I was putting together a new tab on BargainBabe.com that features long-term strategies for coupon clipping (as opposed to coupons that expire in a few days) when I realized I had never written a basic how to clip coupons post. Shocking!
There are five steps to coupon clipping for grocery products, toiletries, and drugstore items.
1. Subscribe to the Sunday newspaper, which is when coupons are distributed. If you don’t want to subscribe, you may live in an area that the three major coupon inserts – RedPlum.com, SmartSource.com, and PGeSaver.com – want to reach. You can inquire directly by signing up on their sites. Online coupons are becoming more prevalent and may replace newspaper coupons someday.
2. Quickly flip through the inserts and clip any coupons that you are absolutely sure you will use no matter if the item is on sale this week. (I used to recommend clipping every single coupon and filing by category but that is not as efficient as this method).
3. File the rest of the inserts in one folder, noting the publication date. (i.e. Feb. 28, 2010).
4. Look for sales in the store circulars that arrive by mail or in your inbox if you have signed up for store email lists. Match sale items with what there are coupons for. There are two main “matching” databases that tell you when coupons were published so you don’t have to sort through each insert by hand. They are AFullCup.com and HotCouponWorld.com. To help find matches, read some of my favorite coupon match blogs, including CommonSenseWithMoney.com, CouponCravings.com, and KouponKaren.com. These blogs often do much of the work for you!
To get an idea of how much you can save by coupon matching, check out my extreme couponing adventure.
5. Take your coupons to the store and buy when the item is on sale! It always helps to be especially nice to the cashier when you are using a lot of coupons. Sometimes their cooperation can make a big difference in your total bill.
Bonus Tip: If you want more coupons than you can clip in your newspaper, check out these websites to buy and trade coupons.
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:54 pm
There is also coupons.com for grocery coupons.
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:30 pm
There is also thegrocerygame.com for coupons as well.
Also, I always bring my binder that holds all my coupons with me to the store. There are times when the store is discounting something that isn’t advertised and, if I need it and I have a coupon, I can buy it.
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:43 pm
My problem with coupons is that it often forces me to buy products that I may not necessarily need, just cuz it’s a good deal or a few cents off.
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:17 pm
dum_dum, I cherry pick. I only cut and use coupons on things that I would actually use. If I bought every good deal I saw, just cause it was a good deal, I would be broke really quickly…*s* It is hard to resist deals sometimes, but you should only buy things that you are willing to use (or try). I don’t save as much as some of my friends because I use coupons this way, but I save on average of 40% per week on my grocery bill.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:21 am
dum_dum, I used to be the same way until I realized what I was doing. Now I only clip the coupons that I know I will use – and only if it’s a good bargain on top of it.
Thanks for the great coupon clipping tips!
February 26th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
I love the couponizer. Helps me stay organized:
http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=948372
March 26th, 2010 at 10:32 am
[...] Cathy from Chief Family Officer emailed me to share her top five coupon matches at Ralphs this week. If you’re asking yourself what the heck is a coupon match, read my post on coupon clipping basics. [...]