How to Coupon
The idea is to provide good, healthy meals for your family for as little money as possible! There are many ways to accomplish this, like meal planning, using economical recipes, and my favorite... coupons!
The best way to learn how to coupon is to just do it! You will get better with time, and everyone had a hard time figuring everything out at first!
You will see how much fun this is (yes, it is fun!). It becomes like a game, and you may never pay for toothpaste or shampoo again!
First thing, start collecting coupons that come in the Sunday paper. I started out buying just one paper each week. After I got some good name brand stuff for free, I started wishing I had more coupons! So, I started buying 2 papers, and now I buy 4 newspapers every Sunday (I also make sure to recycle them!). They quickly pay for themselves when I get 4 packages of toilet paper for free instead of 1 or 2!
(Read my article about planning your shopping trips, and print some free trip-planning worksheets!)
Next, come up with a way to organize your coupons. I started out just clipping them and keeping them in an envelope. Then I started an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of them, and bought a coupon organizer. Now I keep them organized by the date of the newspaper they came in, and the distributor, such as Smart Source (SS), Red Plum (RP), or P&G Brandsaver (PG). You will find what works best for you.
Before I started doing this, I mainly just shopped for store brands or things that were on sale. When I started clipping coupons, I would only keep the ones that were for things that I would normally buy. Then I would start to see things that would have been free, and I thought, "I should have kept that coupon!" So, I began to determine which coupons I would keep by asking myself, "If this item were free, would I want it?" If the answer was yes, I kept the coupon. Now I just save them all!
I know this all may sound crazy... that's why my family calls me the crazy coupon lady! After you get the hang of how to coupon, you will be crazy for coupons too! Happy couponing!
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The best way to learn how to coupon is to just do it! You will get better with time, and everyone had a hard time figuring everything out at first!
You will see how much fun this is (yes, it is fun!). It becomes like a game, and you may never pay for toothpaste or shampoo again!
First thing, start collecting coupons that come in the Sunday paper. I started out buying just one paper each week. After I got some good name brand stuff for free, I started wishing I had more coupons! So, I started buying 2 papers, and now I buy 4 newspapers every Sunday (I also make sure to recycle them!). They quickly pay for themselves when I get 4 packages of toilet paper for free instead of 1 or 2!
(Read my article about planning your shopping trips, and print some free trip-planning worksheets!)
Next, come up with a way to organize your coupons. I started out just clipping them and keeping them in an envelope. Then I started an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of them, and bought a coupon organizer. Now I keep them organized by the date of the newspaper they came in, and the distributor, such as Smart Source (SS), Red Plum (RP), or P&G Brandsaver (PG). You will find what works best for you.
Before I started doing this, I mainly just shopped for store brands or things that were on sale. When I started clipping coupons, I would only keep the ones that were for things that I would normally buy. Then I would start to see things that would have been free, and I thought, "I should have kept that coupon!" So, I began to determine which coupons I would keep by asking myself, "If this item were free, would I want it?" If the answer was yes, I kept the coupon. Now I just save them all!
I know this all may sound crazy... that's why my family calls me the crazy coupon lady! After you get the hang of how to coupon, you will be crazy for coupons too! Happy couponing!
Make sure you subscribe so you never miss a deal!
Subscribe to receive posts by email
Subscribe to receive posts in feed reader
Follow me on Twitter
Like me on Facebook
