[ctsunshine]

Originally Posted by Gigi12

So what do you normally do with those coupons you dont use, clip and place a date on them? Do you save them to trade them? I'm extremely new to this frugal way to save, and am needing help on organizing and planning. I currently have three, three ring binders and have so far seperated my coupons 1) food/snacks; 2)health/beauty 3)toiletries/household stuff, and am looking for any pointers, i also noticed that a lot of abbreviations are used, such as ymmmv, i think, what does that mean, and is there a place on here where i can look up these abbreviations.

Thank you

Originally Posted by sljohnson220

Hey I have the same issue w/ abbreviations if you go into the forums and go to AFC 101 that should help. I usually keep the q's I don't use just in case I can use them in a trade. Works well for me b/c there are only two ppl in my house and we don't have a need for certain q's. I have no children and ppl are always looking for q's for child related items. I am new to AFC as well so I know how overwhelming this site could be.

At the bottom of every page, you can click on "Acronyms and Terms used here".

I do not clip coupons unless I am very confident I will use them. I write the date on the front of the insert and file them by date. Then when I'm getting my q's together to go shopping, I pull out the q's by insert date and clip them. And I clip them out of the inserts when I'm pulling q's for trains I ride.

I file the coupons I do clip and the coupons I get in trains in my binder.

[ctsunshine]

Originally Posted by sljohnson220

How do u join a train?

You can post in here if you're interested in riding a train:
http://www.afullcup.com/forums/coupo...re-riders.html

I trains!

[Gigi12]

The question I have is how can I get items in quantity for virtually free.......last weekend I went to about 5 stores, had I not had any q's I would have spent about $500-600, out of pocket I spent about $200, I want to bring that down even lower, any suggestions

[wjb1108]

I am confused with b1g1 coupons. Can I use one coupon for each item? Also$ 1/3. Can use more than one coupon?

[Gigi12]

I have found that with bogo (b1g1) that I use that q, and use my q's for each product I have....as far as the $1/3, it's one coupon per product, and most q's although may be combine, some stores give you a hard time in combining them.....I need help with that myself.......

[ctsunshine]

Originally Posted by Gigi12

The question I have is how can I get items in quantity for virtually free.......last weekend I went to about 5 stores, had I not had any q's I would have spent about $500-600, out of pocket I spent about $200, I want to bring that down even lower, any suggestions

It's a general question, so hard to answer exactly.

IMO it takes 2 months or so of stockpiling before you see your bills really go down. Free HBA items are quite easy to score at the drugs stores. Besides diapers I haven't paid much OOP for HBA/baby items in years. Food is harder. At my local grocery store there are usually 2 or 3 items I can get for free each week. But I personally couldn't eat off of my stockpile of free food, I always sprend $ OOP for certain meat, produce, dairy, etc. My best general advice is to concentrate on stockpiling free/cheap items that you use for meals (I mentioned in a post earlier getting rice, beans, pasta sauce, etc for cheap/free). Over time this will bring down your OOP significantly.

Also I itemize insert coupons on my wishlist for products we use a lot of that I hope/anticipate I will be able to match up with a sale in the near future to be able to get a larger quantity of that food for cheap/free. I did that recently with carolina rice $0.50/1 q's. 2 weeks ago I got 8 one-pound packages for free when it was on sale for $1.

Do you have a more specific question?

[ctsunshine]

Originally Posted by wjb1108

I am confused with b1g1 coupons. Can I use one coupon for each item? Also$ 1/3. Can use more than one coupon?

Are you asking "can I use 2 BOGO coupons when I buy 2 items"? The answer to that is No.

You can use a $1/3 on 3 items. If you want to use 2 of the $1/3 coupons, you would need to buy 6 items.

Does that answer your questions?

[tmarie1990]

I was just wondering...when I was trying to print off some coupons from different sites, it was only printing off 1 coupon @ a time, wasting half a piece of paper? Is there any way to print more than 1 on a paper?

TIA for any info!

[lashawnbobb11]

omgoodness this was so helpful; I want to get into couponing. I am collecting my coupons. Thanks for your help

[ctsunshine]

Originally Posted by tmarie1990

I was just wondering...when I was trying to print off some coupons from different sites, it was only printing off 1 coupon @ a time, wasting half a piece of paper? Is there any way to print more than 1 on a paper?

TIA for any info!

What I do is print on the other side of the paper -- reorienting so the coupon prints at the other edge of the paper, kwim? You just need to be careful that your two coupons don't print at the same spot on the page or else you'll have to choose which one you'll use!

[kmfruits87]

awesome info, thank you so much for sharing.

[lulu4222]

Thank you! great info

[cutemom716]

wow I never knew this!

[SBW1027]

Thanks for the great tips! I am learning a lot!!

[mschung]

Originally Posted by tmarie1990

I was just wondering...when I was trying to print off some coupons from different sites, it was only printing off 1 coupon @ a time, wasting half a piece of paper? Is there any way to print more than 1 on a paper?

TIA for any info!

Yes, cut that coupon out and use the leftover paper to print more online coupons. I insert that 1/2 to 3/4 sized leftover paper into the manual feed on my printer. (I have a Brother multifunction printer)

If you don't have a manual feed on your printer, just carefully place the leftover paper in where the printer usually grabs a sheet and you can print on that sheet. It still wastes a little bit of paper but not half a sheet.

Also, if you don't already have these, go to www.coolcouponing.com and order some 3-pocket coupon sleeves. The printable coupons fit perfectly in these without folding!!

[Rasha]

You can get 3 pocket sleeves / pages on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00156X6BI?tag=afullcup04-20

I these. So much better than baseball card holder pages.

[yearofexceptionalservice]

I'm in FL and we have Publix, Winn Dixi, Albertsons and WallMart, I have been to their websites to find out there policies and if they do double coupon... but I cant find any info. What is the best way to get this information?
Thanks Newbee.

[ctsunshine]

Originally Posted by yearofexceptionalservice

I'm in FL and we have Publix, Winn Dixi, Albertsons and WallMart, I have been to their websites to find out there policies and if they do double coupon... but I cant find any info. What is the best way to get this information?
Thanks Newbee.

I think most of the florida stores do not double. Did you check the forums for those stores here on AFC?

[BusyMomah]

Thanks great info

[soapfairy]

Originally Posted by ctsunshine

* at first you will spend more, over time you save a ton.

Buy not when you need it, but when it’s free/cheap and buy in quantity.

be careful of overbuying items with a shelf life.

These are two great tips that I would say are perfect for the casual couponer. Get it while it is on sale, even if you don't need it just yet. You will need it, and then it will save you money. This is difficult if you are on a really tight budget. I know when I was trying to stock up, I had a hard time "investing" my money in my stockpile when funds were so thin.

I was building (small but useful) stockpiles years ago, before I knew what they were called. I learned to use coupons from my mom, and way back when they weren't the coolest thing to do, . But they saved me money, and as a stay-at-home-mom at the time, I needed to pinch every penny. I had a decent stockpile, too. But only of the items that I would use. I'm still not at the point where I can/would stockpile with the idea of giving to the pantry - just not enough time/energy to think that big right now.

The second point of purchasing items you can use before they expire is excellent. There's no point in stockpiling if the items will just go to waste, IMO. I had that happen with some jars of mayo and it was sad moment. However, if you are diligent and rotate your pile (food especially), putting oldest in the front, newest in the back and paying attention, that helps alot.

[neika26]

thank u

[qrazy]

Originally Posted by Gigi12

I have found that with bogo (b1g1) that I use that q, and use my q's for each product I have....as far as the $1/3, it's one coupon per product, and most q's although may be combine, some stores give you a hard time in combining them.....I need help with that myself.......

I'm not sure if you are stating this correctly. If you are using a BOGO coupon, that covers 2 items. If you are using $1/3 coupon, that covers 3 items. You can't use other coupons unless you buy more items than that. Sometimes a BOGO coupon can be used along with a $ off coupon for the one you are buying, but not always. Just be careful that you are following the terms on the coupon itself.

[rltaylorct]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and hope that you can help me out. The grocery store that I go to does double coupons (up to 99 cents). However, most of the time, after checking the prices of other comparable brands (including the store brand), another brand (other than that I have the coupon for) still costs less, so I go with the least expensive item. I usually save about $5.00 each week using coupons, but that doesn't seem like much to me.
We try to stay away from processed foods & boxed snacks, etc. How can I save more? Due to very tight finances, I cannot stockpile at all...I can only purchase exactly what I need for one week at a time. (I do have a store card) Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Col2eight]

Thanks a LOT for this! It will help me out when I start couponing!

[Ktgbland]

So much helpful info! I'm new to couponing and you gave me a ton of new info.