Frugal Fridays- Couponing Part 1

 
Hi y'all! It seems there was some interest in learning more about couponing!

Well, first of all, I must tell you, it's NOT for the faint of heart. It can be downright stressful and extremely time consuming, especially if you are as scatter-brained as me.  I have to say though, that it's totally worth it if you do it right and dedicate the time necessary for it.  Hopefully with my tips (along with witnessing my failures) you all can learn a couple things to make it less stressful! 

I guess this all began with the fact that I enjoy being cheap thrifty! I was watching TLC's "Extreme Couponing" and was just blown away with the sheer amount of money these people were saving!  It was a rush just watching it! 

I must tell you, though, that in order to even come close to that show you will have to live your life to coupon and save.  I personally enjoy living my Evey world and have three precious kids to devote my time to, as well as my other baby which consists of my business and this blog! 

On to my tips:

1. DO NOT be ashamed or afraid to ask your friends, your neighbors, heck, even complete strangers for physical newspaper inserts and coupons.  

 I mean it.  You have to completely let any shyness or fear dissipate.  If you are serious about it, then let people know you are doing it! I posted to a local town fb page and yard sale site that I was in search of coupons and was rewarded with 2 huge manilla folders filled with unwanted coupons and newspaper inserts.

2. You MUST be prepared to organize yourself and your menu, your shopping lists, and coupons, both online and physical, or you can forget that this will work. It won't.  

No last minute meal ideas and running to the store to buy a missing item.  Plan everything out thoroughly, and find the coupons necessary for that week.  Get used to sitting at your desk or table and seeing this a few times a week:

Yes, the picture is dark and bad quality.  Why? Well, simply put, it's extremely late and I'm too exhausted to go get my real camera so I snapped this on my cell. Which brings me to my next point.

3. You will need to devote a few days a week to searching, organizing and clipping those blessed coupons.

Sundays are the most important in my personal opinion.  You will need to get a hold of those Sunday inserts.  If you don't subscribe to your local newspaper, no need to worry!  You can frequent sites like coupons.com and redplum.com.  They post most of the manufacturer's coupons weekly.  This is only my first week, so I'm really taking you along for my ride in real time! I think I will be doing this twice a week to start off.  Sunday was my first trial and today, Wednesday is my second. I spent about 2 hours each of these two days, simply cutting, clipping, and planning. 

4.  Figure out how much of your weekly/monthly budget can go towards "stockpiling".  

The point of couponing in my opinion is to save as much money as possible.  This means buying things when and only when you have coupons and to really get more bang for your buck, when these items are on sale.  This means buying them even when you might not necessarily need them.  They will be there when you do, though, and you will have paid a fraction of their true cost. My suggestion for you is to use about 10% of your weekly shopping budget dedicated to this.

This week, we were able to "stockpile" dry cereals.  We had multiple coupons, our local grocery was doubling coupons up to $1, AND two of the major brands were on sale.  When it came down to the actual cents saved, I'm happy to report that we paid only about 1/3 of the full price (roughly about $1- $1.50) per cereal box.  I'm pleased with that outcome. Next point:

5. Be aware of what your local stores are doing sale-wise and coupon-wise each week.

Major supermarkets often have "double up" coupon days.  These means that they will double manufacturer's coupons up to usually a certain price (likely 99 cents or a dollar).  Read the circulars for each week. Plan accordingly, so you can double dip on savings, getting both the sale price and discounting it further with coupons.

If you take anything away from this post, it is just that.  PLAN.  If you plan accordingly, you will be successful.  That's all I have for part 1.

Next week I will share websites that make couponing easier and take some of the guesswork out of it.  I hope you will join me!

I also hope some of you will give couponing a try!  I saved $50 on my first shopping trip and I did it with only 1 hour of preparation and online coupons.  I know that when I shop for next week, I'll be better prepared and will likely double that. Let me know how it goes!

Good luck!

xoxo,

Evey Owner/Creator, Evey's Creations Tel: 201-281-6696  http://sweetsongbird.eveyscreations.com FB: www.facebook.com/EveysCreations G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/105370121686355288267/posts Twitter: @EveysCreations Instagram: @EveysCreations Hometalk: http://www.hometalk.com/eveya

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