About a month ago, I signed up for a free coupon class that a lady in my area was hosting at her house. I took what she taught me, what I've found online and what I've learned from other couponers and found a way to make couponing work for me. I'm not going to be on Extreme Couponing anytime soon and I'm not planning to hoard a massive stock pile in my garage. This is just my way of saving money on things I would buy anyway. It might look complicated, but trust me, it really isn't.
Step 1: Get a Paper Subscription
The basic idea for couponing is buying items when they are on sale AND you have a coupon. Items usually go on sale every 6 weeks or so, so you want to buy enough to last you until the next sale. In order to do that, you need multiples of each coupon.
I signed up for a Houston Chronicle subscription. I receive the Wednesday/Sunday paper and 4 additional copies of the Sunday paper. It seems like a lot, but it was only $130 for 26 weeks and I've already made my money back with the amount I have saved from the coupons.
When I pull out the inserts, I don't clip any coupons. I just write the date on the front of each one (Red Plum (RP), Procter and Gamble (PG), Smart Source(SS)) and file them by date in an expandable file folder.
Step 2: Matching Coupons to Sales
There are tons of websites that do the work for you. They will post the current sales at a particular store and which coupons to use to get the best deal. Here are the sites I use the most:
- For HEB Deals
- For Kroger Deals
- For Kroger, Target, CVS, Walgreens, and More
- For Anything and Everything
And a few more that I look at occasionally:
I've found that the best deals are at Kroger. I also look at Target and HEB. I don't usually go to Walgreens, CVS, or Walmart, but I know a lot of people coupon there also. My suggestion would be to start with focusing on just one or two stores and learn their coupon policy. For example, at HEB, you cannot use their yellow in store coupon and a manufacturer coupon. That is one of the reasons I like Kroger better for couponing.
Step 3: Make Your Shopping List and Print Coupons
As I am looking through these sites, I make a list of items I want to buy. Some of the sites, you can click the little boxes next to the item and then print your list at the end. If you make your own list, be sure to include the store, the item, the sale price, and what coupons you will use. If there is a printable coupon, be sure to print it right then. You just click the link, select it, and click print. If it is your first time, you will have to install the coupon printer. You can print each coupon up to 2 times per computer. After you print the first one, just go back to the link and print the second one.
Here is how to decipher the matchups:
Purina Healthy Smile Dog Treats (7.4 oz) – $2.50 (thru 8/12)
Use $1.50/1 Purina Healthy Smile Dog Snack Package from 06/15 RP (exp 8/31)
Final cost is as low as $1.00
Final cost is as low as $1.00
What this is saying is that these dog treats are on sale for $2.50 until August 12th. If you use the $1.50 off of 1 item coupon from the June 15th Red Plum insert from your paper, you can get the item for $1.00. The coupon will expire on August 31st.
Sometimes they look like this:
Buy (5) Nature Valley Granola Bars (5-6 ct) – $2.50 (thru 8/26)
Use (2) $0.60/1 Nature Valley Granola Bars, Granola Thins, Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares or Breakfast Biscuits printable
And (2) $0.50/1 Nature Valley Granola Bars or Nature Valley Granola Thins Printable
And (1) $0.50/1 Nature Valley Granola Bars, Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares or Breakfast Biscuits from 08/03 SS (exp 9/27)
Or $0.50/1 Nature Valley Breakfast Biscuits from 06/29 SS (exp 8/23)
$1/2 boxes of Nature Valley or Fiber One bars (5-12 ct) Kroger Digital Coupon – Limit 5
$0.50/2 Nature Valley Granola Bars, Granola Thins, Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares or Breakfast Biscuits from 07/13 SS (exp 9/6)
$0.50/2 Nature Valley Granola Bars, Nature Valley Granola Thins, Nature Valley Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares (SavingStar Deposit)
Pay as low as $9.80, get back $3.00 OYNO
Final cost is as low as $1.36 each
Use (2) $0.60/1 Nature Valley Granola Bars, Granola Thins, Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares or Breakfast Biscuits printable
And (2) $0.50/1 Nature Valley Granola Bars or Nature Valley Granola Thins Printable
And (1) $0.50/1 Nature Valley Granola Bars, Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares or Breakfast Biscuits from 08/03 SS (exp 9/27)
Or $0.50/1 Nature Valley Breakfast Biscuits from 06/29 SS (exp 8/23)
$1/2 boxes of Nature Valley or Fiber One bars (5-12 ct) Kroger Digital Coupon – Limit 5
$0.50/2 Nature Valley Granola Bars, Granola Thins, Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares or Breakfast Biscuits from 07/13 SS (exp 9/6)
$0.50/2 Nature Valley Granola Bars, Nature Valley Granola Thins, Nature Valley Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares (SavingStar Deposit)
Pay as low as $9.80, get back $3.00 OYNO
Final cost is as low as $1.36 each
It looks a little crazy, but what it is telling you is that if you buy 5 boxes of these granola bars, they are $2.50 each until August 26th. If you print 2 of the .60 cents off of 1 item printable coupons, 2 of the .50 cents off of 1 item printable coupons and clip the $1 .50 off of 1 item coupon from the August 3rd Smart Source insert, You would pay $9.80 for all 5 boxes. Then you would get a coupon at the register (catalina) for $3.00 off your next order (OYNO). That makes your final price for each box $1.36.
Here are some other things you will see:
Here are some other things you will see:
- WYB - When you buy
- Ibotta, Saving Star, Checkout 51 - These are all apps that you can download to your phone. They work like a rebate. You buy the items listed on their app and then you submit your receipt for reimbursement. The only downside to these is that even if you buy 5 of an item, it will only reimburse you for one of them.
- Kroger Digital Coupon - These are manufacturer coupons that you load to your Kroger card from the Kroger website. Only load the coupons you are using that week and remove any old unused coupons. The reason is that if you have $1.00 paper coupon, but you loaded a $.50 digital coupon to your Kroger card, it will use the $.50 digital coupon first, and then you can't use your $1.00 paper coupon.
Once you have completed your list, go back to your expandable coupon file and print the coupons you will be using that week. Coupons vary from region to region, so if I don't have that same or a better coupon, I just mark that item off my list.
Step 4: Go Shopping!
I usually go to Kroger one night after work, separately from my usual Sunday HEB trip. I like to do it this way because it isn't as crowded so it's easier to focus. I'm overly organized, so I usually have my list and coupons in order by how the store is laid out. (I know I'm crazy! haha!) Sales and prices can sometime vary by store, so I only buy items that are on sale and close to the price I thought they would be. If I'm not going to buy something, I just put the coupon back in my purse and drop it back into my expandable file when I get home. As I put things in my basket, I set aside the coupons that I am going to use. When I go to checkout, I wait until they hit total to hand them my coupons. This will ensure that any catalinas will activate and print.
The majority of my savings has been from non-food items, shampoo, razors, toilet paper, dog food. This is mostly because I am so picky and we usually buy certain foods each week. However, I do try to plan meals around what's on sale at HEB. So far I've couponed at Kroger 3 times and HEB once. My first two trips to Kroger, I only bought a few items just to try this method out and I saved about $50 each time. My second trip I also got a $3 OYNO catalina. My third time to Kroger, I spent $82.51 and saved $106.67. I also received a $1 OYNO catalina, a $3.00 rebate from Checkout 51 and a $1.50 rebate from Saving Star. It was funny because my husband was walking through the store with me thinking I was crazy buying 8 bags of dog food and 5 boxes of granola bars ...until he saw the coupons being applied at the register and the final total. :) I did my first HEB trip this week. I only bought a few items, but I saved about $37, submitted a rebate for $1.50 on Checkout 51 and received a $10 OYNO Catalina.
I usually go to Kroger one night after work, separately from my usual Sunday HEB trip. I like to do it this way because it isn't as crowded so it's easier to focus. I'm overly organized, so I usually have my list and coupons in order by how the store is laid out. (I know I'm crazy! haha!) Sales and prices can sometime vary by store, so I only buy items that are on sale and close to the price I thought they would be. If I'm not going to buy something, I just put the coupon back in my purse and drop it back into my expandable file when I get home. As I put things in my basket, I set aside the coupons that I am going to use. When I go to checkout, I wait until they hit total to hand them my coupons. This will ensure that any catalinas will activate and print.
The majority of my savings has been from non-food items, shampoo, razors, toilet paper, dog food. This is mostly because I am so picky and we usually buy certain foods each week. However, I do try to plan meals around what's on sale at HEB. So far I've couponed at Kroger 3 times and HEB once. My first two trips to Kroger, I only bought a few items just to try this method out and I saved about $50 each time. My second trip I also got a $3 OYNO catalina. My third time to Kroger, I spent $82.51 and saved $106.67. I also received a $1 OYNO catalina, a $3.00 rebate from Checkout 51 and a $1.50 rebate from Saving Star. It was funny because my husband was walking through the store with me thinking I was crazy buying 8 bags of dog food and 5 boxes of granola bars ...until he saw the coupons being applied at the register and the final total. :) I did my first HEB trip this week. I only bought a few items, but I saved about $37, submitted a rebate for $1.50 on Checkout 51 and received a $10 OYNO Catalina.
~ Randi
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