fourcatmom Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I have been quite interested with the extreme coupon show on TLC and although I don't want a huge stockpile of stuff, I would love to learn how to considerably cut down my grocery budget. I would like to work part-time next so that I can concentrate on HS the girls and this would be a great way to start. Do you buy multiple newspapers, shop at different stores, collect the free mailers from the mailbox...or all of the above? Can anyone share some tips on the best way to start. THANKS:bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diana B Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 The Coupon Project has a great instructions here: http://thecouponproject.com/getting-started/coupons-101 I had a whole thing typed up as to what I do, but she explains it MUCH better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 Thank You! I think I actually had dreams about coupons last night, instead of school work! Whooo Hoooo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhgillil Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Depending on where you live, you may not be able to cut your bill as drastically as the folks on the TLC show. I live in an area of the country where that is impossible because we don't have stores like Safeway and Albertson's. Organization is essential to do any level of real bill slashing couponing. A binder with baseball card sheets works best for me and I organize my binder by grocery store section. My mom just keeps one of the tiny accordion-style pouches for her coupons. I usually do a combination of newspapers (I get 2-3 per week) and printables. Peruse sites like The Krazy Coupon Lady, My Coupon Teacher, and Mrs. Moneysaver for the best store deals that week. I never hit-up more than three stores in a week, and I usually just go to Harris Teeter and Target. I don't have the time or patience for more. Make a list of what you're going to get at each store and which coupons to use. I also always check to make sure there are no printables for non-deal items that I need (Krazy Coupon Lady is best for this). I also break-down my planning into segments so that I don't get overwhelmed. There are so many different ways to approach couponing, but the best advice I can give to someone starting is 1) Don't let yourself spend more than 10 hrs/week 2) Don't expect to cut your grocery bill by more than 40% 3) Have a gameplan that works for you and stick to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I became coupon obcessed about 2 summers ago. I purchased enough toothpaste, shampoo, toothbrushes, facial cleanser, soap, razors, femenine products, cosmetics, etc. to last us until, well...about now! :D I only coupon now when I need something. It was too time consuming. I use store coupons in combo with mfg. coupons at our local grocery store (we are too far from the other major stores), Target and only do CVS or Walgreens now when I am running low on something. My advice is to start slow. Get inserts from one or two papers. Choose 1 or 2 stores to start with and learn the system. Only buy what you NEED and USE! As for cutting my bill in half...umm...not really. BUT I do save quite a bit. We also have a discount store nearby where I can often get stuff WAAAYYYY cheaper than if I used coupons. It's fun to save and get bargains but I get tooo consumed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I just watched this show and, while fascinating, they never seemed to answer my main question which is: "WHERE do they get all of those coupon inserts??" Seriously, we *know* they aren't subscribing to 1000 Sunday newspapers. One lady had people donating coupons because they knew she'd be donating food and supplies to a food bank, which is *great*! But unless you know someone or have special connections, there doesn't seem an honest way to get coupons in bulk like that. What am I missing? LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 It's also worth it to bookmark sites like redplum, smartsource, coupons.com and the like, and check them every week or two. It does take some time/paper/ink to print what you need, and the printables expire quickly, so I do that right before shopping. Target is especially nice because they let you use a store coupon and a manufacturers one. I get most of my non-foods there when they have a sale on. Also, check your local stores' sites. I'm mostly a Kroger shopper, and they let you load digital coupons on your store discount card. I usually get about a 25-30% discount on each trip, with only doing one store and spending maybe an hour a week-Financially, it's worth it. This week's inserts and store coupons are good in my area-Memorial Day barbecues means more items used to make foods and fewer prepared foods-for example, there was a coupon for organic chicken in my local paper today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengjw Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I have been couponing for over 2 years now and love it! I started off couponing with thegrocerygame.com. They have shopping list all across US that you can subcribe for a small fee. I learned a lot by reading the "forums". Eventually, I stopped the subscription when I found "southernsavers.com" and hasn't look back since. I know it will be super hard for me to do couponing without all the help of the websites I go to. Doing it on my own is too time consuming and difficult. Therefore, I would advice you to start by visiting some of these coupon websites and let them help you as much as you can. As for inserts, you might want to buy 2 newspapers now and try to ask your family or friends if they have any inserts for you. However, if something is on a "very" good sale and your family use a lot of it, you can definitely buy coupons from "ebay", couponbeat.com, mycouponhunter etc. This week, I order 20 chinet coupons from ebay for $2.00. I will get the napkins for $0.30 after coupons so it is worth it especially when my family use a lot of it. That way, you do not have to buy say 10 newspaper which is too crazy for me to maintain...lol. As for the "Extreme Couponing" series, the title says it all. I am not one of those couponers and most of the people I know that coupons are not. As it is, I am saving more than 50% so I am fairly content. Depending on the stores where you are, you might want to concentrate on one store first, if that store is a coupon friendly store. Once you feel more confident, you can tackle more stores, include the drugstores, if you want. HTH. Julia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 (edited) Thank you all for the information. I have been on a few websites this morning reading about it. I in no way desire to spend a lot of time on this and be an extreme coupon person but I would like to save some money. We are lucky to live in an area where we have a lot of stores like Bel-Air Safeway Wal-Mart Food Max Winco Target Walgreens I don't know if anyone has any specific experiences with any of these stores. Also on Grocery Coupon Cart .com has anyone used this and when they print do they have the barcodes and an expiration date because from reading store policies it seems they need to have these things. Thanks Edited May 22, 2011 by fourcatmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gooblink Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I started couponing last fall and have had great success cutting our grocery bill, but not so much in an extreme way. One thing it took me a couple months to figure out was the sale cycle. I learned not to fret if I didn't get the great deal on Cascade this week, because in few more weeks it's going to be on sale again. Sales tends to rotate about every 8-12 weeks - some things more often, like toothpaste, toilet paper, laundry detergents, etc. I only subscribe to 1 paper, and use Coupons.com for printable coupons. I still don't have a great solution for organizing coupons, and that can be frustrating if I'm in the store and see something we use on sale, remember I have a coupon, then can't find it because I can't remember how I'd filed it. But...I'm a mess, like that. Good luck! It can be addictive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 grocerysmarts.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle O. in MO Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I've been trying to figure this out too and my biggest frustration so far has been at Walgreens. I'll head over there early Sunday morning, by early I mean 8 or 9 a.m., and all the sale items that I want to purchase are sold. People are coming in the store at 12:01 a.m. and sniping them. I feel so mad about that. I guess I'll have to resort to a midnight bandit's schedule if I hope to get anything at a discount. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gooblink Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I've been trying to figure this out too and my biggest frustration so far has been at Walgreens. I'll head over there early Sunday morning, by early I mean 8 or 9 a.m., and all the sale items that I want to purchase are sold. People are coming in the store at 12:01 a.m. and sniping them. I feel so mad about that. I guess I'll have to resort to a midnight bandit's schedule if I hope to get anything at a discount. :glare: It's very frustrating. Happens here, too. Ask when/if they restock and go back early on that day. Also, with Walgreens, I've asked if they have any more of an item in the back and often they do. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 It's very frustrating. Happens here, too. Ask when/if they restock and go back early on that day. Also, with Walgreens, I've asked if they have any more of an item in the back and often they do. :) About Walgreens...the Register Rewards seems so confusing to me. Can anyone help explain these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyCrazyMama Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 About Walgreens...the Register Rewards seems so confusing to me. Can anyone help explain these? I don't have a Walgreens to shop at but the Krazy Coupon lady has a video about couponing at Walgreens http://thekrazycouponlady.com/2011/05/11/video-shopping-with-the-krazy-coupon-lady-at-walgreens/ :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle O. in MO Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 It's very frustrating. Happens here, too. Ask when/if they restock and go back early on that day. Also, with Walgreens, I've asked if they have any more of an item in the back and often they do. :) Thank you. I'll try this. I did talk to the manager of the store one day about this and she said they have people waiting in the parking lot at 11:30 pm. She said it gets really crazy sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gooblink Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 About Walgreens...the Register Rewards seems so confusing to me. Can anyone help explain these? When you purchase a product that earns them, the RRs print at checkout, like coupons. You can then use them on your next visit, pretty much like cash. There are some limitations: you can't earn RRs on a product for which you are using previously earned RRs. For example, I bought All detergent which earned $1 RR. On the next visit, I used that $1 RR to buy more All, but the coupon didn't print a second time. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baseball mom Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I too am just really getting started couponing but having so much fun with it. My kids enjoy it too. They cut the coupons then sort them in piles by product type (frozen, bottled, tooth paste etc) Then I double check they are in the right piles as I put them in my organizer. The kiddos also enjoy checking the sale papers for good deals against what coupons I have. (I have used this as math and writing assignments ;) math = figure out how much it would cost to buy those items, how much after coupons, what are the savings. Writing = writing a list of what is on sale with the coupons.) I started using an accordian style organizer but decided the binder with ball card sleeves would work better. Just got my stuff to do that. I am going to organize it by isles at the store. We have been kinda stocking up, not like the ones on the shows but just to have a full pantry with some extra for emergency. I just found krazy coupon lady and love that site along with coupon. com Oh and don't forget to get a raincheck if you go to a store and they are out of the product that is on sale. Also on RR at walgreens make sure to watch the date. They expire pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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