please explain couponing???

[wbh1964]

Hubby has been laid off over a year and need to save money!!! I don't understand couponing because...
When I clipped and used the coupons from the newspaper, I would use them at Harris Teeter when they would have double or tripple coupons and would end up buying things I didn't normally buy...and they ususally have a 20 item or something like that max that you can purchase per day. We have started buying groceries at Wal-Mart and usually buy the Wal-Mart brand...it is almost always cheaper than name brands and usually just as good. I hear of so many couponing...is that the same as just clipping coupons? I am not a big cook...very simple like grilled chx and baked potato and salad or spaghetti or beef roast and rice with gravy. Not many coupons for items like that... Please help me understand better so I can save the money I have read about.
Thanks!!!!!!!!

 

[aml3679]

Serious couponing takes a little work, but, once you get started, it doesn't take much time and pays off.

I bought a 3 ring binder and made dividers for sections (i.e., bread, paper, meat, etc.). I bought clear baseball dividers with pockets and separate my coupons into these pockets so that I can flip through easily.

I subscribe to the Sunday paper only for the coupons and the flyers.

I also buy the coupons I want from The Coupon Clippers.

Bed, Bath and Beyond coupons never expire and I use them for coffee and garbage bags.

I also belond to a web site called Refunding Makes Cents where it costs about $13 a year. They let you know about deals and couponing.

 

[couponclary]

I've been super-couponing for almost two years, and I am just amazed at how much money I threw away before getting into this! What I really like about couponing is that you get out of it what you put into it. Check out SouthernSavers.com and Hip2Save.com. They are my fav go-to websites and they both have great tutorials for getting started. Basically, the goal of couponing is to buy enough of an item when it is on sale with coupons, so you never have to pay full price again! You do have to create a stockpile of some sort to get you through until it goes on sale again, but it is so worthwhile once you get going!

 

[Baloo]

Do you have an ALdis grocery store near you? They are even cheaper than Walmart when it comes to food staples(flour,butter,milk,bread) and canned food,snacks,coffee,juices,frozen veggies.....meat is about the only thing we don't buy there.

 

[marie1203]

To me the secret is to only clip, buy or print coupons of the things you get often like cereal, milk, juice, etc. Because as you said sometimes you end up getting thing you didn't need. I plan my meals 2 weeks in advance I know what am going to need see if there is any coupons for the extra stuff for that week (like cleaning products). Another good way is always go the product website and see if you can get coupons.

 

[CuteAndFluffy]

We eat very few processed foods, so I don't often save tons of money on food. I do better by shopping a combination of grocery store sales and our local Asian markets (great deals on veggies, rice and beans). I get spices in limited amounts from our natural foods store--they're fresher and cheaper than the jars on the shelves. The real places I save are on things like toothbrushes and soap and tampons and stuff.

The real key is matching up your coupons with the sales that are going on. I check out several money saving sites that focus on the grocery stores I use (Kroger and Meijer). I usually buy 3 papers on Sundays (@$1 each). I snip the coupons I know I'll use, toss the ones I am certain I won't, and stash the remaining sheets whole in case I need them. On Sundays or Mondays, I check the websites to see if there are any great deals, gather my coupons, print any I need to, and make my lists. I will try to pick up any freebies I can, I will stock up on things that have a long shelf life (just picked up 10 boxes of pasta for $2.50.)

The websites I frequent are:
$5 Dinners
weusecoupons.com
mommysnacks.com

 

[SandrA9810]

The main point is to only clip coupons of things you will use. Or things that have a longer shelf life.

The nice thing about coupons.com is you only print the coupons you want. So you're not tempted to buy the frozen chocolate desert that you have a 50cent coupon for when you're really not even a chocolate fan. I think every one does that at the start. You can also use the coupon chain mail thing that a couple people have going on here, that way you can add your unused ones to the stack without feeling like you're letting them go to waste.

Most the time, there's cycles in the sales. Like at Publix back home. They always do an "Viva Italia" sale, where all pastas, sauces, and the such are on sale about twice a year. About every 3 weeks, Lays chips are on sale, the following week it's Ruffles. Super Bowl weekend, expect snack foods, appetizers, and soft drinks to be on big discounts. Thanksgiving week, things like Lipton onion soup pouches, Stove Top, Gravy, canned yams, and the such are on deep discount. Picked up 4 boxes of Stove Top today for 90 cents at Wal-Mart. July Fourth, again a huge discount week.

My suggestion, to work out a menu. Start by writing down what you eat now on a daily basis, and what ingredients you use. There's still a handful of fruits and veggies that you can buy a lot of and freeze remaining portions, or store in a dark cupboard. Carrots, green beans, broccoli, celery, and the such can be blanched and then frozen. Potatoes store well in the right dark spot. And when you use them with making a pot roast or meatloaf, they won't taste any different. So you can buy these items when they're in season and on sale.

And learn to cook with the seasons. allrecipes.com allows you to type in ingredients you have and ingredients you don't want, so you can find new ways to make something.

 

[RangerPooh]

My mom and I stockpile our coupons in to an accordion file by category. We usually only clip the things that we are most likely to purchase, but also a few new products that we might splurge on with a coupon and sale.

I buy a lot of store brands, but when combining store sales and coupons they can come out to be cheaper. You just need to save your coupons for when they will work the best. On the west coast our stores never seem to do double coupons so we just use sales and coupons together. Some stores will even let you combine a manufactures coupons with their store coupon for additional savings.

Some people say that what works for them is flexibility, to buy brands that they wouldn't normally buy. To try new things. This might be an approach that you should try. I'm not sure what the grocery stores are like in your area, but when we lived in Michigan we occasionally grocery shopped at the Super Walmart and I didn't think that they were that much cheaper than the grocery store or Meijers. Now that we ahve one here (in WA) I still shop at Safeway as their prices aren't much different, and the selection is better.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

I joined a free couponing site. It is awesome. I read through what I can do at the stores around me (CVS, Walgreens, Publix, Target, Walmart etc etc). There's lots of household type things you can get for free when you have coupons and they go on sale. It tends to be a waiting game. Foods are harder to get, but you can save a lot if you do the same. We have been able to cut our grocery budget to about $50/week (family of 4) by stocking up during sales and getting toilet paper, paper towels, toiletries etc for pennies.

We menu plan base on what we have and what's on sale. There are lots of cheap meal options out there.

 

[tinkmom2]

This is what I do. I sit down every Sunday with my weekly store ad and plan my menu for the week. Sometimes the menu has family requests but mainly I look at whats on sale and plan. I also use sites like myrecipes.com and foodnetwork.com. My store has a double coupon day. So whenever I see a dollar coupon I am thinking $2 bucks! I also use store coupons along with manufactures coupons. My goal is to get items for free or as cheap as possible. I might not need shaving cream now but I will in the future for example. I have a binder where I keep my manufactures coupons and usually write my shopping list on a envelope and take all my manufactures coupons with me.
My store has meal deals where for example you buy a ham and get a turkey roast for free with potatoes and rolls for free.
Also many stores discount their meat on Monday from the weekend. I buy a 3lb bag of boneless chicken breasts every week and try to have one day with steak and hamburger. For a family of 4 and two cats I spend about $100 a week including soda and cat supplies and save about $50-60 bucks on coupons. It isn't very hard to get started.

 

[kacaju]

I will try to explain it simply.

get the Sunday paper and clip all the coupons for items your family uses.
Keep all those coupons and each week check your local store circular to see what is on sale that week.

example: colgate toothpaste is normally $3 walmart brand is $2

because you have been clipping coupons you have 3 coupons for colgate toothpaste for 50 cents off.

Your store is having a sale on colgate this week for $2.50 a tube, still the Walmart brand is cheaper.

But you have COUPONS!! Your store doubles coupons so your 50 cents is worth a $1 so now that $3 toothpaste, on sale for $2.50 will cost you $1.50
now that name brand colgate toothpaste is cheaper then the Walmart brand.

If you have 3 coupons, buy 3 tubes. now you
have saved yourself $1.50.

Do you NEED 3 tubes of toothpaste right now? No, and when you are trying to save money it seems wasteful to buy 3 tubes of toothpaste when you need other things.... but now...next time you need toothpaste it may not be on sale but that's OK because you already have 2 tubes stockpiled

Each week if you stockpile what is on sale using the coupons you have cut out...then you will have enough stockpiled that you will not ever need to buy the item full price again.

going back to the toothpaste. Always check the packages of what you are buying. Many times colgate will include a free toothbrush with purchase. You can use your coupons on thse packages as well. So you possibly could not only get 3 tubes of toothpaste...but 3 free toothbrushes as well!!

Does that make sense for you? Coupons are very easy and fun to use once you understand how to use them to your advantage!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Check out this coupon site

www.sistersshoppingonashoestring.com

 

[RangerPooh]

Don't forget to ask for the coupons that get printed out as the register. I've noticed that not all of the cashiers give them to you. So be sure to ask. I've gotten coupons for free cans of baby formula, $ off my next purchase for buying a specific item, etc. Also be sure to look for coupons down each isle and in store coupon books. Safeway has had ones for Sept/Oct and Nov/Dec.