Thursday, August 20, 2009

Couponing is easy and ANYONE can do it!

Many people think of couponing as a "waste of time", and believe that they can't save enough money to make it worth their while. Well, we are here to teach you that couponing doesn't take much time at all and, you really will save an obscene amount of money! All it takes a little patience to get started but, after you are organized and well informed it's easy saving from there!

First, start saving your coupon inserts. You probably need approximately one months worth of inserts before you even start doing coupon match-ups. Where we live in tidewater we get a Smart Source coupon insert in the Sunday paper (The Virginian Pilot) and we also get a Red Plum coupon insert in the Wednesday mailer. We have recently discovered that The Daily Press newspaper has a Smart Source insert and a slightly different Red Plum insert on Sunday. So it would be worth your while and your cash to purchase both a Virginian Pilot and Daily Press paper on Sunday. There are a ton of great internet printable coupons: coupons.com and redplum.com are a couple of the sites available to use.

Second, start organizing your coupons. Everyone does this differently. We both organize our coupons different and have different reasons for the way we like ours organized. This is completely a personal choice. However, it is important to note that when we give a "coupon match-up" the coupon will be listed by both the date that the insert was published and the name of the insert. So keep this in mind when you are organizing. See our separate blogs about organization to see how we organize ours: Organization.

Third
, you have to learn to make your coupons work for you. We will post "coupon match-ups" that will show you the stores sale items and where you can get coupons for the item that is on sale, making that item even cheaper. The stores we shop at are: Kroger, Harris Teeter, Farm Fresh and, Target.

Here are a few examples of how to read a "Matchup"

Example #1:
Tide Laundry Detergent $5.99
SS 8/31 $1.00/1
Final Price: $4.99
(The Item costs $5.99 at the store. There is a coupon in the "SS"-Smart Source insert on 8/31 for $1.00 off one item, making the product $4.99)

Example #2;
Dawn Dish Liquid $2.25
PG 8/30 $0.25/1
Final Price: $1.75
(This item costs $2.25 at the store. There is a coupon in the "PG"-P&G Brand Saver insert on 8/30. The coupon will more than likely double to $0.50 at whatever store you go to, making the item $1.75)

Example #3:
Pop-Tarts $1.50
RP 8/31 $0.55
Final Price: $0.40
(This item costs $1.50 at the store. There is a coupon in the "RP"-Red Plum insert on 8/31. The coupons will more than likely double at whatever store you go to, making the item $0.40.

So here is the key for all our abbreviations:
RP - Red Plum Insert
SS - Smart Source Insert
PG - P&G Brand Saver

~Happy Couponing!~
Bonnie & Faith