Couponing takes time, it’s slow at first but don’t worry and don’t get overwhelmed by all the information, little by little it will sink in and you will be saving like a pro. The goal is to have a pretty large stockpile of coupons to use. Every week your favorite supermarkets, drug stores, dept stores, etc… release their weekly promotions and sales.
Grab your Sunday paper and in it you will find the weekly circulars and your weekly coupons as well. If you are starting today… cut out all the coupons which interest you, don’t forget to think of family members who may also be interested or may be in need of items you could get for free and don’t want. The trick is to match items which are already at a very low sale price and use a coupon on top of the sale to get that item at it’s rockbottom price and even for free. I still can’t believe I didn’t start couponing sooner! You will feel the same way too.
Get coupons…. from where???
From your Sunday paper is the best way to get lots of the Smartsource and Red Plum coupons. At the beginning of the month you can also get the P&G coupons and in between the month you may sometimes find other cool coupons for Target, snacks, toys etc. Utilize the web to your advantage. Target & Rite Aid have have their own web coupons which you may print up to 2 coupons per computer. The beauty of these store web coupons is that you can stack them along with a manufacture’s coupon to maximize your savings. If you own a smartphone you can also sign up for mobile coupons. I get my Target Mobile coupons as a text message once a week. All you have to do is show the barcode on your mobile device to the cashier during check out and they will be able to scan the code – the same barcode works for all the items listed on your mobile coupons list.
Sign up for your store’s loyalty card. The sales you see in the weekly circulars are tied to the loyalty cards. FYI: Wallgreens doesn’t have a loyalty card.
AllYou Magazine is loaded with coupons, this is a couponer’s must have – It usually comes with over $50+ worth of coupons and also has tons of good info on money saving tips and lots of frugal ideas and recipes.
Some of the many sources for online coupons:
Gather store magazines. Many stores distribute store magazines which have valuable coupons inside. Many stores have their magazines by the main entrance. The nice thing about these is that more than likely the coupons will be store coupons not manufacturer coupons. This means, you can stack a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon towards one item! Save these coupons and use them when the item is on sale to maximize your savings! Tip: You can use one coupon per item purchased. Many people get confused with the verbiage on the coupons. If you are purchasing 3 items you can use 3 coupons. Watch out for limits as well. If you reach your limit you won’t get sale price on the additional items.
Remember to start slow..Download and print your store’s coupon policies… Follow your local coupon bloggers for weekly deals and like their facebook pages for daily updates.
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