I wanted to blog about some of the things that I do or have learned about couponing.
1. Save all coupons.
2. Ask family and friends to save their coupons for you if they don't use them.
3. Look online for printable coupons. There are serveal websites that has just coupons on them or you can go to the products you like and use and sometimes find coupons. Also some of them have facebook accounts and you can get coupons on them.
4. Get the store cards and signup on their website to get coupons.
5. You want to get enough of one item that is at rock bottom price that will last you for about six weeks. (That is usually when it will come back on sale.)
6. You need to know your prices. (Whether this is in your head or keep a price journal) Right now I am using my head but know that some of the sales I am still not sure if that is a good price or not. So I am going to try to start keeping a price journal so I will know for sure if I am getting everything at rock bottom prices.
Ways to keep your coupons:
Here are different ways I have tried to save coupons and ways I have heard that other people do it.
1. Get your Sunday Paper and get the coupons together and write the Sunday date on it.
(This works good if you don't have alot of time and follow websites that will tell you what is on sale and which Sunday paper it came out of.) (The only down fall for this is if they don't include some of your stores or if there are clearance or markdowns.)
2. A three binder with baseball card holders.
(I have tried this several times and stop after a few weeks. You have to fold the coupons so you can't always see the picture or the expiration date.)
3. Get some kind of box that will fit in the top seat of the buggy. You can get some index dividers to put them in categories or in alphabetical order.
(This is the one I use now. I went to Walmart and got a sewing box that has fabric around it with designs (real pretty)and it has a handle to carry it. I do the alphabetical order but I have found that I would sometimes but the same products in different category. I use the name brand of the product to put it in order. (Example: cake mix from Betty Crocker would go under the B's for Betty Crocker. The only one that I have found that did not work like this is some of the candy so I put it under the C's.)
When I go to the store I have my printed list and the coupons I know I am going to use ready and carry my box in case I see things markdown that I also have a coupon on. (This method takes alot of work but with one of the website I follow to find what is on sale and what coupons to use they do not have all the stores I use and plus I would miss the markdowns.
Some things I have learned about the grocery stores.
1. H G Hills, Publix, and Krogers double coupons up to .50 cents. (So if you have a coupon for .50 cents it will double to a $1.00.
2. At Food Lion they markdown food everyday usually with orange stickers for food that is close to it best buy date. (There is nothing wrong if the food) Usually it is on the items on the outside aisles. There usually a place in the store that has clearance items on it too. Also look for closeout tags on the shelves. Each store is different. It is best to go early in the morning probably about 8:30 to get the most. This is where I get alot of my meats.
3. Wal-Mart will price match but they do not double the coupons so it depends on the coupons you are using.
4. Krogers has a senior citizen discount the first Wednesday of the month.
5. Publix has a senior citizen discount every Wednesday.
6. Freds ( I know it is not a grocery store but wanted you to know this information) on Saturdays they double coupons up to .75 cents or .99 cents. I haven't been in there for a while and know they had changed it when I use to shop in there so you will need to ask them.
7. Publix, Krogers, and Food Lion has things you can signup for on their website where they will mail you coupons, you can print coupons, or download coupons to their store card.
Drugstores:
I haven't done alot of the shopping in the drugstores still trying to figure out it. What I do know is this:
1.CVS and RiteAid make sure you get their store card.
2. In the aids at the drugstore you will see that the ad says if you buy a certain item you pay this amount and get so much back in rewards so it is like getting it for a certain price. The best way for me to look at this for me to get my head around it is this. The price is a certain amount and then you will get an amount back of rewards for your next purchase.
So an example to try to example how I look at it is: (which is always better if you have coupons to go with these items so my example will show using coupons with it.
Example: Toothpaste $2.00 get a $1 reward.
I buy 1 Toothpaste for $2.00
I have 1 coupon for $1.00 off coupon.
I would have to pay $1.00 for the toothpaste plus tax and also get a $1 reward.
My next purchase would be the same item:
I buy 1 Toothpaste for $2.00
I have 1 coupon for $1.00 off coupon.
I use my $1 reward.
My toothpaste is free(you will have to pay taxes).
Or you save your rewards for something bigger. I have seen people buy things that they don't need to get something they did need. I haven't decided how I want to go about the drugstore games. If I see something that is cheap or free that I need that is when I go in there now so it is up to you on how you want to do it.
If you have any questions or comments please let me know. I hope this has helped someone.
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