Whats the appeal?

Many people are baffled to see my stock pile and just what I have been able to receive using rewards programs such as Shoppers Optimum, Stouffers and Swagbucks but then there are others who say it must take so much time or it's just not worth it since they buy no name products instead. This leaves me shocked! I have found 99% of the time that I can purchase name brand products cheaper than I can store brand since there are very seldom coupons for these store brand products and the quality is often times poor.
So what is the appeal of using coupons for me? The fact that I have a years plus supply of toilet paper, laundry detergent, cleaning products, dish soap, soup, pasta, razors and personal care products that I paid just pennies for each is the appeal for me! The fact that I can put that money that I would otherwise spend on groceries into things like fun birthday parties, entertainment for our family, paying off our debt and having a savings. It gives us security without having to give up the products that we love. I love that we can also try products like the Physicians Formula make up that I would never even consider buying because of the price for free. That is a huge deal for me since I am not too great when it comes to make up but I'd like to try a few different things and I found I hated the liquid eye liner and mascara so it wasn't a big deal to just give it away to my cousin.
I love that I can put together a basket full of items to give as birthday presents, get well gifts or just pick me ups for friends and family who have been having a hard time and it hardly costs us! The smiles on their faces and the fact that I have made their day just a little better is a huge deal. The fact that it is saving them money so they can use the extra to buy diapers or put gas in their vehicles for another week is huge.
I love that I can give back to my community whether it be the Humane Society who needs our donations, food banks, schools or people just down on their luck. I love being able to do my part which I couldn't previous do.
So here are a few more places you can put your money to work for you!
Icoke.ca is a great program where you can take your coke pins found under the caps and in the packaging of specially marked products. You enter the pins into the website and receive Icoke points. These points you can trade in for a variety of things including movie tickets and Pizza Pizza gift cards! All free for those Coke drinkers out there. We go through a ton since my husband is a huge coke drinker so we might as well get something for a product that we are purchasing anyhow!

Swagbucks is one of my all time favorite rewards programs. You use it just as you would google or any other search engine and earn "swagbucks" which can be redeemed for electronics, gift cards, pay pal and tons of other great items! It's completely free and it does pay! I've received well over $300 in amazon.ca gift cards using this program for a little more than a year!
http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Wiserwithwords check it out! I think you will be really surprised on just how easy it is to use. We are now saving up our gift cards for Christmas 2011 since last year it was such a hit! The kids got loads of books, games and dvd's which didn't cost me a penny!

Stouffers has extended the promotion that you get 12 stouffers pins (found inside specially marked boxes of Stouffers, Lean Cuisine and Bistro frozen entrees) and you receive a $10 gift card to the store of your choice and $15 in free product coupons! This is a great promotion when the entrees are on sale or if you have coupons you can combine with them!

It's truly remarkable just how quickly you can earn rewards using products or services that you normally do anyhow. It takes a little time and effort but the savings truly do pay off! With that said I am off to make my family a big ol' fat Tuesday dinner of crepes stuffed with all kinds of fruity goodness!

Shoppers Bonus Points

We all love Shoppers Optimum points, I mean really who doesn't love free stuff right? My favorite days of all though are when promotions are on and they have bonus points days! This week is one of those times where you can spend $75 and receive an additional $25 in Optimum bonus points (18500 points) on top of your regular purchase points. But who wants to spend $75 if they don't have to right? Here is a little tip that most cashiers will tell you is wrong but it has been tried and proven that it does work. Let me in on a well kept secret of how to get these bonus points with spending very little cash out of pocket.
Take a look at your Shoppers Drug Marts weekly flyer and make your list of items that you do need at their lowest prices. Then add that up and see just how much you have to spend to get to that $75. If you don't need anything at all then take a look at your coupons and match them to the sales. As long as your subtotal is $75+ you WILL receive your bonus points even after coupons bring your total well below $75.

Here is an example from my shopping trip today:
2x Goodnights diapers on sale for $13.99 - 2x $2.00 save.ca coupons
4x Gillette aftershave lotion/gel on sale for 2/$5 - $5 P&G coupon wub3
4x Gillette shaving gel on sale for 2/$5 - $5 P&G coupon wub3
4x Trial size Gillette shampoo on sale for .50cents (I purchased these to make my total for the $5 coupons just $5.50 each, the shelf said these were $1.99 but they rung up at .50 cents)
4x Satin Care shaving cream 2/$5 - $4 wub2 P&G coupon
2x Busy Bones denta bones $2.99 each - $3 save.ca coupon
1x Lysol No touch soap dispenser $15.99 (will do the mail in rebate to receive $14.99 back plus taxes and postage)
My total before coupons was well over $75 but after coupons I only paid $48.05. I could have made my total much lower but I needed the Goodnights and that is the best price I have ever seen in awhile and the Lysol mail in rebate will return a good portion of what I spent back.

So 18500 points which is equal to $25 + $14.99 rebate (plus taxes and postage) = $39.99 in points/cash back so out of pocket I will only be out roughly $8! Fantastic bargains! This bonus offer is going all week long so I will be participating at least once more to pick up some bargains.

Shoppers also has 10 pack Advil Night time on sale for $3.99 with $4.00 coupons found in store on tear pads which make them free. Some cashiers will not allow you to use the coupons are higher than the value of the product but you may get lucky and get a great cashier. Most stores have had their shelves cleared of these but if you are lucky and can find some it's a great deal! If you can't you should be able to get a rain check for 4 that you can use within the next month at the store where you received the rain check.

Happy Shopping at Shoppers!