A Coupon Queen Shares Her Bounty

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A Coupon Queen Shares Her Bounty

by Bobbie Jean Knealing

 

Another great money-saving article from Bobbie, this week she shares some of her best tips for finding, organizing and using those coupons!

 

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I run my house much like a business in that I always have the bottom line in mind.

 

I utilize coupons as a way of decreasing the amount of money spent on groceries. About an hour or so a week couponing saves 30% or more off my grocery bill.

 

Coupons aren't just for the grocery stores either. You can save money on many of the items you use on a daily basis using coupons and shopping at discount stores such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Big Lots, etc. I don't recall the last time I paid full price for any paper or cleaning products. Personal hygiene products such as feminine products, shampoo's, bath gels, shaving cream, and toothpaste can all be purchased on sale while using a coupon.

 

Where to Find Them

You will find coupons in newspaper supplements (usually on Sunday and Thursday), magazines, and mailings. I get envelopes and coupon booklets in the mail at least once a week.

 

If there are products you are brand loyal to call the toll free number listed on the package and ask them to mail you coupons and to place your name and address on the mailing list. I often get coupons for free products when I do this.

 

Check around at the grocery store you shop at. Mine has extra flyers, and a place where shoppers can drop off and pick up coupons. If I don't have a coupon for an item on my list I check to see if there are any in this pile. If the flyer has good coupons in it and you wish to purchase more, ask at the service desk for an extra copy of the flyer. I have never been turned down once.

 

Get your friends, family members, and neighbors in on the savings. If you have coupons you won't use, you can trade for those that you will. Remember that scene in "Mr. Mom" where they were playing poker and using coupons instead of money? That is one of my favorite scenes.

 

Stores have coupon caddies on the shelves next to some product, check for them as you are doing your shopping. I'm sure you've seen them in the stores before, and if you haven't -- just let your child do the shopping with you sometime and they'll find them for you.

 

Now that you have all these coupons, you will want to create a system to store them and keep them organized so that you can find them. A clipped coupon's no good if you can't locate it to use it.

 

I always have baby wipe containers sitting around my house, and one day I was organizing my envelope full of coupons when a thought struck me. I covered the outside of a baby wipe container with some left over contact paper and cut pieces of thin cardboard to fit inside to use as dividers. I created subjects and wrote the subject at the top of the divider and then sorted my coupons and stuck them behind the corresponding divider.

 

Each week as you are adding your new coupons, just pull the expired coupons and put them in your recycle bin. This will save you time and aggravation at the grocery store.

 

I keep my coupon container in the car when I'm out running errands so that when I go into a store that has a sale I can make the most of my coupons.

 

Check the stores in your area and see if any of them double coupons. None of the stores where I live do, yet I still save a minimum of 30% on my monthly grocery bill. Imagine what you can save if your family if your stores doubles coupons.

 

When you combine your coupons with store sales you will walk out of the grocery store with items you get for free or pennies on the dollar.

 

I write my grocery list on the backs of envelopes that my mail comes in (good way to recycle). While shopping as I place the items in my cart I pull the coupon from the container and place it in the envelope.

 

When it's time to check out I hand over all my coupons first before the cashier starts ringing. If there are coupons for free items I watch for the item to be scanned and I point this out to her. This saves time, as she'll have to enter the amount onto the coupon for redemption at the end of the transaction.

 

When you are first starting out with couponing, it may take you a bit more time to get things organized. Once you have a system worked out for yourself, and your coupons organized and labeled you will be able to spend less time each week and save more money in the process.

 

You could enlist your children to help you and offer them a percentage of the savings. My store lists the total amount saved using coupons so when I get home I put that amount into my savings envelope to maximize my savings.

 

I hope these tips have helped your bottom line. Your grocery bill is one of the very few items on your budget that you can play around with and make changes to. The money you save using coupons and combining them with store sales will be as much or as little as the effort you want to put into it. You can start out small and work your way up to Queen status, like me, but for heavens sakes you've got to start! Now get out your scissors and sharpen them up, the Sunday paper will hit the stands in just a few hours.

 

Using Coupons does really help save money when you buy groceries.