Couponing Basics

Buy the Sunday Paper – The most important thing you’ll need to do in order to get started with couponing is to start buying the Sunday paper. If you can afford it, I recommend buying at least 2-3 newspapers. Check to see if your local paper is cheaper than the larger city’s paper – if so, buy that one. I get my local paper here on Saturday (the Weekender) and it already has all of Sunday’s coupons in it! Most Important Note: You must absolutely dig into that paper while you’re in the store to make sure it has all the coupon inserts it is supposed to have. Check here for a coupon preview and you’ll know how many inserts the paper will have that coming Sunday. If it doesn’t, don’t buy it. It may sound weird to look through the paper while shopping, but it’s better than returning home with papers you didn’t want to read and having no coupons.

Don’t Cut Out All the Coupons – This is very time-consuming. If you have the time and some little helpers, feel free to cut out whatever coupons you want. If I have time, I will cut out coupons from one set of inserts. For example, if the newspaper has a Red Plum coupon insert and a Smartsource insert – and I have purchased 3 papers and have a total of 6 inserts, I may cut out the coupons from 3 of them (not the duplicates). I then take the duplicates and put them in a  manilla envelope and write the date on the outside. I also write SS and RP (for Smartsource and Red Plum). Then put it wherever you keep your files or get a small file case or holder for your coupons. This will help you stay organized.

Coupon Binder – I recommend the use of a good sturdy fabric (zipped up) coupon binder. My binder is 2 or 2 1/2 inches wide and zips up with a handle. I bought it at Walgreens. When school supplies are being sold, these things are much cheaper to purchase. I then purchased clear baseball card holder inserts from Amazon here -Ultra Pro 9 Pocket Pages “Silver Series” (100 pages) - it was about $14 for a large pack but you can get a smaller one for about $5. This is where I store all my coupons.

Stay in the Loop – It is extremely important that you follow the deals online and on my site here to know what sales are  happening before-hand. If there is a really big sale (or one which would allow you to get a ton of stuff for free) – you’ll want to be prepared. If you are not or if you don’t have all the coupons you’d like to have in order to get these things cheap or for free – you can order them from an online service. You’d be paying for a service, not for the coupons (selling coupons is not legal). I personally order mine from My Coupon Hunter - Virginia is a lovely person who manages the service which is affordable and she sends the coupons out quickly.