How to Save Over $3000 A Year On Groceries

Couponing 101: Build Your Coupon Binder!

Supplies Needed:
- 3-4" Binder
- Scissors
- Clear binder sheets
- Baseball card holder sheets (located at the front of your local big box grocer, usually near magazines, baseball cards, and/or As-Seen-On-TV merchandise) or 8.5" x 11" clear photo divider pages
- Calculator
- Binder Organizing Pages --> I use this one:
 http://thekrazycouponlady.com/wp-content/uploads/kclcouponbinder.pdf?7db95a
- Store Coupon Policies (Print from store websites)

- Sale Ads for all local stores (for price matching when possible)

- Computer with administrator rights
- Printer
- Printer Paper
- Printer Ink Cartridges

Optional Supplies:
- Pencil cases for 3 ring binder
- Smartphone ( for calculator and/or internet use in store for coupon match-ups)
- Notebook
- Mini pair of scissors
- Envelopes
- Paper clips
- Pen/marker
- Clear Tab dividers

Basic Directions:
1. Obtain Coupons: Purchase multiple Sunday newspapers. Separate the coupons by page and stack them up with like pages. Print coupons from the internet, facebook, and other coupon sites.
2. There are 2 methods for detailed coupon organization. You can store them uncut and cut them as needed. Or you can organize them by coupon for easy retrieval in store.
3. Match coupons with sales for the lowest price possible. Stock up based on your need until the next sale cycle begins.

Since I don't consider myself a coupon blog, I will not go into the step by step details, but I will tell you this: There is a plethora of resources out there that makes couponing very easy. Once you get yourself organized, it will become second nature.

Resources:

Beginner Couponing:
http://thekrazycouponlady.com/beginners/   <-- This is where I learned how to coupon.

Coupon Match-ups:
www.thekrazycouponlady.com
www.passionforsavings.com
www.iheartthemart.com

Printable Coupons:
http://coupons.walmart.com/
http://coupons.target.com/
http://walgreens.shoplocal.com/walgreens/default.aspx?action=entryflash&storeid=2489450&pretailerid=-99389&savezone=Y
www.smartsource.com
https://www.recyclebank.com/join/earnpoints

** Coupon match-up sites will list links. I just follow those links, unless it is a site I have not heard of before. Make sure it is a reputable source.
This is what I use most:
http://thekrazycouponlady.com/print-coupons/

Other Ways to Receive Coupons:
- Newspaper subscription/ in store newspapers (check for all coupon inserts)
- "All You" Magazine
- Sending emails/letters/phone calls to companies
- Join Customer Review sites or P&G sites which send periodic coupon mailings
- Social Media "Likes" & contests
- Contests
- Visiting recycling centers
- Collect from friends/ start a coupon swap

Money Saving Mindset:
http://pennilessparenting.com/
My new blog: www.savingwithselena.blogspot.com (I don't post coupon match ups, but I will post basic couponing how-to's and resources to other sites as well as other ways to save money and get into the money-saving-mindset)

How to Get MORE Coupons: Part 2

The way to save the most money with coupons is to stock up and buy things when you can stack a sale with a coupon to get the lowest possible price. Having multiple coupons helps in building your stockpile.

When I started couponing a year and a half ago, I found all sorts of ways to gather extra coupons. In fact, my friend Christine and I gathered hundreds of discarded coupon booklets and shared our coupon booty.

Kitty knows if she sits on my work, she gets attention.

Christine and I had so much fun clipping and discussing our savings, sharing our sources,  and comparing our stockpiles. Sharing really enhanced our experience and encouraged us to keep working at saving money with coupons to reduce our cost of living and get more bang for our buck.

In Part 1 I showed you a way to get more coupons with a coupon swap. Here is another option. In another post, I mentioned the idea of starting a seed train for your garden. For Part 2 of my series, I will talk about how to start a coupon train.

How To Start A Coupon Train:

To Coupon Swap you will need to access couponing websites or find some couponing friends. To Start a Coupon Train, you need a list of people who want to swap coupons, but don't want to worry about bartering for the coupons

Facebook fan pages like the ones for The Krazy Coupon Lady will allow you to "meet" people with whom you can trade coupons online.

1.  Post a comment on your Facebook page and let your friends know you want to start a coupon train.
2. Compile a list of everyone involved with their names and addresses (or phone numbers for local people, or desk location for an in-office coupon train).
3.Decide if you will pre-clip them for each other or hand off the scrap pages. If you are mailing the coupon train, it is probably best to pre-clip them as tight as possible, so the postage is the cheapest.
4. Simply clip ALL your coupons. Choose which ones you know you will not use and then pass the list and the extra coupons on to the next person on your list.
5. They will follow the same steps and continue on to the next person. When the Coupon Train reaches it's last stop the last person should start again with you at the top of the list.
6. If you are doing a mailed train, don't forget to include the Train address list! This will only cost you ONE stamp, which will be returned when your name comes around again.
7. Throw out any old or expired coupons before passing on the pile to the next person.
8. Be cautious. Don't give too much personal information to strangers. If you coupon swap extensively and have access to a secondary address, be sure to use it. I prefer to coupon swap only with people within my real-life network. If you choose to do a coupon train with strangers, just be aware. If they are local to you, you may consider meeting at the grocery store to pass on the list, so you don't have to waste money on stamps or give out your address.You could do this with a phone number list instead!

Want another way to get more coupons? Check out  How to Get MORE Coupons: Part 1. Part 3 will be coming soon.

What other things could you start a train for? How about a Quick Recipe Train? I might include my Lazy Pickles.  What about a Cheap Recipe Train? I might include my lentil soup in that one.

Do you ever trade coupons? Do you have any other ways you get MORE coupons?

How to Get MORE Coupons: Part 1

 I once purchased 32 FREE bottles of baby formula over a month to give away just because I was able to gather a LOT of extra coupons that gave me overage.

 The way to save the most money with coupons is to stock up and buy things when you can stack a sale with a coupon to get the lowest possible price.

Kitty doesn't want to trade. ;)

When I started couponing a year and a half ago, I found all sorts of ways to gather extra coupons. In fact, my friend and I even went around to the apartment complexes in the area (where coupons arrived in the mail, not the newspaper) and gathered hundreds of discarded coupon booklets. I shared my secrets and favorite coupon blogs and she shared some delicious meals. We had so much fun clipping and discussing our savings and comparing our stockpiles.

 One simple way to get more coupons is to start a coupon swap.

How To Coupon Swap:

To Coupon Swap you will need to access couponing websites or find some couponing friends.
Facebook fan pages like the ones for The Krazy Coupon Lady will allow you to "meet" people with whom you can trade coupons online.

1.  Post a comment on your Facebook page and let your friends know what coupons you have and what coupons you are looking for. It works a little like bartering.
2. Remember, coupons are similar to cash tender in the store. Offering a fair trade, dollar for dollar, not coupon for coupon will get you the best results and build your network of coupon swappers.
3. When you decide a fair trade, you can pass them off to each other or mail them to one another.
4. Decide if you will pre-clip them for each other or hand off the scrap pages.
5. Once you decide on a trade, make sure to send the coupons right away so that they have the chance to use them with any current sales that may be going on. Trust that they will send yours ASAP too.
6. Be cautious. Don't give too much personal information to strangers. If you coupon swap extensively and have access to a secondary address, be sure to use it. I prefer to coupon swap only with people within my real-life network. If you choose to coupon swap with strangers, just be aware. If they are local to you, you may consider meeting to swap coupons at the grocery store, so you don't have to waste money on stamps or give out your address.

Want another way to get more coupons? Check out tomorrow's post, How to Get MORE Coupons: Part 2.

Like the "Train" idea? Try it out with other things like children's clothes and toys, garden supplies, etc. A few weeks ago I mentioned starting a seed trade or seed train to save free seeds for your garden for next year.
Do you ever trade coupons? Do you have any other ways you get MORE coupons?

Reason #1 to Save: Surprise Medical Needs

Some of my feel-better stash.

I am sitting at home sick. Actually I've been laying in bed for the past week with a case of pleurisy (an infection of the lung lining. Yuck!) and it doesn't feel great.

Luckily I work for a great company that allows sick pay, and I also had already scheduled vacation days on top of the Labor Day holiday.

The cost of being ill:

Factoring in the cost of 5+ days of work, expensive medicine, childcare while you rest (if you have them), and doctors visits... it adds up. Except for an occasional coupon from your doctor for expensive non-generic medicine, you can't really cut corners here.

It's times like these when I am glad that I use coupons and live frugally. I can't imagine what it would be like for someone who works hourly and spends without thinking. Something like this, or worse, could be devastating.

When my friends say they just don't have the time to coupon or save money, I say I just don't have the time not to do it. The first year that I started couponing I saved over $3000 out of pocket. That's $3000 that I could use somewhere else.

Being sick reminded me of that, and made me thankful that I made those financial decisions earlier on. I decided to start a list of all the reasons why I live frugally. I'll post these reasons as they come to me, in no particular order, starting with this one.

I know that not every tip that I give will be something you use. However, I hope I might convince you to do a few things differently, or spark some new ideas on how you can live more frugally.

Remember it's not about being cheap to be cheap. In fact, that sort of poverty mentality is one I hope you learn to avoid. Sometimes it's more frugal in the long run to buy higher priced items (more about that later).

Saving money and living frugally is about improving the quality of life that you lead no matter what your income level is.

*For information on stockpiling basics for emergencies, see my upcoming blogs.*
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