Q & A

From an email...

Coupon Clipper: Do you know when Walgreen's/CVS/Rite Aid get their shipments? I thought you said just once a week?

Me: True. Drug stores receive only ONE truck per week to restock their shelves with, unlike grocery stores which get trucks nearly every single day. Just ask at your drug stores when their trucks come and AND when the stock is normally back on the shelves.... as that takes time and manpower.

Coupon Clipper: I have a pile of stuff to send to an out of state organization. Should I itemize everything w/ a detail of the product, price and quantity? Is that how you do it? And if so, would you be willing to send me a sample of it? Do you know if I can deduct for the postage? It could add up if I do this regularly.

Me: Community Sharing, where I choose to donate, already has a form in place that is there and waiting for me to fill in a few lines. I'd contact the location where you are donating and ask if they could email you their form that you could tuck in with your package, they may have their own system for handling donations. I think that you are on your own for postage... but I do know that the Post Office has flat rate shipping boxes... no matter how heavy your package is you are guaranteed the specified price.

Coupon Clipper: I need to start a spreadsheet to keep track of everything. so far I’ve just been keeping envelopes for each store w/ the reciepts inside and some notes on the back about spent and rebates I should be receiving.

Would you mind telling me how you do it? Like what kind of info you have on your spreadsheet? I’m not sure how detailed I should be, but I definitely want to keep track.

Me: I have two excel spreadsheets that Dave made for me. One of them tracks my rebates- so I know if I have received each one or not, and the other I use to track my spending.

Rebate spreadsheet: Date sent, Manufacturer, $ to receive, how many weeks it takes to get.

Spending Spreadsheet: Date, store, $ spent, $ saved, tax, coupon overage, coupons used, FREE items, RR's made, ECB's made, Rebate?

Your spreadsheets could be more or less complex based on what you are interested in tracking.