Beginners

Learning to use coupons effectively is a very important part of cutting your grocery bill in half or even more.  I want to give you as much information as I can to help you with this.  We spend $250 a month at the absolute most on all of our groceries, toiletries and health and beauty items.  It did take me some time to get to this point, and I will tell you the steps that I took.

1.  Create a Budget!! Yes, I said the dreaded B word!!   But this first step is an absolute must!!  So set up a reasonable budget for your monthly grocery store visits (as well as all your other household living expenses).   Knowing what you have to spend and having it in cash will help you stick to a budget and not spend too much on groceries.  I will add more on this topic soon because it is very important!

2.  Collect Coupons There are many resources for finding coupons.  More on how to use coupons HERE.
**Sunday papers typically have between 1-5 sets of inserts inside them with coupons in them.  I usually buy 1-4 papers a week

**Magazines often have coupons in them, so clip them when you find them.  The only magazine that I subscribe to is All You, which I purchased for $18 for a two year subscription.  It usually has $65 or more in coupons every month.

**Online resources for printable coupons-list of links HERE.

**Extra coupons can be purchased for a very reasonable price at these online stores HERE.

**Blinkies, tearpads and on products.  Blinkies are those blinking dispensers in stores found by products that dispense coupons   Tearpads are also found  in stores next to the product and you just tear off a coupon.

3.  Build a Stockpile! The next step is to start slowly building a stockpile of food and other household necessities while they are   on sale- use coupons to make the price even lower.  By building a stockpile you will free up money in your grocery budget because   you should always have what you need on hand, only having to buy when prices are at their lowest.

4.  Organize your coupons! There are so many different ways to organize your coupons.  I will explain how I organize my coupons and then give you a couple of links to others who seem to have pretty good systems.  You are going to have to find a way that works for you.  I organize my coupons in a file box with hanging file folders.  I mark my coupon inserts by date and place them in folders, placing the most recent  towards the front.  I do not cut any coupons until I need them (which is when the item is on sale or there is a good deal with that coupon) I pull out the inserts as the sale ads come out and I match the coupons using Hot Coupon World Only then do I cut out coupons.    Then I have a small billfold size accordian style filing folder that I use to separate my coupons by store and place them in there for that week.  Some people clip all of their coupons and place them in binders that they carry everywhere with them.  I used this system for a while, but I found it to be far too much work compared to what I do now.  Sure I may miss a deal every once in a while because I do not have that coupon with me, but I consider my time worth something and the time saved is worth the deal lost.  Plus because I have a good stockpile I don’t need to get every single deal that is out there.  **I will add more on this subject soon with links to others who have good systems that are different from mine, including binder systems**