Lets coupon in Canada!
I apologize for not updating this blog more often. I’ve been busy. Ok that’s a lie. I’ve got 2 kids and a life but honestly, I can just be downright lazy sometimes.
I’ve been writing a lot about couponing in the US so now I’m going to switch my focus and talk about couponing in Canada. Truth be told I don’t shop a lot in Canada at the moment. The bulk of my grocery shopping is done in the US but there are times when I still need to buy items closer to home. As well, I plan on taking a break from shopping in the US during the holidays so I’ll be grocery shopping in Canada, probably from the end of November til early January. I’m not against supporting our local economy; on the contrary I’m all for it! But damn if our prices just aren’t too high in this country for every day items – the staples as we refer to them in the couponing world. There is no earthly reason why we should pay way more for milk, butter, eggs, bread and cheese. When I can buy that stuff for 50% less in the US why wouldn’t I shop down there?
And don’t even get me started on the price of gas in Washington state compared to BC. If you asked any Canadian, regardless of what area of Canada they live in, they will tell you this: Americans have NOTHING to bitch about when it comes to the price of gas. Seriously.
But I digress. Couponing in Canada. You need to know 2 basic things: where do you get coupons? which are the best stores to coupon?
With the popularity of couponing on the rise, not only south of the border but here at home as well, Canada is finally catching on and making coupons more readily available to the consumer. We can even *gasp* print some off at home! It’s just too bad that some Canadian retailers don’t accept internet coupons but we’ll get to that in a minute.
Newspaper inserts usually come in your weekly freebie paper as well as your local, paid for paper (in BC it’s the Vancouver Sun and the Province). In those papers you’ll find them on the weekend, your freebie paper it depends when you get delivery. Lately, unfortunately, our inserts have been few and far between. No idea why. Maybe the paper boy is stashing them in his garage. Who knows.
Luckily there are plenty of websites where we can order coupons from or even print them off ourselves. Here’s a good list:
gocoupons.ca (mailed)
websaver.ca (mailed and print at home, sometimes you need a mininum)
save.ca (mailed, also sometimes you need to order a minimum)
smartsource.ca (print at home)
brandsaver.ca (they offer coupons every 2-3 months)
All of these sites will require a quick registration and only one person from each household so yeah, no double dipping people!
There are also some truly fantastic websites in Canada that are devoted, not only to couponing but to finding you the best deals where ever you shop. Some of my faves include:
http://www.mrsjanuary.com (she does flyer match ups every week, saving you a TON of time!)
http://www.frugalinthefraservalley.org (obviously this is specifically for those of us who live on the south coast of BC)
So once you’ve gathered your coupons, where should you shop? Depends on where you live and where YOU like to shop. Now, admittedly, I am not completely up to date on which stores have the best coupon policy. I do know that Save On Foods (the Overwaitea corporation, found only in Western Canada) has recently changed their coupon policy. They used to allow stacking but now they are making it much harder. London Drugs (also found only in Western Canada) also allows stacking. But really, you should go to each stores’ websites and find out what their current coupon policy is. If it’s not on their website, go up to the customer service desk in store and ask for a copy, keep it with you when you shop. That way if you have a dispute with a cashier then you can pull it out and prove them wrong 
Where do I shop? Shoppers Drug Mart (yes they tend to be expensive, but when they have a sale AND you have a coupon, you can make a killing!!), Superstore/Extra Foods and yes, the dreaded Walmart. Walmart might be a giant pain in the ass but they honestly have the best coupon policy. While they don’t allow stacking, they DO give overages.
I know I’ve covered this in a previous entry but it’s worth going over. An overage is when the value of your coupon exceeds the price of the product you are buying. Most stores will either (a) not accept your coupon at all if this happens or (b) will type in the price of the product to reflect the value of the coupon. Ex. if you are buying an item that is on sale for $2.97 and your coupon is for $3, the cashier will manually type in the price of your coupon to be $2.97, thus ensuring that you get the product for free, but that you don’t get the extra 3 cents.
Walmart, however, gives overages! Even if your coupon is for $6 and the product you are buying is $1.50…you get that money and it’s put towards the rest of your bill. So now not only are you getting that product for free, Walmart is actually paying you to take it out of the store! Be forewarned, however, that most cashiers at Walmart scan those coupons thoroughly and couponing can take a while, especially if you have more than a couple. Apologize to the people in line behind you if this happens
If you shop at Superstore, they only like you to use $10 or less in coupons at a time. If you go over the $10 (this has happened to me numerous times) the cashier has to call a supervisor who will begrudgingly come over, type in some crap on the till and allow the cashier to override it so she can then process the rest of your coupons. The only way around this is to break your shopping into several transactions if you have more than $10 in coupons. I don’t bother. Again, yes I am THAT customer in line, so sorry about that 
Anyway, I’ve blabbed on enough for one entry. Next up: easy couponing mistakes that people make (yes, even me!) and how to avoid them!
