How this got started

I thought today that i'd post up how this couponing thing got started.  I'm sure it's no surprise, but that stupid tv show, Extreme Couponing, got me curious to how these people were getting away with so much stuff for hardly any money.  I cut coupons randomly from the ads every week & more than half the time, I forgot to give them to the cashier.  I was pretty committed to Safeway.  I know the store well.  It was always stocked with what I needed.  I saw the show one evening & decided to check out The Krazy Coupon Lady blog.  I read it when I remembered, but I wasn't really paying too close attention.  And then one day she had a post about how to get free popsicles & the kind of ice cream i liked for super cheap.  I had been clipping a few coupons here & there when I remembered & i just so happened to have the coupons needed for the deal....and it worked.  I was shocked to be able to walk out with free ice cream & I had to try it again....and again....and again.  I found a few blogs that were easy to read & understand, I clicked on references to other blogs, I read-read-read.  And that's how I got here.

At first I only cut coupons of items that we used.  I used a small accordion folder that I found in the dollar section at Target to house all my coupons.  After awhile, I couldn't figure out how to organize my coupons in the accordion folder.  I had all my coupons mixed together.  The makeup coupons with the toilet paper & mixed in was a coupon for chips or hot dogs.  I'd stand in the end of the aisles, grab my coupons out of my little accordion folder & start flipping through them, in search for my coupon.  Sometimes i found it, sometimes i didn't.  It was annoying & frustrating.

That's when I found a blog post titled:  How to become an Extreme Couponer in 10 Days on another blog.  I read through to Day 8 & stopped.  I decided that maybe I did need to start a binder, with categories so I could find my coupons easily.  I also started to buy 2-3 Sunday papers & clipped more of the manufacturer coupons.  I found in my daily blog reading, that when the price is good on something, you want multiples of it right?  So in order to get multiples at that wonderful price, you have to have the coupons to go with it....whether you buy 3 or 100.

After reading more, I found Target coupons & Coupons.com where I could get more coupons.  And then I decided to ask my Dad to save me his Federal Way Mirror newspaper that's free & delivered on Tuesday & Friday's that have ads in it also.

AND THEN...I started to find that I could get the "free" (or close to free or money maker) items....BUT I was throwing away the coupons for em, because I didn't use those particular items.  So now, I clip almost everything & just put it in my binder.  If i use it, i use it...if not, oh well.  I will say that most times a deal will come up where I can score good items for really cheap.

So, for those of you that ask me "how do i start couponing too?"  My advice is to start cutting manufacturer coupons (doesn't matter where you get them from, Sunday paper, work break room, the neighbors.  and you don't need 5-10 inserts, even 1 is good) & just hold on to the coupons.  The following week, do the same & again for the next 4 weeks. While doing this, look at your store ads every week.  When items are on sale, see if you have a manufacturer coupon for that particular item also...that's called "stacking."  That's pretty much how this couponing thing works.  There's more to it, of course, but that's for another day.

Example #1:

At Walgreens this week, is this coupon for Pure Silk Shaving Cream.  You can purchase 4 using this one coupon. And the sale price is $0.99ea.

2 Weeks ago, there was a manufacturer coupon in the Red Plum insert for $0.80 off Pure Silk Shaving Cream.  So you take this Walgreens coupon & your manufacturers coupon & you get shaving cream for $0.19ea.  If you have 1 manufacturers coupon, then you can get 1 can...but if you have 4, then you can get 4 cans for less than a dollar.

Example #2:

At Safeway, this coupon for Finish Dish Washer Detergent is on sale for $5.49.

2 Weeks ago, there was a manufacturer coupon in the SmartSource insert for $1.00 off Finish Powerball Quantum Detergent.  So just like example #1, you'll take this coupon, along with your $1.00 manufacturers coupon & you'll get this for $4.49.

I did a small trip today to Walgreens.  I'll post up about it tomorrow.