My Tips

I've had a few requests to "teach my couponing ways" (love you Jenny!) so I thought I should. Plus it's extremly flattering! LOL

Disclaimer: I'm still learning and I'm in no way the world's best couponer so please don't think I think that. :)

MY TIPS FOR COUPONING SUCCESS:

1. First things first, GET EDUCATED! The best thing I could suggest for this is to take a couponing class. I took 2 classes plus read a ton on different blogs and watched some videos on how to be successful at this. I really wanted to be sure it was worth my time and I wasn't wasting money! Click here for a few video tutorials on couponing success. They're not my favorite but they can be helpful if you can't find a class to go to.

2. Get a subscription(s) to the Sunday newspaper. The more newspapers you have the more free stuff you can get! Think of it, if you only get 2 newspapers you only get 2 of the coupon that could get you an awesome deal. Why wouldn't you want 5 instead when it's only a few dollars more? :) For Utah, the Daily Herald is the BEST newspaper to get for coupons. Go here for more information on how to get a subscription.

3. Find some good couponing sites to follow. The sites I follow are located on my sidebar. www.freebies2deals.com is by far the best (in my opinion) but runner up would be www.grocerysmarts.com. Both sites are national so anyone can use them. If you have any questions on those sites in particular let me know and I'll do my best to answer them!

4. Pick a day to go grocery shopping (mine is Wednesday). I say this for two reasons. First, I chose Wednesday because it's the day after all the grocery ads come out (in Utah) and the sites I follow will usually have all the ads paired with the coupons so I don't have to do all the work. Secondly, if you just choose one day you can hit up the stores you want to go to with your Master Plan (more on that in a second) and not be going to different stores everyday. I'm not sure about you but for me that would get really old really fast!

5. GET ORGANIZED! This is a multi level section, mostly because I'm a hyper organized person. Are you ready?

• First you need to decide what kind of organization method you're going to use for your coupons. I don't have the time or patience for the Binder Method so I personally do the File Folder Method and have loved it so far. For more information on the different methods and to see which one would work best for you go here.

• On Sunday I take all my coupon inserts from the Sunday newspapers I get and make one big insert. So, since I get the Daily Herald newspaper I get the Smart Source insert and the Red Plum insert. When I'm finished I will have 2 big inserts. One Smart Source and one Red Plum. I will then mark the date on the top of the insert so I can go back to it when I find a deal on one of the deals sites I follow. (They always tell you which week's insert the coupon that's being referred to is from.)

• From Sunday - Wednesday I check the couponing sites I follow and copy and paste any and all deals I think I might want to get onto a Word document. I organize the deals by stores and also add a section for other groceries that my family needs at the end. That way it's all laid out for me and I don't have a bunch of coupons that I can't remember what deals they're for.

• Before I hit the stores on Wednesday I go over my Master List one more time and delete anything I've decided I don't want to do anymore. Then I pull out my binder and cut any coupons I'll need. I also use a paper clip to keep all the coupons together for each store. So I have a clip with all my Target coupons, one with all my Wal-Mart coupons and one with all my Smith's coupons. That way I'm not thumbing through everything while I'm checking out. I've done that before and believe me the looks you get sometimes could KILL!

6. Price match! There is no way I'm going to 6 or 7 different stores just to get a good deal. Luckily Wal-Mart now price matches! This is nice not only because you can go to one store instead of 5 but you can usually find more of a certain product at Wal-Mart then at the store that is originally offering the deal. Make sure to print out and take the new Wal-Mart coupon policy with you when you go. The cashiers aren’t always the most knowledgeable so it’s nice to have the policy to back you up. You can find the policy here.

Alright, if you think I've left something out or have any questions feel free to leave a comment or even email me. Couponing has been so fun for me lately so I am more then happy to help someone else save big bucks for their family!

Good luck and let me know any and all of your success stories too!!!