Getting Started-Personal Couponing:
1) Start collecting and filing coupon inserts from your Sunday paper. These "inserts" are labeled: Red Plum (RP), Smart Source (SS), Proctor and Gamble (P & G) or General Mills (GM). Some weeks, you may get only one of these, sometimes you get all four. However, start a filing system now that works for you. Do not clip and file loose coupons. You will find that saving and filing the whole inserts by date makes couponing a whole lot easier!
2) Do some research to find your favorite coupon matchup site! Everyone's different, which means not all people use the same exact site for coupon matchups. Depending on where you do your shopping, you will want to find a site that suits your needs. Clipping for a Cause uses: www.iheartpublix.com (BEST site for Publix shoppers), www.southernsavers.com, and www.iheartkroger.com just to name a few. These sites tell you exactly what is on sale each week and tell you what paper or what website you can clip a coupon from that will make an item even cheaper! What makes these even better resources is that they are all FREE for you to use! They put a lot of time and effort into posting weekly ads throughout the year along with the newspaper and printable coupon matchups for items.
3) Be patient! Instead of making a big list of everything you are out of today and running to the store to get those items and probably a lot of other extras- wait! For (ex). if chicken breasts are finally going to be $1.99/lb, stock up on them at that price rather than waiting to get a pack at $3.69/lb. Play the waiting game and score freebies like toothpaste, soap, and household cleaners instead of paying full price! You will find that your favorite items go on sale every 6 weeks or so. Using your filed inserts and clipping coupons from them ONLY when you need them will save a lot of time (and money!)
4) Buy several Sunday papers. In order to take advantage of stocking up on deals when they come around, you may want to consider purchasing more than one Sunday paper each week. Certain gas stations, Walmart locations, and grocery stores also sell "double bundles" on Sunday mornings. They are trying to get rid of the papers that didn't sell on Saturday, and wrap two papers together to sell. Usually, you can save at least a dollar purchasing the double bundles!
5) Learn the lingo. When you start couponing, you will feel like you have to learn a whole new vocabulary too! No worries...you will catch on in no time! Some basics you may want to know: Red Plum (RP), Smart Source (SS), General Mills (GM), Proctor and Gamble (P & G), coupon (Q), MM (money maker), tearpad (coupons found on a tear pad in-store next to item) blinkie (coupon machines located in-store where you can pull coupons right out of), and BOGO or B1G1 (buy one, get one).
|
|
|
