MY couponing 101~Just a little tidbit.

I feel the need to vent very badly, even though I'm struggling like crazy to see. I just have to say to you NEWBIES out there entering the Coupon World, here's some tips for you. Please don't judge couponers based on the Extreme Couponing Show. It's wrong to judge others. Furthermore, don't label us either. We're all here to learn, not judge. I am tired of people basically either saying couponing doesn't work, or basically bashing couponing. 

Have you ever thought that maybe you might not be couponing the 'right' way? Yes, there's a "right" way to coupon, the ONLY way.

Follow some helpful tips here:

• Organize your coupons FIRST before getting a whole lot of coupons. If you *don't do this, you'll feel quite overwhelmed, then you won't be able to find that 'right' coupon when the item goes on sale or when you really need to buy it.
• Don't buy so many papers. Start with 4 papers generally per week. Coupons come and go all the time. If you need more than 4 papers, so be it, buy them, however, remember the time involved with organizing them or 'will you really' use those coupons? Stick with reality here.
• CLEARLY label your organizer that you organize your coupons in. I organize ours by store aisles. Thus being able to find things more easier. So when you're sorting your coupons after clipping them, you can sort "Paper/plastics, Meds, Breads/Breakfast" etc. Thus, making it easier to stack those coupons into a pile for each section of your binder or however you store yours. We prefer the binder method, yes, it gets heavy, but it's the easiest way to coupon and the fastest too.
• Plan your weekly trips. Not only have a general list of items you need, but also, search the Internet for CVS deals for April 1st to April 7, 2012. Or whichever store you're shopping at. You'd be amazed at what you'll find.
• Search magazines, Women's Daily, All You, Parade are just a few magazines with coupons in them, you'll enjoy what you find. 
• Get your coupons out that you're using for that week. I use a 3 pocket sheet protector in my binder. One pocket: Coupons to use. Another pocket: Coupons Used, the third pocket, Coupons to refile that I didn't use and thought I would or they didn't have the items.
• Doing this will save you time and money. Remember to read your coupons and buy exactly what you need to get that's on the coupon. Pay close attention to dates, sizes, quantity, limits, etc.
• Print out your lists for each store that you go to. 
• Don't *ever* let the amount of a coupon keep you from buying that item. Even if it's .20 or .25, or 1.00, no matter WHAT the coupon price is for, don't let it keep you from buying that or making you think you can't save. Or the coupons that say, Save $1 when you by 2 of this or that. Don't make it ever make you think you're NOT saving anything because you ARE! I'm proof of that. 
• Years ago, I worked for Eckerd. I raised $3,750.00 *ALL* on my OWN for Children's Miracle Network. How? I asked people to donate $1.00 to CMN. Most were kind and did. Others that didn't want to donate $1.00, I asked if they'd like to donate their change. That change added up FAST! I was ecstatic that I did that on my OWN. I helped those children that I visited in the NICU. I'm very PROUD of that and I'd do it again if I could. Change ADDS up in your piggy bank, in your change jar, it *all* adds up. Think of those small amounts on those coupons as the change you're saving, then you're saving more by not having to buy it as often. 
• Having a *small* stock pile really, truly does help. We're stocked up on toothpaste, mouthwash, etc. Those are things we don't have to buy now. We can donate those coupons for that stuff, and focus on other things we need, such as meat or other items, gas for the vehicle, a bill payment, or money for savings.

Here's my response to someone commenting on couponers:
FYI: To those that don't think you can do well with coupons, I got news for you. A: YES it *is* a LOT of work to coupon. B: Yes, you have to spend some to save some. But you're going to spend $ on that stuff anyways right? So why not save even $4, $5, $10 or more? Do it this way, try it out. Say you saved $5 on something. Go home, put that $5 into your change jar. Place it where you won't spend it or see it. Each time you 'save' $ at the store, do this. Then at the end of the month, count how much you saved. You'd be amazed how much cash you'll save doing this but also, even with coupons, how much more you'll save. If you use your coupons the right way at the right time, you can actually get paid for leaving the store with those items. C: Yes, you *can* save A LOT by couponing the 'right' way, making sure your coupons match your items, searching for deals, etc. We save weekly unless we don't shop, but then we're still saving. And D: YES, you CAN get stuff for FREE!!!! We're proof of it! Here in Central TX where they DON'T double coupons, we still SAVE. No stores here double at all, making it *that* much harder for us to save money, much less get anything for free. We're not expecting it for free, but free is better if you can make it happen and learn ways to make it happen. Again, it's all how you *use* your coupons. 


We got free stuff at CVS and we've done it a few times. Except this particular trip, we're very pleased about because we didn't plan it. CVS has a program called Extra Care Rewards. Or aka: Extra Care Bucks, aka: ECB's. By purchasing items the weeks previously to this trip, we managed to save up about $120-$125.00 in ECB's. ECB's are 'bucks' they pay you back for buying certain items when those items are on sale. You can then use those ECB's to pay for your next transaction or save them(we save them) for one big trip, as we did here.


We went to CVS, nothing planned out, just went there to use just a few of our ECB's that were expiring soon. We stayed there all night long(not intentionally, but ended up doing so), and got $286.00+ of stuff completely free. We paid $4.66 out of pocket(OOP), got back $46.00 in ECB's($40 of that was in American Express Gift cards--we're using for vacation), PLUS we ended up leaving the store with everything FREE, and got PAID $41.34 to leave the store with it. It was well worth the time we spent and the efforts we put into it. To this day, we still don't have to buy toothpaste, dish soap, hand soap, toilet paper, paper towels, deodorant or laundry soap along with many other daily things we use daily. Saving us THAT much more each month off our grocery bill. Yes, it's TOUGH to do this, YES, you DO have to spend some $$$$, but also, if you do it right, you SAVE money too.


We once went to Walmart, got a basket full of stuff--Total= $127.34 Before coupons. After Coupons: $39.17. Saved $88.17. So you *can* save a *lot* of money. These trips aren't easy. They take time to sort, organize your coupons, find the deals, etc. There's no way I could do this in 30 minutes. But it *is* possible to coupon and save THE RIGHT WAY making sure you have the exact products, types, sizes, quantities, etc., and taht you're using your coupons correctly.


If you learn it, it's not so bad and you'd be very thankful to save as much as we have. It's truly helped us with our bills, thank God. There's more ways to get coupons too other than in the mail flyers and such. Writing companies, Internet coupons, magazines and more.


Again, it's a bit of work, but once you have your way of organizing them, the lingo down, where to find them, have patience, you'd be really thankful for them. We've also gotten $400 free for hotel rooms, gotten free gift cards, etc. We're so blessed and I'm very thankful to have discovered the world of couponing and how it works. It's truly helped us. Furthermore, NOT everything will be FREE, nor will you save 100% all the time on your transactions. It's *how* you use your coupons, when you use them, etc. Don't believe you're going to get paid leaving the store each time either. Trust me, it's work, but it's also how dedicated are you to saving your family money? My sweetie is the LAST person I'd ever thought would coupon. He's no skeptic anymore. He knows like I do that we can save a good amount of money each month. It's all how you do it. Feel free to ask questions here or help. But don't knock down the couponer. Most of us are very honest people trying to save honestly but there are some greedy shelf clearers out there that make us honest couponers unhappy because they basically label the rest of us good couponers and make it harder for us to coupon because companies change their policies so much. Same with those that misuse coupons too. By misusing them, I mean buying the wrong product with that coupon knowingly. Don't judge a couponer by their cover or what others say. I wish I could take you all on a trip with me couponing, so I could teach you all more. Maybe I can get my sweetie to video one of our trips for you. How would you like that? Remember, any questions, feel free to ask me anytime. Have fun, happy clipping & couponing. Remember, you can always message me here on FB or on the blog to ask questions. Have a blessed day!