Accumulating Coupons

One question I had when I started to do couponing and trying to really get into it was "Where is everyone getting their good coupons?" Once I started watching for them I realized they were EVERYWHERE. Once you start opening your eyes to them, you will see just how many there really are out there, and will be amazed at what you can find. Here are 7 of the simplest ways to build up a supply of coupons.

1-The Best way and most common place to find coupons is to Subscribe to your local newspaper. This is the simplest way to get started couponing - Most papers are only about a $1.00 to $1.50 each day for the newspaper and it will be worth it to you to get the paper. By using just one coupon every week you will have paid for your paper.

When I started with couponing, my problem with getting the newspaper was that I NEVER read them so I didn't want to be paying for something that I was going to just be throwing away. If you are buying the paper only for the coupons, which is what I do, see if you can subscribe to a Sunday-only edition or at least a weekend-only edition of your local newspaper. I think almost ALL newspaper companies will allow you to do this for a very low price.

There are a few online sites, including eBay and The Coupon Master where you can buy tons of extra coupons from the newspaper inserts for a fraction of the cost. This would be a great way to stockpile on certain products you want.

2-Ask your friends, relatives, neighbors and co-workers for their extra papers. Let it be known that you are couponing and will gladly take any extra coupon inserts from anyone who doesn't use them. You might be surprised how many you can collect this way. I just mentioned it to two of my neighbors once and faithfully every week their little kids will bring me over the inserts. Grandparents are a great source for newspaper inserts. They are usually eager to save their coupons for others, so be sure to ask them.

3- Trade. If you know someone that has a pet or kids that does couponing ask them if they would want to swap some coupons with you. I always see really good dog food coupons and wish I knew someone close by me that had a dog and that would use the coupons.

4- Get coupons at the store. I never realized how many coupons you can find at stores. Keep your eyes peeled at the store and pick up any coupons you find on tearpads usually hanging on the shelves or find them in the blinking dispensers attached to shelves. If you have kids let them find them for you. My son has an eye for them, I think he thinks they are toys, but he can always spot them and there are usually some really good coupons from those. If there are extras, pick up multiple copies of these. I have found out that a lot of times, the same item you picked a coupon up for in the stores will be on an awesome sale just a few weeks later and you’ll be glad you picked up more than one coupon from the tearpad and blinkies!

5- Print coupons online. "Printables” are an awesome source for coupons. Make sure you ask each store at their customer service desk before you start shopping with them though. You can do a search for "printable coupons" online and it will bring up huge lists of different printable coupons. There is also multiple links on the side of my blog to popular printable coupon website.

You can also search for a specific item and see if there are any printable coupons. If there is a product that you love or that is on your grocery list you can look up their websites and see if you can find any printable coupons. Most of these sites allow you to print multiple coupons per computer every few weeks so bookmark your favorite sites.

6- Check out your local recycling bin. I have not done this yet myself but I've heard of people doing this and in a short time you could probably find a handful of coupon inserts. Be careful and make sure you are finding CLEAN recycle bins before you start digging.

7- Ask your favorite companies for coupons. Its amazing what you can get just by emailing your favorites. Make sure you compliment them on their products or if you have a complaint make sure you are nice as well. Simply ask them for any coupons they might have so you can continue to use their coupons. From what I have seen doing this I am usually able to get even better coupons straight from the company than I do by getting them through the newspapers and every where else. So just ask, what can it hurt! I always have a hard time asking for things but this is something that is easy to do because they can't see you, you can't see them so there is no face-to-face interaction if you get shutdown for coupons. I recently heard of a lady that had emailed a diaper company and praised them on their diapers and then sent her multiple coupons for $5.00 off as well as a coupon for a free pack of diapers! All she did was ask.

Make sure you are honest when emailing companies. It is very tempting to just start emailing every company and asking them for their coupons but be honest when praising them or complaining about their product.

Start actively looking for coupons and you’ll soon find more sources than you could ever imagine!

Get excited! I get so excited every Sunday to see what is in each coupon insert for the week. I actually get so excited about it that my husband banned me from clipping any coupons on the Sabbath because I'm not focusing on what we really are suppose to be focusing on. It is such an annoying little rule but I'm thankful for it and only peak at them a little each Sunday while he is not looking. But, Monday morning bright and early I'm cutting and organizing those coupons! :)

Happy Hunting!

Organizing your Coupons

Although this blog was made for a way to help everyone find all sorts of deals, couponing is probably going to be the main focus of the blog. I will try to point out any good deals I find in any way of saving money but for the most part it will be about couponing.

So, with that in mind, once you start accumulating coupons, you'll quickly find out that you are going to need to come up with something to organize your coupons with. There are all sorts of ways to go about organizing them and the most important thing is that you do what works for you. For me I feel a little funny carrying around a great big binder with all of my coupons in it so I wanted to use something that I could fit in my big diaper bag and then pull out just the store envelope while in the store. That way I always have all my coupons with me but I'm not flashing it to the world.

Money Saving mom has a great way of organizing coupons that I have been working on for my own organizing of coupons. She has individual envelopes for each store and each category she wants to use and then organizes them alphabetically in a container. I have done this same thing and used categories as well as a few subcategories as she describes. For instance, Money Saving Mom has a "Baby" category and then within that category she has: Diapers, Products, wipes. I have a "Cleaning" category and then within that category I have: Bathroom, Kitchen, All-purpose cleaners.

Below is a list of some of the categories that I use for my own organizing system. For more categories there is a fuller list you can see by clicking Here to see Money Saving Mom's elaborate list.

Baking (flour/sugar, Oil, premade mixes)
Baby (wipes/wash, Diapers)
Batteries
Body (Wash, Spray, Cleanser, soap)
Candles
Canned
Cleaning (Bathroom, Kitchen, All-purpose)
Clothing Stores
Craft/Fabric Stores
Dairy (beverage, cheese, butter, yogurt)
Deodorant
Desserts
Drinks
Entertainment/Restaurants
Frozen
Hair (shampoo/conditioner, stylers)
Laundry
Lotions
Makeup
Medicine (medications, first aid)
Jelly, Peanut Butter
Meat
Office Supplies
Paper Products (facial tissue, cups/plates, toilet paper, towels/napkins)
Pasta/Rice
Salad Dressing/Sauce
Snacks
Oral- (Toothpaste, Toothbrush, Mouth wash)

Pick and choose whatever categories work for you. When I first started out I only picked about 6 categories so it wasn't so overwhelming and then the more I get into couponing the more categories I am picking up. Use whatever works for you and don't get overwhelmed.

Now, when I make out my grocery lists for the week I divide my list for each store I will be going to to get the food/products I need. I put the coupons I'll be using in each of the store envelopes (Walmart, Smith, Albertsons, Walgreens, Riteaid) along with a list of what I will be getting at each store. I also always bring a calculator or use my cell phone calculator and a pen with me to keep track of what is going into my cart.

Having a list of items to purchase will save you money and time when going to the store and then combined with using your coupons you will see very quickly how much your grocery bill can go down. Because of couponing we are now able to get our toothpaste, shampoo, toilet paper, cleaners, deodorant, razors, and many more food items and baby items for FREE or almost free just by using a little planning before heading out to the store.

For more ideas on organizing coupons you can find a really good Binder system from pinchingyourpennies.com Here or if you don't have time to make your own coupon organizer you can order a container from RefundCents.com by clicking Here for a pretty reasonable price.

FAQ

How do I get started with coupons?
To get started, you can go Here, Here, and Here to understand how to accumulate coupons, organize coupons, and to learn how to understand the lingo and abbrev. that you will find on my website as well as many other money saving websites.

After you have done all of this I would suggest picking one store to work on so you don't get overwhelmed. If you have a Walgreens close buy I would suggest starting there. Shop like you normally would at your other stores and then focus on how to get the best deals at Walgreens. After you have mastered that store move onto another store. You could also decide to start saving on your nonfood items first and then when you get that down slowly add in the savings on your food items.

To learn more about Walgreens and how it all works you can go through a little tutorial Here.

Do you find yourself buying things that you don't usually buy just because it is on sale?

When I first started doing couponing I did buy alot of things that I wouldn't normally have bought. But, the more you get into couponing the more you know what works for you and what doesn't. I now buy only things we will use UNLESS I can make money off of the products and put the overage towards other items I am buying to get my Out Of Pocket expenses down. Then if I don't need the item I made money off of I having been donating them to other people who may need that item, or you could donate the items to a food bank, or I someday want to have a yard sale and sell all of those products for a small profit.

Couponing is also a great way to try out new products that you normally would never have bought because you couldn't afford them. I have tried new brands of shampoo/conditioner, styling products, cleaners, makeup, air fresheners, body washes and facial cleansers and a lot of different types of food that I thought I wouldn't like but ended up really liking them in the end. Don't go off and buy every great deal you find just because they are cheap, but don't be afraid to try something new when you can get them for free or almost free.


How do you plan your meals off some of the items on sale, even if they seem random?
I am not always good at doing this, but when I put the time into planning ahead I try to have a weekly meal plan setup for our family, this includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I first look through our kitchen and try to find meals that I can make with what we have on hand already, then I look at the weekly ads and find what is on sale that I could get for Free or really cheap with coupons, then I will either make up my own meals to combine them all together or I will go to a recipe website like allrecipes.com and find a recipe that I could make for the weekly meals.

Allrecipes.com has a great feature where you can put in the ingredients that you have on hand at your house and then it will find recipes that include those ingredients. It's a great way to try out new recipes with the items that are on sale for the week.

How do you know what are good coupons to clip?
When I first started clipping coupons I had no idea what were good coupons to clip so I just started clipping them all! I still am clipping most of the coupons now but am a little more selective about it. As you get going you will see what coupons will come in handy and you could get a really good deal on. My philosophy on clipping coupons is if I could get that product for Free or almost free, even if its not a product I normally use, I clip the coupon. Even if a coupon says something like "$.35 off of one" that doesn't sound like a whole lot of money you will be saving but lets say you clip that coupon and it was for "liquid SoftSoap," two weeks later SoftSoap could come on sale from being $2.99 to $.99. You could then use your $.35 off of one coupon and get the soap for $.64 a piece. That is a 79% savings on that soap!

When is the best time to use your coupons?
The biggest problem people have with trying to save money on groceries is they are trying to buy products only when they need them, instead of when they are on sale. If you buy items that you will need now or in the near future when they come on sale and use coupons then buy enough to make it until the next sale, you will be able to save ALOT of money on the products you are trying to buy. All products fluctuate in their pricing over about a 6 week period. If you wait until the product is at its lowest price, then use your coupons, you will then be getting the best deal on the product.

For the most part, manufacturers put out coupons on their products, then within about a two month period almost ALL of those products will come on sale at multiple stores. Wait until an item comes on sale to get it for cheaper and then combine it with manufacturer coupons and store coupons to get the item for its lowest cost.

How do you get multiple copies of coupons?
You can buy multiple newspapers, or you can go HERE to read more ideas for accumulating coupons without buying more newspapers. I suggest you start with the free options first and then if you feel the need for more coupons, go purchase more newspapers.

Aren't Generic products always cheaper than name brand products, even if you use coupons?
Yes, it is true that generic products are a little cheaper than name brand products. However, generic is not usually cheaper than name brand when it is on sale and you have a coupon. The key is to combine the store sales with the coupons to get the best deals.

Do people who use coupons spend more than people who don’t use coupons?
If you are going to the store and buying anything you have a coupon for, especially if the product is not on sale, you will almost always spend more. However, if you use coupons the right way by combining store sales and coupons together to get the best deals, you will almost always cut your grocery bill or increase the amount of items you are able to buy for the same amount of money.

Is it worth it to shop at multiple stores?
Most of the stores I shop at are within a block of each other and only about 5 minutes from my house, so it really doesn’t take a whole lot more time or gas to go from store to store. But, even if your stores are not as close together as mine, it can be worth it to shop at multiple stores if there are enough good deals at that one store. For instance, if you are able to get $50 worth of items you need for only $10 and you only spent a couple of extra dollars in gas to get there than I would say that would definitely be worth it to go to multiple stores!

What is a decent amount of money to be spending on our family every month for groceries?
This is a completely person question for everyone. What works for one family will not work for another. We personally for a family of 4 are living off of about $80 a week which includes all of our nonfood items like diapers, toilet paper, shampoo, cleaners, etc. I am hoping to get this down even more but right now we are trying to work on a 6 month food and emergency supply, so we are buying things like wheat and stockpiling more on items for the future that are harder to get coupons for.

I say, figure out what you are spending on your family for groceries every month and slowly reduce that amount every month. Start by trying to shave off $10 a week or $40 a month and slowly work yourself down to a better amount for your groceries. If you find this to be too hard or too stressful than back off and go back up to where you were comfortable for a while and try again with a smaller amount. Couponing should not be a stressful thing, it should be fun or at least worth it to save money in the end.