Budgeting, Paperless Coupons and the College Student

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Budeting, Paperless Coupons & the College Student - Organized 31 #WalgreensPaperless #shop

There are so many last-minute lessons to teach my “baby” the summer before she goes off to college. Yes, I’ve been teaching her these life lessons all her life, but I’ve been hit by the realization that this is IT! I know she’s ready to go to college and I’m not really worried about her, I just want to teach her tips to make her life easier. We’ve taught my daughter about financial responsibility and budgeting all her life. This summer I’m focusing on teaching her the specifics of budgeting, paperless coupons and the college student. Paperless coupons are so easy for a college student to use. And let me say up front, I am not an extreme couponer!  I’m just a mom that does her best to be organized, plan ahead and save money.

 

My daughter has been on an allowance since age 4 and responsible for many of her own expences since age 13.  She has seen me use coupons and even asks to check my coupons before she heads out to buy her own items. As we’ve been preparing to send her off to college this fall, I created a College Shopping List of Personal Care Items she’ll be responsible for (you can download your own copy).  I’ll send her off to college with these personal care supplies, but I want her to learn how to plan ahead and use coupons to save money; money she can use for other things in her budget.

Budeting, Paperless Coupons & the College Student - Organized 31 #WalgreensPaperless #shop

We started by talking through how many of each item she’d want to take with her and have to store in her dorm room.  By making a list she knows exactly what she needs and can watch sales for those items. 

 I do a lot of my couponing “old school” with paper coupons.  But let’s be realistic, most college students are not going to buy a newspaper, clip coupons and carry those coupons to the store.  I’m a realistic mama so I showed my daughter how to clip paperless coupons using the Walgreens Mobile App on her phone.  #WalgreensPaperless

 These are manufacturer coupons (just like you find in the paper) that you “clip” to your  Walgreens Balance Rewards account through the Walgreens app on your phone.  Once you’re at the store, you can link to your Walgreens Balance Rewards account with the app, with your rewards card or use your phone number. Once you download the app onto your phone, you will need to sync your Balance Rewards account to the Mobile App.  No worries, it’s easy.  Each paperless coupon can be used only once (just like a paper coupon) so once you’ve used it, it will be deleted from your mobile app coupon list.

Let me show you the steps my daughter and I used to shop and save lots of money with her collge shopping list.

Budeting, Paperless Coupons & the College Student - Organized 31 #WalgreensPaperless #shop

We looked over the list of paperless coupons and the sales available this week.  We compared those coupons and sale items to what my daughter needs on her College Student Personal Care Shopping List.  We clipped the coupons for items she needs to buy to our Balance Rewards account on the Mobile App.  You can see that we clipped 10 coupons.

We dropped by Walgreens and shopped for shampoo, conditioner, face wash,  moisturizer and a toothbrush.  These items were on sale and we had paperless coupons for them.

These are the 5 items from the shopping list that we purchased for $22.75 and we saved $19.99.  The Simple products were buy one get one free for a savings of $8.49 + $2 paperless coupon.  The Pantene shampoo and conditioner were on sale at half price and we had a $2 paperless coupon for $7 in savings.  The toothbrush was on sale and we had a paper coupon for a savings of $1.50+$1.   We got a bonus of about $3.40 in saving because we noticed that some of the boxes of face wash and moisturizer contained free face wipes.  That brings our total savings up to $23.39! 

Budeting, Paperless Coupons & the College Student - Organized 31 #WalgreensPaperless #shop

The other five items on our clipped coupon list were not on sale so we decided to wait (we are a month and a half ahead of schedule!).

While we were at the store, we looked at the other sales going on picked up some additional items that my daughter could use.  We spent a total of $28 with tax and saved a total of $31.48!  Woo hoo!!!

Budeting, Paperless Coupons & the College Student - Organized 31 #WalgreensPaperless #shop

 I feel confident that this first lesson in budgeting and using paperless coupons has made a believer out of my daughter.  She commented on how easy it was and the saving speak for themselves.

Budeting, Paperless Coupons & the College Student - Organized 31 #WalgreensPaperless #shop

 I’ll sleep a little better tonight since my daughter has started checking items off her shopping list and has begun to get the hang of budgeting, paperless coupons and the college student life.

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6 Comments

  1. Hi Susan – What a valuable life lesson not just for college students but for anyone! I’m old school with the Sunday newspaper coupon clipping and you have inspired me to look into the paperless coupons to save even more money! Hugs, Holly

  2. Love that you are teaching your daughter how to budget and coupon for college essentials! My mom raised me on coupons, too so I always make sure to use them whenever possible! I love how easy it is to use the Walgreens app!

    Also, make sure your daughter knows to take her college ID with her whenever she goes shopping! Many of her favorite stores may offer an additional student discount! They also don’t advertise this discount so always ask at the cash register!

    1. Great tip, Ashliegh. My daughter will thank you the first time she uses that student ID for a discount 🙂

  3. I wish my Mom had taught me about budgeting like that. Invaluable life lessons you are teaching your daughter. Thanks for sharing. I will keep this in mind for my own children. #client

    1. Andrea, it’s amazing how quickly you go from cutting their food for them to teachng your children how to budget.

  4. I am old school as far as clipping coupons. I am moving toward the new way of using my phone though! You found some great savings and you are teaching your daughter an important lesson.

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