What I learned

Last night, I attended a class called COUPONING 101 at my church. The lady that taught the class teaches this same class at the college that my girls attend. She also teaches two other coupon classes. The class that she taught to us, was her "basic" class for beginners. The other ones dive a little further into the couponing world. I was just happy to get this basic class for FREE!

There is no way that I can begin to tell you EVERYTHING that I learned, but I will share with you a few tips that I DID learn.

First of all.... I live in the state of Georiga, in the USA. Couponing, individual stores and store "policies" may be different where you live.

Buy ONE Get one FREE (BOGO) sales

• always take advantage of these sales.
• At Publix, you do NOT have to buy both items. If you only buy one of the BOGO items, you can get it for HALF PRICE!
• Then... you can also add coupons to this item and get it even cheaper!
• At Publix you can "stack" coupons. This means that you can use a manufacturer's coupon along with a store coupon together! This makes your savings even BIGGER!
• At most other stores, you have to buy BOTH items in order to get one free. (But, you are really only paying for one.) But, you can still add coupons to this sale for bigger savings!

Fact: Shopping at discount stores and dollar stores will not necessarily save you money.
Fact: Generic products are not always cheaper than name brand products.

Where to find coupons

• Sunday newspaper
• Blinkies -- machines that are attached to store shelves, near product
• Peelies -- coupons that are attached to products
• Hangtags/winetags -- hanging on the neck of wine bottles or other products
• Tearpads -- coupons that are attached to store shelves, near product
• Store lobbies -- look for coupon books there or at the customer service desk
• Free Samples -- Websites: Walmart, Twisted Branches, Facebook, Vocalpoint
• Internet printables -- http://www.coupons.com/ (This is THE best site for printables) - You can only print TWO per computer!! - You can NOT photo copy them!
• Magazines -- "All You", "Family Circle", "Good Housekeeping"
• Store Coupons -- Walgreens, CVS, Target, & Publix
• Home Mailers -- Mailed directly to your house (Target)
• Manufacturer -- Home URL
• Store clubs & Programs: Baby Clubs
• Social Networks: Facebook, Twitter ("Like" a certain product in order to get coupons)

The Basics

• Coupons can be used only ONCE.
• No 2 coupons on 1 item (the same TYPE of coupon on 1 item)
• Read the wording on the coupon & ignore the photo (it may be different)
• Photocopying coupons is ILLEGAL!

Storing Coupons

• Binder with baseball card holders - file them by exp date or category
• File box - file them by exp date or category
• Accordian folder
• Envelope

Know EACH store's COUPON POLICY!

Great Coupon Sites

• http://www.thegrocerygame.com/
• http://www.couponmom.com/
• http://www.iheartpublix.com/
• http://www.swaggrabber.com/
• http://www.dealseekingmom.com/
• http://www.southernsavers.com/

Stockpile

• Start slowly -- it won't be built overnight
• Buy for the future -- (only buy up to 6 weeks worth)
• Know how much you use
• Donate

Stores rotate their sales every SIX WEEKS. --- This means if Chex Mix is on sale this week, you won't find it on sale for another six weeks. If this is something that you use often... buy enough for 6 weeks.

This is nowhere near everything that I learned!! There was SO MUCH information! My suggestion would be to check in your hometown and see if there are any classes being offered. The website http://www.southernsavers.com/ does have a button that you can click on that gives some helpful information as to "how" to coupon. 

Good luck and have fun! I'm off to the dentist, the gym, and to the grocery store!!

Happy couponing!!  

Tryin' to Catch the Coupon Bug

Have any of you seen the show Extreme-Couponing on the cable channel, TLC??

Well, this show intrigues me so very much! I have never been a big "coupon-er", but with the rising cost of just about EVERYTHING... I am seeking ways to save money.

The people that are featured on this show are like the title says... "extreme"! They have the art of "couponing" down to a science, and are apparently able to buy hundreds of dollars worth of groceries and walk out of the store, only paying a few dollars!!

From what I gather... these thrifty shoppers collect coupons from any and every resource that they can. They then organize them in binders such as this ---

Most of the people that are featured on the show have storage rooms where they stock-pile their purchases for future use. Many share their items with other family members or friends. Others donate a lot of their "extra" items.

As for me.... I just want to save money!!

Yesterday, I decided that I would give this "couponing thing" a try. Just so you know... I have no skills or prior knowledge of "how" the couponing system works. I was just "winging it"! **Smile**

I went through our local newspaper and cut out all the coupons that interested me. I then went to a coupon website that a friend had told me about -- Couponmom.com. From this site, I printed out a few others that I would use.

I also went to the Publix website and looked at their current sales ad so that I could see what the Buy-one / Get-one (BOGO) items were. I also looked at the sales ads for a couple of the drug stores in my area.

From the coupons that I had, and from the BOGO items... I made my grocery list.

I went to FOUR different stores in order to purchase my items, but they were all pretty close together, so wasting gas was not really an issue.

Here's where I went and how much I saved!!

Walgreen's -- I spent $2.15 and saved $9.49
  - Here, I had a BOGO coupon and the items that I wanted to purchase were BOGO in the store!

Walmart ----- I spent $35.47 and saved $3.60
  - Here, I used 3 coupons that were $1.00 off and one for .60

CVS --------- I spent $13.27 and saved $13.36
  - Here, I used 1 coupon for $1.00 off and I saved on the other items by using my CVS Customer Card. I also got $3.00 in "extra bucks" that I can use when I go again!

Publix ------- I spent $22.07 and saved $28.14
  - Here, most of the items that I bought were BOGO items. I only bought one of each, which meant that I only paid half the price for the one item! I also used one or two small coupons, and I had a coupon for a FREE carton of Publix ice cream!!

TOTAL Spent -- $72.96
TOTAL Saved -- $54.59!!!!!

This coming Sunday, my church is sponsoring a class on "couponing". I am excited about it and hope to learn more about this money-saving hobby! I'll have to keep you updated on what I learn!