Coupons

I have become obsessed with coupons lately.  When I know I’m going to buy a particular product then I go to Google, type in the name, add the word coupon and see what is out there.  Vicki does most of our shopping and she has become an expert.  In two shopping trips she saved us over $35 just by using coupons.  That’s enough money to cover one of her prescriptions. 
I know a lot of coupons are only pennies off but if you use them wisely you can save some big money.  Here are a few of the tips we follow:
1.      Don’t bother with coupons for items you aren’t going to use.  Unless you want to try something new it is just a waste of money to buy a product that will never get used.
2.      Watch for sales of items you use, add in the coupons savings and you are saving even more.  We just went to Walgreens where we buy most of our over the counter stuff and they were having a special on buy one get one half off or free.  Just by paying attention to this we were able to save over $100 in in-store specials and then another $7 in coupons.
3.      Ask friends and family if they get coupons in their papers or mail.  Trade with them for their unused coupons.  Hopefully you don’t all use the same products.
4.      Mine the flyers for the stores where you shop.  This will allow you to make the most of your coupons and stretch your money. 
5.      Go to the website for products you use regularly.  Sign up for their newsletters and offers.  This may get your coupons that aren’t published in the papers and other places.  You can sometimes even get free samples from them. 
6.      Google is your friend.  There are a ton of sites out there that offer coupons.  Go to Google and search the name of the product and add coupon.
7.      One site I’ve found (and I’m sure there are a ton more) is coupon.com. They seem to have a variety and all you have to do is wade through the listing to find what you need.  It is fairly easy to use.
8.      For non-perishable items, when they go on sale, stock up.  I buy a particular brand of juice.  I can’t ever find coupons for it but it doesn’t have to be refrigerated so when the store has a sale we buy extra.   

I’m not a coupon queen in any way but these few tips I hope will help people get started.  While 40 cents on dish soap may not seem like a lot of money, when you have 10 coupons for that or more it can add up pretty quickly.