Couponing Basics

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Quick Basic Tips / Tricks on how to save money with coupons….

I know a lot of people are just not sure that clipping coupons is worth the time they have to spend.  However if you know the secrets / process you CAN really save a lot of money. I can attest to this, since I started using coupons to their max potential I have knocked well over 50% off my families grocery bill.

Here are some of the basic tips / tricks to help you get started on achieving these same savings!

1) I think this is the most important – you have to be patient. As with anything it will take a little time to realize the full potential savings. Follow these tips and you will get there a lot quicker.

2) You have to get organized! I use a binder that zips called the Coupon Magic Organizer and has tabs that separate my coupons  by category (frozen, dairy, cereals, etc..). They are in order of how I shop the grocery store. I then put the coupons in clear, plastic baseball card holders between these tabs. Make sure to clean out the expired coupons as you go!

3) Collect coupons and multiples of each (not just on your favorite brand). Get coupons from your paper, magazines (the best is All You) and online. Print multiple copies if you can (use your back button on your browser).

Online resources:

Coupon Dad (of course LOL)

Coupons.com

Smart Source

Red Plum

4) Here is the key to this whole mess and why you have to be patient. Stockpiling.

You need to stockpile the things you buy most often and that will not expire (the Costco concept). Once you have a good bit of coupons accumulated this will get easier. The trick is to use coupons in conjunction with the best sale prices to get items at the absolute lowest price possible. So when cereal goes on sale for 3/$5 and you have 3 coupons for a $1.00 off a piece…….that’s 3 boxes for $2. Can’t beat that and the more coupons you have the better advantage you can take of these deals and stockpile. Imagine if you had 6 coupons!

Another trick is there are many retailers that let you use a manufacturers coupon on top of their own store coupons. Target, Walgreens and CVS are a few examples of these retailers. These retailers will print coupons in their fliers or have printable coupons online for many products that you can use only at their stores.

As you can tell this could lead to some amazing deals!

5) You can’t be brand specific. I know there will be some things you are going to stick with, but for the most part you have to be flexible. Anymore the quality of most products are very comparable. Not being brand specific is the only way you can take advantage of the best deals with coupons.

6) Take all your coupons with you (in the book above is a good idea), you never know what will be on sale (or clearance) that was not included in the ad. The ads only list a small portion of products that have reduced prices that week and they are not always the best sale prices either.

7) Yes you have to plan out a menu. I do mine a month at a time, that way I know what I’m going to need and am not buying things that are not necessary and wasting money.

This is just some basic tips / tricks but I hope it helps everyone and shows how it can be done. I am feeding a family of 6 and have cut about $700 a month out of my grocery budget. I will say it again though, don’t give up after a few trips It does take a little time to get your coupons built up as well as your stockpile.

Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions you have! You can email me through the Contact page found on the upper navigation menu or simply email me at zack (at) coupondad.net.

Thanks!