The first thing you'll need to do to begin couponing is to get coupons. Where do you get them? Glad you asked. Start by buying multiple copies of the Sunday newspaper. I buy at least one copy each Sunday and if I know there are coupons I will definitely use I'll buy 2-3. Around these parts you can get the Sunday Statesman Journal at the Dollar Store or Walmart for $1. Sometimes the Oregonian has more/better coupons and I pony up and buy it instead. And don't worry if you don't get to the store on Sunday, I often buy my Sunday paper on Monday or Tuesday!
Aside from the obvious newspaper coupon inserts you can find coupons in a zillion other places. There's a ton that you can find online and print from home. Most online printable coupons can be printed twice per computer, so make sure to print the maximum you can! You can also check out the websites for brands/products you like and find coupons there. Lots of grocery stores give away coupon booklets now and then (Safeway and Albertsons both have one out right now I believe) and when you cruise the aisles keep an eye out for the coupon dispensing machines can take as many as you like. I normally take 3-4, unless it's a really good coupon for something I know I'll buy and then I might just sit there taking coupons from the machine until the cows come home! There are also coupons attached to lots of grocery products (called peelies) and coupons inside the packaging of items you buy. I also sign up for lots of coupon booklets online and have received a multitude of coupons that way. Another trick is to email the companies of products you purchase and ask for coupons. I contacted Tillamook and received a bunch of $.50 off cheese coupons which I never would have gotten otherwise.
Online Sources for Coupons:
So once you have a ginormous stash of coupons how do you store them? I use a binder that zips closed and fill it with plastic baseball card sheets that I bought at Walmart. Then I put my coupons in the baseball card holders and have everything organized by category. I love that I can see all my coupons easily and it's super easy to find what I'm looking for. It is a bit of work to set up but for me it's been totally worth it.
The next variety of coupon I'd like to talk about are e-coupons. Even if you don't want to go through the hassle of cutting coupons you can use these. They are SUPER easy. Basically you sign up and link your store card number to your account and then save the e-coupons to your store card. E-coupons can stack with each other, with the regular paper manufacture's coupons, and also with store coupons. Check out Cellfire, Shortcuts, P&G e-Saver, and Safeway's own E-coupon Program.
Now that you know where to find coupons and how to store them it's time to talk about how to effectively use them! The best deals are usually found by combining a combination of a sale, store coupon, manufacturer's coupon, e-coupons, and/or rebates and then stocking up. It's a lot of work to look through the ads every Sunday but there are so many people out there that do it that you can cut to the chase and read other people's blogs where they've done all the work for you. There are lots of blogs out there that list what's on sale and what coupons to combine to get a good deal.
Here is a list of some of my favorite coupon blogs that do all the work of finding the deals each week:
- Frugal Living Northwest
- Krazy Coupon Lady
- Abundant Food Savings
- Money Saving Mom
- Fistful of Coupons
- Discount Queens
- Baby Cheapskate
- Coupon Mom
Once you find a good deal you stock up! Part of how I save money is by buying a lot of something that's a good deal so that I won't have to buy it full price later. There's a sale cycle for just about everything and the longer you coupon the better you'll know how often items go on sale. Some things go on sale frequently (cereal anybody?) and other things go on sale very rarely. If you are brand specific then you really need to pay attention to how often your brand goes on sale and then buy enough to last you until the next sale cycle. Our family is brand specific in shampoo, deodorant, and toothpaste but I still manage to get good deals. I don't pay over $1 for any of it, but if we were not brand specific I would probably never pay for those items. In fact I buy hygiene products for free all the time and donate it to the food bank. We are less brand specific for cereal and now I won't pay over $1 for a box of cereal. It's not hard to do.
I hope this helps some of you out. Later I'll go in detail on what stores I shop and some of the specific strategies for shopping them.
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