Couponing 101

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Part 1 of a 9 part Couponing for Beginners Series takes you trough the ins and outs of couponing 101.

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Have you always wanted to coupon but never had the time or patience?  Then this couponing 101 course is just the thing for you!  I’ll be the first to admit that couponing is a lot of work.  You’re clipping, organizing, checking circulars, and then actually going to the store.  More than one store weekly if you want to find the absolute best deals.  To me all that effort to save 50-75% at the grocery store each and every week is totally worth it!  My Type-A personality absolutely LOVES making all those lists, organizing my coupons, and then walking out of the store with a cart full of groceries for a fraction of retail. 

I am so passionate about helping people learn to coupon and save money that I’m so excited to share some tips and tricks of the trade with you.  You can learn the ins and outs of couponing in this 9 part series for beginners brought to you by myself and several of my best couponing pals!  Ready?  Let’s get started! 

The Key to Successful Couponing: Changing Your Mindset

I honestly think that the most important part of couponing is to totally change the way you think about shopping.  There will be no more running into the store on the way home to pick up a few last minute items for dinner.  You won’t be planning out a long detailed shopping list without considering what’s on sale that week or meal planning without checking out store circulars.  And you absolutely will stop shopping at big wholesale clubs.  If you’re doing all those things already it’s like you’re wadding up your cash and tossing it out the window.

You’ll need to shift from a “this is what I want to eat” to a “this is what I want to eat that’s on sale” way of thinking.  This has been, by far, the biggest struggle for my family.  They want what they want when they want it and some months have been a real challenge when Velveeta cheese and cream soups don’t go on sale.  But by only buying what’s on sale I spend an average of $200 every month on groceries for a family of 4.  And that’s not just food stuffs.  That’s food, toiletries, paper and cleaning products, pet food, cat litter, dog treats, etc.  All for $200 a month!  On average I’m saving $500.  Each and every month!  That’s a 70% savings!

If you can’t change your mindset on this then couponing will be a big struggle for you and your savings won’t be as big.  In my opinion all savings are good savings but if you’re really looking for a way to slash your grocery bill you’ll have to change how you think about shopping if you want to be successful.

Believe me this mindset has been a struggle for me, too.  Especially trying to run this blog.  Food blogging can be expensive with all the recipe testing required so I aim to save as much money with coupons as possible.  Which sometimes can be a bit tricky because I either have to do my posts very last minute or very far in advance.  My Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup is one of my favorite last minute recipes on the blog that I saved BIG on with coupons.  And I made these Bunny Buddies with white chocolate chips I found on clearance and had a coupon for.  They were practically free!

If I tried to cover everything about couponing in one post you’d probably be so overwhelmed you’d never want to coupon {or read my blog} ever again!  So that’s why I’m bringing this 9 part series to you.  I’m breaking down the basics of couponing into 8 manageable categories.

We’re going to talk all about what a coupon is and where you can find it, how to organize your coupons and the most popular methods out there, store coupon policies, what is coupon fraud and how to avoid it, understanding and respecting coupon policies, how to stack coupons and do multiple transactions, what is a stockpile and why you should have one, how to make the most out of free money saving apps, and what all that crazy couponer lingo really means.  Whew.  Does it sound like a lot?  Don’t worry, I’m here to help you!

It was so great having you here today and imparting some couponing wisdom to you!  Check out the other installments in the Couponing for Beginners Series!

Peace. Love. Coupon.