Now we discussed where you can get coupons and we discussed how to understand a coupon matchup.
So what now? Well let’s go shopping of course! If you are ready to get started here are a few very basic things to keep in mind:
1. The maximum you need to buy is a 10 week supply of any item. If you have a huge family that amount might be more than I need for my small family. There is no reason at all to feel like you need to go gangbusters and wipe out the entire supply of pickles for half the United States just because they are free or inexpensive. I just bet you anything pickles will be a great deal again before you know it. So a handful of anything is most likely more than enough to get you through until the next sale. Remember none of that stuff is really “free.” It costs you time and energy to plan your trips, do the transaction, store the products and then try to find 102 different recipes using pickles.
2. You will want to start testing the waters at your local stores. I can tell you from experience that there will be many occasions that you have a wonderful shopping trip and you get high fives from the cashiers and other customers on the way out the door. I just bet you will also have more than a few occasions where you are treated very rudely, where your coupons are denied (even though they are legitimate), where you mess up and where you might be ready to take your entire pile of coupons and toss them in the trash. That’s ok. We all have those days! I like to recommend that people start shopping around for stores- figure out which ones seem coupon friendly, which ones seem to carry enough inventory and on the flip side which ones you prefer not to shop at. I am lucky enough to have a lot of stores in my area- Walmart, CVS, Target, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Safeway- a lot of variety. I have found certain stores are a much more pleasant overall experience for me than others. So I tend to focus on the deals at those stores. If you are lucky enough to have the superstar stores like Kroger or Publix- well you may not need to shop at several stores at all. You can most likely stick with your superstar grocery store, one drugstore, maybe a supercenter on occasion to do the bulk of your shopping.
Now- I like to recommend getting your feet wet rather than diving off the deep end of the pool. When I started using coupons, I started at one drugstore. I found a few deals each week that were appealing and I put the coupons together. I did very small transactions and that worked really well for me. Once I got more comfortable and got a system together, I started branching out to more stores and doing larger transactions.
You can find the weekly coupon matchups for each of the three drugstores by clicking the drugstores tab at the top right of the blog. Once you decide which store you want to start shopping at, I would strongly recommend reading about the programs they have available. Just look for the “Drugstore 101” tab at the top of the blog.
Personally, I find CVS to be the easiest store overall but I would check the deals for whichever you have available in your area and decide what works best for you.
You will also find a list of Grocery Stores and the weekly coupon matchups by clicking on stores in the upper right of the blog. I am always looking to add more so if your favorite is not listed just leave me a comment below and let me know which one you would like to see.
If you have not noticed the printable list feature on MFA it is very easy! Once you decide which store you want to shop at just look to the left side and you will see little boxes you can click. Once you click the boxes for all the deals you want that week, just click the print this box at the bottom of the post. Now you have a shopping list and you are ready to roll!
If you happen to need a product that is not listed on the coupon matchups, you can find coupons very easily by clicking on the coupon database tab on the right of the blog. You can type in the name of the product you need (i.e. Vlasic Pickles) and click search and you should see a list of current coupons that are available for that product!
So for those of you that have just started to use coupons, I’d love to hear how things are coming along, what is still confusing to you, any little tips you might have to pass on to others etc….
Overall, you will find my philosophy on MFA is that I am in this for the long haul. The tendency is for new couponers to try and chase every single deal, run to the store multiple times each week, purchase quantities much larger than they need and it is very easy to make yourself nuts doing that. I really like to suggest that people start slow just like an exercise routine so that using coupons becomes a seamless part of your routine and not something that takes over your life.
Thanks for this!! I’m still learning, and love all your tips! I’m still confused on BOGO. So if a store has an item buy one get one free, I can use 2 manufacturer’s coupons towards those items right? Or just one coupon because the other is free?
Not sure if you have a big Brookshire’s following, but if you did match-ups for them, that would be awesome 🙂
I stocked up big time (or so I thought) on Motts apple juice last October when there was that awesome sale at Target. I bought 30 bottles because my kids go through it pretty quickly (in spite of the fact that I water it down). I need another juice sale! Any ideas?
I love your blog. Do you think you can add Vons and Ralphs to your stores? I’m not sure if they have another generic name to them. One might be Kroger and I might not know it. I live in Southern Ca and I only have those two stores around. Thank you for your hard work.
Elizabeth I do Safeway every week which should be very similar to Vons. Safeway is actually the parent company.
I absolutely love your blog and think I have found my new hobby! I am just beginning, so my main question is how do you organize all the coupons you clip out? Right now, I just have a bunch I printed off online in a big paperclip!
Isn’t Ralph’s SaveMart? Charlene covers it.
Charlene, I’d like to see you add Sprouts to your list of stores at the top if you keep giving us the deals from them. Makes it easier for us to find! Thanks.
Julie- I have a post planned with a lot of info about this but I use a down and dirty method that is the fastest I have found. One thing with coupons is that it can easily take over your life you before you decide on a method to organize, you might really consider how much time you have to spend on all this. If you want to use a big baseball card binder- well that will be hours each week to organize and file and cut and all that:
http://myfrugaladventures.com/2010/01/vlog-coupon-organization/
Diane I have a few to add. It is on my list 😛 The list is long. But I will get to it.
Charlene Thank you sooo much. I thought one of them had another name but was not sure. I will look at Safeway big time. But they still vary since I’m in a different region right?
Well the produce and the meat will. I am almost done with the matchups. So just compare to your ad. One thing though is I don’t have double coupons so my final prices are higher than yours will be.
I have made the mistake of taking my hubby and/or son with me. They are distracting and most often I don’t get the deals I had planned
This was a wonderful article! I have been following your website for more than a year now and you really couldn’t have said it better.
I have a few drugstore clerks that are in the “high five” category ( most of the local Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS clerks have been great – they even ask me what the deals are” .
But after several bad experiences at Target I am about done trying to transact coupons at Target. Rude employee, disallowing valid coupons – it just seems to be a struggle. The last bad Target transaction had me so fed up I had to tell the clerk – forget it! and I left the store empty handed.
The end of the superstar grocery store… You know the timing is quite interesting considering at least two of the Extreme Couponers shopped at Kroger, but I know that in some regions Kroger has now discounted their double and triple coupon policy (effective tomorrow I think).
Wegmans, Giant, or Weiss would be great! Thanks for the help!
The time and effort you put into this is amazing! What’s even more amazing is that you share it! Thank you so much!!!!
I don’t see some of the grocery stores in my area listed. Below are the stores I would like to see.
Fry’s
Basha’s
Thanks so much for your hard work in helping us! I am looking for grocery stores; Giant Eagle, Tops & Wegmans. Please help!
Thank you,
Angie
Angie, Giant Eagle is posted every week. You can click on stores in the upper right corner of the blog and then Giant Eagle to find them.
love this website :)) thanks for all the info and help. I’am very new to this, so much so I haven’t even been to a store yet just clipping coupons and reading about how all this works. I’am excited and nervous lol
I would like to see Walmart and Winco on the grocery store list.
I think that this website has a lot of useful tips, I am a beginner and I have not made my first transaction yet, because I would love to understand how to stack coupons? I have read a lot of information about it but I am the type of person that needs to see it a couple of times to grasp it. Help, I would love to start being an Extreme Couponer…
Tiffany. Why don’t you just start by clicking Home in the upper left corner and then in the orange bar at the top of the page, you can find either “stores” or Drugstores” on the right side. Find any store you like to shop at from Target to CVS to Kroger to Safeway to Giant Eagle. There are numerous stores to choose from. Then read. You will see weekly deals listed so all the work has already been done for you. You just need to look at the information that is readily available.
I am new to couponing….when i go to stores and go to pick up something like pasta or chicken there are two prices listed on the little price tag thingy…a unit price and the price that might say $4.99 for example…with any item which price do i pay attention to for the biggest discount/savings? it makes things very confusing for me as i am very bad at math 🙁
Well Erin, if I understand your question the tag says $4.99 is the price and a unit cost of maybe .32 or something much smaller? That tells you the price per unit- usually oz. So it makes people that are bad at math (me too!) geniuses because you can see in seconds what the best price is. When there are multiple items at different sizes you just look at the unit price to see what product has the cheapest one and that is probably the best bet. Obviously if you have coupons you want to take that into account- so if you have cheese for $4.99 and it is 32 oz that is going to be a unit cost of .15 per oz. You can look at all the other comparable products in various sizes and see which one is the best deal.
I am still reading through your blog and will begin soon but I am curious as to why you refer to Publix as a “superstar grocery store?”
Hello, after reading this part, I may have got lost. What is ‘MFA’? I am wanting to become a extreme couponer. I have a large family and we go through products that may seem unreal to some people. I need serious help with my grocery bills!
MeL, MFA is the abbreviated version of “My Frugal Adventures” which is the website you are visiting.
Are there any matchups for Albertsons?
Sharla,
Go to “looking for something” on the right sidebar and click on Albertsons. You will see the most current matchups at the top.
I’m loving this site.. I’m getting back into couponing and still learning new things along the way. However you don’t carry my local Supermarket … I live in the Northeast and the popular chain closes to me is Stop n’ Shop… thanks again for all the valuable tips…
Hello~ I love your blog! I have gone through several sites trying to learn and you have a way of saying things just right to make it understandable. My question though… I have a sweetbay in my area and it is where I shop most of the time. I love the people there already but can’t seem to find matchups for this store. Is there a reason for that you think? Once I can really get the hang of it, making them myself will be easier but for now, I rely on others lol. Again, thank you so much for unloading your brain here! Happy clippin’!
Hi I know im just a beginner but I still don’t understand how people can buy 30 items in only 3 carts! Do i have to get more than 30 coupons that don’t have a coupon limit..!? 😮 I want to start with simple items like toliet paper or maybe pasta.. PLEASE HELP!?
Thank you
Elizabeth
I am only 13 and i am trying very hard to learn how to do this we could use the extra cash!! I dont understand the doubling factor of this or how to use the like 50% coupons it is very confusin fir me byt this is helping me out alot!! Thank u
Brookshire’s and Albertsons would be awesome!
I have been wanting to do this for some time now but just never knew how. Thank you so much for breaking it down for us to understand, the other sites I’ve tried just confuse me more. Also, thank you for all the hard work you put into this to help others. I hope within the next month I can send you a message telling you how great my experience is…. keep you’re fingers crossed that it goes smoothly… Until then……
So glad to hear it Melissa! Good luck to you!