Where To Begin

I know what you are thinking, how am I going to save money without shopping at Wally Mart? Well the number one answer to that question is coupons. That is where I began. I began getting Sunday papers and cutting the coupons out. There are only very few coupons I do not clip. I do not clip adult diapers or coffee coupons, since I do not use these products at all. At first I was clipping coupons only for the brands that I liked, but I learned quickly that toothpaste is toothpaste so if there is a coupon for it, then clip it. So what if it's not Colgate, if it's cheap or free, I'll take it. A good friend of mine, Lisa Smith, told me the best thing I can do is not to be picky about what brands I use. They all get the job done and if it's free, then hey I'm out no money. Now there are certain circumstances where I can not follow this rule. The only exception for me is the kind of laundry detergent I can buy. My daughter, Caisa, has psoriasis and my other children tend to break out in hives if I don't use a product like All Free and Clear. I know of several parents who can only buy Pampers since the other diapers cause their kids to break out in a rash.

How many Sunday papers you want to buy is up to you, but I tend to get either 2 or 3. My personal system is I have a weekend subscription so I get coupons from my paper, then my in-laws give me theirs, same goes with my parents. I know not all of you are as lucky as I am to have relatives that will give you their coupons, so for that there is another method. Most of my coupon loving friends like to get up early Monday morning, head out to the closest grocery store and buy the double Sunday paper bundle for a couple of dollars. For less than $3 you can get 2 sets of coupons and sometimes if your lucky, there just might be an extra set in there due to packing errors.

Now if just newspaper coupons are not enough, there are coupons on the Internet. I know that the Betty Crooker and Pillsbury websites have coupons on them along the Kroger and Tom Thumb websites. Kroger and Tom Thumb also have links to websites where you can do electronic coupons like Cellfire and Shortcuts. I highly recommend registering with these two sites. I have found more ways to get free food and other items when using electronic coupons. They are really easy to do, just select the coupons you want and in ten minutes, you can use them at the grocery store.

I spend most of my time cutting and printing coupons then when I'm searching the ads for deals to put on my grocery list. Next post I can get more in depth about store's coupon policies and the ins and outs of using coupons.