Getting Started With Couponing - How To Find Your First Deals

107 Quick & Easy Ways To Have More Money

• Quick and easy changes you can make today to have more money in your pocket.

• It is NOT about depriving yourself and making depressing cut backs.

• It IS about making sure you're not wasting money, enjoying what you have, and looking for ways to have more fun!

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If it's your first time here, be sure to read our Introduction To Couponing article!

Getting started with couponing can seem overwhelming. Like so many people, I had known about extreme couponing for a long time, but I had always assumed it was too complicated, time consuming, or difficult to be worth my effort. Surely those extreme couponing wins where the store actually owes you money had to be a rare, super special occurrence, right? I thought these things never really happened, major corporations always have loopholes to keep you from actually wining.

Obviously, I was wrong, or you wouldn’t be reading this.

When I started couponing I was at a point in my life where I was finally stabilized – I was living in a place that I thought I’d be staying in for a while, I had a decent job with fair pay for the area, and I was carrying some significant debt from some hard times leading up to it. The debt was ticking down slowly, but I wasn’t making a ton of progress. I was also thinking that this would be a good time to think seriously about getting healthier – as with the debt, I wasn’t morbidly obese, but I was also carrying a lot more than I needed to be.

Start Small

My first experiments were small – Walgreens was the closest store to me, so I started tracking the weekly ads and stopping on my way to or from work to catch a deal. Then I figured out how their digital coupons work, and found a couple online coupon gurus who opened my eyes to the way these deals could stack and build on each other.

It mostly takes attention and a willingness to do a little bit of simple math. Pretty soon I was waiting for Sunday morning to check out the new ads and coupons, then making my weekly trip to stock up on some household essential for next to nothing. I was really finding free, nearly free, or even deals that paid me extra (usually in points) on a pretty regular basis. I was even picking up enough to be able to drop a few things at the local free food pantry, which was nice.

These little bits of savings were enough to help me put more money toward my debt each month, until I was finally making real progress. I was also able to leverage deals for healthier snacks, and use some savings toward higher cost produce and other things to improve my overall health. I’m not saying couponing fixed my life, but I will say my life is a whole lot better this way than it was before!

How Hard Is It To Find Deals?

It ranges from manageable to shockingly easy. There are tons of people sharing couponing tricks each week, and making wrap-ups of different stores. I leaned on that for a while when I was getting started couponing, but now I know what stuff I want, I know what stores have it, and I know how much I’m willing to spend on it. That makes it easy to quickly go through ads, online coupons, and rebate apps, add up the available discounts, and make my shopping list. Really, just look at my guides for each store and I’ll show you how.

How Much Time Does It Take?

At first when I was getting started couponing, it took tons of time. You’re learning a new skill, and that requires and investment. As you get good at it it goes a lot faster. With the practice I’ve had now, I’ve done the math and I usually make more per hour couponing than I do at my respectable day job.

Stores and Manufacturers Don’t Really Let You Get Away With This, Do They?

They really do, all the time. American retail is based entirely on every brand constantly growing. Companies have to sell more, stores have to sell more, otherwise their shareholders get restless and their value declines. It’s *really hard* to constantly grow, especially when you’re creating a product that everyone knows they can get basically any time, any where. Have you ever really worried about whether Tide detergent or Little Debbie snack cakes would be available?

So to counter a public with no fear of scarcity, they have to create urgency some other way, and they do it through coupons and discounts. They’re counting on you being too much of a Busy Mom™ to actually remember to browse the ads, clip the coupons, bring the coupons, and use the coupons. They’re also counting on you being way too polite to actually accept free merchandise. And for most people, this works. They get to the store and the coupons are in the car or at home, and they don’t have time, so they just buy the same stuff at regular price and take the loss.

There are few enough of us that don’t fall into that trap that it doesn’t really affect their corporate bottom line. If they sold more this quarter than last quarter everyone goes home happy. You can have shelves full of almost free stuff waiting in you own home convenience store!

What Do I Need To Get Started?

Not much. Some time for sure. A smart phone would be really helpful, and if not that at least some sort of computer with internet. A few copies of the Sunday paper, scissors, and envelopes to start out. You can get fancy with elaborate binders and stuff later, but learn how to get what you want first.

Another thing I did when I was starting, was go to my normal stores and write down a “baseline” price on my favorite products. Always buying toilet paper at Walmart? What do they charge per roll? How about for a bottle of your shampoo, a package of granola bars? You can’t know if you’re getting a deal unless you know what normal is. There are plenty of times when a Walgreens sale is still higher than a Target normal price. Don’t dig a hole by not knowing your prices.

Pick a single store and learn it. I have guides for a whole bunch here. Walgreens is my favorite – loads of ways to save, and fairly frequent opportunities for free or even money making deals. CVS is a close second. If you’re near either of those, start with them.

Is It Really Worth It?

YES. You can probably remember going out on your own for the first time, standing in a store with a grocery list and thinking, “THIS COSTS HOW MUCH???” Life is really expensive. (Death is too, there’s no escape from capitalism, at least in America.) Companies are making a lot of money off you, it’s time to take some back. Stop spending your money and start using their money. You can get out of debt, or go on vacation, of just work less and spend more time with family or hobbies. It’s crazy to not at least give it a try, and see if you can work couponing into your life.