I put up a question on IG a few weeks ago to see if anyone wanted a post from me regarding how we coupon in the D household. Well, I have had a few requests so I thought I would put together a simple {and hopefully helpful} series about the how, what and why of how we coupon. I am sorry this is so late, I can't blog on my iPhone {that keyboard drives me bat shit crazy} and our PC isn't working but we were recently gifted with a spiffy laptop by a sweet someone so that we could get back to normal until the PC is fixed! I really appreciate your patience :)
Please note, this only what WE do and I'm not trying to push my ways on you! If you don't want to do it, that's not gonna bother me one bit! I am just here to share what WE do and hopefully help others save more money in the process!
This post is going to answer a few basic questions I get about couponing....
"Why do I need to use coupons, can't I save money just by shopping sales?"
Yes, you can save money shopping sales alone but if you are looking to seriously slash that grocery bill, why wouldn't you use coupons ON TOP of shopping sales? It's not rocket science people, saving money is SUPER easy! I really wish I had known about couponing when I was younger because I know I spent wayyyyy too much on basically everything back then and I could have probably stashed away alot more cash had I been smarter at the store.
It's pretty basic, if you need spaghetti sauce and your grocery store has it on sale for 2/$4.00 {making each jar $2.00} and you have a $.75 cent off 1 jar coupon, using 2 coupons that means you will pay $1.25/jar instead of $2.00/jar. Now, if you have stores like we do that will double coupons {meaning they double the face value of the coupon up to a certain amount like $.50, $.75 or even as high as $2.00 at some places}, then you will be getting an even better deal! So you can make the choice, spend $2 on one jar of sauce or use coupons and SAVE that money!
"Why can't I ever find coupons for things my family actually uses?"
It's simple. You aren't LOOKING for them! Coupons are made for just about ANYTHING if you take the time to look. When I say anything, I mean it. Pens, tampons, printer paper, canned vegetables, lip gloss, toilet paper and light bulbs. They even make coupons for specialty items like milk, produce or meat {I will get more into that later}. That's just a pinch of what is out there if you take the time to look. In my next post I will explain HOW you find these coupons and how to make the most of them. Most people think that the majority of coupons out there are for junk and this simply isn't true. While yes, there are always coupons for soda, chips and cookies....there are more coupons for frozen vegetables, yogurt and other "non-junk" items than you think. You just have to be willing to take the time to find them. Our family has been able to stockpile on pasta, pasta sauce, deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo, canned vegetables, crackers, cereal and other items just by using coupons. It's safe to say we won't need toothpaste til 2016.
"I only like to buy certain brands of things because I know I can trust them. What if they don't have coupons for those brands? Can I still coupon?"
I know that most people are brand loyal, especially to certain items like peanut butter, toilet paper or ketchup. I totally get that and there isn't anything wrong with it. I was once brand loyal too and so was my husband. We still are. Sometimes we find coupons for the brands we love and sometimes we find coupons for products we love but aren't the brand we normally use and we have to suck it up and give it a shot. Usually we find that different brands aren't that far off of what we usually buy. It's called "stepping out of your comfort zone". If you aren't comfortable trying new things and fear your family won't like Brand X peanut butter because you have bought JIF for the past 14 years, that's totally up to you and you can still save money if you find JIF coupons but you are missing out on an opportunity to save even MORE money if you only stick to one brand of peanut butter. Remember, I am not telling you WHAT to do, this is just what WE do and you can give it a whirl or not give two poops about what I am saying, doesn't matter to me!
"How do you save money on things like produce, meat and milk? I never see coupons for those items."
This is a good one. It's true, there really aren't many coupons out there for these types of things and when we do find them we grab them because as I am sure you know those items are NOT cheap! When it comes to produce, we normally buy ours from a Farmers Market or farm stand on the side of the road because we know that by the pound, that produce is not only cheaper but it's usually alot fresher and we are supporting local businesses which is always a plus! When it comes to meat, we generally use our Sams Club membership to stock up because per pound the meat is always cheaper and we have 2 fridges and 3 freezers in our house so we buy meat in bulk to last a few months. If you don't have a Sams membership don't worry! You can still get deals on meat. Comparison shopping is key with things like meat and produce because even though your local grocery store might have meat on BOGO special this week, it might be a little cheaper to buy it in bulk at a warehouse store. Now, you might not have the storage space like we do so you might not want to buy 13 pounds of ground beef and that's totally ok! We also buy milk at Sams because it's gone up to over $4/gallon here in NC and when you have 5 people who consume milk, you want to get a good deal on it. {Tip: you can freeze milk if you want to buy more than a few gallons at a time but be sure you will drink it within a few months}Here are 3 of the best ways to find actual coupons for produce, meat and milk:
1) If you shop at Target, make sure you sign up for Target Mobile Coupons and Cartwheel. To get Target Mobile Coupons, simply go to the Target web page and click on the Coupons tab on the drop down box on the top right or if you are on your phone and have the Target app, it will be under "Coupons and Deals". You simply fill out your information and within 24 hours you should receive a text message from Target saying you are ready to start receiving coupons! They usually always have some sort of grocery coupons. Cartwheel is not really a coupon, it's more of a "mobile discount" and you can stack it with your mobile and paper coupons {Stacking? WTH? Don't freak out, we will get into stacking in future posts...but trust me, it's GOOD!} To sign up for Cartwheel, simply download the Cartwheel app on your mobile phone and most likely you will need to sign in with Facebook. I used it when it was still in BETA mode so I have had it forever. With Cartwheel you can find discounts on tons of products and grocery items like meat, produce and milk. I had one last week for 5% off Up&Up brand milk!
2) There's an app for that! Check your app store on your phone for the grocery stores you shop at. Both of the major grocery stores we shop at have apps and we have our store cards linked to the app so we can use the coupons the stores offer stacked {there's that word again!} with our paper coupons for more savings. Sometimes they will have coupons for deli meat, milk or produce.
3) Register coupons or "Catalinas." No, not the Catalina Wine Mixer...just Catalinas. Those pieces of paper you get when you check out that somehow eerily "know" what items you like to buy. We get so many of them from Target, Harris Teeter and BiLo every week it's not even funny. Don't throw them away as soon as you get them, go through them and see if anything you have is an item you buy currently or might buy in the future! You can sometimes stack them with your other coupons because they are considered store coupons and not manufacturers coupons. We usually get meat and milk coupons that way.
"Is couponing REALLY worth it? It seems so time consuming and boring."
I will be very honest with you, it IS very time consuming but to nerds like my husband and I, it's not boring at all! It does take a few hours of your time each week to sit down, sort the coupons, clip them and organize them but once you start doing it and see your savings, it becomes alot more fun and rewarding than it seems. My husband and I started out doing coupons together when we lived in our first house 4 years ago. We started out small and it's snowballed into something much bigger and right now he is usually the one to do all the clipping because I am taking care of the littles and don't have the time to help him. I know he thinks I am probably glad to not help, but I love couponing and seeing all the deals that are out there! Like I said, we are nerds and saving money to us is something really exciting! Grocery shopping is a family affair for us {say WHAT?} Yes, you heard me! We all go together, all 5 of us on the weekend with our coupon binder in hand and shopping usually takes an hour or more but it's so worth it when we get our receipt and see the 50% or more savings from one shopping trip!
I know I didn't get in depth with alot in this post, but I wanted to answer some basic questions on the WHYs and HOWs of couponing. In my next post, I will talk about how to get started with couponing {don't worry it will be baby steps...} and I will have pictures to share of how we do what we do so you can see exactly what goes into it. If you have any other questions that I haven't addressed here, please email me at thismommyofthree@yahoo.com and I will put together another Q&A post. I hope this helped shed a little light into the world of couponing and I hope you will stick around for the next post in this series!
XO
P.S. I also want to thank those who have commented on previous posts, I do appreciate the comments and I apologize that I haven't gotten back to you but now that I am back in working order I will be sure to reply to everyone!!! Love y'all!
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