[theshoppingdiva]

I'm totally new to couponing and I live in Charlotte, NC. The saving that my co-workers is getting is amazing and I GOT to learn how to do this, so I can start saving money as well.

First thing I did was buy 200 food coupons off of Ebay and I plan on buying about 300 more. I have gone to print.coupons.com and printed out about 25 coupons as well. I'm making an organizer to catalog the coupon I printed out and the ones I should be getting in the mail anyday now from Ebay

Question:

1) How can I get coupon mailers send to my home

2) What sites are good for signing up for specific printable coupons and free samples

3) How can I learn about what grocery stores are having double/triple coupons, etc. (I shop at Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Compare Foods, Bi-Lo, Walmart, Kmart and Target grocery section)

thank you in advance for all your help!

[knw2860]

Honestly, I learn about all of my deals on AFC. I signed up for some of the sites, Kraft, Pillsbury, etc. Also, be careful with the printables because they have rolling expiration dates which means if you print it today then it may expire in a few weeks and may be expired before you really need it for a deal but if you print it in a week it will have a different exp. date. The problem with waiting is that it may not be available when you need it. I know everyone has there own methods with printables but I prefer to just print the ones I know I am using. If there are specific products that you really like you can either email or call them and they will usually send you q's for the products. HTH

[lands03]

wow thats alot of coupons!!!
I usually buy the coupons as I see previews of ads so that I can match sales up with the coupons. You dont want to be stuck with a bunch of expired coupons cause things never went on sale.

Welcome and I'm sure you'll learn tons after reading through the forum

[theshoppingdiva]

be careful with the printables because they have rolling expiration dates which means if you print it today then it may expire in a few weeks and may be expired before you really need it for a deal but if you print it in a week it will have a different exp. date. The problem with waiting is that it may not be available when you need it. I know everyone has there own methods with printables but I prefer to just print the ones I know I am using.

Thanks Nicole, so your suggestion is to only print out the ones I will use that week correct? I know Harris Teeter is having triple coupon so I had planned on using the printable this week. I'm soo "green" to all of this. I hope I'm doing this right. Am I?

[theshoppingdiva]

Originally Posted by lands03

wow thats alot of coupons!!!
I usually buy the coupons as I see previews of ads so that I can match sales up with the coupons. You dont want to be stuck with a bunch of expired coupons cause things never went on sale.

Welcome and I'm sure you'll learn tons after reading through the forum

Thanks lands03 - but right now I have NO COUPON. Except the ones I printed today. The coupons on Ebay were very nominal ($3 including shipping).

Do I need to check the grocery store sales paper and match them up with any coupon I start clipping myself in the future? I want to learn how to maximize my coupons.

[DevotedWife]

I love AFC of course, but don't overlook the other resources you have. Your co-worker would probably be willing to share some tips with you if she/he has been telling you about her/his savings. I don't know anyone else who is doing this.....a few people may use a coupon here and there, but I would love to talk about this more in person with people who truly understand it.....for now my husband just indulges me.

[theshoppingdiva]

We work in a busy office and my co-worker is super busy so I try not to "bug" her at work. She told me to join this forum and that would be a good starting point for me.

[DevotedWife]

Originally Posted by theshoppingdiva

How can I learn about what grocery stores are having double/triple coupons, etc.[/b] (I shop at Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Compare Foods, Bi-Lo, Walmart, Kmart and Target grocery section)

Originally Posted by theshoppingdiva

Do I need to check the grocery store sales paper and match them up with any coupon I start clipping myself in the future? I want to learn how to maximize my coupons.

Check out the forums for the stores you use. There are shopping list in each forum in addition to individual threads where a Shopping List Assistant or someone else post match-ups between sales and coupons.

[jeanettebr]

Here's what I have been doing....check AFC for previews of all ads for the places you want to shop. I shop Walgreens, Walmart and 2 local grocery stores. Mine only double up to 50 cents so not a big deal there.
After I check all ads I figure out what products I am interested in...then check the AFC coupon database to see what Q's are available for that item....if their printables I print them if they are from the paper I clip them and if its an awesome deal I go on Ebay and order some too.
It's been working pretty good so far.
I also check posts for deals posted by others at the stores I shop.

Good luck!

[theshoppingdiva]

Thank you devoted wife I appreciate that, you're giving me the information I need to make a decent "go" of this thing.

Also does anybody know how I can get Mailers send to my home?

[DevotedWife]

Originally Posted by theshoppingdiva

Thank you devoted wife I appreciate that, you're giving me the information I need to make a decent "go" of this thing.

Also does anybody know how I can get Mailers send to my home?

You're welcome. Check out this thread in particular, and then this whole forum. There's a link in the thread to sign up for Vocalpoint, that's a really good one.

[happyhousewife]

I'd say from my experience...take one store at a time. I did CVS first and sort of learned the coupon language and how it all works and built my coupon stash. Then I started using coupons at my local grocery store. I rarely shop now without coupons but it does take extra time and there is a learning curve. At least if your as coupon illiterate as I was when I started. One more thing, read the fine print. You have to watch expiration dates, sale dates, size specifications for coupons and for sales. You must read the fine print! If I mess up it's usually because I wasn't paying attention to the fine print.

[theshoppingdiva]

Originally Posted by DevotedWife

You're welcome. Check out this thread in particular, and then this whole forum. There's a link in the thread to sign up for Vocalpoint, that's a really good one.

Thank you I plan to sign myself up and my sister. Also thanks for the tip happyhousewife!

[maree9304]

You can also write the companies that make products that you use on a regular basis. let them know what you like/dislike about their product and most companies will send you coupons for that item.
Coupon BORG - Grocery Coupons & Deal Forums - A Full Cup
http://www.afullcup.com/forums/coupo...formation.html

[Lynda1811]

Question:

1) How can I get coupon mailers send to my homeSign up with differnt websites of products that you use. Most will either e:mail you coupons and promotions, or mail you coupons. When you use the printable sites like coupons.com, smartsource.com, couponbug.com, couponsurfer.com, there is an option to have the coupon mailed to you after you print. Remember most of these coupon sites are a limit of 2 prints per IP address. So if you have several computers, or access to them, you can print more.

2) What sites are good for signing up for specific printable coupons and free samples Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Fast Fixin (chicken nuggets and such, and will send you a free product coupon if you send in 10 upc's), Vocal point, Right at home, Kraft. The list is endless as to what sites there are.

3) How can I learn about what grocery stores are having double/triple coupons, etc. (I shop at Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Compare Foods, Bi-Lo, Walmart, Kmart and Target grocery section)

Know your stores coupon policy:

1. does your store accept IP = Internet Printed
2. does you store accept expired coupons, up to how long expired
3. does you store double/triple up to what amount and is it every day, is there a limit on the amount of coupons that can be doubled, or limit on the amount of like coupons
4. are you allowed to stack a store coupon with a mfc on one item (target allows this)
5. does your store price match
6. does your store offer rainchecks

Thoes are about all that I can think of right now.

Look in the stores forum, at the top should be a sticky with the stores coupon policy. Some might not have it, so I would suggest you go to customer service, or e:mail corporate and find out. Print the policy and have it with you when you shop. I'm not saying that you will have a problem, but we all run into problems from time to time.

Find a way to organize your coupons. Many of us have our own way to organize, you need to find out what works best for you. I use the binder method, and file by insert, if I order a large quanity of coupon inserts.

I believe the more coupons you have, the better you can utilize the weekly sales. Most stores have a 10/$10 sale, so $1 each, if you had a coupon for $1/1 then the item would be free. If you only bought one paper, then one free item, but if you bought 5 papers, five free items. See what I'm getting at.

Don't try to get all the deals at once. you may find yourself spending more than you planned on, remember the sales come back around.

And, don't compare your shopping trips to others, you might get discuraged. Some of us, if not most, have a stockpile already started. So when you see someone post that they got a shopping cart full of items at walmart for $10, then they are more than likley stockpiling the free, or nearly free items. I for one do not consider 20 kotex panty liners a shopping trip, to me it's stockpile shopping.

Ask questions. We all started in the same boat, and we are all here to help. Post your questions in the forums of the approperate store, and someone should have the answer.

HTH
Welcome to AFC, good luck.
Lynda

[danielephant]

YOu are in the right place for sure! surf around here and you will learn everything you need to know in no time!


WELCOME!

[joshmamabear]

another caveat since you mentioned ebay as your source of coupons,

AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, DO NOT BUY IPs (internet printable coupons) on ebay especially if they're for FREE items. More likely, they are fake copies of originals that were not intended to be transfered to pdf and sold in mass volumes.

I suggest you don't overbuy coupons even if you "think" they're cheap. as you go along, you will learn the ropes and you will find out that there's nothing better than free (even coupons).

you already got good tips from PPs.

btw, if you find you have a surplus of coupons, you can start trading them here or other coupon boards so you can get other coupons/MIR forms/winetags that you can definitely use. so there is nothing wasted

[VintageTink]

Lynda did you write a book! you did AWESOME on the answers!

[Lynda1811]

Originally Posted by VintageTink

Lynda did you write a book! you did AWESOME on the answers!

Thanks Steph. I could always write more. LOL I just like to give as much info as possible at first.

I should just type something up and copy and paste. It feels like I'm typing the same thing over and over trying to help the newbies.

Lynda

[theshoppingdiva]

Originally Posted by maree9304

You can also write the companies that make products that you use on a regular basis. let them know what you like/dislike about their product and most companies will send you coupons for that item.
Coupon BORG - Grocery Coupons & Deal Forums - A Full Cup
http://www.afullcup.com/forums/coupo...formation.html

I was actually going to call a few of them and see how that works out.

[theshoppingdiva]

Lynda1811

I just printed out your whole post and I will use that as a guide. Thank you for your effort. I know its get very redundant with the newbies but it helps so much when you have no direction and you are trying to figure out the best way to use your coupons where you can save the most money.

[theshoppingdiva]

Joshmamabear - I already figured that one out. I bought coupons from a power seller who only sell original manufacturer coupons she clips from her mailers - not IP coupons. Thank you so much for the tip, though

[Lynda1811]

Originally Posted by theshoppingdiva

Lynda1811

I just printed out your whole post and I will use that as a guide. Thank you for your effort. I know its get very redundant with the newbies but it helps so much when you have no direction and you are trying to figure out the best way to use your coupons where you can save the most money.

I hope you didn't take that the wrong way. LOL I didn't intend for it to sound negitive.

It's a good thing, newbies mean the site is growing and more are leaning to save money using coupons.

What I ment was it's hard to sit and type it all out, and I do at least 3-4 times a week. Sometimes I forget to ad certain things that I feel are important.

I was just stating that I should type it all out, so that way I can just copy and paste. There is a lot of info about coupons, I've been using coupons for 5 years and am still learning.

Lynda

[SLance68]

Lynda - I bet if you typed all your notes up in a Word format (or other program) and then you could save it and just copy & paste into the thread as needed and save yourself lots of typing and you could always update it as you needed. Heck I bet it could be a sticky in the AFC101 or the Welcome area for newbies.

[baybeenurse]

great ideas here already..i would say that u r off to a great start..and i would just think about what foods i purchase and use most often, then go to their manufacturer sites to see what u can sign up for or print..most everything u need is right here on afc..gl!