Coupon Crazy!

A couple of months back, I started to see them. Hunched over in the aisles, eyes scanning shelves, hands tightly gripping their coveted slips of paper, these newly initiated couponers peaked my interest. I was not used to these new recruits. Having been a couponer for years, I was used to seeing moms with toddlers in tow or grandmas with needlepoint covered coupon holders. Not young guys with ipods and smartly dressed corporate types. Typically, these were the ones who heaved an exasperated sigh when I handed over my coupons to the cashier. Not anymore. In 2009, these newbies are interested in the downward direction of my register total. How do you do it? Where do you get the coupons? How do you keep them all straight? Hence, I have decided to share my simple coupon system for all the newbies out there. I must forewarn you, "saving money" is seriously addictive.

Welcome to the new world of retail therapy.

Keep in mind, this is my personal system. This works for me. This is simply a system to get started. Feel free to add what works for you. First step, is to focus. Sales are everywhere and coupons can seem to take on a life of their own. Start with the stores you like to shop at currently. Mainly I stick to Walgreen's, CVS, Target and Kmart for household purchases. (Walmart will be covered in another post) These chain stores publish store circulars every Sunday. By purchasing the Sunday paper for the largest city closest to your home, you will obtain two vital components of the coupon system: Store circulars and manufacturer coupons.

I review all the inserts for the stores that are closest to me (not saving $ if you drive far). I take one sheet of plain paper and fold in in half lengthwise and er, the other way. One section per store. One section is for Walgreen's, one for Target, another for Kmart etc. Then I use each section (front and back) to list the products I would like to purchase and their prices. Example: Colgate $1.50. This is my "roadmap" for the week.

A lot of times stores have the same items on sale. One look at my "roadmap" and I know which store has the cheapest prices. I save my weekly "roadmaps" and I have a history to reflect pricing trends of items I commonly buy. Now I know if 4 cans of Progresso soup for $5 is a good deal or if I can wait for a better one. (Note: you may prefer to do this all on Excel and avoid the paper avalanche).

As mentioned earlier, the Sunday paper has store circulars and manufacturer coupons. Save these coupons, they are money. Most people sort these coupons into product types, like frozen foods, pantry, drinks etc. I prefer to sort by the month. My priority is to time the coupon usage with the store's markdown to maximize my discount. I have a folder for each month and can quickly match the coupon to the sale item on my roadmap. While I always try to take advantage of the markdown and the coupon (double discount) if I see a coupon for an item I need I can quickly add it to my roadmap.

The clipped coupons and my roadmap are all I need to take with me when I go shopping. I recycle the return envelopes that come with my bills and put the coupons in separate envelopes labeled with the name of the store. When I go shopping I just take my roadmap and the store's envelope into the store with me. For advanced coupon clipping, you may want to bring the store's circular with you. For example, Walmart will pricematch items and it helps to have the competitor's ad handy.

That's it. I spend an hour or so on Sunday, sorting and a few minutes before my shopping trip getting organized. At the end of the month, I do a final sort to make sure I don't miss anything and toss the expired coupons. I like the process of sorting and matching the coupons up. It is actually kinda fun for me. My very own retail therapy. I think any system you create should be enjoyable, some people like to create spreadsheets, some like doing the math, other people like getting pretty colored folders (in purple!). Whatever works for you. The end result is I have slashed my household purchases by about 50%. Pretty darn good. Now if only I could increase my income by 50%, lol.

This system works for me, because I only buy what I need when it is on sale. The discounts I get are more than worth the time spent organizing/filing. Plus, even if for some reason I don't have a coupon I can still take advantage of a good deal.

Recently, I have upgraded my system by creating nice hanging files and labeled tabs for each month. I haven't gone totally coupon crazy yet, I guess you could say I am still in discount denial,lol.

Have you started to use coupons recently? What works for you? Share your knowledge in the comments. I am always looking to learn more about how to save dollars!