A Beginner’s Guide to Couponing!!!

A Beginner's Guide to Couponing!!!


Get some coupons!

The Sunday newspaper
is a great source of coupons. Buy the newspaper with the largest circulation in order to get the best coupons. I buy the Courier-Journal -
https://www.facebook.com/courierjournal, You can sometimes get them cheaper by buying a double pack. I find that a good rule of thumb is to purchase two newspaper per family member.Ask your friends and family for coupons
If they get a newspaper but usually throw out the coupons then they probably be happy to give them to you.Peruse the Internet
There are many great online printable coupons to be found!Use a clipping service
If there is a great coupon that you would like to have multiples of then you might consider ordering the coupons from a clipping service like Insert Insanity, The Coupon ClippersCheck the store
There are many varieties of coupons that you can find in the store.Organize your coupons!

Coupon Binder
With this method you would clip all of your coupons and file them in your baseball card holders in a three-ring binder. With this method you can carry your binder to the store with you at all times and have all your coupons with you while you shop. You can see my coupon binders on the group I use 2 binders, 1 for Food and 1 for HBA, Ect.
Envelopes
You can start by clipping and putting them all in an envelope or check file. But, once you have been couponing for a few weeks you will need something bigger this is what I had to do.
File by insert
With this method you just file your inserts by date in a box and use an online coupon database to find the coupon you need. This method does not require much work but you might miss out on unadvertised deals by not having all of your coupons with you at the store.Know your store’s coupon policy!

Loyalty Cards
If your store offers a loyalty card then make sure to get one. Some stores only give the sale prices to card-holders. Loyalty cards are Free!
Double/Triple coupons
Double/triple coupons is when the store will take your 50¢ coupon and double it making it $1. This is done automatically at the register, you do not have to do anything to take part in this promotion. First, find out if your store doubles/triples coupons. If they do then find out the maximum double/triple value and how many they will double/triple. My Kroger in Paducah will double up to 60¢. That means my coupons that are 60¢ and under will double. So, at Kroger my 50¢ coupon is actually worth $1 and my 60¢ coupon will be $1.20 off. And they will only take 5 like coupons.
Stacking coupons
Some stores will allow you to use one store coupon (the discount is provided by the store) and one manufacturer coupon (the discount is provided by the manufacturer) per item.
Internet coupons
Find out if your store accepts Internet coupons. Most stores except printable coupons
Competitor coupons
Some stores will accept competitors coupons.
Expired coupons
Stores in our area will not accept expired coupons! So I send them to the military wifes overseas.Make a plan for you weekly shopping trip!

Weekly Ads
Read the weekly store ads to see what is on sale and which stores have the best prices on the items you need. If you do not get the weekly ads delivered you can usually view them on the stores websites and can have them delivered to your email every week.
Coupon Matchups
See if you can match coupons to the sale items to get an even better deal! Some websites do this for you. Some sites provide weekly coupon matchups for Kroger, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens.
Pricematch
Some stores, like Walmart, will price match. This means that if grapes are on sale for 99¢ a lb at Kroger, you can take the ad to Walmart and at the checkout tell the cashier that you would like to price match the grapes. Show them the ad and they will sell you the grapes for 99¢ a lb versus their higher price.
Make a List
Don’t go to the store without a list. Lists remind you what you came for and keep you from buying items you don’t need. I have a spreadsheet that I put all my groceries in so I take that with me always.
Rainchecks
If your store is out of the sale items, always get a raincheck! Go to customer service desk and ask for a rain checks for the items you wanted. They will fill out a little piece of paper with the item details and price. Then you can come back another day (usually no more than 30 days) and buy that item at the sale price by giving the cashier the raincheck. This also gives you more time to gather coupons for the item! You can still use a coupon if you are using a raincheck. I always put my rain checks in my binder at the front so I know they are always there for me to use.Don’t be fooled!

10 for $10 promotions
You do not have to buy 10 items to get the $1 price! The only exception to this rule is if the ad states that you must! Those times are rare and are usually for items that are buy x amount to get y free, final price 2 for $5, etc.Rock-bottom prices
Don’t go out and use your coupon immediately! If you use that 25¢ off toilet paper right away when it is not on sale you are not reaching your best saving potential! Wait until toilet paper goes on sale for $1 then use the coupon. If your store doubles coupons then you could get the toilet paper for only 50¢! Matching sales with coupons is getting a great price. Combining sales plus coupons plus another promotion (rebates, double coupons, store coupons) is getting the very best price!
"One per Purchase."
I have heard this so many times! Most coupons say "one coupon per purchase" somewhere in the fine print. Cashiers will try to tell you that this means you can only use one coupon per transaction or day. This is so NOT true! One per purchase means that you can only use one coupon per item purchased! So if you are buying 10 items and you have 10 coupons then you can use all of them on the same trip!Leave the kids at home!
Shopping with kids will distract you and cause you to buy items not on your list, but sometimes kids can help you by helpping you get the items from the lower shelves that are way in the very back.!
Make a Pricebook
Start paying attention to prices and keep a list of items you regularly buy with the regular and the best prices for those items. This will help you when you see that canned veggies are on "sale" for 10 for $10 but the regular price is actually 99¢!
Limits.
Stores will sometimes put limits on the item to make you think it is a great price! If cereal is just on sale 2 for $4 you might not even notice it. But if it is on sale 2 for $4, limit 2! then you will likely think it’s a great price since they had to put a limit on it!
Shop early
If you have other couponers in your area then it is best to get to the store as early in the sale as you can, but I have found out that if I go to the store late at night I can find a lot of stuff becasue they are restocking the shelves at night, this is when most of the trucks come in..!

"Bigger is better."
The cost per unit of the bigger box of cereal may be less than the smaller one but with coupons and sales the smaller box is most likely a better deal.
Watch the cashier
When checking out pay close attention to the price screen to make sure everything rings up at the correct price. Also, make sure that the cashier scans all of your coupons. Coupons sometimes stick together or get dropped or the cashier will scan the coupon but not realize that it didn’t go through. Kindly point out that they missed one and they will correct it. I will also hand each coupon to the cashier if I know I have more then 4 of each coupon. This way I know they are all coming off.
Check your receipt
BEFORE leaving the store look over your receipt to make sure everything rang up correctly and all of your coupons were scanned. If there is a problem take it to customer service immediately so they can fix it. If you leave the store and come back at another time then it might not be fixable. If the cashier missed a coupon and you notice right away it’s easy to see and fix the mistake. But, if you come back later after several other coupons have been added to the cashier’s stack or the stack is gone then there is no way to prove that they missed a coupon.
Build your stockpile!

Start slowly.
Do not buy a ton of everything as soon as you get started or you will blow your budget! A stockpile takes time. Set aside a part of your weekly grocery money for stockpiling and do what you can with what you have. I always buy 4 more per person to stock up.

Buy for the future
If an item goes on sale for a great price (or free!) then buy more than you need for just the week. Typically sales go in 9-12 week cycles so you only need to buy enough for 9-12 weeks. So, if you eat 1 box of cereal per week then when you find cereal at a rock-bottom price then you should buy 12 boxes. This way you have cheap cereal that will last you until you can buy it at a rock bottom price again.
Know how much you use
Start paying attention to how many bottles of shampoo, packs of diapers, boxes of cereal, etc. you use and write it down on a spread sheet. This will help you to have a better idea of how much you should buy and to not go overboard! If you only eat 1 box of cereal a month then there is really no need to buy more than a few boxes or they will just go to waste.
Donate it
Every couponer will eventually go overboard and buy too much of something. If there is no way you will use it before it expires then consider donating the item to a shelter or food pantry.