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Health & Fitness

Couponing Made Easy

"Real Life" couponing tips from a local every day couponer. Learn how the every day person can save money on items that they will actually use.

I am sure by now that most of you have seen the new phenomenon known as “Extreme Couponing” on the TLC network on TV. It is amazing to see these talented individuals walk out with such bountiful blessings, for almost nothing.

Learning to live a frugal lifestyle is the new “black.”  It does not require 30 hours per week to save money couponing. It does require an investment of organization and an understanding of how coupons can work for you.

Coupons have received a black eye in the past. Most people think that there are only coupons for junk food or otherwise unhealthy fare. This is far from the truth. In fact, you can get coupons for organic products, nuts, meats & cheeses, protein bars, vitamins, yogurt, and many more name brand healthy items.

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The world of couponing will open up opportunities to save money, try new products, and hopefully a life of debt free living.  I have created a simple acronym using the word COUPON to help you remember the basics.

C REATE A COUPON BINDER

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O RGANIZE YOUR WEEKLY INSERTS BY DATE

U NDERSTAND COUPON POLICIES AND COUPON LINGO

P REPARE A SHOPPING LIST

O PTIMIZE YOUR SAVINGS BY USING COUPON MATCH-UPS

N EVER BE AFRAID TO WALK OUT OF THE STORE WITH FREE ITEMS! EXPECT IT!

Ask a thousand couponers how they organize their coupons and you will get a thousand different methods. I like to stick to a very simple plan. I used a 5-inch binder that I had from graduate school and a few plastic inserts from the dollar store to create my coupon binder. You can get fancy but it isn’t necessary, unless it will inspire you. You take your coupons out of the newspaper each week, write the date on the front, and drop them into a plastic binder insert. The coupons are now organized by date and ready to use when you are completing your match-ups.

Where do you find coupons? The Sunday newspaper is an excellent resource. I usually pick up five to seven papers per week depending on the coupons that will be included. You can also print coupons from your computer, clip them from magazines, or order them from coupon clipping services. The coupon clipping service that I use is thecouponclippers.com. This is a service that charges you a nominal fee for “clipping” per coupon but “buying” coupons or copying coupons are illegal. They have a great selection of up to date coupons and the prices are very reasonable.  

 You would be shocked at how many people throw their coupons in the trash. Just ask a few neighbors or family members to save the inserts for you and you will have a fully stocked coupon binder in no time.

You will get the best deals, even free items by "matching-up" your current coupons with the weekly sales. The items will then be deeply discounted to completely free. This is what I call a "stock-up" sale. When you can get items free or almost free your goal is to get as many as you think you will use until the next time they will go on sale. For most of the products that I buy there is a 10-12 week sale cycle. That means that the item is only a "loss leader" or actually cost the store money to discount every 10-12 weeks. This idea should be applied to both grocery and drug store purchases.

 We live in an age where information can be found at the touch of a finger. You can find match-ups for every store across the nation on dedicated coupon websites. These dynamic men and women will do all of the work for you. You can click on the link for the store of your choice and the list of freebies and bargains will be there for you.

 You can find match-ups for every grocery store and drug store at Becentsable.net. All you have to do is click on the link labeled “Store Deals” and all of the deals for ever store in your state will be available.

 The number one rule of coupon shopping is to follow a list. In order to get the most bang for your buck, you have to avoid last minute purchases. That is how coupon experts manage to pay almost nothing for their shopping trips. Make a detailed list of the items name, quantity, and size so you will not be at the checkout lane with a bunch of coupons that cannot be used.

 Go out there and get those coupons! You cannot make bricks without straw and you certainly cannot save money if you do not have the coupons.  

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