Breaking the Code, Part 2: Coupons 101

Coupons have been in my life for as long as I can remember.  As a kid, I remember seeing them on the kitchen cabinet in my mom's pile of papers.  In college, I would receive various coupons in the mail that my mom thought would be useful.  I simply used them as a way to try new products.  In the early years of married life (still receiving them in the mail from my mom), I would use them sparingly at the store if I was lucky enough to find where the coupons were hiding in the house.  In the present tense, being a one income family, I cut out coupons, I sort them, I store them neatly and I use them almost every time I go to the store.  Mom still sends me some occasionally too.  Aren't moms the best? 

Once I started to investigate the art of couponing I remember being both impressed & overwhelmed by extreme couponers who go to the store and buy $150 worth of products for only $10.  That's not me.  I don't have the desire to be an extreme couponer so if you're looking for guidance in that area I suggest you move on over to The Krazy Coupon Lady.  Even the basics can be a bit daunting though so let's start there.  

1. Where to find coupons? 
• Newspapers.  This is the most conventional way to get coupons and will get you the most at one time.  Although newspapers come out every day of the week, the largest quantity is in the Sunday paper.  There are three coupon inserts that come out on a regular basis: Smart Source, Red Plum and Proctor & Gamble.  If you do not have a paper delivered to your home (let's face it, most people under the age of 50 don't) then you can buy the paper at any grocery store and typically even convenient stores.  They will run you anywhere from $2-3 if you buy it at the store and in our town they typically sell out by 2pm so you have to make it there early.  Personally, I share the paper with a friend every week.  She picks it up on Sunday morning, she gets the first pick of the coupons (she's not much into coupons though) and then she passes it on to me by Monday.  We split the cost of the paper and I don't have to worry about getting to the store on Sunday morning to pick one up; it's a great deal.  Before I had this deal set up, I would preview the coupons for the week at this website so I could decide if it would be worth buying the paper that week or not.  Another good tip, coupons don't come out on holiday weekends so don't waste your time & money buying a newspaper.
• Online.  There are several websites to find coupons but one of the most popular is Coupons.com.  It is also an app that you can download on to your smartphone or tablet.  They have coupons for everything from toys to office supplies to food & beverages.  There is a limit to how many of each coupon can be printed and it starts over at the beginning of every month so it works on a first come, first served basis.  It also limits you to how many times you can print a coupon from your computer, usually 2-3 prints per coupon.  If you are looking for a coupon for a specific item, you can search the coupon database at South Suburban Savings.  She records coupons in her database based on the item, value, source, expiration date, etc.  If the coupon is available online then there is a link built right in to the database that will take you straight to the coupon.  As crazy as it sounds, you can also buy coupons on Ebay.  I've never done this but I know people who have.  Just make sure you're going to save more than you actually pay for the coupon on Ebay.  It pays off for big ticket items.
• At the store. Coupons at the store can be a bit of a treasure hunt but they are most often found in the aisles in automatic coupon dispensers (these are called 'blinkie coupons'), on the products themselves (usually a peel-off sticker), or at the register (these are called Catalina coupons).   Often times the Catalina coupons will say "Redeemable at Store Name" but if it also says "Manufacturer Coupon" (usually at the top by the expiration date) then it can be used at any store.  I have had cashiers at Walmart tell me they do not accept Catalina coupons, but they are wrong.  It clearly states in their coupon policy that they accept them.  There are such things as "In-Store Coupons" and those can only be used at the store that provides them.  
• Rewards programs.  Many brands offer rewards programs.  Usually you submit rewards codes on a website or in an app.  You earn points for the codes and then the points can be exchanged for various rewards, such as coupons.  These are often higher priced coupons than you would find anywhere else.  One of my favorite rewards programs is Kellogg's.  Be sure to watch their Facebook  page because they post free rewards codes, especially around holidays.  If you use Pampers products, they have a good rewards program too.  They partner with Shutterfly and routinely give out free Shutterfly products such as photo prints and photo books.  
2. How to organize & store your coupons?
• I sort my coupons into the following categories: Baby, Cleaning, Dairy, Dog, Food, Frozen, Health & Beauty, Household & Paper, Meat and Restaurants.  You could do more categories than this but I only have 10 divisions in my coupon holders so that's why I only have 10 categories.  I know some people further sort each category by expiration date but I don't go that far.  Instead, when I put coupons in once a week, I take the time to sort through each category and throw away any expired coupons.  I store my coupons in index card holders with expanding files (shown below).  When I first started, I documented my coupons in an Excel spreadsheet as an attempt to make it easy to search for what products I had coupons for, but the time it took to input the data did not pay off in the end so I stopped.  
  
  
  
  
3. How to use coupons effectively?
• Don't feel guilty.  A store makes money from coupons so despite how much money you save using coupons, you are not taking money from the store so you don't need to feel bad.  Go ahead, check out the fine print on the coupon, it'll say something such as "retailer will be reimbursed face value plus __¢ for handling...".  
• Get to know the stores around you.  Many of them offer double coupon days.  For example, in my town, Hyvee doubles coupons up to $0.50 every Tuesday.  That means if a coupon has a value of $0.50 off and you use it on a Tuesday, you will get $1 off that item.  Score!  
• Use a combination of manufacturer coupons and in-store coupons.  Coupons often say in the fine print "Limit one coupon per purchase", but don't be deceived, this only refers to a coupon of the exact same kind.  You are allowed to use 2 coupons for one item as long as 1 of the coupons is a manufacturer coupon (the ones you find in coupon inserts in the Sunday paper) and the other is an in-store coupon (often found in store ads).
• Be smart about your purchases.  Coupons are meant to entice you to buy products and I have to admit, they are enticing.  To get the most for your money though, you must not fall into the trap of buying a product simply because you have a coupon for it.  Don't even tempt yourself.  When you look through the coupon inserts, only cut out the coupons that are for products that you already use or had previously been thinking about using.  Same goes for online coupons, only print the ones you know you will use, otherwise you're just wasting your printer ink and we all know that ink is not cheap.

What coupon tips do you have?  Do you know of any other good rewards programs or coupon sources?