Toothpaste and other toiletries can make up a large portion of your monthly grocery bill. But there is a way to save on many of these items and even get many of them for free. Yes, get free stuff! What if you never had to pay for toothpaste again? It is possible and I will show you how. Now, when I say that you can save big with coupons, you may be thinking, yes, yes! The only coupons I’ve seen are for 50 cents or $1 for a tube of toothpaste, and I’ve never seen a whole tube of toothpaste for $1 or 50 cents. It does. However, did you know that different stores in your area advertise weekly sales on different toiletries (like toothpaste)? One week Walgreens may be selling Crest and the next Publix is selling Colgate. This is very important because you combine coupons with specials for big savings!
For example, Colgate Total Toothpaste is usually $3.50 or similar at CVS Pharmacy. Of course, it depends on the store you visit. Even in some cases, if there are two CVS pharmacies within walking distance of your home, their jiomart offers prices will be completely different. In general, each CVS will match the nationally advertised price, regardless of its regular price. This means that the CVS closest to you usually has its Colgate price at $3.59, while the CVS price is farthest away maybe $3.40, but if Colgate is part of a national weekly ad and $2.99 Running a promotion, it will be $2.99. For any CVS you see. So let’s say Colgate has a $2.99 promotion and you have a $1.00 Colgate coupon. Now you can get it for just $1.99. It’s a good deal, but not as good as free, right? Well, let’s say CVS has a deal where if you buy a Colgate that they sell for $2.99, you get $2 in Extra Care. Additional maintenance charges are like a hidden credit on your invoice. It’s like a cash coupon that can be redeemed for dollars on your next CVS purchase. In this case, the toothpaste is on sale for $2.99, you use a coupon to make it $1.99, and you get an extra $2 for the treat. That, my friends, is as good as getting it for free. At this point, you might be thinking, a good example, but has it really happened? Yes, it does. As I write this on January 1, 2010, this contract is still in place and will continue until tomorrow.
So what if there aren’t some great rewards program deals that offer $2 extra care or sign-up incentives or something? There is always the possibility of stacking coupons. Coupon stacking is where you use a manufacturer coupon (manufacturer of the product) and a store coupon (produced by the store). In addition to advertising, most stores offer monthly coupon booklets with coupons that can only be redeemed at their store. Best of all, they still accept manufacturer coupons. So in the example above, there might be a CVS coupon that takes $2 off any Colgate toothpaste that you can use with a $1 manufacturer coupon.
Your next thought might be how to get that $1.00 manufacturer coupon I mentioned. There are many sources of coupons. The one you are most familiar with is the Sunday newspaper. It’s still a great source for coupons, and if you don’t subscribe to your local Sunday paper, you should. In most cases, you can get a better price by subscribing rather than buying each paper from the stands. Also, illegals will actually go to local paper stands, flip through them and insert coupons. I remember expecting my husband to bring me my first official Sunday paper with a coupon insert, only to find that someone had stolen my insert. I am very sad. Learn the lesson and subscribe forever.
Another great resource for coupons is All You magazine. This is where I got my $1 Colgate coupon for this deal on my free tube of toothpaste. It is sold online at Walmart or All You or Amazon.
One of my best coupon resources is online. There are many websites that allow you to print valuable coupons directly from your printer. Some stores do not accept printable coupons, but most do. If you’re not sure, always ask.
You can browse your weekly ads to find the current week’s sales and match them with coupons in newspapers, magazines, or online. If this sounds like too much work for you, don’t worry. Others do it for you! There are many online sites that research and match weekly sales ads with coupons and tell you where to find deals. See the Resources section of this article for more details.
Remember, toothpaste isn’t the only cosmetic you can get for free or at a real discount. Just imagine how much you can save over time by using sales and coupons.
