Couponing 101

You have to crawl before you walk… I’d suggest starting off slow and get your footing when beginning to coupon.  What does that entail?  Well here what I would suggest…

Start with 1 or 2 local store that you frequent.  You can always increase as time allows, but start small so that you don’t become overwhelmed with the process!

Start gathering newspaper inserts, printing coupons, and/or clipping coupons for items that you may use/need. As we mentioned before, there are several resources where you can grab coupons, so take advantage if you can!  And remember, most printable coupons can be printed twice! 

Begin reviewing the store’s weekly ads to see what’s on sale, etc. Once you start getting comfortable with using coupons and purchasing items in this fashion, you can start increasing the amount of coupons that you collect (eg. find/purchase several newspaper inserts, and printing out multiple coupons).  Slow and steady wins the race… no need to jump in and try to score BIG on your first “go” at it, it’ll almost always lead to “coupon frustration”.

Big savings take time (and effort), so the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it!

To keep yourself organized and to prevent becoming overwhelmed, you’ll want to figure out a coupling system that works best for you.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO STORE/KEEP MY COUPONS?
It really depends on your personal organization habits.  Whether it’s in dated folders, binders, envelopes or a combination of the sorts… organization is key!  You need to keep them in a manner that will allow you to get to the coupon of interest FAST!

Keeping the coupon and coupon insert organized by name and date works best for me. So when you see on my posts 7/19 SS this stands for the Smart Source Coupon Insert from July 19th. This way you can just print shopping lists from my site and head over to your coupon inserts and just clip the ones you need!

Good luck and HAPPY COUPONING!!

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WHAT ABOUT INTERNET COUPONS?

Printing coupons online has become a HUGE convenience for the frugal shopper! I thought it would be great to highlight just a few good tips for online coupon printing for those of you who may need a little help!

1. PRINT IN BLACK & WHITE- This saves on precious/expensive color ink!

2. RECYCLE your paper- Sometimes it may be that you have only used up a portion of a full sheet of paper while printing out your coupons… reuse it! You may have a time where you need to print out a coupon quickly, just use that paper to print it out!

3. Always PRINT 2 COUPONS- Most coupons, when printing, allow you to print up to 2 copies at a time! Every now and again, you’ll come across a coupon that only prints once, but just to make sure… always attempt to print it twice for double your savings!

4. At the beginning of each month, places like Coupons.com, SmartSource, Coupon Network and RedPlum usually RESTOCK/RESET their coupons, so it’s always nice to print out coupons for items that you use so that at the beginning of the next month they will be available again. I typically send out reminders at the end of each month to print these before they’re gone!

5. Always print Facebook and other High-Value Coupons RIGHT AWAY! For those that choose to print Facebook coupons, there are TONS of them! These often don’t last long so it’s best to print them as soon as you see them!

Happy Printing!!!

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When shopping around on King-Size Savings, you’ll see a variety of what we call “Coupon Lingo”.  What does 5/16 SS mean?? Or what’s an RR?  Well here is the Lingo decoded…

COUPON LINGO:

SS – Smart Source Insert
RP – Red Plum Insert
P&G – Procter & Gamble Insert
GM – General Mills
MFR – Manufacturer Coupon
SC – Store Coupon
B1G1- Buy One, Get One
WYB – When You Buy
MIR – Mail in Rebate
FAR – Free After Rebate
OOP – Out of Pocket
WFC – Weekly Flyer Coupon
$1.50/2 – $1.50 off two items
WAGS – Walgreens
RR – Register Reward (Wags)
FF – Firefox
ECB – Extra Care Bucks (CVS)
$1 RP 1/4 – $1 Coupon Jan 4th RedPlum

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Carie did a great job of explaining this…

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A STORE COUPON and A MANUFACTURER COUPON?

A store coupon is a coupon that can only be used at that particular store. For instance, if it has the target logo on it, it might say at the top Target Coupon, same with Walgreens in ad coupons. The nice thing about these coupons, are that you can “stack” them with a manufacturer coupon.

A manufacturer coupon will state that on the coupon and can be redeemed at any store that accepts coupons.

Now that you have your coupons, then it is time to match them with sale ads. The absolute best scenario is SALE+STORE COUPON+MANUFACTURER COUPON. That is when you save the most!
For example at Target:

Soft Soap Body Wash = $2.79 (regularly $3.49)

-I printed a Target Store Printable Coupon for $1 off Soft Soap Body Wash

-Because it was a Target store coupon, I could stack it with a $2 off Soft Soap manufacturer coupon from a Sunday insert that I had.

Final Price = FREE!

Shopping in this manner allows you to begin working on your stockpile! There are certain items that are good for stockpiling (typically those with long expiration dates—like deodorant, toothpaste, toilet paper, etc.)

When something goes on sale and I have a coupon that makes the item really cheap to FREE, you can bet I am getting as many as I can.

Keep your eye out for the sales, the same stuff seems to go on sale every 3-4 months. So if you miss a sale, don’t worry, chances are it will come back around J

Sales + Coupons = Stockpile

Lastly, please remember to be considerate when shopping. In my opinion, clearing shelves just because you can is a no-no.  Leave “a little blessing” for others behind you to take advantage of… we’re all struggling in this economy!

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The best way to coupon is to start off slow! As you do it more, you tend to become more knowledgeable of all of the in’s and outs and before you know it YOU ARE SAVING MONEY!

With that being said, in order to “coupon” you have to have coupons, right?? Here are a few tips as to where you can find coupons… I can just about guarantee that once you understand this, you’ll begin to notice them a lot more and will see coupons EVERYWHERE!

WHERE DO I GET THE BEST COUPONS?

The best places to get coupons are of course the Sunday paper, but there are many websites and magazines that provide excellent coupons.

SUNDAY PAPER: You can get the Sunday paper delivered (which is often a cheaper option), and depending upon your delivery service, you can get access to your Sunday ads and coupons before Sunday.  Or, you can just purchase them in-stores beginning Saturday mornings and have all weekend to buy the newspapers.

PRINTABLE COUPONS: We consistently link sites for printable coupons. You can always click on any of the coupon links on our page and scroll through and see if there are any coupons that appeal to you. Print what you want, but in most cases there a limits set as 2 coupons per printer. There are also national limits, so it’s best to print the coupon when you first see it as opposed to trying to wait for a sale only to find the coupon all gone.

MAGAZINES: ALL YOU magazine features coupons on almost every page, but also gives a lot of recipes and advice like most womens magazines.  Although they don’t have nearly as many coupons, other magazines are jumping on the bandwagon offering a few coupons as well (eg. Ebony Magazine, Latina Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, etc).

DIRECT FROM THE COMPANY- It often pays to contact a company directly to ask if they provide coupons to their loyal consumers. Oftentimes you can get great and high-value cents off coupons, or even FREE product coupons just by complimenting their products!

OTHER PLACES TO FIND COUPONS: When you are walking around the store, be on the lookout for peelies (coupons that are peelable off a product), blinkies (coupons that are in blinking machines near a product) and hangtags (coupons either hanging on or around a product).

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT COUPONS TO KEEP?
First and foremost…you CAN NOT be brand loyal and save a lot of money. You have to be flexible!  When going though coupons and deciding which ones to clip and keep, think to yourself…If I might use the item in the coupon and I can get it for really cheap to free, then I can clip and keep it. It’s that simple…I DON’T have to buy it, BUT if a sale comes up and I want to try it out, and I can get it cheap to free, why not keep the coupon???

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