The lowdown on coupons

As I mentioned, I get the Sunday paper each week for coupons. I also use the midweek circular. Once per month the P&G coupons are in there which is what I use for the majority of my paper products. Also in the weekly circular are the grocery store sale flyers. I only clip the coupons that I would actually use. If you clip everything it gets very overwhelming.

The trick with coupons is that you can't be too set on which brands you use because they are not always on sale when you want them. One month we may be using colgate toothpaste and the next month it is crest. I used to be a complete diaper snob. I would only put my precious angels in pampers diapers because they were the pretty ones. Now that I am much wiser I have realized that the target brand diapers are roughly $4 cheaper per box, usually have a $1.50 coupon on them, and overall work just as well as the others.

Using just a coupon toward a product purchase is a great start but where the big savings come in is when you start stacking them. For example... If a box of pasta is regularly $2.25 per box but is on sale for $1.50 and you have a $1 off coupon the pasta would only cost you $.50 but my store doubles coupons on wednesdays and Saturdays so it would be free!!! At target you can use a target coupon and a manufacturers coupon for the same item. Generally I get things like toothpaste, deodorant, shave gel, toothbrushes, etc for less than $.50 but more often they are free. It is all about watching when things are on sale and comparing with what coupons you have on hand.

I can occasionally find coupons on some of the coupon websites like coupons.com, couponsuzy.com, and couponmom.com. A lot of times they are the same ones I get in my Sunday paper. If there is a specific product I use that I need a coupon for I will go to that companies website to see if they offer coupons. Organicvalley.com is great for organic milk, etc.

At most stores if you bring your own bags they will give you $.05 per bag. It doesn't sound like much but I love the feeling of making money before I even step foot in the store :)