jennylyn:The system sounds a bit confusing, and I don't do Sunday coupons but do hold onto others that I get here and there if they are for products that I use. So I am going to see if I can get some of these deals and rebates/rewards too!
Jennylyn,
Most of us get coupons from Sunday's paper or they come if people are signed up to be part of a coupon train, or people just give them to us. I buy four or five Sunday papers, then put all like pages together from the coupon section. That way, if I want to clip, I can clip several at a time. I looked at the Taylortown Preview site today because they have a 2008 coupon schedule which tells which coupon inserts (Smartsource or Valassis) will be in the Sunday paper. Sadly, no coupon inserts are scheduled to be in this Sunday's paper. :-**( However, the first weekend of the month the Procter & Gamble products flier will be in papers, along with any of the others listed.
I only really really realized how this worked within the last few weeks. Someone posted a link to this website http://jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com/ and it happened to also be the week that Walgreens had three pages of items for sale that generated register rewards. I think it was if you bought three of those items, you would get $3.00 in register rewards; buy 4-6 of those items, you would get $5.00 in RR, if you bought 8 of those items you would get $10 RR, and if you bought 9 or more of those items, you would get two $10 RR ($20). Since the items were basic supplies and would eventually be used, no harm in stocking up against future inflationary prices. You take the monthly EasySaver and look for coupons there for items on sale. These are Walgreens in store coupons. Add to them any manufacturer coupons you might have for the product to save bigger. This is called stacking, and it is permitted. The only thing you cannot do is buy items with RR expecting to get more RR -- that gap has been closed, I'm told. I did wind up making several trips to different stores, always along my route to somewhere, I wound up with at least $160 in RR my first week, as it was a P&G week. I have a couple more days to spend the rest, but have basically been buying things like canned goods, cereal, milk, vitamins, etc. that I needed, spending RR in trips where I was not planning to generate RR. So I have lots of inventory on some items, gave some to an out-of-work friend, and have bought needed items. Now, you also look at the EasySaver to see what rebates there are, which helps your buying plan, keep your receipts, and send in the rebate according to instructions. If you take it as a gift card, they give an extra percentage. The EasySaver always has several items that are Free After Rebate. Those are good to get. If you don't use them, you can give them to a shelter or just someone you know who is having a tough time.
I think I noticed that you are in California and there is a thread about some people wanting to start a Western Coupon Train.
Most people, I think, probably start small. I jumped in with both my big feet.
Hope this helps!
