In this post I wanted to briefly describe my general couponing routine and some tips and suggestions for your own couponing. So every Monday or Tuesday I go to the local newspaper office and purchase 2 Sunday newspapers from them directly. This way I have two sets of coupon inserts to pull from. On Sunday the papers are $1.50 and when I purchase them the day after directly they are only $1. I haven't looked into having the paper delivered but I bet there could be some savings in doing that too. And that way you'll know you'll get all of your coupon inserts. When I go to the newspaper office I have to make sure all of my inserts are included since these are copies that were delivered to vendors and then returned to them. I used to go to Kroger or Publix on Sundays to purchase my newspapers but they are often left unattended and people tend to rifle through them stealing the inserts. So always make sure your newspaper has all of the inserts that it should before you purchase it. I just google "coupon inserts [date]" and then see which inserts should be included that week. My favorite site for previewing is http://hip2save.com/2012/10/06/107-sunday-newspaper-coupon-insert-preview/
So...now that you have your inserts I write that Sunday's date on the top of each of the inserts. This way you will be able to easily locate the coupon you are looking for. If you look below you will see the date written on my SmartSource. This is approximately 2.5 months worth of inserts. At the beginning of each new month I go through my coupon inserts and throw away inserts with all expired coupons or clip the very few remaining ones that I keep in a small container along with my printed coupons and other random coupons that I receive from people. These coupons are sorted by date and month. Couponing doesn't get really fun until you have collecting a couple of months worth of coupon inserts so make sure to get them each week!
Now, I use couponmom.com for my couponing which I highly suggest to anyone. You have to create a username and password but they don't send too much spam. At the most 1 email per day usually reminding you to print out coupons. This site does all the work for you. Once logged in, I go to the Grocery Deals by State tab, then See Stores by State, then click your state. Once on that screen I use the feature that says Extreme Grocery Deals All Stores: 50%+ off most often. The only downside is that often Athens receives different coupons than Atlanta does so not all of the coupons in their database match up with mine. Minor issue though. I usually on coupon for items that are more than 50% off and most often this covers the items that I need. Once here I sort by store and then click the items that I'm interested in and it'll put all the items on one list for you and let you know if there is a printable coupon for that item as well. Now you have the somewhat tedious task of locating the coupons for the items you would like to purchase. It's really only tedious if you do not have your coupons organized. Now you can print your list and have your coupons ready to go!
Now usually there are not coupons for produce or meat. It's best to watch your fliers each week to look for meat and produce sales. I prefer to go to Sam's Club or a locally owned grocery store about once every month or two to buy meat and then just freeze it and bring out what I need every day. I don't like to have the pressure of raw meat sitting in the fridge needing to be used. Buying a deep freezer is definitely in my near future though. The fridge freezer is constantly overcrowded.
Okay so that's enough for now. More next time for some insider tips on couponing!
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