How to Start Couponing

So you want to start using coupons, but your not sure how to start? It can easily become overwhelming, so here are a few tips to help you get off on the right foot:

• Start small! I think this is the MOST important tip for a new couponer. If you try to jump in with both feet, you’ll probably end up completely overwhelmed and burnt out. It’s hard to see all the deals available and not want to try to snag them all, but trust me on this one – start out slowly!
• Have a budget, and stick to it. This is a close second to tip #1. If you manage to save 90% off your grocery bill, but still spend more than your budget, you’re not getting a good deal!
• It’s not a good deal if you don’t need it! If you get a $50 bag of dog food for $8, but you don’t own a dog, than it’s not a good deal! That may sound silly, but you’ll be surprised at the items you are tempted to buy because they are such a great bargain. There are exceptions to this rule though. If you had the room in your budget to buy the dog food without neglecting other priorities, and you’re planning to donate it to your local animal shelter, then go for it! Another exception is if you can make money on an item. There are often items at CVS or Walgreens that are money makers after using coupons and getting rewards back. You can use these to bring down your total cost on the items you do need, and then donate the items that you don’t need.

Where to Get Coupons

The first thing you’ll need, of course, is coupons. Here are some places to find them.

• Start with your local Sunday newspaper. You can usually get a Sunday-only subscription if you do not already receive the newspaper. I usually like to get my coupon inserts in multiples of two (in order to maximize my BOGO savings – don’t worry, I’ll explain this later), so you may want to get two subscriptions, or talk with a friend or neighbor who doesn’t coupon and may be willing to set aside their inserts for you.
• Another great source is the Internet. There are tons of printable coupons. When I do coupon matchups for store ads, I’ll include links to any matching internet printables. If you need a coupon for an item not included in one of my sale matchups, try searching my coupon database here.
• Your local store will often have many coupons available, and these can be store and/or manufacturer coupons. Many stores have coupons in their weekly ads. They also may put out store flyer, like the Publix Advantage Buy sheets, that will also contain coupons. Other in-store sources include coupon booklets, blinkies, tearpads, and winetags.
• Check your mail. You probably have coupons and don’t even know it! Instead on immediately dumping that junk mail in the trash, take a minute or two to go through it. I bet you’ll find a coupon or two hidden away! You can also request coupons for different companies, but we’ll get into that later.

Organizing Your Coupons

There are two main ways to organize your coupons, and both have pros and cons. Most fellow couponers that I know do some sort of hybrid of these two methods. Check these out and give one a try, or make up your own way. Different methods work for different people, so there is no right or wrong way. And don’t be surprised if you end up trying a couple different methods before settling into one you like. It took me a few tries to figure out what worked for me, and I still change my mind sometimes!

Cut and carry

When your Sunday paper arrives, remove the coupon inserts, and cut out your coupons. You will then need to organize them by type – as general or specific as you’d like. The more coupons you have, the more specific you’ll probably want to be. There are many ways to store your sorted coupons: a binder (using baseball card inserts, envelopes within a box, or an accordion file.

Pros: This method makes it possible to take all your coupons with you to the store. That way if you see a deal that you did not plan for, you can locate and use a coupon from your binder or box (or whatever you use to store them).

Cons: It takes a lot of time to clip all the coupons, sort them, and place them in your organizer. You will also need to regularly scan for expired coupons and remove them to make room for the new ones. It also makes it harder to utilize the store deal posts that list matching coupons by insert type and date. You will instead need to search through the particular category to find the matching coupon.

Whole insert method

When your Sunday paper arrives, remove the coupon inserts, label them with the date and type (PG, SS, RP), and store them. You can hole-punch them and put them in a binder, or put them in a file cabinet. When I post store deals, the date and insert type will be listed beside any matching coupons, and you can go to that insert, find the coupon, and clip it.

Pros: This method requires much less time than the Cut and Carry. Plus, you just throw out entire inserts when they have expired. It’s easy to find the coupons you need that are listed in the deals that I post.

Cons: You will have to search through the insert to find each coupon you need. There is also no way to organize any other coupons you get from the internet, mailings, store flyers, etc. You will have to plan your shopping trips in advance to make sure you have all the coupons you need, and if you come across an unadvertised deal, you won’t have the coupons with you to take advantage of it.

What does Frugal Jacksonville Mom do?

As I mentioned earlier, most people find some sort of hybrid method to use, and I’m no exception. I started out using the cut and carry method, and almost gave up on couponing because of the amount of time it was taking me to get organized, so I decided to try a mix of both.

I got a zippered binder that I use to store all my loose coupons. There are some out there that are very cute, and look more like a purse, but I have found that mine suits my purpose. I use a binder similar to this one, just an older model. I use tab dividers and baseball card inserts to sort my loose coupons into categories. I file my Sunday newspaper inserts in a file cabinet by month. When I’m ready to go shopping, I check the coupon matchups for the sale, find my coupons, and hit the road.

This method has been great, except for those occasions when I get to the store and find a deal that I can’t grab because I don’t have the right coupons. I have found a pretty decent solution that works for me. It doesn’t help if the missing coupon is not a newspaper insert, but even the cut and carry wouldn’t solve that problem. In the front of my binder is an accordion file with 5 slots. I keep the 3 most recent months of inserts (which I find hold the majority of coupons I need anyway) in 3 of those slots. In the 4th slot I keep store flyers or other unclipped coupon sources, and in the 5th slot I keep my mailers (Mint, Money, Valpak, etc.). When I need a coupon that I didn’t plan for, I use my phone to get online, check the coupon database for matching coupons, and if there is one in the last 3 months of inserts, I can pull it and clip it. Again, this doesn’t work 100% of the time, but this is the closest I’ve come to an ideal method.

Getting the Deals

Here again, I would like to reiterate my original points. Start small, stick with a budget, and don’t buy things you don’t need just because “it’s a good deal”. Here is how I suggest you start getting your deals…

1. Begin a stockpile. Because you will not have a stockpile, you will have things that you need immediately, whether they are on sale or not. Start out by making your shopping lists based on what you NEED to get you through the week. From there, use the coupon database to find matching coupons. Let’s say that your grocery budget is normally $150 a week. Make your list, get your coupons, and buy your items. Even if what you need is not on sale, you will save some money with coupons. Take the money that you saved – let’s say $15 – and put it towards your stockpile. Look at the store deals, and determine the best use of that $15. Maybe toilet paper is super cheap with a sale and a coupon. Use as many coupons as you have, and use that $15 to stock up on toilet paper. Next week, stock up on something else with your extra money. As time goes on, and your stockpile increases, you will find that your “need” list shrinks, and your “stockpile” money grows.

2. Reduce your budget. At some point, you will find that you have no more room left to stockpile, or that you have “stockpile” money leftover, as you should only be using this money on the best bargains. When that happens, it’s time to reduce the budget! Slowly lower your budget over the course of a few weeks to determine what works for your family. Once you’ve settled on your new budget, decide what to do with the extra. You may have debts or other expenses that need to be taken care of . If not, put it toward something fun. That’s also helps keep you motivated to find ways to save money.

3. Expand your horizons. Now it’s time to get creative. How could you reduce your budget even more? Try a generic or a different brand of an expensive product or one that you buy a lot. If you don’t like it, no big deal, at least you tried. If you find out that you aren’t as brand-loyal as you thought you were, you’ve now found a new opportunity to save money! You can also evaluate what you think you need. Instead of the bag of pre-packaged salad, could you buy a head of lettuce and let your kids tear it up for you? Instead of the fragrance-free laundry detergent for your child’s skin allergies, how about using baking soda and borax? It doesn’t hurt to experiment with new ways to save. You’ll have some failures, but you’ll have some great successes too!

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