What's up with couponing??

What is the deal with couponing?

That is the question I normally get when talking about all my good deals to others. They usually look at me like I am crazy when I tell them what is involved and then they say, "I don't have that kind of time!" My response is, "How do you not have time to save money."

Lately, a few people have been asking me how I do what I do. So, here is the down and dirty of how I score the deals. Hold on, because this might get a little lengthy.

Couponing:

It is a lifestyle.

There are 3 things you must accept when you begin to coupon.

1. You can not be brand specific. You have to roll with the sales, which means your specific brand might not be on sale. This is an opportunity to try new brands and if you don't like it, then you will know.

2. To get the most bang for your buck, you should stockpile!! Stockpiling becomes imperative when you find a good sale and it is an item that has a long shelf life. Stockpiling means to buy a lot of a certain item to achieve a "stockpile".

3. It does take some time. I may spend a few hours a nite looking for deals. However, there are awesome blogs out there that do all the work for you. All you have to do is point and click.

Now that you have learned what it means to be a couponista, here are a few blogs that have helped me tremendously in my search for coupon savings.

Money Saving Mom

Happy Homemaker Cindy

For The Mommas

Common Sense With Money

DEALicious Finds

All of these blogs have saved me so much time and money. I refer to all these blogs to find my deals.

Coupon Questions??

Where do I get my coupons from?

SmartSource.com

Redplum.com

Coupons.com

I also buy two papers on Sunday for the coupon inserts.

Product websites offer coupons to try their products.

Signing up for free samples, usually comes with a coupon for that product.

Store websites offer coupons specific to their store. I know Meijer and Target have in store coupons.

Catalinas-the coupons that print out at the end of your order to use on your next shopping trip.

Blinkies-coupons you find in the store next to the product, that usually have little lights on them to get your attention.

The blogs I mentioned above have a complete list of terms when couponing that you could refer to. I am still new to this world of couponing and a little unsure about all the terms.

Once you get all your coupons printed and cut, you will need an organizational method to store them. I recommend stopping by DEALicious Finds for a tutorial on how to organize your coupons.

~I use the binder method of storing my coupons along with envelopes for each store to hold the coupons and my list.

Now, on to saving money.

Here is a picture of my Kroger bill from today's shopping. I usually save more than I spend and this receipt shows that.

I will break this down for you:

MFG CPN Savings is the manufacturer coupons I used.

Bonus CPN Savings is the Kroger catalina I used for the cereal I bought today.

STR CPN & KRO Plus Savings is the savings I earned by using my Kroger plus card and the in-store deals that were going on today.

Total Coupons and Total Savings was the total amount I saved on today's order.

Wow!! I saved $37.43 and my out of pocket(OOP) was $22.38.

Here is what I got for that amount at Kroger today:

2 gallons of 2% milk = $1.99 each with Kroger card

8 bottles of SoBe Lifewater = 49 cents with Kroger card and I had 4 BOGO coupons I printed from the SoBe Heads or Tails game.

So I actually made 4 cents off that deal.

2 boxes of Cookie Crisp and 1 box of Cocoa Puffs = $1.48 with Kroger card, then 55 cents off the Cocoa Puffs, $1.50 off of 3 boxes of General Mills Kroger catalina, and $1 off of two General Mills boxes of cereal (manufacturer coupon). That comes out to 46 cents a box. Whoo Hoo!!

3 avocados = 10 for $10 with Kroger Card

blueberries= $2 with Kroger card

Chex Mix and Bugles = $1.99 with Kroger card and a 50 cent manufacturer which Kroger doubles up to $1. That came to 99 cents each.

Nature Valley Granola Bars = $1.99 with Kroger card and a manufacturer coupon for 75 cents equaling $1.24.

Dole salad mix $1.98

Kool Aid and Country Time Lemonade for $1.99

All that for $22.38, not bad.

There is so much more to learn and I have been learning along the way with my friend, Lianne. We have had many a nite of trial and error and just plain fun. We make a nite of it and Lianne and I just go shopping and have fun.

One last thing, don't count out your local drug stores (CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid). These places are gold mines for deals and all of them offer money back in the form of a coupon to use on your next order.

All in all, it does take time to save money like this. I am not going to lie, it can be time consuming, but I love to save money!! I have become totally addicted to finding and working out deals.

If I can help in any other way, feel free to email at shelley.haskell@yahoo.com or comment on my blog. I will help you in any way I can.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post and I hope it helps.

Happy couponing and many blessings,
Shelley