There are so many awesome coupon inserts coming out this weekend and there are a lot of high value coupons you can print too…but how many coupon inserts do you need?
While its great to get a good deal it is not necessary to clear the shelf just because “it’s a good deal “. Don’t get caught up in trying to take advantage of every single coupon deal. You will get burned out. Figure out how many of each item you are using (use this free tracking sheet), and this will give you a great idea as to how much you are using.
Once you know how much you are using you can determine how much of each item you will want to keep in your supply. I recommend having a 1 year supply on most items if you have the room, and at least a three-month supply. Taking this into consideration, you can quickly figure out what you will need.
Example: You have tracked your usage and found that you use 2 bottles of shampoo and conditioner a month. To have a 3 month supply you would need to have 6 bottles of each. To have a 12 month supply you would need 24 bottles of each. All you need to know is that number because that is what your goal will be to keep stocked. Be sure to adjust it as needed as you use more or less.
You don’t have to wait until you know what this number is to start stocking up, since it will take you a couple or three months to get your supply built up. The general rule for determining how many inserts you need is simply one per person in your house. If you entertain or have extended family you share with, you will want to increase the number of inserts accordingly.
I have many people tell me “I can’t afford to get more than one or two subscriptions or more than a couple inserts per week ” but how can you afford NOT to?
Think of your average coupon savings over the last month, and if it is more than $20 (for the whole month) then that has paid for four or more inserts. I personally save at least $100 or more a month (and that’s a low estimate). I pay about $3 a week for four newspapers to be delivered to my house. I also buy my favorite coupons pre-clipped from The Wizclipz. If inserts are too expensive for you or you don’t want to worry about going out and getting them, you can order insertsfrom Insert Insanity and get a great price on them each week. AND you will get a credit to WizClipz to buy your favorite pre-clipped coupons too.
By having multiple newspapers I get multiple coupons and it enables me to buy more of the items that are on sale allowing me to build my stockpile faster. If you use two sets of shampoo and conditioner a month but only have enough coupons to buy one set, then you will pay the full price for the other one. You will not feel like you are seeing savings because you are still buying items at full price. That is why it is important to get enough inserts to cover the amount of items you are buying. Keep your shelf stocked with extra items that you bought for a cheap price when it was on sale with your coupons instead of paying full price.
Once you have a small stockpile built up you will really see your amount spent every month start to go down because you will not be paying full price for most of your toiletries and food items. Make sure you have enough coupons to cover all the items you need to get and you will see savings if you are shopping the sales (at stores like Rite-Aid, Walgreens, CVS, etc).
