Petunia 101

Where else to get coupons & which ones to clip. This should be part of tip #1, but I forgot to add it. If you have family, neighbors and friends who get the Sunday paper, ask them to hold onto any of their inserts (coupons) they don’t want. “Inserts” are what the sheets of coupons are called.

Now onto Tip #2:

Which coupons to clip. Clip nearly EVERYTHING, even for brands you don’t or wouldn’t normally buy. I read somewhere that to coupon successfully, you have to give up brand loyalty. Maybe you only buy Dawn dish soap. You won’t always find Dawn coupons. You might find Ajax or Palmolive coupons. Sure, you don’t buy those brands, but clip them anyway. You never know when they maybe on sale at a store for dirt cheap and you can use that coupon you clipped to get it for cents or even free.   Obviously avoid clipping (cutting) coupons that don’t apply to you, such as cat food if you don’t have a cat and diapers if you don’t have a baby in your household.

Tip #3

How to organize your coupons. I started off with one of those little expanding coupon files (the ones that look like they’d hold recipe cards). Using a coupon file worked at first, when I didn’t have too many coupons. Eventually it was frustrating searching through all the slots while grocery shopping searching for coupons I knew I had, but couldn’t find. My co-worker, the same one who introduced me to the wonderful world of couponing, showed me how she stores all her coupons in a 3 ring binder. Genius! A binder is honestly the best and easiest way to store your coupons. I have a 1” or 1.5” binder and I am currently busting out of it. I would suggest buying a 1.5” or 2” binder. You will also need 9 slot baseball card holders. Do not overpay at places like Target (20 sheets for $4.99)! You can find 10pks at The Dollar Tree and dollar stores. You’ll also need to buy dividers (I got a 5pk at Target for $1) so you can divide up categories in your binder (ex.: health, food, house, etc.)

Tip #4

Save all the weekly ads you get in the mail and your newspaper. Many grocery stores run their ads from Wednesday to Tuesday and drug stores vary. Some drug stores start their ads on Saturdays or Fridays and some on Sundays. Always refer to the back of the ad to see if it is current. If you don’t get ads sent to you, you can always check out store’s websites for their current ad. Ads are your ticket to saving $$! You’ll be able to see what stores have on sale for that week and compare what coupons you have to see if you can save even more. When you match up a coupon to a sale item you can usually get it cheap or sometimes free.

Any questions please ask!

Collect coupons, collect coupons- COLLECT COUPONS! Where do you get coupons from, you ask? The Sunday paper is one of the best landmines! The Sunday newspaper costs $1.50 at newsstands and stores that offer the Sunday paper. You can also find the Sunday paper at select 99 cent stores. Many newspapers offer an 8 week Sunday only subscription at a discounted price of $1 per issue. Don’t want to subscribe? The Sunday paper actually comes out on Saturday- so if you are serious about getting your hands on some coupons, make sure to get to a newsstand/store before noon- Sunday papers run out quickly- especially when the coupons are good for that week. Run on sentence- I know. The Sunday paper is not the only place to get coupons from. Grocery stores have many of those little machines spread throughout the store that spit out coupons. Ya know- the ones you liked to play with as a kid while grocery shopping with your mom? You wave your hand in front of it and a coupon comes out. When you see these- grab a couple, even if it’s not a brand/type of item you’d normally purchase- you’ll learn why in another tip. A lot of displays will also have a pad of coupons adhered to them- grab a couple of those as well. Magazines have coupons, advertisements have coupons, etc. Coupons are all around- if they’re free and you’re not stealing them by tearing them out of an unpaid for magazine/paper or out of a product- take some. 

No photo this time, but- unexpected score today. We stopped by Albertsons and got some good deals! 4 bottles of “All” 28 load (that is the brand…if you didn’t know) laundry detergent for $1.33 per bottle! These are normally $6.99 each. We also bought 2 of the new 4pk Slim Fast shakes at just $1.70 per pack- normally $6.99 and up per pack! Unexpected scores= a happy Petunia =)

I will do my best to describe, explain, help and answer any questions about “couponing” I can. If you are interested in learning how to coupon and have not yet checked it out, make sure to visit couponmom.com. There is a blue row of tabs at the top, the 4th is called “Learn to coupon”. Once you click the tab, you’ll be taken to another page with some basic suggestions and two videos. I have yet to watch the videos myself, but I hear they have helped a lot of people begin to understand how to coupon. Just wanted to get a first post going, will post more tomorrow.