[kimmi281]

Hello, I am new to this site, and kinda don't know where to start. I have already started a binder for my coupons, which worked really well, so far, but i want to do better with saving! I don't know if any one can offer any advice, and/or other resources for a newbie! thanks so much!

[ilovecouponstoo]

I know that one of the things that bugged me when I was starting out was that everyone was getting these great deals with coupons that came out before I started. Check with your local newspaper and see how you can get back copies of the papers to grow your coupons quickly.

[MsGlamorous]

I'm also new to this site ........... But one way you can save more money is............... watch out for mark downs and last chance items!!!You can use coupon's on them too. I hope this was helpful too you!

[cslaamot]

I have a binder for my coupons but cannot figure out how to print them....help please

[kimmi281]

thanks everyone for the tips, the clearance is great! I've done well and i got a binder with baseball card holders so I can see all my coupons. Works great and I can bring it with me if I am shopping! but I am having a difficult time printing the coupons.com coupons. It wont work, I have a mac and I dont know if anyone else has this problem! any help would be appreciated!

[Lynda1811]

Here is something that I typed up for headstart policy meeting, parent expo, and a few new members here as well. I hope it has the info that you are looking for.


Welcome to AFC! LOL Be prepaired for my novel!

Know your stores coupon policy is a must, this included, target, kmart, walmart, and your grocery stores.

1. does your store accept IP coupons = internet printed
2. does your store double/triple, every day or certain days, up to what amount, is there a limit on coupons that will double, is there a limit on like coupons
3. does your store take expired coupons, up to how long expired
4. does your store price match
5. does your store allow stacking of store coupon and mfc on one item
6. does your store accept compieters coupons
7. does your store give rain checks

Remember we all run into problems from time to time.

Organizing your coupons:
You will need to find out what works out best for you. I personally use the binder method, and file by insert, when I order extra inserts.

You can also organize by envelope, binder, insert, photo book or cd case, acordian file, a small recipie box.

I trully believe that having more coupons is better, for example:

Most stores will do a 10/$10 sale, meaning that each item is $1, if there was a coupon for $1/1 then you would get the item for free, but if you bought 5 papers, then 5 free items, and a great stockpile started.
I personally buy 5-10 papers a week, if I see that my store is having a great sale, I have several options to get more coupons:

Post in the ISO = in search of forum, there you can list what you are looking for, and if members have that coupon, then you can make a trade with them, wether it be a ROAK = random act of kindness, where nothing is traded, trade coupons for coupons, or pay with PP = paypal, or CC concealed cash, or even stamps.

Order extra coupons from the coupon clippers, link found under the coupon tab at the top, order from coupons and things by Dede, a member here that also sells coupons, link under the coupon tab at top as well, ebay, or look in the FSOT = for sale or trade forum, to see what coupons other members are selling.

So now you know your stores policy, you have your coupons, and found your origanization that works for you, what's next.

Looking at the weekly ads and shop from there. I used to only shop every other week, until a member here (Kmchaplin = Karen) told me that I would better utilize the weekly sales, by going every week.

If you have a budget, try to stick with it, you aren't saving money if you go over your budget. Make out your grocery list and go through your ads to see where the best place to shop would be.

Remember you don't have to buy everything, sales come back around.

If you have a CVS or Walgreens you can get a lot of health and beauty items really cheap, or free. I would suggest reading thoes forums to get the info. I don't have CVS and just got a Wags = walgreens, so am just learning myself.

If you have a kmart, they are doing double coupons. The promotion has changed a little, so will just have to look up your ad online, it's available thursday for the next week.

Check out the kmart forum, if you have a kmart, see what others have gotten, and coupons used.

Ahh, on to stockpiling:

Stockpiling is having what you need on had at a very low or no cost oop = out of pocket. So that way when you run out, you are not paying full price. You do have to watch expiration dates, but most of us that have had a stockpile learn what is acceptable, and still good after expiration.

Stockpiling isn't just food, health and beauty, house cleaners, it's anything, toys, school supplies, holiday decorations. Really the list is endless. As long as you have room to store your stockpile, just know it will take time to get started, and don't try to rush it.

Don't compaire your trips to others that are posted. Remember, most of us have been doing this for a while and have a stockpile already built up.

Ask questions, we all started in the sme boat, and there is no such thing as a stupid question. Anyone of the members are here to help.

Now, one of the most important factors in couponing is, a supportive spouse. They might not understand what you are doing in the begining, but when they see that the cabinets are getting full, or their favorite ice cream is always in the freezer, they will soon be on board.

Now, the second most important factor in couponing is, you may become addictive to them and AFC! LOL

HTH = hope that helps
Lynda

[Tracysnbb]

I also Have a Mac w/ a hp office jet printer and have no problem printing coupons from that site. I just went back to that site usung aNew Window 2 make sure I was correct. I have a question for U. I don't remember what link I clicked at the top of the last Page(Freebies or Coupons) but everything I clicked on this page said oops coupon or deal has run out. Every single thing. Is this normal for this web site?

[Tracysnbb]

Thanks Lynda1811. Your List of things to do,If your new is so thorough, and concise. I am going to print it out and tape it to the new binder I purchases at the .99 cent store. I shop there a lot. I've been out of work since Jan.20th of this year w/o Unemployment benefits. I've run through all my savings and have borrowed also.The reason I'm mentioning the 99 cent store is I just found 32 items I purchased there less expensive at my local supermarket.

[savmom]

What browser are you using? I find safari usually works better than firefox for some reason.

Originally Posted by kimmi281

thanks everyone for the tips, the clearance is great! I've done well and i got a binder with baseball card holders so I can see all my coupons. Works great and I can bring it with me if I am shopping! but I am having a difficult time printing the coupons.com coupons. It wont work, I have a mac and I dont know if anyone else has this problem! any help would be appreciated!

[lmkreier]

Thanks Lynda1811. I like you Tips for Someone Just starting post. A friend of mine told me about this site, I just signed up and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed & confused. You're posting helped me in taking baby step #2 - LOL!!!

[childofsolitude]

If you REALLY want to save, I have a few tips for you. In my household, we have a grocery budget. First of all, I'd suggest you make one. I do it by week. For example, I can spend $56 per week on groceries (there are only two people in my house). Then I break that down even further into more categories-I have xx amount of money for breakfast, xx amount of money for lunches, xx amount of money for dinners, xx amount of money for snacks, and xx amount of money for bread. You may want to include other household items in your budget (like toilet paper, cleaning items, etc.) as well as any other categories you must have.

Now, what I've noticed other people do is that they find a really good deal using coupons so they buy lots of a certain item because it's at a good price. There's two things that a lot of these people do that I think can blow your budget. First, they buy 20 boxes of cookies on clearance for 50 cents each box and they don't limit the amount their household can eat. For example, my household can spend $2 per week on snacks. It may be higher for a family with kids but we don't need much at my house. Now, if I see a deal at my grocery store where, say a bag of chips is $3.99 and it's BOGO, we'll spend the $4 on the chips but those two bags of chips has to last us 2 weeks. This may sound excessive to some but it works for us. Secondly, whether you realize it or not, you may spend more money stocking up then if you were to just buy an item here or there when you run out of it. Yes, you may think 50 cents for a tube of toothpaste is a good deal and you want to buy 50 of them. And in the long run, maybe it'll be worth it. But if you have a budget you need to follow, spending $25 on toothpaste when you only budgeted $20 per month for toiletry items is not a good idea. Most likely, you will overspend in this category throughout the whole year. Instead of actually SAVING money, some of these people tend to actually overspend on their budget by getting more food/other items than they actually need. What would you rather want? To save money and have the amount of food that you need or spend all of your budget and maybe even more on more food than is necessary?

Also, is there something you MUST buy? Is there a particular brand of mayo you NEED to use? Or does your husband NEED to have coke in the house at all times? If so, this can be a bit more difficult to save money because you'll obviously be able to find really good deals on other brands of mayo and other beverages besides coke. Does your kid need to have certain chocolate chip cookies for a snack? Say you regularly spend $3 per week on these chocolate chip cookies. Say you see a box of oatmeal cookies for $1.99 and you have a $1 off coupon. You could get 3 boxes of oatmeal cookies which will last 3 WEEKS as opposed to 1 week and you pay the same amount. The more open minded you are, the better. Don't care what kind of shampoo you use as long as it cleans your hair? You have a better chance of getting good deals than someone who must buy Garnier. I hope that makes sense.

Also, if you want to get the most bang for your buck, plan your meals around your grocery store's sales and the coupons you have. You could save sooo much money on your grocery bill if you do this. HTH

ETA: I probably clip more coupons than the average person. When I'm clipping coupons and I don't know if I should clip one for a particular item, I ask myself "Would you buy this item if it were free or really cheap?" If my answer is yes, I'll clip it. If my answer is no, I don't bother. For example, I don't have kids. I wouldn't clip a coupon for diapers because I have no need for them. However, I would clip a coupon for baby wipes because I could use them as regular hand wipes. I wouldn't pass up really cheap wipes if I saw them so I'd clip the coupon. I can't tell you how many deals that were posted on this forum that I wouldn't have been able to get in on if I only clipped coupons for items I "need". I'll give you another example. I had two coupons for $1 off one Fisher item. Fisher is obviously most known for their baking nuts. Just this week at my local grocery store, something called Fisher Frusions went BOGO. It's basically like a trail mix type thing. They were $1.79 and BOGO. I was able to get both items for free plus overage. Now, the average person who uses coupons wouldn't have clipped that coupon if they had no need for Fisher nuts. A smart couponer would clip it because the coupon states "$1 off ANY 1 Fisher product". You never know what good deals you can get by clipping coupons. What's the worst that could happen if you don't end up using it? You just throw it out, right?

[Lynda1811]

Originally Posted by lmkreier

Thanks Lynda1811. I like you Tips for Someone Just starting post. A friend of mine told me about this site, I just signed up and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed & confused. You're posting helped me in taking baby step #2 - LOL!!!

I'm so glad that it helped you out. You will have to excuse the typos, haven't had a chance to go through it and make the corrections.

There is always more info that can be added, but didn't want to overwhelm anyone. I've been using coupons for 5 years now, and am still learning.

Ask questions would be my number #1 way in getting started.

We all are here to help one another, and If one of us doesn't know, we will find someone who does.

Lynda

[funwithrebates]

I agree with all of the above. I have been couponing since I was 16 just like my mother taught me. That would be over 20 years (or more). Although I think I am a little better at it. Everyone has their own style and way of doing things. My store is called the Jeremy Store, and my whole family knows about it. Whenever we need something it is usually there. When the family comes to visit, they never worry about forgetting something. I usually have it somewhere.

-Keep the "store" organized so you can find stuff.
-I almost always clip every coupon (you never know when it will be a MM).
-I usually go for most all of the MM items. Extra stuff gets donated.
-I have a good sized pantry, and I rotate stock--just like the stores.
-Know the coupon policy of the store, and take it with you. It always helps, and never think twice about asking for the MGR if there is a problem.
-Some months I only buy the basics so that I can use up the stuff I have. This makes the monthly food bill really low that month.
-Yes some things go bad, but not much. I have a teeage food vacuum living in the house. If you rotate stock, you can donate it before it goes bad.
- Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, and other "dry goods" as I call them never go bad. I will always buy these on sale.
- Have a supportive spouse. Sometimes they do not understand why you bought that cold relief product when no one is sick--until they need it of course.
- Most of all, have fun. Make it a game.

Happy Shopping!!!!!!

[aquateen21]

Lots of great information for us beginners thank you everyone.

[Lynda1811]

Originally Posted by aquateen21

Lots of great information for us beginners thank you everyone.

Had to comment, My DH was born and raised in Vancouver, WA. He still has family there, and we are planning a trip there in August.

Welcome to AFC!

Lynda

[bbqgal]

Originally Posted by Lynda1811

Had to comment, My DH was born and raised in Vancouver, WA. He still has family there, and we are planning a trip there in August.

Welcome to AFC!

Lynda

Also had to comment. We just moved out of Vancouver, WA last year to MN and missed it a lot!

[PirateQueen]

You also need to train your eyes to see coupons in the store. Tearpads, booklets, coupon sheets and blinkies (the little boxes on the shelf with a blinking red light that spit out q's) are an easy way to get a few more coupons for free. Ask family, friends, co-workers & neighbors for their Sunday papers for the coupons.
The best thing you can do is read, read, and then read some more! Start with the stickies (posts that are "stuck" to the top) for the store you already shop at the most, and then branch out to the other stores that you have available in your area. When I started using the coupon forums last October I would even read some of the dead/expired deals threads just to get an idea on how deals are put together.
And last but not least, be patient. You don't have access to all the q's that other people list, and it will probably take 3 to 4 months of collecting q's before you can do most of the deals you see posted. You can get it, believe me it is not brain surgery! It just takes a while to adjust your mind to see all the saving possibilities.

[cnuland]

Originally Posted by funwithrebates

- Have a supportive spouse. Sometimes they do not understand why you bought that cold relief product when no one is sick--until they need it of course.

Dh just rolls his eyes at me at this point. Of course, this is the same guy who went and spent $4.25 for a single 12-pack of Pepsi this week because we were out! (I did a 5/$11 deal this weekend to stock up). I gotta train the man better!

[iringaling]

Originally Posted by cnuland

Dh just rolls his eyes at me at this point. Of course, this is the same guy who went and spent $4.25 for a single 12-pack of Pepsi this week because we were out! (I did a 5/$11 deal this weekend to stock up). I gotta train the man better!

My DH is the same way. I am new to this and he is very skeptical of me buying so much of something at once. Plus I've been buying coupons and he thinks that's just a total waste (even though I've explained the logics of it) and I think it does take some time and initial investment to get your stockpile built up. He's not so into it!!