How Do You Use Coupons?

I don't know if you have a Freecycle group there, but I have been able to join a coupon group via Freecycle here in Utah. A person who receives the newspaper clips the coupons she wants to keep and passes on the rest to another person who doesn't receive the newspaper. I tried getting the newspaper at one time just for the coupons, but since we didn't care for reading the paper, it was just too much trash/recycling building up in the house, even if I was saving several dollars every week in coupons.

I am in Utah, but I think www.pinchingyourpennies.com applies to Idaho, too. You can check their site for the best weekly deals at various stores. I'm taking a break from aggressive couponing because of my new baby, but it was a workshop from one of the experts at PYP that got me started and their Web site and strategies that got me hooked. Seriously, toothpaste for 25 cents. . . cereal for 50 cents. . . there are deals out there if you pay attention. For the first month or so you have to treat it like a hobby and give it an hour or two a week to get your coupons set up and organized. Then it becomes easier and automatic and you're just checking the ads or the info at PYP.
I use a binder with plastic sheet protectors designed for baseball cards. This allows me to see all my coupons at once. I only clip the ones for products I'm really likely to buy. I keep any others that i MIGHT use in the binder pockets or in a big sheet protector, unclipped (clipping takes time). I use dividers to seperate my various categories (household cleaning, soaps and lotion, dental, pets, baby, frozen, canned/boxed foods, misc.) and then I can flip around through my binder while I'm at a store. Whichever of my kids is sitting in the cart's seat knows it's his job to hold the coupon binder and hold the coupons I pull out to use. I do lke that my kids get involved and have a job, and I LOVE to hear them say thinsg like "No, that's not on sale," and "Do we have a coupon for this? No? Well, maybe next week."
The only time I ever go more than once a week or to more than one store is when there is a truly hot deal. Then I might do some regular shopping for lots of stuff at one place and go for a crack of dawn or late-night trip alone to get a deal on, say, spaghetti sauce. This is only worth it if it's a great deal and I'm going to buy a truckload of whatever is on sale. Otherwise, it's just too much for me to do with my three little kids. But getting deals is fun and makes shopping seem like a game and lets us try new things and also lets us have a big wall of stored food in the basement so I never feel like I HAVE to go to the store at all, except for fresh foods. I think that's the idea of couponing. If you get good at it (and you will, with practice) you will have a nice stockpile and won't go shopping at all EXCEPT for the hot deals.
At the height of my couponing, I got three Sunday papers delivered to my home. It made for very efficient clipping and I could get at least three of whatever hot deal i found--very fun! The thing about coupons is they are only guaranteed to subscribers of the paper, so it wasn't worth it to try to buy a Sunday paper from a box and miss out on some of the better coupons that were included with the subscribers' papers. I found some good coupons on Boodle.com, but they were never as consistently interesting and useful as what was in the paper.
I always keep my coupons in my car. My family is used to hearing me say, 'Oh, wait! I have a coupon for that!" whenever we want to buy something on impulse.
I do shop at different stores--my store loyalty is mostly gone because of couponing. I buy a lot at Costco for convenience, but it's hardly ever the best deal for things like pasta and cereal and canned goods. I just like their produce and frozen items best. I think that's another advantage of couponing when you can: you can allow yourself to splurge because you've cut back somewhere else.
Hope this helps. Good for you! Keep us posted!

I don't use coupons all the time but I have used Boodle.com especially when Albertson's has a good sale you can knock off even more with the coupons. Also pinchingyourpennies.com has all the grocery lists for each store each week and where to find the coupons. I usually just click on the links to the ones that will print, and don't worry about searching for the newspaper ones. On the pinchingyour pennies site click on "screaming deals by state" and then you can choose youre state and grocery store to find the coupons you want.

Good Luck

As others stated below, I HIGHLY recommend thegrocerygame.com. I've been using it for over a year now and I save a TON of $$$. It takes time to cut coupons, etc., but I found that I save much more time vs. being at the store, seeing something on sale, having to look to see if I have a coupon, etc. In addition, there is a site called shortcut.com and you can enter your King Soopers or Safeway card number on there, and add electronic coupons to your card and the coupon is automatically applied at the store when you purchase that item.

Best of luck in saving some money. If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help!

T.

Grocerygame.com and couponmom.com are good websites. Also, you might check and see if you have an angel food ministry distribution site. This is a non profit that you can order food through on a monthly basis. They do a monthly order, and you can get enough food for $30 to feed a family of four for a week. You can order mutiple boxes, if you are interested in buying for more than one week, and can add on extras, like a fruit and veggie box or extra meat, etc... It is super inexpensive, and a great way to cut grocery costs.

Hi. I just started also and asked on here how to organize my coupons for very little money. I got a lot of responses and would like the share them you. I ended up getting a little tupperware (cd holder) and plan on putting labeled dividers to sort out the different categories. Good luck.

http://www.mamasource.com/request/1058445223870332929

Have you tried the Grocery Game (grocerygame.com). They will tell you when to use your coupons at your local grocery store.You tell them which stores you shop at and they tell you when you will get the best deal on particular items based on the store's specials and the coupons in circulation. You just have to clip your coupons every Sunday. The strategy they recommend is stocking up on items when they are cheapest instead of buying only what you need for the week. For example if you can get toothpaste for 20 cents, then buy a whole bunch of it at once.

Personally, I hardly ever use coupons. I buy a lot of generic products which end up being cheaper than the national brands even with the coupons. I also shop at the stores that are the cheapest. I used to shop at King Soopers until I realized their prices on the things that I buy are WAY higher than other stores like Super Target.

Hi Iris,

I'm not a coupon user but my niece is and she is incredibly good at it. She's so good at it that nine times out of ten she saves up to 90% on each shopping trip. Here is her website: http://penniessavedaz.blogspot.com/. On her website she has a couple of links to some other really good sites, like one for how to organize coupons, and a few for tips on saving, etc. Check it out, and if you have any questions she's really good about giving you answers you can understand. Hope this helps!

Wow, I sure wish I'd have known about some of this stuff when my kids were still at home! And I don't think many of these websites even existed yet. I've always known about coupons, I do use some. I print some online too. But now, it's just DH & I. So it's a small grocery bill anyway. I do go to Sam's Club for stuff like paper towels, paper plates, tp, etc. I just think it's a good deal. But w/some coupons & sales, I can probably get some of those items cheaper & maybe even close to 'free' if I try. Thing is, I'm not in the best health, so much of the time, my coupons expire before I get to use them. I don't get out much either. Like I said, my kids are grown now but, they all 3 live together, maybe they can benefit too from some of these sites. I will start trying harder for us too. Thank You ALL for these sites! Even tho it wasn't my request. I still appreciate it & I'm sure Iris does too!

1 question; thegrocerygame.com site, is it really worth it? I've never heard of having to pay for a site like that. There are other ones too, like couponmom.com, couponcabinet.com, and I know they have similar lists & things, but you don't have to pay to use anything. Just wondering?

Hope you're all well!
T. ;)

I checked out pinchingyourpennies for my state and to be quite honest the sale prices advertised there were more than the regular prices I pay all the time. We are huge Fred Meyer shoppers as it is the cheapest place to shop in my area. I make my menues around the circular prices that I can see online and then I also know the cycle of the store so I know when the things we buy are on sale. It's always the same each month. By shopping at the same store regualarly I've also gotten to know the department managers who know what I shop for. Fred Meyer often has meat and deli marked down and Monday morning is the best day to go. These are unadvertised sales of foods that are about to expire. They pull lunch meat a week before the sell by date so I often get a 2lb package for 99cents. I stock up when I find those deals and throw them in my freezer. We easily eat well but I only shop big every 6 weeks. I keep a well stocked house so that when I find good deals I can buy large quanitites. Another example, they had 7% fat ground beef for only $5 (regular price $10) a 3lb roll. I bought 7 of them but that's enough for 4 months. When I got home I made several hamburger patties, cooked and divided the rest and froze them all. Not only did I save a lot of money but I also save a step when cooking dinner. We do not buy processed foods and I do get milk and fresh veggies every week skimming for big bargains in meat, dairy and deli but not buying unless it's a really good deal. I go without the kids or hubby. Just to note it takes about $600 to get started by buying staples in bulk to get stocked up, but I usually only spend $250 a month for 5 people regularly.

I use grocerygame.com.