A few months ago, I wrote a short How to Begin Couponing post. Continuing on with beginner advice, a question I often receive is “What coupons should I be clipping”".
My response depends on what the goal is for the person asking: Hardcore couponing or reducing your food bill 20-25% while still being brand loyal, or just learning to coupon.
Why the difference? Well some hardcore is not going to care about brand loyalty at all. The main goal of a hardcore couponer is “If it is free, it’s for me!” And they want the stockpile to prove it. The goal is to never have to purchase anything for more than pennies again. While this goal is not always achievable (we all have to work with local market/retailer constraints), it is the goal. Many hardcore couponers will clip every single coupon in the inserts and file them for later under the heading “hey, you never know”. Printables, due to ink costs, are done more judiciously.
If you are just looking to save a decent amount but are brand loyal, the task is actually more difficult. If you love, love, LOVE Jif peanut butter and will only buy that brand, you may have a difficult time of it. Jif seldom puts out coupons. On the other hand, Skippy puts out frequent coupons, is frequently on sale, and will have Catalina or mail in rebate offers.
So until you have the chance to build you own Price Book and recognize reoccurring sales, what coupons should you clip or print if you do not have the time nor inclination to clip and sort every coupon in the inserts?
B1G1 Coupons
B1G1 coupons are great to use at the three major drugstores as they all run B1G1 sales and they all have a policy of accepting B1G1 coupons when only bringing two B1G1 items to the register. This results in two free!
High Value Coupons
High value is relative. The Glory 90¢ is high value if you have double coupons to 99¢. This makes it $1.80 off each item. Others consider $1 coupons high value, or $5, or $10 coupons. (As a quick aside: have I ever seen a 99¢ manufacturer coupon in national release? Nope. Special K put out a 93¢ coupon in 1993, a 94¢ coupon in 1994, a 95¢ coupon, etc but they did not put out a 99¢ coupon in 1999.)
And do no worry of it is some crazy product like the $30 Bayer Meter coupons. You may not need 50 meters, but you can donate them. And that $30 coupon? It ended up being huge money makes (ok free-stuff-makers) at Walgreens when we were all “paid” $5 and $10 in register rewards to take each one out the door.
Frequently Purchased Items Coupons
Now if you have a dirty little secret, of course you are going to clip as many of those coupons as possible. But, by frequently purchased I mean this: Your family seems to go through a ton of laundry detergent. Purex or Wisk or All may not be your favorite detergents, but they have $3 coupons so you clip them. Laundry soap is laundry soap (barring allergies), so clip those frequently used product coupons.
Many of the frequently used product coupons overlap the high value or B1G1 coupons category.
It will become much easier to decide what to clip as your price book becomes larger and you get a “feel” for what frequently goes on sale or sells at a low price. If you are concerned about throwing something away before that feel develops, well you can always use the lazy method of coupons organization and keep your inserts whole.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I clip everything from the papers because you never know what Rite Aid or CVS might be giving away next month and having a coupon makes it even better. I don’t usually buy “free” items that are taxable and that I won’t be using unless I have a coupon that will cover the sales tax. Since I never know what I’ll need for these situations, I never throw out a coupon that hasn’t expired.
I am a lazy couponner. I save whole inserts and clip only when I see a matchup. I may miss an awesome clearance find because I *know* I have a coupon at home somewhere, but the time it saves is worth it (to me)!!!
I am supposed to be clipping every coupon but I am SOOO unorganized right now. I meant to ask you a while ago about the .99 coupon question since you’ve been at this for so many years but always forgot whenever I was at a computer. I didn’t think they existed until the Facebook Coca-cola Ahh giver promotion came out. I got free coke with it! woo hoo. I think the next highest ( for doubles)that I have seen was also this year and it was $0.95 off of pillsbury sweet rolls. They were both IP’s. I think the Ahh Giver promotion is still going on since i just saw something about it on Swagbucks.
I am a lazy couponer and don’t clip everything. I really should though. But I’m just not that organized unfortunately. I need to make more of an effort. I sure do regret it later as evidenced by all my posts about missed cpns and cpns that I could have used but didn’t print out etc etc. The price is being paid for disorganization!
I also usually don’t pay for taxable items I won’t use, but it’s surprising how different situations land me usage of stuff that I didn’t think I would.
Oh – did I mention that I don’t even have all my inserts in one spot. I really need to at least start there.
That is too funny, Liz! I am the same way! Some in the car, some in two different places in the house (unorganized, of course!). I need some help! It is a wonder I save as much as I do.
I do not understand how you use a B1G1 coupon to get 2 free items if you are only taking 2 items to the counter. How are 2 items free without first buying one?
Thanks.
It depends on the store. All the major drugstores have that as their coupon policy. Something B1G1 at Walgreens, CVS or Rite Aid and you have a B1G1 coupon? Two free!
Your local grocer will depend on their coupon policy.
Ann