ok friends people are asking about couponing so for those of you here in Texas I would be happy to get together and show you a couple methods to the madness and for those afar I will give some ideas:
crazycouponlady.com has a section for beginniners that is really helpful and they have 7 or 8 short videos for shopping at each of the large chain stores (walgreens, walmart, etc). You have to decide which method works best for you, how much time you want to spend on it and how much you want to save.
If you really want to save money you can get ad inserts (smart source, red plumb, and one a month P and G) from friends or neighbors if they are not planning to use them. You can do what I have done and go to the nearest recycle center and dive in their newspaper recycle bin (we have scored tons of coupons that way and its how I was able to get 10 of the similac formula coupons that paid me .81 each to go towards the rest of my shopping trip at Target). Or you can subscribe to your newspaper for sunday only if it is offered that way. (I was resistant to buying the paper, but we deicded that it is worth the time saved to just get 4 copies of the paper because it makes it so much easier to clip the coupons and we get that time to spend as a family instead of in a newspaper bin. I have not called to check yet (I need to) but apparently some newspapers will give you a discount for ordering mulitiple copies of the newspaper for your household and you can get a subscription for each member of your family and it is cheaper than just going to a convient store and buying them--plus you wake up to it on sunday morning sitting there all pretty in your driveway :)
Ok so once you decide how you want to get your papers then you decide how you want to go about organizing them: Write the date on the front of each circular--tip if you are getting yours by newspaper bin diving and the ad is whole the outside binding has the date written very small on it so you will know what date to write--or if you get like me you will recognize the date just by looking at the cover :) Now here is where you get your options-I clip every coupon and file it into a binder by category this way if I am at the store I bring in my binder and check for the clearance--sometimes a coupon can make you money like the similac did for me------some stores pay you overage and Target, Walmart, Safeway (or any of their sister stores including Randalls and Von's i believe) So lets say you check your store's clearance section and you see something you think you have a coupon for open your binder flip to that section and you can see all the coupons--say you find a pet food can that is priced at 39 cents and you have a coupon for 50 cents off take as many cans as you have the coupons for and (say you only have 4 coupons) you then make 44 cents and can apply it to your order total. This is why I cut every coupon, you never know what will make you money and the great thing is that you can donate your free stuff that you dont use to charity (like the similac formula I dont need because I nurse my baby will go to someone in need and it was a big help on my order since I made $8.10 on it.
Another method of organizing your coupons is by simply filing the circulars by date in a file cabinet or something of the like I have one of those plastic file cabinets and a bunch of file folders that hang and I wrote the date on them (this was the method i started with). Red plumb is abrieviated with RP Smart source is S or SS and Proctor and Gamble is PG-I label each file folder with the date and which circular it is this way. When you get your paper you check the 2 websites I use (there are plenty more out there though feel free to explore) couponmom.com and krazycouponlady.com they list what the best deals are and on couponmom you can sort the deals by percentage saved -this is what I do so I wont get anything unless I am saving at least 50% (working on getting that to 75-100%) There is a short video on couponmom.com as well that explains this method and how to use the site really well, I watched it and started couponing this way. Then we started watching TLC's "Extreme couponing" and my hubby decided I needed to be the krazycouponlady and because he is so amazing offered to clip the coupons for me while I sorted them into the binder at night when we watch our shows. It helps so much to havea supportive husband to help do this-makes the time fly by much faster and now i have my binder pretty well memorized as to what order my categories are in so I can hand him my stacks to be cut in that order and then i am not flipping all around my binder.
Another way is very similar to the file cabinet way, but it requires at least a 5" binder you sort by date as well but file it into a binder.
So you have your circulars and you have the method you want to use: Now you check your sites and cut your coupons if you are using a sort by date method-how do you cut them? If you have 4 copies of each circular you lay out each page of the circular and stack each of the remaining 3 circulars on top so when you cut one coupon you are cutting all 4 at the same time. they staple each stack together, but I don't need to-seems like a waste of staples maybe you could use a paper clip to hold them together while you cut. Also i am a scrapbooker so I havea really nice cutter that I got so I can cut 10 of the same coupon at the same time and I bought my cutter at hobby lobby when it was 40% off (they often have coupons for 40% off any regular priced item too so you can check the website and get one that way--it really is so much better this way it saves your hands big time! my hubby can atest to this!
Ideally you would get your circulars and immediately lay them out so they are stacked by each page then sort them by date if not cutting them now so when you check your sites tos ee what you are buying that week you can easily cut the coupons then and there.
I started this in April and I am a much better learner by seeing it done so I am likely better at showing it than explaining it as well, so sorry if any of this is confusing, but feel free to watch the videos and they helped me a lot. It is so awesome when you get your first free item and it feels so good being able to use the coupons to help out someone else in need. Honestly I thought I would just save a few bucks each month, but it goes way beyond that if you want to take the time and strategically shop each week. I am at Walgreens every week now and they give me the best deals. I used to only go there for printing photos and getting prescriptions until I learned about Register Rewards (my best friend) i would never just run to walgreens for a few items i needed-they are over priced, but if you buy what is on sale and use a coupon you get amazing deals there. I really encourage you to watch the videos on krazycouponlady.com to understand how to shop there. The first time I went I just bought everything in one transaction and saved my rewards for the next visit, but that requires a lot of out of pocket cost. The smart way is to separate your transactions and roll over you RR's to your next transaction to keep the cost down.
Example: last week I got a smoking hot deal on toothbrushes and razors (2 things that can be stored forever) This was the way it went down: I bought 2 colgate toothbrushes that were on sale 2 for $6 I used two .75 cents off/1 coupons and paid $4.50 for this transaction. I was given a $4 RR. My next transaction was on a gillette proglide razor that was on sale for 9.89. I had a coupon for $4 off 1 and I wanted to use my $4 RR as well. Their coupon policy requires that you have as many items at least as coupons and so I had to find a filler item if i wanted to use my 2 coupons on my 1 razor. The cheapest thing they had in the clearance section was a .25 cookie package so I got that with it and used my 2 $4 off coupons so the total was 10.14 before my 2 coupons, i paid 2.14 and received a $5 RR to use on my next purchase. So total out of pocket was 6.64 and i now had $5 RR to use on my next purchase. I bought a total of 9 razors (unfortunately I didn't learn of the toothbrush deal at first so I paid more out of pocket for some of them, but ultimately those razors should have cost over $105 and because on the websites they count RR as part of the total taken off what you get I paid about $8 for all 9 razors). My hubby is a marine so we go through razors with him shaving his face daily and his head weekly.
The great thing is that the websites are free to use and they do the hard work for you, they find the deals you just have to cut the coupon and go to the store for your purchase. It is tricky at first and can be confusing (I may be making it more so) but the pay off in the end is worth it. It took me about a month to get it all figured out and decide on a method officially and i really am still learning, but I am much more confident at it now. The key is to have mulitple of the same coupon so that when you can get something at rock bottom price you stock up because you can use 1 coupon for each item that counts as "purchase." Also cool is if you have a store coupon and a manufacture coupon because you can use both on one item. You may also print coupons from your computer (2 for each computer you have), but that of course requiers ink and paper, i only print them if it is really worth it like the $3 off 1 package of huggies that I got once) There is a link on the couponmom website to get discounted ink and paper subscriptions.
If you need help or have more questions after you check out at least those 2 sites than feel free to ask me I enjoy helping others and feel that everyone should be saving money.
**For those of you who want to go really crazy and do the binder, I recommend getting a 3" avery brand and baseball card holders (both available at Target-the binder is about 10 bucks and the card holders are 5 bucks for every 30 sheets) do couponing for a month and it will pay for itself trust me! If you are planning to dumpster dive for your coupons and therefore get many more than 4-6 copies of each coupon you may want to get 2 binders-1 for food items and 1 for non food items (toiletries, etc). Also you will need somewhere to store your stockpile. Check your local craigslist for the free section for people giving away book shelves, etc. or make your own out of some scrap wood (also often free on craigslist). Make sure to rotate your stock so you use the items expiring soonest first then if you get to where you think you might not be able to use something before it expires donate it to a foodbank or shelter--if you do it right you got the item for free or just pennies on the dollar so in the long run you still save money and who feels bad about giving something to someone in need. Imagine instead of running out getting a 50 cent can of tomatoes or two that you buy them when they are free or dirt cheap and buy several so you dont' have to run out when you need it, you have it already......
Overwhelmed????I was at first too so you are not alone, but just keep reading and decide how much time you want to put into it, pick your method and go at it. i am working to make this a part time job to help out with finances at home since I stay home with our 2 kids (a hard job at times yes, but I would never trade beign able to be the one home raising our kids) and hopefully I will be able to give even more to charity as well and use this as a ministry.....Good luck all and God bless!
~Glory to God alone for providing couponing for our family, thank you Lord for your Might help!
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