How to get into couponing or extreme couponing 101

                                                            

     Hello, Steemit community! I have gotten many questions from friends and family about how to get into extreme couponing or couponing in general. I have decided to write a post about couponing, just to help others who may be looking to pinch a few pennies here and there, or for those who have a rather large family, like me, and are looking to cut down on expense costs. Regardless, I will try my very best to explain how you can get into it, and which stores give the best deals. 

     The first thing to understand is that there are three types of coupons. The first being printable manufacturers coupons which can be found online through various websites, such as, Coupons.com or Couponmom.com. These coupons are great because you just Google whatever product you are looking for and type "printable coupon" following it. For example, if I am looking for crest products, I go to Google and type crest printable coupons and if there are any available they will appear, however they are not always available. With that said, that is one of the cons of printable coupons, another being that not all coupon sites are reliable so please be careful! 

     The second type of coupon is given by certain retailers; such as CVS, ShopRite, or Walgreens. These will be printed at the register, loaded to a phone app (if you have one), or can be found online through the retailers website. These coupons are considered "clippable" coupons, meaning it is directly loaded onto your card. The con is, if you are not willing to sign up, and provide your retailer's rewards card number, you cannot use these services. The third type is manufacturer's coupons that we find in the Sunday newspaper such as, Redplum or Smart Source. These are easy to obtain, because most local retailers will have the Sunday paper available until they close. However, the con is that locating these coupons depends on which state you reside in. Therefore, you must locate which newspapers in your state carry these coupons. 

     Now that you have found your coupons, it is time to cut them. When cutting coupons, whether they are printed or from newspaper, I always find this to be the most tedious task. So try to find people willing to help like your spouse or children, because more hands equals less time. Also, look at couponing as a hobby, if you enjoy it the more you will do it, especially when you start seeing the savings. Now you have to locate where to shop to find the best bang for your buck. I personally downloaded the application, Flipp, on my phone out of sheer convenience. The great thing about the app is that you can specifically search for items, see how much they cost, and compare prices. Another great thing is that you can see the all retailer's flyers for the week that are located near you. In addition, with the app, you have the ability to "clip" items, and make a shopping list to look at later when you are in store to match your coupons. 

{Please understand I am not being paid or compensated in anyway by Flipp to advertise their application, it just made my life easier, rather than gathering all store flyers and having more papers than I already have or need.}

                     

     At this point, you should have a list of items you need, places to find coupons or the coupons themselves, and an application downloaded to help you find the best prices. Understand not every item you will need will have a coupon or will be on sale that week; however, that is okay because these coupons usually expire within 1-2 months, so you can always check back later to see if that item you need is on sale. Also, prior to going in store, check the retailer's coupon policy on their website, as some do take manufactures coupons and their own, while others only accept manufactures. In addition, some retailers do double coupons, meaning if they have a coupon online for $3.00 off an item and you have a printed/newspaper coupon they will use both. 

     The retailers that I tend to find the best to shop at are CVS, Walgreens, Riteaid, and Shoprite, all for different reasons. CVS is my favorite place to shop, because they offer "Extrabuck" rewards on buying certain items, in various quantities, and you can still get the reward using coupons (they look at the amount you spent prior to the reduction of using coupons). For example, they may offer $5 extrabuck rewards for buying 2 packages of toilet paper at $5.00 per package, you end up using two coupons for $2.00 off each package, you pay $8.00 and receive $5 extrabuck rewards. Now you can go buy a third package of toilet paper for FREE using the $5 extrabuck rewards! In total, you paid $2.66 for three packages of toilet paper. 

     Shoprite is my second favorite place to shop because they DOUBLE COUPONS! Which offers you great savings, also they tend to be cheaper than both CVS and Walgreens. I like Walgreens because they offer rewards points that add up to something similar to CVS, and you can use coupons here. However, there rewards system is weak because every 1000 points is equal to $1.00. On the flipside, some items do offer more rewards points and they tend to be cheaper than CVS. Riteaid, also has a similar system however, they use Plentipoints (which is stronger than Walgreens system; it requires less points to get to $1.00 and can be used at ALOT of retailers) and they do accept coupons. Also all four of these retailers offer coupons on their website that you can digitally clip to your rewards card with them, just remember to ask the cashier to apply them. 

     If you have a larger family, you will need to do this on a weekly basis. This can be time consuming but is definitely worth it. If you are looking just to save, or are a smaller unit (ex: a couple), this also can be done regularly, but it is not a necessity in these situations. However, I do recommend that if you find something you love on sale for a great price with the coupon, to stock up on it NO MATTER WHAT! It is better to have extra shampoo, and pay a lower price rather than ending up paying a higher price later. Now that I have explained the basics, I hope you too, can get into couponing and start saving! If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below, I would love to help all of you! 

XOXO-LadyQ