As everyone knows I'm all about coupons. People ask me all the time, "How do you coupon? How can I save the money that you save?" So, after being asked so many times, I decided to create a tips sheet and explain exactly how I do it. There are many people out there, who will teach the simple basics, and then they will charge for their "class." To me, that is unethical! If you have a gift that you can share with others to help them save money, then by all means, help them for FREE! After all, at one point, someone helped you!
I hope this will help you. If you have any other tips that could help someone, please post them in the comments section!
Have a great day!
First of all....you need to figure
out what stores you will typically shop at, to include retail,
grocery, pharmacies, etc. One very important thing that you have to
understand very well BEFORE couponing is EACH store's coupon policy.
Each store has a different policy. Some store chains even have
different policies for each store. For example, some Winn-Dixie's in
Florida will do double and triple coupons, but most stores in AL and
GA do not do either of those. They will only do face value. So, take
this time to write down the stores you will be shopping at on a
regular basis. Visit each store's site or do a Google search for
"(store name)'s coupon policy", then print the WHOLE POLICY
for each store.
Next, get a 3 ring binder and put ALL
OF THOSE COUPON POLICIES in the binder, and use dividers to separate
each store from the other. Use the divided sections to put your store
ads that you print or pick up, your grocery lists, and you can also
buy vinyl sleeves and stick your coupons for those specific stores in
there.
Once you have your system together,
then you can move on to the next steps. Finding your coupons! If you
don't have a newspaper with coupons, there are many other options to
get them from. First, you can print them off the internet. You can
visit the company's website and print coupons; you can do a Google
search of a coupon for that item or brand; you can join their
Facebook pages and look for coupons; you can join coupon exchange
groups in the community (libraries and military bases usually have
these); you can join groups online (try Yahoo Groups and Facebook).
You can also use a coupon clipping service. These are wonderful! If
you are like me, you don't want a ton of coupons for items that you
won't use. I'd rather just pay a little bit and get coupons that I
WILL use! Coupon clipping services are super cheap. I typically use
www.thecouponclippers.com.
They are trust-worthy and reliable. The way this works is you pick
the coupons you want, how many of each you want, and then you pay
pennies on the dollar for each coupon and then a very small handling
fee, which is usually no more than the cost of a stamp.
Get together store ads. You can get
these from the store or print them from the internet. TAKE THESE WITH
YOU! Figure out what items you wand then compare them to the items
that Walmart and Target carry, if you shop at these stores. BOTH of
these stores will MATCH competitor ads, as long as they are the same
item listed, the ad is current, and it's a local competitor. You must
bring the ad, so keep it in your binder! Find the items you want,
make a list, take it to Walmart, get the items, show your ad, save
money!
On top of competitor matching, you
can also use coupons! Walmart, Target, Publix and Winn-Dixie will
allow ONE store coupon PLUS ONE manufacturer coupon to be used for
the same item, so that is double the savings. Now, if you just
ad-matched an item, plus you had 1 or 2 coupons for that item, then
you just saved even more!
Not coupon stacking!!! Coupon
stacking is when you use more than one coupon for one single or a
couple of items as a group, and you maximize your savings. You have
to be very careful with this. Coupon stacking is very legal to do,
but you have to be careful to make sure it works for you. First thing
you want to do is take all your coupons that are for free items and
put them at the back of the stack; take all your dollar or cent off
coupons for single items and put them in the front; put all your
dollar or cent off coupons for more than one item as a whole (like $1
off 2, etc) and put them in the middle of the stack between the
single coupons and the free coupons. Now you want to run all
single item coupons first. DO NOT RUN ANY COUPONS FOR 2 ITEMS OR MORE
UNTIL THE END. If you have a coupon that says, "$1 off 3"
and then you have 3 separate coupons that say "40 cents off
one", and they are for the same 3 items in the first coupon,
then you can use a total of 4 coupons for that set of items (the $1
off 3 and the individual coupons for cents off one), but make sure
you use the single coupons first. If you run a multiple item coupon
(like the $1 off 3) first, then you will combine those items as a
combined unit and the registers will not allow cents off single items
because they are no longer 3 separate units, they are a combined one
unit.
You can also get money off your FREE
items, so run the coupons for the cents/dollars off your free items,
but DON'T run the free coupons until the end!
Also, sign up for rewards cards! All
pharmacy store retail chains like Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS, lots of
restaurants, some stores have rewards cards. They are totally worth
the few minutes you use to sign up for them. You get free items and
discounts every time you use it. CVS and Wal-greens prints out
special coupons just for the card holders, so it's definitely worth
it.
You can use coupons WITH the rewards
you rack up on rewards cards!!!
Also, sign up for emails from all the
stores with rewards cards. They will sometimes send out special deals
that are only available through email.
Maximize your savings by comparing
namebrand products to off-brand products. Sometimes using a coupon
won't give you the better deal. Sometimes buying off-brand or items
that are like it that are on sale will be the best deal.
Also, MEAL PLAN!!! Can't say this enough! Make a grocery list and stick with it. Plan meals for the week. Studies show if you plan meals, you are less likely to eat out, which saves money. Also, make homemade food when possible. Stick to your grocery list. Eat a full meal before grocery shopping. You are less likely to stray from your shopping list if you shop on a full stomach.
Also, MEAL PLAN!!! Can't say this enough! Make a grocery list and stick with it. Plan meals for the week. Studies show if you plan meals, you are less likely to eat out, which saves money. Also, make homemade food when possible. Stick to your grocery list. Eat a full meal before grocery shopping. You are less likely to stray from your shopping list if you shop on a full stomach.
It sounds like a lot of work, but
it's really not. The savings make it worth your time. My average
grocery shopping savings are anywhere from $50-$100 per trip. What
you see on TV is FAKE. Those stores are set up for that show, and
your actual stores do NOT allow coupon usage like they do on the
show, so keep that in mind. You aren't going to get several baskets
of food or products for free or pay only 80 cents for a whole basket
of groceries. In fact, since that show came out on TLC, all the major
grocery stores and retail chains have now changed their coupon
policies to prevent abuse from happening. Be realistic. The average
beginning couponer will typically save $5-$50 per shopping trip. The
more you learn, the more practice you get, and the more time you put
into your shopping trips, the more money you will save.
I highly suggest using the website
www.thecouponmom.com.
She's amazing! She has an awesome book for beginners that you can get
on half.com
and Amazon for just a few books. It's called "The Coupon Mom."
You can also find her on Facebook. She's world-known! :)
If you have anymore questions, just
shoot me an email.
Some examples of shopping trips I've
saved on: (we lived in Wisconsin at the time)- Walmart: $300 worth of
groceries for $90 (used ad matching, shopping list, and coupons);
Target: $300 worth of Leap Frog learning toys for $30 (used ad
matching, store coupons, plus manufacturer coupons).
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