Picture this:  Me, sitting in my bed crossed legged for four hours straight reading about how to not wash my hair with shampoo anymore or how to make my own shampoo in order to save money.  FOUR HOURS!! 

I had already convinced my husband to try some wholesale shaving razors by ordering nearly a lifetime supply of them, and I was moving on to how I could cut the expense of shampoo and conditioner. I was seriously contemplating allowing myself to go for a week or two, according to the article I was reading, with potentially greasy hair until my “hair adjusted to no soap chemicals.” 

I remember sitting there thinking, “Am I really going to show up to my job, where I am an Executive Assistant who meets with people all day every day, with greasy hair?  Maybe I can wear it in a bun every day and use FeBreeze?”  I took a break from my research, and I took a shower (yes, I lovingly washed my hair that night). 

Then, it occurred to me, that maybe I could just coupon my way into saving money instead of cutting out personal hygiene products.  Whhaaaattt??? 

Coincidentally, a couple of weeks later while trying to figure out where to begin with couponing, a friend invited me to attend a Southern Saver’s event in our area, which is hosted by Jenny, a coupon queen in the Southeast US.  I happily agreed! 

Ever since the day I attended the seminar, I have been a couponing fool!  Of course, I have maintained my full-time job and have not entered into extreme couponing like you see on TV.  I know many of you are working people and don’t believe you have the time to invest in couponing; I had the same thought initially.  However, I have to ask you, “how can you not make the little extra time to invest in couponing, thereby saving money??“ Trust me, it’s worth the small amount of time it takes to save big money without going to extremes.  Understanding you are a busy working person with a crazy schedule, here are some tips to get you going:

If you are reading this on a Sunday, quick!! Go out and buy two or four Sunday papers with coupon inserts ASAP!!!  Do not delay!!

Note:  There are a handful of Sunday’s throughout the year that DO NOT HAVE COUPON INSERTS.  Check an online schedule that shows which dates you don’t have to worry about finding the newspapers (can be found by an easy Google search for ‘Sunday Paper Coupon Schedule’ as well).

Now, let me say that when you are just beginning with couponing, it can seem a little overwhelming and like it’s not working very well.  The reason for this is very plain and simple:  you do not have a stockpile (not a hoarder’s stockpile, a normal person’s stockpile) built up yet, so you are still shopping for items you need and not just refilling the gaps. 

Another reason it seems difficult is you have not yet built up your coupon stash.  There are a lot of coupons you can get digitally through store websites, www.coupons.com and other online places, but a lot of your coupons will come from the weekly Sunday newspaper inserts SmartSource (SS) and Red Plum (RP). 

You will need to give yourself about 4-6 weeks of buying the papers and “clipping” the digital coupons, and then you’ll really start to see the progress, learn what works for you and feel like you have the hang of it.  Trust me, it took me a little while and there were some initial frustrations, but it finally started falling into place after a few weeks and it has been amazing–so much money saved!  I met this one couple at Walmart once while we were shopping and they have since referred to me as the “Coupon God.”  I know better than that, but I am a pretty savvy shopper for the amount of time I have available to coupon.

So, let’s get started by getting your coupons organized.  Buy your local Sunday paper with the coupon inserts—you need to purchase two papers.  You can purchase four for additional coupons, but two has been enough for me.  Whatever you decide, make sure it is an even number of papers; I’ll cover this more later.  You also should buy an accordion file folder to organize your coupons.  This is a super simple step and will save you so much time. Trust me, I have let my coupons stay with their newspaper homes rather than organize them, which has cost me a lot of time and frustration. 

To organize the inserts, simply pull them out of the newspapers, date them in big letters (marker preferably) on the front at the top (example:  5/17) and put them into the according file in the first available slot so they are organized by date.  Every week, you will do this.  You do NOT cut out individual coupons, you do NOT try to categorize every coupon.  That is a lot of work, exhausting and you will get burnt out fast.  Just pull ‘em, date ‘em and file ‘em until you need ‘em!  Tada!  That easy! 

Drop the entire dated coupon insert into your file folder!

As you coupon, you will end up with individual coupons, either from newspaper inserts you have clipped from, store coupon machines or wherever you accumulate them from, you can organize them in either a mini accordion-style holder or put them in an envelope.  My husband has developed his own coupon envelope system for our extra coupons by using plain white envelopes, naming them by category and putting them in alphabetical order.  We have an envelope for our snacks, personal hygiene, meat, dairy, fruit, etc.  We don’t have a lot of individual coupons, but this does help organize the ones we have for a quick find later when we need them.  We actually have two sets of envelopes because we use them when we go shopping with our grocery list coupons.

Next, I recommend finding a coupon website that you like and are comfortable with using regularly because they often do a lot of the footwork for you.  My personal favorite is www.SouthernSavers.com.  Create an account so that you can search for items and save your grocery lists (Yep, you can create your shopping list online! So handy!).  Become familiar with the site now to save you time later.

On this particular site, I mostly use the item search, coupon database and saved shopping lists.  I sometimes select their stores from the drop down menu to see the weekly ads, unadvertised deals and flyers; I usually do this if I missed getting a weekly ad or the store’s flyer changed recently.  This is a great tool, but just know that it doesn’t always 100% match your local store’s deals.  You’ll need to grab a weekly ad paper and the flyers from your local stores; more on that in my next post.

Another little trick I do is leaf through the coupon inserts.  Sometimes there are mail-in rebates (don’t use a P.O. Box unless it specifically says P.O. Boxes are allowed, which I have never found one that does so far) or other unexpected but wonderful coupons, such as for local restaurants, club member discounts and other cool stuff.  I have had a half a dozen free items just from the mail-in rebates, and have actually made a little money from them because I have combined my purchase with a coupon or a BOGO (buy one, get one free) deal.  The mail-in rebate companies don’t take into account coupons or deals, just the price listed on your original receipt.  CHA-CHING!!

I wanted to circle back to why you need to buy an even number of papers.  First, when you’re shopping, you’re shooting for 40% or more off an item. That’s a good sale price, anything less than 40% without reeallllyy needing it should be passed on and wait until it goes on sale even more.  So, when an item is a Buy One, Get One Free (BOGO) deal, this is a good deal:  50% off!  Well, the way manufacture coupons work is, if it is a $ amount off of ONE item, then you can use two manufacture coupons on your BOGO deal (one coupon per item purchased).  In order to obtain two coupons, you must have two of the same coupon inserts, which means you’ll have to buy two papers.  You can use one manufacture coupon per item purchased.   For BOGO free deals, you can use two coupons and only pay for the one item, so you could possibly get an item free, depending on the value of the coupon and sale price.  Can I get another big Cha-Ching?!?! 

Note:  If you want, in the early stages of couponing, buy four papers so you’ll have double amount of coupon inserts to be able to buy more of an item.  I caution you:  do not buy more than six papers, many stores have a limit on how many of the same item you can purchase.  Plus, you should be courteous and try to leave some of the product on the shelf for others.  It is SO frustrating to go shopping and find a shelf completely empty on the first day or two of a sale.

OK, so you know when to buy papers, what to look for in them and how to organize them.  Make sure to buy your newspapers every week because if you don’t, THAT will be the weekly inserts you need more than any others.  (Yep, I’ve learned from experience, groan.)  You also are becoming familiar with the Southern Savers website, or whichever coupon site you have found.  The effort in becoming familiar with coupon accumulating and organizing, as well as becoming comfortable with a coupon website, will really help you save time.  Remember, it will be a few weeks before you have the adequate coupons needed for the best shopping trips.  Be patient!

Because there is a lot of information and I don’t want to overwhelm you with every detail to couponing, I will post Part 2 of couponing tips for the everyday busy, person with a crazy schedule next.  In the meantime, find an accordion file, read my Digital Couponing tidbits and be thinking about your local stores, as that will be a major focal point in Part 2.

Check out Part 2 now!

If you have any additional preparation ideas for newbies, share them with us!