Starting my coupon journey

[BamaScents]

OK, I have decided to take control of money that I am pouring out on materials that I could certainly be saving on.

I like the EC show on TLC however, that is not my reality.

I would love to see a small percentage of my grocery bill dropped each week. Anyone care to share tips, websites, pro's and con's of couponing??

Way too excited to take control of my lifestyle without giving it up. Further more, adding money to more fun areas of my life (trips, kid stuff, etc) as opposed to only getting what I have to!

[Katie La - One24]

Here are some websites for coupons:


http://thriftynorthwestmom.com
http://thekrazycouponlady.com ---> my favorite
http://smartsource.com
Over 100,000 Grocery and Restaurant Coupons, Printable Coupons, Coupon Codes, Up to 35% Cash Back and Hot Deals ? ShopAtHome.com
Grocery Coupons & Deal Forums - A Full Cup - Coupons
WeUseCoupons.com
http://livingrichwithcoupons.com
Hip2Save - Not Your Grandma's Coupon Site


:-) Good luck!

[Singlemomma]

Another website for getting online coupons is www.beyondmothers.com

[worksfromhome]

I would love to be able to drop my bill as well. It is getting riduculous how much things cost these days.

[BamaScents]

I agree!! Still working at it. Not save much yet but need to build up my coupons first I guess to see a larger savings.

[happymommy]

I use CouponMom.com a lot for a list of deals & coupon/sale matchups by store & state. You can print coupons at coupons.com (I do this through SwagBucks and then earn credits for each one redeemed that I then use toward Amazon gift cards). Many store sites offer printable and digital coupons (that you upload to your store card): Target.com, Kroger.com, etc.

Learn how your store's sale cycles work and use your coupons in conjunction with sales to get the best prices. I just got 18 boxes of free pasta this week by doing this! No, I do not normally stockpile to this extent, but when there was a high value coupon ($1 off) for a pasta, I got as many as I could. I know pasta goes on sale at Kroger 10/$10 all the time. So, I knew if this one went 10/$10 it would be FREE with this coupon! Retail price would have been $2/box. My family will use this within 6 mos...Dh is 1/2 Italian and all 3 of my boys love it!

A lot of stores are starting to limit the # of identical coupons they'll take in one purchase, btw. So, you might want to check the store's coupon policy before attempting to use many coupons that are the same.

Good luck! Hope this encourages you to keep at it!

[robyna]

My favorite is Money Saving Mom® :: Helping You Be a Better Home Economist. She has links to grocery sales and coupon match ups all over the country. Just look in the upper left hand corner where it says "Store Deals." Then you can find your local stores and coupon match ups you need.

[samrhett2]

I have a ball couponing. At first I found it confusing and overwhelming. I knew that I needed to match the coupons with the sales but it just seemed to hard. I kept reading blogs and saving coupons and one day it just all clicked and started to make sense.

If you start at Walgreens or CVS and just purchase a few items at a time it will really start to pay off.

This morning I purchased $40 worth of items at Walgreens for $10, plus I got $4 in Register Rewards back to spend on my next deal.

Tomorrow I will go back and purchase 2 tubes of toothpaste that are normally $7/2. I have two $1 coupons so I will pay $5 (but I will use my $4 in register rewards) and pay out of pocket $1, but I will get $5 back in register rewards!

It is a beautiful thing!

[ashamom]

Originally Posted by malea

I would love to coupon for food items. I have a house full of kids..but the whole process seems overwhelming to me...what si the best way to get started ?
Malea
Finding Freedom Team

The first thing you need to do is start getting coupons. I know the show has people using 20, 30, even 100 but you don't need that many. For my family of three, plus some donations, and helping out other family members I buy 2 papers a week. I then get 2-3 more from friends and family. Four or five works for me without being to much.
Next, you'll have to start watching the sales cycles in your store. My advice, pick one grocery store and one Drugstore, learn their policies, sales, cashiers and get comfortable with them. Once you are, then you can branch out to other stores.
Last bit of advice, don't get discouraged! I couponed for 9 months before I really started noticing large savings, and a stockpile that was perfect for our family. When you first start you're buying the food you need NOW, and the food (with coupons) you'll need LATER. So, it's actually a little more expensive in the beginning, just take $10-$20 a week/paycheck that's dedicated entirely to coupon purchases, and find as many free/super cheap items you need within that budget. Good luck, feel free to message me if you have any questions

[mom2kaiskamkaid]

I started couponing last April. I LOVE it!!! My binder weighs about 8lbs right now....lol. My favorite sight is Time2SaveWorkshops.com!! Like them on facebook and get updates on your wall!!