I'd like to start couponing, but I have to admit it looks a little daunting! I've found some of those sites that you just click to save and print, but is that the best way to go? And what about organization so you don't take forever at the check out line (I feel so weird if I don't hurry at the check out line, I'm the kind of person that holds my money when I run into the gas station just so nobody has to wait on me). I've gone too start a million times but kinda' freak out and think "Is it really worth it?" Help please, and thanks in advance!
Oh yeah, it is worth it. Just think about all the money you will be saving using coupons. Companies are giving us money (in the form of coupons) to buy their products. Stores are having sales to lure us into their building. Both are good because it equals spending less for us! Take one day at a time. It is a lot to learn but once you get it, you got it for life. When I first started couponing I felt like you. I remember my very first time I was in line and it was long because something didn't go right with my transaction. I had picked up the wrong item that the coupon didn't cover. I was sweating, scared and frustrated. I felt like an idiot. I told the cashier to cancel the order and I will be right back. I got out of line, went to the area to get the right product, recalculated everything and started over. I did well and I didn't give up. Now If there is a long line, oh well. LOL. I am just as important as the next person and now it's my turn. Most of the time, if there is a problem, they will pull in another cashier. As for organizing, use an envelope or small folder. Anything to keep your coupons you will be using at checkout from other ones you have on hand. I take a calculator with me to the store. I like to add up the items then subtract the coupons so I can know how much I will be spending out of pocket. You will do well and you will succeed. If you have any questions, I will be glad to help.
Spending less is always good! And obviously, I've seen people save toooons of money. I guess the idea of it is just a bit overwhelming because nobody I know actually does it! But, you are right, if it's my turn at the cashier then I can take my time, regardless of how crabby people are since everyone is always in a rush! I just need to dive in head first! Where should I start, though? And how do you know which coupons you can use together, or does it matter as long as it's not the same product? I feel like these are stupid questions, but I'm so clueless! I know this would be good for my little family, though, especially since we are in the process of trying to find a new house and just have a savings in general!
It used to be so simple with most coupons coming from flyers in the mail, but now a days it seems like every store has their own app. I tend to start with the physical flyers and use Targets Cartwheel app as well, but I admit that my current strategy isn't very effective for anything other than the occasional half off yogurt or chips.
First, it depends on what stores you are going to. Are you looking to save at the local grocery store, discount stores like Walmart, or places like CVS and Rite Aid? Here are some things you should do first. Sign up for all store rewards. For instance, my local grocery store has deals, but you can't get them unless you have their store card. Rite Aid and CVS also have reward cards that are attached to points and rewards. You can only get them if you have the card. Let's say you have a CVS Extra Care card. This week they have Scope on sale for $4.49. The deal is, buy one, get $4 back in Extra Care Bucks. So you are paying $4.49 before tax, and getting back $4. Your actual cost is .49 cents. Let's say you already had $10 in extra care bucks. The deal above you can do twice. So if you buy 2 @ $8.98. Now you need to buy something else to get you closer to the $10 mark. You purchased Softsoap which was on sale 2/$4.50. Your total now is $13.48. You give the cashier the $10 extra care buck. Now you pay $3.48. You will get back $4, $4(they combine the same deal and it will actually be $8), and $2 in extra care bucks. The $4 comes from buying the Scope. The $2 comes from the softsoap. The deal is buy 2 get $2 in extra care bucks. What if you had coupons for the Scope! There are .75 cents off Scope on DontPayFull.com. Your total would only be $1.98. That is what we called rolling your extra care bucks. When you have extra care bucks and use it to buy products that give you more extra care bucks. You would have only paid $1.98 for 2 big bottles of Scope and 2 Softsoap hand soap plus received $10 in store credit. What if you don't have any care bucks. No problem. You use your coupons to get the price as cheap as you can and you still get the extra care bucks. So I would also get the Sunday paper coupons and look at the inserts and search for the coupons. There are coupon databases online. For grocery stores, I look at the week ad, search for coupons and look at the sales. I stock up on sales with or without a coupon. Look for coupons in the store. My store had tear pads. They can be anywhere in the store. For instance, they had a tear pad for Wish-Bone salad dressing. The coupon was buy 2 get a $1 off. This week, my store had it on sale, 2 for $3. I used 3 coupons (from the tear pad). Making the salad dressing $1 each. Buy more when it's a deal so when you run out, you won't have to spend at the regular price. This is just a little information. There is so much to know. But build on it. You are going to do well. Ask away! I love helping people learn to coupon!
Okay! I'll be starting this venture and seeing how it goes! I'll be asking questions along the way, I'm sure! But, for anymore advice you have right off the bat: I live in a tiny town in Missouri, we literally have a Walmart, a Save A Lot, a Dollar Tree, and a Dollar General in the way of stores. And hopefully, I'll be moving to an even smaller town soon that literally only has a Dollar General. Lol. So, I feel like it won't be too crazy for me. I mean, if I wanted to, I could drive 30-40 minutes to a bigger town, but I really don't see myself doing that just for a bigger selection!
Oh my! You will be in a small town. You can still get pretty good deals. Walmart already has low prices so with coupons, you can get it even lower. Sometimes you can get the equate coupons on sites like DontPayFull.com. I use equate coupons to get female pads. You can also get some pretty good deals at Dollar Tree. I was in there yesterday and they had some Dawn dish detergent. There is always coupons for that. You just have to be careful with how many coupons you use because they are pretty strict. I think they limit you with how many you use per day. So if you want several at one time, just take someone with you or go back the next day. That's a good way to get around it.
I'd recommend that you start off by searching for coupons on things you're definitely going to be using first of all. If you've got to print the coupons out, you need to think about the cost of printing them too. If you're not likely to actually use the coupon, it's costing you money to print it. So make sure it's for a product you're fairly sure you're going to buy. If you have any newspapers or flyers that have coupons in it's definitely worth looking into those to see if they have coupons you'd use. Some newspapers will tell you online if there's going to be coupons in them, and what coupons they are as well. You can then opt to buy the paper if it's going to be worthwhile, or print them directly from the site on some occasions too. If you're willing to order some free samples online as well (there's plenty of sites out there that offer them!) you can often get some additional coupons with the free samples. Companies like BzzAgent will send you products for free in exchange for reviews about the products, and they often have coupons as well. It's a great way to get some additional coupons and you get to try it before you buy too! Something else I'd recommend is taking out any loyalty cards for places that are local to you. I don't know which of those shops has a loyalty card as I'm not from the US, but if they do, make use of them. If you're going to be shopping there anyway you might as well be making the most of getting something back for shopping there. Some loyalty card sites also have coupons you can load to your loyalty card and they're automatically applied without you having to hand anything over at the checkout, so if it's holding people up you're worried about this eliminates some of that!
Dollar General also has digital coupons. They are worth it to sign up for. You just need to provide your phone number at the register. They also have some special deals on Wenesday that are really pretty good. These are the kinds of deals that you might really want to use. That reminds me I need to check there.
D list celebrities are great sources of coupons too. There are companies who sponsors them to promote their products. Many D list celebrities gives out discount codes and coupon codes from those celebrities. I got a 40 percent discount for protein shakes from a reality star! They promote these codes on their twitter and instagram.
