{couponing basics}

Anyone that knows me, knows that I began learning about the art of "couponing" a few months ago. Though I post about my savings all the time, I haven't really posted about the concept in general. As with my other posts, I doubt anyone cares or will read this, but whatever :)


I know that many folks I know now think I'm either the "queen" of couponing, or just totally psycho. However, my level of participation in this is so incredibly minimal. It's amazing what others do...but I'm doing what works for us.

• I have always been a coupon clipper in the minimal sense. Now, I clip all coupons. Even if I think I'll never use them. More on this later. Many folks buy multiple newspapers - I do not. We have a subscription and I just get the one Sunday paper. I'd love to find some local folks that get the paper but don't use their coupons, but so far haven't really asked around much on that.
• Unused and expired coupons can be sent to military families oversees. Postage is the same as if you're sending it in the US and they are allowed to use expired coupons. More info here.
• There are so many internet coupons available for printing, it's unbelievable. In the beginning I just started printing them left and right, but learned that's not the best way. Some are in "high demand" and have printing limits, so you may need to print those as soon as you find out about them. But others will be around for a while and they typically (not always) expire a month after you print them - so printing them later benefits you. In many cases, I only print when I find the link on a blog that matches it up with a sale so I know I'm going to use it (less coupons to keep up with). However, if it's something that I know we'll use, I go ahead and print. You can usually print 2 per computer. If it is something I really think I'd benefit by having multiples, then I'll print two on my home computer and two on my work.
• Many saving-obsessed people out there do things like grow their own vegetables, or shop at farmer's markets, buy a cow and pig each year, make their own bread, etc. Though these are all great ideas - they just don't work for us. We are seriously short on time, so making meals from scratch, baking bread and growing vegetables simply is not realistic for us. We currently do not have any extra freezer space either.
• Spencer is a pretty good eater...Matt, on the other hand, is so flippin' picky! He is opposed to most things resembling healthy (he'd rather starve than eat wheat bread). He doesn't like chicken which eliminates so many easy, healthy meals. Unfortunately, I don't like seafood, so that too eliminates a lot. I love pasta but Matt is limited in what he'll eat. He's not a big soup eater either. It probably goes without saying that we eat a lot of pig and cow in our home.
• Brand loyalty is a thing of the past (in most cases). In the past, I've purchased store brands on certain things, but refuse to in other cases. I have now found that in many cases, you can use sale/coupons to get better deals on name brands than on store brands. The catch? You can't be picky about the brands. This is fine in most cases. For instance - we really don't care which brand of bacon we eat, as long as it's decent quality. However, I refuse to buy Scott paper towels or toilet paper - I hate them, but all other brands are fine.
• I used to only grocery shop at ONE store. I was totally against the idea of shopping multiple stores. Now I shop so many, it's not even funny. The main reason for my change in mentality is because it's FUN to save money :) I usually hit Bi-Lo and Harris Teeter every week now. I stay on top of what's going on at Food Lion, Target, Wal-Mart, Bloom, CVS, Walgreen's and Rite Aid. I make stops that are justified. You may be thinking "How can you have time for all of that and not have time to garden?". Answer: I'm able to hit a lot of these stores (especially the drugstores) on my lunch hour at work. With an organized list, I can hit CVS, Walgreen's & Rite Aid on one lunch hour.
• I grocery shop alone. Husbands, children and babies not allowed :)
• It's important to know your store policies. I'm still working on this. Many grocery stores double manufacturer's coupons up to a certain amount. You need to know this to maximize what you are getting. Do certain stores honor other store's sale prices? If so, you can actually limit the number of stores you hit each week. Can you stack coupons? For instance, Target often has their own coupons that you might receive in the mail or you can print online. They will allow you to "stack" these with manufacturer's coupons for extra savings.
• Watch for triple coupon weeks or super double coupon weeks (where the amount of a coupon that will be doubled is increased). This is when you can get a LOT of free stuff.
• Know your prices. I am working on this as well. I used to NEVER pay attention to prices. Now to help myself, I've actually started a spreadsheet where I track prices at my two main stores, and what a "good" and "great" price are. It's a little psycho, I know, but I just can't remember all of that on my own. Also, when the Wal-Mart near us opens, I plan to do a serious price shop there and it will most likely become my main store. (PS - Wal-Mart will match competitor's sale prices).
• I have thought about creating a spreadsheet to track which coupons I have, but that seems like a bit much (even for a spreadsheet freak like me), so I haven't done that yet.
• I am seriously considering creating a spreadsheet to track what we have in the pantry. This would help in several ways...help create meals without digging through the cabinets/fridge, help know what we have a stock pile of and probably don't need any more, know what we are low on or totally out of.
• Anyone thinking of doing this, set up a separate email address. Many websites require you fill out some basic information - almost always including your email address - to get coupons. Setting up a separate free account will reduce the amount of junk in your regular email inbox.
• Find a few websites to follow. There are a MILLION websites out there related to savings and couponing. You could waste so much time browsing them all. I'd recommend finding one or two that you enjoy and one that covers the grocery stores in your area. For me, that is Southern Savers. Though she covers the three main drugstores, she doesn't do Target or Wal-Mart, so I have to visit other sites for those. Why do you need a site or two? Because they do the hard work for you!!! They will match up sales with coupons that are out there, and provide links to internet coupons.

I know that's a lot of rambling, but oh well :)