Couponing 101

Money (Cringe) Money Saving (Getting there) Money Saving Apps (Okay now I’ve got your attention). Yes for this post I am going to be talking about my top 3 couponing apps that are going to save you tons of money, and I mean who doesn’t want to save tons of money? I remember growing up I would sit at the table with my mom as she clipped coupons from the Sunday paper, and she still does to this day, but that takes so much time and you have to remember to bring those coupons with you whenever you went shopping so that’s why I prefer couponing apps because you always have your phone with you and these are so quick and easy to access.  I don’t know about you guys but I am currently a college student which means money is a little tight so I have no shame in my couponing game. So let’s jump right in!

1) Cartwheel:

First up let’s talk Target, yes the place where all of your money disappears, well not exactly if you use Cartwheel! Cartwheel is probably my favorite app out of the three because the layout of the app is really nice and it is super easy to use, here’s how:

1. When you first open Cartwheel it’s going open up the offers tab which contains 3 categories:

-For You: Which is a list of deals that Cartwheel curates for you based on your shopping habits

-Categories: Giving you the option to see deals based off of different categories such as apparel, beauty, food, home, etc.

-Collections: I actually just looked at this for the first time as I’m typing this up but this category is laid out based on different themes, that I assume change whenever the deals change, including college ruled, go on girl, best sellers, their weekly ad, etc.

2. The second tab is My List: this is where all of the coupons that you have checked go and put them into a list form, you can add up to 50 coupons at a time.

3. Next, is check out which is your final step to using Cartwheel, here Cartwheel creates a barcode for you specifically that holds all of the coupons you have added to your list. There is also a coupon tab within this tab that has additional coupons that you can also scan when checking out.

* Tips and Tricks:

• These Cartwheel coupons are combinable with manufacturer coupons and also with Target’s in-store sales, so go ahead and stack as many as your heart desires.
• I personally hop straight into the categories tab and go into all, which will list all of the deals, and then I will go to the upper right corner and sort by discount which will put the items with the highest discount at the top of the list.
• Disclaimer these deals don’t last long and as far as I know they aren’t on any specific time schedule mo make sure to pay attention to when each deal expires.

 

2) Shopular:

Next up is Shopular. Shopular is my favorite app for looking at weekly ads for different stores including Target, Staples, Michaels, JoAnns, CVS, etc. Not only does this app just show you the ads and what deals are going on, but you can also access coupons from the app by clicking on (or searching) a shop and then at the top the coupons will be listed, from there you would just click “view coupon” and the employee can scan the barcode that pops up.

* Laura’s Favorite Shops to Coupon:

• Michaels: there are almost always 40%, 50%, or 60% off coupons available for Michaels, which is perfect if you are a crafty person like me because I am constantly stopping there to pick up craft supplies and hey I’m all about saving 50%.
• JoAnns: So a lot of people don’t know this but JoAnns and Michaels are owned by the same company so both stores accept either coupons. I’m usually closer to my Michaels so I always look at both ads and see which one has better coupons and then use it at my Michaels but you can use either at JoAnn’s as well. (be sure to read the fine print because there are certain exclusions and most of the time they are on regular priced items only)
• Ulta: makeup heaven! So Ulta almost always has a $3.50 off $15 (use to be $10) coupon or a 20% off when they aren’t doing the $3.50 off. Now the downside to this coupon is that it does exclude their prestige brands (so anything not drugstore) but I am usually shopping in the drugstore section anyway so it works out perfectly for me.

 

3) Groupon:

And last but not least, Groupon. Now I wouldn’t necessarily call Groupon a couponing app but they do have some really good deals that will save you money in the long run so I figured I’d still add this in my post. So with Groupon, you are basically purchasing discounted gift cards for places including restaurants, spas, hotels, etc. Out of the three apps, I definitely use Groupon the least but I have scored some really good deals on here so I would still recommend it.