The Secret World of Couponing

I tried using coupons when we first got married but gave up because the coupons were for stuff we didn't use (or so I thought) and I thought that buying the storebrand was still cheaper. This is often the case unless you get the sales matched up just right and than get stuff for free or almost free.
There seems to be 3 opinions I have encountered when it comes to couponing to save money.
1. That is awesome and I want to learn.
But more often it is the following 2
2. I would love to but I don't have time. I used to think that way until I spoke to my friend Dana who used to work full-time as well as being a mother of three and an Army Wife as well and now she is going back to school to be a nurse. She said to me that it was her way of earning money for the family. That the 1-2 hours she spent getting ready to go shopping earned her a very high "hourly rate" when you saw how much she saved. Well, that convinced me to give it a shot. And my once $100-150 budget to feed a family of 5 has decreased to $60-80 a week and sometimes even $40 a week when the sales are just right.
3. And my third and favorite- I don't want to feed my kids processed junk and that is what the coupons are for. Well, some people do like to feed their kids snackfoods and such but I do try to give my kids more whole foods. Do you know that there are lots of coupons online for organics as well? I recently got Muir Glen Organic Tomato Sauce for $1.00 a jar. Its usually much more than that but it was on sale at Shoprite for $1.99 a jar and I printed 4 x $1.00 coupons so I was able to get 4 jars. I often make my own tomato sauce and when they had the Can Can sale in January I stocked up big time on cans of crushed tomatoes and whole tomatoes. I like Stonybrook Organic Yogurt so I make sure to print out coupons from their website every month. Most of us use disposable diapers, napkins, paper towels, toilet paper- if you combine the sales with the coupons you can save so much.

One of the secrets is combining the sales with the coupons with the coupons that print at the end of your order called Catalinas for money off your next visit. Often these combined get you items for free.

The site that I use, LivingRichwithcoupons.com links you to printable coupons as well. A couple of weeks ago, Al Fresco sausage was on sale- this is a really yummy sausage. It was on sale for $2.50 a package and I was able to print 8 coupons for $2.00 off a package making each one 50 cents each! When they are not on sale, they cost $4.50 a package. I bought them and froze them.

To get started, you can begin by just printing out the printable coupons. I shop at Shoprite so I stick to that part of her site. Some people shop multiple stores but as a mom of 3 I don't have time for that. The primary sites are coupons.com and redpack.com. She links to that from her site. When you first go to those sites, you have to follow the directions (super easy) to download the program to be able to print. This is a one-time thing for each site. Sometimes some of the coupons she links to on coupons.com come up under a different zipcode than we live in so she lets you know what zip to put in (sometimes from California, Texas, etc), and the coupon will appear. Most sites will let you print out a max of 2 coupons per computer. We have 2 computers so I can do 4 coupons per site. Also, some of the links take you directly to the coupons so all you need to do is push print. Those are my favorite.

She has her site broken down to make it simple to navigate once you know what you are doing. Click on Grocery Deals to find the store you shop at. I find the best deals at Shoprite so I stick to that store. I scroll down until I find the Shoprite Matchups for the week.

Another part of couponing is buying the paper every week and saving the coupons. The way I recommend is getting an accordian file folder. I than take the coupons from each week and use a clip to hold them together and use a marker to put the date at the top. I than file them in their own spot. I don't cut any coupons until I check the Shoprite Matchups. Often she has coupons from a month ago. It is very easy to look back in my accordian folder for that weeks coupons and cut out the correct one.

Some helpful tips- SS means the Smart Source Coupon Circular. RP means the Redpack Coupon Circular. A catalina is a coupon that prints out at the end of your order for money off your next purchase.

My favorite part of her site is the Coupon Database where you can search for coupons
http://www.livingrichwithcoupons.com/coupons/coupon-database-3

Hope this helps!