Thank you Crystal for hosting Frugal Friday. Many of you probably already keep upc's but I wanted to explain my system and highlight a few good offers.
Upc's are the coded numbers that scan at a register to give the product info and price. Some companies offer "specials" for keeping your upc's and sending them back in. 1) rebates - often rebates will require the upc (cut out) and cash register receipt (item and price circled) plus rebate form 2) trading upc's for items - often companies will have an offer of sending in upc's and $ (usually for shipping and handling) for a "themed" product, for ex. Kellogg's bowls 3) trading upc's for coupons - send in upc's and the company will send you coupons back.
The last offer - coupons, is the one I want to discuss today. I know of 3 companies that are doing this right now. Advance products (also called Fast Fixin') has a "fanatic" club. You sign up and they send you coupons. Then you can use those coupons to get products, save those upc's, and send 10 back for more coupon(s). I have done this a few times now - the coupon(s) are for a free product up to about $7-8! I haven't seen this recently at my available stores - but I know some of you still have access to the styrofoam Fast Fixin chicken products. Often these will be on sale for $1. You can send in those upc's to get a free product! Beech Nut baby food also has a sign-up club, you can get coupons (just call them at 1-800-Beech-Nut (1-800-233-2468) Mondays through Fridays, 8am to 5pm CT ), and then send in upc's to get more coupons. (Please don't yell at me for serving jar food. I've made homemade baby food before. It just hasn't worked as well for me. I also try to get my children off jar food ASAP and onto ground up/smashed table food, OK?) The last is Pepsi-Frito Lay deal, there's a peelie on the 12 packs where you buy 3/12-packs of Pepsi products (or so many 2L or 24 packs) and 3/9 oz or larger bags of Frito-Lay chips, mail-in the form with the original receipt(s) with items purchased between 12/26/07 - 2/6/08, and the UPCs. Then, you will receive: 5/$2 off coupons for future purchases on Pepsi Products, 1/$2 off coupon for future purchases on Frito-Lay Products, 1/$3 off coupon for future purchases on Frito-Lay Products. Offer requests must be postmarked by 2/22/08. (HT for the details: Money Saving Mom.) (I did this type of deal before with Pepsi and it was great.) I hope I've helped out at least one person.
Ok, so now you have a counter full of upc's, what to do? If I have trouble distinguishing a upc or I have a large collection, I'll label a ziploc sandwich bag with a sharpie marker and always put the upc's in that bag. We have one drawer (under our silverware drawer) that holds ziploc bags, foil, saran wrap, and UPC's/box tops. So I have a place for these items. If you're fond of keeping box upc's but don't know what the product is, then write on the back what the product is.
Another "win" for me was my popcorn bowl. I receive the Orville Redenbacher e-newsletter. One time it featured a free popcorn bowl for sending in two upc's. I knew I had two available in my pantry. So I sent them in (no S&H even) and waited. And waited. But I sure was excited the day my bowl came!! I do love it. :)
Look at Crystal's other Frugal Fridays here.
2 comments:
I keep the Beech-Nut ones and also Earth's Best in a baggie by the kitchen phone. My mom does the Box Tops for Education for the school where she works, so I send her those too.
Thanks for the info...I never heard of this!
Thanks for visiting me at my blog...that's a bummer that you can't shop CVS often. I agree, it's not always worth a long trip, but last week and this week it definitely will be...so far, my CVS continues to allow me to stack...also a huge help.
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