COUPON BASICS
Need help with coupon lingo? Here's some of the abbreviations you may see on this site.
Q - coupon
B1G1 - buy one product, get one FREE
R - Redplum (Sunday paper insert)
S - Smartsource (Sunday paper insert)
UL - Unilever (Sunday paper insert)
PG - Proctor & Gamble (Sunday paper insert)
GM - General Mills (Sunday paper insert)
WG - Walgreens
WD - Winn Dixie
RR - Register Rewards (Walgreens)
ECB - Extra Care Bucks (CVS)
WYB - when you buy
printable - coupons you print off the internet
Q - coupon
B1G1 - buy one product, get one FREE
R - Redplum (Sunday paper insert)
S - Smartsource (Sunday paper insert)
UL - Unilever (Sunday paper insert)
PG - Proctor & Gamble (Sunday paper insert)
GM - General Mills (Sunday paper insert)
WG - Walgreens
WD - Winn Dixie
RR - Register Rewards (Walgreens)
ECB - Extra Care Bucks (CVS)
WYB - when you buy
printable - coupons you print off the internet
I became a serious coupon user about 4 years ago. After my daughter was born, we decided the best choice for our family was for me to stay at home with her. Luckily, by this time, we were debt free except for our house, so even with the loss of a $70,000 income, we were able to make this work. It became my mission, however, to cut costs as much as I could to make my husband’s income stretch as far as it could.
Over the years, I’ve heard all the comments in the book “Coupons are too much trouble!”, “I don’t have time to fool with coupons!”, “Coupons really don’t save that much money!”….the list goes on and on…… Well, I firmly disagree on all counts! If you know how to play the coupon game, it’s easy, it’s quick, and it saves tons of money each week! Why spend money when you don’t have to?!
Where do I find coupons?
Whole Foods has a great coupon book called Mambo Sprouts. It comes out monthly and can be found when you enter the store. These coupons can be used at ANY store and the items are usually organic.
As you can see, there are many places you can rack up coupons fast! My advice is to set up a free email account that you only give out to coupon and manufacturer sites. They will send you a lot of email, so you don’t want to clog up your inbox with all of these emails, plus it helps you keep your coupons organized in one place.
How To Organize Your Coupons
The key to saving the most with coupons is Having YOUR COUPONS ORGANIZED! I am not a very organized person, in fact if you were to come to my house unannounced, BEWARE! However, I do a good job keeping my Qs in order because I know it will save me lots of money. There is definitely more than one way to organize, but I love the Insert Method, because it is quick and easy.
I have a file folder for each category of coupons: RedPlum, Smartsource, P&G, Publix, WinnDixie, Misc. Each week, I pull the inserts from the paper and with a sharpie write the date on the front, then I stick it in the file. If I pick up store coupon inserts, I file them in their own folder. I flip through them to familiarize myself with what is in there….I also clip any that I know I will need to use that week, even if the item doesn’t show up on my “list”.
You can also use the Binder Method to organize. This requires you to clip each individual coupon each week from all inserts and file them according to type of item, or manufacturer. You can buy baseball card holders and put them in a binder and slip the coupons into the pockets. For instance, all canned veggies would go in one pocket, all dairy in another, and so on and so on. I started out doing this method but became overwhelmed very quickly. The Insert method works best for me, but you may want to try both to see which you prefer.
How To Match Coupons with Store Deals
This step can consume A TON of time if you try to do it on your own. My “coupon breakthrough” came about when I found a service to do this for me!
The Grocery Game and The Coupon Mom compile databases each week that match store sales with coupons that are in circulation. This is a real time saver! All you have to do is print the sale list for your store, clip the coupons it tells you to, and off you go to the store!
The couponmom site is free and the grocery game offers a 4 week trial for a $1 and then charges a nominal fee each 8 weeks. I personally use the grocery game because I find it to be more user friendly…they color code items for you: Black- don’t buy unless you just have to because they are not a great price, Blue- now is the time to buy, rock bottom price, and Green- this item is FREE.
Give both a try to see which one you like! I get a Publix and Winn Dixie list each week…my lists come out on Sunday morning and it is valid through Tuesday of that same week. I usually do my shopping on Sunday or Monday. Since there is a limited time to shop, it may alter your current routine, but I think you will find the savings you get will be worth it!
Both of these sites will list the product that is on sale, the original price, the sale price, any coupons, and the final price. Under the coupon heading it will tell you the insert and the date it appeared in the paper. For instance, if the coupon was in the 3/22 Redplum insert it will say R3/22. If you filed these by insert, you will go to your Redplum folder, pull that insert and flip through until you find the coupon. Then just cut it and put it with your list. It takes me about 15 minutes to print and pull my coupons for the week. Occassionally, the coupon they state does not appear in the insert for your area. The listmakers are regional and coupon content does vary by market. You can always look online to see if you can find it to print.
Coupon “Stacking”
The art in saving big money with coupons is learning how and when to stack them. For instance, let’s say juice is on sale buy one get one free. The original price is $3.00 each. Just by purchasing it on sale, you get it for $1.50, pretty good deal. You have 2 manufacturer’s coupons for .50 off one. You can use one manufacturer’s coupon on each item plus the store doubles Qs .50 and less. So, the deal just got sweeter – you saved an additional $1 on each juice, so now the price is down to .50! But wait, it can get even sweeter! Let’s say the store has one of their coupons for the same brand of juice .50 off one(most store coupons cannot be doubled), you can use one of these coupons on each juice as well. So, now the price is FREE! Yep, you just purchased $6 worth of juice for absolutely nothing out of pocket!
This is where the coupon sale matching databases we talked about earlier come in very handy. They alert you to the manufacturer and store coupons, so you know where to get these deals. Most stores in our area allow you to use 1 mfgr Q and 1 store Q on each item you purchase, including Buy One, Get One Free deals. As you can see, you can really save a lot of money this way! If you’ve traditionally been a Walmart or Target shopper for most of your groceries, you may want to switch to a grocery store, since they are the only ones that double coupons!
The “Shop”
Once you print your list and clip your coupons, you are ready for your shop. I usually paper clip my Qs to my list and hit the store. I’ve found that it is so much easier to stick to a list and avoid a lot of impulse buys when you plan this way. It is such an awesome feeling to get to the register and see your total drop when they start subtracting those coupons!
Over the years, I’ve heard all the comments in the book “Coupons are too much trouble!”, “I don’t have time to fool with coupons!”, “Coupons really don’t save that much money!”….the list goes on and on…… Well, I firmly disagree on all counts! If you know how to play the coupon game, it’s easy, it’s quick, and it saves tons of money each week! Why spend money when you don’t have to?!
Where do I find coupons?
- The Sunday paper is the best place to start…I highly recommend getting it delivered to your home. If you buy it at a store, don’t get it from a machine…many times the coupon inserts are missing. Make sure you get the paper with the highest circulation in your area (The Birmingham News), they tend to have the best variety of coupons. Almost every week, the paper has 2 or 3 coupons inserts. Smartsource and Redplum come out most weeks. P&G typically comes out monthly and occasionally General Mills will have one. Certain grocery stores like Publix will occasionally have inserts in the Sunday paper as well.
- Grocery stores are another great place to find coupons, they
Whole Foods has a great coupon book called Mambo Sprouts. It comes out monthly and can be found when you enter the store. These coupons can be used at ANY store and the items are usually organic.
- Reward/loyalty cards are available at certain stores. Winn Dixie and Food World have one. It’s free, just fill out the short form instore and they will give you the card. Simply give them the card to scan at checkout and not only will you get sale prices, but most of the time, coupons print out at the register.
- Coupon Websites have a wealth of coupons you can print. In my experience, most grocery stores will accept these as long as the barcode scans. It’s helpful to print them using high print quality. Redplum.com, Smartsource.com, Coupons.com, are some great sites to check out for coupons.
- Your Favorite Manufacturers will often send you great coupons if you simply email them and tell them how much you enjoy their products and request some coupons. Many of their websites have clubs or newsletters you can sign up for and get coupons and other offers.
- Coupon Clippersare sites that allow you to buy coupons. You pay a few cents for each coupon….I DON’T DO THIS OFTEN, but if a really good deal comes along on a high dollar coupon it might be worth it. Ebay is another place you can find coupons for sale.
As you can see, there are many places you can rack up coupons fast! My advice is to set up a free email account that you only give out to coupon and manufacturer sites. They will send you a lot of email, so you don’t want to clog up your inbox with all of these emails, plus it helps you keep your coupons organized in one place.
How To Organize Your Coupons
The key to saving the most with coupons is Having YOUR COUPONS ORGANIZED! I am not a very organized person, in fact if you were to come to my house unannounced, BEWARE! However, I do a good job keeping my Qs in order because I know it will save me lots of money. There is definitely more than one way to organize, but I love the Insert Method, because it is quick and easy.
I have a file folder for each category of coupons: RedPlum, Smartsource, P&G, Publix, WinnDixie, Misc. Each week, I pull the inserts from the paper and with a sharpie write the date on the front, then I stick it in the file. If I pick up store coupon inserts, I file them in their own folder. I flip through them to familiarize myself with what is in there….I also clip any that I know I will need to use that week, even if the item doesn’t show up on my “list”.
You can also use the Binder Method to organize. This requires you to clip each individual coupon each week from all inserts and file them according to type of item, or manufacturer. You can buy baseball card holders and put them in a binder and slip the coupons into the pockets. For instance, all canned veggies would go in one pocket, all dairy in another, and so on and so on. I started out doing this method but became overwhelmed very quickly. The Insert method works best for me, but you may want to try both to see which you prefer.
How To Match Coupons with Store Deals
This step can consume A TON of time if you try to do it on your own. My “coupon breakthrough” came about when I found a service to do this for me!
The Grocery Game and The Coupon Mom compile databases each week that match store sales with coupons that are in circulation. This is a real time saver! All you have to do is print the sale list for your store, clip the coupons it tells you to, and off you go to the store!
The couponmom site is free and the grocery game offers a 4 week trial for a $1 and then charges a nominal fee each 8 weeks. I personally use the grocery game because I find it to be more user friendly…they color code items for you: Black- don’t buy unless you just have to because they are not a great price, Blue- now is the time to buy, rock bottom price, and Green- this item is FREE.
Give both a try to see which one you like! I get a Publix and Winn Dixie list each week…my lists come out on Sunday morning and it is valid through Tuesday of that same week. I usually do my shopping on Sunday or Monday. Since there is a limited time to shop, it may alter your current routine, but I think you will find the savings you get will be worth it!
Both of these sites will list the product that is on sale, the original price, the sale price, any coupons, and the final price. Under the coupon heading it will tell you the insert and the date it appeared in the paper. For instance, if the coupon was in the 3/22 Redplum insert it will say R3/22. If you filed these by insert, you will go to your Redplum folder, pull that insert and flip through until you find the coupon. Then just cut it and put it with your list. It takes me about 15 minutes to print and pull my coupons for the week. Occassionally, the coupon they state does not appear in the insert for your area. The listmakers are regional and coupon content does vary by market. You can always look online to see if you can find it to print.
Coupon “Stacking”
The art in saving big money with coupons is learning how and when to stack them. For instance, let’s say juice is on sale buy one get one free. The original price is $3.00 each. Just by purchasing it on sale, you get it for $1.50, pretty good deal. You have 2 manufacturer’s coupons for .50 off one. You can use one manufacturer’s coupon on each item plus the store doubles Qs .50 and less. So, the deal just got sweeter – you saved an additional $1 on each juice, so now the price is down to .50! But wait, it can get even sweeter! Let’s say the store has one of their coupons for the same brand of juice .50 off one(most store coupons cannot be doubled), you can use one of these coupons on each juice as well. So, now the price is FREE! Yep, you just purchased $6 worth of juice for absolutely nothing out of pocket!
This is where the coupon sale matching databases we talked about earlier come in very handy. They alert you to the manufacturer and store coupons, so you know where to get these deals. Most stores in our area allow you to use 1 mfgr Q and 1 store Q on each item you purchase, including Buy One, Get One Free deals. As you can see, you can really save a lot of money this way! If you’ve traditionally been a Walmart or Target shopper for most of your groceries, you may want to switch to a grocery store, since they are the only ones that double coupons!
The “Shop”
Once you print your list and clip your coupons, you are ready for your shop. I usually paper clip my Qs to my list and hit the store. I’ve found that it is so much easier to stick to a list and avoid a lot of impulse buys when you plan this way. It is such an awesome feeling to get to the register and see your total drop when they start subtracting those coupons!