Having three kids, the holidays always tend to be a more expensive time of the year. I have to make every buck count! So I thought I would share how you can make your bucks go farther and get the most bang for your buck this holiday season!

1. Black Friday: Every one and their brother knows about Black Friday. Ok, well almost everyone. This is a great time to get amazing deals, but make sure you know how to score the really hot deals. I do this by starting to price the items I know my kid would like. I try to price them throughout the year so I get an idea of how much they cost normally. Then I am off to stalk the Black Friday ads. That way, I know if something is a really hot deal or not!

2. Free items: Even if something isn’t an amazingly hot deal, if it comes with a free item it might make it a hotter deal. Toys ‘r Us is really great at this. If you buy a certain dollar amount of toys, you get something free. Last year my youngest daughter was obsessed with Hello Kitty! I was able to get her some really neat items on sale that day, plus score 2 free Hello Kitty items. I saved over 85% with all the items.

3. Coupons: You may not know this, but there are actually coupons for toys. Watch your local circulars, online printing sites, and store coupons for awesome coupons with expiration dates through the end of the year. Use these coupons on top of really great sales to score even more!

4.Earn free gift cards: I swear by my Swagbucks, Mypoints, and Superpoints accounts. I am usually able to score at least $100-$200 a year in free cash and gift cards. If you aren’t a member of these sites, there is still time to sign up and score gift cards. Remember every dollar you earn in gift cards is money not out of your own pocket!

These are just a few tips to get you started! Crunchy Frugalista plans on having a great holiday gift guide as well as some hot tips on finding the hottest deals this year! Make sure to use these tips and watch Crunchy Frugalista to score some really hot deals this holiday season!

After the introduction of that “great” show TLC Extreme Couponing, and I use that term VERY, VERY loosely, there have been so many reports of unethical couponing happening all across the country. It really blows my mind how much people take the sensationalized aspects of television, and think that they can instantly do those things or that in fact they are even real life scenarios.

Don’t get me wrong, I love couponing, and I love everything frugal shopping has done for my family’s quality of life. You really at some point though have to ask yourself a question, are you couponing ethically? What do I mean about couponing ethically? Well if your gut is screaming at you that you are doing something wrong, then you probably are!

I am not one to get into the debate about how much of one type of product one household needs. When “Extreme Couponing” came out, there was a furor across the Internet asking why would one person need so much stuff. Names like “hoarder” among others were tossed around at the show’s participants. My two cents, is it’s nobody’s business how much someone else buys or if they need it or not. I just think that a few basics should be covered. If you are going to buy that much, don’t clear the shelves or make sure to special order from the store.  Other than that the quantity you purchase is really a personal decision. You never know what that person intends with the product and frankly it’s none of your beeswax . Let them do their thing, and you do yours. As long as you shop ethically don’t have to worry about anyone else!

The shelf clearing seemed to be the first ripple effect of the “Extreme Couponing” copy cats. The next one,  have to say that I am truly shocked about. I had read some articles about people stealing newspapers for the coupon inserts. There was even a recent article of a woman arrested after asking the store’s permission to take unsold papers. I read these articles and thought how sad, but never thought it would affect me.

I don’t normally buy papers locally because only one store carries the Indianapolis Star, which is the only “local” paper worth buying. Plus the store that carries it is on the other side of town. Well this week was a good coupon week, so I went to grab some papers. I checked the regular newspaper rack. I saw the New York Times, USA Today, and a local free paper, but no papers that had coupons in it. I was bummed. I thought they had sold out since I was there in the afternoon. Just as a last ditch effort, I asked the lady at customer service if they happened to have papers anywhere else. To my surprise, she told me they had to keep the papers behind the counter because some lady had been STEALING the coupon inserts. She even had the audacity to say she didn’t understand why it was stealing because people didn’t want them anyway!

Ok, woh, stop the presses! It’s not stealing???? These were papers that were not EVEN SOLD YET and still in the store! What blows my mind is that people don’t seem to understand that all this trickles down hill. If newspapers don’t get paid for their coupons, they will stop putting them in there at all. Where does that leave us?

I was lucky that I stopped to ask the customer service desk if they had more papers, but what about other people that just assumed, like I almost had, that they were sold out. Don’t get me wrong, I think there is absolutely nothing wrong getting inserts for free if you do it ethically. Ask your neighbors if they use their coupons, check recycling centers, coordinate a coupon exchange. There are some many ways to score free coupons without the black mark on your karmic slate!

So to end my rant I compiled Crunchy’s list of unethical couponing practices:

Using coupons for the wrong product: If it says a 6 oz jar, but it will scan for the 4 oz. that isn’t just unethical it’s coupon fraud. Trust me you don’t wanna go there.

Stealing Newspapers: I don’t care if it’s out of your neighbor’s driveway, abandoned houses, or the grocery store. This is definitely a karma no-no.

Copying printable internet coupons: These coupons are meant to be printed to the limit, and then that’s it. If you need more you can always go to great coupon forums to trade for more. This again is coupon fraud, and I don’t know about you I don’t want Mr. Policeman on my doorstep.

Teaching others any of the above as a way to coupon:  You may feel like you are doing nothing wrong, but eventually things like this roll down hill. That means less coupons and/or less stores that accept coupons. So if you are saving your family substantial amounts of money by couponing why would you jeopardize that, and on top of that why would you teach others to defraud the system too. Shame on you!

I don’t get on a soapbox very often, but this one is something I am passionate about. I love couponing, and I love how much it saves my family, but if just a few bad apples continue to lie, cheat, and steal to save a dollar they are going to ruin the entire system for all of us. So what do you think about this? Do you think it’s fair for a few to blatantly disregard the rules? Curious minds want to know.

If I had a dollar for every time someone said that couponing wasn’t worth it, or they just didn’t have the time to write to companies for coupons. I would be a very, very rich woman! My retort to that is you can’t afford not to! I try to write about 15 manufacturer’s a month and tell them how much I love their products. It is one of the essential ways to learn how to coupon! This is the absolute best way to score some amazing high dollar free coupons!! I thought I would take the time to show you where to find free coupons!

Every thing you see above are products and coupons I have received for FREE! About two weeks ago I took 20 minutes to email 15 companies to let them know how much my family loves their products. An easy way to get started is to go through your cabinets. Find products that you actually use, and search the web for their website!

Most company websites have a “Contact Us” section! I use this form to let them know how much my family likes their products. When contacting the companies make sure to take a little extra time and follow some tips.  Their are definitely some  key things you need to include to have the highest chance of getting a free coupon or two!

First and foremost be sincere! Take a second to think of something specifically you like about the  product. You would be amazed how far a sincere, specific comment goes. These companies get hundreds, if not, thousands of emails a day asking for coupons. Make yourself stand out from all those emails! On a side note, don’t specifically ask for coupons, this almost guaranteed to get you nothing from them.

Next, make sure to include your address and name. If the form doesn’t have a space for your address on it, make sure to include at the closing of your email. If they don’t have your address you can’t get coupons!

Here’s a sample email that I use when I write to companies with the goal of getting coupons.

Dear {Insert company’s name here},
I just wanted to let you know how much my family loves your {insert product name here}! We have been loyal users of {product name} for many, many years. As a mom to three busy kids (or other unique detail about your family), {product} makes my life so much easier. We specifically love {insert product specific comment here}.It’s nice to know that companies like you strive to make such a great, quality product that families can count on!

Sincerely,
Suzy Que
123 Main Street Anytown, USA 12345

The most important tip is to never give up! I get about 50% of companies that promise coupons. The other 50% just send “Dear John” thank you for contacting us notes. Of those 50% probably about 25% send coupons too, but just didn’t mention it.

Another thing to keep in mind is that just because someone else had success in writing a company doesn’t mean the will mail you coupons too. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to be Debbie Downer. Just want to let you know don’t take it personally. I have had several people ask what they are doing “wrong?!?” You might have just picked a few companies that weren’t giving out any more coupons or you asked directly for coupons which is a sure way NOT to get coupons. You might not get that company, but get lucky with another company that hardly ever sends coupons out. The key is to JUST KEEP TRYING. I can guarantee if you email 50 companies, you will won’t turn up empty handed.

Like I said, I emailed 15 companies about 2 weeks ago. From those 15 companies, about 10 responded to me. About 6 of those promised coupons. I have only gotten some of them, but all of the coupons had at least one FREE item coupon in it! For that 20 minutes I saved over $40 in FREE products. I don’t know about you, but I don’t make $120/hour! That’s how much it was worth for me to email those companies if you broke it down into an hourly wage!

Sometimes I get great results like this, other times I only get a few free coupons and the rest are “Dear John” notes without the coupons.It doesn’t bother me though, because even one free coupon saves my family money. This is a great way to make sure you are saving money even if you don’t see Sunday coupons that are really helpful for your family.

We Use Coupons, has a great list of a manufacturers from A-Z and link to their websites. This is the list I normally use if I can’t find the manufacturer’s website on my own. A good way to start is to start at the top, and email 15 a month! Try it for at least 2-3 months, and I can almost guarantee you will be tickled pink with all the coupons coming in your mail box! Just ask my mailman, I think he thinks he has a stalker as much as I wait for the mail to come everyday.

With writing to manufacturer’s for free coupons, you just need to know what to write about and coupons will come! It’s a little about faith, a lot about luck, and mostly about perserverance! It’s a critical point to learn when you are learning how to coupon!

Most people learn to couponing to save money, but they don’t learn the tips and tricks to save the most amount of money possible. Don’t get me wrong any money saved is a great thing, but wouldn’t it be even better if you could lower your out of pocket expense with just a few simple tips to follow! We all want to save the most amount possible right? I am going to share with you a few tips that I have learned over the years to get you to the absolute lowest amount spent out of your own pockets. The steps do take a little bit of extra time to prepare, but after you start seeing the savings rolling in, I am sure you will find it to be time well spent!

1. Multiple transactions: This is one tip that I never even thought about when I was a new frugal shopper! I just went to the store, used my coupons and left. I cringe to think about all of the money that I was missing out on. Multiple transactions are important for many different reasons. Some stores have coupon limits on like items per transactions. Instead of doing your one transaction and coming back another day, you can do more than one transaction and score more products in one trip. I use this in my area because my local Kroger triples coupons. They will only triple 2 like coupons. If I have a lot of coupons for one item that would triple, I break it up into separate transactions that way I get as many coupons that will triple to triple. In an area where there are no doubles/triples? This will still work for you. Some manufacturers like P&G, have limits on their coupons of so many like coupons per trip. This tip will help you be able to use more of those as well! When using this tip though, just remember to be courtesy of your other shoppers. Don’t take 20 years to check out, and if a line develops be kind enough to let others go in front of you before you start another transaction.

2.Roll Extra Care Bucks, Register Rewards, and On your next offer catalinas:  What do I mean by roll? I will use a scenario to explain this to you a little bit better.

~Say Kellogg’s cereal is on sale 4/$8, and when you buy 4 you get $2 to use on your next shopping trip. Rather than putting all your groceries together, I would buy the cereal first! That way with coupons, you only pay a few dollars out of pocket, plus you instantly get that $2 ONYO coupon to use on the rest of your groceries.

I use this trick A LOT  at CVS and Walgreens to get my out of pocket as low as possible. It’s especially useful if you don’t have an Register Rewards or Extra Care Bucks to start with.

3. Get the family involved:  My kids love to go shopping with me. Being a homeschooling family, we use our shopping trips to teach basic life skills and math. If I happen to have a coupon that has a limit per trip on it, my kids love to pitch and do some transactions too. Some may think this is weird, but my kids have become actively involved in learning how to save money. They think it is neat to help shop, plus it helps keep our family’s out of pocket lower. When I go on large shopping trips, my husband comes with me and we do two separate transactions that way we don’t slow down other shoppers, but still get all the savings of two transactions. Family not interested in shopping with you? Get a friend to come along. Not only will it help you out, I can guarantee they will be amazed at all your savings and want to know how you do it all!

These are just a few tips to get you started on lowering your out of pocket. Your trips don’t have to be anything elaborate. Just start small and see how your savings gradually begin to improve! Trust me, the little bit of extra time you spend preparing for your shopping trip will be well worth the extra money you save!

In my couponing experience, I have found that people are either hot or cold to the idea of couponing. Some are extremely excited at the thought of saving money and can’t wait to get started. Others are hesitant that it will not make any difference or have a billion excuses as to why they dont’ or “can’t” coupon. Here’s my thought, you can’t afford NOT to coupon!

Rather than preach at you guys, I figured I would share the top 5 couponing excuses that I have come across in the last four years. In the end, even with all these excuses, there really isn’t a good one not to save yourself some money!

1. I don’t have the time to clip coupons:  My response to this one is that you don’t have the time NOT to! We all work hard for the money we earn. It doesn’t matter whether it’s taking care of our kids or working a part-time or full-time job. Why would you give more of your wages to companies for their products? If you broke it down, you are giving more to these companies on their products than you are paying taxes! Idon’t know anyone who likes paying taxes. Plus there are so many ways that you can save money, without clipping a single coupon!

• Cellfire: Coupons that load directly to your shopper’s loyalty card. You just log into their site, click, and save!
• Savingstar: This is a newer company, but you load “coupons”, that again attach to loyalty cards. After buying the product, Savingstar puts the amount of the coupon into your account as cash rather than taking it off at the register.
• Coupons.com: This is my favorite site for Internet printable coupons. You just take a look, see which coupons you can use and print! There are several other sites too like redplum.com and smartsource.com! Plus many manufacturers now have printable coupons on their websites.

With all the talk about Extreme Couponing, and people asking me if I am an Extreme Couponer, I thought I would share how couponing changed my life, and how it can change yours too!

Like most I started couponing out of necessity. My husband was between jobs and we needed to save money fast. That is when I went to my good ole friend Google, and searched “how to save money.” After that quick little search, a TON of articles about couponing and how to coupon appeared before my beady little eyes. I immediately began soaking it all in, and my life hasn’t been the same since.

Since I started couponing, my life has completely changed. Before couponing, I wasn’t able to do many things. We were living from paycheck to paycheck. We weren’t able to do any “fun” activities with our kids, and I wasn’t able to really get enough food to feed our family of 5. It wasn’t as dire as it may sound, but it definitely wasn’t a fun life.

My first month of couponing I hit the street running. I wanted to test this new found love out, and see what it could do. Within in my first month, I saved over $1000 on home and beauty products and groceries. 1000 DOLLARS! That’s a part-time job income, and you don’t have to worry about a new boss or even leaving your house! Well you have to leave to shop .

Over the years, my savings has grown and I save on average $12-20,000/year on everyday items that my family uses. I have even been able to save on things like dining out.

Not a believer yet? Well here are the top ways that couponing has changed my life!

• Food budget: I can feed my family of 5 on a food budget of less than $300/month. Our cupboards are always stocked, and we can even splurge on great cuts of meat and stay within that budget.
• Extra activities: Before couponing, we couldn’t ever go out. We are now able to send our kids to camps, go to the movies, take vacations all because I save money on these things and our budget has more room.
• Donation: It is very important in our family to give back to the community. Because of couponing, I am able to get so many items for free that I can donate all the free toothbrushes and other toiletries to a local woman’s shelter. We also donate regularly to our local food pantries as well.
• Debt: Couponing has allowed our family to strengthen our financial position. It is still a work in progress, but we are able to make progress that didn’t happen before.
• Savings: In our house, this used to be a four letter word. We just didn’t have any room to save. Now we can put a little bit away each month to prepare for those rainy days!
• Family: Clipping and saving has allowed for me to stay home part-time with my children. Even though our kids are older, they appreciate having me at home, and it’s been a blessing. The time I spend clipping coupons, I earn over double what I do at my part-time job. So don’t think couponing is worth it? Break how much you save into an hourly wage. I am sure you will change your mind.

This is how couponing has affected my life, but ask yourself what horizons could open up for you and your family if you just took some time to clip some coupons. Vacations, college, being able to breath? The best part is you don’t have to do it alone! I decided to start Crunchy Frugalista to teach others how to save just like I have. So if you are ready to start, or want to learn some new tricks make sure to check out the couponing tutorials, like Couponing 101, CVS 101, and Walgreens 101, that are provided here at Crunchy Frugalista! So let’s get started, and see how couponing can change your life!

I have only been a blog for about four months now, but I find that Crunchy Frugalista is constantly growing and involving. I started Crunchy Frugalista as a way to share my savings deals and shopping tips with friends and family. It has very quickly grown into a site that offers so much more.

Ever since I was a really little kid, I have always loved nature and the environment. That’s why I incorporated the word “crunchy” into the title of the blog. My family does the best it can to live a greener life, and in turn it usually ends up saving us money.

What’s a greener life you ask? It’s just making small, manageable changes in your life that can equate to better ways to take care of our planet. So many of us are too wasteful or buy new items just because it’s the latest and greatest. At Crunchy Frugalista, I talk alot about reusing, repurposing, and conserving items you have to last longer. It helps the enviroment, plus it helps save you money too!

When I decided to write Crunchy Frugalista, I also wanted to teach people to do what I do. I have been saving hundreds of dollars a month couponing for about 4 years. It started when my husband was between jobs, and I was a lender in the mortgage industry. Needless to say times were tight. I did a Google search on ways to save money, and I came across my first couponing forum.

Four years and a lot of clipping later, I have been able to learn how to get many items for free and save my family enough money to enjoy some extras in life. No, I am NOT an extreme couponer, but yes I do have a stockpile and I am proud of it! Being able to score deals at rock bottom prices makes me feel good, because I am not only helping my family, but I am teaching to help yours as well.

So pull up a chair, sit down, and enjoy all the Crunchy Frugalista has to offer. A great place to start is the New Here tab! It’s  a section that overviews a few couponing terms, and shows you all the great tutorials that are available here at Crunchy Frugalista.

Ashley

Saving money and couponing can be VERY exciting! As exciting as it is though, you don’t want that excitement to get you to fall into one of the top 5 mistakes often made by newbie couponers. So avoid these top 5 and you will be on your way to becoming a couponing expert in no time.

1. Expect a full room stockpile overnight:
Stockpiling does take time. Even the most avid couponers need at least a few months to develop a good stockpile. My personal advice for newbies is to pick one item you use every day, and get it for free. Once you have 4 or 5 of this item (should last you a while), move onto another item, and so on and so forth. This is a sure fire way you won’t get burnt out too!

2. Buying something you won’t use (and can’t donate) just because it’s free.

While free is awesome, if you buy a ton of something that you don’t use, don’t like, and don’t know someone you can give it to you actually just lost money. You still have to pay tax on this in most states. So if you can’t find a home for it, don’t buy it even if it is free. The ONLY time, I suggest buying something you wouldn’t use is if it offers your rewards and helps you to be able to get something you do need. A good example would be rolling Extra Care Bucks at CVS, but that will be discussed later once we get into the CVS 101 tutorials.

3. Buying more than you have room to store.

I am sure a lot of you have now watched Extreme Couponing. Though their stockpiles are massive, you will notice most of them have a system aka place to put their stock. The biggest error I made as a newbie couponer was getting so excited about a sale, and then realize I had NO where to put it. While this is ok for things like shampoo and body wash, it’s kind of hard to find another place to stash frozen veggies! (Thus why I bought another freezer) Just be mindful of your space, and how much of your home you want stock and couponing to take over.

4. Being unfamilliar with the store’s coupon policy
This one is crucial! There are so many times even the stores own cashiers don’t know what the coupon policy is. They may tell you you can’t use a certain coupon just because it doesn’t sound right to them. I find if you can have a copy of the coupon policy with you, it helps (sometimes) your transactions go a little bit better. It keeps you honest, and the store employees informed. Here are the coupon policies for a few stores that I have put together for you guys! If you can’t find the policy online make sure to call customer service before planning your shopping trip!

Walmart
Walgreens
Food Lion
Meijer
Target
Dollar General

5. Your coupons are unorganized.

This one is CRUCIAL. You can ask my husband! For the last three years, my coupons have been taking over our house. I would say I am slightly organized. I still have stacks I need to clip, and tearpads I need to file, but my system has gotten much better. Bottom line, you have to find what works for you. If you aren’t organized you can’t find your coupons, and there is nothing worse than knowing you have a coupon for something, and you can’t find it!

There are many other “mistakes” that some will make as a newbie couponer, but these are the top five in my book. Couponing is a learning process. So don’t expect to know it all over night. I have been doing this for a little over three years, and I am still learning new tips and tricks every day! Just keep clipping, and keep talking to other couponers, and soon enough you might just be getting it all for free too! Until next time

So you’ve learned about coupons, you’ve learned about the terms relating to coupons, and you’ve even learned how to match coupons up to sales to get the lowest prices on everything under the sun..

This one I am gonna borrow from my mentor Mr. Coupon from WeUseCoupons. Get online and get organized. In this couponing 101, we are going to cover getting organized.

In the world of couponing, there is nothing worse than knowing you have a coupon for something and you CAN’T FIND IT. It’s like the couponers’ version of the Chinese Water Torture,and of course according to Murphy’s Law you will find that coupon as soon as you get home.

There are many ways you can get organized. Starting out, some people use a small accordian binder that they take with them to the store. Others use milk crates and file inserts by date. I personally use a 3 ring binder and baseball card inserts.

This is my binder! I had both of my daughters draw me a picture so I could put it on the front and back of it

In the binder, I divide my coupons by different sections. You have to find what works for you. I decided to organize by what the coupon is for. Some of my categories are things like Dairy, Frozen, Dessert, Meat, Cereal, Cleaners, and Household (garbage bags, ziplocs etc)

As I said, you have to find what works for you. I clip all of my coupons including the ones I plan on trading rather than using. Others only clip when they are going shopping. Find what works best for you, but stick with it! My organization system has developed over the last few years, and it has changed many times. I am glad this method works great for me, but find what works for you and GET ORGANIZED Until Next time!

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!

So you are excited to start saving money, you have all the lingo down, but where the heck do you get all the Qs to save money anyway????? Well coupons are every where you just have to know where to look!

The obvious place most people know is in your local newspaper each Sunday. These are great place to start, and the neat thing about this is you can always ask your neighbors if they use their coupons, and score FREE Qs. It is also a great way to get to know your neighbors.

If the insert coupons are anything like the ones here in Fort Wayne, they are not that great. Coupon inserts vary by region, meaning different areas of the country get difference versions of coupons. Because of this I order inserts each week. You can order full inserts from a clipping service. Here are a list of a few that I use

Coupon Clipping Services

 Clipping service ships out of Ohio, I get my clipped Qs in 1 day.
Clipping service ships out of Chicagoland area. Qs get here quickly too!

I also use http://www.wholecouponinserts.com/. They only sell full inserts, but they usually have the inserts even before they com out in the Sunday paper!

Clipping services are a great way to get Qs you need, you do have to pay for the time to clip the coupons, but spending $2 for clipped coupons to save $65 dollars on itemsounds like a WIN/WIN situation to me!

STORES
Stores are another great place to find coupons. They blinkie machines on the aisle that spit out coupons. Many cardboard displays have tearpads of coupons. At stores like Walmart, they even have coupon baskets at the entrances where you can look for Qs to use and leave some you won’t need.

My favorite store for Qs though is the gas station. My husband is a trucker, and I send him on a mission to look for Qs anytime he has to stop for fuel. He has been able to score some really nice Qs that I couldn’t find around here. Local gas stations have a lot of Qs too, just mak sure to look around

PACKAGING
Another place to look is on packages. This could be in the form of a peelie coupon on the front of the package. It can be a little coupon package in the packge you get after youbuy the item. Or even a coupon that you cut out of the box itself.

Just a quick note on peelie etiquette. I don’t condone taking massive amounts of peelies on items that you aren’t going to buy that day. If I am not going to buy an item, but see a really great peelie I will usually only tak 1-2 peelies for future use. I have bought many items where I can tell that a peelie used to be there, and it is quite a bummer to see that it is now gone. So respect your fellow couponers!

WRITING MANUFACTURERS
This is one of my favorite things to do. Just this week, I wrote err emailed 7 companies just to let them know how much my family loves their products. This week alone I received over $10 in coupons on various items. I usually use the contact forms on a manufacturer’s website. Even if there isn’t space to fill in your address, make sure to fill your address in the body of your email.

ONLINE COUPON SITES
Internet printables are your friends. There are main sites that have coupons that update frequently.

Coupon network by Catalina

http://www.coupons.com/
http://www.smartsource.com/
http://www.redplum.com/

FACEBOOK
Yes, I just wrote Facebook. Facebook is great place to find coupons, giveaways, and tons of freebies. Just check out your favorite products page and look for what specials are going on.

MAGAZINES
There are magzines like All You that have many, many coupons in every issue.

ONLINE FORUMS

Joining online couponing communities is a great way to get Qs that you need and all it will cost you is a stamp. Sites like http://www.afullcup.com/ and http://www.weusecoupons.com/ have FSOT/ISO (for sale or trade/ in search of) forums where users can look for coupons they need  or post extras they want to get rid of.

I know this is a lot of info, but hopefully this will get you started on your couponing quest! Just remember start SMALL don’t try to conquer it all at one time. You will slowly, but surely become the couponing expert you want to be! Until next time, Happy Couponing CF

An important step in navigating couponing and couponing forums is knowing some of the lingo. So I thought I would share with you all a basic list of lingo and anagrams that you might encounter while couponing.

ECB: Extra Care Bucks, coupons that are attached to your receipt at CVS that work like cash
RR: Register Rewards, coupons at Walgreens that print out like Catalinas after you purchase
BOGO: Buy one get one. This could be free, 50% off, a certain dollar amount off
H&B: Home and Beauty products
Coupon Train: A group of couponers that mail coupons to each other. Upon receiving the “train” you see which Qs you can use, and then fill it with others you have at home.
AFC: A full cup. One of my favorite sites
WUC: WeUseCoupons. com…My absolute favorite!
Cats: Catalinas
IPs: Internet Printables
Exp: Expiration date
Binder: A binder that people organize they coupons in
ONYO: On your next offer, a coupon that prints like a catalina that is good on your next offer
Price Match aka Ad match When you can take an ad to another store, and they will give you the competitor’s price
Stamps: Literally means postage stamps, when trading coupons stamps are used kind of like currency
BTFE: Box top for education. The boxtops the schools save lots of people trade Qs for these.
Coke Codes: Another form of “trading currency” found in tops of coke products
FSOT: for sale or trade, a forum online where people are “selling” their time for clipped Qs or wanting to trade Qs
ISO: in search of, a place on Coupon forums where place “want” ads for Qs you are looking for.
OOP: out of pocket. Total of amount of actual cash paid (usually before applicable taxes)

Like I said this is a basic list, and I will be posting it in the Couponing 101 page. I will also adding more terms as I think of them…..Until the next Q 101 installment, Where the heck do you get all those Qs anyway? Happy Couponing. CF