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Archive for October, 2007

Coupon Trains

October 31st, 2007 at 05:16 am

As one of the people in the story featured below, let me share a little more with you about coupon trains.

http://cbs4.com/consumer/local_story_298095413.html

A coupon train originates with a member of a grocery coupon forum like www.hotcouponworld.com or www.organicgrocerydeals.com has an idea to create a new train and spread coupons across the country by connecting riders (participants) at different stations (cities). Usually, the train has a theme. One I am partipating on right now has a theme about the Oregon Trail, and features a rider from every state of the Lewis & Clark expidition.

The conductor is responsible for organizing everyone's names and addresses, and then fills an envelope with coupons. There are different kinds of train requirements as set by the conductor. It could be that no pet or baby food coupons are allowed. It could also be that there is a certain amount of coupons needed to ride the train (say 100, or enough that no more than 1 stamp would cover postage).

But then there are more intense trains - super trains - with THOUSANDS of coupons that come in a full priority mail box, and can cost as much as $9 to ship.

No matter what size train you're on, the object is then to move the train forward as quickly as possible because coupons do expire.

When the train hits the station, the rider takes out what he or she might be able to use, pull out and recycle the expired coupons, and refill the train the rest of the way from their own stash of coupons.

A good conductor will also have riders take note of wishlists. A wishlist is the list of desired coupons that are going to the next person in line. It personalizes the train even more when a rider gets coupons she/he was looking for.

An unsuccessful train is one that derails somewhere along the way when a rider hasn't fulfilled their end of the bargain. It ruins it for everyone else who committed to be on the train. At Hotcouponworld, it's more rare than the norm because a board like ours operates with a high degree of trust and a feedback system similar to those at Ebay or other auction sites.

A successful train is when the train makes it all the way back to the conductor and has entirely new coupons in it. A repeater is where the group opts to go for another ride together (or add/drop a few new stations and riders) but has the same theme and takes off again from the same point of origin.

The purpose of a train is to obtain multiple coupons and pass on coupons you might not be able to use. If a rider ahead of you can use high value baby coupons and you have no children, passing them along helps the next person on the route save money. And really coupon trains are all about connecting people, having fun, and saving as much money at the store as humanely possible.

Saving at the Home Depot and big box hardware stores

October 20th, 2007 at 06:38 pm

Saving money on groceries is great. It's the most controllable part of your budget. But I also like to save money on other things as well. If I can get a deal on just about everything I buy, I'll take it.

Home projects can just eat my budget. Here's a couple ways you can save on home projects.

First off - the big box guys like Home Depot and Lowes take everyone else's coupons. That's a plus because while the coupons might seem tough to come by, you just have to know where to look.

For instance, you can get a $25 off $200 for registering for HD's upcoming "do it herself" clinic

Text is
LINK TO FREE REGISTRATION!!
and Link is http://www.cpadna.com/trackingcode.php?aid=91&linkid=B203

LINK TO FREE REGISTRATION!!



Then, you can also get a $10/$50 coupon for registering for the "garden club" newsletter:

Text is HERE'S THE LINK and Link is http://www.cpadna.com/trackingcode.php?aid=91&linkid=B248
HERE'S THE LINK


If you're a military vet, a few times a year, you can get a 10% off coupon - Veteran's day, being the upcoming one, President's day weekend, 4th of July weekend, and Labor Day weekend. Some HDs will honor that discount year round.

In your Entertainment Book, there are coupons in many areas to local hardware stores like Ace or truevalue. We have some that are 20% off your purchase - the big box guys will take those.

(Right now - there's a $1 shipping and a $25 restaurants.com GC for getting an entertainment book, so worth it if yours has hardware coupons)

Text is Link to Entertainment offer and Link is "http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2095594-10421875
Link to Entertainment offer

Lastly, if you've moved recently, you can get a coupon for 10% off (some years it's HD, others it's Lowe's) just for submitting a change of address.

You can also trade for them at sites like ours, http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums and people are willing to swap for them.

Avoid buying them on Ebay - they tend to be overpriced.

Good luck saving money at the hardware store, and Happy Shopping!

Saving On Organics

October 14th, 2007 at 05:36 am

Something that I've been long wondering about - can buying organics be had on the cheap?

That's what we've been wondering for awhile now, so to figure out if it could be done, we decided to open a new site dedicated to organic and natural grocery shopping. We're inviting folks to come share in the conversation about organic and natural foods and how to save money on them.

We'd love to hear your feedback!

Text is http://www.organicgrocerydeals.com/forums and Link is
http://www.organicgrocerydeals.com/forums

My Favorite Freebies

October 3rd, 2007 at 06:28 pm

Everyone loves free stuff. Who doesn't? It's of course even better when it's delivered right to your doorstep or computer.

Links to my favorite freebies:

Text is LINK TO MYCOKEREWARDS.COM and Link is http://www.cpadna.com/trackingcode.php?aid=91&linkid=B93
LINK TO MYCOKEREWARDS.COM (good for a free 20z coke coupon for new members)

Text is 30 free prints from Snapfish.com and Link is http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-2095594-10357450
30 free prints from Snapfish.com

Text is Free 7-day trial to Napster.com and Link is http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2095594-10361858
Free 7-day trial to Napster.com


I'll continue to add these as I encounter them.

What's HOT this week - General Mills, Pillsbury and more

October 3rd, 2007 at 09:20 am

Boy, just when I thought my stockpile was full - it's going to get fuller.

At this point, it's more thrill of the hunt than anything. All the GM product lines are on serious sale starting today. I'll be digging through my coupons and printing them as fast as I can to get in on some of these deals. And it will make great stuffy-stuff for the food bank.

Here's the deal....

Start by grabbing the new printable coupons - hot off the presses this week.

I love the first of the month, all the printables get updated.

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/view.php?pg=couponsdotcom

Print off everything you can for GM, Pillsbury, progresso, green giant, yoplait....it's all on sale.

This week at Albertsons, most of these items are going to be 10/$10, and then there's another good sized chunk including some cereals that are going to be 10/$15. If you didn't shop with coupons at all, $1.50 a box for cereal compared to retial isn't a bad price. But if you can print out coupons or look for the blinkie GM coupons or peelable $1/1 coupons, you're going to get an even better deal. And I don't know many people that won't eat at least some kind of cereal.

And know that it's not all junk. Cheerios are in the Alberstons sale if you're trying to limit your group on sugary cereals.

So, print some coupons, grab your ads to match up the best deals to the coupons. Remember, if you print coupons, you can print each one twice per printer.

Happy shopping!!!