Couponing Tips

Finding Coupons
I listed some sites in a previous post, but I've really found it much easier to just rely on these email lists. They're great about detailing what various store specials are each week and how you can manage your coupons to get the best deals. Plus, when you follow links to print coupons, you're directed to many of those sites that I previously listed.

(Click on "Subscribe via email" or the envelope icons on each site)
Couponing101
Coupon Cravings
Southern Savers
Surviving the Stores
*Please note that each site sends an email a day

As far as getting other coupons, the majority come from the Sunday paper, a few from food boxes/mailers, some from turning in rebate forms (ie. the P&G campaign that ended recently), those emails/coupon sites, and manufacturer websites (you can sign up to get on email lists to companies such as P&G, Johnson & Johnson, WishBone, Kraft, etc)

Organizing Coupons
I've had a little coupon stack, and then a mini file divider pouch, and now a huge binder. Personally, I've found the binder works best for me because you can actually SEE all the coupons better without digging through them all. I've organized mine by expiration date (I tried the type of food method before, but I just couldn't keep up with their dates!) I just picked up some baseball-sized sheet protector pages (9 slots per page) to put them in:

Using Coupons
Unfortunately, the stores I go to don't offer coupon doubling - ie. Wal-Mart. Those sort of situations are where people get the big savings. You might check with your local grocery store - some offer coupon doubling on just certain days.

I've heard Walgreens will accept their coupon (they have monthly coupon books in the front of their store) + a manufacturer coupon for an item (maybe even multiples). Plus you can get "register rewards" back on certain items. We don't have a Walgreens close enough to us to go to often though.

We've averaged about $8-10 (out of $70 total) per week of savings just at Wal-Mart, which in addition to their low prices I think is pretty good. That puts us at over $400 saved per year. I'm starting to keep all my receipts beginning this month so I can really track it.