Couponing 101 Part 3

This is the 3rd post in my Couponing 101 series. 

In case you didn't read the first and second post here is the links. Check it out especially if you are new to couponing. It will be informative and helpful.

http://livinglifeasafife.blogspot.com/2014/01/couponing-101-part-1.html

http://livinglifeasafife.blogspot.com/2014/01/couponing-101-part-2.html

In the first 2 blogs I explained why to saving coupon inserts and where to buy coupons online. In this post I am going to explain how you find the deals or as couponers call it the coupon match-ups. The abbreviations can be confusing so I will also give a little cheat sheet to what they mean on the match-up forums. I will also give all of the websites I use to find the coupon match-ups.

I use websites with the coupon lists because it saves time. I don't match up the deals with coupons myself I just use a few different websites. I check each of those websites and decide what deals interest me. As I explained in the previous post it is important to check different sites.

There is something you must do before you go shopping with your coupons.

 ***Go onto the website for the store and read the coupon policy. They vary so much from store to store you need to know what kind of coupons your store takes meaning do they accept competitors coupons or printable coupons? Is there a limit to how many of the same coupon you can use per tranaction or day? Does the store double coupons is that everyday or only certain days during the week? Will the store price match? These are things you want to know before you set out with a list and stack of coupon match-ups.  

Before you go to the forums here is a cheat sheet to what the abbreviations mean. 

MM = Money Maker this is one of the best abbreviations to see. Everyone loves a deal that makes them money.

SS = Smart Source coupon insert

RP = Red Plum coupon insert

PG = P&G coupon insert

Q's = coupons

NLA = No Longer Available this is usually stated about a printable coupon.

Now on to the forums I use. I always visit more than one site. There is always something one site will have that another will not. 

Here is an example from A Full Cup forum. 

Yoplait yogurt cups 20/$10               So this means depending on which coupon you use you 
$0.50/8 coupon 1/5SS                     can get 8 Yoplait yogurts if you use the coupon from the
$0.40/6 coupon 1/5SS                     January 5th Smart Source insert for $.50 off of 8 Yoplait  
Total: 8/$3 or 6/$2.20                     yogurts. You would end up paying $3 for those 8 yogurts

Kellogg's Special K cereal 4/$10        (This means that Special K cereal is on sale 4 for $10. 
$1/3 coupon 1/5 RP                         There is a coupon in the January 5th Red Plum insert for 
Total: 3/$6.50                                $1.00 off of 3 boxes of cereal. If you use that coupon you                                                    could get 3 boxes of Special K cereal for $6.50

Now onto the websites to find the deals. 

These are my 2 favorite sites.

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/store-deals/

On this site you can pick your store and I am sure it is on the list. There are grocery stores, drug stores, toy stores and office supple stores. I use this site for my grocery stores and drug store match ups. 

The next site I like is A Full Cup and here is the link. 

http://www.afullcup.com/forums/index.php

Scroll down to see links to all of the stores you are looking for. 

Now some stores have coupon match-up sites of their own. Example

Walgreens = http://www.iheartwags.com/

CVS = http://www.iheartcvs.com/  

Rite Aid = http://www.iheartriteaid.com/

Target = http://www.ihearttarget.net/

Walmart = http://www.iheartthemart.com/

Remember to always check at more than one site because you could miss out on a great deal. I hope this blog post helped explain couponing a little more. 

Thanks for stopping by. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments section. 

Mrs. Fife

Couponing 101 Part 2

Couponing 101   Part 2

This is the 2nd post in my Couponing 101 series. 

In case you didn't read the first post here is a link to that post. Check it out especially if you are new to couponing. It will be informative and helpful.

http://livinglifeasafife.blogspot.com/2014/01/couponing-101-part-1.html

In this post I am going to explain why and when buying coupons from a clipping service is a good idea. I will also give you the websites I use. 

Can you purchase coupons? NO! That isn't legal. So when you purchase coupons from a clipping service you are paying for the companies time to clip the coupon. That is why they refer to these websites and coupon clipping service. I know that may seem confusing but I just wanted to explain why you may see disclaimers about this on various sites.

So why buy coupons from a clipping service? There are a few good reasons. 

There maybe a great deal on a product you use all the time. In that case you may want to purchase 20 of this item. If you don't have 20 of the same coupon inserts you will need to buy the coupons from a service. An example is when I got dish soap for free and made money on the deal. I needed 30 of the same coupon. 

Some people look at the coupon forums and purchase the coupons they need for those deals and don't save coupon inserts at all. 

Another reason for buying and checking a coupon clipping service is because different parts of the country get different coupons in their inserts and different amounts of savings. An example you maybe able to find the peanut butter coupon you need from a site because it was in the insert from that part of the country. Or another example maybe you have a 50 cents off of 1 jar of peanut butter in your coupon insert but you maybe able to purchase a 75 cents off of 1 jar of the same peanut butter from a coupon clipping service.

Some of the sites sell in various amounts. On some sites you maybe able to buy 1 of a particular coupon. On another site they sell the coupons in lots of 20. I use both and have used both in the same week. 

I must say you need to watch when you buy your coupons to make sure you will have enough time to use the coupons before the sale ends. Don't buy coupons for a sale that ends in 2 days. You may not get the coupons in the mail in time. 

So I am sure you are wondering how much the coupons cost? Well that depends on the value and demand of the coupon. I have paid between 5 cents to 35 cents per coupon. Most of the coupons are closer to 5 cents than 35 cents. I paid 35 cents for coupons that made items free like Lysol No Touch Hand Soap System starter kit or Glade Sense & Spray starter kit which normal cost $6 or more each. 

On the other site where you can't buy just 1 of a particular coupon. I have paid anywhere from $1.00 to $3.00 for a set of 20 coupons. I usually spend $1.00 for most coupons. You will spend more when you are purchasing 20 of a coupon that will get you something free like the Lysol or Glade product I mentioned before. 

How you use any of the sites is type the product name in the search tab on each site.

Here are the sites that I use. 

http://www.couponsthingsbydede.com/

by 

http://store.kuntryklippers.com/

http://couponcarryout.com/

http://www.ebay.com/          Yes you can bid on coupons on ebay. 

You can also print coupons for free from this website:

http://www.coupons.com/

The only problem with printing coupons is there is a limit of printing only 2 of the same coupon. It is a good way to save but you won't be able to stockpile items by just using a free coupon printing site.

I hope you now know where you can purchase coupons at and why/when to purchase coupons from these various sites. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Mrs. Fife 

Couponing 101 Part 1

Couponing 101  Part 1 

Everyone is looking for a way to save a little money and coupons are a great way to do it. This is my first in a series of blog posts about couponing.

I have been couponing for years and you don't need to spend 40 hours a week clip, cutting, sorting coupons to save money. There are several different methods on how to store your coupons. I will discuss each and give you the pros and cons of each method and tell you which I use.

I am going to write this series from the perspective of someone who has never used coupons regularly before.

**First thing is first save all of the coupon inserts that come in the newspaper. Ask all of your friends and family to give you their coupon inserts they don't want. Also find out how and where you get your inserts. For example in my area the Red Plum coupon insert doesn't come in the newspaper on Sunday but comes in the mail to every house once a week with the weekly advertisements AKA junk mail. In my area I can get inserts from the large Sunday paper as well as our local weekly paper has inserts also. Another way to save money is to buy the Sunday paper the next day for half the price. I am able to that but I don't know if it will be an option everywhere. 

You can also purchase coupons online from clipping services. I will explain that in another post with the websites I use and the pros and cons of ordering coupons online.

Now that you have all of your coupon inserts how do you organize them? Well there are a few different options.

1. The file and cut as you need method. Write on the front cover of each insert the date. Then seperate them into a pile. Example the first Sunday of the month you could have 3 inserts Smart Source AKA "SS", Red Plum AKA "RP" and P&G AKA "PG". I would add each of those inserts to my pile for that week. Than if I get anymore coupon inserts I will just add them to the pile for that week. With this method you don't cut any of the coupons until you need them and leave the inserts intact. It makes it easy to find a particular insert when you are looking for a coupon. You keep the weekly pile of inserts until the coupons are all used or expired. The pros to this method is it isn't time consuming. Writing the date on the cover and placing into a pile takes 1 minute. You only clip the coupons when you need them. It is easy to find the coupons from a particular week because they are in separate weekly piles. You don't have to spend hours cutting every coupon when you won't use all of those coupons. The cons to this method is that you can't take all of your coupons with you every time you go to the store. It also requires some space for all of the weekly piles/files. I leave mine on a table in my basement. Another option is a file cabinet. 

2. The binder method is completely different. You cut every coupon out of inserts. Then you separate them into the category they will go to in your binder. You will then file them into sleeves that are made for baseball cards. This method is VERY time consuming. The pros to this method is that you can take your binder with you every time you go to the store. In case you see an unadvertised sale you can open your binder and see if you have a coupon that would make that item a great deal. You are able to carry your entire stock of coupons at all times. The cons to this method is that it is time consuming. You are cutting out a lot of coupons you will never use because a deal may not come up before the coupon expires. You have to go through every page of the binder weekly to take out all of the expired coupons.  There is an expense in buying a extra large binder and all of the inserts. 

3. Another method is not collecting coupons at all and just buying them from a coupon service. With this method you won't be able to get as many deals because you don't have coupons on hand. This works best for people who are just going to buy items that they currently buy and wouldn't try a new product or brand. The pros to this method is you don't have to get the weekly inserts or sort them in any way. The cons to this method is you are going to miss out a lot on good deals. You also take the risk of missing the deal because your coupons haven't come in the mail yet. 

I hope you have enjoyed the 1st installment of Couponing 101. Check back for the next installment soon. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Mrs. Fife