Beginning to Coupon

Several of my friends and family have asked me to share 'secrets' on how I do my deals. I have posted so many pictures on Facebook recently of my 'scores' at various stores like Target, Walmart, CVS, Kroger, and Food Lion, so I guess they want a break down of my transactions and how I get "x" amount of stuff for "x amount" of dollars.. Extreme Couponers would also go (several times a week or day even) to all of those stores AND Walgreens, RiteAid, and perhaps other, more local stores. I will begin by saying that I do not have children and/or really long/stressful/harsh days of work so I do have a little more free time than many people. I think the most common comment couponers get is "I would do it, but I don't have time". Frankly, I'd say if you have time to spend money, then you have enough time to at least try and SAVE money. I will help you find deals (of course, a plethora of other blogs do this too!) so maybe that will make it easier and give you all more 'access' to these deals. I have yet to go to a store and get $1000 worth of stuff for only say $10 (since we all know that the TV show Extreme Couponing is scripted anyway, and those 'deals' are a hoax) please don't be fooled about what you can and can't do. Like all other coupon blogs, I have to throw out the above disclaimer since it really just does not happen like you see on TV (but then again, does anything??)

Anyway, I would ultimately like to start a coupon club or circle here in Roanoke for friends and family to connect and share in person tips and tricks and deals. I have yet to find anyone interested (or, potentially) so I hope to make this happen sometime soon!

As mentioned in my "introductory post", I recommend going to KCL (Krazy Coupon Lady) page and viewing all of their tips on starting out. It's a lot of really awesome info I can't really copy or repeat but that's the easiest way for everyone to 'begin'. I started using coupons in high school when I would go to Michael's for craft supplies (and especially when I worked there!) so I have been couponing quite a while, but I did not get into 'really avid/go to extremes/ and make lots of effort' until college. I started small stockpiles of things I knew I would need, and always, always, always tried to match a coupon with a sale at Kroger or wherever. I did not until recently begin adding "buy this for free just because I can" to my repertoire, since I had less space in college and also, less interest. Now that I know most of the ins and outs of how to 'play the game'...I will share why it is actually useful to buy something you don't necessarily need if A) you can get it free or B) it's purchase and accompanying coupon will give you extra money off your OTHER purchases (I will definitely be discussing overage, so don't worry)!

So, for now, start by going over to The KCL Website and reading their steps to couponing and catch up on all the lingo. For the record, I LOVE the binder method and I sort by category (of item, or where it is found in stores) instead of "by date"....Below is my list of categories in my binder and they are separated by plastic divider tabs (and these are definitely changeable and adaptable to your style or needs!!!)

Bakery (bread, in-store bakery items), Baking (for cooking/baking, spices, mixes, etc.), Breakfast (everything cereal, bars, fruit snacks, oatmeal, instant stuff for the A.M.), Canned (fruits, veggies, etc.), Cleaners (kitchen, bathroom, laundry), Dairy(milk, cheese, yogurt, ready biscuits/cookies/rolls, refridg. juices, butters, cold creamers, etc.) Drinks (soda, tea, coffee, water, etc.) Frozen (desserts, single meals, family meals, pizza, snacks/veggies), Heidi (pet stuff ), Household (napkins, bathroom tissue, paper towels, candles, Febreze/Glade/office supplies), Meats (deli and pre-packaged, but frozen goes in Frozen), Pharmacy (probably the biggest section of all--I have considered breaking in to two--one for me and one for Andrew, but have not yet---here goes: medicine, shampoos/hair products, lotions, body soaps.washes, deodorants/sprays, feminine stuff, make-up and other personal care items), Produce (anything in the produce section like fresh fruits/veggies, cold dressings or salad toppings, flowers, sometimes organic stuff) Sauces (condiments, pasta sauce, gravy mixes--anything on that general aisle of the store
), Snacks (broken into candy, cookies/crackers, chips, bar food like nuts and things), Sides/Soups (pasta, rice, soup, international aisle).

Like I said, those are all subjective to what works for you personally. I tried to just group by section in relation to the layout of my favorite Kroger, but I like alphabetical so I go that way for ease.

After binder, I know people ask where you get all the coupons to fill it---I buy multiple Sunday papers every Sunday. Buy them at Dollar Tree or Dollar General because they will be $1 each or $1.25 each, respectively. Buying no less than 4 papers is a good idea since some (unfortunately) store sales requires buying multiples to get a discount. Many manufacturer Q's (short for coupons) have a limit of 4 in one transaction so 4 is usually a good number to have. But start small if you like, and only get 1 paper until you get used to the thrill of couponing! My next post will be about buying multiples of a product to receive maximum savings and why stockpiling is a good idea (most of the time!)---hope this helps you get started.