Couponing 101: So I have all these coupons, now what?

The idea behind couponing is to match the lowest sale price on the item with a coupon to maximize your savings. So it’s important to start watching sales on items, and figure out about how often or what times of the year items usually go on sale.
One thing that I wish I had known as a newbie couponer is unless a coupon makes an item free, wait about 3-4 weeks to use a coupon. That is normally when the best sales will be to match up to your coupon. That is not always the case, but in my experience sales the first week a coupon comes out are not normally the best deals to use a coupon on, unless it’s free because you can’t really get a better deal than FREE.
So to start out learning your price points, the amount at which you buy a lot of an item, make a list of what your family uses on a regular basis. It helps if you aren’t brand specific, but if you are like my family there are certain items that you are brand loyal. Here is a small list that I keep for my family
Sears Family Items
-toothpaste
-toothbrushes
-pasta
-pasta sauce
-Rice Dream Rice Milk
-Schick Hydro 5 Razors
-yogurt
Start with one item on your family’s list, and become an expert at finding the best deals! I started with health and beauty items, because they are generally a lot easier to get for cheap or free.
Take toothpaste for example, my price point on toothpaste is FREE. I never pay for toothpaste. There are so many specials and coupons out there to make toothpaste free that I NEVER pay for toothpaste. Here’s an example next week.
Next week Colgate MaxClean, Smart Foam, MaxWhite, or Max Fresh Toothpaste is on sale for $2.77 and then you get $2.77 in Extra Care bucks.
You do pay $2.77 out of pocket for the first tube, but then you get $2.77 back. You can do this twice. So you would get 2 tubes of toothpaste pay $2.77 OOP and get $2.77 to spend on another purchase. So FREE toothpaste!
The key with toothpaste is buying enough to last your family until the next time its free again. This part is a learning process. Sometimes you will buy too much, which is actually great because you can donate the extra tubes. Other times you won’t buy enough. The important part is keeping in mind how many you bought and learning from it the next time you try.
So go out there into the great savings world, and become the expert. Conquer those sales, score those free deals, and remember take it one deal at a time. Until next time!