If you’ve ever seen Extreme Couponing on TLC, you probably feel like couponing is an overwhelming task where you end up with products you don’t use and no place to store it all. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Here are some helpful tips to start you on a coupon journey that will help you save money that you can use towards your horse!
- Start Small
If you think you’re going to coupon like the experts on TV in just one day, you’ll burn yourself out immediately and never want to coupon again. Start with just a few coupons you can find online or in your Sunday paper. You’ll get better as you go along. You might think to yourself “wow, I only saved 15 cents today, why even bother?” But within a few weeks, you’ll be saving a lot more than just 15 cents if you keep at it. Soon enough, you’ll discover where to get the best coupons and in which stores to use them. Besides, showing with Better Dressage Scores is only $19, so those cents can lead to a show!
- Buy What You Need
The extreme couponers on TV tend to buy 1000 razor blades in order to pay for the rest of their groceries because the coupon is worth more than the product itself, but they’re pros! Don’t buy products you don’t normally use because they’ll end up sitting on your shelf for so long that in the end, you spend more than you save. If you don’t like peas but they’re on sale, that doesn’t mean you’re going to magically eat peas and enjoy them. Make a list of what you need from the store, and then find the coupons for them.
- Send E-mails to the Companies You Like
If you liked or disliked a particular product, send an e-mail to that company. Odds are they’ll send you coupons! Maruchan, the company that makes ramen noodles, sent me about 10 coupons for half off and free noodles! All because I said their cheap products are a life-saver for college students. Tyson sent me a few coupons for one of their new products because I e-mailed them saying I enjoyed how tender their chicken was. Sabra makes a variety of hummus, and when I bought a bad batch one time, I sent them an e-mail. I received two coupons for free hummus, which is an expensive product! All it takes is 10 minutes to write a few reviews on some company products and see what they send back.
- Find a Store that Works for You
I had two stores in particular that worked for me: Winn-Dixie and Albertsons. I picked Winn-Dixie because they give you points towards in-store coupons as well as 15 cents off of gas for every $50 you spend (and as horse people, we definitely drive a lot). They also have a lot of sales on produce and close–to-expiring goods. Albertsons is where I would buy my meat because just about every other week they would have a buy one get 3 free deal on steak and chicken! Find out what deals the stores near you have to offer and play around with these different options to see which ones you save the most with!
- Online Couponing
Before you hit the “checkout” button on Riding Warehouse, SmartPak, or any other online horse shop, be sure to google “Riding Warehouse coupons” or “SmartPak promo codes,” etc. Most of the time there will be a promo code you can use for 10% off your purchase or even free shipping. Even better, most of the time they have an extra 10-20% off of clearance items in your cart! It takes just a few minutes to fish around for one, and this goes for any other online store where you may shop! A helpful tool you can download to your browser is “Honey.” It’s a promo code searcher that does all of this work for you!
Hopefully these couponing tips will help you out! The more you coupon, the more you’ll learn, the more you’ll save, the more you’ll show! Try showing with us here at Better Dressage Scores and you’ll save on hauling, stall fees, and high entry fees! Those coupon tricks will help you pay for your entry fee with us for sure 🙂