I started couponing a long time ago… way before the dawn of the active internet. Back then, we chiseled our store write-ups individually on stone tablets. It was pretty annoying dragging those heavy rocks behind us into the store!
If you were to begin couponing right now, today, what advice would you offer to someone just stating out? What are the most helpful suggestions you can think of? What do you wish you had done when you got started? What stroke(s) of genius did you have when you began that you absolutely did right ? Share you thoughts and ideas!
My advice would be:
• Start small, with two to four inserts you obtained by asking family and friends for their extras. How to get extra inserts Clip every coupon from those four inserts because you do not know what you will get cheap or free. (I would not advise this later, just in the beginning) Here’s a few Coupon tips that may help.
• Do not get carried away. Read all your weekly ads, and pick one or two grocery stores in which to shop-the-sales. This means pick up the the loss-leaders (the products the store sells at a loss to entice shoppers in), match them to the coupons in your four inserts and buy what is cheap or free. Check your store website for printable coupons, sign up for advance sales and store coupons, and make sure you get the store “shopper card” if one if utilized. This might be where it is advised to start a price book. I think you’d be overwhelmed though and might want to save the ads and wait a month before beginning a price book until you get into a rhythm.
• Pick one drugstore to start shopping-the-sales. I would recommend Rite Aid to start as long as you have $50 you can float until your SCR arrives. Otherwise, I would recommend CVS. Become familiar with the drug store, its policies and procedures (i have tutorials, on the main pages, but Rite Aid will be updated soon). Shop that drug store for a month before adding a second drug store to your répertoire.
• Do some google searches:
“printable coupons” which will lead you to bookmark these sites:
Coupons, Deals and More printable coupon page
Coupons.com
Redplum.com
Smartsource.com
What else would YOU recommend to someone starting out. Nothing complex, we do not want anyone overwhelmed. Just easing folks into couponing so they stick with it … forever.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Does this mean Rite Aid is changing its policy?
I like the starting small; I did not do that.
a list of all the couponing acronyms/abbreviations because a lot of websites don’t write those out (obviously), so it would be nice to have that as a reference.
i remember when i first started out and getting frustrated because i didn’t know what the heck a SS meant.
everything you wrote is what i would suggest for a beginner!
Good idea DD! Couponing Acronyms and Abbreviations
Ann
Hi Meghan,
Rite Aid is expanding the wellness+ coupon next month. More savings, but another layer for folks to be aware of.
Ann
I agree with DD. Trying figure out what all the acronyms meant was a killer. When I started out couponing, I didn’t know there were differences in the coupon inserts only that I got “coupons” in my Sunday paper. The whole SS, P&G and RP or “V” was kinda crazy. And I still see people refer to the Red Plum as “V”. Another acronym that use to drive me batty was “YMMV”.
I can explain the “V”, which I can see really would confuse newbies … the Red Plum was called Valassis for years. They re-branded, hmmm maybe in 2008? The company is still called Valassis marketing, which does not help people move on to the term Red Plum.
*waves hand* I am SO guilty of using YMMV! Although not only did I define it on the abbreviations and acronyms page, I wrote a post further fleshing out the meaning.
Ann
I love your “old” sense of humor. I told a colleague(who was younger) that I needed to get my tablets out, and his reply was how do you like those, are they as easy to write on as they look? I had to just smile to keep from bursting out loud laughing!
LOL Portland!
Ann
Good suggestions. When I was first starting out, I read as much as I could find on couponing (from all the blogs). Tutorials on different stores, stuff like that. The ones that seemed too complex I just skipped. So reading up on everything really helped me. Also, in the first month of my couponing, I didn’t focus on setting a new budget (I remember seeing $30-$50 a week as crazy, how is that possible?). So I just focused on how to use coupons, how to find a good deal, etc. and not so much on how much I spent. It is important not to get carried away, but to be honest, I spent less my first month couponing on groceries than I had spent previous months. However, I have since learned what deals I can avoid, do not need, are not that great, etc. so I can keep my budget under control.
Don’t be too hard on yourself, give it time! That is my best advice. I would get really worked up in the beginning, comparing my deals to the ones I saw on blogs. Don’t do that! I remember finally seeing a couple comments from bloggers on this and it made me feel a lot better.
Wonderful advice Felicia. As I always say, it is not important to you what I can save, it is important to you what YOU are able to save.
Ann
For me the big “light bulb” moment was about buying things I don’t use or want to get the things I DO want for free or cheep.
Lets say mens hair color is free after rebate at rite aid. I don’t need or want mens hair color, but luckily I saved all coupons, so now instead of it being free after rebate, using the coupon they are paying me $2.00 to take it. But since the mens hair color is $9.00 it is “padding” my order to get me more then half way to use the rite aid coupon off your $15 purchase…..
So, say I want to buy 3 packs of applesauce for the kids lunches and they are $2.00 a pack.
3 applesauce = $6.00
1 mens haircolor = $9.00
total = 15.00
minus ($9.00 rebate, $2.00 coupon, and $3.00 off $15)
This means I paid one dollar for three packs of applesauce…. but I probably would have had coupons for them…..
In the old days, I would flip through the Sunday paper coupons and never cut a coupon for Mens hair color. But now I know that it will get me a bunch of applesauce for a dollar!
I totally agree with Felicia. I used to get so upset and frustrated when my trips wouldn’t go as planned and being the sensitive girl I am, my trips often ended in tears. Thankfully I kept at it although I did get overwhelmed at one point because of my unorganization. So my advice would be 1. Keep your coupons organized or it can get very overwhelming 2. Know your stores coupon policies and bring copies with you when you shop. 3. Don’t get discouraged. You may miss out on a great deal now and then but another one will come around before you know it. 4. If you decide to participate in coupon trades/trains make sure you have a nice detailed wishlist and know exactly what coupons you really will use and how many you will use of them. When I started out my wishlist was very vague and said something like pillsbury breads, frozen dinners, caress bodywash etc and I would be getting envelopes filled with pillsbury coupons and I probably only used like and ended up throwing out the rest and it was a waste of stamps. just know what you want and keep the list updated. 5. Make sure you are using coupons properly. If you know that a coupon is not meant for a certain item but you read online that it doesn’t beep… Please think twice about using the coupon on that item etc.. The way that we use coupons today can affect how often and what kinds of coupons manufacturers put out for us to use in the future.
I would add that it is okay to miss a deal. In the beginning I got obsessed with running around trying to get them all, driving myself nuts.
Check shelf life/expiration dates and make sure you will use the product(s) while they are still good. When donating, add a couple months to that time frame so the items have a chance to get into the hands of the people that need them so they can use the items before they expire. (One word: TOOTHPASTE!)
Also, don’t stock up too much on things you don’t use in large quantity. Seriously, how much free air freshner do you need? (Guilty!) Is it worth giving up precious closet space? Or would cheap or free diapers and wipes, toilet paper, or laundry soap serve you better? HTH!
The “don’t chase every deal” advise is spot on. You will drive yourself crazy doing that.
Ann