I know there are lots of people excited about using coupons thanks in part to the new reality TV show called Extreme Couponing. I know this little world can seem very overwhelming at first and I am getting lots of questions about where on Earth you can begin if you are new to using coupons.
I will have a series for you to learn the ins and outs of coupons from the very beginning. I am hoping this is easy to digest information that will have you saving big before you know it.
I should tell you that the show features people that are… well Extreme. I do not typically shop like the people showcased on the show nor do my children sleep in the bathtub so I can make more room to store my deodorant collection. I personally have a very reasonable pantry and we have very little space actually dedicated to the products that I buy or get for free.
So there is absolutely a comfortable middle ground for those that still want to be able to park the cars in the garage and don’t have 30 hours a week to cut coupons. I hope this series I am putting together will be beneficial to those of you that are interested in simply finding easy and fast ways to save a little money. There should be ideas and tips for those of you that really want to go big as well- I encourage you to find the place that makes you comfortable and works for your family.
Soooo.. are you ready?! Let’s get started!
I personally look at using coupons as just one very easy way to put extra money in the bank. I have three newspaper subscriptions that come to my home and I spend roughly 90 minutes a week total on coupons- organizing, printing, planning my shopping trips and our menu for the week etc.. I spend another 2 hours or so actually shopping each week.
I typically save at least 50% on my grocery bills- so I look at it is an extra 90 minutes per week and I probably save at least $300 or more per month. If I had more spare time, I am sure I could save even more.
One important thing I want to mention, is that coupons are not just for people on tight budgets or with limited incomes. The average coupon shopper has a household income of $70,000+. Using coupons doesn’t mean you can not afford to pay for groceries, it is just a smart way to save a little on something you need so you can put the money back in the bank or splurge on something you want!
So if you are interested in getting started learning how to effectively use coupons, the very first thing we need to do is get our hands on some coupons!
I like to suggest starting very small and working your way up. I do not recommend running out and buying 20 copies of the newspaper- because let me tell you this can be incredibly time consuming. I like to suggest people start small and get comfortable and then figure out what is going to be manageable to you.
So there are two primary ways to get coupons- the first is the Sunday paper.
The common perception of Sunday paper coupons is to flip through them and if something appeals to you, rip the coupon out and throw the rest away. The next time you head to the store grab that coupon you tore out and use it and you just saved yourself .50!
WRONG!
What you want to do now is collecting those Sunday paper coupons. I happen to get 3 subscriptions at my house (so 3 inserts each week) and I will leave it to you to decide how many you would like. Once you get those babies you can flip through and see what looks appealing- I usually cut about 10% of them out. Then I tuck them away in my little pouch and I wait for the right time to use it to get the biggest bang for my buck. The rest of the coupons, I toss in a basket in my closet. (And we can talk more about fabulous ways to organize all your coupons later. For now I’d like to start with the simplest things you can do to get rolling.)
Now you want to hold onto those coupons because you never know when they will come in handy. Some of them will expire in 30 days and some might not expire for an entire year. So just hold onto them.
So that is your first order of business, you really want to start researching the newspapers in your area. I would recommend checking out the papers in your city on both Saturday and Sunday- some areas have inserts available a day early and maybe you can get that paper a little cheaper. I recommend flipping through the papers because one paper in the same city might have double the amount of coupons as another paper. So it is important to really look and see what is available. Once you get that sorted out, you will want to track down the best price you can get. If you are paying $1.50-5.00 per paper each week, well that cuts into your savings. I pay $20 per year for my subscription- so .38 per Sunday newspaper. You might check Dollar Stores, call the subscription desk, ask friends- whatever you can do to track down the best price available on the newspaper in your area. (You can also check Discounted Newspaper Subscriptions and see what they offer.) You can absolutely get multiple copies of the newspaper sent to your home. Before you get crazy though ordering tons of subscriptions, I really suggest using coupons for awhile so you can see what you will really need. I know some sites will recommend getting 10 or more papers a week and I can tell you there is 0 chance I personally could manage that many coupons and I have been doing this for years.
Job # 2 will be to start collecting internet coupons. I post them all the time– the first time you print from most coupon sources like coupons.com, smart source or red plum, they will require that you download a coupon printer. Each coupon will have a unique barcode so that is why you need the download. If you install the software once you should not have to do it again. I think as you start getting more experience you will recognize the coupons you want to print ASAP. I will usually tell you if I think it is a hot coupon as well. So this is homework #2. Internet coupons are a great resource, so if you have a printer you will want to be ready to start printing away as coupons come up! The really good ones can be gone very quickly- most coupons will have a certain limit on how many total can be printed and you don’t want to miss out.
Two important notes on printables:
1. You can usually get 2 copies of the coupon by using your back bar to go back and the coupon should spool a second time. Don’t cheat yourself out of your second copy by forgetting to do that.
2. Sadly, you can usually only get those 2 coupons per computer that you have. If you want extras, you either need access to more computers or you need to sweet talk a friend into printing coupons for you. It is absolutely never, ever OK to photocopy coupons. That is actually a crime and please don’t ever put yourself in a situation to get in trouble.
So those are the primary ways to score coupons, you might also start keeping an eye out at the grocery store because you will start to see coupons can be found everywhere! Sometimes you see little machines that spit out coupons- if it is a product you can use grab one or two of the coupons and just tuck it away. You might also be on the lookout for little booklets in your stores that have coupons. Safeway, Publix and Kroger often have great coupon booklets available. (And there is such a thing as coupon karma so again 2 or maybe 3 booklets is plenty- no reason to take the entire stack.)
The very last step, is you will want to start understanding the coupon policies for your stores. Each person will have a slightly different experience and it is important you are aware of policies that might prevent you from getting great deals. You can go to the web site of your store (such as www.Safeway.com) and look for the coupon policy or you can just ask at customer service in your store. Remember those policies can change at any time so be sure you check back every few months for updates.
So that is part 1. You are already on the way to starting to score great deals! Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below. There is really a lot to learn so again I am hoping to just take this one step at a time and hopefully it turns into a fun and easy way to start saving big at the grocery store!
… You can continue along with this series by clicking the articles below:
- Extreme Couponing: Understanding coupon matchups
- Extreme Couponing: Ready for Action
- Extreme Couponing: Determining a Realistic Savings Plan
- Extreme Couponing: Understanding Buy One Get One Free Coupons
- Extreme Couponing: Organizing Your Coupons
- Extreme Couponing: Free Item Coupons!
- Extreme Couponing: Creating a Pricebook
- Extreme Couponing: Using the Coupon Database
and you can get even more information from the Where to Begin section or if you prefer to watch videos, scroll down here to see topics like price matching and organizing coupon binders.
Finally, you can subscribe to my free newsletter to get daily updates on all sorts of freebies, online deals, coupon deals and more!
lisa says
Thank you so much for teaching everyone how to save.
Heather says
Love, love, LOVE your site. Thank you so much for all this valuable info!!!
mike says
Ok so thanks for the info, but i still don’t fully understand. Most coupons say you can only use 1 coupon for that item, so if a box of cereal cost 2.49 and you get a dollar of then its 1.49, so my question is how do i get that lower if i can only use one coupon? I see the t.v show and they get their total down to free or even sometimes they get money back for it.
Charlene says
Mike, typically cereal is $2.49 and your job is to hold onto your coupons like a hand of poker and play them at the right time. You want to wait until the best possible time to use the coupon, which is not at 2.49 but when it is on sale at a rock bottom price of say 1.49. So then you would buy 6 or 7 boxes once it hits that super low sale price and your coupons are icing on the cake. You already got a great deal on the item and then you used coupons to get an incredible deal PLUS you bought enough boxes to last until the price goes down to $1.49 again. The show is very misleading so keep in mind it is just the same as using a Tv show to find a spouse 🙂 not likely in real life. For example, one show a lady went online and purchased 84 coupons for free poligrip denture cream. Now the show neglected to mention that was one way she saved so much money, neglected to mention the cost of the coupons, neglected to mention why on Earth anyone would want 84 poligrip… In fact the product wasn’t pictured at all. So you see them buying a few good things not a mountain of stuff no one wants to get the few things free. Most likely she got a little bit in overage for each Poligrip coupon she used. If she got just .10 overage per coupon that is $8.40 toward other items in her transaction. So nice to have a free $8 (or whatever) to spend on other items but now you paid who knows how much for the Poligrip coupons to begin with and who the heck wants to deal with all that poligrip anyway. Does that help?
One of my other male readers put it like this- he said he is a lion in the bushes watching his prey. Once the time is right he is ready to pounce! I thought that was funny but it is exactly what you want to do.
Charlene says
PS: My iPhone is to blame for all typos 😉
sandy hager says
Charlene, The coupons sounds great and saving money too, but in Califorina they stoped double coupons days, and you only can use 1 coupon per perches you cant double up on coupons for that 1 itam at least not where i live, in the fresno area.I watch the show and i think to my self man i really wish i can do that,But i really think we cant use the coupons in Califorina like people do in other states. What i see on tv the people get there itams on sale, plus they have double coupon days and they use there coupons so they use all that together and they get a good deal, we dont have that in fresno califorina, wish they did cause i have a big big family, I spend a thousnd dollers month,so i really need to learn how to save.
Charlene says
Sandy, I have to disagree with you to an extent 🙂 One thing is that I am in Sacramento and have all the same stores you do and I can rock the coupons if I feel like it. What you need to understand is that the show is deceptive at best. I will give you one example from a show that is being filmed right in Sacramento. The women had $700 in items and spent $25 or something. This will air in a few months…. so one way she did that was by buying 100 packs of Tic Tacs priced at $1 each. Well there was a $1 off coupon so those were free. The question though is how one gets 100 coupons. PLUS in Sacramento, we got a lower value coupon- it was $.75 not $1. So she had to have purchased those coupons online. Typically the price is about $.10 per coupon- so you are looking at $10 or so for all those Tic Tacs. Now TLC will forget to mention that she spent at least $10 on coupons. Another thing the lady does, is she went into the grocery store repeatedly and purchased money orders. Those cost $1 in fees but in exchange you get a coupon for $1 off a $10 purchase… So think about that for a minute. If I went 10 different times to the store. Spent a total of $10 in fees. It is essentially a wash except I have all these stupid money orders I don’t need but I got (10) $1 off $10 purchase coupons…
Now let’s say I also spent $10 on those Tic Tac coupons. Here is how it looks:
Buy 100 Tic Tacs at $1.00
Subtotal $100
Use (10) store coupons for $1 off a $10 purchase
New subtotal $90
Use (100) $1 off coupons
Total is minus $10- so in theory I have $10 in overage for other items. In reality Walmart is the only store that would give you that $10 in overage- but hey let’s just say you got it.
Now does that mean I am a magic coupon lady that feeds her family for pennies? No! I have nothing but candy to take home with me. I spent at least $20 plus hours and hours of my time. The lady was shopping for 9 hours that day and 2 hours in checkout. That does not include hours upon hours upon hours of planning that transaction.
Please understand there is not a person out there that can sustain that type of shopping. Besides you want to feed those kiddos fresh foods and dairy. Imagine the expression on their faces when you serve a plate of Tic Tacs as dinner one night ;P So I know the show makes it seem like they are getting waters and diapers and all sorts of things most people would love to have but in reality they are buying mountains of things no one can possibly use. 64 mustard? 84 Super poligrip creams? 50 hot sauce? 15 Maalox? 640 chocolate bars! The show only said once that one lady spent 70 hours a week on her shopping obsession. They don’t tell you how much time people spend and they don’t tell you how much money these people spend buying coupons.
So just keep that in mind. You are not getting the complete picture and you are most certainly not getting a well rounded diet. So to save 50% and buy high quality foods is very reasonable. You can probably save much more depending on how much time you care to invest. I would say you could probably cut $1000 to $700 pretty easily with just smart shopping and a little stocking up. Then you could work a little more on cutting that back to $500.
Luna says
Hello. Thank you so much for helping out so many families with saving. I really really want to start couponing and get a lot for my money because we are really struggling to keep our heads above water. I had a question though, a lot of the coupons I get say limit one per customers or limit x amount per transaction…so i don’t see how all those coupons can be used like on the show. Thanks for your time.
Luna
Charlene says
Luna first of all please understand you will not be able to duplicate what the show portrays. A lot of it is highly fabricated and coupon policies from stores are bent just in an effort to make good tv. So basically they get to it and no one else does.
Having said that, the verbage you refer to means that you may use one manufacturer coupon per item. If the coupon says one per transaction that means you only get one per shopping trip. So if you cut (5) $.50 coupons for Tide out of the newspaper, you may use a total of 1 per bottle of Tide you purchase. You may not use (5) coupons on a single bottle of Tide.
Eflamenco says
this article was extremely helpful. I am starting to use coupons and I am finding out that it is a lot work but my 15 year old daugther and I are up for the challenge. We have a goal to save at least 50% on our next grocery shopping
Luna says
Charlene,
Thank you so much. So with the example you use I would only get 2.50 of off five boxes of tide and any other discount that the store would be holding at the time for that particular item of special of the day.
That is what my husband and I figured that it would be sort of impossible to get that much of discounts.
Thanks again
Rob says
What actually stops one from creating more than two coupons per computer? There are a couple of ways that the count of two could be tracked, cookies or IP address. You could theoretically try clearing your cookies and see if you can print more than one. You could also try a program that hides or changes your IP. Would the limit of 2 apply per household or per device (could you print 2 from your desktop, 2 from your iPad, etc.)?
Charlene says
Rob, you get 2 copies per electronic device. If you want to commit fraud over a coupon you can hide your IP or whatever it is 🙂
keiana shannon says
I like you on fb and get MFA newsletters
Mary says
Thanks, Charlene, for being a voice of reason in this crazy world.
melissa says
Thank you for the helpful hints, im a beginner! now i heard that you can use a target coupon and a manufactured coupon on a product at the same time. Is this true and do any other stores offer this, Im in manteca
Briana says
Hello there!
Glad to see a couponer in the area! I am in Folsom and have my mini-stockpile full of shampoo, razors, floss, fem products, and other drug store gems. I loved the intro to this and since I’ve been couponing only a few months, I had to learn all this by jumping right in! I would like to branch out into grocery stores, but most of the bloggers are out of CA in the midwest and have really awesome deals I cant partake in. 🙁 So anywho, I’ve got you bookmarked and this site looks like it will be a big help!
gloria p says
I am trying to save money and i think i am going to start couponing wish me luck i have two boys and a cat and my boyfriend i think it will be valuable especially now since the economy is so messed up anyway i can keep money in my pockets works for me I’m not trying to be an extreme couponer but i am trying to save huge amounts on a 400.00 dollar every two weeks grocery bill
brenda says
what about the dates on the coupons. I have seen them withdates on them
Charlene says
Brenda, you need to use the coupon before or on the date listed on it for it to be valid.
Karen says
Love your website! You’re totally on my level- unlike the people on those shows spending 70+ hours a week couponing. Not that I wouldn’t love a stockpile like theirs. My husband laughs at me for being TOTALLY in awe of the woman that had 2 years worth of toilet paper bought up, it was up to her ceiling!!
Your plan seems realistic to me and my crazy family of 8…you’ve motivated me to give it a try!
Brenda K. says
I prefer to have coupons mailed to me over printing them out, printer ink can be costly. Does anyone know any good sites to get mailed coupons. I’m signed up on a few but would love to find more. Thanks
Jo says
I think you are sharing some good information but you should be aware of what is happening with your sponsors. I clicked the free samples ad and immediately after they got my phone number I got a call for a free $40 visa card then they attempted to get my debit card number. I then googled the number they called from 630-869-6899 and found them on the directory of unknown caller list. Lots of people report the same experience. And as I have been writing this, my phone has rung two more times and I have had to ask two more telemarketers to remove me from their list.
Charlene says
Jo, those ads are controlled by Google and I have tried to have them removed but the site keeps changing its URLs and then they come back up again. Please don’t ever, ever give your phone number out to any company again- they really don’t have any need at all to contact you. I usually use 555.555.5555 or I use my real area code if that won’t work. I hate those types of calls but thank you for letting me know it is a problem.
arlene says
Is there a good way to get dogfood for minimal cost I struggle with deals on dogfood I have 3 100lb dogs I save money adminster thier shots and vaccines…just cant get ahead with this, thanks
Beverly says
I have bookmarked your site. Thanks for being an honest person. That is more help than that show that gives false hope.
Tepeza says
Thanks for the above help. I really appreciate it. I am busy and learning to use coupons I can use as much help as I can get with especially with the rising food prices. Someone told me that everything comes on sale every few weeks. Is this true and how can I find out how long before a particular item comes on sale without having to do the “footwork”? I am quite busy and would appreciate as much information on how to do this that I can get.
Charlene says
Hi Tepeza,
We are all busy people so I understand being short on time. My vlog here might help:
http://myfrugaladventures.com/2010/02/vlog-tips-to-save-big-at-the-grocery-store/
Chris says
Charlene:
Thanks for this site, and all the information. I am a working mom of 6 and actually stopped couponing at #2. Just started back up again and have found that the internet can provide so much more than the old fashioned way. I was really proud today when I bought 4 bottles of bodywash and actually paid nothing. Infact I made .04 cents. I should have been doing this all along but didn’t have the time.
dana says
I’ve been couponing for abouy 2 months now and have actually saved a good bit of money. My question is this… Do you ever come across meat coupons? Not just the frozen chicken,sausages etc….coupons. Ive seem people with coupons that ive them so much off hamburger,roasts,etc…and cannot for the life of me find any. Also where I live in NC no one takes expired coupons. So I have found a way to play it forward..I have adopted a millitary base and send all my expired coupons to them. They then send them out to families stationed overseas. Millitary can use expired coupons for up to 6 months after the date of expiration. Just a fyi. Thanks for all the helpful info in couponing!!!!
Joe says
Thanks for all your awesome insight on couponing.
shelly says
my wife and i just started couponing today 10/23/11 overwhelmed can you give us 5 or 10 bullets to start with thank you
jim says
i would love to know how you can walk out of a store with 4 cart loads of stuff for free or just a few dollars like the tv show? i think it is a scam myself, #1 you cannot use more than one coupon per item #2 you cannot use a coupon on an item that is already discounted or on sale, so with in mind how do you do it?
in my book 1+1=2 not 100
jim
Charlene says
Jim, certain stores you can stack coupons- like Safeway you can use a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon on the same item. The only time you want to use coupons is in conjunction with a sale or promotion so I am not sure why you say you can’t use them on a sale item? That is for sure not the case but overall there are lots of things you don’t see on the show and it is not possible to shop like that on a regular basis.
Gidget says
Hiya, first thanks for all the great info, at the risk of being overly dramatic this can all be alittle overwhelming at first. heres my question. I very rarely have color ink in my printer so then when i print all the coupons are in b/w format , which kinda makes them look like photocopies, the last thing i want is to get in trouble for photocopying a coupon, how though can they tell the difference? Thanks again for yout time.
Charlene says
Gidget, most of us use black and white too- in fact my printer doesn’t do color. There are unique codes on each coupon so you shouldn’t have any problems. Just print a coupon and hit your back bar and get a second copy of it and you should see the codes are different on the two that you print.
Marisella says
okay.. so i wanna try this.. but one thing i dont understand.. ok say i get 2 copies of my sunday paper and each one has a coupon for 1 dollar off say scubbing bubbles and say its 2 dollars at the store.. do i use both coupons?? i dont get it.. why would you get more then one paper cuz i thought that you could only use one coupon per item??
Glenda says
we live in western oregon and I don’t know of anywhere where we can do coupons like they do on this show. I don’t know of anywhere around where I live that has double coupons, I haven’t seen those in years. I do the majority of my shopping at Grocery Outlet and save quite a bit of money compared to Walmart and especially to Safeway or Alberstons or Fred Meyers. I bought a bag of candy at GO one day, then checked the prices for the same bag of candy at two others stores, it was outrageous. GO $2.50 Walmart $3.86 McKay’s $5.36!! For the same bag of candy. What a difference!!
Charlene says
Glenda, I find good deals at Grocery Outlet too. There is no chance a normal person could duplicate the TV show 🙂 The stores bend or even break policies for drama and recently a woman paid with a $150 gift card- that was not mentioned and counted toward reducing her bill. I live in CA and I can tell you I certainly don’t have 30-70 hours per week to deal with coupons and another 8-10 to spend in the store. You can find some good deals at Safeway and I thought in OR they did have the doublers in the ad? I think you only get a limit of 4 per transaction though.
Gidget says
Charlene,
So hubby and I just did our first coupon trip WOW we saved about 45 bucks, granted some was in store and some coupons but just the same we’re hooked.
Also I wanted to leave my own little tip, in the back page of my organizer i have a special page for coupon karma, I put the coupons in there for stuff that we would never ever use, but when im in the store I put them with the product they go with for someone else. Maybe its silly but its seems like the right thing to do.
thanks again for all your help and great tips.
JJ says
lol… coupon karma, I do that too, i.e. If I go to walgreens and have 5 coupons for something but i will use only 3, leave 2 rigth on the front of the product, so some one else use it… 😉
Jess says
I am just starting step number 1. Collecting coupons. My question is, if you have one item in mind on a coupon, how many coupons do you need to get that item for free??
Please email me back
Thank you!!
Rochelle says
This is awesome. I just started couponing today. Reading all the questions and answer have really gotten me excited. My niece and her famly od 4 had to come live with me and my husband. They, at this time can not contribute to the grocery bill, so my husband and I have to feed 7 people instead of 2. I went grocery shopping over the weekend and spent over you $500.00 please help I have to be able to helf out my family and not bankrupt me and my husband.
Jess says
Can you please try and explain how you can buy several of the same items and get them for free? how many coupons do you need for one item to get it for free? I am really confused.
Charlene says
Jess you may use one manufacturer coupon per item. If the store also issues coupons you can use one of those as well for a total of 2 coupons. An item is free if you have a coupon that is high enough in value to make it free.
silvana says
Thank you so very much! you made it look a lot simpler with the way you explained it!! looking forward to the experience and will keep on reading to learn more from you 🙂
thanks!!!!
silvana
dakota says
i am just getting started with couponing and am super confused. ive printed out coupons after coupons and have two subscriptions from last sunday’s paper but all the coupons ive looked at all say only one coupon per transaction. how do i save when buying in bulge if i can only use one coupon at a time. please help me
Charlene says
Dakota, Just check the response left for Luna above and that should answer your question.
sandy pitt says
i am trying to get into the sights for coupons but i have to reister for everything and it still dosent give me the coupons also all the sights i have visited are all the same coupons and i cant figure out how to get free stuff
Charlene says
Sandy, you really shouldn’t have to register for much. If you are directly on a manufacturer site- like Starbucks.com or something those make you register. The majority of the coupons I print, I don’t register for.