Everything in this picture was FREE! That is approximately 35$ worth. Some of these items are not brands I would normally purchase, but with the right sale, coupons or Internet sample offer.... Free is always good. Manufacturers want you to try their products coupons are how they do it. Many times I've tried something because of a good deal and go back buy it again at full price. This is what they want. I've learned, why buy something at full price though, if you can get it cheaper?
Couponing can be very simple. You don't need to cut out every coupon you see. There are many places to find them. I'm just going to tell you what I do and give you some links to sights that offer other ideas. To start I order 3 Sunday Only papers from the Houston Chronicle. When we lived in Utah and New Mexico, the papers there didn't always offer ALL the coupon inserts. The Chronicle does. As you read coupon blogs from across the nation they will often tell you in advance how many inserts are coming in the Sunday paper. Many will even post a list of the coupons. In my experience, The Chronicle has been the best. Inserts and coupons are often regional. I have a growing family and we're trying to shrink our budgets so the time I spend cutting coupons is worth it to me.
The Chronicle is about 35$ for 13 weeks. They may have stopped their Sunday only offer. I only saw Thursday-Sunday for that price. I figure if I can use 3$ worth of coupons from each paper I've made up what I put into it.
I use a binder with baseball card holders. I found the plastic inserts at Target. I had been couponing for a while before I made this investment. Most of my coupons come from the paper, but I'll often print them off the Internet when I see one I'll use. Printer paper and ink can add up so I only print what I KNOW I'll use.
When I come across a deal for a specific store I pull the coupons and put them in my highly sophisticated envelopes so when I get to that store I don't have to carry in by big binder. I often regret not bringing the binder though when I see a deal or remember I need some thing that I know I have a coupon for. My envelopes also limit me to my shopping list which makes it easier to keep to a budget.
THE COUPONS-
STACKING
There are two types of coupons. Manufacturer's and Store coupons. You can use them together (one of each). It's called stacking. Many store mail out coupons. Many you can print off their websites. Some stores will accept competitor's coupons (Walmart might) but most won't. I was recently trying to use a "Manufacturer's" coupon that had a target symbol on it at CVS and they wouldn't accept it.
You can use these two coupons (above) at Target and get $2.50 off the total. Target, CVS and Walgreens are a good place to do stacking. Sometimes drugstores have specific rules about this. If you're concerned just look up the store website and read their coupon policies.
I've also used cellfire which is a site where you can download coupons to your store card (I've done this with Kroger). You can use your manufacturer coupons and at the check out when your store card is scanned those coupons loaded on your card apply too. I haven't used this a lot though.
DOUBLING
Kroger is the only store around here that I know doubles. Not only do they double, but they triple also. That means a 50 cent coupon is worth $1. A 30 cent is tripled to 90 cents. However, over 50 cent is not doubled and over 30 cent is ONLY doubled. In the picture at the top I had a 50 cent coupons for toothpaste and for Best Life butter. The was a sale for those items for a $1 ... coupon doubled...Free! This is when stocking up is great.
The hardest coupons to come by are produce and meat. Target coupons are your best bet. I'm on a gluten free diet, but I've just found some HEB coupons. I find coupons for all kinds of healthy food and products I love.
DRUG STORES
CVS is the store I use most. You buy a product for example Shick razors advertised for $8.99. You use a $4 coupon. You pay out of pocket (OOP) $4.99. The register prints out, as advertised, a $5 Extra Care Buck (ECB). ECB is used like cash the next time you purchase something at CVS (only you don't get the change if you don't use it all). There is an expiration date. The next week you go buy two packages of Huggies diapers for $8.99 each, using 2 high value $3 Huggies coupons. OOP you pay $17.98 minus the two $3 coupon... makes it $11.98. You then use the $5 ECB which makes it $6.98 OOP. As advertised, the register prints off another $5 ECB for the next time. Is called ROLLING.
You want to try to use your ECBs for purchases that will result in the same amount of ECBs or more. It can be tricky but all the best deals and purchasing scenarios are on the blogs each week.
Okay, That's the basics of what I do. If I think of something else, I'll add it. The blogs I read regularly are at the side bar. There is a lot more valuable information in those blogs. They probably do better than I at explaining all this. Thanks for reading.
