“Previously 5 years, I’ve saved tens of 1000’s of {dollars} on groceries, and racked up hundreds of thousands of loyalty factors” (illustration by Maclean’s)
I bear in mind the primary time I noticed a coupon. It was 2005, and I used to be 15 years previous, stocking cabinets and ringing up purchases at a grocery retailer on the U.S. naval base in Iceland, the place my dad was a sailor. I virtually couldn’t consider they had been free—I used to be instantly drawn to the little graphics and the brilliant colors. I began to maintain them beside my until and hand them out: right here’s 50 cents off Vaseline. I wasn’t purported to, however I liked to assist folks.
That sense of thrift comes from my background. My dad and mom grew up in modest circumstances within the Philippines (as a child, my mother used her finger and a few salt to brush her enamel). They immigrated to the U.S. within the Eighties, the place my dad joined the navy. We had been all the time shifting from base to base—California, the Philippines, Japan, Iceland—however wherever we went, my dad and mom labored additional time to save lots of or generate profits for us. In California, after my dad acquired dwelling, he’d go to his second job: delivering pizzas. In Japan, my mother offered Filipino dishes like lumpias and pancit to different households on the bottom. We shopped at thrift shops, by no means ate out and offered our used toys and garments.
In 2008, I used to be dwelling within the Philippines, learning for a bachelor of science in nursing, once I met the person who would turn out to be my husband. We married in 2011 and moved to Canada, the place he took a job as a resort housekeeper in Regina. We had been pleased right here, but it surely was a shock in a single large approach—meals was actually, actually costly, particularly in comparison with the backed groceries on U.S. navy bases.
READ: Why meals is so expensive
My son Isaac was born in 2015, and our funds acquired even tighter. Someday I used to be complaining to a pal from church in regards to the excessive value of meals, and she or he advised me about an app that exhibits customers digital flyers for grocery shops—she used it to price-match, which is while you discover the most cost effective value within the metropolis for an merchandise, and while you buy groceries, you ask the cashier to match it. I assumed there was no approach I might do it; I used to be too shy to face in line and delay everybody to request a value change. Then I thought of my dad and mom: shifting to a brand new nation, studying a brand new language, all the time striving to make a greater life for our household. I felt a way of urgency—I ought to be saving as a lot cash as I can!
I downloaded the app (it’s referred to as Flipp) and noticed all of the flyers for my postal code. It appeared very fancy—I might see seniors in checkout strains clutching flyers from grocery shops throughout city, and the app was clearly approach simpler. The primary time I did it, I used to be hooked: I price-matched a toothbrush all the way down to $1, then used a $1 coupon, so it was free. The chances felt limitless, but it surely was intimidating at first. I met cashiers who weren’t conversant in the coverage, and as soon as a lady in line even threw a $5 invoice at me, offended with the delay. It jogged my memory of the racism my household confronted once I was rising up.
However more often than not, onlookers had been amazed to see my invoice drop. As an alternative of $5.99 for a pineapple, I’d pay one other retailer’s value: solely $1.99. Or a three-pack of lettuce for $5.99 would drop to $2.88. Identical to in Iceland, I needed to share what I used to be studying with others, so in 2018 I began a Fb web page the place I posted in regards to the financial savings I used to be making on my grocery hauls.
For probably the most half, I used—and mixed—three major strategies: value matching, coupons and loyalty factors. Grocery procuring grew to become my cardio, as I hustled round shops noting new coupons and taking photographs of clearance cabinets. At first, I began my web page to succeed in different Filipino immigrants. It’s a convention to ship Balikbayan containers—large packages full of toiletries, toys, clothes and home equipment—again dwelling to family members, and I posted offers so Filipinos might replenish their containers extra cheaply.
Slowly, my Fb posts gained traction, and the neighborhood grew past that first viewers. My content material made couponing really feel accessible as a result of folks can relate to me—I’m only a regular particular person trying to economize. I exploit instruments that enchantment to the digital age, and folks are likely to comply with my web page after they’re going by way of life circumstances and modifications. Some folks say they misplaced their job, or have moved to a distinct province, or they’re new immigrants. However up to now 12 months, my social feeds—on Fb, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok—have reached a a lot greater viewers, as a result of we’re all going by way of some large modifications: meals is dearer than ever.
RELATED: Groceries on a price range in Edmonton
The Client Worth Index for meals—the measure the federal authorities makes use of to trace meals inflation—has elevated by almost 20 per cent up to now two years alone. Nearly any merchandise you may consider has gotten pricier. Nationwide, the typical per-kilogram value of hen breasts has gone from simply over $12 to $14. A rib lower of beef has jumped from $23 to $31. 4 litres of milk was $5.50, now it’s $6.50; a dozen eggs was $3.90, now $4.50; a kilo of apples has gone from $4.50 to $5.60. A greenback right here and a greenback there, but it surely all provides up quick.
For my very own procuring, I browse digital flyers for quarter-hour each Wednesday, tagging the gadgets I would like. I hold my coupons in a small pocket binder with plastic dividers: family merchandise, toiletries, drinks and pantry gadgets. It’s all the time in my purse, prepared to make use of. (Coupons are normally in entrance of the product in retailer and most of them expire, so I solely take a pair once I see them. I’ve seen they’re tougher to return by now, with extra folks utilizing them.)
One other nice approach is to stack promotions—that’s the place the actual magic occurs. On a current grocery journey, I picked up milk, cheese, bread, frozen potatoes, hen broth and plenty extra. My complete was $95. I cashed in $15 price of coupons, value matched, and earned again $25 in PC Optimum factors, plus $8 cashback on one other app I exploit, bringing my complete to solely $21. I’m getting a typical grocery order for 50 per cent off now, and up to now 5 years, I’ve saved tens of 1000’s of {dollars} on groceries, and racked up hundreds of thousands of loyalty factors.
And I’ll go to nice lengths to money in on coupons—some would possibly say excessive lengths. Final 12 months, I used to be on a staycation at a resort in Saskatoon when a extremely nice coupon dropped on-line: purchase one, get one off Marvel Bread merchandise. The resort room didn’t have a printer, so I went to the entrance desk and requested to make use of the employees pc to print it. On-line coupons can run out rapidly, so I needed to act whereas the hyperlink was stay. Fortunately they stated sure, however I don’t know the place I might have gone in the event that they didn’t.
I actually consider that couponing isn’t nearly saving cash. It helps communities. I donate further meals to my metropolis’s meals drive. I take my seven-year-old with me to fulfill individuals who want meals however can’t afford it. I all the time take into consideration my mother again within the day. She would come dwelling from grocery procuring and lay our meals on the desk. Merchandise by merchandise, she checked over the receipt to verify she hadn’t overpaid. There was plenty of budgeting behind the scenes, however my dad and mom made their purchases straight up and by no means used coupons. I want my mother knew how to do that again then, and that’s what actually drives me at present.
— As advised to Emily Latimer
