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?

Secret To Make Cheap Shoes Look Expensive!

Some brilliant women found a way to get the red-soled Louboutin look for a fraction of the price and I'm gonna share the secret with you here! Along with a little musical (or Google) game called... Name That Musician...

So what is the secret?

Well, this site is about to let the cat out of the bag...

No, not this cat. This is my cat, Ingrid. She never goes into bags. She does however, walk on shower curtain rods which is slightly creepy, and still undeniably cool.

 OK. Here it is. The secret to making cheap shoes look expensive:

A $3 mini paint swatch bottle from the hardware store will do the trick.

“Cash-strapped women are painting their shoe soles red to get the Louboutin look for less

Sales of red gloss paint have ‘rocketed’ 40 per cent at Homebase as women find the cheapest way to get the Louboutin look is to do it yourself.” 

What do you think of this new copycat trend? Why limit it to Louboutin red?

Tip: Try other colors!

Personally, I don’t prefer to copy Louboutin, but remember YSL has done it before too in a rainbow of shades. Why not emerald green, or electric blue on the bottom of your shoe? 

Neon colors are HUGE right now. 

You can purchase a cheap pair of shoes at a big box store or a second hand store and paint the soles any color you want! Add glitter to put an extra kick in your step!

Would you ever paint shoes to look more expensive? Would you use a different color or go for Louboutin's signature Chinese Red?