Couponing 101: The Basics

It's a snowy day here in the Northeast, so here's a longer post to keep the cabin fever at bay.

Many of you have asked for a Couponing 101, so here are the basics. More specifics (e.g., Couponing 101: CVS) to come!

Where to Get Coupons

The key to getting good deals is, well, having coupons! Multiples of each type of coupon is helpful, at least two is ideal, and then you can get multiples of each product.

1. Newspaper: Get yourself the good old Sunday paper. There are coupon inserts in the Sunday newspaper (or Saturday depending on where you live) most weeks (usually not holiday weekends). In my area, Groupon often has deals for the Sunday only paper. A Groupon to get coupons—a couponer’s dream!

2. Online: Sites like coupons.com and redplum.com offer similar, and sometimes better, coupons than those in the newspaper. You can print two per IP address.

3. Store Websites: Stores like Target and CVS have store coupons that you can print from their website. These coupons are only good at those stores, although some stores may accept competitor’s coupons.

4. Email: Sign-up for your favorite stores email lists. Many send coupons regularly, especially if you have outlet stores near you.

5. In Stores: When you’re shopping, keep your eyes open for products that have coupons on them, peelie pads of coupons hanging on shelves and those nice machines that spit coupons out at you (sometimes called “blinkies”).

6. In Packaging: After you buy a product, look in the package or on the inside of the package (especially cardboard packaging) to see if any coupons were included.

7. Libraries: Just when you thought libraries couldn’t get any better than free books…some even have containers of coupons. In a library near me, patrons bring in coupons they do not want and the coupons are sorted into containers by item type. This is an excellent way to score multiples of each type of coupon you are looking for. Just be courteous and leave some for everyone else!

8. Friends/Family: Ask your friends/family who get the newspaper if you can have the coupons they don’t want.

What is Stacking?      

Stacking makes the deals go ‘round. Stacking is the couponing term for using multiple deals on one product. For instance, say there is a product you want and it is on sale, you can stack the sale price with a manufacturer’s coupon and a store coupon for a triple stack (1. Sale price savings, 2. Manufacturer’s coupon savings and 3. Store coupon savings). Stacking is the key to getting free (or really cheap) products.

Sale Cycles

Sales often go in cycles, so if you miss out on a deal be patient. The sale will come back around again. I’ve heard a typical sales cycle is 6-8 weeks, but it can vary depending on product, time of year and if the product is new or discontinued.

If the coupons don’t align, wait until the product is on sale again. Chances are there will be a coupon in the future.

How I Learned to Coupon

When I was learning to coupon almost two years ago, there was a lot of trial an error. I read a few books (the one I found most helpful was Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey by Joanie Demer and Heather Wheeler AND it was at the library) and visited their website thekrazycouponlady.com frequently. The website outlines deals at each stores and tells you where to find the coupons to make the deals work.

I used krazycouponlady.com a lot when I began couponing, but as time went on I became more independent. I also found that, since that website is based on the other side of the country, coupons they had and deals they found were not always available where I live. So, I started looking at the ads myself and going to stores on a weekly basis to scout out deals. It can sometimes take a lot of brain power to make a deal work, especially if the deal is more involved. Sometimes, you will need to buy one product in order to make the entire deal with multiple products worth it…but if the store is out of that one product you either have to go to another store, try again next week or spend more than you planned on. It can be easy to let yourself get frustrated or discouraged, but you have to remember that it’s just couponing! You were spending money on these products before so be grateful that you can sometimes save money on them now.

Couponing Tips

1. Pick a one or two stores and stick to them. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by trying to get every deal at every store. It will get old fast and you’ll end up hating coupons.

2. Bring the coupon policies. You can print each store’s coupon policies from their websites. It’s always good to have the coupon policy on hand in case the associate questions your use of coupons.

3. Be patient. Deals don’t always work out, products will be sold out, you won’t find the coupon you need, etc. Remember that sales always cycle back around so changes are you’ll get the deal next time (and if you have a stockpile at home, you’ll feel less pressure to make the deal happen. More on stockpiling soon!)

4. Back away if the deal doesn’t work. If a coupon isn’t working properly or an associate won’t accept your coupon, politely end the transaction. You don’t want to spend more than you were planning on—the sale will cycle back again!

5. Don’t spend money on stuff you don’t use. Don’t buy products just because you have a coupon, only coupon for the stuff you use. I’ll sometimes get an extraneous product if it is necessary to make a deal work and it won’t cost me any money. The goal is to save money, not buy unnecessary things.

6. Ethics/manners. Always use coupons ethically. Don’t use a coupon for any purpose other than it’s intended one. If we don’t use coupons properly, companies will stop producing coupons. Also, don’t clear a shelf of all the product, leave some for the rest of us to get the deal! If there’s only two of something left, go ahead and take both, but if there are 20 of something, don’t take them all, take 10. Ten is still plenty!

7. Donate items. When you can get stuff for free that you won’t need, think about going ahead with the deal and donating the products. In the summer of fall of 2013, I got over 100 cans of shaving cream for free. Yes, FREE. I kept a bunch for myself, gave some to friends and donated a lot to a homeless shelter.

8. Donate coupons. If you have coupons that are expired or you know you won’t use, consider sending them to the military. Military posts allow service members to use coupons overseas. Sites like Troopons.org have instructions for how to send coupons to service members.

I hope you found this helpful. Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about couponing!