Sunday, March 06, 2011

Starting to Coupon - 101

*If ever you want to find these posts quick, go to the top of this blog and put "101" in the search bar.

I have a bunch of new friends (in real life) who are interested in couponing, so here goes my explanations. If you have questions, EMAIL ME!!! Beadandelion at gmail dot com!

Where do I find coupons? - 
  • Get a Sunday paper! 
    • Orlando-folks -  you can actually order up to 10 papers to your home! But WAIT! Why spend the money? My husband brings home 2 sets of inserts from work. I also walk around to 4 neighbors' homes on Monday evening and pick up their picked through coupons! 
    • Call your city. I did. Apparently anything set out for recycling or trash is free game.... THE MOMENT IT HITS THE CURB... so when we take the baby and dog for a walk after dinner, we are free to search through the recycle bins at the road. (I did this for a year before just asking my neighbors for the papers)
    • Like coffee? Panera and Starbucks will have their Sunday papers sitting out each week... stop by on Sunday morning OR talk to the manager and offer to recycle for them!! I have a blogger-buddy who stops by Panera on Monday morning and takes all of their recycling, gets her coupons and takes the rest to the recycling center!
What do you do when you get the coupon inserts? - 
  • Simple - clip
    • WRONG! Just file them away! Serious. I found that when I clipped I never found the coupons I needed and I was sorting coupons that were expired rather than looking for those I could use. When I post how will you find your coupons?
  • So you have a box and some hanging file folders. Label them by weeks. Today is 3/6/11. That is how my file is labeled. Trust me on this. If you follow me and the blogs I follow you will always know what insert to find your coupon.
  • So you have 5 or 6 sets of RedPlums or SmartSource from 3/6. Make a mega RP or SS. Spread them over the kitchen counters and separate them by page and make it where if you need to cut 6 of the same coupon, you have them all there! Snip snip, you have 6 coupons, move on.
  • I will tell you that - all coupon inserts prior to 12/3/10 are expired, expect the one for $2/Excedrine
    • I have a file for all the random pages of weird diet drug coupons that expire 3 months after the rest of the coupons. I keep it separated by months that they expire.
What next?
  • How to read my posts
    • SS - Smart Source coupon insert
    • RP - Red Plum coupon insert
    • PG - Procter and Gamble coupon insert
    • $/$$ is a VERY good thing.. it refers to a coupon that has a $/ off a $$ amount! 
There is so much more to cover. What do YOU want to ask? I will add that to my 101's.
*You can search for all my tips by typing in 101 into the search bar!*

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