Beginners Guide
Here are the basic rules for using coupons that will help you on your first trip to the store…
Set a Budget
- Setting a budget is important because it lets you live within your means. It also let’s you know how much you can spend on a weekly basis or monthly. .
- What items are included in the grocery budget. For me that is all groceries, any household items (cleaning, paper goods), any health & beauty (shampoo, deodorant), baby items (formula, diapers). We don’t have pets but you may want to add your pets needs to the budget also.
- How often are you actually going to shop. For my family, we stockpile many things so shopping weekly allows me to take advantage of weekly sales to build my stockpile.
Get some coupons…
- The Sunday newspaper is a great source of coupons. You can find your local city here and subscribe for delivery it’s much cheaper.
- Ask your friends and family for coupons. If they get a newspaper but usually throw out the coupons then they’ll probably be happy to give them to you.
- Search the Internet. There are many online printable coupons to be found! You can find a list of printable sites here.
- Use a clipping service. If there is a great coupon that you would like to have multiples of then you might consider buying extra coupons from a clipping service like The Coupon Clippers.
- Check the store. There are many varieties of coupons that you can find in the store.
Organize your coupons…
- File by insert. With this method you just file your inserts by date in a box and use an online coupon database here to find the coupon you need.
- Coupon Binder. With this method you would clip all of your coupons and file them in baseball card holders in a three-ring binder. With this method you can carry your binder to the store and have all your coupons with you while you shop.
Plan your Purchases…
- Weekly Ads. Read the weekly store ads to see what’s on sale that. If you don’t get the ads delivered you can view them on their website. It takes a few minutes every week to do this.
- Make a List! Don’t go to the store without one and stick to your list.
- Coupon Matchups. Pairing Coupons with items that are on sale. A $1 coupon for something that went on sale for a dollar equals free! Check Couponmom.com for weekly coupon matchups.
- Rain Checks. If your store is out of the sale item, get a rain check from Customer Service. They will fill out a piece of paper with the item details and price. Then you can come back another day (no more than 30 days) and buy that item at the sale price using your rain check and coupons.
- Pricematch. Some stores will pricematch. This means that if apples are on sale for 99¢/lb at one store, you can take the ad to your store and at checkout (or you may have to go to Customer Service to get and adjustment) tell the cashier that you would like to pricematch the apples. Show them the ad and they will sell you the apples for 99¢/lb versus their higher price.
Know your store’s coupon policy…
- Loyalty Cards. If your store offers a loyalty card then make sure to get one. Some stores only give the sale prices to card-holders. Loyalty cards are Free!
- Double/Triple coupons. Double/triple coupons is when the store will take your 50¢ coupon and double it making it $1. This is done automatically at the register, you do not have to do anything to take part in this promotion. First, find out if your store doubles/triples coupons. If they do then find out the maximum double/triple value and how many they will double/triple.
- Stacking coupons. Some stores will allow you to use one store coupon (the discount is provided by the store) and one manufacturer coupon (the discount is provided by the manufacturer) per item.
- Internet coupons. Find out if your store accepts Internet coupons.
- Competitor coupons. Some stores will accept competitor’s coupons.
Pay Attention to these promotions…
- 10/$10 promotions. You do not have to buy 10 items to get the $1 price! The only exception to this rule is if the ad states that you must!
- Rock-bottom prices. Don’t go out and use your coupon immediately! If you use that 25¢ off toilet paper right away when it’s not on sale you aren’t reaching your saving potential! Wait until toilet paper goes on sale for $1 then use the coupon. If your store doubles coupons then you could get the toilet paper for only 50¢! Combining sales plus coupons plus another promotion (rebates, double coupons, and store coupons) is getting the best price!
- One per Purchase. Most coupons say “one coupon per purchase” somewhere in the fine print. One per purchase means that you can only use one coupon per item purchased! So if you are buying 5 items and have 5 coupons then you can use them all!
- Limits. Stores will sometimes put limits on the item to make you think it’s a great price!
- Shop early. If you have couponers in your area then it’s best to get to the store as early in the sale as you can!
- Watch the cashier. When checking out pay close attention to the price screen to make sure everything rings up at the correct price. Also, make sure that the cashier scans all of your coupons. Coupons sometimes stick together or get dropped or the cashier will scan the coupon but not realize that it didn’t go through. Kindly point out that they missed one and they will correct it.
- Check your receipt. BEFORE leaving the store look over your receipt to make sure everything rang up correctly and all of your coupons were scanned. If there is a problem take it to customer service immediately so they can fix it.
Build your stockpile…
- Start slowly. Stockpiling common items. When an item is almost free (or completely free) this is when you buy more than you need. Refrain from buying a ton of everything as soon as you get started or you will blow your budget! Stockpiling takes time. Typically sales go in 12 week cycles so you only need to buy enough for 12 weeks.
- Know how much your family use. Start paying attention to how many bottles of shampoo, packs of diapers, boxes of cereal, etc. you use. This will help you to have a better idea of how much you should buy and to not go overboard and waste the products.
