Secrets to supermarket savings - Part 8
Now that you've researched your area stores and know what a good deal is for your area and are learning to shop the sales and plan your menu around them, it's time to add in coupons. So many times when people hear about my coupon savings they'll say, "I've tried to use the coupons in the paper and we never get any good ones. Where do you get such good coupons?" Well, surprise, I don't have any spectacularly secret source for coupons, I just know better how to use them than a lot of people first think of.
Here's how NOT to use coupons: Get the paper, cut out all the coupons in the insert, buy all those items. Nope, that won't save you any money. In fact, you'll probably buy a lot of stuff you don't need, won't use, and will pay an arm and leg for it.
So, how do you use coupons properly?
First off, determine your purpose for couponing. Is it to save money on food for your family? Is it to save money on toiletries and cleaning supplies? Is it so that you can find free items and donate them to the needy? Figure this out ahead of time so that you can streamline your efforts. If your family does not eat any processed food and you are using coupons only to buy food for your family, you don't want to mess with those coupons. My goal in couponing is to first meet the needs of our family and save money, but I'll also buy almost anything if it is free or next to free. So, I collect coupons of all sorts. If I find a coupon, unless it is for something like dog food or Depends, I save it because you just never know when it will go on sale.
Second, determine how much time you have to devote to couponing. Believe it or not, you can spend huge amounts of time on this. I've heard of some people who devote 3-4 hours every single day to couponing. Yes, they probably save a whole lot of money with coupons, but I doubt most of us have that much time to invest. My advice is to start out small. As you learn more, you'll get better and faster, and you can gradually add in more things, more stores, more coupon sources, rebates, and so on. However, don't try to learn it all at once. It will be overwhelming.
I'd encourage you to consider at first devoting about 30 minutes to an hour to coupon clipping, organizing, and shopping trip planning per week (preferably the day before you go shopping). Then, depending upon how many stores you will be shopping at, devote at least 1 1/2 hours for actual shopping time. Start out with this and see what kind of savings you can reap with just a little better planning, strategizing, and taking a little more time at the store to check around for the best deals.
Where to find coupons:
1) Buy the paper. This is the simplest way to get started couponing - getting it delivered to your door every week! We pay $1.50/week for this and it has been worth every penny. Check and see if you can get more than one copy of the paper and get a discount. You could also check on nearby towns/cities and see if they offer any discounts on papers to out-of-town folks. You might also call and ask about them just letting you purchase the coupon inserts. However, if possible, you want to shy away from paying for coupons. It's not a smart practice, if you can help it.
2) Ask friends, relatives, and co-workers for their extra papers. Let it be known that you are an avid couponer and will gladly accept any extra coupon inserts from anyone who doesn't use them. You might be surprised how many you can collect this way. Another simple method.
3) Check out your local recycling bin. I'd heard of this method for awhile but never investigated it until recently. It really works. I discovered where some very clean newspaper recycling bins were located and now hit them on my way home from the store, if I have time. Yesterday, I spent about 15 minutes sifting through the stuff on top and pulled out 15 coupon inserts completely intact with lots of great coupons. I also drop off our papers to recycle while I'm there (Yes, did you hear that people? I'm actually recycling!) so I can kill two birds with one stone.
4) Get coupons at the store. Keep your eyes peeled at the store and pick up any coupons you find on tearpads or in the blinking dispensers. If there are extras, pick up multiple copies of these. A lot of times, a few weeks later, this very item will be on an exceptional sale.
5) Print coupons out online. If your store accepts printables, this can be a great source of coupons. You can do a search for "printable coupons" and it will bring up many different coupons. You can also search for a specific item and see if there are any printable coupons.
Most of these sites allow you to print two coupons per computer per every few weeks.
Some coupon sites that I like or that have been recommended to me:
Coupon Mountain
Smart Source
Cool Savings
Mambo Sprouts (lots of organic and healthy coupons)
Big G Cereal Club
Coupon.com
Web MD
Betty Crocker
Box Tops for Education
Pillsbury
Coupon Bug
Coupon Pages
Everyday Eating
Boodle
If you have other online sources for coupons, feel free to share.
There are also many other options for obtaining coupons - buying coupons on eBay (I don't recommend this unless you are getting incredible savings), trading coupons with others online or offline, coupon trading boxes available at some stores or libraries, and other ways. Anyone else want to share where they get coupons from?
Remember, though, that once you start collecting coupons it is imperative that you learn the quality of patience! This is really one of the key ingredients to wise shopping. Wait to use your coupons until it is a good deal. The more you use coupons and watch sales, the more you'll learn as to how often things go on sale and the lowest prices they will go to. More on this in a later post.
Once you begin obtaining coupons, you'll need a way to organize them. I'll share my coupon organization system in the next post.
Here's how NOT to use coupons: Get the paper, cut out all the coupons in the insert, buy all those items. Nope, that won't save you any money. In fact, you'll probably buy a lot of stuff you don't need, won't use, and will pay an arm and leg for it.
So, how do you use coupons properly?
First off, determine your purpose for couponing. Is it to save money on food for your family? Is it to save money on toiletries and cleaning supplies? Is it so that you can find free items and donate them to the needy? Figure this out ahead of time so that you can streamline your efforts. If your family does not eat any processed food and you are using coupons only to buy food for your family, you don't want to mess with those coupons. My goal in couponing is to first meet the needs of our family and save money, but I'll also buy almost anything if it is free or next to free. So, I collect coupons of all sorts. If I find a coupon, unless it is for something like dog food or Depends, I save it because you just never know when it will go on sale.
Second, determine how much time you have to devote to couponing. Believe it or not, you can spend huge amounts of time on this. I've heard of some people who devote 3-4 hours every single day to couponing. Yes, they probably save a whole lot of money with coupons, but I doubt most of us have that much time to invest. My advice is to start out small. As you learn more, you'll get better and faster, and you can gradually add in more things, more stores, more coupon sources, rebates, and so on. However, don't try to learn it all at once. It will be overwhelming.
I'd encourage you to consider at first devoting about 30 minutes to an hour to coupon clipping, organizing, and shopping trip planning per week (preferably the day before you go shopping). Then, depending upon how many stores you will be shopping at, devote at least 1 1/2 hours for actual shopping time. Start out with this and see what kind of savings you can reap with just a little better planning, strategizing, and taking a little more time at the store to check around for the best deals.
Where to find coupons:
1) Buy the paper. This is the simplest way to get started couponing - getting it delivered to your door every week! We pay $1.50/week for this and it has been worth every penny. Check and see if you can get more than one copy of the paper and get a discount. You could also check on nearby towns/cities and see if they offer any discounts on papers to out-of-town folks. You might also call and ask about them just letting you purchase the coupon inserts. However, if possible, you want to shy away from paying for coupons. It's not a smart practice, if you can help it.
2) Ask friends, relatives, and co-workers for their extra papers. Let it be known that you are an avid couponer and will gladly accept any extra coupon inserts from anyone who doesn't use them. You might be surprised how many you can collect this way. Another simple method.
3) Check out your local recycling bin. I'd heard of this method for awhile but never investigated it until recently. It really works. I discovered where some very clean newspaper recycling bins were located and now hit them on my way home from the store, if I have time. Yesterday, I spent about 15 minutes sifting through the stuff on top and pulled out 15 coupon inserts completely intact with lots of great coupons. I also drop off our papers to recycle while I'm there (Yes, did you hear that people? I'm actually recycling!) so I can kill two birds with one stone.
4) Get coupons at the store. Keep your eyes peeled at the store and pick up any coupons you find on tearpads or in the blinking dispensers. If there are extras, pick up multiple copies of these. A lot of times, a few weeks later, this very item will be on an exceptional sale.
5) Print coupons out online. If your store accepts printables, this can be a great source of coupons. You can do a search for "printable coupons" and it will bring up many different coupons. You can also search for a specific item and see if there are any printable coupons.
Most of these sites allow you to print two coupons per computer per every few weeks.
Some coupon sites that I like or that have been recommended to me:
Coupon Mountain
Smart Source
Cool Savings
Mambo Sprouts (lots of organic and healthy coupons)
Big G Cereal Club
Coupon.com
Web MD
Betty Crocker
Box Tops for Education
Pillsbury
Coupon Bug
Coupon Pages
Everyday Eating
Boodle
If you have other online sources for coupons, feel free to share.
There are also many other options for obtaining coupons - buying coupons on eBay (I don't recommend this unless you are getting incredible savings), trading coupons with others online or offline, coupon trading boxes available at some stores or libraries, and other ways. Anyone else want to share where they get coupons from?
Remember, though, that once you start collecting coupons it is imperative that you learn the quality of patience! This is really one of the key ingredients to wise shopping. Wait to use your coupons until it is a good deal. The more you use coupons and watch sales, the more you'll learn as to how often things go on sale and the lowest prices they will go to. More on this in a later post.
Once you begin obtaining coupons, you'll need a way to organize them. I'll share my coupon organization system in the next post.
posted by Crystal Paine at 1:28 PM
5 Comments:
Here are a few:
http://www.wow-coupons.com/grocery.php
http://www.couponsinc.com/corp/source/cp_clientlist.asp
A good source for military wives is http://www.militaryshoppers.com/main.asp
It also shows what the upcoming sales are in the commissary.
Gratefulhart
I do occasionally buy coupons on ebay. When I see a really great coupon for something in the paper that I regularly use and that's almost free when doubled, I will buy a lot of 25 or so if the price is right. I also buy rental car coupons and baby formula coupons.
I like groceryguide.com and couponmom.com
Kraft.com also has some really neat coupons every once and a while if you sign up to take surveys, etc.
Also, I think its on www.grocerygame.com, there are links that take you to sites that clip coupons and mail them to you. Worth a look I guess!
Just thought I'd tell you how EXCITED I am to start saving money on our grocery bill. Our budget is $70.00 a week(which includes diapers for two). However, I just KNEW we were spending WAY to much with just two of us eating and a one year old who eats just a little. Not only is our budget to much, I would often go over.
Well, no more. The last two weeks I have stayed within my budget and last week I came out $15.00 on top, and it's all thanks to you.
You are helping me SO much Crystal. Thank you!!!!
Post a Comment
<< Home