Coupons 101

I definitely do not consider myself an expert in this field, but I am doing my research and working hard to achieve such a title. I got started couponing when my daughter was first born and I needed to buy some formula just to have in case my husband was watching her and she needed to eat. I hated spending 20+ dollars for a small can of formula. My cousin first gave me a formula check for $11 dollars off a can, and it just opened my eyes! I couldn’t believe such awesome savings really existed! So that started me with coupons and initially I mostly did coupons for diapers and other baby items. Just recently my sister-in-law converted me to couponing for food and household items as well.

I am sure there are some of you more knowledgeable in this area than me( so feel free to add to what I am posting), but for those of you beginners I will share what I know.

To get started- Where do I find coupons?

The best place for coupons is the Sunday newspaper inserts. I do not subscribe to the paper, but there is a machine outside our building that has them for $1 and every Sunday I grab one or two depending on how many quarters I have! You can also have neighbors, co-workers or relatives who subscribe save the inserts for you if they don’t use them. A lady in my sister-in-law’s ward actually rides her bike through neighborhoods on recycling day and goes through all the recycled newspapers people have set out to get more inserts. She is die hard!

Also, I get coupons online from sites such as coupons.com and smartsource.com. I have found some great coupons on these sites, but unfortunately most only let you print 2 of each coupon per computer. Also, really good coupons only last on these sites for a few days so check them often!

Subscribing to mailing lists for Huggies, Johnsons, Pampers, etc. They send out mailings with baby coupons every couple months.

Blinkie machines at grocery stores is another place to find coupons.

I actually find good coupons at my doctor’s office. They always have a box by the check-out with coupons like $2 off Tylenol, $4 off Claritin and other coupons to save money on meds and formula.

I have also traded coupons on coupon trading forums, such as baby cheapskate coupon traders. You can exchange with other moms for ones you need.

How I use my coupons:

I cannot say enough great things about the website couponmom.com. It is an amazing tool for couponers! What I have learned from them is, when you get your coupon inserts do not cut out all the coupons. Instead leave the whole insert intact, and on the front cover of each insert write the date in big numbers (ex. 3/1). Keep all your inserts in one folder of some sort, and keep them in chronological order.

Then each week you can go to couponmom.com and click on Grocery Deals By State. Every state has different stores that it tracks the sales for. For me in Michigan it does Meijer and Kroger. Also, it tracks the sales for the national stores like Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS and RiteAid. When you click on a specific store, the sales for that week pop up. What shows up is the items on sale that week and if there is a coupon that can go with the sale for even greater savings. For example, I might look at Meijer this week and it would show me that Huggies wipes tubs are on sale for $2. It also says next to the item: 3/1 P&G.- .50/1 This tells me that in the March 1st Proctor and Gamble insert there is a coupon for .50 cents off one tub. It also tells me that Meijer doubles manufacturer coupons up to .50 cents, making my savings $1. So this week I can get Huggies wipes tubs that are normally $2.39 for $1 each. You might think this is a great deal (which it is), but most weeks you can find atleast a handful of items for free after coupons.

Making a shopping list

Now what I do is at the beginning of every week I go through all the sales on couponmom.com and see what I have coupons for. I make out a list for each store and what I want to get from them. Then I go through my stockpile of inserts and only cut out the coupons I need for that week. This doesn’t take that long because all of my inserts are labeled and in order. I then have a coupon holder (that I got from Target’s dollar bins) and each slot is labeled with one of the stores I shop at. Then I place the coupons I need for each store that week in its corresponding slot. Then when I do my shopping I can bring my list, or if I forget it I know what I am getting with coupons at that store because they are all together by store.

So that is how I use coupons in a nutshell. I hope it was not too confusing, but it is really easy once you try it.

Here are just a few other pointers I have learned from others and from my own experience:

-Using a coupon on a full price item is not that great of a savings. If you can, wait until the item is on sale to use the coupon for an even greater savings!

-Most stores will let you use one manufacturers coupon with one store coupon, so if you have both, use them for even greater savings!

-Watch for stores that double manufacturer coupons, most double up to .50 cents, but every couple weeks Kmart does double coupons up to $2! That is a great time to get a bunch of freebies!

-The more inserts you can get your hands on the better. This helps you to stockpile items that are super cheap. (like this week I got 6 shampoos and conditioners for .30 cents each.)

-checking out blogs such as babycheapskate, Bargain Briana and deal seaking mom will keep you updated on really sweet deals that are out there. (For example, this week at Walgreens you can get 8 Johnson’s baby items for .11 cents each with the right coupons and next week at Walgreens you can get 2 jumbos of Huggies diapers and one big pack of wipes for around $5 total with the right coupons! Babycheapskate is the blog that led me to the deal of the century, my Britax Marathon carseat shipped to my door for a whopping $52!!!)

-There is nothing like the rush you get from walking out of a store with items that were almost free or totally free!!

So, if all this has not yet convinced you to start couponing yet, I will end my super long post with just a few of my best ‘steals’ of the past few weeks:

-Chex Mix snacks- free
-Frank’s Red Hot Sauce-free
-Cottonelle 4 packs of toilet paper- free
-Colgate toothbrushes-.21 cents each
-Schick razors-free
-Herbal Essences mousse (normally 3.79)- .49 cents
-Huggies wipes tubs- $1
-Suave lotion- .49 cents
-Cover Girl mascara (normally 6.50 each), I got 2 for $5.09 total.

I hope this has motivated some of you, it is actually fun to find savings and deals like these. It is almost a hobby for me now. A hobby that doesn’t cost me any money, it actually saves me money. If only I could find a hobby like this for my husband!!

Good Luck!