There are some things that couponers will share with you, but there are a lot more that they won't share. I'm not going to be stingy with what I know. I like to help people out when I can because a lot of people have helped me out when I needed it. And in this economy, we ALL need it!
- Look for Buy One, Get One free (BOGO) items. You can use a coupon for each item, even if it is going to be for free.
- Smaller coupons are better if your store has a limit on doubling. Most places that I've encountered here in the Southeast won't double over $1.
- Make sure you check out those store policies before you plan your shopping trip. You may find yourself in the checkout lane with a lot of stuff you don't want to buy if you aren't properly prepared.
- To help with your shopping trip, browse through the circulars online (or from your recent newspaper) and write out what you plan to buy that trip and how much it will cost you. Sometimes it's best to plan a long trip so that you can wander through the store to see what other sales they have. They don't always post all of their sales online.
- To get a good stockpile you will have to figure out the best way for you to gather multiple coupons. The cheapest and easiest way is to dumpster dive! It doesn't cost anything but time. I spend about 30-45 minutes a trip once a week and I usually come out with approximately 40 inserts. And you'll find that a lot of people DON'T clip coupons.
- Always bring your binder/accordian with all of your coupons in case you find something on sale that you didn't expect.
What the others don't tell you:
- You have to go to different stores to get deals on different things. I always liked going to Walmart for my shopping trips because they had everything in one place and their prices were low. Little did I know that there were things I could get elsewhere for even cheaper...or FREE.
- The couponers you see on TV usually took a long time to build their stockpiles. They usually invest 60+ hours a week to clipping and researching to prepare for their "hauls."
- Most of what couponers purchase are not your typical groceries. In order to buy things like meat (which there usually aren't coupons for), you have to accrue "overages" from using coupons that exceed the price of the item. But, once again you have to find out if your store will allow that.
