How to start couponing - Gathering and Organizing Coupons (Week 1)

How to Start Couponing – Week 1

If you want to begin extreme couponing then you are going to want the best coupons. How do you get the best coupons? Most of these will be in the newspaper. About 70-80% of the coupons you use when coupon shopping will come from the newspaper inserts, while the other 20-30% will be printable coupons, digital coupons, peelies, blinkies, coupons that come with your free samples, etc. Don’t get overwhelmed, we are going to walk you through this step by step, so you will walk away feeling like you know exactly how to get coupons and how to organize them like a pro!

STEP 1 – HOW TO GET COUPONS

You don’t have to run around like a mad man (or woman) collecting every coupon you see. There are ways to make this easy that you have you wondering why you never tried using coupons before!

The first place to get coupons is from the Newspaper. Every region has different coupons (like here in Utah we get different coupons than they get in Florida, etc). We get coupons they don’t and they get coupons we don’t. I get four (4) newspaper subscriptions, and it is borderline enough for my family of 6. We have four children, so I count two of them and 1 adult. How many inserts do you need? You are supposed to get 1 set of inserts (or 1 paper) for each person living in your home. If you don’t or can’t get a newspaper subscription, there are places to order online that are very reasonable. I would NOT recommend going to Walmart and paying $6 a week for two of their double packs. That’s silly and VERY expensive!

The next place you will get coupons is online. There are printable and digital coupons, as well as mobile coupons that you can take advantage of. (don’t freak out or get overwhelmed…I will explain each one…)

Manufacture sites are also a great place to look for coupons.

BE CAREFUL when going to printable coupon sites. I know several people who have gotten viruses from sites that claim to offer free printable coupons.

You will also be able to find coupons attached to products at the stores, on tear pads, in blinkie machines in the aisles, in your mail and more. Keep your eyes open and you will be surprised how many coupons you will be able to find.

My rule is to take no more than 4 coupons when you find them, and if they are attached to the product I don’t think you should take them unless you are buying the product or one that the coupon is eligible for. Like if you find a coupon on a package of coconut cookies, but you want the chocolate chip, I think its okay to take it off the coconut cookies package to use with the chocolate chips cookies.

Now you are getting the hang of How to Start Couponing like a pro!

STEP 2 – HOW TO STACK COUPONS

If you get more than one set of coupon inserts, you will want to do this each week. Its simple and will save you lots of time. Stack your inserts together by placing all of the same pages together.

STEP 3 – HOW TO ORGANIZE COUPONS

Organization is a big key to get you on the right track. When people ask me How to Start Couponing, I want them to know how to stay organized. If you are not organized it will not be fun and you will stop doing it because it is too time consuming to find your coupons.

There are two main ways to do this, but do whatever works best for you. The first is the folder method, you can see in the picture above, my coupon bag, and that is how I organize my inserts because I simply don’t have time to clip out every coupon. I like it this way because I am only cutting out the ones I need, and don’t waste time on the rest.

The other main method of organizing your coupons is to use a binder. I did this for a long time and it worked great. It is a lot of work and can be very overwhelming if you are just getting started or don’t have a lot of time on your hands. If you want to do this, you will want to Get a large binder (as least 2 “) and fill it with baseball card 9x sheets. Organize these sheets into groups (like dairy, freezer, meats, etc) and then you will put like coupons into each pocket. Each different coupon goes into its own pocket.

I also keep a couponizer with me all the time. I love it to organize the coupons I have clipped from my inserts in my bag, especially while I am shopping, it keeps me so organized!

Be sure to print out our FREE Price Point List so you know if you are getting a good deal at the grocery store.

You will also want to print out each stores coupon policy and keep it with you.

Want to know more about How to Start Couponing? Read these tips here.