First of all, what is a “coupon”?
A lot of people don’t understand how you can take a $0.50 coupon, save so much money, get free stuff, and even make money! Chances are, I do it all the time, and so can you. Here are the basic concepts to follow when using coupons: Use coupons only when paired with promotions! Here’s an example of what this means:
If you have a $0.50 coupon for Libby’s Green Beans, and you take it to the store and pick up a can that normally costs $1.00, you’ll pay $0.50, so you’ll only save $0.50. Now, let’s say you wait until you see those green beans on sale for $0.50 (and they probably will), then after getting the $0.50 coupon, you can get them for free! Plus, if your store has a Double Coupon, you’ll only earn $0.50 to spend on the remaining orders! So seriously, that’s the secret to using coupons. I make it easy for you by providing free listings of coupon-matched sales and posting any deals I find in stores with coupons.
You’ll find that you don’t have to pay again for many different needs! Things like toothpaste, razors (even good ones), toothbrushes, deodorants, soaps, and more! I remember hearing this for the Coupon Code for Amazon first time and thinking to myself “what can I say”? ! Yes, it’s very real, the stores where you can find them for free are Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS!
Where do I get my coupon you ask? Well, there are a lot of different places to get coupons…
· Sunday Newspapers – these are super coupons! You’ll want to get one (or more) every Sunday. These include coupons for Red Plum (RP), SmartSource (SS), and Procter & Gamble (P&G). Occasionally you’ll find bonus inserts including General Mills (GM), Target, and more.
· Printable Coupons (from the Internet) – My favorite sites for printing coupons are Coupons.com, Red Plum, Smart Source, and Target (yes, they have coupons)!
Magazines – Great for getting all your magazines. You can find these at Walmart, or you can subscribe here. This manufacturer is full of coupons. Also, Parents Magazine is a great magazine with great coupons for parents like Jamboree, Amazon Diapers, and more.
· Your purchases – remember that many boxes you buy have coupons! For example, my Tide laundry detergent box has a $4 coupon on the cardboard.
Tear Pads or Blinky – These can be found at grocery stores and have coupons to pick up.
· Yellow – Coupon sticker found on the outside of the product.
· Catalina – These will be printed on the back of your receipt or along with your receipt, usually for the same item you purchased.
· Coupon Train – Consider circulating and trading coupons with family and friends by mail.
Tips before going to the store!
Start slowly and don’t aim to close every deal or everything will be overwhelming! When I was starting out, I would find a good deal and go out and buy it, but I found that I did it too often and really used a lot of gas. Realize that you don’t have to complete every transaction.
Well organized! I shop one day a week, and the night before the shopping day, I make my list and have coupons handy. I chose Sunday because you’ll notice that I post a list of matching coupons on Saturday and Sunday, the day the new ad starts (for drugstores where you’ll find a lot of great deals).
Find a way to organize your coupons that works for you. This is very important because if your coupons are not organized, you can feel stressed when you can’t find certain coupons and spend a lot of time using them to save money. You can go to my organization section to watch my videos and read about how to organize my coupons.
Print the store coupon policy (you can enforce it here), which I highly recommend if you have questions about cashiers cashing out coupons. If you have your own store policy you can pull it out and it will make things easier for you. Not that you’ll be in trouble, but sometimes when you’re free or close to it, some cashiers feel like they’re doing something wrong.
Get weekly ad announcements for your store. You can also look it up online, or it’ll be sent in the mail so you can match what’s on sale with your coupon.
Only buy items on the list! ! Doing this alone will always save you money…unless you find one for free!
· One important thing here…sometimes a smaller size is a better deal! Some coupons have no size limit (these are my favorites) so you can get the item for free in the travel section, if you have more than one coupon you can
