easily check that everything is in order.

4. Let the cashier know you would like the manufacturer’s coupons to be used first since the digital coupons may not be as generous and will take precedence over manufacturer’s coupons if your loyalty card is used first.

5. Use your loyalty card.

6. If you plan on using your store points. Let the cashier know just how many points you would like to use for the trip. Many stores will allow you to bank some of your points for the future if you would like.

Pro-Couponer Tricks

• If an item is sold out, ask for a rain check. A rain check will allow you to extend that deal for up to a month, so you can wait till more stock comes in to make the purchase at a later date, at the same sale price.

• If for some reason a coupon is not working and it should per the fine print, ask for an override. A manager will need to force through the discount on your behalf.

Real World Example

This is an example from the Rite Aid weekly circular in Brooklyn, NY from the week ending September 23rd 2017. With this example, I have a manufacturer’s coupon for $1 off Honey Bunches of Oats cereal when you purchase two. You get points worth $3 when you buy at least $12 worth of the cereal or any item promoted in this particular section of the circular. For simplicity, I will calculate this based on just the cereal alone. I’m not taking into consideration the sales tax. The limit on the amount of coupons within the fine print is 4 coupons per day.

Price Per Two Boxes of Cereal = price per two boxes - manufacturer’s coupon = [$5 per every 2] - $1 = $4 per every 2 boxes

Total Purchase Price Above Minimum Threshold = [Price of Minimum Above $12 with coupon discount] = 3 * $4 = $12

Total Purchase Price with All Savings = total purchase price - bonus points = $12 - $3 bonus points for future purchase = $9 for 6 boxes of cereal or $1.50 per box

When you make your purchase at the register you will pay $12, and get $3 worth of points added to your loyalty card for a future purchase. The normal retail price of Honey Bunches of Oats is $3 per box. Therefore you are saving 50%. You can increase the percentage you are saving by applying your current store points. This is a decent sale, but not great. If this were a BOGO Free deal, the savings would be closer to 75% without using points. After checking the rebate apps, there are no current rebates for Honey Bunches of Oats, which could have brought additional savings.