Been thinking of using coupons but not really sure how it works? I will briefly go over some things here with you. If you see something that you don't understand, comment or message me and I will find the answer for you. I am going to tell you how I did it from the beginning.
First I bought a BIG zip up binder and a box of baseball card holders OR the paper sleeves if you choose a no clip method. I sometimes use a combination if I get tired of clipping.
Next, I had some dividers left over from the previous school year. I separated sections and named them how I could easily find them.
Ex:
Food
Laundry / Cleaning
Health and Beauty
Loreal: They always have tons of coupons so they got their own spot!
Feminine
Paper Products
Etc
You can do this any way you like!
I then started buying my papers. At first I bought 10 a week when they were $0.99 each. When they went back to $2.00 I cut back. My local paper is $0.50 a week and at the first of the month P&G are in there so I still buy 10 of those. But in general you want to buy 1 paper for each member of your household. Make sure that there are going to be coupons in the paper that week before you buy by clicking HERE. Nothing worse than buying papers and finding out there are no coupons in it. So now that you know there are coupons you head out to the store and expect that just b/c the above site said there were coupons in them that they will be there, you get home and every other one is missing coupons! This has sooooo happened to me several times. I can't stress this enough! Papers are expensive, so ALWAYS check the paper while in the store to make sure they are there. You see, the papers go out to the local paper delivery companies and the delivery drivers are responsible for putting the inserts in. Sometimes they don't do this :/ (Atleast that is how it works in my area) Ok so you're home, papers w/ inserts in hand? Good!
Now for the sorting.. I always sort each insert and lay them together, then the other on top of that going the other way, and so on and so forth. Actually this is when I recruit the kids. They benefit from my couponing so they can contribute to the process. Once they are all sorted and ready to cut, I evict everyone from the area and the rest is up to me. I used to allow them to help me cut but when chunks of bar codes started ending up in the trash the kids AND my husband (who was the worlds worst) they were all banned from cutting my coupons. I am OCD about this and it has to be just right. Did I mention invest in a good pair of scissors? You will thank me later!
So now, the coupons are cut, placed how and where you want the, and you're ready for a sale! Right? Good!
First, find a site that you like that does coupon match ups. Get a feel of how it works and start doing it yourself OR keep following the site. Me, I am busy enough finding other deals so as of right now I still follow sites that do it for me. I like Southern Savers the best. Her match ups are generally exact for my area. One mistake I made though in the beginning was taking ONLY the coupons that I thought I would need with me. I would get to the store and there would be a clearance item that I had a Q for and the Q would be at home.. ALWAYS take your binder with you! Who cares if people look at you like you're crazy. I have gotten compliments in store and I have gotten criticism. Compliments always get a thank you and criticism, well I won't tell you what they get but use your imagination :)
Now for the stores that I use most:
My favorite is Publix! Their BOGO's are the best. If you buy just 1 of the item you only pay 1/2 price. AND you can use the manufacturers coupons that come in your papers AND a Publix store coupon! Publix (in my area) allows for overrages which is a plus. So say an item is BOGO at $3.99. You have 2 manufactureres Q's for that product for $2 off and a store Q for $1 off. You CAN use all 3 and you just made $1.01!! SCORE! This happens ALOT at Publix if you pay attention and take your time.. Publix will also accept competitors coupons if the store is nearby so take advantage of that.. They also double coupons up to $0.50 cents. :)
Next is Walgreeens: Walgreens can be very very tricky. You can also use a store and manufacturer coupon but you must have the same amount of coupons as items. This is when you look for what we call "filler" items. This could be candy or anything cheap. $0.50 and under is what to look for. Now, they also offer Register Rewards (RR). You get these at the end of the transaction. So plan ahead see what RR's you are going to get and split the transactions up, I have done 5-10 before to get my RR and pay for something big that I normally would not buy, but again, keep the filler items in mind.
Kroger: Kroger will double any Q up to $0.50 as well. Depending on your area, you may have a pleasant shopping experience or it could be hell, you decide. I have gone in there MANY times and called corporate standing in the line. They do not allow a store and manufactures coupon to be used together. It's either or. They once ran a sale on CoverGirl products and I had TONS of coupons for $8 off 2. Well when it was said I done I had overrages of $100 plus. The manager at that store is not very fond of me b/c usually when I called corporate it was on her and I was right. So again, I called corporate. She was then instructed to give me my overrage on a gift card which was fine with me. I didn't demand cash, but they were getting paid for the coupons I used which were full amount and she wanted to keep those savings plus what they owed me. Wasn't happening. So with that said, always plan and know what you should have to pay at Kroger. Nuff said
These are the 3 main stores I shop.. There are many sites that offer coupon match ups for these stores and many others so just shop around until you find what you like and if you need anymore assistance just let me know and I will do what I can to help!
Happy Shopping! And have fun building that stock pile!! Oh and don't be greedy! When you have more than you will ever use, and have given to friends and family members, donate some to your local food bank, rescue mission, women's shelter, etc. I have even put gift bags together and gave them to strangers in need. The smile on their face is priceless and you will have a happy heart knowing you made someone else's day!
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