Organization and Other Tid Bits I've Learned...

I have yet to embark on a serious extreme couponing venture. To tell you the truth, I really am scared to do it. The key to any couponers success as many of you may have guessed, is organization. Whether you are using the small accordian coupon holders, a binder or even a plain old envelope, being organized with your coupons, having your list, coupon policy, and map of the store are all great ways to keep your shoppin trip running smoothly. I cannot stress enough to check the store you are going to be shopping at, for changes in their coupon policies. Keep them them with you, because as shoppers are starting to coupon more, stores are changing their policies.

Another reason why I haven't done a huge couponing trip is that I have a huge stockpile of coupons and I am running out of room in my medium accordian enveloped. I just ordered a "pro" coupon binder with 100 sleeves on Ebay for $15. There are a lot of different styles of binders and sleeves to choose from on there, so shop around and find what's best for you.

One thing that I have run into with some of the internet store coupons is that sometimes they don't scan. I think I have found a solution...make sure your ink in your printer is fresh and dark. The scanners will not pick up the barcode if just one line is off, too light or smugged.

One of the neatest things I have discovered about using your smart phone scanner is, that some commercials have the barcode on the screen of the TV. If you have a DVR, you can paused the commerical and then scan the coupon code to your smart phone and there you have another way to save and in some cases another way to "stack" for even greater discounts. I haven't tried the scanning on my smart phone because I just got it, so when I do, I will be sure to let everyone know how it goes. the barcode looks like this

You can also find these barcodes on almost any insert coupon and on some merchandise. It can be like a game finding different places that they show up. So, keep your eye out for them and of course, find out for sure where this great piece of technology can be used. :)


The last thing many people don't think of are rainchecks. A raincheck is an assurance to a customer that an item on sale that is sold out or out of stock may be purchased later at the sale price. People seemed to have forgotten this long time practice of retailers. I can remember that my mother always asked for a raincheck when an item was out of stock. I very rarely see anyone asking for them, but the way to big savings is to cover all your bases.

Happy Couponing!!! And please feel free to leave comments and any questions you may have.

Let's Talk About Deals for the Holidays

There less than two months until Christmas....pretty scary, huh? In the past few years I have really done well finding deals on the internet. One of my favorite places to shop in www.amazon.com This week I bought a 15 inch Puppy Pillow Pet for my grandson for $1.99. They are originally around $18.00 in the stores. I not only saved by buying the gift at a great low price, I also saved by not using gas! Until recent years Black Friday was a huge tradition in our family, but with the price of gas skyrocketing and the complete desperation of people trying to save on the biggest shopping day of the year, the fun has been taken out of our tradition, so we have turned to the internet deals.

Cyber Monday is the Monday after Black Friday and that is our new family tradition. Sometimes they post their deals early and then lower them as the day approaches. I love to get on the net at midnight and try to beat everyone to the deals. The National Retail Federation reports that 100 million people shop on Cyber Monday and it projects that at least 10 million more shoppers will join the rising total. It's quickly catching up with Black Friday which the NRF reports that 128 million people shop on that day. Here is a link to the Cyber Mondays Deals http://www.cybermonday2011.com/

Super Coupon Lady is one of my favorite sites to find the best Christmas and everyday coupon "money makers" or items that you can get for free go to http://www.supercouponlady.com/ Make sure you check EVERYDAY as she does all the leg work for you, such as put up the links for coupons, free items and internet deals almost daily. I have my grandson's Christmas shopping almost all done by using the deals that she posts.

Getting Coupons for the Manufactures

If you don't have access to coupons from your Sunday newspaper inserts you can absolutely sign up at the manufactures websites and they will send you all the great deals through emails and through regular mail. I have found that this saves you time cutting the coupons out AND you can also get some great freebies out of it. Remember to use a separate email for all the sites that you sign up for.
Happy couponing (:

Maps and Binders

Make a map of every store that you shop at AND buy a binder with inserts for each store. Write down your grocery list according to each aisle. You can buy binders and inserts at Walmart. The inserts should be the kind that you use to collect baseball card with. It sounds like a lot of work, but if you want to be a great couponer it will be worth it . You can also buy the small according style coupon holders and label each slot by each aisle of the store. This method cheaper, but by using the binder method, you can put the map of the store at the front of the binder AND you can see the coupons you are planning to use. Everyone develops the best way that works for them, so it's entirely up to to the individual.

Buying Coupons on Ebay

I just discovered that buying coupons on Ebay can be cheaper than buying all those Saturday and Sunday newspapers..well in most cases. People are selling coupons in same item grouping...I just bought ten Tide coupons for .99 cents with FREE shipping.

I was almost out the door to go buy the Sunday papers and something went through my head saying "go look on Ebay"....my intuition was correct. l am still going to buy the papers, but now I don't have to buy a bunch, because it can add up to big bucks and I may not get the coupons that I will use. You can also go and sign up for coupons at the manufactures websites and get coupons sent to you or get REAL printable coupons.

What I like most about the Ebay deal is you can make your grocery list and then look for them on Ebay to buy. There are coupon clipping services out there, but I will get into those later when I research them more. I appreciate you reading my blog and being patient with me as we go on this journey together. REMEMBER to scroll to the bottom of this blog to begin at the beginning....HAPPY COUPONING EVERYONE .....please leave your comments here or on Facebook, you can also email me at wvcoupongurl@gmail.com

How to Read a Blog on Blogger

Many people don't understand that here on Blogger the beginning entry is always the last post at the bottom of the page, so you have to scroll down to the bottom or click on the right hand side at the dates of the LEAST current post. Remember, I am learning this whole extreme couponing thing along with you, so if you have some questions or advice you can leave a comment here,send me an email or message me on Facebook.

Right now, I am focusing on the Hampshire County area, because it's what I know. Later, I will expand out to the other areas, so everyone can plan shopping trips father away, since it looks like gas prices are not going down anytime soon. I hope you can be patient with me as we take this saving and couponing trip together
Cindi

Baby Coupons

One of the best things that I did while my daughter was pregnant was sign her up for every formula site there was. You can get all kinds of REAL samples such as full size cans of powdered formula, plus check for free baby food and diaper coupons for up to $3.00 to $5.00 or more off. You can also subscribe to American Baby magazine for free. Just Google, Similac, Enfamil, and Gerber and the sites can direct you to the pages where you can sign up for real deals. MAKE sure that it is a BRAND name site such as www.similac.com
As long as you go to the BRAND name site you will run less of a chance of printing off fake coupons and have less chance to pull in malware into your computer, plus you have a chance of getting great samples and freebies.

Can You Coupon Successfully In a Rural Community?

The answer to this question would be "yes, you can." In our small community we have no Wal-Mart, Kroger,Walgreens or Target, but we do have Food Lion, County Pride, Family Dollar stores, Dollar General stores, a CVS drugstore and a Rite Aid drug store. Although in the past,it have may not have seemed that the thought of couponing in a small community was worth it, but the extreme rise in gas prices is making it a necessity. I just recently found out that ALL of the "dollar" stores, Food Lion, CVS and Rite Aid do take coupons including internet coupons. Their scanners can tell whether or not the internet coupons are fake or real, which is a great surprise. County Pride does NOT take the internet coupons, however, they have DOUBLE coupons EVERYDAY!!

How to get coupons in our area is the next question. The Washington Post, Cumberland Times-News, Martinsburg Journal and The Winchester Star most of the time have coupons in their papers on Sundays. Each paper has different coupons for their particular area, but the manufacturer coupons are mostly the same. A LOT of people throw the inserts away, so sometimes it pays to ask your neighbors or family members if they can help out by giving you the inserts or the coupons that they do not use.

So, please subscribe to my blog and find out the great deals and coupons that are available. In my next entry I will be covering where the best sites there are to get online coupons, hopefully without pulling in Malware, Spyware or viruses into your computer.