Sunday Savings

Sunday, November 2, 2008

It is Sunday again and that is my couponing day. After Church my husband plays softball with friends and family and I head to my local convenience store and pick up the double paper and get to clipping. I grew up clipping coupons. I remember mom teaching me about saving by letting me keep the money saved by the coupons. I only wish I knew as much about it then as I do now. I have had a lot of help from the money saving mom and the Penny pinching diva. They work hard and usually will give you a heads up about what to look forward to in the weeks Sunday Paper. Here are a few things that are important to remember when trying to work your coupon magic.

1. Pay attention at the register, make sure things are ringing up correctly. I usually hold all of the things I have coupons for until the end.
2. The key to saving a lot of money on things is to wait for them to have a good sale AND THEN use your coupon.
3. Stock up. If something that you use a lot goes on sale. STOCK UP ON IT. Sodas, are one that we are known to buy four 12 packs of the same thing.
4. Many of you already do this, but you can also plan your menu, snacks, breakfast, etc, on what is on sale that week.
5. Know your stores coupon policy. I know that most stores double coupons that are .50 and below. Therefore, don't overlook those .35 cent coupons when you are clipping. When I see .50 cents on paper, I see a dollar in my mind. I hate those pesky .55 cent ones, but I still cut them.
6. Know how low things go. My example for this is Goldfish. I am hooked on those little cheesy crackers. But I don't buy them unless I can get them 10 for $10. And when they do I stock up. Same thing goes for sodas. I have a price in my mind that I will pay and not a penny more.
7. Have a good system for organizing them. I will show you my system that I got from Nikki at Project Domestic Bliss. She made a handy video. The only thing that I would change is not organizing it based on one store. I go to the store that packs the biggest money saving punch for me.

My System

Here is my notebook. I still need to make it cute like Queen Bee, but it works for me. I keep a little pockety thing in the front. I think it's original purpose was to store floppy disks in. I use it for keeping extra care bucks (CVS), rebates, and coupons divided by stores. I have a miscellaneous pocket for stores that I don't usually frequent. Next is where I keep my lists. I have a list of Thanksgiving things to purchase, Christmas gifts I am looking for and then my list for the week. I list the things that I definitely need at the top. So I can keep them in the forefront of my mind. Then, I make a list like I am going to each store(I definitely don't actually go to them). But I want to make sure that I get the most out of my time and money. Some weeks I will go to more than one. I don't go out of my way, I just stop by on the way home if the thing on sale in addition to my coupon makes it a deal I can't resist.

After I am done making my list I prioritize from the store that I need to go to the most to the one I need to go to the least. Often there will be certain days that I want to hit a certain store. Publix for example has coupons for penny items in the Sunday paper. They only do this on Monday. This item is always a mystery, but in the past two weeks I have gotten two packs of four rolls of toilet paper and two loaves of publix white bread. So, if Publix is one of my top priority stores for the week I try to go on Monday. Note: I got two of these items because I had two of the coupons. I was told that they are not supposed to give two, but so far they always have and I didn't even ask. Good Luck with your couponing, I hope that something here will help you and your family save money. Every family is different, so take a system and make it work for you.