My couponing thing...

I have gotten lots of questions on how I dot his coupon thing. I have only done it twice, so I am no pro. But these are the things I've learned. 

First, I started reading blogs of people who are really serious about it. I started out with a ton, but I have begun to limit it to my two favs: 

Fiddledeedee  and  Southern Savers

These folks do all the thinking for you. 

So, pretty much what I have learned so far is that using a single coupon on an item is really no deal at all. The way couponing gets good is if you use several coupons for an item that is on sale. You can get things for almost free that way. It also takes some patience to save coupons that you have until that item is on sale. The blogs above will tell you how to match the coupons to the sales and the stores. 

There are some pretty incredible savings at CVS and Walgreens from what people blog about, however, I'm reluctant to get into that because I don't use many types of medicine. But they do have good sales on toiletries, which makes me want to give it a shot. I haven't yet. 

Something else I have learned, I should never again pay full price for shampoo, razors, deodorant, etc. But it also requires that I don't be brand specific. 

Things that don't seem to go on sale or have coupons are fresh foods, so that hurts my percentage of sales. Also, I haven't learned super well how to plan my weekly menu around what is on sale. Meat goes on sales, and I planned a couple meals on that. A girl in my sorority blogged about getting over her fear of chicken leg quarters because it is so much cheaper than chicken breast. I saw it at the grocery store, saw how less expensive it is - but I haven't quite gotten over that fear. I think I will soon :-) (I hate meat in general though). 

Also, stockpiling. If something is crazy one sale, you know you'll use it, but you don't need it yet - get it anyway. 

Ok, those are some of the things I've learned. Check southern savers to learn coupon rules at each store.