You’re ready to start couponing. That’s great! I’m gonna share my tips and ways to help you get started in the art of saving money with coupons. I get asked a lot by friends and readers, so I told them I would do a few posts on it to help get them started. So let’s do just that…let’s get started!
~First things first, you need to get coupons! The easiest source is your Sunday paper. I have the News & Observer delivered {less than $10 a month} and most often will go and get additional papers of The Daily Reflector from the stands. Now in the warmer weather this is all fine and dandy but I will admit that with it being winter, I’m not getting up to pick up the local papers…I’m a bit slack right now. Depending on your market determines how you get your papers. I started getting the delivery because it’s a bigger market in Raleigh so I get a few different coupons and more full inserts from the Raleigh paper.
~Set aside time. This can become overwhelming to even the most seasoned couponer. As long as you can manage your time, then you can find the time to coupon. When you allow yourself to get disorganized and fall behind on your couponing, your savings suffer. I know this first hand. So go ahead and knock out some time to clip, sort and organize your coupons. I find this works easiest on Sundays for me, but I also squeeze in time at work and thru the week.
~ Get organized. No need in clipping a bunch of coupons if you have nowhere to store them. For starters, I would start off small, a small accordion file perhaps. I will go more into detail in my next related post about getting organized with coupons. But for now, just know you have to be able to organize your coupons otherwise you won’t save as much money and will become highly frustrated with the entire process.
~ Get the deals. Now on to the good part! Once you have your coupons, then you can start matching them up with the good deals. There are three main points I want to state here: 1. Start with one store and as you become a stronger couponer you will branch out to handle multiple stores. Either sign up for their email to get the weekly ad, go pick it up, get it in your daily newspaper, etc. Then match the sale ads to items you have coupons for and need/want. 2. Find a great coupon site. I like Coupon Mom and have recently kinda re-discovered the site and have really found it to be of great use! 3. Find a local savings blog. The savings blogs not only provide match-ups but they’re great for deals and savings but also having one in your region means the deals and prices will be similar to what you find. I recommend Coupon Teacher and Homemaking Mom, they’re both in NC.
~Count the savings. This is something I just started doing and I think it’s a must. Once you’ve gotten home and put away your purchases, take a few moments to sit down and look at your receipts. Calculate how much you saved. Any savings is good savings but your goal should be to save over 40% consistently and take it from there.
Now for a few tips:
- if at first you don’t succeed, try try again–as with anything
- nobody starts off extreme, so don’t try to
- the first week you start getting coupons isn’t necessarily going to be the week you start to shop
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