I had the opportunity to meet a wonderful and inspiring group of people on the other side of town today, who would eventually like to set up a food pantry. They invited me to visit and give them an overview of how couponing works. I tried to give the basic instructions and hope that I didn't overload them with too much information at once; I distinctly remember how overwhelmed I was when I first started to use coupons.
Here are my suggestions if you would like to start couponing:
1. First of all, set up a dedicated email account. Why? Because stores will want one to link your store savings cards, to send you special promotions, and some manufacturers will, too, in order for you to print coupons from their websites. It's very easy for your primary inbox to get slammed with the volume of email you'll end up receiving. Trust me. Set up a separate email address. I use Gmail for my regular email and Yahoo for my 'junk' and coupon email, with the same username so it's easy to remember.
2. Pick a few local stores to begin couponing. If you try to chase every deal, you're going to get overwhelmed. Try picking one or two grocery stores and perhaps one pharmacy... whatever is closest to your home, work, or school. It helps if they're located along your regular commute so you're not spending extra fuel to do the bulk of your shopping. I highly recommend that you glance over SouthernSavers' store policy page.
3. Sign up with those stores. For instance, I love my local Harris Teeter. I have their VIC card, which allows me to take advantage of their sale prices, and they offer digital coupons that I can load to my VIC card, and when I signed up for their eVIC emails, they started linking member-only specials to my card weekly. Kroger, Lowe's Foods, and Food Lion all have their own store savings cards and promotions. When you sign up, use the same phone number for all the cards, because if you accidentally forget your card you can provide your phone number at the register and not miss out on savings. While we're at it, consider getting a basic key ring and punching holes in the cards (just make sure you don't ruin the bar code or strip on the back) to keep them organized:
Credit: www.abowlfulloflemons.net
4. Now, speaking of organization... you'll have to pick a method that works for you to keep track of your coupons. Some folks clip every coupon and sort them by categories into a coupon organizer or a coupon binder. Full disclosure: I am a grad student, working on my thesis, attending classes, teaching two days a week on campus, and homeschool our two daughters; I do not have time to clip coupons I may or may not use. I use what is referred to as the 'whole insert method'. I will devote a separate post for that shortly.
5. Subscribe to your local newspaper if you don't already. In our town, we have two choices - the Herald or the News & Observer. However, the Herald only carries RedPlum inserts on Sundays, but the N&O carries RedPlum and SmartSource. The N&O costs a little bit more (50 cents higher at the newsstand) but you're getting twice the number and variety of coupons.
If you would prefer to buy newspapers weekly in person, avoid the coin-operated vending machines. There are two reasons: (1) The newspaper publishers only guarantee coupons will be included for subscribers, and (2) Sadly, folks can and do pilfer all the coupon inserts and leave the skeleton of the paper for others to purchase. I recommend finding a nearby grocery or convenience store (like Krogers or BP stations) that have the indoor newspaper racks. Employees will let you stand there and check each paper to make sure your inserts are there before purchasing them.
If you want to subscribe to the local paper, you'll save at least 50 cents per copy and the fuel you'd spend chasing down copies (I have been to as many as five different stores on Sunday mornings, looking for my papers, especially on heavy-coupon weekends). If you sign up through Discounted Newspapers you can get a year of Sunday-only delivery here in town for $1.27 per copy; after your initial subscription is set up, you have the option of adding on extra copies at the N&O for $1.50 per copy. (I don't know whether Discounted Newspapers will allow you to purchase multiples at their discounted rate.) I've found that two copies every week allows me to coupon sufficiently for my family of four. If you're trying to feed or set aside for a larger family or to help others in the community, you may want additional copies. Because sales frequently offer 'buy-one, get-one free' deals, you should consider buying your papers in multiples of two (two copies, four copies, six copies, etc.). They just match up better to sales than having odd numbers of inserts.
6. Now, in addition to newpaper inserts, there are a slew of other sources for coupons:
- Printables - found on the internet from stores or manufacturers
- Direct mail - arrive in your mailbox from stores or manufacturers
- Digital - can be loaded to your store cards from stores or third-party companies
- Catalinas - print out at the register with your receipt (so don't dash off until you see whether they print)
- Magazines - AllYou is one that comes to mind, but there are others
- Blinkies - found in the grocery store aisles next to products
- Peelies - found on the products purchased (make sure the cashiers don't automatically use these for you if the coupon you have in your hand is better; these often don't double; I'll cover that later)
Use that dedicated email address to sign up at AFullCup for free to access their coupon database, which helps to find regional coupons that may not be listed in coupon matchup lists.
You can also find a list of printables at PrintableCouponDatabase. It takes a second for the page to load, and then I use <CTRL><F> to open a search bar and type specific products to find them in the list.
7. Now that you know which stores you want to shop and where to get the coupons, keep an eye out for the coupon matchups to be posted ahead of the new sale dates. For example, Kroger starts a new ad every Sunday, so matchups will start appearing Saturday evening... or Harris Teeter starts a new ad every Wednesday, so the lists will post some time on Tuesday. I'm a pretty laid-back couponer, so I just get up the day of the new sale and put together my list while I drink my coffee. The matchup sites I tend to use are:
- SouthernSavers Jenny has also posted a fabulously detailed list of How to Get Started and you can find them on Facebook here. They're based in Georgia, I believe, so you have to watch out for regional variations in sales.
- MoolaSavingMom Jessie does a great job of covering ethical issues in couponing to keep us out of trouble and you can find her on Facebook here. She's based in the Triad of North Carolina, so the deals she posts are fairly accurate for those of us in the Triangle.
- CouponMom This is a national matchup site, so I tend to use it for the larger box stores like Target or office supply stores like Office Max, though they do post region-specific lists. You'll need that dedicated email address to sign up for free access. They can be found on Facebook here.
Those are my basic resources. I've always maintained that there's no way I could have started saving so much on groceries right off the bat if I'd had to reinvent the wheel. Thank goodness for the internet and the reliable resources that already exist!
Next up: A detailed post on organizing using the whole-insert method.
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