The Labels for Education® program is proud to welcome new participating brands–GLAD® Food Storage, Emerald® Nuts, Dannon® kids yogurts and select magazines purchased at retail, including People, Real Simple and more. There are now over 2,500 participating Labels for Education products that can help your kid’s school earn even more FREE educational merchandise. For the complete list of Participating Products, click here. http://labelsforeducation.com/assets/pdf/EnglishParticipatingProductsPage.pdf?EID=4787&MID=3461418&LID=4333
There is a variety of offers in the LFE newsletter. Here’s one below. At retailers like Giant Eagle and Albertson’s, you now will be able to earn 1 point electronically each time you use your Shopper Card to purchase participating products. It’s just another way they are making it even easier to earn FREE educational merchandise for our kids’ school! For details and a full list of participating retailers, visit www.eLabelsForEducation.com. You can also get $20 in Campbell product coupons at http://www.campbellskitchen.com/coupon.aspx?EID=4787&MID=3461418&LID=3428&fbid=NSZ3kkoD_VG

Coupon and refund offerings are often dictated by a season, an event or any promotional tool developed by creative gurus.

For example, two of the biggest if not the biggest cook outs take place during Memorial Day and July 4. BBQ Season is kicked off by Memorial Day.

Supermarkets take advantage of these events and present savings on all related products.

There will be sales and ties-ins with meat, hot dogs, hamburgers, buns, mustard, ketchup, chips and everything in-between. Looks for tie-ins, such as buy hot dogs, get the mustard free. Or purchase hamburgers and get a free pack of buns.

Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF) are advertised heavily. Look for these deals on BBQ sauce, ketchup, side dishes and all of your favorites.

The more inventive a store can be, the more likely they’re able to grab your attention, and your dollars.

The truth is that you will find the best deals on all of these items during BBQ season. Buy enough of the non-perishable products to last throughout your cookouts.

It would be impossible to count, but the average supermarket contains about 70,000 different products and variations of the product that could make any shopper dizzy.

How do manufacturers manage to get your attention with yet another new product? COUPONS. Coupons are still one of the best forms of promotion, and as good shoppers we want to please the manufacturers by using them, and using them a lot.

Most new products never make it past the first year. Depending upon its’ budget, information about the product floods the market during that time. Which mean more promotions, more coupons and more sales.

General Mills is one of my favorite companies for coupons and new product introductions. My family has always been a fan of Honey Nut Cheerios, but when Chocolate Cheerios was recently introduced it captured the palate of one of my sons.

When I found a sale 2/$5 I bought 4 boxes, using a coupon on each, and getting double value to boot. My final cost was 2/$3 or $1.50 per box, about a 75% savings. General Mills made the coupon value so attractive it was hard to pass up the special deal. And it served its purpose, we now buy Chocolate Cheerios on a regular (sale of course) routine.

Enewsletters from many of the manufacturers also alert you to the new introductions and high value coupons on their web sites. That was the case with Comet Cream. The product was introduced with a $1 coupon.

Using high value new product coupons you will reduce your grocery bill and get to try lots of new items, so now it’s time to give it a shot.

Coupons as we have already determined are a great source of savings and is one of the most powerful marketing tools, if not the most powerful. Retail stores have come to realize this and are issuing coupons in record numbers. Every event, season or opportunity brings a whole array of retail coupons.

On a given Sunday, I’ll find upwards of 6 or 7 coupons inserted or printed in my newspaper. Some are mailed directly to my home. Clothing and department stores are among the tops: Bloomingdales, Macys, Kohl’s, Lord & Taylor, have a steady stream of sales and coupons. Old Navy, Banana Republic, and The Gap (all under the same umbrella) have coupons as well as a loyalty program. These include a registration process for your register receipt that nets you an extra 10% off your next total purchase. Last year during the holidays, I got 3 extra $5 coupons good on any purchase.

Stationery and office supply stores offer coupon savings, dollar days, loyalty programs and an entire rebate center. Sign up for the programs is easy and secure, and once you’re signed up your savings begin. I’ve been receiving $25 off a $75 purchase at Staples on a regular basis. Each time I use the coupon, I’m mailed a new one.

Other retail outlets include: Golfsmith, Brookstone, Bye Bye Baby, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace, Truvalue, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical and Bed Bath & Beyond. In all of these cases you can and should buy the product when it’s on sale and then use the coupon. With Bed, Bath & Beyond they not only offer coupons but have a rebate sheet found behind the courtesy desk. Combine both the coupon and rebate for a fabulous savings.

I love eating out, but not as much as I love using a coupon to help pay for the meal.

Many chains offer coupons, distributed in a variety of ways. Probably the most widely used medium is the Sunday insert.

Splashed throughout the flyer are coupons for Olive Garden, Subway, Quiznos, McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Domino’s Pizza, Pizzeria Uno, TGI Friday’s and more. The discounts vary
from a BOGOF entrée to a free appetizer or dessert or a % off an entire meal. Just a note of caution: most of these coupons on not accepted at the highway version of these chains.

Some like IHOP offer free kids meals. Others like Panera Bread have a loyalty program for beverages. For every 8 beverages, the next is free. Some offer a senior discount too.

The internet is another source of restaurant coupons. By signing up for the various enewletters, alerts for discounts come through on a regular basis.

Virginia Ann Senyk sent email coupons for TGI Friday’s, which offers a loyalty program called ‘Stripes’. Other restaurant internet coupons boasted savings at:

• Quiznos
• Subway
• Wendy’s
• Taco Bell

Many local chains and restaurants have discounts too. Spiga, a locally owned restaurant, has a BOGOF lunch up to $11.00 from Monday to Thursday.

The Entertainment book offers many meal discounts. Some of the repeat offers can be printed off the internet once you own the book and sign up on the site. These savings vary from $5 off a meal to one free lunch or dinner entrée.

Two sites I found very helpful are www.idine.com and www.restaurant.com. These work in entirely different ways.

Idine gives a % back on your dining experience. Just sign up your credit card or cards, and you’ll start racking up the saving. The savings start at 5% and increase to 15% depending upon usage. Once again loyalty counts. The more you spend the higher your savings percentage.

Restaurant.com sells certificates. The regular cost is $10 for a $25 certificate or $20 for a $50 one. However, there are always sales of 70 to 80% off the $10 or $20 bringing the cost down to $3 or $2 for the $25 certificate or $6 or $4 for the $50. I find the best is to buy the gift certificates and use them as I want.

As an example, we celebrated Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Mark’s birthday at a restaurant in Manhattan. I found a $50 certificate off a $100 purchase, and we brought our own wine. For the 6 of us, our final cost was $53 or $8.50 per person (plus tax) for dinner. I think that was pretty darn good.
There are a few local restaurant web sites. The best is to try and google them for your local area. I find tastes better when I pay half price. I bet you will too.

Happy Holidays! Here are a few sales, coupon codes, discounts, special offers and more!

• Walmart Value of the day
• Other Walmart Sale Items
• Best Buy Deals
• Home Depot
• Macys in Store Savings pass
• Lord and Taylor in store savings pass
• Toys R Us Cyber Sale
• L.L. bean Free shipping plus Free $10 gift card
• L.L. Bean Sale Items
• Old Navy Savings Circular
• Gap Take $25% off today (December 7^th take 20% off and December 8^th Take 15% off)
• Godiva Enter Code “Merry” for free shipping on orders $60 or more
• Babys R Us Weekly Sale Circular
• Diapers.com get cash back on Diapers

Plus a few more!

• Additional Diapers.com Sale items
• Amazon.com daily deals
• B&H Photo holiday offers
• Saks 5^th Avenue Deals
• Williams Sonoma $20 off cookware
• American Apparel Free HolidayGift When you spend $175
• Footlocker 25% with coupon code IPFLFFTD
• Kenneth Cole Sale Items
• Ralph Lauren Sale

This has to be one of the most frequently asked questions, which is better to buy: The store or the national brand of the product.

If you’re a couponer, that question is as easy as pie to answer. The national brand. Consider this, I regularly save 50% or better on my shopping, that includes non-couponed items too. That means I’m paying ½ for most goods So I put together these examples:

Skippy Peanut Butter was 2/$3 and $2/2 with my coupon or $1 each. The store brand was $2.49. To me this is a no contest decision. Or how about Dole Pineapple on sale for $1/can, the store brand $1.09. With $.50/2 doubled on the Dole, I paid $.50 each. Since I use a lot of both of these products I bought 4 jars of Skippy and 4 cans of Dole Pineapple slices in its own juice.

Bar S Hot Dogs were promoted at $.99 each, a good deal. But add my $1/2 coupon and each package was $.49. The store brand $1.19.

With a little planning you can achieve these bargains over and over again. Pick out a few good sales and try it yourself. I get emails all the time from coupon princes and princesses who accomplish exactly the same feat.

I recently heard from Tom Carney, he does the family preparation for shopping. Here’s what Tom told me. He created a Spreadsheet on Microsoft Excel. He listed all the products his family uses. Next, he checks the stores flyers and decides on the best place to shop. He checks off the sale items that match his family’s favorites.

He found this system very time saving. He has the one master list, makes his choices by the sales and coupon offerings, and prints it off. Each week his purchases change to take advantage of all the great deals.

He never has to make another list. What a time saver, and what an easy way to prepare for your weekly shopping. He does adjust the list on occasion to allow for change in preferences. One last mention from Tom, he also goes to other stores, discount drug chains etc. to take advantage of their specials.

I always have more coupons than I can use. Sharing and helping others is a great way to maximize coupon use. Here’s my system.

Discount drug chains generally offer trail sizes. As a matter of fact my local CVS has ½ an aisle devoted to these small packages. It’s a real bonus. Many coupons do not list a specific size of the product. I use my coupons against these $.99 brands. In the case of the $1 coupons, the items are free. My supermarket that doubles coupon value displays trial sizes too, particularly in the health and beauty aid section. With a $.50 or $.75 coupon doubled, I can walk away with quite a lot of free or nearly free stuff. I stock up as much as possible and save them for future use

When my sons participate in the Midnight Run, the distribution of blankets, sandwiches and toiletries to the needy, I can supply most of the toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, razors, shaving crème, shampoo and bandages for the event.

I also donate my extra deals to the local Senior center. I not only supply the products, but I drop off extra coupons to share. You can start an exchange at your local center and encourage the group to bring in their unused coupons too. It’s a engaging activity and money-saving for those on a limited budget.

Helping others this way is a benefit of being a coupon person. I feel I’m sharing a bit of my savings with others and their appreciation is heartfelt. If you have an opportunity to help, give it a shot.