Day 1: We all have to shop! Why not save money while doing it?
Day 2: The Language of Couponers – Translated!
Day 3: Where Art Thou Coupons?
Day 4: Know Thy Coupon (What does that fine print mean?)
Day 5: When to Use Your Coupons
Day 6: Buy Groceries, Pay for College with Upromise eCoupons
Day 7: eCoupons the Alternate to Clipping
Day 8: Don’t Get Mad, Get a Rain Check
Day 9: Advance Your Couponing Skills with Rebates
Day 10: Stockpiling
Day 11: Organize Your Coupon Stash
Day 12: Surviving the Checkout Lane
No clipping, no printing, no fuss when using eCoupons. Cellfire, Shortcuts, P&G eCoupons, and Upromise eCoupons offer this convenient alternate to paper coupons. Cellfire and Shortcuts are limited to Kroger shoppers (and the whole family of Kroger grocery stores.) While P&G eSavers can be used at Kroger and Safeway stores. Hopefully, more stores will participate in these programs as they become more popular.
Many stores participate in the Upromise eCoupons program and you can read more about how the Upromise eCoupon program works from yesterday’s post: Buy Groceries, Pay for College with Upromise eCoupons.
How it Works
- Sign up for an account and register your participating store cards with Shortcuts, Cellfire, and P&G eSavers.
- Load the coupons you want. I just go ahead and load all that I’m allowed to be on the safe side. It takes about an hour for it to be loaded on your store loyalty card so don’t wait until the last minute to load ‘em. You will want to check and make sure they are loaded before going out to shop.
- Shop at your participating stores with your registered store loyalty card. When you purchase participating items, the amount of the eCoupon will be deducted at checkout.
- If you have a problem with your eCoupon being deducted, contact the eCoupon provider with the link provided on their website. You usually have 30 days to report a problem.
eCoupons normally don’t double so sometimes you save more by using a paper coupon. However, eCoupons are a great option for those who don’t want the hassle of clipping, sorting, etc. Even if you don’t want to do coupon match ups, activate your eCoupon savings and if you happen to buy one of the products – YAY for you for unintentionally saving a little dough!
eCoupons & Paper Coupons
eCoupons from Shortcuts, Cellfire, and P&G eSavers are not meant to be used with paper coupons. However, most of the time you will be able to obtain both discounts. Probably even discounts from all four eCoupons places and paper coupons if there is a coupon for the same product available on all.
However, this is not how it is intended. I do know that is very hard to remember which coupons you have loaded on the card as well as values. So maybe your paper coupon is a higher value but you already loaded the eCoupon? What do you do?
These are issues which eCoupon companies/manufacturer/stores need to get a better handle on how to use these without being unethical or violating their rules. Because as we know, improper coupon usage hurts us all. You can read two different opinions about this at Mommysnacks.net and SouthernSavers. Each has a differing view on the opinion – my opinion is I won’t intentionally use both but I can’t remember it all! (Really, it isn’t too hard for me because my main shopping store doesn’t even offer eCoupons!)
The 15 Days of Couponing will guide you through the art of couponing. It is a skill that you can learn and maximize to the full potential to help your family and help others. So if you are interested in cutting your grocery budget in half or more, read yesterday’s edition and stay tuned for tommorrow’s edition.