New To Couponing? How To - Part 1

I am a relative "newbie" to couponing compared to some out there, as I have only been "saving" for about 6 months. However, there are a few essential tips I have learned along the way that I feel are worth repeating for any other newcomers to the coupon world!

STEP 1 - Get Coupons!
One important thing you need to know first is the difference between a "Manufacturer" coupon and a "Store" coupon. Manufacturer coupons are accepted at any store that takes coupons and sell the product you are buying. Store coupons are good only at the specific store printed on the coupon. There are some stores (for example, Wal-Mart) that take competitor coupons as well.

Now, where do I find coupons? There are several outlets for getting coupons, here are a couple of different ways I get mine.

The Sunday Paper: The Sunday paper always has valuable coupon inserts each week, between 1 and 4! A lot of bloggers out there subscribe to up to 5 Sunday papers per week. Personally I have found that I don't need that many. I subscribe to 1 paper and if one week is particularly full of coupons I head to a store and pick up a couple more. I am also lucky enough to have family members that save their weekend papers for me.

I mark the date on the front of these inserts, cut the coupons I know I will use right away and then file them away until I find a deal I can't pass up!

Printable Online Coupons: There are several websites out there to get free printable coupons online.
A few of the main sites I go to are:
Coupons.com
Redplum.com
Smartsource.com
I also have found that a lot of companies have printable coupons available on their websites as well. For example, www.organicvalley.com has several printable coupons available for their products. If you have a certain brand of an item you like, I recommend checking out their website to see if they have any coupons available and sign up for their newsletter too.

Newsletters:
Most companies offer an e-newsletter that you can sign up for through your email. Most of the time those newsletters can contain valuable coupons! For example, when you sign up for the Kohl's e-newsletter they will send you an introductory coupon for $5 off any $5 purchase!! Now just a tip on the newsletter thing, use a different email account for these unless you want a million emails in your main inbox every morning! I set up an account specifically for receiving newsletters.

In-Store:
A lot of the time you can find coupons at the grocery store! There are those little "blinkie" boxes that have manufacturer coupons, you can save these and use them at a later date or a different store to pair it up with a sale! "Peelies" are coupons stuck to the packaging of products for instant savings. These can be good only at your store or a manufacturer coupon good at any store. "Catalina" coupons are those coupons that spit out at the register after you have paid for your purchase. Catalinas are only good at the store printed on the coupon, unless your store accepts competitor coupons.

So - now that you know where to find them, start saving and organizing them! Stay tuned for an upcoming post on how to maximize your savings at the grocery store!

Monday Madness! What $6.45 Bought Me Today!

This morning I made a run to Safeway for the hot Kashi cereal deal and Albertson's to use my doublers from Sunday's paper! The above photo is what I got for $6.45! I saved over $30 by using my coupons and matching them up with a sale! Here's how I did it!

Safeway:
4 Boxes of Kashi Honey Sunshine @ 3.99 per box
1 Box of Kashi Seven Grain Puffs @ 3.99 per box
1 Bounce Dryer Bar @ 5.46 (on sale for 4.99 + tax)
Total before coupons: $25.41
-$5 instant savings for buying 5 boxes of Kashi Cereal
-$2.50 Bounce coupon (Thanks to Vocalpoint!)
-$2.00 Free Box of Kashi coupon (Vocalpoint again!)
(3) -$1.50 off 1 Kashi Honey Sunshine coupons
$1.00 off any Kashi Cereal coupon
Total After Coupons and Discounts: $2.96!! I got 5 boxes of Kashi for $0.10/box!

Albertsons:
2 16oz. Bottles of Coffee-Mate Creamer @ 2 for $4.00
1 6-Pack Danimals Yogurt Smoothies @ 2.99 (Naomi LOVES these!)
1 Package of Barilla Whole Grain Pasta @ 1.50 (Making Spaghetti on Tuesday this week)
Total Before Coupons: $8.49
-$1.00 off any 2 Coffee-Mate Creamers (blinkie box next to the creamer in the store)
-$1.00 off any Danimals 6-Pack (8/30 Smart Source Coupon Insert)
-$0.50 off any package of Barilla Whole Grain (8/23 Smart Source Insert)
-$2.50 using 3 Doubler coupons
Total after coupons: $3.49!

This week I decided to start using the "envelope" system for my weekly grocery budget. I am really trying to hammer our grocery bill down as low as we can get it each week and I think that this is greatly going to help us out!

So the envelope system is where I put a certain amount of cash in an envelope at the beginning of the week (I have chosen Sunday as my 1st day, your 1st day will have to be up to you!) and then use that for my groceries each time I shop. Once it's gone, it's gone and I will need to improvise the rest of the week. Alternatively, if I have money left over, it will transfer over to the next week and so on. That way if I might have a large purchase the next week, I'll have some extra wiggle room.

After looking over what I have been spending each week on groceries for the last few months, I have decided to challenge myself by only putting $40 in the envelope each week. We will see how that goes over the next couple of weeks and see if I need to up it to $50. Each family is different so if you are going to try this out with me, figure out what your family can realistically spend on groceries each week. A family of 2 or 3 is going to spend less than a family of 4 or 5, don't be too drastic and give your family of 4 a budget of only $30 per week on groceries, especially if you are new to couponing.

So are you going to try this with me? Each weekend I will try to do an update on my weekly budget and purchases! You can leave a comment to let everyone know how you did also!

Want to read more about the envelope system? Money Saving Mom did an excellent post on setting a budget and using this system HERE.

Good luck getting started and let me know how it goes!

FREE Barnes & Noble Gift Card Promotion

From now until September 30th, 2009, receive a free $5 Barnes & Noble gift card when you buy $15.00 worth of participating products from Hain Celestial brands. (This includes Earth's Best Sesame Street!) -or- receive a $10 gift card when you send in $25 in receipts!

GO HERE for a list of participating products and the redemption form.

You must send in your receipts and the form by 10/07 to receive the gift card. *Promotion does not include Earth's Best baby food jars or cereals.

Earth's Best Sesame Street toddler foods are on sale at Whole Foods this week so it would be a great place to stock up on some snacks, soups or microwave meals! Go Here for a $1.00 off 2 coupon for the Earth's Best Sesame Street products.

Don't Forget to Get Your Sunday Paper!

Hey Folks, Sorry for my absence these past few days! We had a very successful garage sale Friday and Saturday! So it's been a little busy around here but we now have a "clutter-free" garage!
Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that if you do not subscribe to the Sunday paper that you should go pick one up today!

There are at least 2 (3 in some regions) coupon inserts in today's paper! This is one of the main ways that I get my coupons every week! If you don't subscribe and want to get into couponing, this may be a great time to sign up! Most papers will allow you to subscribe just for the Sunday paper as well.

There is also an Albertson's flyer in today's paper that contains 3 doubler coupons! These are great because you can use them to double the value of any manufacturer coupon up to $1.00 each and you can use 3 per transaction at any Albertsons! These "Twice the Value" coupons are good today through Tuesday so don't forget to plan a trip in the next couple of days!

Yard Salin' Today and Tomorrow

Hey Everyone!

I just wanted to check in and say that I hope you have a lovely weekend! We are in the middle of our big 2 day neighborhood yard sale so posting will probably not happen until Sunday unless I find a smokin deal that I can't wait on!

So until then.... Take Care!

Gone - FREE Organic EOS Lip Balm!

**Update** The 50,000 lip balms have been given away, but you can still go there to get a $1.00 off coupon!

GO HERE to request your free Sweet Mint EOS Lip Balm Sphere!

They are only giving away 50,000 and these will surely go quick so do it now before they are all gone!

Thanks Deal Seeking Mom and Money Saving Mom!!

2 Awesome Giveaways!

I just recently won a $25 Famous Footwear gift card from Money Saving Mom! Here are a couple great yogurt giveaways that you can enter!

- Stretching A Buck is giving away a YoBaby Prize Pack this week! Go Here to enter!

- The Good Deal Gal is giving away a Yoplait Whips Prize Package! Go Here to enter!

Good Luck!!

Various Printable Coupons and Freebies

- Sign up Here to print a coupon for $1.00 off any pint of Starbucks ice cream! These are SO yummy!

- Go Here to request your FREE sample of Honey Nut Cheerios + $1.00 off coupon!

- Go Here for 3 fabule$$ coupons from Honest Tea!

- Go Here to sign up for 2 Coffee-Mate Creamer printable coupons! (If you go through as much creamer as we do in our house, these come in very handy!)

- Sign up Here for a bunch of coupons from Organic Valley, including $1.00 off any gallon or 1/2 gallon of organic milk! There are also coupons for eggs, cheese and butter!

Have you found any great coupons or freebies around the web? Feel free to leave a comment or email me!

FREE Car Wash Tomorrow!! All Brown Bear Locations!

Go Here for a complete listing of all the Brown Bear car washes participating tomorrow. No coupon needed! It is to celebrate their 52nd anniversary!

8am to 8pm Tomorrow only!! (8/27) Lines will probably be long so plan accordingly.

So go grab a car wash after you eat your free taco from Taco Del Mar!

Thanks Thrifty Northwest Mom!

Taco Del Mar - FREE Taco Tomorrow, 8/27

Go Here to send a friend an e-card in honor of National Forgiveness Day and they will receive a printable coupon good for a free taco tomorrow, 8/27!

Although your friend may need to forgive you for being stingy and sending the coupon to yourself!!

Thanks Deal Seeking Mom!