Couponing 101

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Couponing 101

How to save money.

1.   You can buy things when they are on sale, 20 – 30% savings

2. You buy things when they are on sale plus you use a coupon for extra savings, 60 – 100%    savings
3. You buy multiples of the same items when they are on sale to stockpile and save even more.  MEGA SAVINGS.

The reason you want to stockpile is because sales are cyclical. They typically happen ever 3 months for the same product. So when you buy an item it’s best to stockpile it so it will last you until the next “rock bottom price” sale. (Also this is an excellent way to start or add to your food storage and 1 year supply)

For example: if your family likes kellogs raisin bran cereal and Walmart is having a sale for $1.50 per box (retail value $3.50). Not only do you buy it when it is on sale but you use 4 coupons for .75 cents off per box and you buy 4 boxes. By using a coupon with a sale you are paying .75 cents per box of cereal. Not only are you saving $2.75 per box but you are saving $11 total because you are buying 4 boxes in one shopping trip. You can see how stockpiling can save you even more money.

You might be wondering how do you know when stores are having sales like theses and what coupons to use when?

Great News is that there are many websites and people who do all the work for you. And it’s FREE for you J

Before you check out the websites here is a little list of what you need to start couponing.

1. You need to get the Sunday newspapers (only the Sunday paper has the coupons). They recommend getting a paper for each person in the house. If you are a family of 4 then that’s 4 Sunday papers. Honestly get as many as you can. If you neighbor doesn’t use there coupons ask to have them :) This way you can stockpile and buy multiples of the same items. I currently have a subscription for 2 papers one for me and one for my hubby. In the Sunday paper you will find your coupons.

a.     Smart Source (SS)

b.     Proctor & Gamble (P&G)

c.      Red Plum (RP) in Utah the Red plum comes in your mailbox every Tuesday 

Get your hands on as many newspaper as you can. The more newspapers you get the more you can save. 

    2. A file system. I only spend 30-40 minutes a week with my coupons. You do not need to cut them all out and put them in little card holders (too much time!) All I do is take my two Sunday coupon packets (remember I buy two Sunday papers but if you buy more then you need to stack all of them by page numbers) and stack them together. Putting page one with page one, page two with page two, page three with page three. So in the end I have ONE Sunday coupon packet. So when I need to cut them out I only cut once because both of my coupons are stacked on top of each other. Next I write the date on the top of the packet and drop it in a clear plastic sleeve and then in a filing folder.

Where I put all my packets                    

RP - Red Plum coupons for June 15 6/15

Printable coupons folder                       

They recommend saving coupon ads up to 5 months and then tossing them.

       3. Another way to get even more savings is by printing coupons online. There are many great sites that have coupons. Coupon.com is one of my favorites. You do need to download the printer software (it’s free) for the different coupon sites. Even when printing Target coupons from the target site you need to download there printing software. We use a mac and so far have never had any bugs/viruses from doing this.

It is best if you have two+ computers because you can only print the same coupon twice per computer. So if you want to do a mega stockpile you will need to print it more than twice.

*On the websites I give you, it will have links to which coupons you need to print to get even more savings. They do all the work, you just need to print off the coupons.

I only use 2 Websites for my couponing. Yes, there are tons of coupon websites but for me these are the most user friendly and ones I like. (Pleas know that I do not get ANYTHING for promoting these sites, these sites don’t even know I exist.  I just really like them).

These sites will tell you what’s on sale each week that has coupons and how to use the sales plus your coupons to get the biggest savings. They do ALL the work for you.

     1. The Krazy coupon lady – http://thekrazycouponlady.com/  I use this one ALL the time. She has tips, videos, tons of examples and ‘how to use coupons’

a.     Here is the link to here ‘how to start using coupons’ http://thekrazycouponlady.com/beginners/#day1 

     2. Grocery Smarts -  http://www.grocerysmarts.com/  I primarily use this one for grocery purchases.

a.     You select your state (top left corner)

b.     Then on the top in RED there is a ‘How to use this list’ this will teach you how to best use their site.

c.      You can shop by store by selecting which store you want with the drop down tab in the tops left of the page.

- If you find another website that you love please send me a link, I love finding new sites that help you save money

*Just remember when you are starting out, this can all be overwhelming. My biggest tip is to start slowly with stores that you currently shop at and then as you get the hang of it, branch out to new stores.

The more you get familiar with these websites the easier couponing is and the faster you can get it all done. I think reading through these websites and learning the layout was the longest/toughest part about starting couponing. Now it's super easy and fast for me. 

I hope this little Couponing 101 has helped, if you have more questions please leave a comment or if you find a deal or website you like, please share it. We all love saving money.