How To Coupon In Three Easy Steps

A coupon is marketing. Marketing. Marketing. Marketing.

A company/brand doesn’t feel bad that you’re having a hard time paying bills and trying to cut costs. That’s not why they issue coupons. No. Coupons are issued to encourage you to buy their product.

Fair enough. Now, let’s play their game against them!

First we need to gather as many coupons as we can…

Your Local Newspaper:

• SmartSource
  • Depending on the week, there may be two or even three different inserts.
• RedPlum
  • Formerly known as Valassis and multiple inserts are offered occasionally.
• P&G
  • Found monthly and strictly Procter&Gamble product coupons.
• Various Store inserts and coupons
  • Target, restaurants, and miscellaneous coupons can be found- look carefully!

*Cities receive different coupons- that’s why Qpon Qutie is subdivided by city*

Printable Coupons:

• Coupons.com
  • The largest source for printable coupons
• SmartSource.com
  • The web version of the newspaper insert, with different coupons!
• CouponNetwork.com
  • It’s the New Kid on the Block: Printable coupons and Catalina offers
• MamboSprouts (Organic Coupons)
  • Yep, I’m a whole foodie. Print these at the first of every month before they get gone!
• RedPlum.com
  • The web version of the newspaper insert, with limited coupons that hit the print limit quickly.

*All printable TWICE by using your browser’s BACK button after the coupon print or print session*

E-Coupons:

• Cellfire.com
  • Coupons downloaded to your store card

Then we need to Organize our Coupons…

There are two main methods you can try:

• The Binder Method
• The File Method

*These are popular methods, but any organizational method will work so long as it works for you!

Step 2: Economics…

If you never touch a coupon, please at least shop for items when they are at their low. You’ll save about 30% just buy doing this alone!

Grocery Sale Cycles run about every 6-12 weeks. So that $2 Lysol will be $2 again in about 6 weeks or so and I want to buy enough Lysol to get me through until the next sale.

Seasonal Sale Cycles run with the change in season.

• Fall= Back to school, lunch meat, snacks, and crackers
• Winter=Thanksgiving and Christmas meal items are low, as well as hearty foods, soups and pasta
• Spring= Cleaning supplies
• Summer= Hot dogs, grilling items, chips and soda

A store will even offer a GREAT deal on one or two items just to get your foot in their store. This is called a Loss Leader.

Step 3: Math…

$4 Lysol is on sale for $2.

Well… I have a $1.50 coupon.

Lysol = .50¢

If I use 1 bottle of Lysol a month= 12 bottles/year

• 12 bottles X $4 =$48
• 12 bottles X $2 = $24
• 12 bottles X .50¢= $6

I saved myself $42 just by buying 12 bottles of Lysol using a coupon during a sale cycle.

Now imagine ALL the other items you run to the store and purchase when you need them through out a year: shampoo, toothpaste, crackers, juice, cheese, peanut butter, I could go on for hours. What if you bought them all in large quantities with coupons when they were on sale? 

Hmmm… “Large Quantities.” What does that mean to you? For my family of 4 adults and 2 kids, it’s 6-10 of a sale item. For those on TLC’s Extreme Couponing, it’s 64 bottles of mustard. You can check out my experience with TLC for my thoughts and audition for the show.

Use my Stockpile Budgeting Tips to help you manage your $$ while easing into this coupon thing. You can also use my “What I Would Pay” guide to see what I consider a “good deal” after sale prices and coupons.

That’s it. Let’s recap:

1. Gather Coupons and Organize
2. Learn Your Products Sale Cycles
3. Add Coupons to the Sale Price for Maximum Savings

Oh wait! There’s one more thing: Playing the Grocery Store Policy Game.