Lesson Five: Using your coupons--getting the freebies!

In the last lesson, we learned about using a database to organize your coupons, but I didn't explain how I physically organize the inserts.  Sorry!  Here's that info:  When you receive an insert in the paper and you have entered it into your database, you will want to take a black marker and write the date near the "spine" of the insert, sideways.  Here is an example photo:

Then, I like to use the accordion file that my loving husband bought me for mother's day (best gift ever!) to organize the inserts.  I have them sorted by publication and month.  Here's a picture of how that works:

You will see that the accordion file gives me just enough labeled slots for the Smart Source and Red Plum inserts for a year (12 months each for Red Plum and SmartSource = 24 dividers).  The inserts are easy to maintain this way.  Enter into database, write date with marker and file.  Don't waste your time clipping out all the coupons!  I keep my issues of All You in the back.  I have my P&G and GM inserts in the front, along with any printed coupons I have.  As I print off coupons from the internet, I just have envelopes with the month written on the front.  When I'm entering those coupons manually into the database, I put the month in the source field (i.e. Oct. Envelope) so that I know where to find it when I need it.  This is SO EASY!  It's also simple to take shopping.  The file fits right in the baby seat of the shopping cart.

So, now we need to get ready to go shopping for our extreme deals/freebies!  Here's what I do: 

First, I go to http://www.couponmom.com/ and get my list of freebies and super cheapies.  Again, I'm working on the assumption that you followed directions in Lesson One and got your membership there already.  Go to the website and login.  The Login button is the top tab on the far right.  Enter your username and password.  On the next page, you will have some options on the right hand side of the screen.  Click on "DEALS OVER 50% OFF: One list for all national stores."  This will bring up a list of all freebies and great deals available at national stores like Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Rite-Aid, and K-Mart.  I like to initially organize the list by store.  Do this by clicking on the blue arrows next to the category headings. Then, just put a check box in the items you plan on purchasing.  Once you've selected your deals, click on "DISPLAY SELECTED DEALS."  This will put all of your checked items onto one list that you can print out.  You will see that all the information you need is right there on your list. 
Starting in the left column, it tells you where to find your coupon. 
The next column is the store where you can purchase the deal. 
The next column is a description of the item, and it tells you specifically how to use your coupons, how many of that coupon you will need, other places coupons for this item can be found, and has the link to printable coupons for that item, if available.
The next column tells you how many of that item you must purchase to get the deal.
The next column is the sale price of the item in that store, then next to that is the value of the coupon(s) you must use to get the deal.  Notice that some items may require both a store coupon AND a manufacturer's coupon.  Most stores allow you to "stack" coupons like this, as long as one is a coupon issued by the store and the other is a coupon issued by the manufacturer.
The next column will tell you how much you will have to fork over out-of-pocket at the register for that item.  If the item qualifies for a reward at the register, you will receive a printed coupon that you can use toward your next purchase.
The remaining columns are the total cost, including the register rewards, and then the percentage you saved on that item.

The register rewards are an interesting entity in and of themselves.  When I was first getting into couponing, I would do multiple transactions in order to spend as much of the register rewards as possible right there in the same shopping trip.  I will explain that concept in the next lesson.  But, now that I'm getting better at it, and I have realized that I will definitely use the rewards later, I usually just save the rewards for my next trip instead of trying to break it all up.  This is just a matter of preference.

So, now your assignment is to get out there and get your freebies.  You will have to be smart about when you do it, though.  The deals at drugstores (Walgreens, CVS, Rite-Aid) are usually only good for one week, based on a circular ad that runs Sunday through Saturday.  This is a bummer for those of us that don't shop on Sunday, because a lot of couponers out there go out and get their freebie list on Sunday when the ad is published.  You will want to go during the first half of the week if you want to have hopes of the items on your list being in stock.  I usually do mine on Monday on my way home from work. (Then again, sometimes you luck out--I went on Wednesday of last week and only one of my items was out of stock.  That was pretty lucky, I think.)

Lesson Four: Using a Coupon Database

So, in Lesson Three, I told about how I arrived at my current method for organizing my coupons.  This lesson is a step-by-step guide on using the website that I use for doing this.  If you want to try this method, I would suggest opening their website, http://www.dealseekingmom.com/ in a new tab so that you can jump back and forth between my blog and the site. 

**Note that even if you decided NOT to use this method for organizing coupons (which is a silly decision, but yours nonetheless), this website contains a main database of all available coupons nationwide.  So, if you are needing a coupon for something (anything!) and you want to see if there might be one available to you somewhere, this is a great place to do that search!  Just go to their home page, click on COUPONS, COUPON DATABASE, and MAIN DATABASE.  It will bring up the search engine and you can look for anything and everything!  The rest of this lesson is on creating a personal database for the purpose of organizing your coupon stockpile and may not pertain to you since you made that aforementioned silly decision not to use this method of organizing.  Continue at your own risk.**

Now, back to organizing your coupons:

First, you must log in to your personal coupon box (assuming you signed up for a membership during Lesson One.  If you did not yet do this, you will need to register for a username and password).  Across the top of the home page, there is a tab menu where you will find the "COUPONS" tab.  When you hover, it will give a drop menu.  Hover down to "COUPON DATABASE" and it will give you a sub-menu.  Click on "PERSONAL COUPON BOX."  It will prompt you to login.  The login link is in small print under the big words "COUPON BOX."  Click "LOGIN" and you can enter your username/password.  It will take you to your coupon box and you can see what coupons you have entered.  By default, it lists them starting with the most recently entered.  Obviously, when you login for the first time, there will not be any coupons in your box.

Now that you have logged in, you can navigate back and forth between your box and the main database and it will remember you.

Let's start with a Sunday Coupon Insert.  Do this tutorial, and then you will know how to enter your coupons and maneuver the website.  By the end of the tutorial, I will have you delete the "sample" coupons you entered and you will be ready to enter your own information.

We are going to do the Red Plum insert that was in the September 18, 2011 newspaper.  It's abbreviation is RP 09/18/11.  So, now that you have logged into your coupon box, the computer has recognized you and will put your selected coupons into your database.  You will notice that it says your username's Coupon Box at the top of the page.  Right under that is "Main Database."  Click on "Main Database."  You'll now notice that your username is NOT at the top of the page.  This is a great way to distinguish where you are.  You move back and forth between these two pages often, and they look alike, so you want to make sure you can tell where you are. 

Ok, so put your insert abbreviation (RP 09/18/11) into the search engine on the Main Database page.  It will pull all possible coupons from that insert.  You have most of these coupons in your insert, but you don't own all of the coupons that the search engine will pull up.  You have to go through your insert and check off the coupons that you have.  First, though it is important that you sort the database results.  You will notice that each column has a heading (Description, Value, Expiration, Source, etc.)  You can click on any one of these headings and it will sort by that heading.  We want our coupons in alphabetical order, so click on "Description."  The first item in the list should be the "Ahh Bra."  If you ended up with "Whiskas Tray" as your first item, then you have the items sorted backward.  Just click "Description" again, and it will reverse the order to where the list starts with "A."

Now, it's time to start flagging your coupons.  Look in the insert.  In my insert from "The Oklahoman" newspaper, the first coupon inside is $1 off of any bag of Pedigree Dog Food, 3.5 lbs or larger.  On the database, scroll down and find that item.  Remember, you've sorted the coupons alphabetically, so just go down to "P" for Pedigree.  Put check in the checkbox.  The next coupon I have is for Buy Three Get One Free on Pedigree Canned Dog Food.  You will see that coupon near the first one.  Put a check in that box.  Take a second here to notice how they are labeled in each column.  Values are labeled as the dollar amount and how many items you have to purchase.  For Buy One Get One coupons, they are labeled B1G1 (or in this case, B3G1 since you have to purchase 3 cans of dog food.)  The more you use this database, the easier these abbreviations will become to use.

Ok, so my next coupon is for $1 off of any box of Smucker's Snack'n Waffles.  This item is on the next page.  At the top and bottom of the columns is the option to go to the next page.  Click "Next" to get to the second page of options.  Notice at the top of the page, there is a yellow bar that says "2 new coupons were just added to your coupon box!" Any time you navigate between pages of the database, it will automatically drop your checked items into your personal coupon database.  Checkmark your Smucker's coupon.  Now, let's say that you come across a coupon that is in your insert but not in the database.  In this case, I have some IHOP restaurant coupons that are for a local IHOP location.  It is common for local retailers to include coupons in these inserts, but since they are localized merchants, their coupon is not included in the national database on the website.  You will need to manually enter the coupon.  First, you will need to scroll down to the bottom of the column and click on "Add to Personal Coupon Box," or you can navigate to the previous/next page of the database and the computer will automatically drop your coupons into your box.  Although the database drops coupons when you move from page to page of the same list, it will not drop your checked coupons if you navigate to somewhere other than another page of that list.  You can always tell if your coupons dropped because it will give you an alert at the top of the screen.  Now that you have dropped your coupons, you can click on "Personal Coupon Box" up toward the top of the page.

Now you are back in your personal box.  You should see that your Pedigree and Smucker's coupons are there.  Hooray!  Now we need to manually add a coupon that wasn't found in the search of the main database.  My IHOP coupon is for a Buy One Get One Free Breakfast entree.  Right under the box that says "1 coupon was just added to your coupon box" there should be an option to add a coupon.  Click that link, and it will open up a bunch of fields for you to fill in.  I don't use the "TYPE" category, so I start with "DESCRIPTION."  You will want the first word to be the brand of coupon you have.  In the category field, I'm going to type, "IHOP Breakfast Entree."  Under "VALUE" I will put "B1G1."  Expirations are in MM/DD/YY format, so I'm going to put "11/04/11."  Under "SOURCE" you want to put where the coupon was found, and in this case it's RP 09/18/11.  This piece of information is important!  You not only want to be able to find your coupon using the search engine, but once you find it in the computer, you will need to know where to physically locate it!  Don't forget to include the source! The rest of the fields are pretty self-explanatory.  I put "Restaurant" in the category field, and "Breakfast Entree" in the Product field.  I don't use the Blogging or Keywords fields.  Click on "ADD COUPON" and it will put it down with your other coupons.

Sometimes, if I know that a newspaper is going to be rich with coupon inserts, I will go buy a couple of extra newspapers so that I have extra coupons.  If you have multiple inserts, the nice thing about this is, when you get finished inputting an insert, go into your personal coupon box and just change all the quantities for that insert.  So, if I own 3 of that insert, my quantity of each of the coupons gets changed to 3.  It's easiest to change the quantities after you finish inputting each insert.  In other words, go in and change all the quantities of the Red Plum you just entered BEFORE you start entering the Smart Source for that day.

If you make a mistake, simply delete the coupon(s) from your personal coupon box by going into your personal box, checkmarking the coupons, and clicking "Delete Checked Coupons" at the bottom of the column.  Do this now for those three sample coupons we did during the tutorial.

So, this is how you enter your coupons into the database.  It will be a little slow-going at first, but you will get a rhythm going and it will become easier.  I usually get some little post-it flags and just flag the pages that have coupons I will have to enter manually (there are usually 2 or three coupons per insert that you will have to do that way), and then I do all of my check boxes first, then all the manual entries at the end.  That saves me from having to go back and forth between the main database and my personal box.  I try to enter them on the day that I get them, so that my database is current.  It usually takes me about 30 minutes each Sunday afternoon to put them in.  30 minutes a week is a pretty minimal time investment!  I hope I didn't leave anything out of this.  Let me know if you have questions!!  Happy data entry!

Lesson Three: Organizing Your Coupons

There are several ways to organize your coupons.  The goal is to file them in a way that gives you the easiest access with the least work.  I have tried several different ways of doing this, and the method that I have settled on is not a way that I have ever seen or heard of anyone else doing before.  I will review all of the techniques I've tried, and you can try whichever one(s) you think might work for you.  The key focus, though, is to do something that fits YOU.  People are different, minds work differently, and my way may be an epic fail for you.  If it does, try something else!

METHOD ONE:
The first method I tried is to just clip EVERY coupon out of EVERY insert and magazine I had.  Then I had an accordion file with category labels.   Labels included titles such as, "Frozen Foods, Bread, Meat, Toiletries, First Aid/Medicines, Cosmetics, Baby, etc.  When a new insert would come out, I would sit down, cut out my coupons, and file them.  Each main category would be narrowed down into sub-categories and paper clipped together accordingly.  For example:  In the "Toiletries" category, you might find a paper clip full of shampoo/conditioner items, a paper clip full of deodorant coupons, a clip with toothpaste coupons, etc.

Pros:  I had all of my coupons cateorized by what type of items they were.  This made it fairly easy to locate a coupon on the fly, but I did have to sift through all the coupons in the clip to locate a coupon for a specific brand.

Cons: I had to watch very carefully that I pulled the coupon that was closest to expiring, and reserve coupons with a longer expiration window.  I also added more time because I would have to periodically go through ALL of my coupon stock and pull out the coupons that had expired.  I also didn't know what coupons I had, and the only way of seeing if I had a coupon for any given item was to physically dig through the file and try to find it.

METHOD TWO:
The next method I tried (and one that several of my friends use) is the "Binder Method."  This still involves clipping all of the coupons that you get, but you organize them using baseball card display sheets in a massive 3-ring binder.  Duplicate coupons go in the same baseball card slot.  You can organize the binder one of two ways:  Similar to Method One, you can organize them by category, and put labels on the edges of the sheets to show that this page/section is dedicated to that category.  The other method of organizing that I have had a friend tell me about (I have not personally tried this one) is to organize them by store layout.  Pick a store that you are VERY familiar with (for her, it was Wal-Mart), and organize the sheets in the same order as the aisles of the store.  Regardless of what store you're shopping in, when you need a coupon, you just have to think of where that item would be found in Wal-Mart in order to locate your coupon. 

Pros:  I could easily lay open the binder and see what I had.  I could also easily see how many of any given coupon I had.  To add more coupons, I just added in more sheets to the binder.  Once I really got familiar with the layout of the binder, I could access a coupon on the fly fairly quickly.

Cons:  Again, I had to watch very carefully that I pulled the coupon that was closest to expiring, and reserve coupons with a longer expiration window.  Again, I would have to periodically go through ALL of my coupon stock and pull out the coupons that had expired.  I also didn't know what coupons I had, and the only way of seeing if I had a coupon for any given item was to physically open up the binder and try to locate it.  Looking at mass layouts of coupons in a binder and trying to spot the one you need is kind of like playing "Where's Waldo."  Sometimes I would pass right over the needed coupon several times before finally spotting it.


**So here came the point in my adventure where I was feeling extremely frustrated, because I was spending a lot of time pulling out old coupons that were expired, and I would hear myself say, "Man, I wish I had known I had THAT coupon!  I could have used it!"  Or, I would be planning a shopping trip and hear myself say, "I KNOW I had a coupon for that!  Where the heck is it?!"  I felt unorganized, despite the HOURS I had poured into clipping and organizing, and my biggest frustration was that I was missing out on some great deals.  I won't go into how I figured out this next method.  It just kind of all fell into place.  But for me, it was the light at the end of the tunnel.

METHOD THREE:  (a.k.a the best method in the whole wide world)
In Lesson One, I had you register a membership at http://www.dealseekingmom.com/.  Their website is an extravaganza of savings to which I could log on and spend HOURS looking at all the great deals and reading the articles.  But, I'm interested in SAVING time, so I don't.  I use their site for two things:  Locating available coupons, and databasing mine.  I don't clip ANY coupons until I need them (major time saver #1), and it takes me literally 30 seconds to a minute to get rid of my expired coupons (major time saver #2).  The coupons are physically organized in an accordion file by month and publication (June Smart Source, June Red Plum, etc.).  They are electronically filed in the web-based database at the Deal Seeking Mom website.  When I'm ready to shop, I can login and look through my personal coupon database and find needed coupons in a split second using a search engine.  I can look for a coupon for a specific brand/item, or I can do a general search by category.  I can also sort the items by date to see what coupons I have in stock that might be expiring soon.  When I'm on the go, I have the website bookmarked in my Smartphone to and I just jump on there to do a search if I need to find a coupon on the fly.

Pros:  I don't spend any time clipping coupons I'm going to throw out later.  I have easy access to a listing of every coupon I own and where to find it.  I know how many coupons I have for a certain item and which ones to pull first.  I don't spend a lot of time sifting through my stock to locate expired coupons.

Cons:  The only con I have found happened one time when I couldn't get service on my Smartphone and I wanted to see if I had a certain coupon.  Otherwise, I LOVE this method!

So, there's the review on methods for organizing.  My next lesson will give more details on how to set up your online database and how to use their online database to your advantage regardless of your organization method.

Lesson Two: Getting Coupons

There are a lot of sources for getting coupons.  The best source is through a subscription to your local Sunday Paper.  In (almost) every Sunday paper, there are coupon inserts that come from different sources.  Here is a list of the coupon inserts and their abbreviations.  When surfing couponing websites, these abbreviations are used, followed by the date of issue in MM/DD/YY format.  For example, a Red Plum insert that was in the September 11th issue of the paper would be "RP 09/11/11."  As you get further into couponing, these abbreviations will become second nature.

Red Plum (RP)
Smart Source (SS)
General Mills (GM)
Proctor & Gamble aka P&G (PG)

Some inserts, such as Red Plum and Smart Source, are usually a weekly publication.  P&G comes out monthly, and General Mills is sporadic (I haven't figured out their timeline yet.)

Another great source is online coupons, which (when they come from reliable websites) are great additions to your stockpile from your Sunday Paper inserts.  As stated in Lesson #1, http://www.coupons.com/ is a great general source for coupons.  There are many brand-name or department store websites that offer coupons for their product line.  For some, you have to sign up for a free subscription to their newsletter and they send you coupon deals via e-mail.  Others have the printable coupon right there on their website.  Here are a few "specialty" sites that I frequent, and of course, if you discover that you are using certain products regularly and don't have coupons for them, go to their website and see if they offer any coupon promotions.

http://www.target.com/  is a MUST if you live near a target store.  Their coupons are printable immediately
www.johnsonsbaby.com/offers is a great one for johnson & johnson/desitin baby products.  Their coupons are also printable immediately.
https://www.pgeverydaysolutions.com/pgeds/HMS/brandsampler-login.jsp is a great site to request hard copy coupons from proctor & gamble via snail mail.  Once you get on their list, they will send you new booklets with about $35 in coupons every other month.
http://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/clip/coupons.aspx is a great site.  Box Tops for Education is a General Mills entity, and you can get some great coupons just by accessing their site and printing them off.  They often have coupons for the same items as their GM Sunday insert, but the website coupons usually have a higher face value.  Once you sign up at their site, they will send you e-mail alerts when a new set of coupons is available for printing.

Some other brands whose websites you might want to check out are:

Campbells
Kellogg's
Kraft
Pillsbury
Pilgrim's Pride
Tyson

If any of the above catch your eye, just google for the address.


**Something to note about printable coupons:  If you want to print online coupons, you will be required to download/install a coupon printer driver on your computer.  You may have to do this more than once, depending on what type of driver the website requires you to have.  I think I've had to install three separate drivers.  (Some drivers are compatible with multiple websites).  Don't let this freak you out--the drivers are necessary to ensure that people don't print too many coupons.  The driver keeps tabs on how many you've printed.  (You're only allowed to print any given coupon twice per computer).  If you don't have the right driver, a prompt will appear when you try to print a coupon.  Just follow the prompts and it will install and print your coupons.  You should only have to do this once per driver.  (In other words, if you install the Target driver, you won't have to install it again the next time you visit the Target website.)

Last, but not least, is the All You Magazine.  It's a family-oriented magazine that is all about good food, family entertainment, crafts, and coupons!  Each issue usually has between $50-75 in coupons on very common items.  I bought a subscription so that I wouldn't have to pay the newsstand price, and in two issues, I've already used enough coupons to compensate for (and justify) my annual subscription.  The expiration dates are usually later on these coupons (they last 3+ months, where newspaper inserts last 1+ month), and although they are for common items, they aren't usually items that are found in your Sunday inserts.  They make an AWESOME supplement to your coupon supply and, in my opinion, it's well worth the subscription fee to have $50-75 in coupons delivered to your mailbox each month.  At the websites, the abbreviation for All You is (AY).

OK, so these are the best sources for coupons.  Of course there are multiple places other than those listed above to get coupons from.  There are "peelies," which are coupons you peel off of the refrigerator door at the convenience store, there are coupons printed inside packaging of certain items, coupon booklets are often stuffed inside packaging as well.  But those coupons are occasional, and the ones listed above are a more consistent source for regular coupon rotation.  

Lesson One: Online Registry

I think the best place to dip your toe into couponing is by signing up at a few essential websites that can help you with the "work smart" concept. All of the websites are absolutely free, and they do NOT spam your email with junk mail and they do NOT sell your info to 3rd party companies.

First, go to http://www.couponmom.com/ and register for a user name/password.  When you register, you may be solicited to participate in 3rd party promotions, but they are NOT required.  I didn't sign up for any of them.  They will send you a weekly "deal preview" via e-mail.  This is your best source for FREE STUFF.

Next, go to http://www.coupons.com/ and register for a user name/password.  They will send you e-mail updates as new printable coupons are available.  This is your best source for PRINTABLE COUPONS.

Last, go to http://www.dealseekingmom.com/ and register for a user name/password.  They rarely send you anything via e-mail, but you will see the occasional update from them.  They are your source for general and personal COUPON DATABASES.

Optional:  if you want to know in advance what coupons are about to come out in next week's Sunday paper, you can sign up at http://www.sundaycouponpreview.com/ to receive their preview emails.  This is helpful if you are planning a shopping trip, and you don't have a coupon for a certain item--you can check if there might be one coming out soon and you may opt to wait to purchase that item until you have the coupon.  This is your source for COUPON PREVIEWS.

Introduction

Several people have asked me how I handle my couponing.  This blog is a response to those people.  I have friends and family, near and far, who have expressed that they want me to show them the ropes.  The main reason I'm doing it this way is because it's easy for me to just direct everyone to a single place for the answers to their questions.  So, that's the "why" of this blog.

Now, for a background.  You can blame my addiction to couponing on my friend, Crystal, who happens to also be my daughter's babysitter.  I'm a full-time teacher in Central Oklahoma, and I've always been a "bargain shopper extraordinaire."  When Crystal invited me to a "couponing party" in the Spring of 2011, my interest was piqued.  But I was unable to attend the party, so Crystal gave me the general summary of what she learned after the fact.  I started researching and exploring online forums and blogs, and chatting with other people across the country who also do couponing.  Once I jumped in and got my feet wet, I was addicted to the savings, and I have made very few purchases since then that didn't include a coupon of some kind.  I've learned a lot of things about couponing, but what I discovered first is that there are three kinds of couponers:

The first kind of couponer is the full-time couponer.  These are the people you see on television shows like "Extreme Couponing."  They devote their LIVES to couponing, and just watching them on the show is exhausting!  They are the type of people who save around 85-95% on their shopping bills because they spend 40-60 hours per week couponing.

The second kind of couponer (and the category I put myself into) is part-time couponer.  These are people who work or keep a home full-time, and devote a few hours a week toward saving money with coupons.  They use the same techniques as the full-time couponers, but receive an average of 40-60% savings on their shopping bills.

The third kind of couponer is the occasional couponer.  These folks clip a coupon that caught their eye every once in a while and use it on a single item.  They don't devote any notable time toward couponing or toward coupon strategy, and their shopping bill savings are less than 5%.

As you can see, the amount saved is directly proportional to the amount of time/work spent toward couponing.  But as I study, research, and learn more and more about coupons and how they work, I am trying to increase my savings while spending a minimum amount of time.  In other words, I'm trying to work smart rather than work hard.

Since I've begun couponing, I have cut my grocery bill almost in half, and I have started building a stockpile of food, toiletry, and first aid items that can sustain my family in times of need.  I am saving all of my couponing receipts so that when I've been couponing for a year, I can tally all my savings and see how much I've really saved.  It's also important to note that I also have cut down on expenses by making several of my own cleaners (laundry soap, kitchen cleaner, baby wipes, etc.) and I also like to can bulk items that I can buy on sale to add to my stockpile.  Every little bit helps!

My hope and intention for this blog is to help you learn how to coupon effectively, using the least amount of time and getting the biggest bang for your buck.  Please feel free to ask questions and help me learn even more about the wonderful world of saving money with coupons.