Save money! We’re all trying to do just that these days, aren’t we? One of my readers asked me to share couponing tips and strategies. I’m no pro at this, but I have learned my way around the coupon world to an extent, and have really seen a decrease in my grocery bill as a result. Here are the few tips that I could give:
- Buy a Sunday paper. I don’t mean the little local paper – I mean the big-city one that carries LOTS of coupons. We buy a Knoxville paper on our way to church each Sunday. If you don’t get it early, you’ll miss out! It’s worth the $2!
- Use your .50 and less coupons at a store that will double their value. Ingles and Krogers will both do just that. I wait until the items are on sale too, then I really get the value from the coupon.
- Use sites like Southern Savers or Money Saving Mom to simplify your shopping and coupon use. These sites will tell you what’s on sale at each local grocery store and will also let you know if there’s a coupon that goes with that item. They are a huge blessing! You can even make up a grocery shopping list for each store where you shop. It will include the price of the items, and the coupon needed (if necessary), then will tell you the final cost!
- You can even check the site above on Saturday night to see what coupons are in the Sunday paper. If you see there will be some really good coupons, you’ll know to buy more than one paper. I have kind friends that don’t coupon that share their coupon booklets with me. Ask around; someone might be throwing the coupons you could use in the trash!
- Cut out the coupons out and get them organized weekly. I have found the best way to store them is in baseball card protectors that I’ve placed in a three-ring binder. I put labels on the pages so I can quickly find “baking items” or “dairy products”. I get stopped in the grocery store all the time when people see my binder on my grocery cart. It’s so much easier than the accordion folders! They stay all bunched up and you have to flip through them all when they’re in one of those folders. The baseball card sleeves allow you to see the whole page of coupons at a glance.
I think that hits the highlights of getting the most out of your coupons. If this has created a question, please leave a comment and I’ll answer it for you. Happy shopping!
See you in church Sunday!
With love,
RefreshHer 