How I do it!

This probably should have been my first post but, I was too anxious to get on here and show you my shopping trips! I wanted to share how I get my deals.

First I am a member of a forum called Hot Coupon World, there is a link on my page if you want to check them out. They have every deal for every store you can think of. I stumbled upon them by chance and am very happy that I did! I get to see the ads for stores early and can plan my trips accordingly. 

I mostly use the coupons I get from the Sunday paper. I subscribe to a website that send me an e-mail every week with the upcoming coupons for the week called Sunday Coupon Preview. I like to get these so I can see what will work with store sales. I like to have my game plan ahead of time. I do print them from on-line sites like Coupons.com or the Red Plum and Smart Source sites if I don't have them from the paper. I like to have coupons in 2's weather it's 2/4/6 since I like to shop the Publix BOGO sales and you get the most bang for your buck when you can use a coupon on both the item you are buying and the item you are getting for free. 


A lot of store will allow you to use their coupon plus a manufacturer coupon. I know for a fact that this is allowed at Publix, Target, Walgreens and CVS. Most stores have a "coupon policy" on their website and it's always wise to take a look at it and familiarize yourself with your stores policy. Plus it also helps when there is a cashier that isn't quite sure, if ever in doubt the manager on duty should know. I take advantage of this a lot!


You have to be organized! That I think is the #1 priority. If you aren't organized you can miss a great deal! I use a Mead notebook that I found on sale at Wal-Mart for $5. I like it because it has lots of "places" for me to store things like scissors and store ads. Inside I use page insert for 4x6 photos that I found at Office Depot. Some people like to use baseball card inserts but, I feel they are too small. When I have the coupons I need for my trip I put them in a small accordion file (about the size of a wallet) that I found at the Dollar Tree for.....you guessed it $1.00. Below are some pictures of how I like to organize my coupons. There are a lot of ways to organize but I find this works best for me, if you want to see how other people organized a simple search on the net will point you in the right direction. I also just stumbled across a tip of stapling like coupons together which I am going to try out this week.

I like to clip every coupon. It is a lot of work and organizing but I believe there are a lot of benefits. You have to think different when using coupons. It was hard for me to grasp this concept but I eventually started to get comfy with the idea! A lot of times you can get thing for free or create overage (basically using a coupon for greater than the price of an item and using the extra savings on your other items). If I find a coupon that does not have a size restriction I will use it on a trial sized item to get it for free or get my overage. You don't have to use a coupon on the largest item to get the most value for that item. For example, I;m not a Tide user but have recently had a ton of $1.00 coupons. I use them at Target for the trial sized Tide (priced at $0.97) and use the $0.03 overage on another item I am purchasing. And if you can get an item for free that you know you aren't going to use there are plenty of places that will gladly accept them as a donation, so you can help out others will no out of pocket. 



I was a little skeptical of couponing at first when suggested by my husband but am now an avid couponer and I don't think I could ever shop without my coupons. I would say that on average my grocery bill has been cut in half and we are eating the name brands instead of the store brands. I hope this long winded post will help out anyone who is considering or just starting out in this fun and rewarding world of couponing!