I am a major clearance shopper for holiday items.  This year alone I saved hundred of dollars in decorations and wrapping supplies.  I just got out my tubs of brand new, still had tags on, decorations, lights, ornaments, tissue, bags, bows, paper, etc, and had a blast decorating.  About 2 weeks after Christmas, I hit Target hard.  They do 75% off, then 90% off.  There’s not much left when it gets to 90%, so I go during 75% off and get some things I’m very interested in.  When 90% hits, I get whatever’s left!  Also, if there are candy items or food items (such as peppridge farm, dove, m&m’s, etc), you can use coupons from the Arizona Republic for them, even with the steep discount!  I will be tweeting when I find certain clearances, so if you don’t already follow me on Twitter, you may want to now! Another couple places I hit for holiday clearances are:  Walgreens, CVS, Kohls, and Fry’s Marketplace.

This is my personal Black Friday plan.  My kids are 6, 5, 2, and 1.  Times are tight (for everyone) so I’m not going super crazy this year, but I’m listing below what my action plan is so that everyone gets a few items that are “super cool” under the tree.  Happy Shopping everyone!

First Stop:  Kohl’s (opens at 4am)
Earn $10 Kohl’s cash for each $50 spent
Use coupon from Thursday’s paper for $10 off $20 purchase too

Kids’ board games, many varieties  3.99
Nerf “guns”  50% off
Digital coin bank 8.99
Kid Telescope (one of the last pages of ad)  19.99
Barbies w/ change of clothes  5.99

Stop #2:  Fry’s food store

I am purchasing $100 of a Toys R Us Gift Card.  I will get an instant $10 off at the register.  Then I will take it with me to buy the items below.

Next Stop:  Toys R Us (opens at midnight but I wanted the savings from Fry’s first)

Guitar Hero controller for Xbox 360   9.99
Playtents for kids, pop up kind  50% off
Littlest Petshop Plush dogs  2.98  (great deal)
Dream town role playing sets????  70% off
Bakugan sets  2 for $7.99
20 pk of AA batteries only 4.99
Oranic Earth’s Best baby food 12pks B1G1F
Diapers, Toys R Us brand, 2 for $10

Next Stop:  Target
$10 gift card when you spend $100 in store

Leap Frog Click Start  19.99  pg 9 of ad
Nerf Vulcan Gun (if I don’t see it cheaper at Toys R Us)  25.00  pg 11
Transformers  7.99
Hello Kitty Gumball machine  15.00
Boys Slacks for uniforms or church  8.00
Bakugan 6pk???best deal   $10   back pg of ad

Next Stop:  Walmart

Only thing:  $2 movies—the Land Before Time series

Next Stop:  Game Crazy

Kung Fu Panda game for xbox 360  $4.99
Buy one, get one free games w/cpn–select varieties  (cpn in ad)

Next Stop:  CVS

tons of great deals with Extra Care Bucks–see ad, I’m getting one of each free thing
Handheld steamer for 9.99 after ECB
Transforming Radio controlled car 7.99

Next Stop:  Walgreens

tons of great deals free after Register Rewards, see ad
64 pk crayola crayons  .99 after RR
50% off many toys  (use RR earned in first transaction to pay for toys)

If time:  Radio Shak

CDR’s and DVD-R’s spools  Buy one, get one free

Saturday:

Big Lots (opens 8am)

Jazz 5mp digital camcorder  $25

Staples

webcam $9.99 plus 10% off cpn in ad
20 pack clear DVD cases  4.99

Not hard at all. Here’s my coupon sense routine which saves about 70% each trip:

1. On Wednesday I make my newsletter email for you guys outlining the stored promotions and the freebies.  I decide on 2 stores I will go to that week.  (Lucky you—you just get to open the newsletter and decide on the best stores!)
2. I log in to Coupon Sense and click on the the first store I want to shop at.  I click on the Price column so that everything is arranged from lowest to highest price.  I begin clicking on the items I want to buy at that store.
3. I do the same for the 2nd store.
4. I push “Print”.
5. The printed shopping list tells me which coupons to get out of my coupon bin.
6. I take two envelopes.  One has Store  XXX written on it and the other one Store YYY (just an example obviously).  I put the coupons for each store’s shopping trip in the correct envelope.
7. I take the Printed Shopping list and the coupon envelope with me to the store.  I buy what’s on the list, hand the cashier the envelope, pay the small balance, and leave happy!

Click here to read more about how coupon sense works.

Anyone who enjoys couponing is welcome!  This is free of course, and a good way to trade coupons you won’t use for coupons you will use!  Email me for a spot—the first 20 people can come!

• May 28th from 7-8pm in Sun City West close to Grand & Bell.
• Tuesday, June 2nd 1:30pm in Glendale near 59th Ave & Myrtle.
• June 10th at 2pm near Arizona Mills Mall

Okay, look.  I do have a Costco card.  We use it for tires, electronics, sometimes books & DVDs, but never for groceries or toiletries.  I get those MUCH cheaper at the grocery stores using coupon sense to match sales with coupons.

Here is an example:  Ragu pasta sauce is something that comes up for .40 on a regular basis using coupons and waiting for a good sale.  I get several newspapers each week so that when something is cheap like this, I can stock up.  So, I might have 6 coupons.  So I can get 6 jars of Ragu for $2.40.  There is NO WAY you are going to walk in to Costco and get a 6 pack of Ragu for $2.40.  It’ll be more like $6.

Oatmeal is another example:  Quaker prints a LOT of coupons, and quite often.  So I get the canisters of oatmeal for FREE several times a year.  And with the newspapers i get at the discounted coupon sense rate, I’m stocking up to last me until the next time it’s free.  The large containers at Costco are about $6 and they are hard to store, they spill easily, and go bad faster once opened.  The small ones that I get for free are fresher and easy to donate if I can’t go through all of the oatmeal by the time it expires.

See, it’s not rocket science.  Just waiting for coupon sense to tell me about the $1 sale, quickly digging out the coupons which double at most stores - and its free! Simple as that!

I bet you think I go to several stores a week to get all the deals. That is not true! I go to 2 grocery stores a week, and sometimes a pharmacy.  I don’t have time, with 4 kids, to be running all over the place to get the deals.  Remember, deals are cyclical and so are the coupons. So they will come around again. I just look at the stores each week (my Wednesday email helps because I break down all the stores for you guys) and decide which 2 are “calling to me”. Then I go to the Coupon Sense website to create my shopping list just for those 2 stores. After I print my list, I get out my coupons just for the items I chose, and go to the store. Simple as that!

Take a look at my free workshops and conference calls which i run to help people learn more about couponsense.

Don’t have time to come to a coupon workshop? I now am doing Conference Call Workshops! Stay at home but have the benefit of a class. The call will last about 1 hour and you will learn all about using coupons effectively using the Coupon Sense system, as well as the basics of couponing for newbies. Right now, conference calls are being held Tuesday nights at 9pm and Fridays at 1pm. I will add more as needed. Sign up now