If you are a beginner or just simply want to freshen up on your couponing skills, read below for all the tips that will help you begin your coupon adventures or find out a few things you may have not known!
The #1 question I get daily is, “Where do you get all of your coupons?”
-Sunday Newspapers ( I buy between 2-4 inserts a week from my hometown and order 2-4 inserts from Houston) The reason I have a friend send me coupons from her area is because all regions vary when it comes to coupons. Unfortunately, I have compared inserts over time and my area gets twice as less coupons as Houston, Tx! Hopefully you have a dear friend that will do the same for you!
-All You Magazine- is an excellent resource for coupons. I just received my issue in the mail today and it had $56.76 worth of coupons in this ONE issue!
-In stores - You can always find coupons in your local stores. You name a store, they will have coupon laying around SOMEWHERE! Cosmetic counters, stuck on the products(peelies), machines that spit out coupons(blinkies), tables with displayed items, and in the store ads.
-Mail- All of that mail that you normally throw out thinking there is nothing in there, STOP! Look for coupons first! Also, there are several ways to sign up for coupons for your favorite products that can be mailed to you.
-Product websites- A lot of times, you can go to your favorite product’s websites and they will most likely have a coupon for an item! If not, click on the contact me section of their website and shoot them an email. It can’t hurt asking for coupons. Make sure you tell them how much you love their product! I have received many great coupons this way. 3/10 times I receive coupons for FREE products! Who doesn’t love a free item!
Facebook- This is the biggest social media website out there! It was only a matter of time that mfgs started using this to promote products. As a matter of fact, this is probably where I receive most of my coupons for FREE products! There are tons of giveaways and coupons daily! I try to update you the best I can when I see something new! Like the products’ pages and you will be updated with their statuses on your newsfeed! If you do not have a facebook account, I highly recommend you getting one!
Free Samples-This might be a surprise to you, but sometimes the best way to get GREAT coupons is through filling out information to receive a free sample. Most of the time the company will include a few high value coupons in with your sample!
Inside packaging- WAIT before you throw that package of lunch meat out! I buy Land O’ Frost lunch meat and there is always a coupon inside the package! A few other examples are Reynold’s wrap has coupons under the lid made out of cardboard and the Banquet frozen meals sometimes have coupons inside the packaging! Just look for those little dotted lines before you throw anything away 
Printable sites – Redplum, Smartsource, coupons.com,kelloggs, free coupon alerts, and Coupon Network offers savings and coupons that you will not find anywhere else.Click Here
Newsletters- When you sign up for monthly or weekly newsletters, sometimes they will include surprise coupons in those emails! These are a great way to save on your favorite products!
eCoupons – Cellfire is a great source for mobile coupons! Check your area and make sure this is offered for your stores! I, unfortunately, do not get to take advantage of this! If you have a grocery store that has cards to load coupons on, take advantage of this!! These are store coupons that can be matched with MFG coupons!
What in the world do you do with all of those coupons now?
I will give you my method, but different methods will work for different people! I keep a binder full of all my coupons! I would suggest finding a binder with an expandable file folder in the front to keep your store ads, coupon policies, store lists, and your paperclipped coupons that you are using that day! I would also recommend a zipper pouch either attached to your binder or a three-ring pouch so you can have your pens, markers, and scissors with you at all times! I promise you will use all three!! You need to buy trading card holders. These are found at your major stores like Walmart and Target for around $5 dollars a pack for 30 sheets! I would go ahead and buy 2 packs! You will use them, trust me! They are usually located in the front by the trading cards. Don’t waste your time going to the school supplies, because they are probably not there! Look by the registers! You also need dividers. I would suggest buying the dividers with the writable tabs because the dividers that have the tabs with the slip in paper tend to fall out with all the tossing around! Okay, you are ready to start putting your binder together!! Here are a list of my categories: (You may need to adjust these categories a bit that works best for your family)
I have Main Categories(Bold) and Sub-categories:
Baby/Kids
-Diapers/Wipes
-Formula
Grocery
-Baking
-Beverages
-Breakfast
-Canned/Jar Items
-Condiments
-Dairy
-Instant Dinners
-Meat/Refridgerated
-Pasta/Breads
-Snacks
Household
-Air Fresheners
-Cleaning supplies
-Food Storage
-Laundry
-Miscellaneous
-Office supplies
-Paper Products
-Pets
Medicines
-Cold/Cough/Flu
-First Aid
-Pain Relief
-Sinus/Allergy
-Stomach
-Vitamins/diet
Personal Care
-Cosmetics
-Deodorants
-Eye Care
-Feminine
-Hair products
-Lotions
-Oral Care
-Soaps
Now that you have your binder completed, you are ready to start learning your store policies, the lingo, and each stores’ rewards programs(if available)!
This will be my next post so STAY TUNED! I can’t wait until all of this is completed! Once it is done, it will be a page FULL of helpful information for all of you! Don’t forget! Please help me out and comment with any concerns on these posts so I can address these questions in this page! If anyone is interested, I can come up with a way for you to print my categories out as pages if you want to buy the protector pages for your binders instead of the tabs! It is completely up to you!
THIS PAGE WILL HAVE MORE ADDED SOON ….
