Want to try couponing but don’t know where the heck to start? Start here. Couponing 101.

If you want to save money on your grocery bill each week and have wanted to try using coupons but are overwhelmed and don’t know what to do first, you are in luck.

I am going to help you.

I am not an extreme couponer.

I do not buy anything and everything just for the sake of scoring a deal.

But since money has become super tight, I have changed the way I shop for groceries. I have been doing this for about two years now.

If you really want to save money on your grocery bill, it helps if you are willing to do two things:

1) Lose the loyalty to specific brands and be willing to by generic.

and

2) Plan what you shop for each week around what is on sale.

Yes, this takes a  little bit of time. But not the amount of time you might think.

And by spending just an hour each week planning, you can save $50 a week (or more!).

Now this is very basic, and it is meant to get you started without overwhelming you.

Once you try this and practice a little, there are plenty more things you can do to save. There are apps and websites and weekly flyers and coupons you can scan a print and all sorts of shit, but that can be major overload. Especially in the beginning.

Baby steps.

Ok. So I shop primarily at two places: Costco and ShopRite.

They are both close to my house and convenient.

And because we are starting simple, we will start with the place(s) you usually shop.

There are some things I buy at Costco because that’s where the best deal is. I can get a huge bag of lettuce for only $2.99. There is no deal like that anywhere else around here.

If you are a small family, then you might not need a shitload of lettuce, so even though it’s a bargain, you don’t want to end up throwing food in the garbage.

So you also need to know what makes sense for your family.

Milk and bread are also inexpensive at Costco, and so is some other produce.

I usually buy this stuff there.

But other things, like big ass bottles of shampoo at Costco can be deceptive.

This is also where the brand loyalty part comes in.

If you really want to save money, you need to be willing to buy what is on sale.

Unless it’s absolutely necessary, I don’t buy anything that isn’t on sale.

So whatever fruit and veggies we eat each week is whatever is the least expensive that week.

Sometimes it’s produce from Costco, and sometimes it’s produce from ShopRite.

I plan what I’m going to make for dinner around what is on sale, too.

If ground turkey is on sale, I will buy double of that.

Then I can make a week of meals out of it.

When you have coupons for things that are also on sale, that is where you can really save.

Each week in the Sunday paper, there are usually coupon inserts. They come from 3 companies: Proctor and Gamble (those come at the beginning of each month), redplum, and Smart Source.

Some weeks there will be inserts from all three companies. Other weeks there will be only one or two.

So in order to save, you want to combine the coupons from these with the things that are on sale each week.

Your store has a weekly flyer telling you what is on sale.

Like this:

 

But there’s a lot of stuff to sort through between the coupons and the weekly sales flyer.

Luckily, there are websites that go through and do all this stuff for you.

They match up what coupons are available with what stuff is on sale in your local grocery store.

My favorite site is Coupon Mom. That one is the easiest and fastest for me to navigate.

All you need to set up an account, which simply means entering your email and a password.

Then you click on the grocery store you shop in.

And you will get a list that looks like this:

This is the list for the upcoming week. For all the deals from today through next Saturday (3/15 – 3/21).

I like this list because on the right it gives you the percentage of what you save and how much you will actually pay.

On the left is the date the coupons came out in the paper and which insert they were in ( RP= redplum, S = Smart Source, etc.).

If there is no date in that column, that means there are coupons you can print to save or that there isn’t a coupon and the item is just on sale.

So last week there was a coupon for Suave shampoo in the paper. And this week at Shop Rite, Suave kids’ shampoo is on sale. And if you use that coupon and buy that shampoo, it’s totally free.

And that is how you can save a decent amount of money using coupons and buying things that are on sale.

I try to only buy the things where I am saving at least 40%.

Last week I got a lot of shampoo and razors for free. And that is an example of how a little bit of time spent checking a website and cutting out some coupons can save you much more money than buying a big ass bottle of shampoo and conditioner at Costco.

A couple more things:

• All stores have coupon policies. For example, Shop Rite will double coupons up to $.99 in value. So if you have a coupon for $.50 off an item, Shop Rite will double it to $1.00 off. And Shop Rite also limits you to 4 coupons per item per day. So if you have 20 coupons for something, you can’t use them all at once and clear off a shelf. You can check the store’s website for the details on their coupon policies.
• Where do you get extra coupons? You start with your local paper. You can purchase two papers to get double inserts. The savings of buying the extra paper will pay for itself with one or two coupon deals. And if you have family or friends who don’t use their coupons, you can ask them to give you theirs.
• Some weeks (usually on holiday weekends) there are no coupons. So before you go and buy a Sunday paper specifically for the coupons, check inside to make sure there are some inserts in there!

There you have it.

The very basics.

Consider changing the way you shop for groceries, and plan what you eat for the week around what is on sale.

Get yourself a paper today, check out Coupon Mom and give it a try.

Check back next Sunday for the next lesson in saving, Couponing 201.

Happy savings!

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