I am not an extreme couponer (is that a word?) by any means, but I do like to save money and I did really good for awhile. We were religious about getting a newspaper on the way home from church every Sunday. I would go to three different grocery stores for the best deal. I was hardcore...well, hardcore for me anyway!
Well, add another child to the equation and that quickly ended. It was just easy to go to one place, usually Publix, and get what I needed and go home. As long as I stuck to BOGO deals or other sale items I did pretty well, but when they weren't on sale my bill was high. So, I decided to start couponing again. Here are the little tricks that I have learned to save some money.
1. Shop the sales flyers.
Most of the time I have a menu in mind. For awhile I would try to do a menu for the month, but the problem with that is I was wasting money because a lot of things would go bad (like fresh veggies) before I used them. So we went to doing a weekly budget and grocery shopping trip. However, sometimes a store will have meat at a special price or some other item that you will use later in the month. I will buy it. We went to Publix one day for something and ended up buying four packs of chicken while we were there because it was buy one get one. We can always use chicken. Sandwich meat and cheese are other items I buy when I see it at a good price because I can freeze it and we use it.
You can also freeze milk. I have been known to have four gallons of milk in the freezer. The problem is knowing which milk freezes best. We have four main grocery stores that we use: Harvey's, Save-A-Lot, Publix, and Wal-Mart (Groan!). Save-A-Lot has the cheapest milk in town. It is a dollar cheaper than Wal-Mart which I think has second cheapest I think. We quickly discovered the reason it is so cheap is because their jugs are junk! They do not freeze well at all! The handle on them splits and when you thaw them out they leak. Not good! Harvey's will run a special the last week of the month (yes, I have looked for the pattern) where you can get two gallons for $6. I have cheated and went twice to get the deal. Their milk jugs do not burst so it is worth it, but Save-A-Lots is still cheaper even at that price.
Publix has their BOGOs in their fliers. BOGOs are a big saver at our house too. In Georgia, a BOGO at Publix translates into a half price item. So you don't need two bottles of maple syrup? Just get one for half price. This is not the case in Florida. You have to buy one item at full price and then the next one is free. Sorry, Floridians! (But you do still get special pricing for Disney, Legoland, and Busch Gardens....I am a little bitter about that! Can you tell?) There may be other states that don't do not honor BOGOs. Publix will have that information. SouthermSavers may also have this information available.
By shopping the sales flyers you can get the best deal and most items freeze well. For a list of things that you can freeze, just read this article I used here.
2. Go Online and Look!
A lot of the grocery stores in your area will have a website you can use and most of them have links to either their sales flyers or to other coupon websites. Start there. Publix website is great! They have an area called save here. They have digital coupons, coupons just for their store, and they also have a link to Smart Source and Red Plum (these usually come in the Sunday papers too).
The digital coupons are so easy! You set up a log in and click on the coupons you want. They automatically link them to your cell phone number. You can email yourself the list so while you are at the store you can see the coupons you have clipped or you can print them if you don't have a smart phone. Once at the checkout, type your number in the card keypad and it applies your coupons at the end. The other coupons on the site work like regular coupons. Just a heads up if you weren't aware, most coupon websites require you to download some app or something to print their coupons (I know that was not technology savvy language...forgive me!). Just be warned because they will often slip some toolbar in on you. They are easy to disable usually. Just giving a heads up if you have never printed coupons from the computer. Wal-Mart also has a way to print coupons from their site.
Harvey's has a Rewards Key that you can use to save at their store. A lot of their specials are for key holders. On Wednesdays you can save a lot of money if you are a key member. (That's how you get the milk so cheap!) On their website, they have a way to load coupons on to your Rewards Key and when you scan your key it takes them off. I have never used this, but it may be something I try in the future.
Another thing to do is go to the restaurants websites that are in your town and register. You can often get good deals through their emails. I recommend setting up a separate email for this. I used my regular email and everything got so jumbled I ended up missing deals. I just set up a blog email and I plan to use it for my coupons and other deals. I also found this list of websites that have coupons available if you register. Be warned, some of them do not work. This is an old list, but it gives you a starting place.
3. Buy a Sunday Paper
We did this for awhile, but quit. Not sure why. Klint recently subscribed to our paper and now we get the Sunday paper and I have started clipping away again. Just know that some coupons are for things you think you will never buy. Clip them anyway. You never know when you may need that can of Rotel tomatoes or when the hubby will crave a snack and want some peanuts. Just clip it. The worst thing that could happen is that you don't use it by the expiration date and you have to throw it away. But because you did clip it A.) You have it in case one of the situation mentioned above happen and B.) You have worked on your cutting skills, hand-eye coordination, and the strength in your hand will increase. (Did that make you feel better?)
At the end of the month, in bigger newspapers, Procter and Gamble will have their big coupon book. This does not come out in the Tifton paper, but the Valdosta Daily Times and Albany Herald carry it. You can also go to their website and print coupons, but they limit you to 30 a month.
4. Look Around the Store
Publix has coupons books right next to the door you come in. I wish I had mad that discovery when they first opened. I always bring a pair of scissors with me to the store so I can cut any coupons I find while I am there. If I don't happen to have any, I just do the old fold and tear. Some stores have the kiosk that you can scan your rewards card and get special deals. I have seen the little coupon boxes that spit the coupons out when you pull them. Just look around your store for the deals and the coupons.
Also, stores will sometimes have the coupons that come out when you check out. Target does this and it is great when you are having to buy baby food. You use their coupon to buy food and the give you another coupon to buy more. Down side to that is I had to drive an hour to get to a Target...ugh!
5. Subscribe to a Magazine
I somehow got a subscription to Family Circle and they always come with lots of coupons. There are also coupons in magazine sometimes.
6.Check your Packaging
I get a lot of coupons out of stuff I buy. Maggie's diapers always have coupons. Oxy-Clean will sometimes have coupons inside. I have seen cereal, dog food, and Hawaiian King Roles often have coupons in the bottom. Just check the food packaging. At least if you get it from something you have bought before you know you will use it again. :)
7. Baby Stuff
We did this for awhile, but quit. Not sure why. Klint recently subscribed to our paper and now we get the Sunday paper and I have started clipping away again. Just know that some coupons are for things you think you will never buy. Clip them anyway. You never know when you may need that can of Rotel tomatoes or when the hubby will crave a snack and want some peanuts. Just clip it. The worst thing that could happen is that you don't use it by the expiration date and you have to throw it away. But because you did clip it A.) You have it in case one of the situation mentioned above happen and B.) You have worked on your cutting skills, hand-eye coordination, and the strength in your hand will increase. (Did that make you feel better?)
At the end of the month, in bigger newspapers, Procter and Gamble will have their big coupon book. This does not come out in the Tifton paper, but the Valdosta Daily Times and Albany Herald carry it. You can also go to their website and print coupons, but they limit you to 30 a month.
4. Look Around the Store
Publix has coupons books right next to the door you come in. I wish I had mad that discovery when they first opened. I always bring a pair of scissors with me to the store so I can cut any coupons I find while I am there. If I don't happen to have any, I just do the old fold and tear. Some stores have the kiosk that you can scan your rewards card and get special deals. I have seen the little coupon boxes that spit the coupons out when you pull them. Just look around your store for the deals and the coupons.
Also, stores will sometimes have the coupons that come out when you check out. Target does this and it is great when you are having to buy baby food. You use their coupon to buy food and the give you another coupon to buy more. Down side to that is I had to drive an hour to get to a Target...ugh!
5. Subscribe to a Magazine
I somehow got a subscription to Family Circle and they always come with lots of coupons. There are also coupons in magazine sometimes.
6.Check your Packaging
I get a lot of coupons out of stuff I buy. Maggie's diapers always have coupons. Oxy-Clean will sometimes have coupons inside. I have seen cereal, dog food, and Hawaiian King Roles often have coupons in the bottom. Just check the food packaging. At least if you get it from something you have bought before you know you will use it again. :)
7. Baby Stuff
With both of my children I registered with everything baby. Huggies, Pampers, Similac, Enfamil, etc. Similac and Enfamil will actually send you free containers of formula. Similac also sent me a bottle. They also send monthly coupons for formula.
Publix has a baby club that send out coupons and some of them are for free stuff. You don't have to buy a thing. If you do a registry with Target, they will send you coupons for the baby.
Also, check some of the pregnancy magazines for free codes. I bought a car seat canopy and a sling and all I paid was the shipping.
8. Get Organized
I made a binder that I keep all of my coupons in. I got the cover and other forms from here.
I made a binder that I keep all of my coupons in. I got the cover and other forms from here.
Love my shadow in the picture...ooops!
In the inside pocket I keep the sales flyers or coupons for fast food. I have a plastic pocket envelope that has my scissors, a notepad, pen, and gift cards for different places. It is just easy to grab the notebook and have everything handy rather than hunting everything down!
Close up of pocket
Next are my sections. I kept them simple. I remember my mom having a box with coupons and there was a section for everything. It was very confusing. My sections are: Cleaning Supplies, Health/Beauty, Dry Goods, Eli (the dog), Baby, and other (for clothes coupons and such) (I recently moved our eating out coupons to a separate envelope thingy. See below!)
I used 4x6 photo pockets to hold my coupons. You can also use trading card holder pages to organize coupons. I like these because they are bigger and I can fit more in them. This is a page from our eating out section.
I also use my 31 Fold-It-Up-Organizer. It has a pocket for my scissors and coupons, a pad for my grocery list, and a pocket for my cell phone, money envelope, and pen to mark stuff off of my list. My version is an older version and I keep saying I want a new one, but there is nothing wrong with this one. It's just the part of me that wants to spend money. :)
This is our new eating out folder. We keep it in our cars for the most part so we always have our coupons if we are out and about and want to grab a bite. Very handy! (and only $1!)
So there you have it. How I coupon in a nutshell. I also use the links on my board Couponing and Grocery Shopping on a Budget. I haven't used all the links on the page or looked at them, but some of them I found helpful.
Happy Couponing!
