Coupons

So, I got A LOT more response on the coupons then I thought I would!  :-) Which is awesome! 

A few of you have asked me how to get started with couponing so I thought I would do a post on that...

First you need to get some coupons!! Here is where I go:

* Coupons.com
*Smartsource.com
*Redplum.com

I also buy multiple papers(Knox) on Sunday and then friends/family give me more inserts :-)

Now is where the logic comes in DO NOT use those coupons until that item is on SALE!! Don't just go get that item because you have a coupon for it. You have to wait on the sale.
Once an item that your family uses a lot of goes on sale and you have a coupon you "stock up" on that item! For instance when I first started couponing there was a $3 Nivea body wash coupon. Well, that body wash was $3 at Walmart, so it was free!! I had lots of those coupons so I stocked up on that for both me and my husband.
In my previous post you saw 40 boxes of pasta, that pasta was part of a mega deal at Kroger. If you bought 10 the price was .49cents. I had coupons for $1/2boxes, So FREE! :-)

I encourage all of you to check out Southern Savers toward the top of the page she has a section that says "Going Nuts?"  Click it and it will tell you how to get started and coupon abbreviations etc...

Now I am going to show you what I got for Mothers Day this year... I asked for this and it was EXACTLY what I wanted!

This is my coupon binder. It is a 3inch 3ring binder and its FABULOUS!!  :-)

I use baseball card sleeves to organize the coupons

I also use these PLASTIC dividers (do not buy the paper ones they will tear) Here are my categories..everyones will be different but these are mine and I put them in order to the lay out of the store I go to the most

• Produce/Meat/Bread
• Dairy
• Packaged(Pasta,Sauce,Canned veggies etc...)
• Baking (Cake mixes, spices, sugar etc...)
• Organic
• Condiments
• Breakfast
• Junk (Chips,Candy,Cookies,etc...)
• Beverages
• Frozen
• Paper Products (I also include Foil,Ziploc etc...)
• Cleaning
• Laundry
• Smellys
• Men
• Woman
• Kids
• Non-Food
• Pests/Pets
• Medicine
• Restaurants

It gets full pretty fast! :-)
This binder also has a pocket in the front

Behind the pocket there is a accordion style filing( I use these to save my receipts)

It also has a zipper pocket to the accordion file on the outside

This binder was $20 at Staples
I got the dividers at Walmart  8pk for $3.22
 Also my first binder I got at Walmart was a 1 and 1/2in for $ 2.64. This will work I just wanted one with a zipper! :-)

Now once you have your coupons and have them organized this is where you go

• Southern Savers
• Hip2Save
• Coupon Katie
• Saving with Amy
• Mojo Savings

And there are many more. These sites tell you where to find a coupon.They give you the deals at your grocery stores and how to match up the coupons to the sales at the stores that week. Also "like" them on Facebook and you can stay up-to-date on the latest coupons to be printed!

When I first started couponing I was crazy obsessed...I have calmed down a lot. I have been TRYING to only make 2 trips a week. First thing Sunday morning for the beginning of the sales and Fridays for the end of the sales. Some of these sites will give you "previews" so you know what coming and you have time to prepare.
 A lot of people ask me when do I have time to do this? Well as of right now I am at home all day. So when my youngest goes down for a nap I check to see if there are any new coupons to be printed, check my email etc..  Then at night when my kids go to bed I do the same and work on my blog and watch TV etc...   :-)