Coupon Corner

aclowers · 10-05-2008, 12:15 AM

In today’s economy it is more important than ever to save money where we can. One way I do that is through using coupons for my groceries. It is amazing the savings you obtain by combining coupons with the sales at your local stores. I would like to begin this thread by giving you some tips on how I find the coupons, organize my coupons, & maximize my savings. Please feel free to add tips of your own.

I have a few favorite sites I would like to recommend to you for further reference. Feel free to ask me questions. I will try to answer them quickly. But, I wanted to let you know about my favorite sites for more information.

Hotcouponworld.com is a forum dedicated to teaching others how to coupon effectively and legally. They also have a coupon database & a coupon generator.
Organicgrocerydeals.com is also a coupon forum and is dedicated to healthy living, recycling, etc.
Taylortownpreview.com is a site that tells you which inserts are going to be in your local paper every week.
Coupons.com & smartsource.com are sources that you can print coupons from that your store will honor.

aclowers · 10-05-2008, 11:36 AM

I would like to start by telling you some ways you can find the coupons you need to start your collection. Usually your local metro city paper will have inserts in them with coupons for ex. Smartsource, Red Plum and the Proctor & Gamble insert. You can also find coupons in various magazines like the All You magazine, you can buy these at Wal-mart for instance. You can even find coupons in the store in the form of tearpad and blinkie machines. Some manufacturers will put peelie coupons or hangtag coupons on the products you buy to save you money on other products.

Please keep in mind if you ever take any of these coupons to use later, to be considerate of the other customers. There are many customers who need to economize, as well. You can also order coupons online already cut and ready to use. Thecouponclippers.com is a great source for these types of coupons. In these instances you will need to pay a small fee to cover the expense of the person who had to cut, file and ship them. You can also trade coupons to others who may have the coupons you need and have the ones someone has need of. Hotcouponworld.com is a great place to do this.

aclowers · 10-05-2008, 11:37 AM

There are different ways of organizing your coupons. When you are first starting out, a simple purse coupon organizer will do. These will have separate labeled sections for you to place your coupons in, for easy retrieval. The more coupons you collect you may have to get a binder to store your coupons in. You can buy baseball holder sheets and place them in a school binder. The coupons will fit nicely into these pockets and you can fold the ones that don’t. You can also label each section for easy reference. I always take my binders into the store with me.

Some people will take out the coupons per store or trip and carry them in a smaller organizer, so they don’t have to deal with the hassle of opening binders in the store. I however, have graduated to using several binders. I actually have a store that will accept competitor’s coupons and puts out their own as well. So, I have a binder just for store brand coupons. I then have one for non-foods, and one for cold –foods. But, you don’t have to worry that far ahead. You might not ever need that many. The important thing is to start off small and not overwhelm yourself.

aclowers · 10-05-2008, 11:39 AM

I make the most out of my coupons by matching them to buy one get one free sales or even 10 for $10 sales. Most stores in my city will double coupons up to .50 each making them worth $1.00 per coupon. If you have a bogo sale and your cash register rings up ½ price for each item, then you may use one coupon for each item. However, if your cash register rings up the first item full price and the second item as $0.00 then you will only be able to use one coupon.

Some stores will accept competitor’s coupons. Depending on your store they may even allow you to use a store coupon with a manufacturer’s coupon. There again you will maximize your savings, buy using your coupons in conjunction with the sales going on. You also need to ask each of your stores what their coupon policies are. This will help you be prepared and not make mistakes later down the road. Some of your stores may accept expired coupons, as well. But, then again you need to ask first.

Aaron62 · 10-05-2008, 05:16 PM

Great posts Aclowers! With the economy going where it is (where ever that may be!), we're all going to need to buckle down and spend less. A few of my family members work with the UAW union, and they keep telling me that we're headed into a deep recession.

aclowers · 10-07-2008, 10:25 PM

Thanks Aaron, I appreciate your kind words. It does look like we are definitely headed in that direction. Many people have lost their jobs and as a result everything they own. We are really going to crack down and shop for the deals. It amazes me and my cashiers at how much I save using coupons. Many times over the past year I have saved at least $200 on each receipt. It is such a great feeling when you have more minus signs on your receipt than pluses. I love it when my receipt is so long, if I hold it up it's taller than I am. I have gotten a lot of food for free and some stores will even pay me to buy their groceries. Oh, what a feeling!

Lucinda · 10-24-2008, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron62

Great posts Aclowers! With the economy going where it is (where ever that may be!), we're all going to need to buckle down and spend less. A few of my family members work with the UAW union, and they keep telling me that we're headed into a deep recession.

I could be wrong and I pray that I am...but IMHO we are possibly even headed for the dreaded D-Word...the kind of situation my 85 yr old Mom lived thru!! Maybe it won't get quite that bad, but who knows....?

Mom and I live on a VERY slim budget. She has a modest Soc.Sec income and I am disabled, therefore I can't work full time at the kind of jobs that I have to try to do... Since I never was lucky enough to get a formal education, I have to settle for those blue-collar type of jobs. What I do is maintenance for the most part...pretty hard for someone disabled, but no other 'better' jobs are turning up these days. So...the wage I earn is pitifully small. We have been accustomed to living on a shoestring for many years. Only now, we are getting even more hard pressed till it's a major challenge to simply acquire the basic life necessities...!

Thanx for all of those links to where we can find online coupons. I didn't realize there were so many places to get them!!

aclowers · 10-24-2008, 10:56 AM

You are so very welcome. I actually had to go back and fix the organicgrocerydeals.com. I left out the grocery part, that's the most important part. There are a lot of coupon sites on the web, but these are my very favorite.

iluvtv · 10-24-2008, 11:02 AM

I love to coupon and coupon to live. I love the sites that have already been mentioned. I thought I might let you know about another site as well. For those who don't have time to clip coupons, you can go to thecouponclippers.com and order the coupons that you want without having to buy papers or wade thru coupons you don't use. They don't sell coupons, they just charge a small handling fee for cutting and sorting the coupons for you. It is a great site to utilize if you are short on time.

datadee · 11-09-2008, 02:37 PM

Thank you all for the wonderful websites! I intend to use them myself so that we can save even more money! Belt tightening has become the norm for a lot of us these days!


Home \| DTV & HD News \| Today's Posts \| JakesDTVBlog.com Interview \| Join DTV USA Forum