Green Tea Conversations
Saving Big with Couponing with Luellen Marfoe
July 10, 2022
Meet Luellen Marfoe, social media influencer and YouTube creator of Savvy Coupon Shopper, as she shares her tips and techniques to help us save money on the products we need for our family or to donate to our favorite charities. In this episode, Luellen focuses on shopping at CVS, teaches us how to stack coupons and introduces several rebate apps that enable us to achieve maximum savings. To learn more, be sure to follow her on Instagram and YouTube at SavvyCouponShopper.
 
Luellen is known to many as Savvy Coupon Shopper. Married for 19 years to her husband Anthony, she is the proud mother to 14-year-old Joey and 11-year-old Samantha. Luellen began her coupon journey in 2010 when she decided to become a stay-at-home mother, and understood to do so, she would need to find ways to save money. Little did she know the effect couponing would have on her life. 
 
Today her passion is to teach coupon strategies that help others to save money, allowing them to share with family and friends and donate to their communities. Her couponing methods are to stack deals with sales, store and manufacturer coupons, and rebate apps. Plus, she always keeps couponing fun and easy to do. Let her do the work so you can appreciate the savings for your family and community-----one coupon at a time! 
 
Links to resources: 
·       How to Coupon at CVS video: https://youtu.be/FwmyhYUoz_4 
·       How to use CVS CarePass video: https://youtu.be/aCScenaaT9A 
·       Sign up for CarePass: https://go.magik.ly/ml/1jn6b/ 
·       Sign up for IBOTTA: https://ibotta.onelink.me/iUfE/1005cd3f?friend_code=kfeifa 
·       Sign up for Fetch Rewards: https://fetchrewards.onelink.me/vvv3/referralemail?code=UQ1WJ 

[00:00:21.230] - Candi Broeffle
Good morning, and welcome to Green Tea Conversations. I'm your host, Candi Broeffle, and today we are visiting with social media influencer and YouTube creator Luellen Marfoe of Savvy Coupon Shopper. Welcome to the show, Luellen.
 
[00:00:36.940] - Luellen Marfoe
Thank you so much, Candi, for having me.
 
[00:00:39.300] - Candi Broeffle
I am so excited to have you here. But before we get started, I really want to start by kind of explaining to people how this interview kind of came about. So a few months ago, I have well, several months ago now, I started getting into TikTok and watching TikTok videos and going down the rapid hole of that. And one day, several months ago, I just accidentally ran into a TikTok video of somebody who was talking about couponing, and the deals that they had put together were incredible. I couldn't believe what they were able to do. And so I went to this person's channel and kind of looked at it some more and really got interested in it. And I thought, this is amazing. I can't believe that this person is able to get all these deals, all these deals for so little money. I wonder if there's anybody else out there doing that.
 
[00:01:33.570] - Luellen Marfoe
You're not alone. Trust me, you're not alone.
 
[00:01:37.170] - Candi Broeffle
And neither are you, because there are a ton of creators that are doing couponing videos on TikTok and Instagram and YouTube. And so one thing led to another. I ended up getting into YouTube, and then I was completely done for and I found your channel, which I find incredibly, incredibly helpful. And one of the things that it really just helped me to be able to do is to really get I mean, I love to get a deal. Let's be honest. I want to get a deal.
 
[00:02:11.210] - Luellen Marfoe
Yeah, nothing beats that.
 
[00:02:14.580] - Candi Broeffle
No, but I started thinking, if I can get items like this for this little money, I can be donating items to other people, I can be sharing them with people in my neighborhood, I can be sharing them with family members. So I just really started kind of delving into this and like I said, right across your channel, which you give such great information that I just knew I had to have you on the show.
 
[00:02:40.490] - Luellen Marfoe
Thank you.
 
[00:02:41.540] - Candi Broeffle
So I am so happy that you're here today, and I really want to introduce people to your channel on YouTube, which is called Savvy Coupon Shopper, and that's S-A-V-V-Y so people can be sure to spell it the correct way. And so I always just like to start off by finding out, like, what got you started with this. Tell us about your journey a little bit.
 
[00:03:04.650] - Luellen Marfoe
Well, I think my journey started at youth, watching my mother and growing up. I'm from a family of six, so I have four sisters and a brother, and my mother stayed home. My dad was a truck driver, so money was tight. What did my mom do? She cut corners. She did what she could. She clipped coupons. So I would watch her looking through, like, the circulars and putting her list together and clipping her coupons. So I think something from just childhood that just kind of stood with me as I became a mother. So I've always worked full time. I've always had really great jobs that I've enjoyed. But once I became a mom, my job was I really wanted to stay home with my kids and enjoy the days that I, you know, these early days that watching them grow and all that kind of stuff. But going from one income or two incomes to one income is kind of like a shocker. So I started before my son was born, so over 14 years ago is really when I dove into couponing. Like a lot of people. The extreme couponing show had just come out, and it was all the hype, and of course I watched it, and I was like, wow, I could do something like that.
 
[00:04:17.960] - Luellen Marfoe
I don't think I can do that. Which a lot of that was kind of just put in the spotlight and fancied a little bit as far as couponing. But I definitely knew that, hey, I can save my family some money. When I started on a small level, the first store actually started couponing at, aside from grocery stores, little store deals, but target was, back in the day, a really great store to get some great savings, and it still is. So I just started clipping coupons. And as the years went on, I was kind of like you. Once you get started, you think, I could never have enough to take care of my family. It's just can't be possible. But as I kept doing it week by week, picking up one or two things here and there, I was just so amazed at what I had. And then I realized, this is just too much. What can I do with this? And I realized that it's kind of like a pure. You just go up a couple of stairs, and as you go up, then you start realizing, okay, it's time to start helping family and friends.
 
[00:05:23.660] - Luellen Marfoe
And family and friends were just amazed. I mean, nobody was going to say no to a free bag of goodies, whether it's personal care or food. They were so happy and so grateful. So I realized the power of it. And that's when I started my YouTube channel. I actually started in April of 2014, but I really didn't invest in it until 2016 because I would just post a couple of videos and I would get feedback that was just I mean, talk about motivating. I would get feedback from people like, you saved me this much this month, which now I can pay my credit card now. Just something like that. And it was hearing that, it was so powerful to me, like, oh, my goodness, there's more to this than just clipping a coupon and saving. There's people who are struggling to feed their families, people who are struggling to feed their pets at this time. People elderly who can't go to the store, you can help an elderly neighbor. It's just really so powerful what it can lead to. And a lot of people think I can't do it just like yourself at the beginning, just like me.
 
[00:06:35.870] - Luellen Marfoe
And it's taken it to a different level. And through YouTube, I was able to reach people. And people have touched my heart in ways that, I mean, they're with me forever. Some people, these relationships that I've made with followers and subscribers, I call it our coupon family because it's so beyond that. And now it's just to a point of getting the word out that you don't have to have 50 bottles of laundry detergent to be a couponer or think you're a good coupon, or you just need to take care of your family, help others in the community, and you're doing way beyond your star. So I'm just so grateful to my coupon community family because they are just amazing. They really are. And yeah, it's just turned out more than just, okay, I'm going to save a few bucks. It's hearing stories that, like I said, I'll take with me forever. So it's priceless at this point.
 
[00:07:32.120] - Candi Broeffle
Yes. It is so gratifying to be able to really get a good deal, but then be able to know that you can help somebody else with doing that. And especially now with inflation the way it is, the price of gas that we are all contending with, it's getting harder and harder for people in our own communities to be able to do this. So even if it's not within, you know, we're blessed. Our family is doing well, people in our family. But if I can help other people who are struggling a little bit, then by all means. I mean, if it's going to cost me less than a dollar for a tube of toothpaste that can help a family, awesome. Let's do that, right? And so that's why I really wanted to bring you on here. Because I know there's so many other people in our communities and our listeners and our readers of Natural Awakenings who would love to be able to do the same thing. Would love to be able to just be able to contribute in a more significant way and see how they can do that. But also being responsible with their own budgets.
 
[00:08:34.080] 
Yeah.
 
[00:08:35.130] - Candi Broeffle
So I'm so excited to have you here because I think it's just so remarkable what this can do. And I do want to say, you said you had started couponing when you were a child. I started watching the couponing shows two way back. I think it was even longer than 14 years ago. But I remember trying to do those deals because I was like, that's amazing. I could really be donating a lot of things if I had that and I could never quite get the deals that they were getting. And so I just kind of contributed it to the fact that we didn't have the same grocery stores as they did. So I would get frustrated. I go and buy the newspapers and I go and get all the circulars for the different stores and try to put deals together. And it just kind of became really intensive. It became time intensive and labor intensive, and I just kind of let it go. So when I ran across people nowadays with social media the way it is, you guys make it so easy. I mean, you tell us exactly how to do the deals.
 
[00:09:42.750] - Luellen Marfoe
It's funny because when I started couponing, there were very limited YouTube couponer, very limited. And like you said, a lot of them had Rite Aid. Well, I don't have a right aid store here, or they had grocery stores that I just didn't have. So it was really difficult. I started with utilizing blogs, so Crazy Coupon Lady or Free Stuff Finder, which give great information, but sometimes you're visual learner. And it's so different to actually visually see what you're supposed to get, but you can do it in such a quick way versus reading a blog and then getting my notepad and writing it down. It's like now it's just so much. It's everywhere. You can put together coupon deals on whatever you need for your family, whether it's personal care items, if you're on a special diet, I'm gluten-free. So gluten-free is really expensive. And we don't typically get a lot of coupons unless you write companies for specific coupons or if you find coupons in-store if you're lucky. But we have different ways of doing that now with rebate app. So it just evolved so much since I started. It's just out there.
 
[00:10:56.700] - Luellen Marfoe
It's out there saying, utilize me. Yes, I've done it for you. All you have to do is go to the store. If I could go with you, I go with you. Yes.
 
[00:11:06.740] - Candi Broeffle
And I watch all of you and I put together my deals as I'm watching you. And it's just so easy. So we're going to get into this. We're going to let people know how this looks and what exactly it is that you do when we come back from our break. So for people who want to learn more tips for couponing, subscribe to Luellen's YouTube channel at Savvy Coupon Shopper. And be sure to follow her on Instagram @savvycouponshopper as well. To read the online version of Natural Awakenings magazine, visit NaturalTwinCities.com. You can find a podcast of this show on AM950Radio.com, on Apple and Google Podcasts. And anywhere you get your podcast. You're listening to Green tea conversations on AM950 the Progressive Voice in Minnesota. And we will be right back. Welcome back to Green Tea Conversations, where we delve into the pages of Natural Awakenings magazine and talk to the professionals to share their expertise on natural health with you. I'm your host. Candi Broeffle. And today we're talking with social media influencer and YouTube creator Luellen Marfoe of Savvy Coupon Shopper. So just before the break, Luellen, you were telling us kind of about your journey and how you got started.
 
[00:12:35.200] - Candi Broeffle
And we started talking about the difference between couponing 20 years ago compared to couponing today. And I teased it a little bit and let people know that it's much, much easier today. And when you and I were talking, there's so many different stores that allow have really good couponing capabilities, but one that we find you and I both find really helpful and really kind of easy, especially for the beginner couponer is CVS.
 
[00:13:03.730] - Luellen Marfoe
Definitely, I think in my couponing and couponing for a while, CVS, if you're out there and you're looking for a variety of products and the best store to start at and when I mean the best store, there's consistent deals each and every week so you can provide savings for your family every week. It's not one week it's good, and then one week there's nothing. There's always savings at CVS. And as far as couponing at CVS, it's definitely one of the easier stores. Just like anything riding a bike, there's some falls, there are some things going on, but eventually you get on. Once you get on that bike at CDs, you just take off because sky is the limit. And it's really amazing. You can get just so many different varieties of items and there's even things called money makers where literally CVS will say, hey, you did this deal, and with your extra buck back, you actually got money to take this toothpaste out the store. So it's definitely my choice of store for anyone who's looking to get their feet wet and couponing, CVS is a great place to start.
 
[00:14:13.270] - Candi Broeffle
So let's talk a little bit because this is what you do every day or every time that you have a new video up, which you do several times a week.
 
[00:14:21.790] - Luellen Marfoe
Coupons, I see them in my head. It's like the mathematicians, they see all those math symbols. I see coupons and deals. And it's actually funny that you mentioned this because not to get off topic, but I'll be in the store and my husband will be like, okay, we're going to get this. I'm like, no, put that back. It's cheaper at Target. We can get it. I mean, it's unreal, like the math and everything that goes through your brain and it's crazy.
 
[00:14:45.460] - Candi Broeffle
But yes, it's so funny that you say that because I've only been doing this now a couple of months, but it has made me so much more aware of what I'm spending money on before just grabbing things because I needed it off the shelf or whatever. And now I'm like, I am not paying that for that. I will wait. I don't need it.
 
[00:15:02.960] - Luellen Marfoe
Right now, or my thing that's been for years is I would just fill the cart, go grocery shopping, had to check out, pay, whatever. Not that I didn't care, but it was just like, okay, I'm getting groceries now. It's like every store I go to before I go to check out, I look at everything like, okay, sometimes I'll say, I got to take three items out of my cart that we don't need, because obviously they were impulse buys, especially grocery shopping. There's so much that you can just put in the cart. It branches off into more ways of savings, more ways of thinking. It's way beyond just $50 savings or a dollar. Way beyond.
 
[00:15:37.420] - Candi Broeffle
Exactly. So let's talk about some of the kind of do's and don'ts. What is CVS shopping? And there's so many terms that each of these stores have. So let's really start talking about CVS. So CVS has an app that you can download. Yes.
 
[00:15:57.530] - Luellen Marfoe
And first, if you're thinking of diving into CVS, they have their Extra Care Card, which is like their store card, so that you can get savings and you can actually do the coupon deals. Without that card, you're going to be paying full price. So that's literally the first step is getting that Extra Care Card. You can do that in-store with your cashier. I know they used to do that in store. That's how I got my extra care card with my cashier. Or you can go online to CVS.com and you can sign up there. It's really easy. It's something that you can literally do today and start couponing today. So that's the first step is getting that extra Care card. And that's just something that you show in-store. There's a barcode that you can show your cashier through the app when you're at checkout so that you can get those sale prices and do their special deals that offer additional savings with what they call extra buck rewards, which is like, in a way, a form. I call it CVS Money because there's ways to use those extra bucks for your future deals so that you're paying less out of pocket and getting those products cheap for free.
 
[00:17:04.370] - Luellen Marfoe
So extra care card is definitely the first start. And they also have an excellent beauty club program. So you want to sign up with that because if anyone out there is paying full price for makeup products and there's a wide variety of CDs, they do have I don't want to say cheaper products, but they are cheaper, wet and wild or CoverGirl. And they do have better products that you might be using, like Physicians Formula, Flower Beauty. There's always beauty deals that end up being completely free, but you have to sign up with their beauty club.
 
[00:17:36.790] - Candi Broeffle
So let me just go back a little bit to the Extra Care Card, and you can get some deals on that. And there are lots of deals that you can get on that. But then they have what's called Care Pass. And so explain to the listeners what.
 
[00:17:50.090] - Luellen Marfoe
Care Passes well, Care Pass is something that they want to say. CVS has had it maybe going on three years now. I jumped on board Care Pass, and I've been a strong member pretty much since it started. I did a little investigating because that's just how I am before I jump into committing to anything. But it's a wonderful program where whether you're going to CDs and doing one or two coupon deals, or if you're a regular weekly coupon, it offers you a lot of savings. So they have where you can sign up for their Care Pass program. It's $5 per month, or you get a savings. If you sign up yearly, it's $48 for the year. And the really amazing thing is when you sign up for it each month. So if I sign up today, I'm going to earn a $10 Care Pass reward. And what that is, is I can go into CVS right after this and go ahead and grab $10 in products and use that reward. And the only thing that I'll have to pay for is tax. So it's great for coupons, especially if you have young children and diapers.
 
[00:18:56.730] - Luellen Marfoe
Diapers are so expensive. Paper products are so expensive. Laundry products are so expensive. It's great to use that Care Pass reward on those higher ticket price items. Plus with Care Pass, you get 20% off CVS brands, which is amazing. And if you have Cure Pass memberships, there's a lot of people who are still doing online shopping. They're not going in store. Maybe their CVS is too far. They don't have a form of transportation to get there. You can if you do an online order and one of your items is a Care Pass item, which there are so many Care Pass items always have one in your order. Your entire order ships for free. So it definitely for that. I do the $48 a year because I've been using it for several years now. I've had no complaints. I always have my $10 Care Pass membership reward each month. I know when I'm going to get it because once you sign up, that's your date. Every day on that month, you're going to get that $10. And it's just really useful. It really makes sense. Sometimes I'll be in the store in the cashiers. They're saying, oh, you're not signed up with Care Pass.
 
[00:20:08.990] - Luellen Marfoe
Can I give you some information? Like, no, I don't want to sign up with it, and I just want to pull them aside, like sign up with it. I understand the kind of paying forward. You have to pay it up forth the amount. But if you're couponing, if you're doing everything, you're not going to be thinking about paying that because it pays for itself. It really does. And it's really something that's valuable for CVS customers. Even just I had my parents sign up for care pass because they get so many vitamins and different things. Just having that 20% savings plus that $10 reward each month is saving them money.
 
[00:20:45.990] - Candi Broeffle
Yes. So it's a good deal right off the bat. Even if you pay it by the month, $5 a month, you get a $10 extra care buck back. It is a no brainer. So I will have a link in our show notes for people to go to. You have a link that you can give them so that they can get signed up right away. So that is our care path. But we also have some kind of terminology that you use or that CVS uses. And we're going to start talking about this. We're not going to get through it all before our break, but we're going to start by talking about a CRT. What is a CRT?
 
[00:21:26.830] - Luellen Marfoe
So when you start couponing, what you learn with CVS is there's definitely terminology and there's definitely different things that they offer as far as savings back for items that you purchase or deals. So CRTs are gold to CVS coupons because they're personalized coupons that you get in your CVS accounts. So when you download the app, you can go in weekly view coupons or personalized coupons or CRTs. It actually stands for Cash Register Tape. It's really kind of a weird I mean, I just don't know why they don't just say CVS store coupons. I don't know. They have to be all fancy like that. But they can arrive in different ways. So they can be in your CVS app or you can scan your extra care card which is your, you know, in the doorway to shopping at CVS, you need that card, that's key. Or when you make a purchase on your receipt, they will print as well. I usually I think the easiest way because there's so many different, you know, you can keep them printed. The CVS app does it all for you. So I think it's a newbie coupon or that would be the best way to kind of go sometimes though, on your receipt, you'll get a CRT that might be ten off of $10 off of your next $40 purchase.
 
[00:22:46.530] - Luellen Marfoe
So you really want to read your receipts. But as far as the majority of your coupons that you're receiving store coupons or CRTs, I would utilize the CVS app. So CRTs are something that Saturday evening here in Illinois where I'm at 11:00 p.m., you can see your new CRT. So I'm sure most coupons are on their phone seeing what they're going to get because it's pretty exciting for Sunday couponers to get those CRTs and put those deals together before they do their couponing.
 
[00:23:19.340] - Candi Broeffle
Exactly. Well, we're going to come back and we're going to continue talking about CVS and the deals that we can get. So for people who want to learn more tips for couponing, subscribe to Loelin's YouTube channel at Savvy Coupon Shopper and follow her on Instagram @savvycouponshopper. You're listening to Green Tea Conversations on AM950 the Progressive Voice of Minnesota and we will be right back. Welcome back to green tea conversations. I'm your host, Candi Broeffle. And today we're talking with social media influencer and YouTube creator Luellen Marfoe of Savvy Coupon Shopper. So Luellen, before the break, we were starting to talk about some of the terminology with CVS and you were telling us about CRTs, which are personalized coupons that are store coupons. So they're given from CVS. There are another type of coupon that's in your app which are manufacturer coupons.
 
[00:24:33.140] - Luellen Marfoe
Right. And those typically one way to distinguish the CRTs from the manufacturer coupons is the manufacturer coupons will actually have a picture of the product on them. So I know a lot of newbie couponers will think, oh, it's the same coupon, they're all manufacturer coupons, I can't use them together. You can. There's a couple of steps you need to be really diligent in sending to card your CRTs and your digital manufacturer coupons. So in the CVS app, there's a little box. You'll literally just put your little finger on there, click it, it's a check mark. It sends it to your card. If you don't do that, the savings won't come off at the register, so you're going to end up paying more. And the cool thing at CVS is you can stack their store coupons or CRTs with the digital manufacturer coupons. So if you're not even getting the Sunday paper and getting inserts, there's still wonderful ways of savings. It's just doing a couple little steps and a little couple little checks to make sure that you send them to your card and that they do come off at the register. Because again, if you don't click them, you're not going to get the savings and that's coupon or nightmare, you don't want that to happen.
 
[00:25:44.750] - Luellen Marfoe
Oh man, I knew I forgot to click that coupon. It's literally just a little box. Check it, you're good to go.
 
[00:25:52.010] - Candi Broeffle
And to talk about how to stack that, to give people an idea, let's just say that you're looking for painting shampoo and you have a CRT, a store coupon where you get $4 off of $12 in Pantain. And Pantain that week is on sale three for $12. So you can get that $4 off, that brings it down to $8. But then say you have a coupon for $3 off of two, that's a manufacturer coupon. Then you can add that to it as well. So now instead of $12, you actually pay $5 for three bottles of pantene. So that's how the stacking works.
 
[00:26:33.170] - Luellen Marfoe
And in that instance where it's like a three off of twelve, that's called a threshold coupon. So you need to meet the threshold. As long as I'm purchasing $12 in Pantain, I can check that coupon, send it to my card. It's good as gold. A lot of times too, the confusion especially with newbie couponers, you might get another CRT or store coupon that says $2 off of any pantene, shampoo and conditioner. And a lot of couponers will think, oh, I can't use that because I'm using the three out of twelve. Well, if you get a CRT or store coupon that says $2 off panteen, check that because you can use it. So now you can use the three off twelve, you can use the $2 CRT, those are all store coupons. And then you can go to your digital manufacturer coupons and if there's a three off three, you can use that as well. So you got to kind of just think, am I meeting the requirements for each coupon? Especially those threshold coupons, because a lot of people would like to stack them. They may get two of them, they might get three or two three off twelve panting and think that they could use them on three products, but you have to be spending $24 to use two of them.
 
[00:27:38.160] - Luellen Marfoe
But yeah, it really makes sense once you do a couple of deals. And I really just suggest good old pen and paper thinking it's like a math problem. Once you go through one or two, sky's the limit and it just becomes like a mechanical thing. You're like, okay, I've got the three off twelve and this week we actually have a five off three panteen. So that could really be huge savings. And when you sign up with the CVS Beauty Club, all of that hair care that you're purchasing qualifies towards a free beauty product each month. So you get to choose one of their free items. So it's really again, there's so much savings and there's so much to learn. I mean, there's so much good stuff to understand that we could be on here and just talking about all the greatness of CVS. But stacking is key. Stacking equals savings and that's how you get free products or super cheap products or even money maker products that if you can't use, I mean, anytime that something is free or a money maker, I'm going to get it right?
 
[00:28:35.280] - Candi Broeffle
Exactly. So you said there is so much that needs to be learned with this. And that's why I love the YouTube channel that you have, because you do this every time that you put up a video, you talk about what these all mean and you give a little bit more information. So over time you get to learn all of this. Now, do you also have any kind of training available for people as well?
 
[00:28:58.310] - Luellen Marfoe
Currently? It's so funny, I did a live video and so many people were requesting just different training. So I am definitely looking into that. What I'm going to have posted on my channel is how to start shopping at CVS, an updated version, because as we coupons different things change and it's always good to keep a fresh approach for a new coupon or you. Don't want to give them something that's from two, three years ago where things kind of changed. So that will be posted on my channel. So any listeners that are interested, I have that. And I also have a dedicated video to Care Pass. So if you're kind of on the fence with Care Pass, so there's definitely some videos out there to get you started. Yeah, I've had so many requests for training, so I think that will be something in the very near future.
 
[00:29:43.780] - Candi Broeffle
Oh, yeah, do that. That would be so cool. All right. So another thing that we want to talk about with CVS is they also have what we call extra Care box. So tell us about extra care bucks and how they're used.
 
[00:29:58.550] - Luellen Marfoe
So each week on Thursday, if you go to CVS.com or if you check my channel on YouTube, I do a full preview of the CVS ad. So it comes out every Thursday for next week's deal starting Sunday. And one thing that you'll see in the ad is a lot of deals that say, buy two, get a $5 extra buck. A deal that we have this upcoming week is buy three CoverGirl products, get a $10 extra buck. And people think, what the heck is an extra buck? Well, extra bucks are amazing because they're what, CDs coupon is used as a form of cash in a way. So once you start couponing, you're going to have to just invest a little as far as you're not going to have extra bucks to work with. So if you go to CVS and you purchase three CoverGirl cosmetics, which we're getting insert coupons this week, which you might have a store coupon to stack already, that's a deal that's on my radar because I know it could be I've gotten CoverGirl deals that were five, six, $7 moneymakers literally after that extra buck reward. So the extra buck is once you meet that requirement of buying three CoverGirl cosmetics, whatever coupons you use, whether store, digital, manufacturer, insert coupons, when you check out that beautiful $10 extra buck is going to print out on your receipt.
 
[00:31:15.740] - Luellen Marfoe
And that starts couponing. Literally, like the music starts, like, now you can take that $10 extra buck and you can roll it into another deal that you're going to be doing. So you cannot use extra bucks in the same transaction. You can use them in your future transaction. You can use them in the very next transaction. That's how quick you can use them, just not in the same transaction. And typically extra buck rewards, I believe, have like a 30 day expiration. So they're almost good for around a month. So that gives you plenty of time to use them. If one week you don't get a good deal, you're always going to use them. So it's always wise to check the expiration dates. But it's literally like having $10 in store cash to just go in store and to roll deals. And when you earn extra bucks, the best thing to do is to roll with extra buck deals. I could earn that $10 extra buck and go into CVS and grab Doritos and soda and candy and it's gone. So now I have to start. The really smart thing the couponer do is they don't you don't want to get sold at CVS anyway.
 
[00:32:19.400] - Luellen Marfoe
It's too expensive. But you really want to take those extra bucks and roll them with each transaction that you do to keep earning extra bucks. And that's how you lower your out of pocket. So anyone who's on a tight budget or a fixed budget or just wanting to do this for maybe to help others and not invest a lot, it's really key to roll your extra bucks each week.
 
[00:32:40.290] - Candi Broeffle
So I have to say, I have in the last since the end of April, I have probably at least $3,500 in products that I have bought, and it has cost me less than a few hundred dollars. That's how significant the savings are. So once you get started, like you said, there's an initial investment where you're kind of paying out of pocket for things, but then you're rolling those extra care bucks, you're getting money back from rebate apps, which we're going to talk about in a little bit as well. And you're just making money and spending that money to purchase what you're getting next. So it is really just rolling all of that together, which is just the coolest thing. My husband was kind of panicking for a while thinking, where is all this money coming from? But then when I explained it to him, it's like, oh wow, that's kind of crazy.
 
[00:33:37.130] - Luellen Marfoe
A couple of tips too, really quick, like how your husband said, why are you spending all this money on this stuff? Have a dedicated amount that you use each week. Maybe start with $20, especially when you're starting and do small transactions. I still do that. I've been couponing forever and I still do small transactions because you want to make sure that you see the map. You should know that if I'm using a digital manufacturer coupon and a store coupon, what your subtotal should be pre tax. So whatever that is, pre tax. Let's say it's $8 rolling $8 extra buck that you may have, or you might have a $4 extra buck or a four and a $2 extra back. Utilize those. But keeping the math simple, it really doesn't leave much room for error. Unless for some reason the coupon doesn't come off, but it just gives a clean paper trail. So if there is an issue, after you get your receipt, you can go back to the cashier and say, hey, my $3 CoverGirl coupon didn't come off. Maybe she didn't scan it or he didn't scan it. But I think when newbie coupons start, they just want to just jump in.
 
[00:34:43.540] - Luellen Marfoe
It's like a hot summer day in a cold pool. You just want to dive in there. It's really the opposite. You really want to start slow. You really just want to start slow with your deals. One or two deals in a transaction is the easiest way to go. And like I said, it doesn't leave a lot of open room for error, and it's a learning process that helps you to learn.
 
[00:35:04.250] - Candi Broeffle
That is such a great tip. Thank you so much. So for people who want to learn more tips for couponing, subscribe to Loelyn's YouTube channel at Savvy Coupon Shopper and follow her on Instagram @savvycouponshopper as well. You're listening to Green Tea Conversations on AM950 the Progressive Voice in Minnesota. And we will be right.
 
[00:35:39.850] - Luellen Marfoe
Welcome back to Green Tea Conversation. I'm your host, Candi Broeffle. And today we're talking with social media influencer and YouTube creator Luellen Marfoe of Savvy Coupon Shopper. So, Luellen, before the break, we have been talking about CVS and everything, CVS. And one of the things that you talked about with Stacking deals, and another way that we can do this is with what are called rebate apps. And this was something I had no idea about when I started couponing, and now I'm blown away at what's available. So let's get into some of these Rebate apps that we both find really helpful. And the first one is called Ibotta. Tell us about Ibotta.
 
[00:36:22.590] - Luellen Marfoe
Yeah, a lot of people may see Ibotta on TV commercials, but it's amazing because, like you said, when I started couponing, it just didn't exist. So it's really great. Ibotta will offer new offers each week, and they do offer them daily, but the bulk of them come. I believe I bought it is on Thursdays. We get usually after 08:00 a.m.. So, for instance, you could be buying a ton of main deodorant from CVS, and CVS has an extra buck deal for buy to get a $5 extra buck. And usually it's buy one, get 150 percent. So right there, we have a ton of savings already. You can use your store coupons. There may be a digital manufacturer coupon, but I bought it could have a Rebate for a $1 cash back on Tom's main deodorant. And lots of times the limits can be up to five. So if you're buying two of those deodorants, not only are you getting an amazing deal at CVS, but now rebate apps are so simple, it's just taking a picture of your receipt and redeeming it. So a couple of things about rebate apps, they're completely free to join Ibotta.
 
[00:37:24.910] - Luellen Marfoe
Once you sign up with Ibotta and you scan your first receipt, you get a $10 bonus. So right there, you're already ahead of the game. With ibotta. There's so many rebates. To me, it's the most plentiful rebate app as far as rebates, because they just offer so many, you're able to cash out when you earn $20. And a lot of listeners may be thinking wow, that's a lot. It's going to take me a long time to get $20. No, when you sign up with Ivata, I'm telling you, $20. When you're matching your store deals with your extra bug deals, with your Rebates, it adds up in no time. And they offer great bonuses, too, where if you redeem eight Rebates, you get a $3 bonus. So it's really a useful tool of really getting amazing deals at CVS. And it's so user friendly that you really can't go wrong. You go to the store, you shop, you take your receipt. I usually do it in the car so I don't forget, because sometimes with Rebate apps, we get home, if you have little kids, if you're on your lunch break at work and you forget to do it, well, you're going to miss out on that cash.
 
[00:38:29.370] - Luellen Marfoe
So do it right away. Do it in store, scan your receipt and score. But it's really easy. Take a pick of your receipt. You get those earnings back. And when I bought it, usually my account in less than 24 hours, sometimes like an hour. It's there.
 
[00:38:43.890] - Candi Broeffle
Yeah, it's very easy. It's my favorite app to use. And it is I can let our listeners though this sounds horrible, but it's this easy to do this. Like I said, I did my first couponing deal on April 30, and just last week, I hit the $1,000 club for Ibotta. So that means I've gotten $1,000 back on Rebates from Ibotta when still only paying out a few hundred dollars when I started. So it is amazing what you can do. And it's not just for CVS. It's for lots of other stores as well, which we'll talk about at a later date, too. But for CVS, there's always I bought a Rebates for tons of different products on there, so you can really stack those sales and get better deals. Yeah, my favorite thing to do with my Ibotta is and I had heard from another influencer, but they said to open up your PayPal account and get a PayPal debit card. And so I bought a puts the money into your PayPal account. You can use your debit card like a regular credit card, so it never hits your checking account. And you never have money coming out of your checking account because you can use what's gone into that.
 
[00:39:58.580] - Luellen Marfoe
Right? So it's kind of like rolling your Rebate savings into other deals, too.
 
[00:40:03.750] - Candi Broeffle
Exactly.
 
[00:40:04.930] - Luellen Marfoe
Like you said, we'll talk about more stores in the future, but you're not restricted to CVS at that point because you can use it for other stores as well. So it's definitely a great little account for coupon or to keep. So you're not dipping into your own personal checking account.
 
[00:40:21.670] - Candi Broeffle
Yeah, it's awesome. So another app that's really popular and the one I like second is Fetch.
 
[00:40:31.570] - Luellen Marfoe
Fetch is great again. It's free to join any of these Rebate apps so you don't have to feel like Fetch is the same thing. Fetch will have a list of different rebates. And keep in mind that rebates vary, so every account doesn't typically get the same rebates or rebate amounts. So you may have a rebate on specific deodorant, and I may not have it. So it's always good to check your accounts before you do your shopping. But Fetch is super easy because it's the same thing. You take a picture of your receipt, they tell you if it's a clear enough picture to redeem. So if you're not getting all of the information, they're going to say, hey, take another pick. I can't read the receipt. You send it off and you earn points with Fetch rewards. So when you earn 3000 points, which is equivalent to $3, that's when you can cash out for gift cards. And a lot of the gift cards, too, are other stores that you make coupon at. There's Dunkin Donuts, there's CVS. There's just different stores. And that's another way that you can roll those earnings and use those rewards for your future purchases.
 
[00:41:35.910] - Luellen Marfoe
So you're not going into your personal account for couponing.
 
[00:41:40.150] - Candi Broeffle
Yes, and they have excellent deals. Fetch has excellent deals as well. Just this week, they have a Hummus deal for 100% off. So you purchase one Hummus at any store, it's not store specific, and you get back a dollar. Some deals on Fetch are store specific, so you have to watch that. But this one is not. So it is the Sabra Hummus, and it's 100% back, completely free.
 
[00:42:05.810] - Luellen Marfoe
And they do that often. Another thing, I want to go back to Ibotta because this was such an amazing freebie for the last two years. And this will encourage people to sign up with Ibotta, is for the past two years, they gave free Thanksgiving Day dinners, so I got a free turkey. I think it was like up to a $10 value, free stuffing, free vegetables.
 
[00:42:25.770] - Candi Broeffle
Oh, wow.
 
[00:42:26.570] - Luellen Marfoe
It was like eight to ten items. So I don't know if they're going to do that this year. And they also did an awesome back to school promo where they gave like it was again, six to eight freebies. So I got a free notebook, free peanut butter, free bread. So don't underestimate those rebate apps. If you think, oh, I'm not going to use it, you'd be so surprised. And one thing that's changed is it used to be like a limit of one that you could redeem. Now some of the limits are five. So if you're going to Kroger, I know we're talking about CVS, but there's sky's the limit with them. You can read them for five of those rebates. So it's really evolved into just a great amount of savings for everyone out there.
 
[00:43:05.200] - Candi Broeffle
That is a great tip. And I had no idea. I'm so excited.
 
[00:43:08.120] - Luellen Marfoe
I hope they do it again, because I literally went on YouTube, recorded a video in my car that day when I got it because I was like, this is insane. Everybody go. I mean, it was a nice turkey and it had everything with it. So it was thank you, I bought. And I hope they bring that back.
 
[00:43:25.070] - Candi Broeffle
Yes. So another app that you can use. So sometimes there are things that you want to buy at CVS. So say you have a store coupon or a CRT that you want to use on an item, but you don't have a manufacturer's coupon to go with it. And sometimes you can find those manufacturer coupons on an app called and it's not a coupon. It's also a rebate. But it's on coupons.com.
 
[00:43:51.390] - Luellen Marfoe
Yes. So you'll find a lot of great digital manufacturer coupons in the CVS app, but not all might be there. So you definitely would want to download excuse me, the coupons.com app. So what it is, is it's kind of just like our rebate apps that we're talking about here. So you could have a dollar off of cereal that you can redeem for. And within usually a day, I have the dollar to my PayPal account.
 
[00:44:17.670] - Candi Broeffle
Yeah, they go right in there. So we have a little bit more time. And I don't want us to forget about a new promotion that starts today, Sunday the 10th, from CVS for Care Pass. Is it for Care Pass?
 
[00:44:30.920] - Luellen Marfoe
Or is it Extra Care Card members?
 
[00:44:33.860] - Candi Broeffle
So Extra Care Card Members, which is the free card that you can get at CVS. So tell us about this promotion.
 
[00:44:41.360] - Luellen Marfoe
Yes, so they are going to be offering starting today, July 10 through the 23rd in your CVS app. So this is key if you're thinking of starting couponing. And I highly encourage you too, at CVS to go ahead and download, get your Extra Care card, then download the CVS app. Because these are app only coupons. You're not going to be able to get them in store. They're going to be given through your app daily on freebie products. So we don't have a list of all of the freebie products, but in the past we've gotten free popcorn, free pain relief, free beauty products. So it varies per day. And this is really exciting. I have to share it because normally it's only in store, but the ad is showing that these offers will be available in store and online. So keys to be quick with these deals because they will go quickly. So if you log on to CVS.com, take advantage of the freebie for the day, a lot of them will ship free with your past membership. So you don't even have to leave your home. You can get a free item and not even have to leave home.
 
[00:45:44.520] - Candi Broeffle
Isn't that a big deal?
 
[00:45:46.070] - Luellen Marfoe
They go quick. So it's just being quick with the keyboard.
 
[00:45:51.430] - Candi Broeffle
And so when we say be quick, that means if you're in the Central Standard Time, you're going to want to get on sometimes even at midnight to see what the deal is for that day.
 
[00:46:02.810] - Luellen Marfoe
Right? So check your app first to see what the freebie is and then hop on CVS.com. Or you can order it through your app as well. I'm old school. I like to do everything on my desktop or laptop. I'm just old school like that. Definitely can. And don't forget to click on that coupon and send it to Card, because if you don't click it, it's not free. It won't be free.
 
[00:46:27.430] - Candi Broeffle
Oh, Luellen, thank you so much for being with us today. This has been a lot of fun. I can't wait to have you back. We're going to have you back in a few weeks, maybe in a month, and talk about other stores that people can coupon at and how we can start saving money and being able to contribute back to our families and to our communities.
 
[00:46:48.010] - Luellen Marfoe
Fantastic. I would love to be back.
 
[00:46:50.620] - Candi Broeffle
Well, thank you for all the great work and people who want to learn more and who want to learn on YouTube, which is my favorite way of learning. Be sure to follow Luellen on her YouTube channel and on Instagram @savvycouponshopper. To read the online version of Natural Awakenings magazine, or to check out our complete online calendar of events, visit NaturalTwinCities.com. You can find a podcast of this show on AM950Radio.com, on Apple and Google Podcast. Thank you for joining our conversation today as we awaken to natural health. You've been listening to Green Tea Conversations on AM950 the Progressive Voice of Minnesota, and I am wishing for you a lovely day.