This article will give you an overview on how to coupon. The first thing to know about couponing is that after paying rent or mortgage, food is the most expensive yearly item we pay for. Food is essential, unlike many other items we spend our money on, so it is well worth learning how to save money in this area of your budget. Learning to coupon or even just knowing when to buy will save up to $1,000's of dollars a year and will be a skill that can be used for a lifetime. It is perfect if you are working partime or a Mom who would like to stay home, making an excellent way to cut the bills drastically.
Step 1. Find Coupons.
Sunday papers are the best place to start. You can buy several if you know if they have good coupons that you'll be using. Ask friends, neighbours, family to save them for you. You can also find a few extra coupons in stores around store displays. The coupons you don't want can be trade on coupon sites like Hot Coupon World or Penny Savers. You can also purchase bulk coupons on ebay which is useful if you want to stock up on a particular item.
Step 2. Follow some good sites.
Like Krazy Coupon Mom who will keep you up to speed. There are many other sites around, you really need to look for the ones that are shopping in the same stores as you.
Step 3. Organize your coupons.
You need to decide how much time you want to spend, if you want to precut and file them all so you can carry them, or leave them in the car at all times. It is commonplace to have coupon binders stolen so keep your eye on them or attach them to your shopping cart. Alternatively you can keep a database in a spreadsheet and cut the coupons you need prior to each shopping trip. You will need to have the coupons well organized so you can find them easily.
Step 4. Download apps.
You will need to learn how to use them. Some will load the coupons onto your phone so you can scan at checkout if your store accepts ecoupons. Others are more of a rebate system where you keep your receipts and send copies of them to receive money back.
Step 5. Understand the concept.
The whole idea of couponing is to buy in bulk at the lowest price. Sometimes its free, sometimes you'll pay only pennies, and often you'll get a $10 item for just $1.When you find a great price, buy as many as possible, or as many as you wish to stockpile. After several months of couponing you will have a small supermarket in your home, so you won't need to go shopping for many things. After several years you may find you don't need to shop for several weeks. You can also save on particular items when they are at their best selling low price. ie meats are always heavily reduced right after the holiday weekends, like Memorial Day, 4th July, Thanksgiving, Christmas. That is when you stock up your freezer. You may wish to buy a seperate freezer and of course build some shelves if possible. This gets a little harder in a smaller home or apartment, but it can be done. Again you will find many great ideas on coupons websites, or of course Google.
Step 6. How to used your coupons and stockpile.
There are now many options on saving, both online and offline. You may find the store you now shop at is not the most coupon friendly or cost saving store. Firstly many supermarkets will double coupons up to 99c. This means a 50c or 75c coupon will double to $1 and $1.50. Sometimes the stores will do triple coupons too. If you are lucky you may even find a store that will double $1 coupons. You need to be aware of each stores coupon policy and try to follow them.
One of the best ways to get great prices is to cherry pick. Cherry picking means going to every store to buy the loss leaders. Loss leaders are the deeply discounted 1st page specials that the stores often don't make a profit in. They are designed to get you to their store so you will do your weekly shopping there too. The best way to cherry pick is to go to several stores 3 or 4 times a week and buy the sales items. If you are using coupons you should get these items at a very low price, but this will ultimately depend on how coupon friendly the store is and how they limit the sales items. For example, in New York, most stores allow only 2-4 sales items in a shopping trip, day or even week. The store card will be used to make sure you are not purchasing more. They also limit the coupon usage, usually to only 4 of the same coupon, so it is not possible to buy several hundred free items like you see done on television. Always remember that a great deal will sell out quickly so you will need to be ready to shop the day the item goes on sale.
You are not only limited to supermarkets for food anymore. The big stores are also excellent for saving and stockpiling even if they don't use coupons. Pharmacies are excellent for canned foods and snacks and drinks. Seasonal sales items sell at 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% off which means you can buy many home items for just pennies. You will need to be aware of the day of the markdowns so you can shop at the lowest price. They often stock food and candy for quick turnover holiday selling and need to empty the shelves immediately for the next seasons hot items. You will find candy, cranberry sauce, gourmet type foods for just pennies. All stores have a sales cycle, monthly and seasonal. You will learn to know when every item will be at it's lowest and when the best time of year is to restock.
Couponing is a very fun and addicting way to save money. It takes a good math skill and savvyness to succeed but like everything the more you do it the better you get. You will be a pro in no time.
Step 1. Find Coupons.
Sunday papers are the best place to start. You can buy several if you know if they have good coupons that you'll be using. Ask friends, neighbours, family to save them for you. You can also find a few extra coupons in stores around store displays. The coupons you don't want can be trade on coupon sites like Hot Coupon World or Penny Savers. You can also purchase bulk coupons on ebay which is useful if you want to stock up on a particular item.
Step 2. Follow some good sites.
Like Krazy Coupon Mom who will keep you up to speed. There are many other sites around, you really need to look for the ones that are shopping in the same stores as you.
Step 3. Organize your coupons.
You need to decide how much time you want to spend, if you want to precut and file them all so you can carry them, or leave them in the car at all times. It is commonplace to have coupon binders stolen so keep your eye on them or attach them to your shopping cart. Alternatively you can keep a database in a spreadsheet and cut the coupons you need prior to each shopping trip. You will need to have the coupons well organized so you can find them easily.
Step 4. Download apps.
You will need to learn how to use them. Some will load the coupons onto your phone so you can scan at checkout if your store accepts ecoupons. Others are more of a rebate system where you keep your receipts and send copies of them to receive money back.
Step 5. Understand the concept.
The whole idea of couponing is to buy in bulk at the lowest price. Sometimes its free, sometimes you'll pay only pennies, and often you'll get a $10 item for just $1.When you find a great price, buy as many as possible, or as many as you wish to stockpile. After several months of couponing you will have a small supermarket in your home, so you won't need to go shopping for many things. After several years you may find you don't need to shop for several weeks. You can also save on particular items when they are at their best selling low price. ie meats are always heavily reduced right after the holiday weekends, like Memorial Day, 4th July, Thanksgiving, Christmas. That is when you stock up your freezer. You may wish to buy a seperate freezer and of course build some shelves if possible. This gets a little harder in a smaller home or apartment, but it can be done. Again you will find many great ideas on coupons websites, or of course Google.
Step 6. How to used your coupons and stockpile.
There are now many options on saving, both online and offline. You may find the store you now shop at is not the most coupon friendly or cost saving store. Firstly many supermarkets will double coupons up to 99c. This means a 50c or 75c coupon will double to $1 and $1.50. Sometimes the stores will do triple coupons too. If you are lucky you may even find a store that will double $1 coupons. You need to be aware of each stores coupon policy and try to follow them.
One of the best ways to get great prices is to cherry pick. Cherry picking means going to every store to buy the loss leaders. Loss leaders are the deeply discounted 1st page specials that the stores often don't make a profit in. They are designed to get you to their store so you will do your weekly shopping there too. The best way to cherry pick is to go to several stores 3 or 4 times a week and buy the sales items. If you are using coupons you should get these items at a very low price, but this will ultimately depend on how coupon friendly the store is and how they limit the sales items. For example, in New York, most stores allow only 2-4 sales items in a shopping trip, day or even week. The store card will be used to make sure you are not purchasing more. They also limit the coupon usage, usually to only 4 of the same coupon, so it is not possible to buy several hundred free items like you see done on television. Always remember that a great deal will sell out quickly so you will need to be ready to shop the day the item goes on sale.
You are not only limited to supermarkets for food anymore. The big stores are also excellent for saving and stockpiling even if they don't use coupons. Pharmacies are excellent for canned foods and snacks and drinks. Seasonal sales items sell at 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% off which means you can buy many home items for just pennies. You will need to be aware of the day of the markdowns so you can shop at the lowest price. They often stock food and candy for quick turnover holiday selling and need to empty the shelves immediately for the next seasons hot items. You will find candy, cranberry sauce, gourmet type foods for just pennies. All stores have a sales cycle, monthly and seasonal. You will learn to know when every item will be at it's lowest and when the best time of year is to restock.
Couponing is a very fun and addicting way to save money. It takes a good math skill and savvyness to succeed but like everything the more you do it the better you get. You will be a pro in no time.
