Coupons 101

How to Stockpile Things for FREE or Rock Bottom Prices with Coupons

July 2, 2011 by Jenni 1,429 Comments

One thing that I teach in my coupon classes is how to stockpile. I think that it’s the SMART thing to do only when you’re stockpiling things that you can get for FREE or as cheap as that item can get. AND, by stockpiling…I mean getting LOTS of a particular item or items! LET ME define “lots”! By that I mean getting enough that your family will use before the expiration date and/or enough to last until that item goes on sale again and you can get it for AS cheap as you just got it for.

I don’t believe in stockpiling hundreds of toothbrushes or other things like that! You’ll never use them all, so unless you’re going to donate them INSTANTLY then I would only grab a few to last your family a year or so, if they’re FREE! You can get FREE toothbrushes all the time.

I DO believe in stockpiling things that your family uses alot of. Food items, laundry detergent, body wash, toothpaste, things like this. I still don’t advise anyone to get hundreds of these items like you see them do on TV, but enough to last you till the next GREAT deal which could be a few weeks to a few months away.

Now you ask, “How does anyone get enough coupons to be able to stockpile?” Well, there are many ways to do that from dumpster diving, buying several papers every sunday, collecting friends and families unused coupon inserts, and many more ways but that’s not what I do.

I actually only buy 2 or 3 Sunday Papers every week and that is sufficient for our family. However, if there is a store deal that comes around and something is priced just right and a certain coupon will make that item FREE then I will purchase multiples of that particular coupon on Ebay so I can get ALOT of that item for FREE. Keep in mind, that I only do this with items that we will use or that I can give away quickly. Really, to be honest, the only way that I would stockpile things that I don’t use is if it’s a Money Maker and will give me alot of overage at checkout that I can use towards my other purchases and then these items will be given away.

YES, it does cost money to buy coupons on Ebay but only cents on the dollar. You have to determine for yourself if the cost of the coupons is going to be worth it. If you figure in the cost of your coupons and subtract that from what you’ll be paying out of pocket for your items and it’s still saving you TONS, then yeah it’s worth it.

Here’s a deal that I did several months ago. Kroger had StarKist Tuna on sale for $0.99 a pouch. There was a $0.50 off coupon that was in the Sunday Paper and I knew that it would score me some Tuna for free because Kroger doubles my $0.50 coupons to $1.00 off. SO – I bought (30) coupons on Ebay and paid around $5 for the coupons. Those coupons allowed me to get (30) pouches for FREE so figuring the $5 cost of the coupons, that’s all I paid for all of that tuna!!!!!

I would suggest that you have storage space ready to hold your stockpile before you begin or you’ll wind up with bags of stuff just sitting…and that’s NO fun!

Do YOU have any suggestions that you’d like to comment about?? We’d love to hear them!!

Blessings~

Learn Some Coupon Cuttin’ Mad Skills

May 18, 2010 by Jenni 687 Comments

Alright Ladies {and maybe a few gentlemen}. If you are new to cutting coupons or if you’ve cut them out for years you may not know this little tidbit of info. First off, how many Sunday papers do you buy? How long does it take you to cut them out?? Well, not long after I started couponing I found this cool technique called “collating”. Some call it “de-collating”.

I thought that most of you would be happy to learn this technique as well because I’m tellin’ you…it cuts ALOT of time out on Sunday’s or Monday’s when it comes time to cut coupons! If you buy more than 1 Sunday paper then you need to watch the following video below made by Coupon Crusaders: Grab a cup of coffee…there’s a lot of info to take in here!

A couple of things that I’d like to mention about what I do differently than in this video:

First of all, this lady uses the “insert filing system”. What that means is that she doesn’t cut her coupons out until she’s made her shopping list and is ready to go shopping. She keeps all of her inserts filed in a box and then uses a database to find the coupons she needs and then she pulls from the inserts that she needs at that time. Personally, I found that technique didn’t work for me. I like to take all of my coupons that are in my coupon box to the stores with me. If I have to drive very far to the store and I walked in with only the coupons that were on my list…I am telling you now, that I’ve missed out on alot of “unadvertised” or clearanced deals that way because my coupons were still at home. So, that is why I like to cut out all of my coupons and file them in my coupon box. That way they are cut and ready to use at any given “clearance” moment!!

Secondly, I’d like to mention that she staples her pages 1 time. She does that because she files the whole inserts. What I like to do is staple each section where there’s a coupon. On one “like bunch” of pages there might be 7 or 8 staples. I make sure to avoid the barcodes though because when you go to use a coupon, you don’t want to accidentally tear up the barcode or it may not scan correctly at checkout. So, basically when you put a staple at each coupon, when you go to cut them out they’re already neatly stapled and ready to go. You don’t have to cut them all out and THEN staple them 🙂

Another thing I want to mention is that when you start to cut your coupons (especially if you have 4 or more) stapled together, make sure to give yourself enough room. Sometimes the coupon in the back of the stapled bunch slides as you are cutting and you can accidentally cut through a barcode or expiration date…eeeek! I’ve done it before so I started paying closer attention!

One last thing. She talks about how sometimes when your pages are stuck together, you have to tear them in half. Every once in awhile you’ll get one where the coupon is actually in the very middle of the crease. So if you tear the page in half, you’ll rip that particular coupon in half. When I run across these, I’ll just set it to the side and cut those individually.

I really hope that this video and some of the different tips that I gave above will help you in saving not only money but time. Sometimes cutting coupons can get to being a burden if you’re cutting one piddly coupon out at a time. I know, I’ve done it before. But now, it’s so much faster and a whole lot easier!! You can check out my coupon organizing technique here! Just give it a try next time around and let me know what you think.

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask!! I’d love to help you out!

Blessings~

Coupon Organization: Popular Techniques

March 22, 2010 by Jenni 1,755 Comments

This is my Coupon Box:

There are alot of ways to organize coupons. If you tend to be one who takes just a few coupons with you to the store in hopes to find a great deal then a small purse sized coupon organizer might be for you. These are usually about the size of your wallet and fit nicely in your purse! The one pictured below actually attaches to your shopping cart. You can usually find these types at the dollar stores or walmart.

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One popular coupon organizing technique is the large 3 ring binder. Some people prefer not to cut their Sunday paper insert coupons out until they are ready to go shopping and they’ll cut out only the ones they need. It’s easy to find them if you use a coupon database online and label each insert with a Black marker specifying the date on the front of each insert. That way if the database says $1/1 coupon from the 3-14 SS insert, you can go to that insert, locate the coupon, and cut it out.

*I will say that in my experience I missed out on alot of deals by doing that technique. I’d find things on sale or clearance unexpectedly and then didn’t have those coupons with me because they were filed away with the other inserts and not already cut out!!

A more popular technique with the 3 ring binder is to go ahead and cut all of your coupons out and then use baseball card holder plastic sheets to hold and categorize your coupons inside the binder. You can use the file sheets with the tabs to categorize each section and then file your coupons in each category you want to use. These binders usually look something like this one below:

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A less popular technique is a file box with alphabetized index cards. I personally have tried all the other methods and I LOVE this one!! It works best for me. You have to have the right sized box in order for this method to work to your advantage. I was at a coupon class taught by The Savvy Steward (Annie Shaw). She had showed this method using Creative Memories photo boxes with index cards. I bought one because I love to try anything new when it comes to organization. This box saved my coupon life!!! My personal box pictured below: Thanks Annie!

I have the index cards alphabetized A-Z and a few odd ones too. “Today”…this one is where all my coupons go when I’m making my shopping list. “CVS/WAGS”…this is where all my CVS ECB’s and Walgreens RR’s go. “RainChecks”…this is where all my rainchecks go obviously! “Trade”…all the coupons I’m willing to trade or give away go in this section. The way that I alphabetize is by brand name. Pillsbury goes in the P’s. Stayfree goes in the S’s, and so on. I have room in the back for my calculator and other things like pens and misc. stuff.

Now, I did find that my box started busting at the seams…not literally, but it was getting awfully full. I do personally cut all my coupons out every week…sometimes I get behind though, like right now!! So, since I still had my big pink 3 ring binder from the previous method, I use it to keep other coupons in. It still had all the baseball card plastic inserts, so I use it to keep a bunch of other misc. coupons that I’m not sure I’ll use. I also use it to keep my receipts, rebate forms, and other couponing paraphernalia in.

Of all the techniques, I really do prefer the box method over anything else. BUT…just because it works for me doesn’t mean it’ll work for you! You may have to try 2 or 3 different methods before you find what works best for you. The binder for me was just heavy and awkward to carry around and I felt like I was forever flipping through pages!!

I have one of the CVS Green shopping Bags. These are found up front by the checkout and only cost $0.99. I usually put my box inside my green bag to carry it inside Kroger, CVS, and Walgreens…or any other store for that matter!

After reading about all of these methods, try whichever one you think will suit your needs most. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!!! I don’t want someone wondering and never asking! Organization is usually the key to being successful at SMART shopping. I will say however, that some people can work PURE MAGIC inside of unorganized messes….hahaha. We all usually have a method to our madness, right?!

Blessings~

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