I have been couponing now for many, many years. I learned to use coupons from dear ole Mom. She carried around a small accordion coupon holder with her coupons stuffed into the slots. I clearly remember standing at the check stand watching her use her coupons. I am not an Extreme couponer. I am very, very happy when my receipt says I saved 51%. I am even happy when I only have 40%. I spent 40% less than I would have if I wasn’t thinking about prices and such. My main goal of couponing is to make our household grocery budget stretch.  I have the added expense of needing to buy gluten free food. Gluten Free food hardly ever is on sale and very few coupons exist. I get Udi bread coupons occasionally, but for the most part I am paying full price every time.

I am not going to lie, there is a wonderful rush of excitement when I score a free time or even better get paid to shop. BUT  I have to be realistic for myself. I can’t be an amazing, Extreme coupon shopper but I can definitely be a SMART shopper.

So here is my two cents on couponing. If you are new to couponing, here is what I did to start being a SMART shopper.

A- Aquire

B-Be Organized

C-Create a plan

A-Aquiring coupons. When you are first starting, or as in my case starting over (see my post Mourning My Coupon Binder). The first step is to aquire and accumulate coupons. How are going to do this? Here are the many ways to get coupons.

1. Sunday Paper inserts- usually there are two Red Plum and Smart Source. There is, however, on occasion one from Proctor and Gamble (P&G). Sometimes, Smart Source will have two inserts. If it is a holiday weekend, there are no inserts.

2. Coupon books- especially with the holidays approaching (October -December) there will be coupon books around the store. I always stop by the customer service booth and look around. I also pay attention when I am around certain products, like baking items, because they might have a display with coupons.

3. Coupon printing sites- There are a few main coupon sites. Here are the main ones I use:

Coupon.com
CouponNetwork.com
Target.com
Redplum.com

4.Product websites-If there are products I buy often, like Silk Soymilk, I go to their website and sign up for an account and they send me coupons to my email address.

5. Coupon tear pads-These are usually next to the product. It is a coupon that you can take and use right then and there or save for later. I sometimes take 1-2 depending on if it’s a product I use. Also with that are the blinkies, which are the small box shaped coupon holders that spit out coupons when you take one.

6.Peelies- These coupons are directly on the package and are for using when you buy the product. In other words, don’t peel it off if you are not going to buy it. It is intended for the immediate purchase. It is tempting to peel it off and tuck it away for later (like when the product is on sale) but that isn’t cool.

7. Mailers-I have gotten some really, really good coupons in the mail. Sometimes they are store specific like Safeway or Target. I have gotten $10 off a purchase of $50 at Safeway. I have gotten really good Target coupons that I am usually able to pair with a sale item.

8. The product itself-I always peek inside the product box because sometimes there are coupons inside. I have found coupons in: Ziploc brand boxes, scrubbing bubbles, Olay products, Breathe Right, and more.

There are some awesome websites that have the same kind of information I just told you, but there is one that I really like. This one is a video that walks you through all (almost all) the kinds of coupons. The Frugal Find is one of the sites I visit often.

Next- Be organized!

Ligia

I went to Target today to see if any of the back-to-school items were on super clearance and I found a new binder and more for my coupon organization project.

Target had the binders for $5.70 and $3.00. (Top left) I purchased the red one for $3.00. I also got this neat Removable Tab File which was only $1.55 (Bottom Left). The binder comes with an accordion on the side (bottom right).

Here is my plan:

1.  I am going to put all my clipped coupons in the binder ( I still need to get the baseball card holders and tabs).
2. My unclipped inserts are going to go into the accordion file that’s part of the binder. Sorted by kind (Red Plum, Smart source, etc) and then by date of issue.
3. My store flyers, lists, and store coupons are going to go into the removable accordion. This is what I will take to the store. I will also have an envelope with the clipped coupons I will use in each store.
4. I will not be hauling my coupon binder with me. I know I will miss some deals this way, BUT it will save me the agony of losing it again. I was also thinking I would carry an envelope with clipped coupons of things I need all the time that if I run into a good sale I would have them with me (Silk milk, etc).

Now that I got my coupon organizer,  I just need to build my coupon stash again.

Ligia