This is a comment from a reader on one of my Kroger shoppng trips.
OK!! I’m working on my couponing skills, but you always have so many coupons. Do you actually buy that many Sunday papers? When do you actually sit down and do all of this. These might be stupid questions but I need to know. Do you sit down with your sale paper and your coupons together do you clip the coupons and put them in your binder? then check out the paper while going through the binder? Give a girl some hints, Please. Jen.
Do you actually buy that many Sunday papers?
Yes, I usually buy 6 Sunday papers a week, I also print a lot of coupons online and get many in the mail from different places.
When do you actually sit down and do all of this?
I try and get all my coupons put away immediately or things get out of control! But that doesn’t always happen, so I try and pick a night when my husband is watching T.V. so I can sit with him and organize my stuff. My days are so crazy that this is something I usually do after the kids are in bed, or I have coupons strung from one end of the house to the other 🙂 I clip my coupons right away and get them put in my binder first. Then I start looking at adds, this way it is so much easier to see what I have.
Do you sit down with your sale paper and your coupons together do you clip the coupons and put them in your binder?
When I get the CVS and Sundays ads I take a look through them to see if I have missed anything, you can look online, but for me it is easier holding it in my hand than reading it off the computer screen. I also shop my 24 hour CVS late Saturday night ( about midnight!) so I need to get my act together quickly on Saturday’s so I can run without the kids! During the week if I have to go to the store I will check the store adds quick, check my site for any match-ups, and browse any other sites that might be helpful. For the most part I just do all my match-ups at the store while I am shopping. This is why I like the binder. All my coupons are in one spot and organized by isles of the store. So as I walk down each isle I just flip to that section and I can see all my coupons at once. This way if there are any unadvertised deals I usually catch those.
When I first started couponing, I made a lot of lists. I would pull the coupons I needed and put them in an envelope with the list and use that in the store along with my binder. If I am doing a really big shopping trip I still do this. But this way I didn’t forget anything.
Right now I have such a large “stockpile” of groceries I am shopping just for all the staples and fresh fruits and vegetables. Most of my stockpile items I only pick up if they are free. It took about a good 9 to 12 months to get to the point where I didn’t care if a box of cereal was $.50 I was only going to pick it up if I got it for free.
I find that most Moms have to do much of their organizing while the kids are in bed or taking a nap. Then you can get a list together and go to the store. I know that it can be hard to shop with little kids, trust me I have done it with 6 for many years. Only recently have my older kids been able to babysit while I run to the store. It is hardest for me when I have a little one sitting in the front of the cart because that is where I put my binder, which then gets moved to the basket of the cart and is heard to look through. I like to grab the carts with the little cars if I have the little kids so I can still keep my binder right in front of me.
Always start slowly, if you try and get every deal at one time you will get burned out, frustrated and quit. If you miss a deal, there will be another one. All sales go in cycles, usually about every 3 mo. so that same deal will probably be back again. Pick one store and one drug store to start with and when you are feeling comfortable shopping there and are understanding what deals they run then try other stores. Don’t kill yourself trying to coupon. Just do a little at a time.
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I’m just learning as well. How do you get coupons in the mail?
I have been couponing for about 2 months now. I follow your blog, printing out the deals that I want and grabbing the coupons out of my binder(I keep them by inserts and clip them as I go) and stick them in envelopes. I do not have storage space so I only buy 1 or 2 extras of things. I am trying to buy for troops overseas, but things are hard to come by when my budget is so small. I want to get what I can on sale, but have learned that what I can get is what I can get; I don’t need everything. Thanks to you, though, I have saved 45% of my grocery bills and now I buy name brands instead of generic. I could not have done it w/out you and will continue to follow your magical ways!!!! Thanks again!!!!
Clip all of your inserts at one time. Seperate your inserts by page. This way you clip only once instead of 5-6 times.
If you watch TLC, it can be immediately frustrating that you aren’t walking out of the store with a thousand dollars worth of free stuff. I noticed on the show that most of the people said things like, “This is my biggest haul EVER”, and also the clerks said similar things — like they have never seen anyone shop for that much at one time and get that much for free. So, using this I started out with WAY lower expectations for myself. Also, no one doubles in our area, so I took that in mind as well. My goal is to save between 30 and 50% overall on each “major” trip. I shop at three different groceries, two big box stores, and occasionally two drug stores (our drug stores are almost always sold out on sale stuff, so I kind of gave up on them — to keep me from getting too discouraged). I’m really new, so I’m still buying 10 papers a week, but I can see this slowing down soon — especially since a lot of MQ’s are going to limit 4 Q’s per transaction.
One other thing I noticed on “the show” was that most of the people had been building their stockpiles for around two years, so I decided not to beat myself up if I could only score 3 or 4 of something in a week. Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?
Thanks again, Tiffany, for all that you do. I have gotten probably most of my inspiration as well as daily updates from you. You’re a blessing to many, many people! 🙂
I always take my binder, I do feel like a get a few stares, Its like a catch 22 Im embarrased a little then Im so proud of the money I saved. I like the idea of organizing my binder by aisle, what a good idea. How does that work considering different grocery stores, and drug stores.
Thank you so much for going over all that! It is very helpful! As a newbie I love your tips and website 🙂
Hey Tiffany! I was so excited to find your site (and Paul’s as well since my favorite place to shop has always been “the mart”!) I loved you two on EC and came across your sites while browsing the web. I have learned so much from the web thus far, but will admit…although I have a binder, I haven’t yet had the guts to bring it into the stores!
The reason being is that about a month ago I was in my neighborhood Wags when I spotted a couponer (like me!!) with a binder (which in my area, I have never seen before!) I was so happy to see a fellow couponer, however, I was pretty put off by the way she was treated in the store. She had her binder right in the front of her cart and was scooping up a great Gillette deal, but the cashiers were so rude to her! They were huffing and puffing while they rang in her order…and I heard one cashier say to the other…”Hey Betty, can you ring this customer up at photo? (meaning another customer, not the couponer) I can’t ring her in right now…the Hoarder is up front!” I was so mortified by this that I have NEVER taken my binder into the store…I do put it in my car on trips, but I do feel like I miss out on some great deals because I don’t have it right in front of me!
My question is…what is so wrong with trying to save some money? In these tough economic times, why wouldn’t people save any and all that they can? Also I live in MA, which is a really expensive area..so why wouldn’t you save a few bucks if you can? I was wondering if you ever encounter these situations, and if so, how do you handle them? Thanks so much!
Hi Tiffany, my daughter and I are clipping coupons, but it is rather daunting, do you have a class scheduled for August yet? We can’t come before then, but we really need your help. thanks!