Coupons? - Columbus,OH

I also use DealSeekingMom.com. Sounds pretty similar to Prudent Patron, she sends a daily email with sales & coupons & how to stack them, etc. She also sends out where you can print coupons from & how to sign up for free samples. I've heard good things about Frugal Girls as well, need to sign up for that one. Good luck!

Do you have a facebook account? If you do then while you're on there search Frugal girls and become a fan of it and they will send you a lot of coupons you can print and register for things to get for free. I am not sure if you can go to their website and do it that way. The facebook way is the only way I know. They post daily coupons and free stuff.

As far as organizing... I use a binder with baseball card holder sheets. That way 1 coupon gets 1 slot and I can see everything I have. I use notebook dividers as sections like I have a pizza/pasta section, health & beauty section, snacks section, and etc. I find it much easier to see all my coupons instead of shoved into a so called "coupon organziner". I have way too many coupons for a traditional organizer and find my binder workers much better.

Also, I have 4 envelopes I carry with me in my binder, 1 for Kroger, Meijer, Wallmart, and Giant Eage. I mostly shop at GE and Kroger for fuel perks but Meijer is nice for beauty products. As I go through the Sunday ads and see something on sale that I know I have a coupon for I automatically take my coupon and put it in the appropriate envelope and mark it on my list.

A few other tips - Meijer price matches their competitors which is nice that you don't have to go to too many different stores, but they do not match BOGO. Also, Meijer just changed their coupon policy - they only allow doubling coupon on the same product twice (2) instead of the four (4) they used to.
WallMart does not double
Which is why I find myself at Kroger and GE mostly (double coupons!) Also if you sign up on Krogers website Kroger sends you coupons in he mail monthly and you can "load" coupons onto your Kroger card using Shortcuts.com and you can stack your loaded coupons with paper coupons.

Good Luck.. It is sooo worth it. My bills on average are $150 to $200 and I walk out of the stores below $100 every time!!!!

CouponMom.com is also a good site. It lists what is on sale at your local store and the coupons you can use for the sale items with their source. Stock up on items you normally buy when they go on sale and when you have a coupon to go with it.

A.
www.DontPayDayCare.com

I agree that being a facebook fan opens up lots of opportunities for coupons. The Prudent Patron is linked to fb but she also has her own website, which is good because many coupon websites are getting shut down for spamming. The Prudent Patron sends a daily email with exact instructions for stacking coupons, links to the coupons, even sneak previews to coming coupons/sales. All you have to do is follow her directions at Target, Walmart, CVS, and Publix if you have one to get great deals. If you stack coupons you can get them for free or money makers. The site also has tons of resources or FAQs for newbies which helped me a bunch. Happy couponing!

I've recently been reading that there is a website or perhaps more than one that you can download coupons onto your cell phone if you have web access on your cell phone. Then the checker has access to the codes. I'm not sure how it works. Hopefully other moms will tell you about this.

If you buy a lot of a particular brand/product, check out ebay! You usually get 10-20 of the same coupon for $1, so it's a great way to stock up and save on non-perishables. I wait until they go on sale at the store and get more of a deal.

Hi,
I know you can link your kroger rewards card to coupons online so that when the card scans at the register the coupons automatically come off. Also something we've been doing that helps a lot (again with Kroger-sorry) is we have signed up for the kroger mastercard and charge EVERYTHING to it everywhere we go, every expense we have and then simply pay it as one big bill at the end of the month. Kroger actually gives you free vouchers for their store based on your spending so every few months we get sent almost $200 in free grocery money for simply using and paying off the card. Of course you have to be responsible when doing this and not get out of control but it is an awesome way to save money on groceries! Godd Luck!

I use mostly use couponmom.com to guide me to sales for local grocery stores, drug stores and retails stores as well as websites for printable coupons and rebates on products I buy and free samples of products I love or would like to try. They have a forum in which members share success stories, unadvertised deals, store coupon policies, etc. This website can be a little addicting so it helps to keep me interested when I see all the good deals I could be getting.

I get coupons from the Sunday paper, retailer websites, manufacturer websites as well as coupons.com, red plum's website, smart source's website. Look for coupons in the store aisles on tear off pads, little "blinkie" machines, and on merchandise items.

Stacking means that you can apply various saving tools to purchase an item. For example, a store may have a store issued coupon for an item. You may also have a manufacturers coupon for that item. You can use them both to lower the cost of the item. (You cannot use more than 1 manufacturer's coupon on the purchase of 1 item.) If there is also a rebate on the product or "money back" due to rewards programs (such as CVS extra bucks) then you may be able to get the item for free.

One thing I will say is that couponing might seem like a daunting task. Don't get discouraged by the wealth of information out there. Maybe pick one area to focus on and when you feel you have a good handle on it add a new focus. For example, maybe start with your local grocery store. Learn their coupon/ sales policies. Learn how to find coupons for the items you buy, etc. Set a savings goal - X% per shopping trip. When you feel comfortable there, move on to the drug stores. Also, don't get frustrated if you can't get the same deals that other couponers get. Sales, coupons, policies, etc vary from state to state, region to region, chain to chain. When you read about the success stories of others you may find the same deal isn't available to you. Just remember that anything you save is better than nothing. Best wishes to you.

Stacking is when you use more than one coupon on the same product. For example, Publix will have coupons in their salespaper for something. You can use the Publix store coupon AND a manufacturer's coupon on the same one item.

You can also use two coupons on the buy one get one free items. As long as you grab the free one. The store's promotion is the BOGO, the manufacturer is the one supplying the coupons. If you have a particular brand you enjoy, visit the manufacturer's website and see if they have any coupons or deals listed.
Hey! It's Free is a website that you can sign up for their newsletter and they send you links to freebies (samples that usually come with coupons) and random coupons and ways to get it for free or nearly free.
Be careful though, because many times the store brands are still cheaper even after you apply the coupon. If it's something that you can't tell the difference, go with the store brand.
I usually keep my coupons organized by how the store is set up. The dry goods, dairy, meats, frozen, etc. That way as you're shopping through the aisles, you don't have to stop to search through your coupons every couple of minutes. If it's too much of a hassle, you'll stop doing it. Think of it more like a game to see how much you can save at the end.

Fresh and Easy sends me a 10% coupon off my entire bill. $5/$50.00 or $3/$30.00. That is an easy 10%. As well, they have some great deals, so you can walk out with about 5 - 6 bags full for $45.00.

I totally agree with the "think of it like a game" mentality. The money I save is my "points" for that week's game. Of course, I'm just playing against myself, but it helps keep it interesting. My husband was so impressed with how much we were saving (but how we didn't do without anything) that he told me I could keep whatever I saved. Instead, what I did was this: we looked back at previous bank statements together and came up with an average of how much I spent per month before coupons and shopping the sales. We agreed on the average. Now at the end of the month we go over it and whatever I've saved gets saved separately. That money is used 2x/year for special family outings. For instance, I was actually spending about $200/week on groceries, cleaning supplies, general "stuff". Now I spend about $130/week (including diapers and formula) by changing how I do things. That's a real savings of $70/week and keeping that in mind is a great motivator to keep it up!
This thing I've read from some of your responses about Kroger is interesting....I'll have to check that out. What I've done to save my $70/week is this: I get a sheet of paper and write "Kroger" and what is on sale we need or that is worth noting, then "Albertsons" and do the same. Comparing the two, I find out which place I'll go, especially for meat/seafood because I do NOT buy that at Walmart. Using the inventory I already have, what is in the sales ads, and what coupons I have, I'll make a weekly menu (all meals, snacks, and the lunches I'll pack for my husband as well), then make sure I have everything in the bathroom, laundry room, etc as well. I make my shopping list accordingly. I'll go to Walmart first and do the bulk of the weekly shopping there. The prices are often lower or similar to the sale items in the sales ads (but not always!). Let's say I have decided to go to Kroger for fish and chicken (again, I don't do Walmart for meat), and maybe pick up a few things there that are on sale, but Albertsons has sales on other foods that I'd like. On my shopping list, I have in parenthesis: (A) for Albertsons and will tell them at the register the advertised price for this item is ___ and they will change the price to match. Then I'll run by Kroger (or wherever) for the meat I want and the shopping is done for the whole week. I generally do the sales ads, menu, and shopping list on Friday and like to go on Saturday to do my shopping. That way it's not too much work at once.
As for couponing: I just buy the Sunday paper on Saturday while at the store. Sunday mornings are our one day/week that we take our time and have a big breakfast, where my husband likes to look at the paper only on Sundays; I check out the comics, recipes, and coupons. My son likes to take the paper when we're done and tear it up or practice cutting with his preschool scissors (I'll draw shapes in marker on the paper and he tries to cut that shape out). It just kinda works for all of us. The Sunday paper is a once/week expense of $1, right? I cut out things I would use if needed, and put them in a little divided coupon organizer-(dry goods, refrigerated/frozen foods, canned goods, snacks, baby stuff, bathroom supplies, cleaning supplies, misc items, going out...). Sunday evenings while we watch Amazing Race as a family, I put the coupons where they go according to expiration date and throw out the old coupons at the same time.
I have a friend who is all about coupon mom and some other sites. I think that's too much. First, there are so many "fishing" sites (can't remember how to spell it, but you know what I mean?)---it's bad for the computer. I checked it out once and immediately turned it off. She now has problems with her computer running slow and stupid popups and all kinds of things. NO thank you! Also, I don't think she's figured out yet that she keeps buying printer paper and ink (ink is not cheap!) for all the coupons she's printing out. That's no good. I'll just stick with the basics: shop the sales, cut out coupons, PLAN the meals and shopping so there's no going back and forth and haphazard spending, price match when you can, and yes stacking is a good thing! This works in grocery stores where say, I have a coupon for 75 cents off toilet paper. A store puts the tp price from 8.99 to 6.99; then I put my coupon on top of that for 6.24, and then if you can find another coupon in the sales ad or if the store does that double coupons up to a certain amount, you've added more savings.
Don't fall into the trap of buying something just because you have a coupon for it; instead, make sure it's something that could be used in the menu or that you are FOR SURE going to use. Or buying a brand name thing that is still $2 more than the store brand, even after a coupon. There are certain things that I will only buy brand name of. Other things really don't matter. Be cognizant of that, and you'll do well.
One final note: to save the hateful looks and evil thoughts sent to you by other customers, please make sure your coupons are out ahead of time, lol. On my shopping list, I have mark items that I have a coupon with with a star. I have all the coupons I am planning on using out and with my list. If the store doesn't have something I had a coupon for, I know easily to pull it out of my stack at the register by seeing "oh that's not marked off the list" and pull it out. Then give the cashier the stack of coupons at the end and it's SO much easier that way. NO digging around wasting time.

i usually check ads and try to buy on sale. also i use a lot of coupons from Sunday newspaper or from http://promocode-2010.com/christmas-coupons/ do not want to say that it coupons save a lot of money, but they save some. most important do not forget to use them.

In addition to coupons, when I make our weekly shopping list, I look at the weekly sales flyer to make my menu, which I post on the fridge. When a family member asks "what's for dinner?" I direct them to the fridge.

We try not to pay full price for anything. We try not to buy unless it's on sale or we have a coupon for the item. We'll stock up on stuff if there's a good sale (10 items for $10), and if we have coupons, that's just a bonus.

I`m trying hard to save money, too. So,I started looking for all kind of promotional things. Nowadays is very important to manage you money wisely. I use a lot of online coupons, at the end of the month, when I do the math I realize that I saved a lot. Here,some good coupons you may find http://promocodes2011.com/
Good luck !