Beginner Couponing Tips

Since I started couponing last August, I've learned quite a bit. Here are some tips that help me know when a deal is a deal, and when to hold on to your coupon.

• Take a Notebook- Grab a spiral notebook and hit the store. Start writing down the prices of items you regularly purchase. That way when the item goes on sale at another store, you'll know if it's a good sale or a gimmick. For example, Target and Walgreens generally have higher prices than Walmart. Their 'sale' prices are often more expensive.

• Go Ahead and Stockpile- I'm not talking about hoarding here!!! However, if you don't need an item, but you find a great deal BUY IT! A perfect example for our household is toothpaste. We have a local drugstore that often discounts their Colgate toothpaste to $1.50. At Walmart it sells for $3.99. Colgate puts out $1.00 off coupons. So when it goes on sale I end up snagging a tube (or more) of toothpaste for $.50.

• Cut It Anyway-When I first started couponing, there were some coupons that I didn't cut because even with the coupon, the item was more than I wanted to spend. I quickly learned that those 'expensive' items often went on sale, and had high value coupons. A prime example is Fiber One products. The cereal alone (for a small box) is around $4.50. Target often puts these in their ad for $2.50/product plus a Buy 5, get a $5 gift card towards your next purchase. Not to mention, there are a lot of Fiber One coupons in the Sunday paper. My new motto is, "If I'll use it, I'll clip it." I don't think about the price.

Hopefully these tips will help you out. Couponing takes a lot of effort at the beginning, but it pays off in the end. Everyone would like to have more money, and generally you have to work for it. Think of this as your little part-time job. After you get a system down that works for you, this little part-time job will pay you $75 for 30 minutes worth of work per week (at least in my experience). Sounds like a pretty good job to me!

Happy Couponing!