How I Save

A lot of my friends have asked me how I collect my coupons and save on groceries.
My friend Regina turned me on to the websites below and gave me pointers on how she collects her coupons. I used her tips and read the many posts already out there and put together the best plan for myself.

I mostly use the websites: Southern Savers and The Krazy Coupon Lady

I found the step by step directions on The Krazy Coupon Lady the easiest to follow, but I also checked out books from the library about it.

I am also linked to The Krazy Coupon Lady, She Saved, Good Deal Divas and Frugal Coupon Living on Facebook. They list the latest deals and coupons for all kinds of things not just groceries.

The basic things to do are build up your stock pile and learn to stack your coupons and buy when there is a sale on. The stock pile took me about a month or two to build up and now I usually only buy things I use when they are on sale and I can get a great deal with my coupons.

Stacking coupons is where you use one store coupon and one manufacture coupon on the same item. If you have a store that does buy one, get one(BOGO) then it is even better.
Here is an example of the deal I did recently:

• Publix had Vlasic Pickles buy one, get one free.
• They are regularly $2.89 a jar so at BOGO they are about $1.45 a jar.
• I had 4 manufacturer's coupons for $.55 off one jar and 4 Publix store coupons for $.75 off one jar.
• I bought 4 jars of pickles, paid $5.78 for all 4, used 4 $.55 coupons ($2.20) and 4 $.75 coupons ($3) .
• So $5.78 minus $5.20 in coupons equals $.58 for 4 jars of pickles or $.15 a jar.

This was an extreme deal, but the do come along; and if you don't have to buy them when they are at full price because you have a stock pile, you can get these great deals.

You have to check your stores policy but most will allow you one manufacturer's coupon and one store coupon for each item even if they are BOGO. Also if your store doubles, that is even better. Florida stores usually do not, especially Publix in Florida.

Some coupons do have limits on the amount of items you can buy of the same like item and some stores will limit you as well. I found this beginners tip to be the most helpful in explaining the coupon fine print.

I know stock pile sounds scary but I found buy rearranging my cabinets and buying one free standing pantry (I don't have a walk in one anymore and I needed something with doors to keep Charlotte out) I had enough room to keep the bulk of the food items I stock pile. I probably have enough food at any given point to feed us for a month or two without really needing to go to the store. I also keep my stock pile of toilet paper, paper towels and laundry stuff in the laundry room (as I have always done) and my stock pile of personal care items is stored in my bathroom under my cabinets, because that make the most sense for me. There are also a lot of tips on the websites on how to organize and store your stockpile.

Ok, back to the coupons.
Every Sunday I check the Sunday Coupon Review website (Southern Savers lists it also) to see what coupon books will be in the paper.
I then buy 4 local papers and make sure they have all the inserts I'm looking for.
I found out that the St. Augustine paper doesn't always have all the inserts but the Daytona and Jacksonville papers do. The Daytona paper is less so I buy those.
I do find that it is best (at least here) to go early to get the papers as they do go quick.
Also if you live somewhere you can get a Sunday only or Weekend only subscription this will usually be less than buying them at the stand.
You can get multiple papers delivered to the same address and then you save yourself time and money. Just make sure that the paper you pick is one that regularly puts in all the inserts.

I like to be super organized with so I found using the binder system was the best for me. (other people file the entire insert into accordion type files, both systems are described on The Krazy Coupon Lady site).

I also found that I didn't want or need to keep coupons for things I don't buy or use (like dog food stuff and brands I don't use) I did in the beginning but I found that I never used the coupons and then I just had to pull them when they expired. If I think I want to try something, I will clip the coupon but the rest I just give away. (FYI: The expired ones can be sent to military bases overseas as they can use them up to 6 months after the expiration date.)

I made a coupon sorter from a piece of newspaper I divided into sections to match my binder using a sharpie and a ruler (that is an idea I found in a book from the library).

So during nap time or while I'm watching TV at night I clip my coupons:

• First, I match up the individual pages of each coupon insert into the matching groups of 4 and tear apart any that are double pages.
• I do this because I find it is quicker if I cut like coupons together, rather than each page individually.
• As I cut them I put them on the correct place on the sorter.
• Then when I am done I file them into my binder.
• As I am filing and organizing each section I try and pull the expired ones as well.
• I also group coupons for the same item together with the ones expiring sooner to the front. This includes store coupons that match manufactures coupons so I know when I have double coupons.

This how I organized my binder:

• I have a 2 or 3 inch Mead binder folder that has a zipper and a handle.
• It also has a flap on the outside with a zipper pocket, two regular pockets and a pen loop. I use this to keep my calculator, scissors, pens and pads in. I also use it to put my shopping list and coupon folder for that shopping trip so it.
• It also has pockets and pen loops in the inside front and back flaps. I use these for extra pads or other things that I don't have room for in my binder.
• I have my coupons divided into sections that mirror the aisles at Publix b/c that is where I shop most.
• At the front of each section I have a page protector with the name of the section and what can be found in that section, i.e. Dairy: Milk, Cheese, Beer, Pizza Crusts, Yogurt. This reminds me what is on that aisle Beer and Pizza Crusts are not Dairy but they are on that Aisle at my store so it works for me.
• I also bought some stick on tabs and I have a tab with the section name stuck to this page.
• Behind each section divider I have 1 to 4 baseball card holder sheets (like page protectors but with 9 baseball card slots).
• I have my binder divided into these sections:

1. Dairy
2. Juice
3. Canned
4. Grains
5. Ethnic
6. Fruit (canned/dry)
7. Candy
8. Condiments
9. Baking
10. Snacks
11. Breakfast
12. Drinks
13. Salty Snacks
14. Cleaners
15. Air Fresheners
16. Laundry
17. Dishwashing
18. Paper Goods
19. Baby & Pet
20. Personal Care
21. Body & Hair Care
22. Feminine Care
23. Oral Care
24. Medicine
25. Frozen
26. Fresh
27. Deli
28. Miscellaneous
    
29. Policies
    

• The order may seem strange but it matches my store's floor plan.
• I found that some area's could be combined because there are not coupons for those things (like all of canned which includes veggies and soups and covers two aisles)
• Where others like the health care products needed several sections even though most of it is on one aisle. (hence all the "care" sections). I may be splitting cleaners into sub section too as well because there are a lot of coupons for cleaning products.
• Inside the binder I also have some 3 ring pockets so I can keep sales papers, coupons I need to refile and my coupon sorter.
• The last section is the Policies section where I have printed out the coupon policies of the stores I shop at so that I can refer to them in case of issues

Going Shopping:
Publix starts a new sales on Thursdays here. I don't always go that day but I do usually head over to Southern Savers and make my list. I like their list because it is interactive and allows me to check off the deals I want and create a printable list. It lists out the coupons, which insert (including date) the coupon was in, any printable coupons (with links) and then tells you which ones will get you the best deal.
When I am ready to go to the store, I get my list and then check the other sites (like The Krazy Coupon Lady) because I have found that sometimes they have other deals listed.
Then I get out my coupon book and match up the coupons for the deals I want.
I circle the ones I need to print and go back and print them (you can usually only print 2 of each one before you reach the limit).
Then I write out my list.
Next to it I put how many of each item I can buy and I also list the final each price and total I am going to pay price.
At the end I total up the amount so I can see about how much I should be paying.

I know this seems like a lot and in the beginning (getting set up and finding out the best system for me) it did take some time. But now that I have it streamlined it really doesn't take up that much of the week and the money I save is well worth it.