Back to Basics

The basics of couponing are really very simple! It can be overwhelming at first, and believe me, you can burn yourself out very quickly if you think you are going to get every single deal that is out there. It’s not going to happen unless you are some kind of super human with tons of extra time to spare. And that’s definitely not me. I grew tired of couponing after just a couple of months because I was very excited about how much money I was saving and all of the awesome deals! But just remember, the deals will come around again in just another month or two!

Don’t save every coupon that comes out in the paper or you find on the internet. Only clip the coupon if you are truly going to use it! I occasionally find myself throwing out coupons I never should have kept in the first place, but you can get yourself into a real mess if you let it get too out of hand. I find that these three questions are best for figuring out which coupons will work best for you. Will you or your family use this product? If it is free would we use it? Could we donate the product? I also like to think about doing gift baskets for people, or stocking stuffers, as well as things I know my friends and family use that I may be able to get a great deal on.

Also when it comes to using your coupons at the store, the best way to score a FREE product is to look for the smallest products. As long as the coupon is not for a specific size item, or does not exclude travel sizes, then you can get any size you want! So why get the biggest bottle of shampoo that may cost $4.99 when the smallest one may cost you $1.49? FREE is FREE no matter what! I tend to find the smaller items on the bottom shelves or the very top shelves. I have even found them in completely different sections of the store. So keep your eyes open!

My favorite basic part of couponing is the stockpile! I love my little stockpile and I love watching it grow! Whenever there is a great sale on a particular item, buy as many as you can get a great deal for! The more you buy while they are at such a great price, the less you have to spend later on. Back in September, Food Lion put their brand Macaroni and Cheese on sale for $.10 a box!!! I love Kraft, but for $.10, I’ll eat anything! There was a limit of 10 per customer per day, so of course I stocked up. I don’t want to eat it everyday for the rest of my life, but I did make two trips total. That’s twenty boxes of macaroni and cheese for $2.00 plus tax! Of course there were no coupons for this deal, but you get the point. Stock up at the lowest prices on items that are shelf-stable, and you can spend the rest of your budget on dairy, produce, and other perishable items.

Read the following page to find out where you can get all of the great coupons that are out there!

Where Did You Get Those Coupons?