Welcome Newbies!
I really love to help people learn the couponing ropes and my prayer and hope is that this blog is a helpful tool to teach you how to save.
When I first started learning about couponing, I was so overwhelmed with all the deals at all the different stores. I was going crazy the first couple of weeks trying to cash in on every deal at every store. Well, that got old really quick. I started to see that if I happened to miss a deal at one store one week, chances were that another store would have a deal on it one to two weeks later. Now, I try to just go to 2 or 3 stores each week, but there are weeks that I only go to one store. I learned that it works much better doing it this way and I am less stressed out each week.
When I go to the store I only buy the things that my family will use that I can get for free or really really cheap or if I come across a great deal on something that my family won't use, then I buy it and donate it to my church's food ministry. This way of shoping did take some time to get used to, but it has been a good adjustment for our family. I used to run to the store most nights right before dinner to pick up things that I would need for dinner that night! Now, I plan my meals around what I get from the deals each week or what I happen to have in my stockpile.
The first couple of months I worked on my stockpile and we didn't notice a huge difference in out budget, but after the 3rd or 4th month of consistent coupon use our budget was slashed in half and it hasn't gone back up since!
Here are a few basic coupon rules to help everyone have happy coupon experiences.
1. Play Nice! Be courteous to your cashier, managers, and fellow shoppers. It's okay to question what a cashier tells you and to ask for clairification from a manager, just remember to be polite. If you need to get a large quanitity of one item and it is going to clear the shelf, consider asking the manager to special order. If you are going to be doing multiple transactions, shop during the slow hours and let other customers with fewer items go in front of you in line.
2. Follow the store policies and the individual coupon rules! Don't expect stores to bend their rules or make an exception for you. Respect the expiration dates, quanity limits, and manufacturer rules. Most of the time, stores will treat you with respect when you treat their store policy with respect.
3. Be Prepared! Your couponing experience will go so much more smoothly if you prepare for your trip by making a list and grouping your items together. It's amazing how much nicer I can be if I am not stressed out when I am in line checkingout.
For more information on How She Saves check out my 10 Secrets To How She Saves! Then after you read through all 10 Secrets print Master Price List and head over to the Store Policies tab to print those out!
10 Secrets to How She Saves Master Price List
Inserts Share the 31 Secret
