Get Coupons and Tips

When I first showed a friend my coupon collection she told me the reason why she didn't clip coupons was because she felt she would be buying products she didn't need but rather just purchasing them because she had a coupon.  After talking to a few more people I realized that many people had misconceptions about coupons.  Here are a few tips/comments that I like to share about couponing:

♥ To make the most out of your coupons, pair them up with a sale and better yet at a store that will double or triple the value! 

For example, my favorite place to shop is ShopRite.  I find that they have the best sales and my local store will double my coupons up to 99 cents.  Recently Gold Medal Flour (5 lb. bag) was on sale for $1.99 which alone I thought was a great price.  I also printed out a 50 cent off coupon, which my store doubled to $1.  When I paired the coupon with the sale price I was able to get the 5 pound bag of flour for just $1!

♥ I have found that getting just the weekend subscription to our local paper to be worth it so that I could get the coupons.  It comes out to a little over a $1 per weekend and I most definitely save more then that when I use the coupon inserts.

♥ How do I get additional copies?  Ask other people!  My family is the best source for me - for example my grandfather loves to read the newspaper but he doesn't have a need for the coupons.  He saves them for me each weekend.  I have also asked some co-workers and friends to save me their inserts or at least the coupons that they don't plan on using.

♥  Once I get the inserts, I go thru them and only cut out the coupons that I know are for products that I use.  Then I file them in a folder by date.  I never throw them out!  I have come across deals weeks and sometimes months later for products that I may not have bought, but with the coupon they ended up being practically free.

♥ I have a little coupon binder that I keep in my purse at all times.  You never know when you will be somewhere or running an errand and come across an unexpected deal!

♥ In addition to collecting coupons from newspaper inserts I have found many great ones in magazines and also online.  Some of my favorite sites are Coupons.com and RedPlum

♥ If I can get a great price on a product that I use I like to stock up on them.  For example, I was able to get Lysol wipes for $1.50 - I ended up buying 10 of them.  I have done the same with paper towels, tissues, toilet paper, diapers and laundry detergent.  These are things that I know that I will eventually use.

I hope that these tips helped!  I will add onto them as I think of others:)