First things first, you have to decide how you are going to organize your coupons. Depending on your volume, you can use three main ideas for storing and using your coupons which include the small organizer, bought from any dollar store, the shoe box and divider method, and my favorite, the binder method. You have to choose a method that is practical for you and your lifestyle, as well as how many coupons you expect to hold and how functional it is for you while being utilized. If you are a single person, or it's only you and your spouse, for practicality sake, you should use either the small organizer or the shoe box methods. The difference between the two is simply to clip or not to clip the coupons. If you are shopping for a family of six, like myself, then it is most practical to use either the shoe box (again) or the binder method. Yet again, the decision lies between clipping or not clipping your coupons. Just keep in mind that if you do clip coupons, you will need to invest more time. You should also carry with you a pair of scissors, a stapler, paper clips, a pen, and a note pad. This is also where you should carry your stores loyalty cards in a ziploc sandwich bag if you carry the actual card rather than having it mobile.These materials will help when organizing your inserts, as well as when in the store to keep the coupons you are using together, lists and math up to par, and always to have everything within arms reach.
After you have figured out how you are going to organize your coupons, next you will have to decide where you will get your inserts from. Most people will just go out and buy the Sunday paper for the coupons, but I do not see the sense in paying a dollar for a minimum of two inserts. I choose to order my inserts through a service, which I have found to be more cost effective, as I am able to get 15 dollars worth of inserts for less then 10 dollars. I did not begin couponing with this service, I began by buying the newspapers every week, yet I found it to be exhausting and really seemed to defeat the purpose of trying to save money. Then I would go out Dumpster Diving for the inserts, which proved to be just as inefficient, as I was driving from recycle bin to recycle bin hoping to find recent inserts. Then I began looking for a way to get the inserts without having to drive from store to store or bin to bin, and the search for a reliable supplier began. You have to be careful who you do business with, even in the coupon game, there are still people out there that will take your money and give you nothing in return. After going through two or three different suppliers, I have finally found the supplier for me. Like everything in life, coupon supply is trial and error. And as for how many inserts to buy, well, that is probably simpler than finding a supplier. When calculating how many inserts, rule of thumb is to buy two inserts per person in your household, yet I tend to grab between three and four because our family are peppers, so we have to have more per person. This tends to also cause an issue because of the space in my house for available storage, but that is both a separate issue and the very definition of the Uncommon Mom.
After you have sorted, organized, and clipped your coupons, now it is time to gather the coupon policies for the stores you shop in, print them, and carry them with you. You have to be more familiar with these policies then the employees are, and most times this will not take much more than knowing them, as most employees are not familiar with the policies or terminology of the coupons the ways that a couponer knows them. Some stores such as Kroger and Albertsons have store maps in the store, it's best to take one and keep this in your binder as well so that you can familiarize yourself with the set up with the store, this will shorten your trips knowing the layout. You should also make a schedule for yourself, if you don't already have one. When you make your schedule, you will need to figure out the sale cycles, which days the stores you shop at switch their sales. It is best to plan your shopping days as close to the beginning of the sale week as possible, so that you can ensure that you will find the items in stock. Never forget, you are not the only shopper using coupons and there are many people who shop to clear the shelves, so shop early. It is also good practice to take an inventory before you begin couponing, that way you know exactly what is in your house. This way is the simplest way of this process, as you can add in items once you begin to build your stockpile and will always know what is on hand. Keep a copy of this with you, as an Uncommon Mom I can always use a reminder of what I have and how many.
How do I learn when the sale cycles are? Which store has the best deal with my coupons? I have more apps than I actually use, but as I say in everything, to have more is better than to have less and many of those apps are for coupons, saving money, free things, and reading the coupon barcodes. I think one of my favorite sites that I use regularly is couponmom.com, I like the app QSeer for reading the barcodes on the coupons telling me which coupons actually do not expire, or when I do not actually have to buy a product to get one free. This app may cause some confusion, so I would say use at your own discretion. A good site which also has an app for free things is of course ILFT.com, which of course stands for I love free things. I also suggest following such sites as totallytarget.com, krogerkrazy.com, iheartthemart.com, and using couponmom.com for your match-ups, as this site has a great feature to build the list from the best sales organized by either state or store. These sites are great to check daily, but I will warn you that if you subscribe to the text message alerts from some of these sites, your phone will be going off all day long. If you shop at multiple stores, you may find that these types of alerts are helpful when trying to keep all of the sales in order, yet I personally rather search the various sites on my own, then I compare my list of items to the sale list from the couponmom.com site. I have to admit, since I began Dumpster Diving like it is my job, my coupons and my stockpile have fallen desperate victims for attention, yet I hope that writing this blog not only gets you in the he groove of saving money, but will also put me back on track.
At this point, we should all have our binders or boxes set up with dividers, inserts, coupon policies, and store maps (where available) along with our supply pouch ready to go. You may think that you are ready to hit the stores, right? WRONG. You are only just beginning, yet this is the best place to start. Your next step is going to be learning how to maximize the savings at various stores, which is the next segment of our journey. I hope you tune in to see how I can help you have at least a 50% savings at your favorite store....
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