Couponing Made Simple

ST. PETE BEACH- Married mother of four Christi Bassford used to go to big, discount stores and buy generic to try to save on her food bills. Now she buys national brands at the supermarket and saves 80 percent on her grocery bills. And she does it by just spending three or four hours a week couponing and shopping.

“Christi the Coupon Coach” shared tips to make couponing simple Monday night at the St. Pete Beach Public Library.

“The key is stacking. Buy on sale. Stack on a manufacturer’s coupon and a store coupon…whatever milk is on sale we drink it. We don’t want spoiled children. You can freeze stuff. We are flexible with what we eat,” Bassford said.

Bassford shared the 8 Step Process she developed to make couponing easy.

1. Buy Sunday Newspapers- Get them in multiples of two for the BOGOs So you can use a coupon on the item you are buying and the one you are getting for free. Web sites like www.SouthernSavers.com will tell you how many circulars and which ones will be in the paper. On some holiday weekends there are no circulars. For her family of six Bassford buys six Sunday papers for the coupons.
2. Pickup the store circulars of coupons. Organize all of the flyers by date. Don’t clip the coupons.
3. Use the Internet. Coupon web sites are a big help. Bassford likes www.SouthernSavers.com site because it shows you where to find additional coupons to go along with items on sale in the weekly grocery ad (many Tampa Bay area stores flyers are referenced on the web site).
4. Match the coupons to the sales. Bassford keeps the flyers and Sunday inserts in a large tub with a lid, organized by date. She keeps them whole because the coupon Web sites will refer to them by the date of the flyer. So having them in one piece makes it easier to use.
5. Organize the coupons from the flyers in a small portable accordion file. “My coupons are my grocery list,” Bassford said.
6. Shop and save. Bassford now saves about 80 percent on retail prices.  Bassford buys the amount she needs for about 10-12 weeks, that’s about how long it takes until the item will be on sale again. She said at first you might not have all the coupons you need because the stores of course don’t match their sales to the Sunday coupons. You can order old Sunday coupons at www.SundayCouponInserts.com
7. Wrap it up at home. Put away any unused coupons or new ones you picked up at the store right away. Bassford has three files- the large file for coupon/store circulars; the shopping trip file (which becomes her shopping list) and the cut coupon file.
8. Celebrate and share. Christi wrote a whole book- Christi the Coupon Coach - Couponing Made Simple: Simple Steps to Successful Couponing with details on couponing. Christi the Coupon Coach products can be purchased at www.Amazon.com or www.ChristiTheCouponCoach.com  Want to hear Christi the Coupon Coach speak.  She will be at Safety Harbor Library – Seminar and Book Signing - November 10, 2011   6:30 pm

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Words of Encouragement from Christi the Coupon Coach--Bassford encouraged participants to: start small; be flexible, share, and have fun!

 “Nobody owns couponing just like nobody owns math or music,” Bassford said.

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Types of Coupons- Yes, there are different kinds of coupons and they can be used together. The names pretty much explains the type of coupon, but Bassford shared some tips here as well.

Manufacturer- The coupon will say “manufacturer” on it, meaning it’s from the company that makes the product. These can be found in Sunday circulars and on the manufacturer’s Web sites.

Store- These come from the place where you shop. But many stores honor competitor coupons. Bassford shops at Publix, each individual Publix tells you, which competitor store coupons it will honor. On the beaches for example, the Publix in St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island and Madeira Beach all honor Sweet Bay and Winn-Dixie store coupons. The Treasure Island store also honors Target coupons and the Madeira Beach store also honors Save-A-Lot and Target.

“Blinkie”- These coupons come from the store shelve dispensers with blinking lights on them. Bassford normally holds these coupons in her loose coupon file for a sale.

Internet- These online coupons can’t be copied. Follow the directions and print only the number allowed per computer. Other sites Bassford likes for coupons include:

www.TheKrazyCouponLady.com 

www.HotCouponWorld.com

www.CouponTom.com

www.YourGreenHelper.com

Store Loyalty Coupons- Get a free card from the store and get coupons from dispensers in the store or by using the card.

Librarian Maryjane Hyatt organized the program. For more fall programs at the library see the flyer attached to this story or go to the library’s Web site http://www.stpetebeach.org/city-departments/public-library.html.