Samuel A Clarke.com

Hello couponers, I’m back after a small break from blogging. I am transitioning from stay at home Mom to working mom and so here I am trying to balance Mommying, working and couponing, no easy feat!

I have been thinking a lot about how couponers are perceived. Since TLC’s show Extreme Couponing aired, a tremendous amount of people have been turned on to the whole couponing scene. You would think that because couponing is the new ‘cool’ thing that it would be looked on favourably but that is not really the feeling I am getting.

There I’ll be, standing in line with my purchases and my handfuls of coupons and when I step up to the cashier and hand them over I definitely have gotten some mixed reactions. From what little I have seen TLC’s show mixed with what I have read on couponing forums, both the cashiers and management staff as well as the other customers in line seem to be reasonably encouraging and in some cases have even cheered the couponer on. I have not experienced anything like this.

During my most positive couponing experiences I am treated with mere indifference. Just another customer. This is just fine with me because anyone who knows me knows I don’t like to stand out or draw attention to myself. I am definitely the kind of person that likes to blend in which, incidentally, is pretty hard to do when you are wheeling a cart full of 50 free boxes of cereal out of the grocery store.

That was for sure my most memorable, and embarrassing, couponing experience. Embarrassing because, as per my previous statement, I hated everyone staring at me with shocked looks on their faces and memorable for the way people reacted. Ok, yes 50 boxes of cereal is a LOT of cereal. The cashier and the other people in line couldn’t understand why I would want so much free cereal. They seemed to think it was just going to go to waste. They didn’t seem to be able to fathom anyone eating it all. Overall the other customers and the cashier seemed perplexed.

This really surprised me. For one, it is a non perishable item so it can just sit there for however many months it takes for my kids to devour it all (which may be less time than you would think). For two, I have three kids, two of them boys and I have to tell you that my 8 year old would live exclusively on cereal and peanut butter sandwiches if I were to let him – so I can absolutely guarantee you, without any doubt whatsoever, that the cereal will NOT go to waste. For three, and this is where I get really stumped, who WOULDN’T want a several month supply of cereal or whatever else sitting in their pantry that they got for FREE????

I mean maybe if you are really well off financially then you would think stockpiling tons of products in your basement was a little wacky. I’ll give you that. But I am certainly not writing this blog from the perspective of someone who coupons just for the fun of it. I am writing from the perspective of a Mom in a (until recently) single income family trying to survive and provide for her family in one of the most expensive cities in Canada. And from my point of view, knowing I have a four year supply of laundry detergent downstairs is pretty darn reassuring. Its just one less thing have to worry about budgeting for and I’ll tell you something else, getting all the coupons that enabled me to get the laundry detergent and hunting down the various sales that allowed me to get it for free was a lot of work!

I have also experienced personnel on the sales floor badmouthing couponers. I had learned of a really good coupon for Dove products sometime ago that was supposed to be available in stores on tearpads. For those of you who don’t know, these are the pads of coupons you will see affixed to the shelf on which the applicable product is displayed. Not having any success in finding these tearpads I finally asked a nearby employee if they had them anywhere else. The man started in on how awful couponers were and complained that since the couponing craze had begun, they weren’t able to keep tearpad coupons ‘in stock’ for more than a couple days after getting them. At this point he was joined by a female coworker who started commenting how absurd it was that people out there were couponing to the extent that they had stockpiles of products. The way she spoke of couponers was almost as though she thought of us more as mentally unbalanced hoarders than hardworking people dedicated to providing for our families in any way we could.

Now I can’t help but wonder if there are lots of you out there having more positive couponing experiences than I have had or if you are having similar (or worse) experiences. It seems to me that couponers are being viewed pretty negatively. Personally I think we all have our talents and mine just happens to be couponing – I just love that rush I get when I score big. So I will persevere in the face of scrutiny and certainly won’t be deterred from getting that next big deal! I hope all of you will too

I remember the first time I saw TLC’s show Extreme Couponing and what my reaction was. It was hard not to be blown away by the sight of someone getting over $1200 worth of groceries for around $60! my first thought was, of course, “I am going to be the next big extreme couponer!” Well I am certainly not the only one who was blown away by the airing of the show. Within 48 hours of seeing my first episode, my chiropractor, dental hygienist and a neighbour had all asked me the same question, “Have you seen that new show Extreme Couponing?”

The buzz about the show was unbelievable! Within a very short time couponing seems to have become a mass phenomenon. I have heard stories from store clerks (who think that extreme couponers are going overboard) about people ripping the entire tear-pads off and leaving none left on the shelf for anyone else! There was even a news story the other day about a woman who was caught paying for one newspaper and then stealing the whole stack of papers from the machine just so she could get the coveted Red Plum and Smart Source coupon inserts.

As big as couponing has become it seems there is another way to make a fast buck on the rise. TLC’s next project is a new show, called ‘High Stakes Sweepers’, which focuses on another quick money subculture: People obsessed with entering sweepstakes. We will get the chance to follow passionate sweepstakes players as they spend their days and nights filling out contest entries in the hopes of striking it big. We will get the inside story on their strategies and surprising successes as these everyday people spend up to 60 hours per week searching for sweepstakes forms, buying products and testing their luck in thousands of sweepstakes in the hopes of winning anything from a tube of toothpaste to a trip to Italy.

So the big question is: are ‘extreme sweepstakes’ really worth the time and effort? Well if you ask one of the ‘stars’ of the new show, a woman who has won prizes worth more than $1.2 million, I’m sure she would shout a resounding, “YES!” but I will have to reserve my judgment for now. I guess I will have to shift some of my attention from ‘extreme couponing’ to ‘extreme sweepstakes’ and see what happens. Happy sweepstakes !

Check out the section ‘Maegan’s Deals’ for your links to deals, freebies, samples, and more…

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Just ‘a buck’ 😉

The topographical landscape of extreme couponing seems to be ever changing. I have been watching my wife Maegan venture out into this wild world of extreme couponing for the last several months – and though I haven’t been all that surprised by the sheer amount of work involved in tracking down and keeping track of all the opportunities to extreme coupon, I am surprised by the extent to which things have shifted out of paper and into digital over the last number of years.

I remember my mother sitting at the kitchen table clipping coupon after coupon. I half expected that to still be a large part of extreme couponing today. It isn’t.

Yes, coupons still come with the newspaper, but I’d say Maegan does 90% of her extreme couponing with a keyboard and mouse.

Extreme couponing digitally is a rapidly growing force that will likely take over as the primary method of distribution of coupons in the next few years if it hasn’t already! Companies like General Mills say they are moving more and more of their coupon budget towards digital coupons and away from news papers. Digital coupons boast higher redemption rates and often cost less to distribute.

Today the stigma surrounding extreme couponing and couponing in general is lifting, it is even becoming chic to clip coupons!

In todays age of economic turmoil more and more people from all walks of life are realizing that not only is extreme couponing fun, (There is no other feeling like getting 50%, 75%, 90% or even 100% off an item) but it is rapidly becoming absolutely necessary for survival.

Maegan will continue to post her finds in new articles and posts and list links to these treasures right here at www.SamuelAClarke.com.

Check out the section ‘Maegan’s Deals’ for your links to deals, freebies, samples, and more…

Follow @Samuel_A_Clarke

Just ‘a buck’ 😉

If you are a Canadian Coca Cola ™ drinker then there is a good chance you already know about iCoke ‘s™ online rewards program. I myself have just discovered it recently, and wanted to share with you just what I have learned. When you register on Coca Cola’s ™ website, iCoke.ca ™, you can enter ‘PIN’ codes found on specially marked Coca Cola ™ and Sprite ™ products. These codes are converted into virtual ‘points’ which can be redeemed for rewards and contest entries. Sometimes the Coca Cola ™ site will even tip you off as to where you can get special ‘PIN’s found on fountain cups and scratch cards!

The rewards and contests offered at iCoke ™ change frequently, but some of the current ones are: a coupon for a free Coca Cola ™ product, $5 or $10 Wagjag bucks, $5 Pizza Pizza gift card, a day pass to Canada’s Wonderland, music and ringtone downloads and much much more! You can also enter contests to win a trip to Costa Rica or concert tickets to great shows for you and three friends (including airfare and accommodations for three nights).

My favorite iCoke ™ ‘reward’ is the buy one get one free coupon for a case of Coke ™ that is available to members for 0 points! You can request the coupon once a week per member which, in the end, can add up to a lot of free Coke ™!

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Just ‘a buck’ 😉

What is better than a yummy Mr Big chocolate bar? A FREE Mr Big chocolate bar! Mr Big bars are huge here in Canada, no pun intended. 😉 But for those of you who aren’t familiar with them, Mr Big is the largest sized chocolate bar produced by Cadbury, hence the name. It’s actually the length of two “standard”-sized bars end-to-end – around 20 centimetres long, and hey, I’m all for more chocolate!!

Now you are about to get your chance to get your own FREE Mr Big bar as Cadbury is having a giveaway sometime in the next two weeks, as rumour has it. When the giveaway begins you simply have to ‘like’ their Facebook page and then you will be able to get your freebie Mr. Big chocolate bar. I suggest visiting the Mr Big page on Facebook and adding it to your favourites so that you can check back frequently for news as to when the giveaway goes live. Thanks Cadbury!

Mr Big Chocolate Bar Giveaway:Free Mr Big

Don’t forget to register for this site so you can leave me a comment. Also, don’t forget to +1 on Google and ‘like’ my post on Facebook. Thanks

Just a Buck… Help me to keep finding GREAT deals! 😉

I used to hate going and getting the mail. Who wants to open a mailbox full of bills and junk mail? Now I LOVE getting it! I have to confess that sometimes after two days without mail delivery I can start to get a little anxious. I can’t wait for Monday afternoon to come so I can see just what goodies await me in my mail box.

What goodies will be waiting for me? Well, not only can you request coupons on-line, but I have found you can get free samples of almost ANYTHING: soap, shampoo, perfume, cereal, coffee, protein bars, health supplements, dental floss, mugs, packing supplies, pet food… Its unbelievable! Also, the best thing about free samples is not necessarily the free sample itself; But most of the time the free sample is accompanied by a coupon for the product. That coupon can often turn into a free – full sized – item when combined with a sale! Just check out my post on Purex laundry soap here. It can take a lot of time, energy, and ‘footwork’ to hunt down some of these offers, but It will be well worth it. In order to assist you and get you started, I have assembled some current free sample links for you to check out.

Just follow this link right here on Samuel A Clarke.com to my new page of Free Samples, Deals, Coupons, Giveaways and Contests!

Here are examples some of the Great Deals I have had on My Deals Page…

Free Sample of Similac Baby Formula

Free Beauty Herbal Spa Herbal Candle

Free Sample of Kellogg’s Fibre Plus Cereal

$2 off Coupon of Kellogg’s Fibre Plus Cereal

Free Sample of Popcorn

Free Sample of Hugo Boss Fragrance

Free Sample of BreatheRight Nasal Strips

Free Baby Nutrition Kit and Free Cereal Sample

Free Sample of Ensure

Free Samples of Earth Naturals Soap

Free Samples of Zantac 150

***…AND MUCH MORE!!***

Happy Sampling everyone! Remember to register for this site so you can leave a comment for me. Also, don’t forget to +1 on Google and ‘like’ my post on Facebook. Thanks

Just a Buck…