Every new couponer has visions of organized shelves completely stocked with name brand products somewhere in their house. The idea of never paying for toilet paper or laundry detergent gets your heart pumping and you begin to feel the need or shall I say itch.. to get your stash. But where do you begin and how do you turn your dusky basement into a show room or products you scored for free that will make all your full pice paying friends drool?
Here are some secrets to get you started and couponing at extreme level in no time at all.
First thing you need to do is get your hand on coupons. Depending on the size of your family and how large you want to stockpile will determine how many inserts you will want to get each week. If. you are starting small I suggest 4-6. If you are a “go hoe or go home” type of gal then I suggest 40 inserts per week, per insert. If you don’t get the coupons you want or the values you want then you will want to order the coupons you need. The Best Places to Order Coupons in Bulk and 6 Ways to Get your Hands on Coupons will tell you where and how you can do that. If you are wondering if there is a coupon for a certain product and when it came out you can look it up in our Free Coupon Database.
Once you get your inserts don’t cut them. File them by date so you can easily locate and cut the ones you need when you need them. This will keep things organized and neat. Once I know I need a specific coupon I will then pull each page from each insert, stack the pages together and cut them all out at once. Once my coupon is cut I then put it in the designated store Ziploc bag that I carry in my purse everywhere I go. I also include my shopping list so I know exactly what I need to remember to buy. Keeping these things in the bag in my purse ensures I am always ready to coupon whenever I pass a store.
Once you know what items are free or near free determine how many you should get. The easiest way to do this is to look at the expiration date on the product then do the math. Determine how many of that product your family will use between now and the expiration of that product and that is how many you will want to get before the sale is over.
Once you start stocking up on whatever is free or near free your stockpile will start to grow and grow and soon you will have the organized basement of your dreams with 5 years of toilet paper and enough laundry detergent to last you a life time.But the number one real secret to shopping for free is to get something even if you don’t need it, whenever it is free or near free, get it! Don’t tell me you won’t take something you don’t need. If you don’t want or need the item there is always someone in need that does. I believe in starting close to home. Find a neighbor, senior citizen or struggling single parent in your community that could use some help, and help them. If the item is free you have nothing to loose and everything to gain. Because good Karma is one thing tou can’t get with a coupon but you can with kindness and paying it forward!
Happy Couponing!
Where can you get multiple inserts at once? Waiting for family to come around with flyers can take forever. Any suggestions?