So many people want to know how to get started so I’m going to let you in on the secrets!
- Start collecting! Seriously, collect every coupon you see. Keep them in an envelope, box, filing cabinet, binder, folder, pile on your kitchen table, whatever works for you! You will not believe where you can find coupons!!! The most common places are newspapers, magazines & internet BUT you can also find them in stores (tear pads), when you check out sometimes you get coupons printed out (these are Catalina coupons – we’ll get into that more later), check food packages – lots of companies will print coupons on the insides or backs of packages. In order to get a good collection, it’ll take about a month or so. Once you get a lot of coupons, you can take part in a coupon train. These are fantastic if you can easily spare 35 or more coupons every 2 weeks or so. You’ll get different coupons this way and it’s a good way to switch up your collection every few weeks.
- Follow blogs! Start by following mine (of course!) and then you’ll slowly find more and more as you get into this little couponing world. Sign up to receive emails. Yes, you will receive LOTS of emails but this is a small price to pay in order to save lots of money, right? Lots of websites will require you to sign up to receive newsletters in order to give you access to their coupons so be prepared for lots of junk mail!
- TIME! You will need lots of time in order to master this technique. It’s not going to come to you easily and it’s not going to do it itself. You need to spend time clipping coupons, organizing, discarding expired coupons, matching deals, writing grocery lists, menu planning… even the shopping takes a long time and SO does checking out. Remember getting angry at those people who take FOREVER to check out? That’s going to be YOU! But it’s so worth it. Also, be prepared to visit several different stores for one shopping trip. In order to take advantage of all the different deals and coupon matchups, you’ll need to go to a few stores instead of doing all your shopping at one place. It takes time but it saves money! (ETA (Edited to Add): Today I spent 35 minutes alone on clipping coupons and I had 239 when I was all said and done to add to my collection – that’s only from ONE day so yeah, be prepared if you really want to get into this!)
Basically these are it. If you’re prepared to do all of the above, you are ready to coupon! Exciting, I know. Here are some abbreviations that you might see on my and other blogs:
BOGO = Buy One Get One
CAT = Catalina Coupon (these print off with your receipt at the register after you checkout – some are for certain products & some are good for $$$ off of your next shopping trip)
ECB = Extra Care Buck (CVS Money)
FAR = Free After Rebate
IP = Internet Printable (coupons)
MIR = Mail In Rebate
OOP = Out Of Pocket
OYNO = On Your Next Order
P&G = Proctor & Gamble (newspaper insert)
RP = Red Plum (newspaper insert)
SS = Smart Source (newspaper insert)
WYB = When You Buy
Best way to organize coupons?
There really is no “best way”. It depends on you and how you go about finding deals. Many blogs will list the newspaper insert & date that they were in the paper so it may be easier to keep all of the inserts together and categorize them by dates so you can find that insert to clip the coupons. Some people use a filing cabinet. Some people alphabetize. Some people organize by categories. I chose the last option as I find it easier to put all of my coupons in categories. I use a zip up binder and bought baseball card insert sheets at Walmart (I think they were around $3.50 for a big pack). I then bought dividers and labeled them all the different categories like dairy, snacks, frozen, meats, hygiene, cleaning, paper products, baby, dogs, condiments, etc. Find which way works best for you!
Where can I print coupons from on the internet?
There are so many places… just do a search for online coupons and you’ll come up with a lot. Many manufacturer’s will offer coupons right on their sites (and usually high value ones!) Here are a few to get you started:
www.coupons.com
www.coupons.smartsource.com
www.couponmom.com
www.retailmenot.com (these are more codes for shopping online)
-
