Couponing help

[azarmygf]

I just started couponing a few weeks ago, but I feel like I suck at it.

I get the newspaper, I print out coupons, and I have a binder full of them.

I'm having a hard time actually using the coupons though. I always feel like the coupons are for stuff I don't necessarily use, but that I could use. I also have no idea whether something is a good deal or not.

Also, I feel like I'm buying a ton of snacks. Like last week I got a bunch of chex mix and toaster streudels for like .50 each. Thats fine and great, but DB has already eaten almost all of the chex mix, because if there is chex mix he can't control himself.

I'm lucky because Fry's makes every coupon worth $1, so that makes it easier when grocery shopping. The confusion begins when I branch out to CVS and Target. I try my hardest to use some local couponing blogs, but I still feel like I'm barely using any of my coupons.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for, maybe some tips and support?

[missinghim]

Have you tried couponmom.com? It's free to join, but the site is a little hard to navigate. It's great for telling you EXACTLY what to buy with your coupons. It tells you the percentage off, how much it will be before and after coupon, how many coupons to use, etc.

[360Sweetie]

One of the top rules in couponing is dont buy things you dont normally buy just because you have a coupon for it. I know when I go to walmart with coupons I check how much their store brand is for an item up against the coupon item to see what is cheaper.

[glg_girl]

When I get coupons I always make sure to ONLY cut out ones of products I buy regularly. (olive oil, shampoo, etc). There's no point in saving one of products you wouldn't have bought without the coupon. Secondly, sit down with your store's ad each week, match coupons to sales to maximize dollars. For instance last week cheerio's were on sale, and I was able to stack the coupons and the sale to get two boxes for free. (We blow through cereal quickly here).

Secondly, ALWAYS check to see if store brand is cheaper than the name brand+ coupon. We have had a few items we got coupons for, only to see that buying store brand would save us even more money.

[azarmygf]

Have you tried couponmom.com? It's free to join, but the site is a little hard to navigate. It's great for telling you EXACTLY what to buy with your coupons. It tells you the percentage off, how much it will be before and after coupon, how many coupons to use, etc.

Thanks. I subscribed to the emails.

One of the top rules in couponing is dont buy things you dont normally buy just because you have a coupon for it. I know when I go to walmart with coupons I check how much their store brand is for an item up against the coupon item to see what is cheaper.

The thing is that they're not really things I wouldn't use, its just stuff I would never think to buy. Like I don't usually buy fruit snacks, but if I did buy them I would use them for lunch. So if I see snacks that are a good deal then I'll get them because they're something to eat, KWIM?

When I get coupons I always make sure to ONLY cut out ones of products I buy regularly. (olive oil, shampoo, etc). There's no point in saving one of products you wouldn't have bought without the coupon. Secondly, sit down with your store's ad each week, match coupons to sales to maximize dollars. For instance last week cheerio's were on sale, and I was able to stack the coupons and the sale to get two boxes for free. (We blow through cereal quickly here).

Secondly, ALWAYS check to see if store brand is cheaper than the name brand+ coupon. We have had a few items we got coupons for, only to see that buying store brand would save us even more money.

I do the ad matchups, and use coupon blogs that match them up for me. What always happens is that I get to the store and there are a million things they didn't advertise on sale, then I get confused . Or like yesterday I went to CVS and Target and they didn't have a bunch of the things I wanted to get for free. Like they just didn't carry them, or I couldn't find them.

With the store brand stuff, I know that for a lot of stuff, there will eventually be a sale on the name brand that will bring it down to the price of the store brand. Its just that I never know when thats going to happen. So many times I've bought something like ketchup, knowing I'm all out, but then don't use ketchup for like 5 days and then the ketchup goes on sale, and I'm like crap why didn't I just wait.

[gp31908]

Go to savingwellspendingless.com she is amazing!!!!!

[msyut]

We had that issue here and stopped it, I started only using the coupons for things we actually eat or use. Coupons are mostly snacky foods but youc an get a lot of cleaners and personal items too.