Everyone has seen the latest obsession publicized on television- Extreme Couponing. Tune in weekly to see average men and women save hundreds, even thousands of dollars. Seems too good to be true? Well, it might be for you- as these extreme couponers spend tens of hours a week preparing for their weekly shopping trip, or perhaps it is a reality if you have the time to spend. Either way, coupons save EVERYONE money. I have always used coupons for retail, such as the 20% Bed, Bath and Beyond Coupons that arrive in the mail, however a few years ago, I began searching for coupons online on sites like WOW-Coupons.com and Retailmenot.com. By searching for a few minutes, I was able to save hundreds of dollars on clothes for both myself and my son, save hundreds on home and bedding purchases. Saving money made much more sense to me than spending more than necessary! Before I knew it, I began researching couponing, asking friends who I knew used coupons for everything and devised a system and began to learn the “tricks of the trade”.
I began to compile all of my coupons into an envelope, but after a while, it became difficult and frustrating to sift through my envelope while shopping. Now, all of my coupons are organized in a binder that zippers shut so that I do not lose any of the valuable coupons. Each and every coupon can be found in a clear plastic baseball card holder so that it is easily viewable and the binder itself is organized into many different categories which make scrolling through the binder easy (such as Milk/Dairy, Frozen Food, Fruit, Vegetable, Laundry Supplies, Retail, Restaurants, etc). This makes each and every shopping trip extremely easy! One might ask, where do I find all of my coupons? Every Sunday I buy the Daily Record, Star Ledger and Express Times. This ensures that I have different coupons. I spend approximately $4-$5 dollars on papers, but in one short trip I can make that money back very quickly in savings! I clip them all- for items like diapers, which I no longer use, I either send them to a friend or bring them to my sons daycare so someone else can benefit from the savings. Once a week, a coupon circular also comes in the mail- I always clip those too! Now, here is the benefit of living in Long Valley- within 5 miles- we have access to Shop-Rite ( which doubles coupons less than a dollar- easy way to make that $.50 into $1.00 of savings!), Target, which has their own coupons which can be found on their website- you have to print them out, but can stack them (meaning use both Target and manufacturers coupons on same item), in addition we also have Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS (all of which have their own coupons which you can stack with manufacturers and routinely have BOGO sales – Buy one, Get one). Example of stacking: Recently I went to Walgreens. Crest Whitestrips were priced at$25.00. I had a manufacturers coupon for $10 off Whitestrips. Then Walgreens had a coupon in their circular for $5.00 off. That made -$15 off the total price bringing my Whitestrips down to $10- a HUGE savings! Being a single Mom, $15 goes A LONG way! Val-Pak coupons are also very useful. We are so lucky to have plenty of savings within a short distance! In the weekly circulars, there are also very valuable coupons- like the 40% off any one item to Michaels. For any crafty lady (or man) or anyone with a child- Michaels can be a great source for crafts for entertainment, relaxation, the perfect matting and framing for your picture, and 40% off an item is a GREAT deal! I try to get there weekly and use my coupon for craft supplies for my son to keep him occupied as opposed to sticking him in front of the television- win- win for mom and kid! I also love the coupons to Dicks or Sports Authority. These coupons allow me to save money on sporting goods and running shoes- outdoor fun for everyone! All from a $1.50 paper! As you can see, the weekly newspaper provides a wealth of savings in many different capacities! The best part is ALL Of these stores are within a 20 minute commute of fabulous Long Valley!
For those new to couponing, your first step is to go to these stores and get savings cards. Savings cards are SUPER important because automatically each week you will get the sale prices of the items which are featured. You can also use coupons on TOP of these sales. Couponing can be time consuming, and overwhelming at first. However, if you go to certain websites (these are only a few examples), confusion can be made much easier.
Find out what's happening in Long Valleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Find out what's happening in Long Valleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
I definitely suggest an organization system so that you can easily view your coupons, or to search the stores circular (which is always available on their website) to see what sales are available that week and match your coupons to the sales, and bring only a list of what you intend to purchase and your matching coupons. There are many examples of organizers online, which can easily be found through a google search, I got my idea from a friend and its worked wonders! There are also many sites which map out exactly where all the sales are for each week and what coupons to use, which can take some of the time out of the equation for busy people. Coupons are virtually free money, and in a time where everywhere we look screams economic recession, we all should take every opportunity to use free money!
Hope my suggestions are helpful! I know they have been for me, I save hundreds and am very proud to be a “coupon clipper”.
