Do You Know How to "Coupon"?

I have been asked countless times how I've gotten so many great deals. I've been a "super shopper" for too many years to count, and my friends and family always ask me how I do it. Well, it's been a learning process over the years and I have only just recently begun to maximize the benefits of clipping coupons. I've always shopped sale and clearance and have used coupons casually in the past, but now I've gotten pretty good (if I might so say myself!). Here are a few of my most important tips:

1) SAVE your coupons and use them when there's a SALE

2) Buy multiple copies of the Sunday newspaper

3) Learn the coupon policies at your favorite grocers (i.e. do they double, price match, give rain checks, etc)

4) STOCK up on staples when there's a sale/coupon

5) Barter with friends for coupons you need that they don't need

6) Look EVERYWHERE for coupons - in store "blinkies", on product packages, on register receipts, sign up for email clubs to get coupons, and best of all: the newspaper and mail

7) If you can get an item free with a coupon but you don't need/use it, buy it anyway to be able to donate or give to a friend who uses the product

8) Check printable coupons sources such as coupons.com regularly, as the deals change daily

9) Never go out to eat without looking for a coupon first

10) Visit money saving blogs DAILY, such as mine ;o), for all sorts of great finds you may not have known about before

11) If there's a product you use that you don't have a coupon for, check the manufacturers website. Many manufacturers post coupons on their website

12) Use a coupon clipping service for larger quantities of your favorite coupons

All of these ideas are a great way to help slash your budget, but the most important thing you have to remember is that saving money takes a bit of time. Many of us don't have much spare time (if any), so the idea of adding anything to our task list seems daunting. I recently read an article about clipping coupons and it made sooo much sense to me - if your boss asked you to stay after for an hour for $25.00, would you do it? Most of us would do it in a heartbeat!! Take the same idea and apply it to using coupons. If you could shave $25.00 off your grocery bill for 1 hours worth of work, would you do it?

I would, and I do! I have saved much more than $25.00 for my efforts, so I think $25.00 an hour is a fine salary, don't you? I went to Walmart, Walgreens, Kroger, Randalls, and HEB last night in less than 1 1/2 hours total (including driving time) and only spent a half hour gathering my coupons and mapping out my strategy before I left. The highlights of my shopping trip included 9 FREE boxes of Snuggle dryer sheets, 8 Velveeta cheese logs (32 oz) for $1.49 each, 4 packages of Kotex pads for FREE, 3 Tony's frozen pizzas FREE, and too many more free or almost free things to count! I saved well over $100.00 yesterday for a total time investment of just 2 hours from start to finish! I just browsed the sales, matched coupons, and made sure to use my coupons at stores where they double or triple when possible.

I am making it my mission to help others learn how to use coupons to their maximum advantage, and will be starting a series on how to use coupons. I'll post all my favorite links to coupon websites, manufacturers, and coupon clipping services.

Stay tuned for more information in the coming days and weeks...