Layering Your Deals

Posted on | October 1, 2010 | No Comments

Lately, a favorite indulgence of mine has been tiramisu. As my fork slides effortlessly through the moist, succulent layers, slicing through the cream and cake, my taste buds heighten their awareness in anticipation of the flavors to come. Each bite offers a continuum of various flavors, with a different essence from each layer. Then, the entire bite melts into one harmonious, delicate flavor, as each layer complements the next. The experience is simply wonderful.

What makes a layered cake so delicious is that each layer can typically stand to taste good on its own, but when added in with the other layers, elevates the cake to a whole new level. It is something I strive for in many areas of my life, especially when looking for deals.

Many deals found on the food, products, and brands that each of us purchases can stand alone, or be layered with other deals in order to elevate the frugal shopping experience. For example, take my recent snack purchase of Snyder’s of Hanover Honey Mustard and Onion pieces. Typically I would purchase this product anyway because it is one of my favorite snacks. Kroger’s was having a promotion where if you bought $10 worth of certain products, which included this snack, then you received $5 instantly at checkout. This is a great deal—I would have purchased it for full price anyway—but I was able to make this into a much sweeter one by layering many different discounts into one. Here’s how my purchase of 2 bags of pretzels played out:

  • Part of Kroger Promotional Sale: Buy $10 worth of products, get $5 off instantly
  • Used 2 coupons worth $0.35 each which Kroger tripled to take $1.05 off each bag
  • Paid with my reward points credit card, (triple points for groceries money)
  • Part of the Upromise promotional product list, so $0.02 per bag credited to my niece’s college fund for free
  • Sent in for Rachel Ray promotion: Buy 2 Snyder’s of Hanover pretzels and send in for a free Big Orange Recipe Book
  • Packed for lunches and enjoyed!

 

This is just a small example, and can be done with many of the purchases you all ready make. Here are some ideas to get you started: when I find rebate forms for certain products, I hold onto them and wait until a grocery store, drugstore, or online merchant is having a sale in order to sweeten that deal, or I purchase the product at CVS using ECB’s, and then submit for a full rebate, thus making a small profit. In the past I have opened up a bank account with a promotional amount of money, and then have used that bank account solely to purchase deals. You would be amazed at how long you can get $75 or $100 to last, and it’s not money coming from your normal stream, so it feels like you’ve won the lottery! As long as you are a disciplined credit card user (paying off the total each month), then using credit cards with no annual fees that offer reward points, frequent flyer miles, or other promotions is a sweet deal. For layering online deals, sign up for companies such as ebates or Big Crumbs, and shop through these websites in order to purchase products on sale, and earn back a percentage of the price.

There are countless ways to sweeten any deal, and I encourage you to do so. You will be amazed at how rewarding layering can be.

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