Thrifty Thursday

COUPONING
If couponing is new to you and you find all the information about coupning overwhelming but want to reap the rewards, then just start small. You have read this blog and others and know that people are spending much less than you are on the same groceries. You know that it is working for others. Don't give up and give yourself the excuse that you could never do it. You can!
Begin to coupon slowly.
If you shop online check getcouponcodes.com and see if there is a coupon for the retailer you are shopping with.
When you run into the store to pick something up grab a flyer. Flip through it while you nurse a baby or sit outside a toddler's room to train them to stay in bed at night. Notice the items your family uses. If the price is lower than you normally pay for that item plan to pick up a few extras.
Buy a Sunday paper. Let your kids enjoy the comics. Make sure you pull out the coupon flyers before they end up in the recycle bin. If you don't have time to even open them, just find a pen or marker and write the date on the cover of each coupon flyer and det it aside until you have time. Why do you want to save a previous month's coupons? Read this Couponing 101 post.
For more information on storing and filing coupon inserts read this.
Pick a coupon site that you like. There are many sites out there. My favorites are Hot Coupon World (HCW), Slick Deals (SD) and A Full Cup (AFC). These sites have separate forums for many grocery retailers nationwide. Find the forum for a grocery store near you and read what deals people are finding, read about coupon matchups in the current weeks sale flyer. Each week I try to post a link to a resource for the current weeks sales for the stores I regularly shop in. These resources are someone else's blog. I don't have the time or energy to type up ads and locate coupons for match ups. I am so very glad these ladies do! I benefit every week from their hard work.

I didn't start out couponing at grocery stores. I began at CVS. I couldn't believe I could buy my family's H&B items for next to nothing, or get paid to buy it! I learned how to use coupons and CVS's Extra Care Bucks program to buy only the items on promotion and earn store credit each time I made a purchase. Once I had this store credit, I used it to buy the following weeks deal (whether it was shampoo or toothpaste) to pay for that item. But the new purchase also credited me store credit. Here is an example. I need toothpaste. It is on promotion at CVS for $1.99. They are also offering the customer $1.99 back in store credit when you purchase it. Two weeks ago there was a $1 off coupon in the Sunday coupon insert. You clip the coupon (Q) go to CVS scan your CVS card ring the toothpaste give them your Q, pay 99c plus tax for your toothpaste and they hand you your receipt. At the bottom of your receipt is a cash register tape (CRT) Extra Care Buck (ECB) for $1.99. Now you keep this $1.99 ECB to buy next week's "free" deodorant, etc. For more information on CVSing go to HCW, SD, or AFC (linked above) and go to the CVS forum. Each site has a CVSing 101 (yes CVSing is a verb in the coupon lingo) 101 or CVSing for beginners.
Post a question or a comment if you need further direction or information.

Couponing 101 part 2

ow Now that you have your Sunday inserts you are going to want to file them away for future savings. There are many ways to do this. Here’s how I do it. Each Sunday I file away inserts by kind (RP, SS, P&G). I label my folders with the date and the name of the insert.





I keep my folders in portable hanging file folder containers.




Each container holds up to two months of inserts. I only save what I can store and 3 buckets fit nicely on the bottom shelf of a bookcase in my closet. So I keep roughly about 6 months of back issues in Sunday insert Qs.



Now I have all my inserts in one location, out of sight. If I find a sale on an item I can do a search to see if there is an unexpired coupon to use with the sale. Coupon lists give the date and the insert name. I copy these down and then go to the file and cut my coupons.

Couponing 101 (part 1)

Are you just beginning?

Does it seem overwhelming? Most new things do. However, if you are committed to slashing the grocery/baby/personal care items budget, it is well worth the investment of time to keep as much of your cash in your account and out of the cash register.

To get started :

1. Begin collecting coupon inserts. Buy extra copies of the newspaper, ask friends, family and neighbors for their coupon inserts. There are two that come out nearly every week, Red Plum (RP) and Smart Source (SS). The Proctor & Gamble (P&G) comes out once/month. Occasionally General Mills (GM) has an insert. You can find out which papers carry which inserts here: hot coupon world inserts link



2. Create a file system to keep old coupon inserts. File them by Name and Date (i.e. RP 3/29). Often retailers publish a coupon first, then a few weeks later they put the same item on sale. Sometimes they work with retailers to offer cash back coupons that print out $ off coupons on your next purchase in that store when you buy their product. When these sales/promotions are offered you have several copies of the coupon for that item. If it is an item you use regularly (TP or paper towels) you will want to "stock up" at the lowest price possible to help keep your costs low.

Some people keep their inserts whole and only cut out the coupons they need as they use them, others find a more specific system helps keep them organized. Check out the Couponizer here:






3. Make sure you have store savings cards for your local grocery stores and Pharmacy (CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid). These cards often give you instant savings. Some store cards can have ecoupons loaded via the internet so you automatically get a coupon discount just for swiping your card (no clipping involved)! CVS registers print out Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) that are specific to your card.

More to come...