Coupon advice

[alliecats]

Hi everybody. Does anyone have any inside coupon tips? I am going to start clipping & using these as it is just throwing money away not to. Are there any good sources besides the Sunday paper? Also, how do you organize yours? Any good tips will be appreciated! I truly am a newbie at this!

 

[Tigge50447]

you should check out this site it's super for people who are looking for deals or coupon advice

Coupon site

 

[maleficent1959]

Two other good sites are pinchingyourpennies.com and the grocery forums at fatwallet.com

Check out the Wishing Well in the Pinching Your Pennies forums. If you can post your wish list while the Wishing Well is open they will send you free coupons.

I can't stand not being able to access my coupons easily, and so I use a binder and put my coupons in trading card pages (got the idea at Fatwallet). It is so much easier to see what I have.

Depending on where you live you could try cutouthunger.org This site has a matrix of grocery deals by state (but not all states). They list what sale items at the store coincide with coupons from the Sunday inserts. How much the item is, how much the coupon is, and how much you save.

You can print off coupons at smartsource.com but some retailers won't take Internet coupons.

Valupage is also worth checking out. They don't have coupons, but they list specials that will kick out coupons for money off your next purchase at the register. At Albertsons, for instance, I may have an offer to get a 50 cent coupon for buying Children's Tylenol or something like that.

One thing I do is get an out-of-town paper on Sunday. Our paper inserts aren't all that great, but I've noticed that the bigger towns get some really good inserts with a lot more coupons. The paper I get is $1.75 but I more than make up that in savings from the coupons I get. Just compare them and see if that's the case for you. A couple of my friends also give me their inserts.

There are a lot of great sites that can help you save money.

 

[SuzieQMomof3]

alliecats,

I started grocery shopping a new way using coupons and I've been saving about $30 a week or more since I've been doing it. Here's what I do: I get two Sunday papers, and cut out coupons of every product we use, even if it isn't a brand we usually use. I then take the store's sale flyer and read it very closely. I then buy whatever is on sale, but ONLY if I have a coupon for it. However, I buy as many as I can of an item. I now have more food and other grocery items in my house than I ever did before. For example, I just bought 8 boxes of brownie mix (Duncan Hines I think) that were on sale for $ .99. I had 4 coupons for $1.00 off 2 boxes. So I got a $1.87 item for $.49.

I have never paid more than $.30 for deodorant.

It helps if you're not loyal to one brand or your kids are willing to try something new.

We are a family of 6 (well, one of us is on formula ) and I spend about $80 a week on groceries, including diapers and formula for one child.

I hope this helps.

Susan

 

[alliecats]

Wow, SuzieQ! We are a family of 2 and don't spend much less that that! You are my hero! Thanks for the great tips--there are a lot of items I don't mind switching brands on. This is a big help.

Thanks everyone for the sites & other helpful tips!

 

[SuzieQMomof3]

Thanks, alliecats, that's so nice of you to say!

I see you're leaving in 3 days. How exciting. I'm turning green with envy

Have a great time.

SuzieQ

 

[Deb T.]

I keep my coupons in a 5x6 plastic card file box that I picked up years ago at a Dollar Store. I also bought "a-b-c dividers" to write food catagories on the back tabs. Some of my categories are: Cereal & Breakfast Foods, Meats, Vegetables, Fruit, Beverages, Cleaning Supplies, Personal Products, Snacks & Crackers, Detergents & Softeners, Paper Products, Kitchen Cleaning Supplies, etc. You can customize yours however you want. The plastic box is easy to carry to the grocery or discount stores.

Good luck getting started! I love looking at my receipts to see how much money I've saved!!!

 

[maleficent1959]

SuzieQ is right. If you find a good deal then stockpile. I have so much toothpaste right now it will probably last until the end of the year and it was all free. Because I get other inserts I get multiples, then I use them at a store that doubles my coupons up to a dollar (so I get $2 off on a $1 coupon). We like both Crest and Colgate and DS likes Aquafresh too so we're set.

My $2.49 Huggies tubs of baby wipes were .49 this week after coupons, Mr. Clean was free and a whole bunch of other stuff too.

It's amazing how much you can save with just a little time and planning.